vBrownBag

Claude / Codex / Gemini / Open-model Gen AI from Zero with Andrew Brown

Sun, 10 May 2026 00:44:41 GMT

Andrew Brown (ExamPro) joins the vBrownBag crew to talk Gen AI skills, bootcamps, and whether vibe coding has made "learning to code" irrelevant. 🤖 Spoiler: it hasn't. Andrew walks through his upcoming Cloud Code Camp, demos agentic workflows he's built using Claude Desktop and Claude Code, and breaks down how to actually think about coordinator patterns, MCPs, and token-efficient development. 💡 The crew also gets into the "coders are obsolete" debate, AI-assisted JRPG game development, and whether AI certifications are worth your time in 2026. 🎮

Chapters:

00:00:01 - Andrew Brown, Classified Backstories, and Gen AI Fatigue
00:08:45 - Cloud Code Camp: Who It's For and What You'll Actually Build
00:15:38 - Building MCPs and Agentic Workflows with Claude Desktop and Claude Code
00:32:22 - Vibe Coding, Junior Devs, and Why Technical Skills Still Matter
00:54:03 - Are AI Certifications Worth It in 2026?

#GenAI #CloudComputing #AIAgents #ExamPro #vBrownBag

Survive & Thrive: Skills for Techs in 2026 with Stephen Sennett

Sat, 09 May 2026 23:28:10 GMT

AWS Hero Stephen Sennett joins the vBrownBag crew to argue that foundational knowledge matters more now, not less. 🧠 They dig into why communication skills have become a functional technical requirement, 💬 how to build a T-shaped career that AI can't commoditize, and where LLMs still fall completely flat. 🤖 There's a live car wash prompt test 🚗, an honest AGI reality check, and a look at how junior and senior expectations are shifting in the cloud careers era. ☁️ Worth the watch for anyone mapping out their tech skills strategy for 2026.

Chapters:

00:01:35 - Why Foundational Knowledge Is Your Advantage in the AI Era
00:12:50 - Communication Is Now a Technical Requirement (AI Proves It)
00:20:07 - T-Shaped Skills, Learning in Public, and Standing Out in Cloud Careers
00:34:46 - What AI Still Can't Do: The AGI Reality Check and Car Wash Test
00:49:20 - How AI Is Reshaping Junior, Mid, and Senior Dev Expectations

#CloudComputing #AWS #TechCareers #AISkills #vBrownBag

Getting Started with Local AI

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:35:13 GMT

Join us for Part 1 of a 3-part series as Du'An Lightfoot (Senior AI Engineer at Akamai) breaks down everything you need to know to get started running AI models locally on your own hardware.

Du'An walks through the fundamentals of local AI - from understanding why you'd want to run models privately (data ownership, air-gapped environments, IP protection) to the hardware concepts that make it possible. You'll learn how inference actually works under the hood, why GPUs matter for AI workloads, how to choose and quantize models for your hardware, and how to get up and running with tools like Ollama. This is Part 1 of a 3-part series - future episodes cover serving models via API and distributing inference at the edge with Kubernetes.

Timestamps

0:00 Cold Open: Why Local AI?

0:26 Welcome & Introduction

1:30 Following Up on the Frontier Models Episode

2:25 Du'An's Background & AI Inference at Akamai

3:49 What If You Wanted to Own Your Data?

5:00 Local AI vs Cloud AI: A Different Layer of the Stack

5:47 Why GPUs Matter: The Nvidia Story

7:03 CPU vs GPU: Serial vs Parallel Processing

8:28 Model Weights & Quantization Explained

12:45 Choosing the Right Model for Your Hardware
18:22 Getting Started with Ollama
24:16 Live Demo: Running Your First Local Model
30:41 Hardware Recommendations & Requirements
36:52 Hugging Face & Finding Models
42:18 Performance Tips & Benchmarking
48:35 Use Cases: When to Go Local vs Cloud
1:01:30 Live Demo: Claude Put-in-Work Repo
1:11:17 Bonus: Building a Deck with Co-work Live
1:16:36 Preview: Episodes 2 & 3
1:17:17 Wrap-up

How to find Du'An:

https://www.duanlightfoot.com/

https://github.com/labeveryday/

Links from the show:

https://ollama.com/

https://apxml.com/

https://localllm.in/

https://huggingface.co/

https://github.com/labeveryday/claude-put-in-work

https://claude.ai/

AI for Good

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:00:06 GMT

Join us as Kira Intrator (MIT-trained urban planner, systems thinker, and social impact technologist based in Geneva) makes the case that AI for Good isn't failing because of models - it's failing because of systems.

Kira walks through why so many AI pilots never reach deployment, drawing on her experience building tools scaled across 9,000 users, three ministries, and six countries in Central Asia. You'll learn the five factors that kill AI projects in the development sector, why 80% of clinical AI models are trained on data that can't be deployed outside Western contexts, and what the $2.6 trillion opportunity in developing markets actually requires to unlock. This episode is equal parts systems thinking masterclass and call to action - a rare perspective from someone who has moved AI from prototype to production in places most tech professionals never consider.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome & Introduction

2:47 Kira's Background: MIT, Geneva, Central Asia

3:54 The Core Thesis: It's About Systems, Not Models

5:20 AI is Our Generation's Revolution

6:35 The $2.6 Trillion Opportunity

7:17 The 80% Western Data Problem

8:20 Why AI Projects Fail in Development: 5 Factors

9:28 Systems Mismatch & Low-Bandwidth Environments

9:52 Built for Pilot vs. Built for Deployment

10:29 Ownership, Economics & Sustainability
18:22 Real-World Case Studies
24:16 What Actually Works: Levers for Scale
30:41 The Role of Tech Companies & Foundations
33:39 Crystal Ball: Merging the Two Universes
35:01 A Call to Action
38:48 Wrap-up

How to find Kira:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiraintrator/

Links from the show:

Infrastructure & Platforms

Anthropic Beneficial Deployments: https://www.anthropic.com/

Google Research Global South Labs: https://research.google/

Lelapa AI: https://lelapa.ai/

Microsoft AI for Good: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/ai-for-good

OpenAI Foundation: https://openai.com/

Research & Innovation Hubs

Data Science Africa: https://www.datascienceafrica.org/

Masakhane: https://www.masakhane.io/

Stanford HAI: https://hai.stanford.edu/

Wadhwani AI: https://www.wadhwaniai.org/

Global Governance & Policy

OECD AI Observatory: https://oecd.ai/

UNICEF Office of Innovation: https://www.unicef.org/innovation/

World Health Organization AI: https://www.who.int/

Funders & Philanthropies

Gates Foundation: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/

Patrick J. McGovern Foundation: https://www.mcgovern.org/

Conferences

AI for Good Global Summit (July 7-10, 2026 - Geneva): https://aiforgood.itu.int/

Data Science Africa 2026 (July 20-24 - Kampala, Uganda): https://www.datascienceafrica.org/

Deep Learning Indaba 2026 (August 2-7 - Lagos, Nigeria): https://deeplearningindaba.com/

700,000 Learners Later: AWS Education Community and What's Changed

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 21:30:54 GMT

Join us as Hiroko Nishimura (AWS Hero, LinkedIn Learning Instructor, and author of AWS for Non-Engineers) reflects on seven years of teaching cloud to 700,000 learners - what she's learned about learning, and how AWS education has changed.

Hiroko walks through the evolution of AWS certification content, what changed when the Cloud Practitioner exam shifted focus, and her honest take on the industry's move away from non-engineer focused learning. You'll hear her best advice for anyone wanting to build a career in tech through content creation, why you only need to be 1-2 steps ahead to start teaching others, and how community has shaped her entire journey. This episode is equal parts AWS education deep dive and career inspiration - whether you're studying for your first cert or wondering how to break into the cloud community, Hiroko's 700,000-learner perspective is exactly what you need to hear.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome & Introduction

1:42 How We Get to 700,000 Learners

3:37 The 22 Courses Explained

6:15 How AWS Cloud Practitioner Has Changed

7:31 The Shift Away from Non-Engineer Focus

12:45 What Actually Changed in the Exam Content
18:22 Hiroko's Teaching Philosophy
24:16 How AI Has Changed the Learning Landscape
30:41 Community Building & AWS Heroes
35:00 Content Creation as a Career Strategy
39:02 Key Takeaways: You Only Need to Be 1-2 Steps Ahead
41:08 The Origin Story: 700,000 Learners from One Study Blog
44:02 Wrap-up & Where to Find Hiroko

How to find Hiroko:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hirokonishimura/

https://hirokonishimura.com/

https://hiroko.io/

Links from the show:

Uncovering the Hard Truth of Vendor Neutrality in OTEL

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:40:16 GMT

Join us as Josh and Adriana call BS on the oversimplified vendor neutrality narrative - because switching observability vendors isn't magic, even with OpenTelemetry.

Josh and Adriana walk through the hard truths about OTel vendor neutrality using their favorite analogy: switching from iOS to Android because vCard exists. Sure, your contacts will move, but what about everything else? You'll learn what vendor neutrality actually means in production, why vendor-neutral instrumentation still matters (your code artifacts survive tool changes), the real challenges and pitfalls of switching vendors, and best practices to make the process as pain-free as possible. This episode cuts through the hype with honest talk about what works, what doesn't, and why OpenTelemetry is still valuable even when it's not a magic wand.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome & Introduction

3:32 Getting Into the Talk

4:28 Origin Story: From LinkedIn Post to Full Presentation

5:35 Standards We Love: USB-C, Stop Signs, McDonald's

8:00 The No Name Brand Analogy

12:45 What Vendor Neutrality Actually Means
18:22 The iOS to Android / vCard Comparison
24:16 What You Lose When Switching Vendors
30:41 Why Vendor-Neutral Instrumentation Matters
36:52 Real Challenges & Pitfalls
42:18 Best Practices for Switching
46:17 Shameless Self-Promotion & Resources
49:03 Wrap-up

How to find Josh & Adriana:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuamlee/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianavillela/

Links from the show:

https://opentelemetry.io/

Troubleshooting AWS Hallucinations from Vector Store DBs

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:08:44 GMT

Join us as Amelia shares the debugging story nobody tells you about - how her vector store DB couldn't surface specific data until she tested it with simplified data from ChatGPT.

