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Blog

Real stories of building systems and leading teams, from quick espresso shots to slow pours.

Why Kubernetes Autoscaling Matters for ML and Embedded Developers

Software Engineering
Applied Engineering

A hands-on demo exploring how Kubernetes Horizontal Pod Autoscaling behaves under real, chaotic load, and why this matters even for ML and embedded engineers.

Nov 21, 2025
3 min

C++ in your Browser. Is WebAssembly worth the effort?

C++
Applied Engineering
Software Engineering

My experiment of getting C++ delivered to the browser. Find out the why and see why client-side compute is cheap and expensive at the same time.

Nov 19, 2025
5 min

Writing, Doing, and Building an ML Productivity Pipeline

Machine Learning
Knowledge Work
Software Engineering

How I balance writing and rapid prototyping to learn ML faster: using Jupyter, Kaggle, Hugging Face, and Quarto to turn experiments into publishable apps.

Nov 11, 2025
4 min

The Hidden Cost of “Magic” Schemas

Software Engineering
Python

When DRY turns to dust: what I learned after letting automation define my API contracts. A story about boundaries, intent, and why hand-written schemas age better than auto-generated ones.

Nov 8, 2025
4 min

Can AI fix your shopping list?

Machine Learning
Applied Engineering

Many shopping apps can create shopping lists. But many apps fail to correctly aggregate similar items. Let’s discover if AI can help.

Nov 4, 2025
9 min

When to use pydantic in your app?

Python
Software Engineering

“Should we wrap this in a BaseModel or just slap a @dataclass on it”? If that debate keeps popping up in code-reviews, this post is for you.

Oct 28, 2025
6 min

How LLMs help and don’t help developing software

Software Engineering
Management
Generative AI

There is a lot of debate if LLMs actually help software developers. Here’s what i learned rebuilding a simple image pipeline with regard to thinking, focus and failure in the age of large language models.

Oct 25, 2025
14 min

Page Segmentation: The easy and the hard way

Python
Computer Vision
Machine Learning
Generative AI

An OCR scan of a whole page of a complex layout can be done two ways. The easy expensive one using an LLM or the more sophisticated one, which is harder to develop but cheaper to run.

Oct 24, 2025
13 min

Is training your own classifier really worth it?

Computer Vision
Machine Learning
Python

I small update to the longer update. We use a YOLO-doclayout to decide if it is a text or image.

Oct 2, 2025
3 min

Text or Image

Computer Vision
Machine Learning
Python

Running Document digitization pipelines can be expensive. Especially if you pay per API request. A good triage of pages is helping to reduce costs. In this notebook we separate pages full of text from pages with only images.

Sep 29, 2025
5 min

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Computer Vision
Machine Learning
Python

Automatically generating thumbnails from pictures, can lead to bad crops or small details. Saliency Maps allow us to focus on the dominant object in a picture. I use multimodal aesthetic scoring models to evaluate the crops.

Sep 5, 2025
12 min

What I have been reading: What is a ml compiler

C++
Machine Learning
Applied Engineering

Lately, I’ve been digging into machine learning (ML) compilers and how they differ from traditional software compilers.

Aug 31, 2025
4 min

Choosing the Right Metric for Classification Models

Machine Learning
Data Science

In this post, we explore various classification metrics: accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and AUC-ROC.

Aug 29, 2025
5 min

Avoiding Python version chaos in ML

Machine Learning
Software Engineering
Python

Working with machine learning often means juggling multiple Python versions, CUDA drivers, TensorFlow/PyTorch builds, and environment conflicts. Let’s checkout how docker can help us to ease the version pain. Say goodbye to “works on my machine” and Python hell.

Aug 28, 2025
2 min

How Neural Networks Hear Music

Computer Vision
Generative AI
Python

Did you ever wonder how Spotify, Tidal or YouTube work? Why are they suggesting a song to you?. Sometimes the suggestions are quite good. Come with we on a visual journey through AI playlists.

Jul 15, 2025
19 min

The Rebirth of the recipescanner - part 2

Software Engineering
Generative AI
Python

Back from the Dead, driven by AI Agent

Jul 7, 2025
7 min

From damping factor to learning rate

Machine Learning
Applied Engineering

Machine learning is in the center of the AI hype. But what does “learning” actually mean? We look behind the jargon and compare to another popular field computational mechanics.

Jul 5, 2025
10 min

Blog Update July 2025

Knowledge Work
Growth

Time for some fresh paint

Jul 4, 2025
2 min

The Rebirth of the recipescanner

Software Engineering
Machine Learning
Python
C++

Part I: What happened so far

Jul 3, 2025
6 min

Do you know the hidden paths of your code?

