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ECONOBEN.DEV
Writing through the years

Archive.

Essays and field notes, from the latest work back to the first post.

2026

2 months and 3 posts.

July

1 post published in July 2026.

Open month
Jul 30

Agent Memory Is in Early Release

My new O'Reilly book, Agent Memory, is now in Early Release. Chapters 1 and 2 are live, new chapters land every four to six weeks, and the version you read now is the one your feedback can still change.

O'ReillyAgent MemoryAI AgentsLLMs

January

2 posts published in January 2026.

Open month
Jan 12

Tools and Strategies for Agentic Development (Into the Hopper Podcast)

A conversation with Tim Hopper on spec-driven development, Beads for task tracking, and how AI agents have changed my planning habits.

AI AgentsPodcastSpec-Driven DevelopmentDeveloper Tooling
Jan 04

Building DSA Dojo: A CLI-Driven Approach to Learning Data Structures and Algorithms

I'm building my own data structures and algorithms course—a CLI-driven, ladder-based system where mastery comes through doing, not watching. Here's a first look at DSA Dojo.

AILLMsDeveloper ToolingPython

2025

3 months and 4 posts.

December

1 post published in December 2025.

Open month
Dec 31

2025: My Year In Review

Reflections on a year of milestones—getting engaged in Florence, publishing with O'Reilly and the AEA, raising a Series A at Workhelix, and overcoming health challenges. Plus, my goals for 2026.

year in reviewengagementAILLMs

June

2 posts published in June 2025.

Open month
Jun 29

Adding Text-to-Speech to Your Blog: Building an OpenAI TTS Pipeline with Smart Chunking and AWS S3

A technical deep-dive into building a production-ready text-to-speech pipeline for blog posts using OpenAI's TTS API, smart text processing with NLP, automatic chunking for long content, and AWS S3 for scalable audio hosting.

OpenAITTSAWSS3
Jun 02

Extending 'GPTs Are GPTs' to Firms

A new paper on the impact of AI on labor demand at the firm level.

AIEconomicsLaborProductivity

January

1 post published in January 2025.

Open month
Jan 06

Host Your Own Local LLM / RAG Behind a Private VPN, Access It From Anywhere

A step-by-step guide on hosting your own private Large Language Model and RAG system using Synology, Tailscale, Caddy, and Ollama—all protected behind a lightweight VPN and accessible anywhere.

LLMRAGSynologyOllama

2024

1 month and 1 post.

December

1 post published in December 2024.

Open month
Dec 31

2024: My Year In Review — AI, Archery, and Goals

Reflections on a year of growth, experimentation, and resilience—covering professional wins, personal pursuits like archery and lifting, and the challenges of navigating health setbacks. Plus, my goals for 2025.

year in reviewLLMsarcheryhealth

2023

4 months and 5 posts.

December

1 post published in December 2023.

Open month
Dec 30

2023: My Year In Review

A reflection on a year of growth, gratitude, teaching, travel, and paying off the final student loan. Here’s what I accomplished in 2023 and what I’m hoping to do in 2024.

year in reviewstudent loansteachingtravel

November

2 posts published in November 2023.

Open month
Nov 27

What Are AI Agents? An Introduction to AI Agents and LLMs

I wrote a book for O'Reilly Media about AI agents and LLMs, exploring what they are, how they're different from traditional AI, and when to use them. The report breaks down these concepts in an approachable way for newcomers to the field.

AILLMAgentsMachine Learning
Nov 13

Publishing for O'Reilly

A reflection on the upcoming release of 'What Are AI Agents?' and the significance of joining the ranks of O'Reilly authors—a milestone shaped by library visits, borrowed books, and years of persistence.

O'ReillyAI AgentsMachine LearningCareer Journeys

July

1 post published in July 2023.

Open month
Jul 24

I Paid Off $194k in Student Loans in Six Years. It Wasn’t Easy.

I graduated with $150k in debt and paid back over $194k in six years. This is the story of how I got there, what I learned, and what came next.

student loansdebt payofffinancial independencemachine learning

January

1 post published in January 2023.

Open month
Jan 31

I Waited 9 Years to Write This: On The Death of a Friend

On the ninth anniversary of Sarah McCausland’s passing, a reflection on grief, memory, and the enduring questions that follow the loss of a friend taken too soon.

PersonalGriefLossFriendship

2022

2 months and 3 posts.

December

2 posts published in December 2022.

Open month
Dec 31

2022: My Year in Review

A personal recap of the milestones, memories, and goals that shaped 2022—from paying off loans and co-organizing NormConf to hiking Sequoia and building a PC—with a look ahead to ambitions for 2023.

Year in ReviewPersonal GoalsStartup LifeNormConf
Dec 15

Building an HTTPS Model API for Cheap: A Step-by-Step Guide to Deploying APIs to AWS on Your Own Domain

A straight-to-the-point guide for deploying a Dockerized FastAPI app on AWS using ECS, ECR, Route 53, and an Application Load Balancer—ideal for developers looking to get an HTTPS API live without overspending or overengineering.

AWSDockerECSECR

August

1 post published in August 2022.

Open month
Aug 22

The *Right* Way to Maintain Multiple GitHub Accounts Using 1Password's SSH Key Agent

A walkthrough for managing multiple GitHub accounts with 1Password's SSH key integration, covering common pitfalls and offering a cleaner setup than the official docs.

SSHGitHub1PasswordDeveloper Tooling

2021

2 months and 2 posts.

December

1 post published in December 2021.

Open month
Dec 08

Legacy Naming Conventions Are Holding Us Back

A case for naming internal services with intention—favoring names that are intuitive, easy, and specific over clever or obscure references. A little clarity can go a long way in reducing cognitive overhead and improving team communication.

Service DesignDeveloper ExperienceNaming ConventionsEngineering Culture

June

1 post published in June 2021.

Open month
Jun 26

Pandas Functions: Advanced Groupbys with Grouper, Assign, and Query

A technical walkthrough on advanced uses of Pandas groupbys, showcasing time-based aggregations, lambda expressions, and inline data manipulation with assign, all framed around real-world Covid19 data.

PandasGroupbyPythonData Science

2020

1 month and 1 post.

August

1 post published in August 2020.

Open month
Aug 30

On the Origin of Time-Sharing Computers, Round-Robin Algorithms, and Cloud Computing

An exploration of time-sharing's origins—from Cold War military investments and Project MAC to the round-robin algorithm—and how these foundational ideas helped shape cloud computing as we know it.

Time-SharingComputer HistoryCloud ComputingARPA

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