Brad Shively

Writes about building healthy habits & tech careers | Eng director in DevEx, hiring manager, ex-Google, ex-Uber. | Lost 180 lbs. in 2 yrs

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

Shipped my first iOS app today -- PetPilot. (It's free! No ads. No in-app purchases.) https://t.co/hkt1tZUzIc My wife and I have been using a pretty dated pet care tracker app to keep tabs on Pierogi & Pickle being fed, let out to go to the bathroom, etc. (cute dog tax paid below.)
The app we were using was overdue for a facelift, and I wanted to optimize for what we cared about (primarily ultra low friction/one click logging for potty trips.) It was a fun learning experience and let me dig into using Claude for a real project that solved an actual problem.

I know ~no Swift, so there were some bumps along the way. In particular, I struggled to get the iCloud collaboration/syncing working. In fact, I started this back in July/August and the old Opus model couldn't handle the iCloud parts, and I set the project aside after many attempts. However, Opus 4.5 was able to resolve the issues in 1-2 hours of troubleshooting and experimentation, and after a few more days of refinement, I'm excited to share 1.0.

Just a small side project, but if you have pets and housemates and need to coordinate care, maybe you'll find it useful. Appreciate any feedback.

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@NIN_Archive This one is decent. https://t.co/rGs0EgpwRL

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@dave_stickland Not proud to say it, but once or twice I’ve (literally) not gone to the funeral and I’m not proud of it. I think it was an important lesson learned as a younger person.

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@dave_stickland @BallinFil Pittsburgh (hometown for my wife and me) -> Denver. Big change but we’re super excited! Did a two month trial run last year and loved it.

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@dave_stickland @BallinFil Today is moving day for us. 😅 Movers are here loading now. I’m anxious to get on the road..

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@VicVijayakumar Today is move day. Three day trip but planning to lock in for the rest of the summer. Maybe I’ll post some starting stats once we’re settled?

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@martindonadieu @VicVijayakumar I just don’t understand how people work with a laptop that way. After like an hour my neck is killing me.

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@YoshkaMJ Leaving was definitely good for me, but it is a very cushy gig for sure. Easy to take for granted lots of the positive aspects of a good job.

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@kenwheeler “Let me check with the sales manager…”

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@ramit Even at a tech co, I’m constantly asking “is this a space we should be innovating in?” And often the answer is no.

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@cryptoklotz Started reading a book recently (I Am Not a Robot) that has a chapter about how the addition of AI features in Xray reading software has caused a lot of this type of behavior.

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@NIN_Archive I went to a bunch of shows on the tour and they kind of turned into a series of me getting progressively closer to Trent lol. This is the closest one..

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@BobWulff Rip my halo green 360 with xecuter modchip

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@Shpigford Seriously. Happy to pay and/or beta test!

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@MikeIsaac @tjuhgfdcajklb Maynard on my list of dudes to not meet bc I know it would at least slightly reduce my enjoyment of the music haha

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

I've got two big road trips coming up in the next 2 weeks. Would appreciate recommendations for podcasts and audiobooks. I mostly read horror fiction. I listen to a lot of different types of podcasts.

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@theo @acadictive I agree this is different but I also think acting outraged over a tech company raising prices is a bit silly as if there’s no precedent. I’ll check the video. Appreciate your insights. 👍

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@theo @acadictive Also this is pretty much the tech platform way. Uber. Facebook. Etc. Sell it at a huge loss. Build a user base. Raise prices to something economically viable.

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@frank_locascio @BusinessInsider Not clickbait. Just look at Uber. Many companies are realizing that even if valuable Anthropic and OpenAI are huge money fires and they need to at least somewhat reasonably modulate developer spending on these tools.

[Brad Shively @bjshively]

@Iumiescent Don’t get me started on Metroid..