Amelia walks through her journey from throwing JIRA tickets into a large language model without understanding pipelines or data cleaning, to discovering why her production vector store was failing. You'll learn about the gap between chatting with data and getting accurate connections, how to validate vector similarity search results, the difference between production and synthetic test data, and practical troubleshooting workflows for AWS vector stores. This episode reveals the messy reality of RAG systems - when everything seems fine but the outputs are subtly wrong, and how testing with simplified data can expose what production complexity hides.

Timestamps

0:00 Cold Open

1:03 Welcome & Introduction

2:06 Amelia's Background & DeepRacer Trophy

4:49 The JIRA Ticket Use Case Origin Story

5:53 Getting Into the Presentation

6:03 Accessing & Cleaning Data Sets

8:12 Losing Production Data & Recreating with ChatGPT

12:45 Understanding Vector Databases
18:22 How Embeddings Work
24:16 The Hallucination Discovery
30:41 Testing Strategies for Vector Stores
36:52 Debugging Vector Similarity Search
42:18 Real-World Troubleshooting Workflows
44:26 Where to Find Amelia & Wrap-up

How to find Amelia:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliahoughross/

AI Agents Made Simple: Everything You Need to Know

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 03:02:59 GMT

Join us as Du'An breaks down AI agents in a way that actually makes sense - what they are, how to use them, and how to get started today.

Du'An walks through the fundamentals of AI agents with live demos and practical code examples you can use immediately. You'll learn about agent frameworks, when to use agents versus simple LLM calls, building your first agent, and real-world applications from bookmark management to automated workflows. This episode cuts through the hype with realistic expectations about what agents can and can't do, while showing you concrete examples including MCP servers, Strands Pack, and Du'An's personal second brain system.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome & Introduction

1:39 Du'An's Background & Previous Episode Success

3:06 Segueing from Last Week's Episode

4:03 CEOs Vibe Coding Discussion

6:49 Real Estate Developer Building Apps Story

8:23 Getting Started with the Presentation

12:45 What Are AI Agents?
18:22 Agent Frameworks Overview
24:16 When to Use Agents vs Simple LLM Calls
30:41 Building Your First Agent
36:52 Live Demo: Strands Pack
42:18 MCP Servers Explained
47:35 WriteStats MCP Demo
52:14 Real-World Applications
58:33 Du'An's Second Brain System
1:04:01 Bookmark Manager Walkthrough
1:07:17 Organizing Cloud Storage & Email
1:09:06 Wrap-up & Next Episode Teaser

How to find Du'An:

https://www.duanlightfoot.com/

https://github.com/labeveryday/

Links from the show:

https://github.com/labeveryday/strands-pack

https://github.com/labeveryday/writestat-mcp

https://github.com/labeveryday/bookmark-manager-site

https://bookmarks.duanlightfoot.com/

https://github.com/openai/whisper

https://openai.com/index/whisper/

This is Fine: Tech Employment in the AI Era

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 02:03:03 GMT

Join us as Chris gets brutally honest about tech employment in the AI era: what's dying, what's thriving, and how to position yourself to survive the chaos.

Chris walks through the current state of tech layoffs hitting record numbers while companies post record profits, the disappearance of entry-level roles, and practical strategies for navigating this unprecedented moment. You'll learn about skill development in the AI era, why fundamentals still matter more than hype, how to build resilience through community, and what hiring managers are actually looking for right now. This episode doesn't sugarcoat the challenges from hollowed-out expertise at major companies to early-career professionals wondering if their degree still matters, but it also provides actionable guidance on positioning yourself and why humor and human connection remain irreplaceable in an AI-driven world.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome & Setting the Tone

3:09 Chris Miller's Background & Journey

7:30 The Current State of Tech Employment

12:45 Layoffs vs Record Profits Discussion
18:22 Entry-Level Roles Disappearing
24:16 What Skills Actually Matter Now
30:41 Building Career Resilience
36:52 The Fundamentals Still Win
42:18 Community & Support Networks
47:35 Practical Job Search Strategies
52:14 What AI Can't Replace (Yet)
55:06 Things We're Thankful For
59:00 Wrap-up & Resources

How to find Chris:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-t-miller/

https://www.chrismiller.com/

Links from the show:

https://roadmap.sh

AI Governance for Virtualized Infrastructure: What vSphere Admins Need to Know

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 15:24:40 GMT

Join us as Marian explains what AI governance means for vSphere administrators and why it matters now.

Marian walks through practical governance frameworks that vSphere admins need to understand, from IEEE 7000 series standards to mapping governance controls onto infrastructure you already manage. You'll learn what your CISO will ask for, how to respond using your existing VMware stack, and why governance isn't about slowing innovation - it's about enabling it safely. This episode covers real-world scenarios from data lineage and model transparency to integrating governance tools with existing infrastructure, and addresses the gap between compliance requirements and practical implementation for virtualized environments.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome & Introduction

5:16 Marian's Background in Tech & Governance

6:37 What is Governance?

12:45 IEEE 7000 Series Standards Overview
18:22 AI Governance for vSphere Admins
24:16 Data Lineage & Model Transparency
30:41 Risk Assessment Frameworks
36:52 Practical Implementation Strategies
42:18 Integration with Existing Tools
47:35 Common Governance Challenges
51:12 Vendor Landscape Discussion
54:27 Missing Innovation in the Space
58:09 Wrap-up & Resources

How to find Marian:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariannewsome/

Links from the show:

https://ethicaltechmatters.com/

FinOps - What It Is & Why It Matters

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 17:01:49 GMT

Join us as Peter explores the core principles and practices of FinOps that help organizations optimize cloud spend without slowing innovation.

Peter walks through what FinOps really is, why it matters beyond just cost cutting, and how engineers can collaborate effectively with finance teams to design cost-aware architectures. You'll learn about the three phases of FinOps (Inform, Optimize, Operate), how to get leadership buy-in for cloud initiatives, and practical strategies for managing cloud costs from the architecture phase through operations. This episode covers real-world scenarios from hybrid cloud cost tracking to building cost models before migrations, and explains how FinOps fits into your existing team structure regardless of organization size.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome & Introduction

6:10 Peter's Background & Journey to FinOps

10:45 What is FinOps?
16:32 The Three Phases: Inform, Optimize, Operate
22:18 Getting Leadership Buy-In
28:45 Cost-Aware Architecture Design
34:20 Hybrid Cloud & On-Prem Cost Tracking
40:15 FinOps Team Structure & Roles
46:30 Tools & Platforms Discussion
52:14 Accounting & Finance Collaboration
54:13 Starting FinOps Before Cloud Migration
57:17 FinOps for Small Teams & DBAs
1:00:13 Wrap-up & Resources

How to find Peter:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/petercrenshaw/

Links from the show:

https://finops.org

https://finopsweekly.com

https://thefrugalarchitect.com

Observability 2.0 - More Than Just Logs, Metrics & Traces

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 16:34:15 GMT

Join us as Neel explores how observability is evolving beyond traditional logs, metrics, and traces into a predictive, AI-powered discipline.

Neel walks through the evolution of Observability, demonstrating how OpenTelemetry, machine learning, and LLMs are transforming how we monitor and maintain modern applications. You'll learn about dynamic sampling techniques that reduce costs while maintaining visibility, how ML algorithms detect anomalies before they cause outages, and practical implementations using tools like the OpenTelemetry Collector. This episode covers real-world scenarios from reducing massive log volumes to predicting system failures before they impact customers.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome & Introduction

4:29 Neel's Background & Community Work

5:03 The Evolution of Observability

6:29 The 2 AM Production Incident Scenario

8:13 OpenTelemetry's Role in Modern Observability

12:45 Dynamic Sampling Techniques
18:22 ML & AI in Anomaly Detection
24:16 LLM Observability Explained
28:32 Cost Optimization Strategies
30:04 Context Windows & Token Management
32:00 Self-Healing Systems Discussion
34:15 Edge Cases: When Dynamic Sampling Doesn't Work
36:27 Wrap-up & Resources

How to find Neel:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/neelcshah/

https://bento.me/neelshah

Links from the show:

https://neelshah.dev/blogs/observability-2

https://opentelemetry.io/

https://middleware.io/blog/observability-2-0/

Teaching AI to Terraform (So We Don't Have To)

Sat, 24 Jan 2026 18:17:12 GMT

Join us as Sam demonstrates how to teach AI to write Terraform configurations using Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.

Sam introduces the Terraform MCP server and walks through practical demos showing how AI can understand and safely interact with your infrastructure. You'll see live examples of AI planning, generating, and evolving Terraform configurations - from creating landing zones to setting up workspace variables automatically. Whether you're managing complex multi-cloud environments or just getting started with infrastructure as code, this episode demonstrates how MCP servers bridge the gap between AI capabilities and real-world Terraform workflows. Learn how to get started, which Claude models work best for different tasks, and best practices for integrating AI into your IaC pipelines.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome & Introduction

4:37 Sam McGeown's Background

6:02 Introduction to Terraform MCP Server

12:35 What is Model Context Protocol?
18:22 Setting Up the Terraform MCP Server
24:16 Demo: Claude Desktop Integration
30:41 Creating Infrastructure with AI Prompts
36:52 Reading & Analyzing Existing Terraform Code
42:18 Generating Landing Zone Configurations
47:35 Working with Terraform Workspaces
50:37 Creating Variables Automatically
52:14 Model Selection: Sonnet vs Opus
55:11 Live Demo: Workspace Variable Creation
58:33 Getting Started & Resources

How to find Sam:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammcgeown/

Links from the show:

https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/mcp-server

Evolution of Tool Use and MCP in Generative AI

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 19:01:17 GMT

Join us as Gautam breaks down the evolution of tool use in generative AI and dives deep into MCP.

