Listen "I Need Coffee - Episode 187 - Weekly BC Review!"
Episode Synopsis
Show Notes: Episode 187 - I Need Coffee (oct 31, 2025)1. Personal / Life Updates - Persistent cold, late start, brewing coffee - Rotated 18-month-old generator gasoline (10 gallons) - Homemade “Zante bowls” (rice-beans-tofu bowls) - Replaced/filled tiki torches for Halloween party - Visited first ERP client/mentor (1996) who now has early Alzheimer’s2. Hardware & Power-Saving Obsession - LA electricity prices insane (~33–55 ¢/kWh, bill up 63% in 4 yrs) - Switched 24/7 servers to Lenovo M910Q Tiny PCs - Ubuntu Server idle: 3.6–4.4 W (!) - Windows 11 idle: 9–10 W - Entire “data center” (3 servers + NAS) now <20 W3. Linux Desktop vs Windows Reality Check - Tried Linux desktop again → quickly remembered why he doesn’t use it - Deep Microsoft 365 ecosystem (Excel, Word, OneNote, Outlook, Teams, Snagit, etc.) simply doesn’t work well on Linux - “You should use Linux” crowd ignores the “you” part (Lamborghini SVJ vs family minivan analogy)4. Open-Source Realities - Comic about endless unpaid feature requests = open-source life - Customer asked detailed security questions about 2012 closed-source GP ISV → ironic because open-source is now seen as higher risk by some auditors - Attended Directions webinar on BC open-source apps → cool but maintenance is a thankless job5. Business & Project Updates - Building multiple custom file-import solutions (sales/purchase invoices, bank deposits, AR apply) - Customer on 15-year-old Dynamics GP10 waffling between upgrade vs BC - Teaching Franklin about proper Statements of Work, scope, exclusions, change management - Top practical PM practices he values: (1) crystal-clear scope, (2) budget tracking, (3) change management, (4) risk awareness (still figuring out how to formalize)6. Microsoft Outages & Azure Front Door - Second major Azure Front Door global outage in a few weeks (90+ minutes for many BC tenants) - Front Door is marketed as high-availability but itself becomes single point of failure7. AI & Development - Cursor released Composer v1 (very fast frontier coding model) - AI agent/MCP security nightmare is beginning (prompt injection, exfiltration, etc.) - OnePassword adding “agentic autofill” with human-in-the-loop (scary but at least trying) - Terminology chaos: agent vs persona vs MCP vs skill8. Upcoming Conferences & Travel - Directions EMEA (Poland) next week - Partner in Vibe Conference – Jan 28-30, 2026, South Padre Island (Steve is going) - Directions NA – Apr 27-29, Orlando (call for speakers opens Nov 12) - DynamicsCon May 12-15, Las Vegas9. El Salvador / Berlin Team Updates - Helping huge multinational GP customer whose entire IT is in El Salvador - Team bringing 500 ft Cat5e + rice cooker on next trip - Ronald finished 70-hour “Berlin English Academy – Call Center” program with certificates & Halloween party10. Fun / Miscellaneous - Windows 11 tiny taskbar icons “feature” - Ridiculous BC admin job posting in Baton Rouge asking for one person to do 20 different senior roles - Mechanical keyboard rabbit hole → hot-swappable custom boards (drooling over retro ThinkPad-style board) - Family Halloween costumes & teenager’s party (Steve may be exiled from his own house)
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