Almog
@almog.xyz
Favorite Buzzwords: Kafka Streams | SlateDB | Stream Processing | Distributed Databases
co-founder @ https://responsive.dev
co-founder @ https://responsive.dev
Calling database nerds in SF! I'm covering SlateDB at the systems meetup next Wednesday (10/29). If you're around, I'd love to meet you in person (that way you'll have proof I'm not just an AI bot).
👉 luma.com/e7feg2i6
👉 luma.com/e7feg2i6
October 21, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Calling database nerds in SF! I'm covering SlateDB at the systems meetup next Wednesday (10/29). If you're around, I'd love to meet you in person (that way you'll have proof I'm not just an AI bot).
👉 luma.com/e7feg2i6
👉 luma.com/e7feg2i6
Beans on toast is underrated.
August 8, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Beans on toast is underrated.
I recently implemented Gorilla encoding (www.vldb.org/pvldb/vol8/p...) for a SlateDB PR. Pretty cool stuff - easy to understand but really powerful. Here it is, explained by a gorilla.
August 7, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I recently implemented Gorilla encoding (www.vldb.org/pvldb/vol8/p...) for a SlateDB PR. Pretty cool stuff - easy to understand but really powerful. Here it is, explained by a gorilla.
It's true. Every company eventually becomes a database company.
August 5, 2025 at 9:24 PM
It's true. Every company eventually becomes a database company.
Despite using so many new technologies, I somehow never learn my lesson: read the docs sooner and read the docs thoroughly.
July 15, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Despite using so many new technologies, I somehow never learn my lesson: read the docs sooner and read the docs thoroughly.
Reading the tokio-rs async documentation makes me feel like...
July 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reading the tokio-rs async documentation makes me feel like...
One day I'll open a coffee shop dedicated to the not-insignificant intersection between database nerds and coffee snobs. Until then, enjoy this comic.
July 1, 2025 at 5:46 PM
One day I'll open a coffee shop dedicated to the not-insignificant intersection between database nerds and coffee snobs. Until then, enjoy this comic.
Maybe... just maybe, adding more features and complexity into stream processors is NOT what we need?
April 28, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Maybe... just maybe, adding more features and complexity into stream processors is NOT what we need?
The new electric Caltrain cars have WiFi. 🙏
SF bay area has finally entered the 21st century (on this dimension of public transit only).
SF bay area has finally entered the 21st century (on this dimension of public transit only).
April 23, 2025 at 11:31 PM
The new electric Caltrain cars have WiFi. 🙏
SF bay area has finally entered the 21st century (on this dimension of public transit only).
SF bay area has finally entered the 21st century (on this dimension of public transit only).
Reposted by Almog
Today marks SlateDB’s one year anniversary! It’s been a lot of fun. Thanks to @rohanpd.bsky.social @flaneur2024.bsky.social @almog.ai @vigneshc.bsky.social @paulbutler.org Jason Gustafson, David Moravek, and many others for joining the project. 😀
SlateDB - An embedded storage engine built on object storage | SlateDB
Description will go into a meta tag in <head />
SlateDB.io
April 22, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Today marks SlateDB’s one year anniversary! It’s been a lot of fun. Thanks to @rohanpd.bsky.social @flaneur2024.bsky.social @almog.ai @vigneshc.bsky.social @paulbutler.org Jason Gustafson, David Moravek, and many others for joining the project. 😀
Prompt engineering was v0. Context engineering is v1.0.
How should you think about supplying LLMs with the right information? 📖
[1/N]
How should you think about supplying LLMs with the right information? 📖
[1/N]
April 21, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Prompt engineering was v0. Context engineering is v1.0.
How should you think about supplying LLMs with the right information? 📖
[1/N]
How should you think about supplying LLMs with the right information? 📖
[1/N]
"Kafka Configs: A Rube Goldberg Machine?" - an actual quote from a customer after discussing cleanup.policy and Kafka Streams changelogs.
February 10, 2025 at 8:52 PM
"Kafka Configs: A Rube Goldberg Machine?" - an actual quote from a customer after discussing cleanup.policy and Kafka Streams changelogs.