Gautam walks through the progression from simple prompt engineering to function calling, structured outputs, and now MCP—explaining why MCP matters and how it's changing the way AI systems interact with external tools and data. You'll learn about the differences between MCP and traditional API integrations, how to build your first MCP server, best practices for implementation, and where the ecosystem is heading. Whether you're building AI-powered applications, integrating AI into your infrastructure workflows, or just trying to keep up with the latest developments, this episode provides the practical knowledge you need. Gautam also shares real-world examples and discusses the competitive landscape between various AI workflow approaches. Subscribe to vBrownBag for weekly tech education covering AI, cloud, DevOps, and more!

⸻

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction & Welcome

7:28 Gautam's Background & Journey to AI Product Management

12:45 The Evolution of Tool Use in AI
18:32 What is Model Context Protocol (MCP)?
24:16 MCP vs Traditional API Integrations
30:41 Building Your First MCP Server
36:52 MCP Server Discovery & Architecture
42:18 Real-World Use Cases & Examples
47:35 Best Practices & Implementation Tips
51:12 The Competitive Landscape: Skills, Extensions, & More
52:14 Q&A: AI Agents & Infrastructure Predictions
55:09 Closing & Giveaway

How to find Gautam:

https://gautambaghel.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gautambaghel/

Links from the show:

https://www.hashicorp.com/en/blog/build-secure-ai-driven-workflows-with-new-terraform-and-vault-mcp-servers

Presentation from HashiConf:

https://youtu.be/eamE18_WrW0?si=9AJ9HUBOy7-HlQOK

Kiro Powers: https://www.hashicorp.com/en/blog/hashicorp-is-a-kiro-powers-launch-partner

Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11dZZUO2w7ObjwYtf1At4WnL-ZPW1QyaWnNjzSQKQEe0/edit?usp=sharing

2026 AWS Survey with Peter Sankauskas

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 19:46:22 GMT

Join the vBrownBag crew and AWS Hero Peter Sankauskas for the 2026 AWS Community Survey 🎯 – your chance to shape the conversation around AWS careers, cloud adoption trends, and emerging technologies. Peter breaks down this year's survey methodology, shares surprising insights from previous years, and explains how your responses help the entire AWS community understand compensation trends, service adoption patterns, and career development paths. Whether you're a cloud architect, DevOps engineer, or just starting your AWS journey, your voice matters ☁️ Take the survey from January 6 to February 6, 2026, and help build the most comprehensive snapshot of the AWS ecosystem!

Chapters:

00:00:03 - Welcome and 2026 AWS Survey Introduction
00:04:14 - Survey Design and Methodology Explained
00:12:45 - Key Insights from Previous AWS Surveys
00:21:30 - New Questions for 2026: AI, FinOps, and Career Trends
00:28:15 - How to Complete the Survey Effectively
00:35:03 - Closing Thoughts and Survey Timeline

Resources:

Take the survey! https://answersforaws.com/survey/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersankauskas/

Boardgames mentioned:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/201808/clank-a-deck-building-adventure

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148228/splendor

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/264806/were-doomed

#AWS #CloudComputing #DevOps #CloudCareers #AWSCommunity #vBrownBag #AWSSurvey

Learn Infrastructure-as-Code [the FUN way] through Minecraft

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 19:19:52 GMT

Join us for the final episode of 2025 as Mark Tinderholt (Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft Azure, HashiCorp Ambassador, and author of "Mastering Terraform") teaches us Infrastructure as Code through Minecraft! If you've ever wanted to learn Terraform in a fun, visual way, this is the episode for you.

Mark demonstrates how to use the Minecraft Terraform provider to build infrastructure in-game, making complex IaC concepts tangible and engaging. You'll see live demos of provisioning Minecraft resources, managing dependencies, handling state, and even importing existing structures into Terraform. This unique approach transforms abstract infrastructure concepts into something you can literally see and interact with—perfect for visual learners, educators, or anyone looking to make IaC training more engaging. Whether you're teaching your team Terraform or just want a creative way to understand infrastructure patterns, this episode shows you how gaming and cloud engineering can come together. Subscribe to vBrownBag for weekly tech education!

⸻

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome & Technical Difficulties

1:27 Last Episode of 2025!

4:41 Planning for 2026

5:37 Mark Tinderholt Joins

6:14 Introduction to Minecraft + Terraform

8:52 Why Use Minecraft for Teaching IaC?

12:35 Getting Started: Requirements & Setup
16:47 The Minecraft Terraform Provider
20:18 First Demo: Provisioning Basic Blocks
28:32 Managing State in Minecraft
35:41 Working with Dependencies
42:16 Advanced Patterns: For_each & Count
48:55 Importing Existing Structures
55:23 Real-World Applications & Teaching
1:00:17 Q&A: Provider Limitations & Features
1:05:24 Minecraft Level Building Tools Discussion
1:09:05 Final Giveaway & Wrap-Up

How to find Mark:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marktinderholt/

Links from the show:

Marks repos: https://github.com/markti?tab=repositories

Marks book: https://amzn.to/3N1rnuJ

Mark's Ignite talk: https://ignite.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions/7fa5095f-9f65-46e3-9f82-9af6603ea903

How to Build AI Agents with Strands

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 19:29:44 GMT

Join Du'An Lightfoot, AI Developer at AWS, as he dives deep into building AI agents with the strands framework. In this technical walkthrough, Du'An demonstrates how to create custom AI coding assistants and multi-agent systems in just a few lines of code. Learn how agentic AI frameworks have evolved from basic function calling to sophisticated systems that can rival tools like Cursor and Cloud Code. Du'An shares practical examples, including building content pipelines, preprocessing systems, and even generating a book outline from his own YouTube content. Whether you're looking to automate workflows or build your own AI-powered tools, this session covers the frameworks and techniques you need to get started with AI agents.

Perfect for developers, DevOps engineers, and anyone interested in leveraging AI to enhance their development workflow. Subscribe to vBrownBag for more community-driven tech education!

⸻

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction & Welcome

6:43 - AI Tools Discussion & Current Usage

9:33 - Technical Background & Getting Started with Agents

15:00 - Introduction to Strands Framework
25:00 - Building Custom AI Agents Demo
40:00 - Multi-Agent Systems & Workflows
55:00 - Content Pipeline & Preprocessing Examples
1:05:00 - Book Generation Demo
1:10:00 - Q&A & Wrap Up

How to find Du'An:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/duanlightfoot/

Links from the show:

https://s12d.com/vbrownbag-2025

https://github.com/strands-agents/samples

https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/getting-started/intro

https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/building-effective-agents

https://github.com/awslabs/amazon-bedrock-agentcore-samples

https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk

https://modelcontextprotocol.io/llms-full.txt

https://openai.com/index/whisper/

https://github.com/openai/whisper

KubeVirt for vSphere Admins with Eric Shanks

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 04:32:19 GMT

Dive into KubeVirt with the vBrownBag crew and guest Eric Shanks! 🎤 Discover how vSphere admins can bridge their virtualization skills into Kubernetes, exploring practical architecture, live migration, and what it really takes to blend VMs and containers. Perfect for anyone facing VMware changes or curious about next-gen infrastructure. 💡🐧

Chapters:

00:00:00 Welcome & Guest Intros
00:06:30 Why KubeVirt? Market Shifts & Motivation
00:15:00 KubeVirt Fundamentals for vSphere Admins
00:38:30 Storage and High Availability in Kubernetes
00:48:50 Live Migration Demo & Q&A

Resources:

https://kubevirt.io/

https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/cloud-computing/openshift

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericshanks/

#KubeVirt #Kubernetes #vSphere #virtualization #cloudnative #DevOps #vBrownBag

From Speech to Speech: A Tale about Amazon Nova Sonic

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 19:58:25 GMT

In this week’s vBrownBag, Principal Software Engineer Dominik Wosiński takes us on a deep dive into Amazon Nova Sonic — AWS’s latest speech-to-speech AI model.

Dominik explores how unified voice models like Nova Sonic are reshaping customer experience, DevOps workflows, and real-time AI interaction, with live demos showing just how natural machine-generated speech can sound.

We cover what makes speech-to-speech difficult, how latency and turn-detection affect conversational design, and why this technology marks the next frontier for AI-driven customer support.

Stick around for audience Q&A, live experiments, and insights on where AWS Bedrock and generative AI are headed next.

👉 Subscribe to vBrownBag for more weekly deep-dives with community experts and learn something new in cloud, DevOps, and AI every episode!

