Reading Notes #706

This week's collection highlights several practical upgrades for your workflow, ranging from cleaner C# patterns to more secure ways to manage AI agents. I’ve also included a few podcast episodes and articles that offer some much-needed perspective on productivity and community life.

AI

• Why AI Agents Need Isolation with Docker SBX (Karan Verma) - Power comes with responsibilities. It's well known (at least for Spider-Man fans), but more seriously, AI users have a simple way to stay safe. And now, with "the kits", it looks like it's even easier.

• Using AI to Build a Blazor App 1: Start With the Problem (Jon Hilton ) - It's so true that AI doesn't always do or act the way we expect. In this case, I wonder if a different model would have been better. In my experience, GPT is better at doing things compared to brainstorming.

Databases

• Fundamentals of Azure DevOps with SQL projects - Azure SQL Dev Corner (Drew Skwiers-Koballa) - This post provides all the details and pieces of config/ code required to get an Azure DevOps pipeline to work, no magic.

Programming

• Azure WAF - Never used yet Yarp, but nice to see a great example exists for when I will. Great solution.

• How to match names in C# without exact string comparisons (Nick Harrison) - Excellent post that shares many patterns and strategies (with code snippets) to optimize our research.

DevOps

• New: Versioned CLI and SDK Docs (Cam Soper) - That's a nice feature that more should implement! You pick your API version, and the documentation follows.

Podcasts

• Create a Happier Version of Yourself: Redirect Your Energy for Positive Thinking (The Mel Robbins Podcast) - I think this episode should be listened to by so many! It's a simple discussion between a son and mom, but so helpful for anyone.

• The space between the Commits with Zed and DeltaDB's Nathan Sobo (Hanselminutes with Scott Hanselman) - I was happy to listen to this episode with Nathan and learn more about his projects: Zed and DeltaDB.

• Azure Container Apps with Paul Yuknewicz and Jan Kalis (.NET Rocks!) - Hmm, a very interesting usage of Azure Container Apps! I'll have to try that.

Miscellaneous

• 3 Tricks to Help You Stop Procrastinating (Suzanne Scacca ) - Need tips to improve your time management? This post is for you.

• Goodbye, forever, probably. (Salma) - Sad news for the communities, but at the same time, it's because of those same communities. This post shares a very sad portrait of the online world that affects many people.
  

~frank

Reading Notes #678

In the ever-evolving tech landscape, this week’s reading notes blend cutting-edge tools with timeless insights. From Python’s growing role in .NET ecosystems to hands-on experiments with AI-powered data ingestion, there’s plenty to explore. Meanwhile, reflections on community, confidence, and finding our “second place” in a fast-paced world add a human touch. Jump into how developers are pushing boundaries, embracing new editors, and learning that growth starts with choosing courage, even when it’s scary.

Programming

• Python is First Class in Aspire 13 (Eric Erhardt) - As a .NET developer, I can totally see myself using that... In the near future

• .NET Conf 2025 Recap - Celebrating .NET 10, Visual Studio 2026, AI, Community, & More - .NET Blog (.NET Team) - The event is done, but the content is still there. I'm still going through myself, there's so much! All the slides, presentations, so much content available, everything about what and where to find

• Introducing Data Ingestion Building Blocks (Preview) - .NET Blog (Luis , Adam) - Pretty cool example using this new data block in C# file and AI to play with data.

• Trying out the Zed editor on Windows for .NET and Markdown (Andrew Lock) - I heard of Zed and was planning to try it, but this post saved me some time. The current unsupported razor pages is a show-stopper for me. But maybe later, if things changed.

Podcasts

• The 4 ways to rebuild your "second place" for belonging (Modern Mentor) - Did it all start because of a TV show?! Nevertheless, an interesting episode to help us find our spot and make those "first day work buddy" a better experience.

• Why you need to choose confidence (even when you're afraid), with Juan Bendaña (Modern Mentor) - Confidence isn't a character trait you're born with; it's a muscle you develop. I like the idea.

• World Leading Therapist: Why You Feel Stuck in Life & How to Get Unstuck (The Mel Robbins Podcast) - We talk to ourselves so much that what we say and how we say it can make a big difference. That's the topic of this very interesting episode.

Miscellaneous

• All good things must come to an end (Salma Alam Maylor) - I totally understand, but it is sad news to see her go out of the streaming business. She is amazing, I'm sure she's still rocks whatever she does.

~frank

Reading Notes #562

It is time to share new reading notes. It is a habit I started a long time ago where I share a list of all the articles, blog posts, and books that catch my interest during the week. 

If you think you may have interesting content, share it!

Cloud

• Getting Started with API Management: A Beginner's Guide for Developers (Neha Hafeez) - This a very interesting post that explains why and how those tools are useful for us.

Programming

• Top 14 Game-Changing Websites Every Developer Should Know About 🚀🔥 (Arjun Vijay Prakash) - An interesting list indeed of website-tool.

• Comparing MVVM and MVUX for building a Multi-Platform Application using .NET, C# and XAML with the Uno Platform (Nick) - A detailed comparison of those two models with Uno platform.

Open Source

• How to write a perfect README for your GitHub project (Marc Seitz) - This is a nice and simple guide to make sure your readme help visitor to land well on your project.

• 5 Ways OpenTelemetry Can Reduce Costs (Morgan McLean) - Great tools from the open-source community to help save money.

• Open at Microsoft – OmniBOR (Aeva Black) - Did you know there is a tool that can help you see the security flaws or your dependencies? Learn more about this project in this post and video.

• Dapr (AugustaUd) - Learn more about Dapr with this series of 3 videos that each contains short demos. With a very active community, there is no dough that OSS project is healthy.

Low Code

• How to get ready for Microsoft 365 Copilot (Zachary Cavanell) - Learn more about the best practices and how to prepare your enterprise.

Miscellaneous

• Building Your DevRel Resume with Open Source (BekahHW) - A different journey for each of us for the best devRel teams.

• Accountability for Effective Teams (Jessica Joy Kerr) - Interesting thoughts. Measuring and staying trustful is so hard.

~Frank