Software engineer since 1995. Came up through hardware installation and help desk before ever writing a line of code. Learned HTML. Then JavaScript. Then server-side web development. Then SQL. Then enterprise CMS. Then JavaScript again. Led teams. Mentored engineers. Became a manager.
I've spent the last decade teaching junior developers how to work on systems they didn't build and don't fully understand. Turns out that is exactly the skill you need to work with AI.
The 30 years matter because mentoring a junior dev and directing an AI model require the same core skill: knowing what to ask for, knowing when the output is wrong, and knowing how to hand off something complex to someone who doesn't fully understand it yet.
| ALLCAPSJOE.com | Home base |
| blog.ALLCAPSJOE.com | Linkstream of what I'm reading |
| tools.ALLCAPSJOE.com | Developer utilities I've built |
| sites.ALLCAPSJOE.com | Sites I've built |
| games.ALLCAPSJOE.com | Web games |
| bigunclejoe.com | 3D printing & maker stuff |
What I'm reading — updated automatically from blog.ALLCAPSJOE.com
- How coding agents work - Agentic Engineering Patterns
2026-03-19 - VHS Slipcover Maker - VHS Slipcover Maker
2026-03-19 - The 49MB Web Page
2026-03-19 - Computers all the way down
2026-03-19 - Reality meets reality
2026-03-18
What I'm building — updated automatically from games.ALLCAPSJOE.com
- Emoji Bloom
2026-03-19 - Neon Diver
2026-01-20 - Thread
2026-01-20
What I've launched — updated automatically from sites.ALLCAPSJOE.com
- BigUncleJoe.com
2026-03-03 - AC Bell Prices
2026-03-03 - How Many Days Since…
2026-02-18
What I've built — updated automatically from tools.ALLCAPSJOE.com
- A List Generator
2026-02-18 - CAPS LOCKED
2026-02-18 - Character Counter
2026-02-18
AI Operator
Think of the Operators in The Matrix. They are not jacked in. They sit in the real world, watching the screens, reading the data streams, running the board. They upload what the crew needs, monitor what is happening inside, and pull the cord when something goes wrong. The people in the construct get the credit for the moves, but the Operator is why they survive.
That is the role. Not inside the AI blindly accepting output, but above it, reading it, directing it, correcting it, shaping what gets kept and what gets cut. The contribution graph has exploded. The output is real. The craft directing it is still mine.
Tools change. Notepad became an IDE. The IDE became an AI pair. The craft behind the keyboard stays the same.
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