⸻

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro & catching up with Eric Wright
05:00 – Meet Dominik Wosiński & Halo Radius
06:15 – Why speech-to-speech matters
10:00 – Challenges with chatbots and customer experience
15:00 – Latency, realism, and the human connection
20:00 – Evolution of synthetic voices (“Jennifer” demo)
25:00 – Why speech is hard for computers
30:00 – Architecture of speech-to-speech systems
40:00 – Inside Amazon Nova Sonic
48:00 – AWS Bedrock integration & limitations
52:00 – Pricing, tokens, and performance
55:00 – Lessons learned from real customer projects
57:00 – Live demo of Nova Sonic in action
01:04:00 – Q&A and closing thoughts

How to find Dom:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominik-wosi%C5%84ski-b27535b7/

OpenStack Demystified: A Practical Guide for VMware Admins with Damian Karlson

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 20:53:01 GMT

Join the vBrownBag crew for an insightful session with guest (and host!) Damian Karlson as he breaks down OpenStack for VMware administrators. From Broadcom’s shake-up to cultural, operational, and technical migration differences, Damian offers a practical, grounded walk-through of what it means to move from VMware to OpenStack. ☕️

Chapters

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:07:10 – Why organizations are leaving VMware
00:20:45 – Technical differences
00:33:00 – Operational differences
00:43:30 – Culture shift and community resources

Resources:

https://www.openstack.org/vmware-migration-to-openstack/vmware-to-openstack-migration-guide

https://www.openstack.org/coa/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiankarlson/

#OpenStack #VMware #OpenInfra #CloudMigration #vBrownBag

Building FAST Channels with AWS MediaLive, MediaTailor, & MediaConvert

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 20:41:41 GMT

Luis is an AWS Community Builder, CTO, and game developer! In this session, you'll learn how to build a live FAST (Free Ad-Supported TV) channel using AWS Elemental MediaLive. We'll walk through the end-to-end process: from ingest and transcoding, to dynamic ad insertion with MediaTailor and VOD integration via MediaConvert. This talk is perfect for engineers, architects, or media professionals looking to deliver scalable, serverless streaming solutions on AWS.

00:00 - Intro
04:50 - Building FAST Channels
06:20 - Key Concepts
18:10 - Architecture of the demo
21:00 - QRs for repo and player demo
22:25 - Building the demo live!
46:51 - Alternate Architectures 2 & 3

How to find Luis:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-valdivia-humareda/

Luis' links:

https://github.com/lvaldivia/vbrownbag2025

AWS Heroes On Kiro

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 02:28:05 GMT

Join an epic panel of AWS Heroes as they dive into their experiences with Kiro, the AI-powered IDE shaking up development workflows. From spec-driven coding to pricing discussions and game demos, this conversation mixes deep tech insights with fun moments. Whether curious about AI's impact on coding or just looking for some cloud community vibes, this session offers laughs, honest feedback, and expert viewpoints. 🎮💻🤖☁️

#AWSHeroes #Kiro #SpecDrivenDevelopment #CloudDev #TechTalk #vBrownBag

Chapters

00:00 Welcome & AWS Heroes Introductions
08:00 Getting to Know Kiro
23:00 Spec-Driven Development Explained
35:00 Pricing Debate & Challenges
44:00 Multiplayer Voice-Controlled Game Demo
50:00 AI Coding Workflow & Feedback Loops
1:00:00 Wrap-Up & Future Thoughts on AI Coding

Resources:

https://kiro.dev/

DevOps Without the "Oh, ****!" Moments with Shala Warner

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 01:57:57 GMT

Ready to conquer DevOps fearlessly? Watch as Shala Werner walks through “DevOps Without the Oh, ****!” moments—sharing real-world stories, and her creative Terraproof sandbox for breaking things safely (without blowing up production)! Whether you're a seasoned engineer or just getting your feet wet, you’ll pick up new strategies and learn how to turn nerves into a superpower. Stick around for laughs, relatable tech tales, and some solid advice on experimenting and failing smart. 🦸‍♀️🛠️✨

#DevOps #Terraform #TechTalk #FailSafely #vBrownBag #Sandboxing

Chapters

00:00 Meet Shala, Chris & Damian
08:00 Turning Fear into a Superpower 🚀
17:00 Break Stuff Safe: The Terraproof Way 🛡️
28:00 Demo Time: Sandboxes & Real Stories 🏗️
36:00 Q&A, Life Advice & Wrap-up 💬

Resources:

https://events.giftedlane.com/links

Hack Your Own Cloud: The Most Common Mistakes and How to Stop Them with Rajeev Joshi

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 01:44:30 GMT

Unlock essential cloud security lessons with Rajeev Joshi and the vBrownBag team as they explore the most common AWS mistakes: misconfigured S3 buckets, over-permissive IAM, open ports, hard-coded secrets, and blind spots in logging. Hear real-world breach stories and learn practical best practices for safer cloud deployments, whether starting out or leveling up as a security engineer.

#CloudSecurity #AWS #CyberSecurity #DevSecOps #CloudCareers #vBrownBag #Infosec

Chapters

00:00:03 Cloud Security Introduction & Welcome
00:05:31 Why Cloud Security Matters: Data Breaches, Shared Responsibility
00:18:31 Top Mistakes: S3 Bucket and IAM Misconfigurations
00:31:12 Open Ports, Bad Security Groups, and Real-World Case Studies
00:40:29 Hard-Coded Secrets, Logging, and Monitoring
00:54:54 Best Practices, Careers, and Closing Advice

Resources:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeev-joshi-7964b4221/

Designing Tomorrow: Where AI Meets the Human Touch

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 21:14:26 GMT

Snigdha Joshi is a UI/UX Designer: In this session, we unravel how artificial intelligence is redefining the future of creative technology from intuitive UI/UX design to dynamic content creation, generative art, immersive storytelling, and beyond. Gain insight into how AI is unlocking new dimensions of expression, streamlining design processes, and giving rise to transformative career roles at the intersection of imagination and intelligence.

00:00 - Intro
03:50 - Designing Tomorrow
05:00 - Fear of AI
10:29 - User Research
24:18 - Beyond Chat
36:37 - Tools that Do More
41:45 - Final Takeaway
51:22 - Q&A

How to find Snigdha:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/snigdha-joshi-20a476253/

Snigdha's links:

https://snigdhajoshi.framer.website

Cloud Credibility: Marketing Yourself in the AWS ERA

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 03:10:18 GMT

Janvi Bhagchandani is an AWS Community Builder and an AWS Cloud Captian! In this episode she talks about personal branding and self-marketing within the AWS ecosystem while covering aspects like credentials as social proof, visible expertise, community recognition, and other psychological marketing angles that tie these elements together in the AWS context.

00:00 - Intro
05:43 - Cloud Credibility
07:46 - Authority Bias
16:01 - The 7-38-55 Rule
23:09 - The Primacy Effect
34:45 - The Reciprocity Principle
40:57 - Liking Principle
53:00 - Q&A

How to find Janvi:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janvi-bhagchandani-b58853256/

Why Vibe Coding Isn't Enough

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 19:14:26 GMT

In this episode we talk to AWS Hero Brian Hough: Vibe Coding with GenAI is fast and fun — until your app has to actually work in production. That’s when reality hits: fragile APIs, missing auth, surprise AWS bills, strict constraints, and no clear path to scale. In this Dev Chat, I’ll share what it takes to evolve from AI-generated MVPs to real-world, production-ready apps for millions of users. We’ll talk infrastructure as code, scaling APIs, adding observability, and building systems that don’t break under pressure. If you’ve used GenAI tools like Amazon Q, Bedrock, or your favorite code copilot, this session will help you ship faster and smarter.

00:00 - Intro
15:43 - Why Vibe Coding Isn't Enough
17:10 - The vibe coded initial app
18:30 - What could possibly go wrong?
24:42 - (Agenda) How we're going to fix the vibe coded app
27:55 - Fixing our vibe code workflow
29:06 - The Architecture
31:29 - Our Toolkit & Fixing all the things!
55:17 - The repo to play along at home!
55:23 - Q&A

How to find Brian:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhhough/

https://brianhhough.com/

Brian's links:

https://github.com/BrianHHough/aws-summit-2025

Cannibalism (as a Metaphor for Love) in Open Source

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 20:30:09 GMT

In this episode we talk to Kat Cosgrove, Head of Developer Advocacy at Minimus! We get into a bunch of topics: Horror movies, cannibalism, contributing to open source, how we (sometimes) destroy the things we love😅 Join us for this wide ranging and very informative conversation❤️

00:00 - Intro
12:20 - Cannibalism!
14:07 - List of great pro-cannibalism movies for your next Thanksgiving family dinner conversation
16:20 - Kat actually ties it all together
19:20 - Self care (not in the Devinyls way) & how to contribute healthily
25:25 - Get your popcorn out
36:00 - Good CoC/Bad CoC
46:46 - Q&A

How to find Kat:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katcosgrove/

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:sssh66tbit7kv4ssomldnc4d

Kat's links:

https://policies.python.org/python.org/code-of-conduct/Best-Practices/

https://training.linuxfoundation.org/training/inclusive-open-source-community-orientation-lfc102

https://consent.academy

http://press.stripe.com/working-in-public

https://www.minimus.io/

DevOps is a foreign language (or why there are no junior SREs) with Josh Lee

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 04:20:21 GMT

Join Josh Lee and the vBrownBag crew for a lively conversation about why DevOps feels like learning a new language, and the real reasons why there aren’t more junior SREs. Explore how layers of abstraction, culture, and tools make breaking in so tough, and hear how mentorship, networking, and a bit of career focus can make all the difference. Whether you’re new to tech or a seasoned engineer, this talk delivers practical advice, fresh perspectives, and a few laughs.

#DevOps #SRE #CareerAdvice #AIEngineering #TechLearning #vBrownBag #CloudCareers

Chapters

00:00:05 DevOps Is a Foreign Language: Why There Are No Junior SREs
00:14:00 DevOps & Linguistics: Lessons from Language Learning
00:26:30 AI and the Modern Learning Stack
00:40:00 Mentorship, Networking, and Finding Your Why
00:50:00 Career Advice & Community Resources

Resources:

https://bsky.app/profile/joshleecreates.bsky.social

https://osacom.io/events/2025/osaf-2025/

https://sessionize.com/osacon-2025/

https://altinity.com/blog/getting-started-with-altinitys-project-antalya

Applying Chaos Engineering to ML & Gen AI Workloads with Jenn Bergstrom

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 20:15:24 GMT

Join Jenn Bergstrom and the vBrownBag crew for a deep dive into chaos engineering for machine learning and AI models. Discover how deliberate failure injection can improve system resilience, explore real-world experiments on AI model vulnerabilities, and learn why testing for failure is critical in today’s fast-moving AI landscape. Whether you’re an engineer, data scientist, or tech leader, this conversation is packed with practical insights, cautionary tales, and a touch of humor.