Software Engineering
Python

Most software is complex. Especially with AI-assisted coding, complexity can quickly run out of hands and turn into a nightmare. To never get lost again, let’s create the zoom button for software that turns your code into a zommable map.

May 14, 2025
21 min

Breaking the Curse of Knowledge: Why Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication

Knowledge Work
Storytelling
Leadership

Understanding doesn’t always mean communicating effectively. You have a choice: become stupid or learn how to overcome the Curse of Knowledge, simplify ideas, and make them stick.

Apr 27, 2025
3 min

Street view game - hit the road

Computer Vision
C++
Applied Engineering

Hit the road allows you to sit back and enjoy the scenary when using Google street view. You can look around while you advance. Very much the same as you would in a car.

Apr 26, 2025
7 min

What I learned about risk management

Management
Leadership
Knowledge Work

This guide includes my experience and research around the often difficult question in project management, “What is a business risk, and what is just our daily work?”

Apr 24, 2025
4 min

The triangle of trust reveals your projects issues.

Agile
Storytelling

Somewhere out there, a remote project is teetering on the edge of failure. Let’s see how much of this can be attributed to the remote environment and how much is a classic leadership issue. The triangle of trust let’s you turn this situation around.

Apr 20, 2025
5 min

Why the Fishbone Diagram Triumphs Over 5 Whys

Management
Agile

Discover why the Fishbone Diagram outshines the 5 Whys in solving complex problems, fostering teamwork, and avoiding blame. Learn which method suits your team best for effective and collaborative problem-solving.

Apr 17, 2025
2 min

How to avoid burying the lead

Knowledge Work
Storytelling

A failed presentation on metal strength taught me a powerful lesson in communication. Learn to apply journalistic techniques — leading with key points, forced priorization, and using the inverted pyramid structure — you too can avoid burying the lead and nail your presentations

Apr 15, 2025
3 min

The road less travelled - from the dijkstras shortest path to the least visited path

Python
Software Engineering

What if you are not interested in getting as fast as possible from A to B. But you always search a new path. A python adventure to discover new places.

Mar 25, 2025
5 min

How domain driven design makes software development concrete and abstract

Software Engineering
Knowledge Work
Storytelling

In the world of technology it’s worth examining whether abstraction truly helps us connect. If anything, abstraction often obscures, complicating both understanding and memory. Concreteness, on the other hand, breaks through barriers, simplifying communication and amplifying retention.

Mar 24, 2025
2 min

Engineering presentations that stick

Storytelling
Applied Engineering
Knowledge Work

Make your next presentation remarkable

Mar 23, 2025
4 min

Which cheese are we eating?

Machine Learning
Computer Vision
Python

Did you ever wonder what kind of cheese you should buy? They all look the same. And then the embarrasement when you can just point and say: that one. Meet the cheese classifier.

Mar 13, 2025
11 min

Your mind and machine learning, the base rate effect

Machine Learning
Mental Models
Discussions about bias and discrimination in artificial intelligence (AI) are growing louder. Critics argue it is unethical for technology to display discrimination.…
Mar 12, 2025
5 min

Successful teams strike the right Balance between Immediate Needs with Long-Term Architecture

Management
Software Engineering

In the world of software development, frustration often emerges when a product behaves in a way that users find counterintuitive or outright inconvenient. When questioned, the response might be disheartening: It’s in the requirements. This sheds light on a deeper issue—the conflict between immediate deliverables and long-term system health.

Mar 7, 2025
3 min

Object oriented programming for AI Projects

Python
Data Science
Software Engineering

Discover what can can transform your AI project into clean, efficient, and scalable software

Mar 6, 2025
5 min

How Poor Architectural Understanding is Impacting the German Software Industry

Software Engineering
Leadership

Weak software architecture can topple even the most promising projects, inflating costs and frustrating everyone from CFOs to developers. Explore the failure of quick fixes with me and what a tortoise has to do with it.

Feb 25, 2025
3 min

Top-Down Thinking is Holding Back Software Innovation

Software Engineering
Management

A thought about dependency inversion.

Feb 22, 2025
1 min

Mutuable defaults are like clay formed by multiple hands. Everybody can change everything.

Be careful using python’s dataclass

Python
Software Engineering

Python’s @dataclass is a powerful tool for creating data containers with minimal boilerplate code. However, it introduces a subtle pitfall when working with mutable defaults like lists or NumPy arrays. This article explores this common issue, its root cause, and how to fix it effectively.

