The Future of Front-End, Vim Wars, and Raising Gamer Kids w/ Nick Taylor

Recorded live at All Things Open, Robbie and guest co-host Jason Torres talk with Nick Taylor about Kubernetes mishaps, DevRel life, front-end nostalgia, CSS wizardry, arcade emulators, and why taste and creativity still matter in an AI-accelerated world.

In this episode:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (03:26) - Wine rating & review: Cupcake Prosecco
• (09:42) - Casinos, arcades, and emulator nostalgia
• (11:45) - Favorite video games and gaming with kids
• (16:25) - Hot Take: git rebase vs. git merge
• (19:58) - Fellow tech podcasters and community shoutouts
• (22:48) - Law & Order appreciation
• (24:00) - Life at conferences and returning to ATO
• (24:49) - "The Commits" Awards
• (26:13) - Hot Take: Is HTML a programming language?
• (26:24) - Hot Take: Is CSS a programming language?
• (29:20) - AI’s impact on front-end and who still stands out
• (32:05) - Nick’s shift from front-end to Kubernetes and security
• (36:40) - How efficient is AI really?
• (37:55) - Robbie’s experience using AI in daily work
• (40:28) - Why no USB-B?
• (41:23) - Customizing MCPs vs. following the spec
• (44:15) - What Nick would do if not in tech
• (45:03) - Plugs

Links

• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/
• Monster Energy: https://www.monsterenergy.com/
• Laracon: https://laracon.us/
• Kubernetes: https://kubernetes.io/
• YAML: https://yaml.org/
• Kubernetes: https://kubernetes.io/
• The Kubernetes Podcast with Nick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhToH2KgMtk
• All Things Open: https://allthingsopen.org/
• Guinness: https://www.guinness.com/
• Jolt Cola: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolt_Cola
• del Lago Casino: https://dellagoresort.com/
• React: https://react.dev/
• NESticle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NESticle
• XBOX: https://www.xbox.com/
• Super Mario: https://mario.nintendo.com/
• NESticle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NESticle
• Just Dance: https://justdancenow.com/
• Rihanna: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rihanna
• PS4: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/ps4/
• Star Wars Battlefront: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Battlefront
• Lego Fornite: https://www.fortnite.com/@epic/lego-fortnite-odyssey
• Clone Hero: https://clonehero.net/
• Guitar Hero: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Hero
• Analogue Pocket: https://www.analogue.co/pocket
• Oculus: https://www.oculus.com/
• Meta Quest 3: https://www.meta.com/quest/quest-3/
• Minecraft: https://www.minecraft.net/
• VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/
• Neovim: https://neovim.io/
• GitKraken: https://www.gitkraken.com/
• Primeagen: https://x.com/ThePrimeagen
• Terminal.shop: https://www.terminal.shop/
• Dax: https://x.com/thdxr/
• GitHub Universe: https://githubuniverse.com/
• Tomorrow.fm Podcast: https://tomorrow.fm/
• Law & Order SVU: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_&_Order:_Special_Victims_Unit
• Vincent D'Onofrio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_D'Onofrio
• Daredevil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daredevil_(TV_series)
• Render Conf: https://www.renderatl.com/
• So I Married an Axe Murderer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_I_Married_an_Axe_Murderer
• HTML: https://www.w3schools.com/html/
• CSS: https://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/
• Ep 120: Throwback Frameworks, Tailwind Fandom, and CSS with Jhey Tompkins: https://whiskey.fm/throwback-frameworks-tailwind-fandom-and-css-with-jhey-tompkins
• Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink/
• Jason Lengstorf: https://x.com/jlengstorf
• Web Dev Challenge: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8Iz-Fnk_eTkZvSNWXW_TKZ2UwVirT2M
• Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/
• Tailwind CSS: https://tailwindcss.com/
• Vercel: https://vercel.com/
• Claude: https://claude.ai
• AWS: https://aws.amazon.com/
• McAfee: https://www.mcafee.com/
• 1Password: https://1password.com/
• Netlify: https://www.netlify.com/
• Ep 217: Open Source, Agents, and the Next AI Wave w/ Angie Jones: https://whiskey.fm/open-source-agents-and-the-next-ai-wave-w-angie-jones
• Kubernetes the Hard Way: https://github.com/kelseyhightower/kubernetes-the-hard-way
• Sam Altman: https://x.com/sama
• TypeScript: https://www.typescriptlang.org/
• OpenAI: https://openai.com
• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/
• IBM: https://www.ibm.com/
• NVidia: https://www.nvidia.com/
• Goose: https://block.github.io/goose/
• MCP Dev Summit: https://mcpdevsummit.ai/
• Playwright: https://playwright.dev/

Connect with Jason

• GitHub: https://github.com/jasonetorres
• X / Twitter: https://x.com/TasonJorres

Connect with Nick

• Website: https://nickyt.online/
• X / Twitter: https://x.com/nickytonline

Connect with the hosts

• Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
• Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd
• Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink

Subscribe and stay in touch

• Website: https://whiskey.fm
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
• Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot

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Veteran web developers RobbieTheWagner, Charles William Carpenter III, and Adam Argyle host this informal, whiskey-fueled fireside chat with your favorite web devs. They discuss all things web development including JavaScript, TypeScript, EmberJS, React, Astro, SolidJS, CSS, HTML, Web3, and more. They take a unique approach and focus on getting to know the human side of developers and their hobbies outside of work, all while sampling a new whiskey that they rate on their unique tentacle scale.