#ChaosEngineering #MachineLearning #AI #vBrownBag #AIOps #ModelResilience #TechTalk

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction & vBrownBag Welcome
02:45 – What Is Chaos Engineering?
10:45 – Netflix, Chaos Monkey, and the Origins
16:40 – Chaos Engineering for AI & ML Models
27:00 – Non-Determinism in LLMs and Testing Challenges
46:00 – Organizational Adoption & Q&A

Resources:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-bergstrom/

https://amzn.to/44JBw5D - "Security Chaos Engineering: Sustaining Resilience in Software and Systems"

https://amzn.to/4l3fFMi - "Chaos Engineering: Site reliability through controlled disruption"

https://amzn.to/4kiqY1W - "Chaos Engineering: System Resiliency in Practice"

https://netflix.github.io/chaosmonkey/

How to Vibe Code Responsibly (with a little help from MCPs)

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 15:05:31 GMT

In this episode we talk to Rizel Scarlett - Tech Lead at Block. She talks about vibe coding, MCPs, how to do it right, and then a live demo! Join us for excellent insights & fun!

00:00 - Intro
07:05 - What is "vibe coding"?
13:34 - The Problem
15:22 - Enter MCPs
28:42 - Live Demo!
31:07 - The Dark Side
32:35 - How to be responsible

How to find Rizel:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rizel-bobb-semple/

Rizel's links:

https://block.github.io/goose/

Building an AWS Well-Architected Review Crew with GenAI featuring Alex Kearns

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 13:29:19 GMT

Unlock the power of generative AI for cloud architecture! In this vBrownBag episode, Alex Kearns demonstrates how to build a well-architected review crew using agentic AI, AWS Bedrock, and open-source tools. Learn to automate AWS Well-Architected Framework reviews, leverage knowledge bases, and see a live demo analyzing CloudFormation templates. Whether you're a cloud consultant or developer, discover practical ways to scale best practices and save time with GenAI.

#cloud #AWS #AI #GenerativeAI #WellArchitected #vBrownBag #CloudComputing #DevOps

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction & Guest Welcom
04:00 – Alex’s Cloud & AI Journey
17:00 – Building the GenAI Review Crew
34:00 – Live Demo: Automated Well-Architected Review
53:00 – Q&A & Future of AI in Cloud Architecture

Resources:

API-Driven Linux: Simplicity At Scale

Tue, 27 May 2025 23:49:29 GMT

In this episode we talk to Justin Garrison - Head of Product at Sidero Labs, the makers of Talos! The Talos distro is a reimagining of Linux for distributed systems like Kubernetes. Talos strips away everything unnecessary—no shell, no SSH, no package manager—leaving just what you need to run K8s clusters. All system management is done through a secure API, eliminating configuration drift and reducing your attack surface with a read-only filesystem.

00:00 - Intro
06:25 - New AI business ideas!
11:51 - What does "API Driven Linux" mean?

How to find Justin:

justingarrison.com

Justin's links:

Talos: https://www.talos.dev/

Getting started: https://www.talos.dev/v1.10/introduction/quickstart/

From Ops to Dev: Understanding the Evolving Developer Landscape

Fri, 16 May 2025 14:29:15 GMT

The tech landscape is evolving faster than ever! Even if you've been in a traditional Ops role, knowing "how developers do" is essential knowledge. In this talk Andrew Fawcett, Heroku VP of Developer Relations will talk with us about how YOU can evolve your career and your development game using AI the RIGHT way.

🔔 Subscribe to vBrownBag for more expert talks on AWS, AI, cloud computing, and career development

00:00 - Intro
02:05 - The AI tools we're currently playing with
07:26 - A Time of Change
17:45 - Things to know when using AI Agents
25:46 - Demo time + adding memory and tasks lists via rules in Cursor
38:00 - AI can be expensive, watch out for these gotchas
34:21 - The AI skills in demand today!
40:30 - Q&A

How to find Andrew:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfawcett/

Andrews' links:

Cursor rules for creating task lists - https://playbooks.com/rules/task-lists

Cursor rules for adding memory to your app - https://playbooks.com/rules/memory

Tutorial Repo - https://github.com/heroku-examples/heroku-dotnet-notepad

Increasing Confidence in Your Software Supply Chain with Mike Fiedler

Thu, 08 May 2025 19:21:03 GMT

Mike Fiedler, PyPI Safety and Security Engineer for the Python Software Foundation, joins the vBrownBag to talk about risks of software supply chain insecurity, and the concrete actions that software consumers & producers can take to make their software safer.

Chapters:

02:12 Introducing Mike
07:20 What is software supply chain security?
08:45 Recent examples of software supply chain compromises
12:15 How do we prevent compromises in open source software?
18:57 Software consumers & software producers in the software supply chain
21:32 Recommended practices for software consumers
42:40 Recommended practices for software producers
50:15 Where to find Mike, and audience questions

Resources:

https://lnk.bio/miketheman

https://blog.pypi.org

Experimenting with Foundation Models

Fri, 02 May 2025 02:52:07 GMT

We’re excited to welcome Faye Ellis — Pluralsight instructor, AWS Hero, and one of my favorite people to learn from!

In this session, Faye shares inexpensive and accessible ways you can start learning about Foundation Models (FMs), Large Language Models (LLMs), and AI. Whether you’re just starting your AI journey or looking for practical experiments without a huge investment, this episode is packed with actionable insights. Faye also shares the top AI skills needed in 2025!

🔔 Subscribe to vBrownBag for more expert talks on AWS, AI, cloud computing, and career development

00:00 - Intro
02:03 - The AI tools we're playing with
08:15 - What is Amazon Bedrock?
15:22 - AWS SDK for Python (boto3)
16:23 - The Converse API
29:39 - Demo time!
32:56 - QR Code to tutorial and code base
34:21 - The AI skills in demand today!
37:58 - Q&A

How to find Faye:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fayeellis/

Bluesky: @faye-ellis.bsky.social

Faye's links:

Tutorial - https://bit.ly/converse-faye

Code - https://bit.ly/converse-demo-code

Scared but Learning: A Survival Guide

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 21:53:28 GMT

Whitney Lee is a well-known figure in cloud computing. She is an international keynote speaker, the host of several successful streaming shows, and a Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) Ambassador. But here’s the wild part: Whitney wrote her first line of code EVER when she was almost 40 years old, only 6 years ago 🤯 🥳

In this inspiring episode we talk to Whitney about her journey, her learning techniques & recommendations, and how YOU can use them to level up!

00:00 - Intro
07:30 - Who is Whitney?
11:20 - The pre-tech years
15:50 - Getting into tech
27:50 - Getting into advocacy
38:10 - Learning in public
56:00 - How to go far in your career (and life!)

How to find Whitney:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneylee/

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@wiggitywhitney

Whitney's links & recommendations:

Anki learning tool - https://apps.ankiweb.net/

Fluent Forever book - https://amzn.to/44CfQsv

Range book - https://amzn.to/4itJQKr

How Freelancing Can Prepare You for the Modern Workforce

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 01:47:39 GMT

Yufa Li is a Fullstack Software Engineer who has been freelancing for years! In this episode we get into ALL the questions: What was her journey like? What are the ups and downs of freelancing? What works, what doesn't, what you should charge, EVERYTHING!

00:00 - Intro
08:00 - Let's talk about freelancing
12:00 - Freelance Statistics 2025
14:30 - The Pros
21:30 - The Cons
29:00 - How to get started freelancing!
37:50 - Q&A
39:15 - Use a dedicated business account

How to find Yufa:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yufa-li/

Her blog: https://the-zen-programmer.beehiiv.com/subscribe

How To Learn Like A Rockstar!

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 22:34:41 GMT

Amanda Ruzza is a DevOps Engineer, world famous Jass Bassist, and a Services Architect at Datadog! in this episode she shares how she ‘migrated’ traditional music studying techniques into learning Cloud and all things tech related!

"Study is fun and it’s all about falling in love with the journey 📚🎶🎼 "

00:00 - Intro
19:03 - Study Techniques for Busy Humans
20:21 - Figure out your WHY
24:30 - Define your non-negotiables
25:15 - Assess your Learning Style
28:01 - Your schedule
30:25 - Create a plan
31:43 - Execute the plan
39:27 - Iterate
40:31 - Make it fun!

How to find Amanda:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandaruzza/

Link to her deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1bt3_Bk7y7xAZinARANhP1Fl8AEb7NA46LFMRYZQF-6c/edit

Amanda's favorite resources:

AWS Power Hour on Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/aws

AWS Workshops - https://workshops.aws/

AWS - FAQ’s and Official AWS Blogs - https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/

DevOps -

Anton Putra’s YouTube Channel - all things Terraform, Kubernetes, AWS

https://www.youtube.com/antonputra

DevOps toolkit - all things Kubernetes, Open Source tools and Linux

https://www.youtube.com/c/DevOpsToolkit

Terraform/Vault - Hashicorp Tutorials

https://developer.hashicorp.com/tutorials

Terraform - Ned in the Cloud’s YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/NedintheCloud

Nana’s YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/@TechWorldwithNana

Ansible and Linux - Learn Linux TV Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/@LearnLinuxTV

On-Prem and Networking - Network Chuck YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/@NetworkChuck

Python - Cory Schafer’s YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/@coreyms

DevOps - Spacelift Blog - all things Terraform and Kubernetes

https://spacelift.io/blog

Terraform - Mattias Fjellstrom’s Blog

https://mattias.engineer/

Top 5 Azure Automation Mistakes to Avoid with Mark Tinderholt

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 19:21:42 GMT

Mark Tinderholt, Azure architect and author of the book "Mastering Terraform", joins the vBrownBag to talk about his top 5 Azure automation mistakes to avoid. Learn how to approach complex automation tasks and how to solve them, all while maintaining your sanity. 🥳

Chapters:

00:00 Introductions
07:06 Big Mistake #1: Boiling the ocean
17:39 Big Mistake #2: The Cloud Shotgun
23:29 Big Mistake #3: Deploying by hand
28:50 Big Mistake #4: Security last
35:16 Big Mistake #5: The one person band

Resources:

https://www.udemy.com/course/terraform-101-azure-edition/?couponCode=B715AFF362472841EE02

https://amzn.to/4j52lFS

https://www.youtube.com/@azure-terraformer

"As You Wish" by Cary Elwes

Vibe Coding: Exploring the GenAI Coding Wave with Du'An Lightfoot

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 16:54:24 GMT

Du'An Lightfoot, AWS Developer Advocate, joins the vBrownBag crew to talk about how he went from frustrated tinkerer to confident builder. He'll demonstrate his actual workflow, and live-code a project using nothing but vibes and Amazon Q Developer. Come see how and why anyone with ideas can now be a developer.