Feb 18, 2025
5 min

Milestone vs Activity Planning: Finding the Right Approach for Your Project Management

Management
Leadership
Agile

I was at a pivotal point in my project management career with a high-stakes project on the line. I needed to find the key to keeping my team focused and motivated. As I explored milestone and activity planning, I discovered valuable insights about each approach. In this article, I’ll share my journey and how it led to a turning point in my career.

Feb 15, 2025
14 min

Decision paralysis at a McDonalds

Knowledge Work
Leadership

Stuck staring at the McDonald’s menu, always ordering the same thing? You’re not alone—it’s called decision paralysis, and it’s sabotaging more than just your lunch. Discover how it’s creeping into your work life and learn how to stop it before it derails your next big project!

Feb 12, 2025
2 min

Precision/Recall vs FN/TN/FP/TP

Machine Learning
Data Science

Precision, recall, and the confusion matrix help evaluate machine learning models. Learn to Understand their tradeoffs, especially in imbalanced datasets, and optimize your classifier for better results.

Feb 10, 2025
4 min

What is wrong about the pattern tell them what you are going to tell, tell and then tell what you told

Storytelling
Mental Models

Tired of dull, repetitive “tell them, tell them, then tell them again” messaging? Learn how to break the mold with surprising twists and curiosity-driven storytelling. Discover why planned unexpectedness, knowledge gaps, and challenging common sense can make your ideas stick and keep your audience hooked.

Feb 6, 2025
3 min

The Stickiness Improvement Plan

Storytelling
Leadership

Based on the book Made to Stick, I provide a plan of question to evaluate your idea’s stickiness. Comes with keywords for further improvements.

Feb 3, 2025
4 min

Get huge benefits for minimal costs after reading

Storytelling
Knowledge Work

The ultimate goal of creating a sticky idea is to make people care. To achieve this, bridge the gap between what they already care about and what they don’t yet care about. Here I provide a checklist to evaluate the stickiness of your ideas.

Jan 28, 2025
3 min

The one thing missing in your perfect presentation

Storytelling
Knowledge Work

Sticky ideas are those that capture attention, linger in the mind, and inspire action. Learn the principles of creating messages that are not just understandable but also memorable and impactful enough to drive change.

Jan 27, 2025
2 min

Three basic plots - my take

Storytelling
Leadership

Learn how the three basic plots are alternative to the hero’s journey

Jan 25, 2025
3 min

Blogging with quarto

Knowledge Work
Growth

I recently switch from WordPress to quarto. Learn why and how to integrate it in an Obsidian based workflow.

Jan 17, 2025
10 min

Science2Art, a lesson in artful prompt engineering

Generative AI
Machine Learning
Storytelling

How can physical equations be expressed in a paintings? In the beginning I only had a few ideas and the whole process was very effortful. Then in 2023, I discovered ChatGPT. And it become a lesson in the art of prompt engineering.

Jan 15, 2025
11 min

Clean coders use lambda expressions

Python
C++

In modern programming, lambda expressions have become an indispensable tool for concise and efficient code. They have their origin in functional programming but have made it to many programming languages. But how, when, and why should you use them? Let’s dive in.

Jan 10, 2025
2 min

How to fight computer eye strain

Software Engineering
Python
Applied Engineering

At least for your eyes and your back computer work puts a tremendous strain. This is what can help.

Dec 3, 2024
3 min

Premature optimization and the importance of algorithms

Software Engineering
C++

DSA is unknown to many developers. Learn why this is a big mistake.

Aug 10, 2024
2 min

Here is what I learned from thinking fast and slow.

Knowledge Work
Storytelling
Growth

A summary with link to the previous posts

Apr 24, 2024
6 min

Taylorism in complex environments

Management
Agile
Software Engineering

Studies show that over 70% of businesses rely heavily on KPIs for decision-making. Yet, there’s a story that illustrates how this reliance can sometimes lead to unexpected and counterintuitive outcomes.

Mar 9, 2024
5 min

From Challenges to Champions: Unsticking Negative Workplace Stories

Storytelling
Leadership
Knowledge Work

Stories stick. But what can unstick a story?

May 15, 2023
3 min

Unlock the Power of Metaphors at Work to Captivate Your Listeners!

Storytelling
Knowledge Work

I’ll be sharing a simple yet effective approach to finding and creating your very own metaphors. Learn to apply metaphors more frequently.

May 3, 2023
14 min

Waterfall management is a strict recipe, while agility is improvisational cooking.

