Tim Saucer

Tim Saucer

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  • Talking to bullies at camp

    I have been volunteering at Camp Quest since 2015. Camp Quest is a secular summer camp designed for children from atheist, agnostic, and freethinking families. We have a variety of the typical summer camp activities like horseback riding, swimming in the lake, and singing campfire songs. We also have programming specific to our mission such…

    August 1, 2025
  • Asking for a Demotion

    How do you ask to be demoted? This is not something I hear people talk about. I’ve done it twice in my career. If you’re in this position, I hope my experience can help in some way.

    April 2, 2025
  • Giving a Technical Interview

    Are you giving your first technical interview? Good luck! Here’s some thoughts from someone who’s done it a lot over the years.

    March 25, 2025
  • Getting started in Open Source

    Lately I’ve gotten a lot of questions about getting started in Open Source, mostly from students interested in the Google Summer of Code. Here I try to give some advice on getting started.

    March 18, 2025
  • Kill Your Darlings

    I talk about the need to refactor and when you should start fresh. It’s something many engineers, especially the more junior, tend to struggle with.

    March 11, 2025
  • The best writing advice I ever got

    Someone was recently surprised that I spend less than 30 minutes on these blog posts. I talk a little bit about how I learned to speed up my writing.

    March 4, 2025
  • Solving the Right Problem

    How do you know that you’re working on the right problem? I discuss some of the pitfalls and approaches I’ve seen to dealing with this sticky topic.

    February 25, 2025
  • Parting Advice

    It’s my last week at my current company, so I’m getting asked frequently for parting thoughts. Here is some general advice that has served me well.

    February 18, 2025
  • Getting the OK to refactor your code

    Suppose you already know it’s a good idea to refactor your code and you need your manager to approve it. This article talks about how to get them to agree.

    February 12, 2025
  • So you’re thinking about getting a PhD?

    About twice a year someone asks me if I think they should get a PhD. This isn’t a simple question to answer.

    February 4, 2025
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Tim Saucer

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