Mike Roberts
@mikebroberts.com
British-American living in Brooklyn, NY.
he/him. Runner. Puns. Cats. Theatre. Board games.
Work: Architect / Dev / Ops; AWS; Serverless; consulting as https://symphonia.io .
Also on Mastodon at https://hachyderm.io/@mikebroberts
he/him. Runner. Puns. Cats. Theatre. Board games.
Work: Architect / Dev / Ops; AWS; Serverless; consulting as https://symphonia.io .
Also on Mastodon at https://hachyderm.io/@mikebroberts
Reposted by Mike Roberts
Is the MTA making merch with the F M Swap icon cause they should be
December 18, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Is the MTA making merch with the F M Swap icon cause they should be
I fell for a phishing attack yesterday. Got away with it, fortunately, since the fake site didn’t handle 2FA, and I didn’t use the password for anything else. But if you see an email from ”Mailchimp” saying “Campaign Issue Detected” that actually goes to “mailchimp accounts dot com” then be aware.
December 18, 2025 at 1:48 PM
I fell for a phishing attack yesterday. Got away with it, fortunately, since the fake site didn’t handle 2FA, and I didn’t use the password for anything else. But if you see an email from ”Mailchimp” saying “Campaign Issue Detected” that actually goes to “mailchimp accounts dot com” then be aware.
New #AWS architectural refactoring just dropped: "Replace Step Function with Durable Lambda Function"
But seriously - this looks like a very neat addition to Lambda. Will be fun to try it out and find where the holes are.
docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/lates...
But seriously - this looks like a very neat addition to Lambda. Will be fun to try it out and find where the holes are.
docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/lates...
Lambda durable functions - AWS Lambda
Lambda durable functions extend traditional Lambda to support durable execution, enabling fault-tolerant applications that can run for up to one year.
docs.aws.amazon.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:00 AM
New #AWS architectural refactoring just dropped: "Replace Step Function with Durable Lambda Function"
But seriously - this looks like a very neat addition to Lambda. Will be fun to try it out and find where the holes are.
docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/lates...
But seriously - this looks like a very neat addition to Lambda. Will be fun to try it out and find where the holes are.
docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/lates...
Reposted by Mike Roberts
Finally getting some theological clarity on the ethics of reclining in one’s plane seat
November 29, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Finally getting some theological clarity on the ethics of reclining in one’s plane seat
Rewatched Dungeons and Dragons: Honour among Thieves from two years ago and it really is a wonderful movie. Deserves to be considered in the league of all great action fantasy films that don’t take themselves too seriously, but are seriously well made.
November 28, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Rewatched Dungeons and Dragons: Honour among Thieves from two years ago and it really is a wonderful movie. Deserves to be considered in the league of all great action fantasy films that don’t take themselves too seriously, but are seriously well made.
Back in 2020 I published a book, with my good friend John Chapin, on using AWS Lambda with Java. Most of the book holds up well, but one thing that didn’t was the code examples, so I’ve made a few updates to the example repo. More details of what I changed here: blog.symphonia.io/posts/2025-1...
November 24, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Back in 2020 I published a book, with my good friend John Chapin, on using AWS Lambda with Java. Most of the book holds up well, but one thing that didn’t was the code examples, so I’ve made a few updates to the example repo. More details of what I changed here: blog.symphonia.io/posts/2025-1...
I resubscribed to Netflix yesterday after 2 or 3 years away, and it’s a very jarring experience using a consumer app, that I’m paying for, that’s insidiously designed to maximize business KPIs rather than my own experience.
Examples and more thoughts here: hachyderm.io/@mikebrobert...
Examples and more thoughts here: hachyderm.io/@mikebrobert...
November 19, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I resubscribed to Netflix yesterday after 2 or 3 years away, and it’s a very jarring experience using a consumer app, that I’m paying for, that’s insidiously designed to maximize business KPIs rather than my own experience.
Examples and more thoughts here: hachyderm.io/@mikebrobert...
Examples and more thoughts here: hachyderm.io/@mikebrobert...
For my TypeScript + "doing it the old way" web dev friends - here's a small library - "Hiccough" that generates HTML using a tiny internal DSL. So no templates. github.com/symphoniaclo...
Based on the old "Hiccup" Clojure library.
I use it for both full pages, and snippets requested via HTMX
Based on the old "Hiccup" Clojure library.
I use it for both full pages, and snippets requested via HTMX
November 18, 2025 at 9:01 PM
For my TypeScript + "doing it the old way" web dev friends - here's a small library - "Hiccough" that generates HTML using a tiny internal DSL. So no templates. github.com/symphoniaclo...
Based on the old "Hiccup" Clojure library.
I use it for both full pages, and snippets requested via HTMX
Based on the old "Hiccup" Clojure library.
I use it for both full pages, and snippets requested via HTMX
The best thing about this year’s version of Superman is the dog. The most terrifying thing is Luther’s very normal but distinctly nerdy minions who have plenty of free will and are perfectly fine with knowingly being the baddies.
