Brett Wedewer

Santana Row shopping center in San Jose has implemented a ticketless parking system that eliminates the need for drivers to take a ticket upon entry and pay at a pay station upon exit. Instead, drivers can simply scan a QR code (see photo) posted throughout the garage using their phones, enter their license plate number and credit card information on the website that pops up, and a camera will read their license plate and open the gate as they exit. While this system may seem convenient and efficient, I think there is a significant security concern! There is a risk that perpetrators could replace the posted QR code with their own, which would redirect drivers to a fake website where they would unknowingly enter their credit card information. This could lead to unauthorized charges and potential identity theft. It is crucial for the shopping center to address this security concern by taking appropriate measures to protect drivers' personal and financial information. They must ensure that the QR codes posted are authentic and that there are no vulnerabilities that could allow perpetrators to manipulate the system. As an alternative solution, pay stations could be installed for shoppers to use instead of relying on their own phones.

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𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀  The 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘣𝘴 biography by Walter Isaacson highlights how transformative a dedication to detail can be in building iconic products. Jobs was relentless about the small things – the often-overlooked details he believed were essential to a product’s soul. Take, for instance, his insistence on a slot-loading CD/DVD drive for the iMac instead of the traditional tray. For Jobs, this wasn’t just an aesthetic choice but a statement of simplicity and elegance. He felt users would sense this refinement, even unconsciously. It’s a reminder that what might seem minor can ultimately shape a product’s perception and feel. This meticulous attention extended across everything Apple created. Jobs was known to care about typefaces, button layouts, and even the arrangement of circuit boards inside devices, setting a standard that every touchpoint should be crafted with care and intention. In software, he pushed for fluid animations and subtle sounds that felt intuitive, creating harmony between user and product. But his focus wasn’t only on the details – he believed in building fully integrated experiences. Apple’s software ecosystem is a perfect example. Consider how iMessage, FaceTime, and AirDrop work seamlessly across devices. This seamless integration wasn’t accidental; it was a result of careful planning where every piece was designed to complement the others, allowing users to switch effortlessly between devices. Another example is iCloud, which connects photos, documents, and apps across devices in real-time, giving users a sense of continuity and connection. For software and digital products, these principles are powerful. Imagine creating an experience that doesn’t just optimize each part but feels unified end-to-end. Integrating design and functionality seamlessly – from backend processes to front-end interfaces and customer support – can turn a functional product into a memorable one. And paying close attention to the details, like smooth transitions or well-paced loading speeds, often makes the difference between a good experience and a great one. Jobs’ approach reminds us that a product’s magic often lies in the fine details and the effort to build an experience that feels complete, connected, and crafted with intention. #ProductDesign #CraftingExperiences #LeadershipLessons

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Project update! My application tracking extension is now doing fuzzier matching and injecting new information into LinkedIn (and other sites) to keep me from doubling up on applications. Next up: local storage and bulk import/export operations...

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Where can you embed an indoor map from Mappedin within minutes (all the way from a floor plan to your site)? 🤯 https://app.mappedin.com to get started