Reposted by Almog
SlateDB now has clones 🤯
Users can clone an existing DB's data to a new location. It's nearly instantaneous since it references the data from the old bucket rather than copying. Writes to the clone update the new location. Compaction lazily merges old data into the new directory./ht @responsive.dev
Users can clone an existing DB's data to a new location. It's nearly instantaneous since it references the data from the old bucket rather than copying. Writes to the clone update the new location. Compaction lazily merges old data into the new directory./ht @responsive.dev
Initial clone implementation by hachikuji · Pull Request #430 · slatedb/slatedb
Fixes #315. This patch contains the logic to create and initialize clones as outlined in RFC-0004.
github.com
February 3, 2025 at 6:59 PM
SlateDB now has clones 🤯
Users can clone an existing DB's data to a new location. It's nearly instantaneous since it references the data from the old bucket rather than copying. Writes to the clone update the new location. Compaction lazily merges old data into the new directory./ht @responsive.dev
Users can clone an existing DB's data to a new location. It's nearly instantaneous since it references the data from the old bucket rather than copying. Writes to the clone update the new location. Compaction lazily merges old data into the new directory./ht @responsive.dev
Reposted by Almog
Should you use Kafka? If so, when? And what are the tradeoffs presented by the dizzying variety of Kafka-adjacent technologies? I hope that my latest blog post provides unique and useful answers to these questions.
Let me know what you all think!
👉 www.responsive.dev/blog/why-whe...
Let me know what you all think!
👉 www.responsive.dev/blog/why-whe...
February 4, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Should you use Kafka? If so, when? And what are the tradeoffs presented by the dizzying variety of Kafka-adjacent technologies? I hope that my latest blog post provides unique and useful answers to these questions.
Let me know what you all think!
👉 www.responsive.dev/blog/why-whe...
Let me know what you all think!
👉 www.responsive.dev/blog/why-whe...
As part of my post-Elden Ring hunt for a game, I tried Balatro last night.
I'm starting to think I may have made a mistake.
I'm starting to think I may have made a mistake.
January 30, 2025 at 5:11 PM
As part of my post-Elden Ring hunt for a game, I tried Balatro last night.
I'm starting to think I may have made a mistake.
I'm starting to think I may have made a mistake.
Reposted by Almog
How did Responsive simplify its architecture and achieve monstrously high availability with unlimited scale potential? Co-founder @almog.ai will share how replacing RocksDB with #ScyllaDB in #Kafka Streams led to big wins for their team at Monster Scale Summit. www.scylladb.com/monster-scal...
January 29, 2025 at 3:18 PM
How did Responsive simplify its architecture and achieve monstrously high availability with unlimited scale potential? Co-founder @almog.ai will share how replacing RocksDB with #ScyllaDB in #Kafka Streams led to big wins for their team at Monster Scale Summit. www.scylladb.com/monster-scal...
My hobbies all have the ability to "reclaim" waste:
🪴 for ceramics, wasted clay from throwing goes right back in to your next pot
🪵 for wood working, reusing 2x4s is second nature
🥘 for cooking, leftover food is tossed into salads
💻 what's for software? bin-packing containers? 😆
🪴 for ceramics, wasted clay from throwing goes right back in to your next pot
🪵 for wood working, reusing 2x4s is second nature
🥘 for cooking, leftover food is tossed into salads
💻 what's for software? bin-packing containers? 😆
January 29, 2025 at 12:16 AM
My hobbies all have the ability to "reclaim" waste:
🪴 for ceramics, wasted clay from throwing goes right back in to your next pot
🪵 for wood working, reusing 2x4s is second nature
🥘 for cooking, leftover food is tossed into salads
💻 what's for software? bin-packing containers? 😆
🪴 for ceramics, wasted clay from throwing goes right back in to your next pot
🪵 for wood working, reusing 2x4s is second nature
🥘 for cooking, leftover food is tossed into salads
💻 what's for software? bin-packing containers? 😆
Kafka Streams 101: Windows & Time!
🕰️ What's the difference between event, stream and wall clock time?
🪟 What are the four different types of windows?
⁉️ What are the important error messages and metrics, and what do they mean?
👉 Read the full lesson here: www.responsive.dev/blog/windows...
🕰️ What's the difference between event, stream and wall clock time?
🪟 What are the four different types of windows?
⁉️ What are the important error messages and metrics, and what do they mean?
👉 Read the full lesson here: www.responsive.dev/blog/windows...
January 28, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Kafka Streams 101: Windows & Time!
🕰️ What's the difference between event, stream and wall clock time?
🪟 What are the four different types of windows?
⁉️ What are the important error messages and metrics, and what do they mean?
👉 Read the full lesson here: www.responsive.dev/blog/windows...
🕰️ What's the difference between event, stream and wall clock time?
🪟 What are the four different types of windows?
⁉️ What are the important error messages and metrics, and what do they mean?
👉 Read the full lesson here: www.responsive.dev/blog/windows...
🙏 A @notion.com feature on my wishlist: @jetbrains.com IDEs have this features that lets you select the open file in the nav hierarchy.