November 15, 2025 at 2:57 AM
The best thing about this year’s version of Superman is the dog. The most terrifying thing is Luther’s very normal but distinctly nerdy minions who have plenty of free will and are perfectly fine with knowingly being the baddies.
I miss the days when hard decisions were questions like "Do I use SP or LP for my E-180's?"
(I used SP, I'm not a heathen. Quality over quantity always)
(I used SP, I'm not a heathen. Quality over quantity always)
November 12, 2025 at 2:53 PM
I miss the days when hard decisions were questions like "Do I use SP or LP for my E-180's?"
(I used SP, I'm not a heathen. Quality over quantity always)
(I used SP, I'm not a heathen. Quality over quantity always)
Reposted by Mike Roberts
I think this hits us all in cycles, but over the past week I've really been struggling with the emotional dissonance of going to work meetings, keeping up with tasks and spending time with my kid while also patrolling to try to prevent people from being grabbed and disappeared from the place I live.
Congratulations to my friends in New York. Now can we please shift the focus to Chicago? (These items are all from today.)
November 6, 2025 at 2:24 PM
I think this hits us all in cycles, but over the past week I've really been struggling with the emotional dissonance of going to work meetings, keeping up with tasks and spending time with my kid while also patrolling to try to prevent people from being grabbed and disappeared from the place I live.
WOOOOOOT!!! What a day!
November 5, 2025 at 2:40 AM
WOOOOOOT!!! What a day!
Lovely day here in #NYC. Just went out and voted (for @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social , and yes on all the ballot proposals). Now looking forward to @hellgatenyc.com 's live result stream tonight.
November 4, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Lovely day here in #NYC. Just went out and voted (for @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social , and yes on all the ballot proposals). Now looking forward to @hellgatenyc.com 's live result stream tonight.
Tonight’s #NYC production of Waiting for Godot with Keanu Reaves and Alex Winter (yes, Bill and Ted), directed by Jamie Lloyd, was a surprising success! I’ve seen Godot before and it’s … well. A bit odd. But the whole team did an incredible job of making it fun and accessible. Definitely recommended
October 24, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Tonight’s #NYC production of Waiting for Godot with Keanu Reaves and Alex Winter (yes, Bill and Ted), directed by Jamie Lloyd, was a surprising success! I’ve seen Godot before and it’s … well. A bit odd. But the whole team did an incredible job of making it fun and accessible. Definitely recommended
In hindsight, Max Zorin’s plan had some merit
October 22, 2025 at 12:00 PM
In hindsight, Max Zorin’s plan had some merit
Huh, I guess us-east-1 wants its old us-tirefire-1 nickname back. It’s been a while.
October 20, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Huh, I guess us-east-1 wants its old us-tirefire-1 nickname back. It’s been a while.
In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.
“It wasn’t always DNS.”
“It wasn’t always DNS.”
October 12, 2025 at 2:20 PM
In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.
“It wasn’t always DNS.”
“It wasn’t always DNS.”
Reposted by Mike Roberts
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera
In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.
As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.
As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
October 11, 2025 at 12:33 PM
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera
In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.
As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.
As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
I feel like democrat funder email lists are like copies of albums on tape back in the 80s and 90s - gradually the quality gets fuzzier as copies of copies of copies are made, until it ends up that I get addressed, from some random person running in North Dakota, as “Dear Mr Robert Mikklehorn”
October 10, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I feel like democrat funder email lists are like copies of albums on tape back in the 80s and 90s - gradually the quality gets fuzzier as copies of copies of copies are made, until it ends up that I get addressed, from some random person running in North Dakota, as “Dear Mr Robert Mikklehorn”
Reposted by Mike Roberts
The most accurate recreation of DS9 I've seen.
September 26, 2025 at 1:15 PM
The most accurate recreation of DS9 I've seen.
Turns out San Francisco is a heck of a nice place to visit in September.
September 19, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Turns out San Francisco is a heck of a nice place to visit in September.
Reposted by Mike Roberts
I use AWS a ton but Lambda still astounds me. Throw some code in a function, send 1m requests as fast as you can.
It ate up all available file descriptors on my little t3 box and still ran 18k RPS with a p99 of 0.3479s. Not many services can go from 0 to 18k RPS instantaneously with this p99.
It ate up all available file descriptors on my little t3 box and still ran 18k RPS with a p99 of 0.3479s. Not many services can go from 0 to 18k RPS instantaneously with this p99.
September 18, 2025 at 1:03 PM
I use AWS a ton but Lambda still astounds me. Throw some code in a function, send 1m requests as fast as you can.
It ate up all available file descriptors on my little t3 box and still ran 18k RPS with a p99 of 0.3479s. Not many services can go from 0 to 18k RPS instantaneously with this p99.
It ate up all available file descriptors on my little t3 box and still ran 18k RPS with a p99 of 0.3479s. Not many services can go from 0 to 18k RPS instantaneously with this p99.
I know I’m late to this, but Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is a brilliant film.
September 14, 2025 at 2:36 PM
I know I’m late to this, but Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is a brilliant film.