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Dash for Business

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DIY Van Build vs Microservices vs Chief Slowdown Officer Building a DIY van is a lot like building a house at first. But one day, once you're on the road, you realize it’s nearly impossible to hire a contractor to fix mistakes on a weekend in the middle of nowhere. The choices you make during the build can have significant consequences, especially when dealing with features involving fuel, water, electrical systems, and safety. In van builds, as in software development, breaking down your needs into smaller, manageable decisions (similar to microservices) allows for simplicity and flexibility. In the video below, I mounted the diesel heater in the engine bay. The decision not to permanently install the diesel heater inside the van and drill holes through the floor had several benefits: diesel fumes out of the van; easy replacement and cleaning; improved safety without running fuel lines inside the van. The onboard air compressor is mounted next to the diesel heater but can be removed for use elsewhere, adding to its versatility. This version of the van is a prototype (1/N). The common belief is that during prototyping or creating a proof of concept (POC), you need to make quick decisions to Get Stuff Done (GSD). While the value of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is clear, it's not always the best approach. The alternative? Maximum Viable Options (MVO). MVO doesn’t mean getting bogged down in analysis paralysis or moving too slowly—it means being deliberate. Think of yourself as the Chief Slowdown Officer (https://lnkd.in/gN42uwfN, @ 1 min mark). One of the hardest aspects of a van build is the electrical system. By taking time and delaying this part of the build as long as possible, I was able to visualize the wiring diagram repeatedly and virtually test the wiring and electrical flow. When I finally started building, it went so quickly over a single weekend that I thought I had made a mistake. But, channeling the Chief Slowdown Officer mindset, I didn’t turn the system on immediately. Instead, it went through a review and certification process. This careful, deliberate approach made supporting the system easy. Being a Chief Slowdown Officer is similar to how athletes—like pro basketball players or golfers—slow down and visualize the shot before committing to it. This is a powerful technique for architects and engineers. If you can slow down and visualize the architecture and dependency graph of everything you build, then OpenAI has no chance. At least, not yet. More on that later. Van facts: 400W solar panels, 5kWh battery bank, bi-directional charging with the van’s battery/alternator, 20-gallon fresh water tank, 16-gallon remotely dischargeable grey water tank, a power-assisted bed lift, 8,000 BTU air conditioner, onboard air compressor, heated floor, walk through shower, bio waste disposal...

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It is personally surreal to realize that there is no such thing as unstructured data anymore. My first job after getting PhD and returning to Ukraine was for a startup that did sentiment analysis of free-text feedback for BoA, McDonalds, Marriott Hotels, etc. The slogan was something like “Bridge the gap between structured and unstructured data”. Internet was a "database" for only select companies that invested billions and hundreds of billions to this capability. They were monetising exactly that. Guess what? Currently this capability is democratized, thanks to LLM, and we all are going to have a uniform interface to the Internet as it was a database. I did a small exploration with AgentQL and was able to scrape 2 out of 4 target platforms with uniform interface - prompt and AI tech. 2 had bot protection which is a different problem and solving it was beyond my exploration. However I have 100% conviction it is going to be "solved" in the nearest future. Captcha, you are next to fall. It is exciting to successfully and in a matter of minutes use uniform query to two different websites, as earlier I would need to develop a dedicated scraper for each. Businesses built online should prepare themselves for such future.

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I have been working my way through this excellent 18-lesson course on Generative AI that Microsoft has published for free on Github. Each lesson stands alone, so you can jump in wherever you like. You’ll find “Learn” lessons that explain concepts and “Build” lessons with coding examples in Python and TypeScript. Plus, there’s a “Keep Learning” section in each lesson for those who want to dig deeper. I highly recommend it if you are interested in learning the fundamentals of Generative AI and how LLMs (Large Language Models) are capable of generating text, images, and other types of content. https://lnkd.in/ePpqxjzj

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The bigger my team and tech-stack grows, the more I try to identify and improve our curation of Internal Libraries. To.. 🌅 Efficiently and effectively spread the expertise of our devs 💡 Keep development intuitive for smooth cross-pollinating collab 🔐 Protect proprietary algorithms in a dynamic codebase 🛫 Boost code velocity Read more - https://lnkd.in/g86jb2yy Thoughts?! #softwareengineering #code

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Great video on the value of a COE (correction of errors) featuring Jack Carr, Principal Engineer from my first org at Amazon! Great to see a leader like Jake extolling the virtues of this critical mechanism that reflects how Amazon realizes that mistakes will happen; the important part is finding the root cause and establishing mechanisms to ensure the same issues don’t cause future outages. This mechanism helps ensure that Amazon continually becomes a better engineering organization over time. Well done, Jake!

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Another amazing talk at #Config2024 by product leader from Linear. I loved how Nan Yu tackled a fundamental product challenge: the org chart. "An organization that designs a system will produce a design whose structure is a copy of that org's communication structure." - Conway's Law This really hits home. You can’t just copy a team structure that worked for someone else without understanding why it was designed that way and if it fits your org's needs. Your team setup should mirror the product you want to create. Start with the product you want to build: - Define the scope: Set clear boundaries and conditions, like different skill sets. - Share resources: Let people move between teams as needed. - Adapt and evolve: Disband teams when they’re no longer necessary. https://lnkd.in/gXCKqqyB

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Worldly’s new Product Impact Calculator launched today at the Worldly Customer Forum! This breakthrough tool enables apparel and consumer goods companies to calculate scope 3 emissions in minutes. Teams can finally move beyond spreadsheets and spend-based Scope 3 calculations and use primary data about their products and their supply chains to calculate GHG emissions quickly! 

