iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 19/05/2026

Learning from the inimitable @jerdog.dev about his perspective of DevEx as a flywheel at Open Source Summit #OSSummit

Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 18/05/2026

“I want to empower users to fix their own issues [by using AI agents]. That’s how you get contributors coming back.” Love this point from Red Hat’s Kevin Hannon, applied to a real Kubernetes metric issue. #OSSummit

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 18/05/2026

Excited that Open Source Summit is in my home base of Minneapolis this year! Come say hi, I’ll be around Mon-Wed. If you’d like to grab lunch or a coffee, ping me. #OSSummit

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 23/04/2026

I'll be at the GitHub event for the next hour or so. Hope to see some of you there! #GoogleCloudNext #GoogleNext #Next26

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 14/04/2026

Who's gonna be at Google Cloud Next in Vegas next week? If we're already connected, I'd love to catch up. Drop me a note, and let's find time to grab a coffee or beer.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 20/03/2026

A unique, minimalistic design to a coffee shop. It’s called cafe Co.R for “coffee and rainbows,” but I’m not sure where the color is supposed to be.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 26/11/2025

Looks like it'll be a white Thanksgiving this year.

Picture of a snowy backyard with some pine trees. There's part of an indoor Christmas tree in the foreground, decorated with ornaments and ribbon.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 12/11/2025

Pretty impressive Northern Lights last night. Best I’ve ever seen!

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 05/11/2025

This is one of those years when I'm grateful that I'm in a position to max out my pre-tax medical accounts (HSA/FSA). Healthcare is so expensive in the US. And the experience and outcomes are both so terrible.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 01/11/2025

Happy Halloween! In true Minnesota spirit, if it’s not snowing, it’s road-construction season.

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Reposted by Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D.

Rev. Benjamin Cremer @brcremer.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Notice how it’s always, “the Bible must inform our laws!” until it comes to the +2,000 verses in the Bible that discuss the generous use of wealth and possessions in a way that prioritizes the needs of the poor, this sick, the stranger, the vulnerable, and the oppressed.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 21/10/2025

Gemini seems to be getting better at working with Gmail. Try a prompt like this: Write a 2-page summary of emails sent from Oct 5-11 with the label "tech-news" (or whatever label you use for such things)

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 08/10/2025

Most people don’t appreciate how hard it is to walk this fast (without running).

Picture that says: Average pace: 11’57”/mi

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 01/10/2025

Made it to Maine for #monktoberfest! Hope to see many old friends and make new ones.

View of the Portland, Maine, harbor from Luke’s Lobster

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 08/09/2025

Made it to Bali, 30+ hours later! Now trying to stay out so I avoid falling asleep.

A craft beer at a pool bar with an ocean in the background

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 21/08/2025

Good, thoughtful article on the geopolitical dynamics and differences between the US and China, as well as what the US should change to compete more effectively. www.foreignaffairs.com/china/real-c...

foreignaffairs.com

The Real China Model

Beijing’s enduring formula for wealth and power.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 30/07/2025

People born after I graduated from university are now old enough to drink.

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Reposted by Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D.

Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

The peres trappistes have had enough of your glassware bullshit

Label on the side of a Chimay beer bottle with a crossed out regular shaped glass, and a goblet glass.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 20/06/2025

I really like Aldi. It has a rare combination of price, quality, and a twist of European feel. Unlike typical low-priced stores, you can find organic options, and it's not full of ultraprocessed foods with random chemicals and flavorings.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 17/06/2025

Great Platform Engineering meetup last night! Excellent talks by all of the speakers — @brysontyrrell.com, @mbbroberg.fun and Jason Pearson. Here's a pic from @mbbroberg.fun's session on platform product management.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 16/06/2025

Just submitted my talk proposal for @monktoberfest.com and I am excited as hell about it. Hope it gets accepted! Title is “Politics, Power, and Getting Sh*t Done”

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 15/06/2025

Spotted probably 200 people protesting today on a random street corner in my suburb. Never seen anything like it. Usually there's some sparse group of like 10-15 people.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 28/05/2025

Beautiful day for a brewery crawl in the Berkeley/Oakland area. Ping if you’d like to join!

Me holding a small dark beer outdoors at a brewery. It’s sunny out, and there’s a large beer kettle behind me.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 27/05/2025

SF Bay Area friends, I'll be visiting this week! Reach out if you'd like to connect. Here's where I'll be: Wed afternoon — Around Berkeley/Oakland Thurs night — After 7pm in SF Fri morning — Around Berkeley/Oakland Would be great to catch up with some of y'all, it's been too long.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 27/05/2025

Bought a new car yesterday! Very excited to get my first electric vehicle. It is not a Tesla, because I strongly disagree with Elon Musk's actions.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 10/05/2025

Fun way to end my week. Got the ol’ golf clubs out and (poorly) hit some balls at the driving range.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 05/05/2025

On my recent trip to Spain, one highlight was visiting a 300-year-old restaurant. According to the Guinness book, it's the oldest continuously operated restaurant in the world. That's not the kind of thing you see much in the US.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 03/05/2025

“The people who are the strongest written communicators” are also the best engineers at using AI-enabled dev tools like Windsurf & Cursor. Similar goes for engineers who see the big picture (architecture, product mgmt etc). -Bryan Pitts #minnebar

Bryan Pitts and Hayley Brooks presenting at MinneBar

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 03/05/2025

AI use cases from local founders: Data normalization, accelerating content production (code or prose) internally or for marketplace listings. Key is that you need an SME to develop a useful prompt and review the output. #minnebar

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 02/05/2025

Redis Is Open Source Again thenewstack.io/redis-is-ope... —Nice writeup on the journey. I’m a fan of AGPL and still wish someone would create an Affero variant of LGPL. Companies get concerned about running pure AGPL software.

thenewstack.io

Redis Is Open Source Again

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 02/05/2025

People who don’t ask me questions drive me crazy. Why are they like that? www.theguardian.com/wellness/202... -- I bet you know someone like this. Or maybe you are one yourself?

theguardian.com

People who don’t ask me questions drive me crazy. Why are they like that?

‘Non-askers’ can come across as selfish – but there might be personal and societal reasons for their lack of curiosity

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 01/05/2025

First time I’ve ever seen a McLaren IRL. For anyone curious, this was at Nomadic Cafe, which has incredible Somali tea.

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Donnie Berkholz, Ph.D. @dberkholz.com · 01/05/2025

The question we’ve all been dying to answer … cereal for breakfast — good or bad? www.bbc.com/future/artic... The answer: high fiber, low sugar, more whole grains vs processed grains = good. The opposite = bad. Add some protein and healthy fats for good measure, like yogurt and nuts.

bbc.com

Are breakfast cereals really good for us?

Fortified breakfast cereals can be a useful source of fibre, vitamins and minerals – but some are considered ultra-processed food.

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