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Bradley Smith

@bluecollar.engineer
25 followers 80 following 9 posts

DevOps, SRE, and everything in between. Sharing lessons from the trenches and championing practical engineering. Simplicity > Complexity.

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Bradley Smith @bluecollar.engineer · 30/04/2026
teams: “we automated it with AI” leadership: “nice. did it improve anything?” teams: “…” this keeps happening because baseline measuring is skipped it’s not an AI problem, it’s an engineering problem latest edition for bluecollar dispatch: newsletter.bluecollar.engineer/p/blue-colla...
newsletter.bluecollar.engineer
Measure First, Automate Second: Why Baseline Matters
Master the engineering fundamentals: measure baselines before automating. Discover why skipping metrics leads to failed AI adoption and costly mistakes.
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Bradley Smith @bluecollar.engineer · 01/01/2026
Blue-Collar Engineering Dispatch #4: Runbooks That Don’t Suck newsletter.bluecollar.engineer/p/blue-colla...
newsletter.bluecollar.engineer
Blue-Collar Engineering Dispatch #4: Runbooks That Don’t Suck
Runbooks That Don’t Suck
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Bradley Smith @bluecollar.engineer · 20/09/2025
Blue-Collar Engineering Dispatch #3: "SQLite: The Database You're Not Using (But Should Be)" newsletter.bluecollar.engineer/p/blue-colla...
newsletter.bluecollar.engineer
Blue-Collar Engineering Dispatch #3: "SQLite: The Database You're Not Using (But Should Be)"
SQLite: The Database You're Not Using (But Should Be)
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Bradley Smith @bluecollar.engineer · 19/05/2025
Here is the latest dispatch from blue-collar engineering. newsletter.bluecollar.engineer/p/blue-colla...
newsletter.bluecollar.engineer
Blue-Collar Engineering: Avoiding Overmonitoring Pitfalls
Discover the pitfalls of over-monitoring in engineering and learn how to build reliable systems with smart, simple metrics in this insightful Blue-Collar Engineering Dispatch.
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Bradley Smith @bluecollar.engineer · 02/02/2025
Here is the lasted edition of the Blue-Collar Dispatch. I hope you enjoy! The Art of Microservice Blue-Collar Engineering Dispatch #1: Microservices: Double-Edged Sword newsletter.bluecollar.engineer/p/blue-colla...
newsletter.bluecollar.engineer
Blue-Collar Engineering Dispatch #1: Microservices: Double-Edged Sword
Microservice Sword Fight
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Bradley Smith @bluecollar.engineer · 04/01/2025
I know I am late to the newsletter racket, but better late than never. I want to provide an alternative voice to current engineering trends. I will post 1 or 2 per month. Please let me know what you think! newsletter.bluecollar.engineer/p/blue-colla...
newsletter.bluecollar.engineer
Blue-Collar Engineering Dispatch #0: "You Don’t Need Kubernetes (Yet)"
You Don’t Need Kubernetes (Yet)
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Bradley Smith @bluecollar.engineer · 29/11/2024
A little self-promotion and holiday cheer! Get that special someone nostarch.com/devops-despe... or any of the great books at @nostarch.bsky.social Use the code BLACKHATFRIDAY
Nostarch press sale
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Bradley Smith @bluecollar.engineer · 23/11/2024
Runbooks are key to service ownership, but success varies across companies. I’m exploring why some engineering teams excel while others struggle. 1️⃣ Structure/Definition 2️⃣ Creation 3️⃣ Management (updates/deletes) 4️⃣ Other 📊 Show results
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