DragonForce Cyberattack Incident and DevOps Defense Strategies
Introduction In late April 2025, a cybercriminal group known as DragonForce launched a series of cyberattacks against major UK retailers, causing widespread disruptions and…
Field notes
What I’m learning while building AI products.
Practical notes on AI products, CTO decisions, and the platforms that keep them reliable.
Fighting Back Against AI Slop: Guardian Article Summary & DevOps Perspective
Introduction & Disclosure As a DevOps engineer, I believe in using technology to amplify the good – to support learning, build reliable systems, and…
Fix the Damn Thing Because It’s Broken: CVEs, Security Theatre, and Real Accountability
I recently found myself nodding along to a heated conversation about CVEs and the illusion of security they often create. One line hit particularly…
Taints and Tolerations in Kubernetes (And a Way to Never Forget Them)
If you’ve ever run into scheduling issues in Kubernetes, chances are you’ve been bitten by taints and tolerations. It’s one of those things that…
Welcome to AlanOps 👋
A home for practical notes on building products, making sound technical decisions, and keeping ambitious systems reliable.
🧰 The DevOps Engineer’s 80/20 Golang Cheat Sheet
As a DevOps engineer, I’m always looking for tools that help automate, integrate, or just get out of the way. Go (Golang) is one…
Tracking Token Usage in Azure OpenAI (PAYG vs. PTU)
How Azure OpenAI Tracks Token Usage Azure OpenAI measures usage in terms of tokens processed – counting both prompt tokens (input) and completion tokens…
Why We Need to Slow Down When AI Speeds Us Up
AI coding assistants are here, and they’re changing the way we build software fast. Tools like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, and Replit’s Ghostwriter can generate…
How to Identify Your Blind Spots (Without Losing Your Mind)
Let’s be real: we all have blind spots. Those invisible patterns, habits, or beliefs that quietly trip us up again and again. They’re the…
🧠 Mindful Communication for DevOps Engineers: We’re Not Google, and That’s Okay
✍️ Why I’m Writing This Lately, I’ve been navigating some difficult conversations — in Slack, in meetings, and in code reviews.And if I’m honest,…
Working on something difficult?