Storytelling
Management

In a world where information is fleeting, generative metaphors are the secret weapon. They don’t just simplify complex ideas; they reframe understanding, sparking fresh insights and lasting impressions. Think of a metaphor not as a mere comparison but as a doorway

May 3, 2023
6 min

Effective Story Spotting

Storytelling
Leadership
Knowledge Work

Unleashing the Power of Storytelling How Our Team Overcame Remote Work Challenges and You Can Too

May 1, 2023
4 min

How Playing Zelda Teaches Us the Importance of Audience Engagement in Interactive Storytelling

Storytelling
It’s been countless hours since I first embarked on my journey in the magical land of Hyrule, and I can’t help but ask myself, “Why is this game so addicting?” Zelda, at…
Apr 16, 2023
4 min

Intellectual Dishonesty: Recognizing and Combating Toxic meeting culture

Knowledge Work
Leadership

Learn how to spot dishonest behavior in other people’s replies and your arguments.

Mar 4, 2023
4 min

Use risk policies and avoid common planning fallacies in software development

Software Engineering
Agile

Even though most methods tell you otherwise, always use a rule of thumb in software planning.

Nov 10, 2022
3 min

Investors are living from the greatest of all treasures, which is Hope

Growth
Knowledge Work

Rising prices in the stock market show that the recession is coming.

Nov 10, 2022
3 min

The story of Covid and Plato’s cave allegory

Storytelling
Knowledge Work
Management

Remember the time before Covid? We all went to work and were happy. Despite all the talk, we will never all go back to the office.

Nov 10, 2022
3 min

Sticking in a shitty job, deprives you of rich experiences

Growth
Mental Models

If there are no extremes bad/good we can not make lasting memories.

Nov 10, 2022
3 min

Everybody wants more money and thinks inflation is unfair

Growth
Knowledge Work

Today inflation is rampant. The cost of living in many countries is close to or above 10 %. Many people perceive this as a bad sign.

Nov 10, 2022
2 min

Good managers are immune to survivorship bias

Management
Software Engineering
Leadership

Learning the golden truth from the one successful projects is rarely possible. Always keep your starting position in mind

Nov 10, 2022
2 min

The perfect way that projects will never be planned

Management
Software Engineering
Storytelling

There is a profound difference between selling and planning a project—the order of these two phases matters.

Nov 9, 2022
3 min

Trust me; I am an expert

Management
Knowledge Work
Mental Models

The issue is not whether you are an excellent expert, but expert knowledge can not be trusted in an irregular environment.

Nov 7, 2022
2 min

Look at your industry’s state and then decide if you want to become an expert

Software Engineering
Knowledge Work
Growth

The t-shaped engineer is a human centipede. These modern software engineers are different than traditional experts. Which one is better? And what have foxes to do with it?

Nov 7, 2022
3 min

The SAFe confidence vote reveals the state of emotional security in your project

Agile
Management
Leadership

If you have confidence in a plan, there should be a uniform vote for this plan. The question is if your endeavour is predictable.

Nov 7, 2022
3 min

You should go back to the office, to help your boss understand you

Management
Knowledge Work
Software Engineering

Shadows are lurking behind your working-from-home chair. There is one big one big disadvantage egoistic developers fail to see.

Nov 3, 2022
4 min

Use mental anchors to determine the start position of high-stakes discussions

Mental Models
Knowledge Work

The next time you find yourself in a tricky situation, try to influence the discussion by anchoring at another reference point.

Time-dependent algorithms usually have one major issue. The starting value heavily decides the outcome. The same applies to your mind’s thinking process.

This concept is also called anchoring

Nov 1, 2022
1 min

Try to establish your next planning predictions on well-defined reference points

Software Engineering
Agile
Mental Models

Here is a new method to relate software estimations to a related base rate.

Oct 29, 2022
4 min

The good storyteller is a travel guide through the listener’s memories.

Storytelling
Growth

Stories act as a simulator, allowing the reader to live the story mentally.

Oct 28, 2022
4 min

You are most likely overinsured

Mental Models
Knowledge Work

Not all insurance cost is transparent, if you are very careful, you forgo good opportunities.

Oct 26, 2022
3 min

There are no losses; just costs for profits

Management
Storytelling

The best guide to selling anything, or so they say.

Oct 26, 2022
2 min

Regression to the mean reshapes our memories

Mental Models
Storytelling

Why to tomorrow will always be better (or worse).

Oct 25, 2022
2 min

Why engineers do not understand stories

Storytelling
Software Engineering

As engineers, we love details. Nothing can be too complex. It is complexity itself that attracts us. What you should do instead.

