THE NOTEBOOK / QUENTIN MAYO
Thoughts on security, building things, and everything in between.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time writing about engineering fundamentals. I’ve talked about learning algorithms, understanding distributed systems, thinking about compute, security, infrastructure,…
6 min readThoughts of an Engineer: May 30, 2026 Today is my birthday, and as I get older, I find myself spending less time thinking about what I’ve accomplished and…
7 min readAt a past company I worked at, one of the ongoing tasks on the security and platform side was making developer access both easy and safe. That combination…
10 min readThere’s a story going around right now that feels half true and half misleading. You see it all over the internet. Someone says they “vibe coded” an app…
3 min readI’ve been thinking a lot about this new wave of “vibe coding,” especially with how often people say you don’t need school, you don’t need fundamentals, and you…
3 min readIf you’re using Claude Code regularly on Windows, one small quality-of-life improvement can make a huge difference: launching Claude directly from any folder via the right-click menu. Instead…
3 min readOver the past few months I’ve noticed an interesting divide emerging in engineering teams. It often surfaces during conversations about AI-assisted development tools like Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, or…
4 min readEvery once in a while I run into a tiny design decision that perfectly illustrates a bigger problem in modern software. Today’s example: copying an image on a…
4 min readToday I wanted to talk through a couple of ideas that have been on my mind while working on some projects recently. They revolve around two related themes:…
3 min readThis morning, on the drive home after dropping off one of my kids, I started thinking about something that sits at the intersection of engineering, privacy, and intellectual…
5 min readEarlier today I was watching a few videos about AI coding tools, and one line from one of those videos stuck with me. The person said something along…
5 min readIt’s Tuesday, February 24th, 2026. I’m not entirely sure what to title this post yet, but it revolves around learning, building tools, and the sometimes uncomfortable reality that…
5 min read