Chapters:

00:00 Introductions
02:49 What is vibe coding?
03:42 The importance of our foundational knowledge
07:12 Getting a high-level overview of your project
10:53 Digging deeper into specific implementations
17:30 Amazon Q Developer builds a website from scratch
25:22 Amazon Q Developer deploys the website to AWS
34:11 Documenting what it did
49:45 How Q Developer works

Resources:

https://twitter.com/@labeveryday

https://www.linkedin.com/in/duanlightfoot

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/devops/code-security-scanning-with-amazon-q-developer/

https://x.com/KanikaTolver/status/1902488505109848176

vJailbreak Automated Migration from ESXi to KVM with Robby Stahl

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 15:37:32 GMT

Robby Stahl, technical account manager at Platform9, joins the vBrownBag crew to vJailbreak, an open source tool that automates VM migration from VMware ESXi to KVM.

Chapters:

00:00 Robby & Damian banter
04:49 What is vJailbreak?
10:06 vJailbreak on GitHub
13:45 A demo is attempted, but the demo gods do not approve
22:00 A video of the demo is attempted, but the video gods do not approve
23:40 Robby shares some successful customer anecdotes
34:12 Philosophizing ensues

Resources:

https://github.com/platform9/vjailbreak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seThilJ5ujM&list=PLUqDmxY3RncV-_mzIgL3P29Jssri7Y052&index=5

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robby-stahl/

Leveraging Observability & AI in Software Development with Matthew Bonig

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 13:04:41 GMT

Matthew Bonig, chief cloud architect at Defiance Digital, and co-author of the AWS CDK book, joins the vBrownBag crew to talk about leveraging observability & AI in software development.

Chapters:

00:00 Roger, Damian, and Matthew have a bit of a chit-chat
03:27 Introducing Matthew👏
08:14 The importance of observability in software development
10:40 Some real-world examples
34:17 Going beyond AI chatbots in software development
45:49 Using IDEs with AI built-in

Resources:

https://matthewbonig.com

https://thecdkbook.com

https://matthewbonig.sidkik.app

How To Prepare for the AWS AI/ML Certifications with Aaron Hunter

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 22:44:48 GMT

Aaron Hunter, AWS principal developer advocate, joins the vBrownBag crew to discuss general tips on preparing for certifications, the AWS AI/ML certification catalog, and great tools YOU can use to help pass an AWS AI/ML certification.

Chapters:

00:00 Sean, the prodigal son, returns! There is much rejoicing across the lands! 🥳
07:32 Introducing Aaron 👏
08:55 Let's talk about the different ways folks learn
13:32 Some tips on how to prepare for a certification
14:55 Reflecting on the right certification path for yourself 🤔
15:44 Understanding that certifications aren't the end of learning
22:32 What do you do if you don't pass a certification the first time?
26:04 Advice for folks that are exploring a new career or a career shift 🚀
33:23 Exploring the AWS AI/ML certification catalog
37:37 Exploring AWS Skillbuilder and AWS Workshops

Resources:

https://aaronshunter.com/

https://bit.ly/examprepmls

https://bit.ly/examprepmla

https://bit.ly/examprepaif

https://bit.ly/examprepclf

Private GenAI for the Enterprise with Kyler Middleton

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 03:54:54 GMT

Kyler Middleton joins Chris and Damian to talk about her free and open-source generative AI solution for the enterprise.

The second link below includes a free 30 day subscription to Substack. You have Kyler's express permission to cancel on the last free day. 😊

Also, I (Damian) forgot that we were doing chapters in these show notes. Sorry!

Chapters:

00:00 Shenanigans ensue
04:20 Introducing Kyler! 👏
07:12 Let's talk about her genAI Slack bot
20:53 Kyler points her Slack bot at her Confluence
22:10 How Kyler improved her Slack bot with re-ranking 🤖

Resources:

https://www.letsdodevops.com/p/lets-do-devops-building-an-azure

https://www.letsdodevops.com/vbrownbag

https://bsky.app/profile/kymidd.bsky.social

Let's Talk About Impostor Syndrome with Ashley Lyon

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 02:52:27 GMT

Ashley Lyon joins Shala, Chris, and Damian for an entertaining yet insightful discussion about impostor syndrome, getting past being afraid of The Worst Thing Happening, and more.

Resources:

https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/129099/how-to-know-if-i-am-a-real-developer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleylyon1/

The DevSec Blueprint

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 19:16:58 GMT

Damien Burks is the Founder of the DevSec Blueprint: "a comprehensive, free, and open-source learning guide designed to equip you with the essential skills and knowledge needed to transition into DevSecOps or grow within your DevSecOps career."! In this episode he walks us through the blueprint, his inspiration for creating it, and how to get started!

00:00 - Intro
04:27 - About The DevSec Blueprit
09:04 - Pre-requisites
23:34 - The Blueprint
38:00 - DevSecOps projects

How to find Damien:

Website: https://www.devsecblueprint.com/

Twitter: @damienjburks

Bluesky: @damienjburks.bsky.social

GitHub: https://github.com/damienjburks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damienjburks/

How to Build a BlueSky Bot with AWS Lambda and Terraform

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 17:51:51 GMT

AWS Community Builder and Software/Platform Engineer Ervin Szilágyi joins us today to talk about his project: creating a BlueSky Bot (for good, not evil 😂). Join us as he walks through the build process, his architectural decision making, and some lessons he learned along the way!

00:00 - Intro
04:02 - About BlueSky
10:05 - How the bot works
29:27 - AI challenges detecting service deprecations
37:05 - Overcoming AI limitations

How to find Ervin:

Website: https://ervinszilagyi.dev/

Bluesky: @ervinszilagyi.dev

GitHub: https://github.com/Ernyoke

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/szilagyiervin/

Show Resources:

Website: https://ervinszilagyi.dev/articles/how-to-build-a-bluesky-rss-like-bot-with-aws-lambda-and-terraform.html

AWS Survey 2025 with Peter Sankauskas

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 00:36:51 GMT

Every year AWS Hero Peter Sankauskas creates the AWS Survey. In it we can see trends for the various services: what's hot, what's not 🤣 Join us for the 2025 AWS Survey where we review findings from years past and make some predictions about what we'll see in 2025! P.S. Do the survey!!! https://answersforaws.com/survey/

00:00 - Intro
03:05 - What is the AWS Survey?
26:33 - Let's do the survey!

How to find Peter:

Bluesky: @pas256.bsky.social

GitHub: https://github.com/pas256

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersankauskas/

Show Resources:

Website: https://answersforaws.com/survey/

GitHub Actions: Tips, Tricks, and More

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 22:06:38 GMT

Welcome to the New Year and the first episode of the year: We are excited to be talking with Developer Advocate Jessican Deen about GitHub Actions and how you can use them to automate your workflows!

00:00 - Intro
05:49 - What are we going to talk about?
08:23 - Reusable Workflows
14:21 - Job Summaries
18:45 - Matrix Jobs
34:58 - Artifact Attestations
41:47 - OIDC
50:47 - Additional Resources

How to find Jessica:

Twitter: @jldeen

Bluesky: @jldeen.dev

Website: jessicadeen.com

GitHub: github.com/jldeen

Show Resources:

Keylight CLI: github.com/jldeen/keylight-cli

Excalidraw: https://excalidraw.com/

Learn GitHub Actions: https://github.com/features/actions

Actions Marketplace: https://github.com/marketplace?type=actions

GitHub Actions Docs: https://docs.github.com/en/actions

AWS re:Invent re:Cap with Andrew Brown

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 18:54:26 GMT

Andrew Brown joins Shala, Chris, and Damian for a re:Invent re:cap of their favorite announcements, tips on how to attend re:Invent, and more.

Resources:

https://genai.cloudprojectbootcamp.com/

https://www.exampro.co/

https://x.com/andrewbrown

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-wc-brown/

Serverless Machine Learning: 3 Paths to Success

Thu, 28 Nov 2024 21:28:15 GMT

What better way to learn about Machine Learning than with an AWS Machine Learning Hero???

Join us as we talk with Cyril Bandolo about the best ways to learn about this exciting new field!

00:00 - Intro
08:20 - What is serverless?
16:00 - What is Machine Learning?
18:38 - ML vs GenAI vs DL
31:35 - Path #1!
33:34 - Path #2!
38:06 - Path #3!

Resources:

Twitter: @BandoloCyril

Bluesky: @cyrilbandolo

YouTube Channel: @datasciencewithcyril

Serverless ML Course: https://training.serverlessguru.com/courses/serverless-machine-learning

Build Amazon Q Apps to Scale & Drive Community Engagement with Linda Mohamed

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 22:18:25 GMT

AWS Hero Linda Mohamed joins the vBrownBag to show us how she uses Amazon Q to scale community engagement (also a sneak peek for her AWS ReInvent 2024 session!)