I've always wanted to be able to do this in Notion so I can more easily explore without navigating away from a page.
I've always wanted to be able to do this in Notion so I can more easily explore without navigating away from a page.
January 28, 2025 at 2:52 AM
🙏 A @notion.com feature on my wishlist: @jetbrains.com IDEs have this features that lets you select the open file in the nav hierarchy.
I've always wanted to be able to do this in Notion so I can more easily explore without navigating away from a page.
I've always wanted to be able to do this in Notion so I can more easily explore without navigating away from a page.
Kicking the tires on animated explanations of windowing strategies in Kafka Streams.
Would love feedback on if this animation for session windows resonates: they keep growing until there is an 'inactivity gap' (no events for the key). This here shows a session window with inactivity gap of 10.
Would love feedback on if this animation for session windows resonates: they keep growing until there is an 'inactivity gap' (no events for the key). This here shows a session window with inactivity gap of 10.
January 24, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Kicking the tires on animated explanations of windowing strategies in Kafka Streams.
Would love feedback on if this animation for session windows resonates: they keep growing until there is an 'inactivity gap' (no events for the key). This here shows a session window with inactivity gap of 10.
Would love feedback on if this animation for session windows resonates: they keep growing until there is an 'inactivity gap' (no events for the key). This here shows a session window with inactivity gap of 10.
There are some learnings that only come from having seen a wildly successful technology go from a nascent project to ubiquitous. These insights can change the trajectory for new tech.
Jason's summary about error handling is a great read for practical engineers: github.com/slatedb/slat...
Jason's summary about error handling is a great read for practical engineers: github.com/slatedb/slat...
API Error Guidance · Issue #454 · slatedb/slatedb
Dumping a few thoughts on API errors. At the moment, we have a single flat error SlateDBError which is exposed through the public API. This is the same pattern used in Kafka and there are some less...
github.com
January 23, 2025 at 4:53 AM
There are some learnings that only come from having seen a wildly successful technology go from a nascent project to ubiquitous. These insights can change the trajectory for new tech.
Jason's summary about error handling is a great read for practical engineers: github.com/slatedb/slat...
Jason's summary about error handling is a great read for practical engineers: github.com/slatedb/slat...
Reposted by Almog
Nice short read. Got me wondering if we should support SI in SlateDB. So far I’ve been pretty hardline on just SSI.
Snapshot Isolation vs Serializability - Marc's Blog
brooker.co.za
January 19, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Nice short read. Got me wondering if we should support SI in SlateDB. So far I’ve been pretty hardline on just SSI.
I just discovered @localfirst.fm and can’t help but compare the parallels between that movement and the resurgence of popularity of embedded data systems & BYOC (or even on prem) tech.
“Serverless” has its uses, but the limitations are increasingly clearer.
“Serverless” has its uses, but the limitations are increasingly clearer.
January 16, 2025 at 2:29 PM
I just discovered @localfirst.fm and can’t help but compare the parallels between that movement and the resurgence of popularity of embedded data systems & BYOC (or even on prem) tech.
“Serverless” has its uses, but the limitations are increasingly clearer.
“Serverless” has its uses, but the limitations are increasingly clearer.
I wish @xkcd.com published an autobiography.
Somehow their work constantly hits bullseye and I’d love to get just a glimpse of the story behind the person that generates creativity in the same league as history’s greatest artists.
Somehow their work constantly hits bullseye and I’d love to get just a glimpse of the story behind the person that generates creativity in the same league as history’s greatest artists.
January 15, 2025 at 2:49 PM
I wish @xkcd.com published an autobiography.
Somehow their work constantly hits bullseye and I’d love to get just a glimpse of the story behind the person that generates creativity in the same league as history’s greatest artists.
Somehow their work constantly hits bullseye and I’d love to get just a glimpse of the story behind the person that generates creativity in the same league as history’s greatest artists.
Reposted by Almog
[1/5] Hey fellow Kafka Streams otters! You may have already seen my previous blog posts such as the "Debugging Rebalances" and "EOS guide" from last year (and if you haven't, go check them out! Links in thread)
But now it's 2025, and time for me to think about what to write next...
But now it's 2025, and time for me to think about what to write next...
January 15, 2025 at 3:29 AM
[1/5] Hey fellow Kafka Streams otters! You may have already seen my previous blog posts such as the "Debugging Rebalances" and "EOS guide" from last year (and if you haven't, go check them out! Links in thread)
But now it's 2025, and time for me to think about what to write next...
But now it's 2025, and time for me to think about what to write next...