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It's not about the nail! I love this comedy sketch and appreciate Bob Galen 🇺🇦's take bringing it into the context of team dynamics. I'm a believer in routine retrospectives and formal COE/RCA processes. All too often there will be an 'elephant in the room' type problem and if we don't address the thing that everyone sees, we indeed become the hammer making it worse. A simple example here is talking about Quality or Operational Readiness being skipped when teams are understaffed and not respected. The problem isn't that our app didn't scale, the problem is that we didn't empower the team to complete the steps they felt were necessary. If management comes in and does a presentation about 'Quality' and 'Operational Readiness' without addressing the core problem, then management is the hammer, pounding away more of the team's will. let's all strive not to hammer our teams 😀

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"Build in primitives" -Andy Jassy, #Amazon CEO https://lnkd.in/gHMYt7NX Happen to take the time to read this year's Annual investor letter from Andy Jassy. Deep in 2nd half, it talks about how Amazon started thinking about "building in primitives" and how it has been game-changing for them and their customers. Probably old news for some, but eye-opening for me. Definitely a good read!

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Ever had a promising account slip away? ZoomInfo Copilot helps you win them back. 🏆 Marissa Varney, Account Executive at ZoomInfo, demonstrates how Copilot can help you turn "dead" accounts into active opportunities. By leveraging AI, Copilot surfaces important buying signals — like intent spikes and key personnel changes — so you know the perfect moment to reconnect. Watch below and learn how to bring lost deals back to life. 👇 #ZoomInfoCopilot

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📊 U.S. retailers are losing $634.1 billion annually due to just 63% inventory accuracy, but Brain Corp is changing the game. In an article from Unite.AI our VP of Product, Mark Garczewski, highlights how BrainOS® is transforming retail. By automating tasks like inventory tracking and floor care, our robots free up employees to focus on delivering a better customer experience while boosting operational efficiency with real-time data. Retailers are reducing stock outs, improving shelf accuracy, and staying competitive with AMRs leading the way. Read the full story here: https://gag.gl/BVMSCA

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𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 - 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 These are school vacation times for my son and there's no better opportunity than now to take him for a visit to grandma's house. As I was on way to my mother’s house, I reminisced about my childhood and summer vacations. My father, a surgeon, had an incredibly busy schedule. I remember days when he would return home past midnight, only to leave again early in morning to attend to emergencies. My mother used to, and continues to, be associated with many philanthropist causes, having a hectic schedule herself. The concept of "work-life balance" was never explicitly mentioned in the family. It was understood and expected that when family needs arose, we would all be present, be it a distant family wedding or one of us needing extra attention due to studies / health. Needless to say, there were countless times I heard my father say “work is worship”. Despite their demanding schedule, summer vacations meant we all, as family, went on a trip to some or the other fascinating place in India. So why so much fuss about work life balance now?? What are we missing? why are we struggling to seamlessly integrate everything into our lives? Here are 4 lessons that I have learned from my parents and also what I gained from my journey: 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: Define what success means for you. Someone else’s barometer of success cannot be yours. You are unique, your journey is unique and hence your measure of success can be set only by you. 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗙𝗢𝗠𝗢 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽: How many times have you had the thought “if I am not joining that corporate event, will my chances of building visibility with a leader diminish or someone else can take away your spotlight!” Switch from FOMO to JOMO. Take Joy in what you are doing, wherever you are. You have the power to choose your level of contentment. A promotion, a salary hike or anything external to you cannot 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 you happy. Your happiness should be your choice. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀: Identify times of the day when you are most productive and allocate those periods for your heads down deep work. Set goals on what you want to accomplish on a particular day, rather than counting hours. 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 : Remember you are much more than just your job or title. You are a parent, a friend, a sibling, a caregiver, a leader – embrace your identity that goes beyond singular role. Integrating all aspects of your identity makes an authentic you! 𝗨𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀! #lifelessons #joyofsharing #leadershipjourney

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