00:00 Intros and chit-chat
09:05 Linda is a juggler, and Damian is fascinated by juggling math 🤣
12:30 Building an AI application with Amazon Q, and the learning curve of building an AI app
16:30 Introducing the AWS Community Helper app
16:45 AI process 😊 vs manual process 😤
19:00 High-level app workflow
29:45 Architecture diagram of identifying dates
39:04 Linda's AI voice clone & AI video avatar
45:40 Demo of Linda's AI video avatar

Resources:

https://www.youtube.com/@mrs_lee_g

https://thejugglingcompany.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELvedTUcjPo&t=6s

https://registration.awsevents.com/flow/awsevents/reinvent24/public/page/catalog?search.sessiontypes=sessionType_breakoutSession&search=%22Linda%20Mohamed%22

GitHub Universe & the Management Leap with Jeramiah Dooley

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 15:35:50 GMT

Jeramiah Dooley joins the vBrownBag to discuss his experience at and insights from GitHub Universe 2024, and explores the transition from individual contributor to people manager. Great career tips inside!

00:53 Introducing Jeramiah Dooley
07:11 Experiencing GitHub Universe 2024
22:06 Interesting announcements @ GitHub Universe 2024
39:30 Jeramiah's journey from IC to manager
43:00 The hardest moment in Jeramiah's career
58:57 Jeramiah's thoughts on the ideal manager communication style

Resources:

https://gh.io/badger

https://gh.io/spark-signup

https://bsky.app/profile/jeramiah.net

The Human Side of DevOps with Aaron Miller

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 02:43:26 GMT

Aaron Miller joins the vBrownBag to discuss the human side of DevOps, HumanOps, a recap of an AWS event in London, and his experience in the AWS New Voices program.

02:56 Introducing Aaron Miller
11:42 Aaron's quest to understand DevOps
13:00 What DevOps is all about
23:12 People, tools, and processes
36:10 What is HumanOps?
37:30 The five HumanOps principles
38:25 Recap of AWS London re:Inforce re:Cap

Resources:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/devops-guidance/the-devops-sagas.html

https://github.com/HumanOps/HumanOps

Mastering the Zen of Dev Experience: Kubernetes & the Art of Simplicity

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 21:16:50 GMT

AWS Hero, CTO, & long time friend of the show Calvin stops in to help make developers lives easier! 🥰 In this episode he walks us through scaf a project he's created to build kubernetes based environments to enable django devs to (1) get up and running quickly (2) provide a similar environment across local, dev, and prod and much much more.

00:00 - Intro
04:15 - Six Feet Up???
07:55 - Why we started building this
17:17 - Why Kubernetes? ☸️
38:00 - Live Demo 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤣

Resources:

Calvin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/calvinhp/

scaf repo - https://github.com/sixfeetup/scaf

presentation - https://github.com/sixfeetup/2024_PyOhio_MasteringtheZenofDevExperience

Scaling Content Creation using GenAI & Terraform with Damien Burks

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 21:22:49 GMT

Damien Burks joins the vBrownBag to demo a solution he architected & uses Terraform & GenAI to accelerate his content creation

01:10 Call to action! Who's hiring? Let us know and we'll promote 🚀
04:50 Introducing Damien Burks
08:05 Level set: What is Terraform and what's it used for?
11:55 Problem statement & Damien's solution, the Personal Blogging Assistant
26:00 Let's dive into the code! 🏊
32:30 Deploying the Personal Blogging Assistant & demo
38:40 Using the GCP console

Resources:

https://x.com/damienjburks

https://www.devsecblueprint.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@damienjburks

Thoughts on IBM TechXchange 2024 and InstructLab with JJ Asghar

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 00:33:15 GMT

JJ Asghar shares his thoughts on IBM TechXchange & InstructLab with Chris Williams

Resources:

https://x.com/jjasghar

Thoughts on IBM TechXchange 2024 with Keith Townsend

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 17:03:12 GMT

Keith Townsend (Futurum Group & The CTO Advisor) shares his thoughts on IBM TechXchange with Chris Williams

Resources:

https://x.com/CTOAdvisor

What's next for Cloud Solution Architects with Kevin Evans

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 15:17:50 GMT

Microsoft technologist Kevin Evans explores the general trend of technology maturation, certifications for aspiring cloud solutions architects, his thoughts on near-future changes for existing cloud solution architects, and more.

00:00 Welcome and a detour into homelabs
05:33 Kevin's role at Microsoft and technology maturation
10:48 Damian's wife sets off the smoke alarms 🤣(sorry!)
14:10 What's next for cloud solution architects?
32:15 Certifications for aspiring cloud solution architects
46:30 Kevin's advice for existing cloud solution architects

Resources:

https://x.com/TheKevinEvans

https://www.youtube.com/@Code-To-Cloud

https://codetocloud.io/

Exploring AWS AI/ML: Beyond the GenAI Hype Train with Vivek Raja

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 16:55:50 GMT

AWS Hero Vivek Raja goes beyond the GenAI hype and explores AWS AI/ML offerings, AI ethics, and more.

04:05 Introducing Vivek 👋
11:54 Exploring the technology hype cycle
20:50 Considering computer vision, as an example of the hype cycle
25:06 Where is Gen AI in the hype cycle?
29:50 AWS & GenAI
32:29 Rediscovering AWS AI/ML services 🔍
55:44 AWS Sagemaker Studio demo
72:20 Navigating risks & ethical considerations with AI 🤔

Resources:

https://x.com/meetvivekraja

https://kaggle.com

How To Future Proof Your Tech Job From GenAI with Andrew Brown

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 14:59:19 GMT

Andrew Brown presents a roadmap for understanding generative AI that covers the learning journey from getting started with GenAI, to prompt engineering, learning through use cases, and more.

04:25 Starting the GenAI journey 🧑‍💻
08:15 Prompt engineering
10:00 Workbenches & playgrounds
14:50 Types of LLM models
35:00 Approaching AI learning with a use case 📋
42:44 Models as a service
47:45 LLM development tools 🧑‍🎓
53:00 Understanding GenAI hardware

Resources:

https://www.youtube.com/@ExamProChannel

https://www.exampro.co/

https://x.com/andrewbrown

https://github.com/omenking

Deep Dive: PowerShell on AWS Lambda

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 01:03:50 GMT

In this episode of the vBrownBag, Damian does a deep dive on getting started with PowerShell on AWS Lambda. He covers setting up a development environment, packaging & publishing PowerShell on Lambda, lessons learned, and more!

00:28 A quick overview of PowerShell & AWS Lambda 💪
01:07 Anatomy of a PowerShell Lambda function
01:35 Setting up a development environment
03:00 AWSLambdaPSCore modules
03:42 Packaging a PowerShell module
04:19 Handling the handler
05:14 Publishing your PowerShell Lambda function 🚀
05:42 Understanding the AWS Lambda filesystem

Resources:

https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/AWSLambdaPSCore

https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/8.0

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/install/installing-powershell?view=powershell-7.4

https://code.visualstudio.com/download

https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell

Terraform: Stand up test environments freaky fast!

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 19:59:46 GMT

In this episode of the vBrownBag, Shala demonstrates how & why she uses Hashicorp Terraform (for her day job!) to stand up proof of concept tests on AWS far faster than what is possible in the console.

00:00 Intro

1:37 Shala walks us through her GitLab repo 💪

5:23 We're discussing DevOps, y'all

10:52 Shala explains why she started using Terraform for proof of concept testing
13:00 Using Terraform to create AWS CloudWatch alerts
19:30 Creating specific error types in AWS CloudWatch
25:40 Using Terraform to create AWS S3 buckets & Lambda functions
27:20 Creating pipelines in GitLab to refresh & deploy AWS ECS environments 🚀

Resources:

https://registry.terraform.io/

Deep Dive: Automating the vBrownBag with AWS Serverless

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 20:57:44 GMT

In this episode of the vBrownBag, Damian does a deeper dive into the Meatgrinder, showing how the different AWS services interact, how the process logs to CloudWatch, and more!

00:00 Intro

1:20 The AWS Services that power the Meatgrinder 💪

1:51 AWS S3

2:18 AWS EventBridge

2:50 AWS Step Functions

4:10 PowerShell on Lambda & Step Functions interaction 🕺💃

7:05 Python Lamba function

7:33 Logging success in AWS CloudWatch 🚀

Resources:

https://vbrownbag.com

https://aws.amazon.com/serverless/

https://damiankarlson.com/2024/04/21/whats-in-the-bag-behind-the-scenes-at-vbrownbag-com/

What's in the Bag? Automating the vBrownBag with AWS Serverless

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 21:35:10 GMT

In this episode of the vBrownBag, a host is a guest! Damian does a deep dive into the vBrownBag Meatgrinder, an event-driven automation solution built with AWS Serverless that powers the show behind the scenes. Meatgrinder uses AWS S3, Event Bridge, Step Functions, Lambda, and Cloud Watch and handles post-production automation of vBrownBag content. We'll talk about the design decisions made while architecting the solution, and lessons learned along the way.

00:00 Intro and so much banter!
10:14 We actually start talking about the topic 🤣
17:13 Orchestrating Meatgrinder with AWS Step Functions
30:00 Managing state in an event-driven architecture
31:40 Showing off the Lambda functions
36:00 Meatgrinder logging with Cloud Watch
40:33 Solving the biggest technical challenges 🔥

Resources:

https://vbrownbag.com

https://aws.amazon.com/serverless/

https://damiankarlson.com/2024/04/21/whats-in-the-bag-behind-the-scenes-at-vbrownbag-com/

HashiQube on CodeSpaces: HashiStack in minutes!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 20:56:37 GMT

Riaan Nolan is a HashiCorp Ambassador that has developed Hashiqube, a DevOps development lab that runs all HashiCorp products. Hashiqube has a Docker daemon inside meaning we can run containers inside Hashiqube using Kubernetes (Minikube) or Nomad or Docker run. It runs all Hashicorp products: Vault, Terraform, Nomad, Consul, Waypoint, Boundary, Vagrant, Packer and Sentinel.