Oct 19, 2022
2 min

Experienced engineers stay away from the flow zone

Software Engineering
Mental Models

Flow is the process that happens when no deliberate control of attention is necessary for a mental task.

Oct 17, 2022
3 min

Avoid spending mental energy as if would be limitless

Mental Models
Knowledge Work

Know if you unwisely exhausted your mental energy supply for the day.

Oct 12, 2022
4 min

A new writer’s easy guide to find the perfect headline

Knowledge Work
Growth
So far, I have written 13 stories on medium over the last six months.
Oct 12, 2022
3 min

Providing fake reliability with statistics

Storytelling
Knowledge Work

Statistics can help us to make the pro points more potent and the contra points weaker. The statistics serve as a quantitive anchor to your position. Read on to learn how you can twist statistics to your cause.

Oct 6, 2022
6 min

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do

Knowledge Work
Storytelling

Whether we communicate with other people verbally or non-verbally, our brain processes any sensory input of our senses.

Sep 4, 2022
3 min

World Sensation, Why remarkably nobody has built your leadership

Leadership
Growth

The truth: you do not focus on accomplishments, and you do not empower others.

Jul 6, 2022
4 min

Effective leaders listen for stories that touch the heart and mind

Leadership
Knowledge Work

The management literature has known it for a long time. Leadership is not identical to management.

Jun 20, 2022
4 min

4 powerful secrets medium user need to know about leadership

Growth
Leadership

Today everybody talks about leadership. Just do a quick search on Medium. But is everybody talking about the same thing?

Jun 5, 2022
2 min

The world requires influential engineers with a passion for stories

Software Engineering
Storytelling

Everyone wants their ideas to strive, even engineers.Engineers are often depicted as uncommunicative cavemen. The talking is best left to other people, isn’t it?

May 18, 2022
3 min

Successful cross-functional teams need the luxury of confidence and trust

Leadership
Management

Today, the cross-functional team and entrepreneurial organization are one of the stock solutions to solve complex problems.

May 11, 2022
4 min

Three old but trusted ways to reveal your team’s common story

Leadership
Knowledge Work

How do you unify a bunch of random people to follow a common cause? Quick answer: provide a common identity and, at best, a shared history.

May 9, 2022
4 min

Good presenters embrace these psycho tips in their life

Storytelling
Growth

We all give presentations, talks, speeches, or dinner toasts. Sometimes we fail to engage with our audience. Try to remember these tips for your next presentation.

Apr 19, 2022
4 min

The science of influence and storytelling

Storytelling
In my previous blog post, I asked different questions.
Apr 13, 2022
2 min

Try these 9 tips to get more and stronger follower growth

Storytelling
Mental Models

Did you ever wonder why you have problems getting your point across? On the other hand, somebody else quickly confers the message?

Apr 13, 2022
4 min

Knowledge advice: 2 Ways to read a book and improve your understanding

Knowledge Work
Growth
Do you read? Yes? Then this post is for you.
Apr 9, 2022
3 min

You in your last meeting

Try these priceless mental tricks to gain the upper hand in pointless conflicts

Leadership
Mental Models

Imagine your last stressful situation. Your face is getting red. You start to stammer and justify yourself. What if you had some superpowers…

Feb 20, 2022
7 min

Quotes about storytelling

Storytelling
Sometimes one person said it all. You read a phrase and it is all there. This is my selection of quotes on storytelling.
Nov 28, 2021
3 min

How find material to read and how to dig through it.

Knowledge Work
Growth

What are the best sources to read on your topic.

Nov 26, 2021
4 min

Under construction Gut ist der Vorsatz

Growth
The resolution is good, but fulfilling it is difficult.
Nov 23, 2021
1 min

How technical is too technical

C++
Software Engineering

When you read and write about software, there is always a balance to be struck how technical the books should be. I have read Effective Modern C++, which I found a little too technical.

Oct 28, 2021
4 min

Why yet another storytelling blog

Storytelling
Knowledge Work
Leadership
So you want to do storytelling? Telling tall tales? But how to start? You are probably much in the same situation as I was in late 2019:
Jul 18, 2021
3 min

I only understand trainstation

Storytelling
If you a native English speaker you certainly got confused by the heading. The phrase was double dutch to you. But fear not you are not alone.
Jul 7, 2021
4 min

Finding your personal blogs purpose and name

Knowledge Work
Growth

In this article I want to share some thoughts about creating a personal blog. A blog needs two things:- The blogs main purpose- A name for the blog

Jul 4, 2021
4 min
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