Ian Lewis is a software engineer based in Tokyo who writes about containers, Kubernetes, DevOps, and programming practices. His blog covers real-world engineering topics, career reflections, and practical tooling insights from working with cloud-native systems.
148 articles from this blog
Guide to syncing music from an iPhone 3GS or iPod to Ubuntu using Rhythmbox and required GStreamer plugins.
Google App Engine 1.4.0 release introduces major features like the Channel API for real-time client push, Always On instances, and background processing improvements.
A developer shares his new role as a Google App Engine API Expert for Japan, aiming to support and educate other developers in the region.
Introducing bpssl, a Django application for managing HTTPS redirection and securing specific URLs at the application level.
A technical guide on creating a Python decorator to restrict Google App Engine cron job URLs to authorized requests only.
Explains how to dynamically add methods to Python classes or instances using types.MethodType, covering bound and unbound methods.
Argues against relying on human reasoning for decisions, advocating for data-driven, scientific approaches like experimentation in tech and business.
Investigating Google Chrome's persistent background connections to 1e100.net domains, exploring their purpose and potential tracking implications.
Analysis of a deceptive Facebook app that tricks users into running malicious JavaScript to spam friends.
Explains how browsers cache 301 permanent redirects, causing issues when websites misuse them for temporary actions like login flows.
A developer shares their experience creating a Python interface for the open-vcdiff library using Cython, focusing on C++ integration challenges.
Using Modipyd's pyautotest with Growl notifications for automated, feedback-driven Python testing during development.
A technical note on how Django's self-referencing ForeignKey fields can cause unnecessary SQL JOINs and a workaround using the extra() method.
A guide to using Django's template2pdf app to render RML templates directly into PDF files within web applications.
A satirical take on becoming a 'superstar' developer is contrasted with genuine advice for becoming a truly productive 10x programmer.
A programmer argues against 'walled garden' ecosystems like the iPad, defending the importance of open, tinkerable systems for learning and innovation.
A guide to writing schema migrations for Google App Engine using the Mapper class and the deferred library, including a bug-fixed code example.
A technical guide on configuring Django's FastCGI server to run in the foreground as a specific user using daemontools.
A guide to configuring Mercurial to hide inactive branches by default using a custom alias in the .hgrc file.
A guide to enabling HTTPS testing in Django's development server using stunnel to create an SSL tunnel.