It also runs a host of other popular Open Source DevOps/DevSecOps applications (Minikube, Ansible AWX Tower, Traefik etc.) showcasing how simple integration with Hashicorp products can result in tangible learnings and benefits for all its users.

In this episode, we'll explore HashiQube on GitHub CodeSpaces.

00:00 Introductions
02:00 Introducing HashiQube 🔥
05:20 HashiQube demo
07:20 Hashicorp Vault on HashiQube
12:00 An overview of HashiQube integrations
21:10 @mistwire deploys HashiQube on-demand 🙌
34:45 What's next for HashiQube 🚀

Resources:

https://hashiqube.com/

https://riaannolan.com/

https://github.com/star3am

https://github.com/star3am/hashiqube

How to sort anything with Python!

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 21:49:27 GMT

Reuven Lerner has been using Python for 30 years and teaching it for over 20. Join us as we talk about "How to sort anything with Python". This is sure to be a fun & interesting show as we learn more about Python with Reuven.

00:00 - Intro
03:00 - How to sort anything💡
03:32 - Why is sorting important?
04:27 - Python's list sort method
06:45 - Python's sorted function
10:00 - Sorting strings 🤖
11:49 - Sorting anything with sorted 🚀
32:38 - Summary & conclusion

Resources:

https://x.com/reuvenmlerner

https://lernerpython.com

https://www.bambooweekly.com

https://practiceyourpython.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THv-m8niDho (All about decorators)

IaC, AI, Programming Languages, & Orchestration!

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 16:01:37 GMT

Sr. Software Engineer Kat Morgan has been in the IaC and software space for a long time and she has opinions! Join us as we talk about the shifting landscape of Infrastructure as Code (IaC), AI, Programming Languages (cough cough Python) and how Orchestration is changing!

00:00 - Intro
03:20 - Kat's mad libs idea 💡
06:38 - Problem scenario
24:15 - Pragmatic honesty and internest "issues" 😅
30:40 - Obligatory AI deepdive 🤖
44:20 - Our learning workflows (what work for us)

Resources:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/usrbinkat/

https://github.com/usrbinkat

https://x.com/usrbinkat

InstructLab and Open Source AI

Sat, 10 Aug 2024 14:29:15 GMT

We've been anticipating this one 🥰 InstructLab is a model-agnostic open source AI project that facilitates contributions to LLMs! In this episode, IBM DA JJ Asghar talks about InstructLab and Open Source AI! JJ walks us through how to setup and train models locally so that you too can AI 🤖😂

00:00 - Intro
04:41 - What is InstructLab?
17:35 - Taking a look
21:40 - Live demo!

Resources:

InstructLab workshop - https://ibm.github.io/opensource-ai-workshop

The whitepaper - https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/X9W4O6BM

InstructLab site - https://instructlab.ai/

InstructLab repo - https://github.com/instructlab

Mastering the Certification Game

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 02:53:52 GMT

In this episode, AWS Support Engineer Deepti Trivedi talks about how she gamified her AWS certification process and how she leveraged that process to get her AWS Solutions Architect Professional cert!

00:00 - Intro
01:25 - A Story of Procrastination
09:48 -
22:20 -

Resources:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepti-s-trivedi/

https://aws.amazon.com/training/digital/aws-cloud-quest/

https://skillbuilder.aws/

Multi-Cloud Architectures: When & Why?

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 17:51:51 GMT

In this episode, VP of Cloud and Data Solutions Jenn Bergstrom talks with us about multi-cloud! It's an often used phrase, but what does it really mean? She defines what multi-cloud is, what are both good and bad uses cases, and says "it depends" a lot! Join us for this extra funny episode 🤣

00:00 - Intro
05:03 - What is multi-cloud?
09:48 - "It depends" 😂
22:20 - The dread spectre of Compliance & Governance™

Resources:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-bergstrom/

Enabling Inter-VPC & Inter-AWS Access w/ VPC Peering

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 20:31:53 GMT

In this episode, Ben Dalton talks with us about VPCs: How you should connect them, why you should connect them, and which services are best in which use cases!

00:00 - Intro
03:20 - What is VPC Peering?
06:38 - Problem scenario
12:45 - When to use other options
18:47 - Conclusion
20:48 - Q&A

Resources:

https://github.com/b-dalton

https://medium.com/@b-dalton/using-vpc-peering-to-enable-private-inter-vpc-communication-a5c0f52150b9

__________

DISCLOSURES ❤

This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video and support the channel at no cost to you. vBrownBag is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com. Thank you for your support!

__________

*About #vBrownBag *

SUBSCRIBE! https://www.youtube.com/@vbrownbag

Socials:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vbrownbag

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@vbrownbag

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vBrownBag

Facebook: https://facebook.com/vBrownBag

Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/vbrownbagitunes

https://vBrownBag.com is a community of people who believe in helping other people. Specifically, we work in IT infrastructure and we help other people in the IT industry to better their careers through education. Our most frequent activity is producing the vBrownBag podcast. vBrownBag also attends global conferences to produce TechTalks and theater sessions.

*About vBrownBag Podcasts*

The vBrownBag crew host podcasts where community members present on topics that will help others in the community. Some podcast series are aimed at helping people achieve certifications.

Other podcasts help community members learn an entirely new subject area like storage, automation, programming, and more! The podcast has been running weekly since 2010.

*vBrownBag TechTalks*

The vBrownBag crew love IT conferences, the only place where we actually see each other, the awesome people who are our presenters and the community members who follow the podcast. The conferences are also a great place to generate some more community learning content.

More about vBrownBag:

https://vbrownbag.com/brownbags/what-is-vbrownbag/

Intro music attribution: Artist - MaxKoMusic

It's Okay to Not Be Okay: Navigating a Tech Layoff with Compassion and Recovery Tips

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 20:51:54 GMT

In this episode, the vBrownBag crew gets into something that we've all been thinking about but very few folks are addressing out loud. The impact of the tech layoffs, how we're all being affected, and what you can do if you've been affected.

Cyber Resiliency & Orchestrated DRaaS with Suresh Madhu

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 22:44:59 GMT

In this episode, Suresh Madhu, Lead Architect for Pure Storage, walks us through new innovations in the Pure Storage Disaster Recovery portfolio & gives us a live demo of the Pure Protect DRaaS platform!

__________

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction
01:33 - The landscape today
07:46 - Data Resiliency Strategies
12:21 - What is Pure Protect // DRaaS?
23:03 - Solution Overview // DRaaS for vSphere to AWS Native
50:24 - Live Demo!

__________

Resources

https://www.purestorage.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/suresh-madhu-9544181/

How to Level Up Your AWS Cloud Skills with Morgan Willis

Mon, 27 May 2024 21:28:15 GMT

In this episode, join Morgan Willis, Principal Cloud Technologist from AWS, as she guides you through mastering your AWS Cloud skills. 🚀

Chapters

00:00 Introduction 👋
04:00 Why Learn AWS Cloud? 🌥️
07:27 Types of AWS Certifications 📜
22:48 4 Steps for Exam Preparation 📚
29:13 Top Learning Resources 🛠️
51:53 The Importance of Hands-On Practice 🧑‍💻
55:22 General Tips for Success 🥳

Resources:

AWS Certification information: https://aws.amazon.com/certification/

AWS Skill Builder: skillbuilder.aws

AWS courses on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/aws

Game based learning on AWS Skill Builder: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/aws-game-training-cloud-skills

AWS Training Live twitch show: https://www.twitch.tv/awstraininglive

AWS Educate: https://www.awseducate.com/

AWS Blogs: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/

AWS Well-Architected: https://aws.amazon.com/architecture/well-architected/

AWS Prescriptive Guidance: https://aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/

AWS Cloud Institute: https://aws.amazon.com/training/aws-cloud-institute/

AWS Builder Labs: https://aws.amazon.com/training/digital/aws-builder-labs/

Hands-on tutorials: https://aws.amazon.com/getting-started/hands-on/

AWS Workshops: https://workshops.aws/

AWS Cloud Technical Essentials: https://www.coursera.org/learn/aws-cloud-technical-essentials

AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials: https://explore.skillbuilder.aws/learn/course/external/view/elearning/134/aws-cloud-practitioner-essentials?lacp=tile&tile=dt

AWS Quick Starts: https://aws.amazon.com/quickstart/

The Amazon Builders Library: https://aws.amazon.com/builders-library/

A Builder's Guide: Getting Started with Generative AI with Du'An Lightfoot

Wed, 15 May 2024 13:51:39 GMT

🔍 Dive into the fascinating world of Generative AI with Du'An Lightfoot, Developer Advocate at AWS. In this episode Du'An provides a comprehensive overview of the cutting-edge technologies shaping our future

💡 Understand the basics of Generative AI, explore the complexities of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAGs), and Large Language Models (LLMs). Du'An then takes us through a live demo of AWS Bedrock, showcasing its capabilities and explaining exactly how to leverage the different models and agents.

🧑‍💻 Whether you're a tech enthusiast, a developer eager to expand your AI knowledge, or just curious about the potential of artificial intelligence, this episode is for you! us to discover how Generative AI can enhance your projects and possibly transform your approach to technology.

🚀 Subscribe for more insightful talks and become a part of our tech-savvy community. Hit the bell icon to stay updated with all our latest content. Let's embark on this AI journey together!

Chapters

00:00 Intro
03:14 Generative AI Overview
20:58 AWS Bedrock in action!
39:26 What is Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)?
56:36 All the QR codes to learn more!