Joe Karlsson
Developer Advocate
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
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Joe Karlsson (He/They) is a Software Engineer turned Developer Advocate. He empowers developers to think creatively when building web applications through demos, blogs, videos, or whatever else developers need.
Joe's career has taken him from building out database best practices and demos for MongoDB, architecting and building one of the largest eCommerce websites in North America at Best Buy, and teaching at one of the most highly-rated software development boot camps on Earth. Joe is also a TEDx Speaker, film buff, and avid [TikToker](https://www.tiktok.com/@joekarlsson) and [Tweeter](https://twitter.com/JoeKarlsson1).
Area of Expertise
[Keynote] The Art of Computer Science
Programming is as much of an art as it is a science, but it’s easy to forget the human element of building software systems. The legendary Computer Scientist, Donald Knuth once said, “Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a computer. Art is everything else we do.” As programmers, we are constantly building and exploring new territories and exploring what the medium of computers is capable of and what makes it beautiful.
In this talk, Joe will discuss what makes code beautiful and explore several digital art projects. We will then discuss why exploring art and beauty in tech can actually make you a better developer.
Audience: * There will be very little to no code in this talk, but I will be discussing how I built my projects from a high level. This talk is aimed at being useful and inspiring to new and veteran developers.
Outcomes: * The goal of this talk is to inspire the audience to try something new and build something just for the sake of building something. without the worry of monetization or fear. I want to reject the idea that every project needs to be a side hustle or needs to generate income somehow. It’s totally okay to make something totally stupid and just for you and your community.
In an age when algorithms and massive data tracking, it’s easy to forget that technology is made by people for people. This talk is a reminder that technology is human and we should be more mindful of that as we create it.
Talk Outline:
Introduction
What is Art and Tech?
Digital art is a term and a practice that has been prevalent in the museums and contemporary art sectors since the 1960s. As technological advances mean that digital innovations are now pervading many more areas of our lives, the arts industry is starting to take the work of artists working in the digital realm increasingly seriously.
Discuss several of my projects
Note: This is a small list of some of my digital art projects - I will probably tighten the talk up to on focus on 1 to 3 of these).
The focus of each of these is to be on how I got started. Creative process. And impact of each project. My goal is to inspire others to explore ideas and see where they go. I also want to cover mistakes I made to show that it’s okay to not have it be perfect.
Stupid Shit No One In Hawaii Needs and Terrible Ideas “Hackathon”
A one-day event where participants conceptualize and create projects that have no value whatsoever.
https://stupidshitnooneinhawaiineedshackathon.github.io/
Bechdel.io
Bechdel.io is a film script parsing tool that automatically tests film scripts to determine whether or not they pass the Bechdel Test in a fraction of a second.
We discuss the technical details of how we created the tools, including how we used MongoDB to help us scale and create new insights and discoveries.
We will also cover highlights from our academic research that has emerged as a result of this software.
http://bechdel.io/
MagicMirror²
MagicMirror² is an open source modular smart mirror platform. With a growing list of installable modules, the MagicMirror² allows you to convert your hallway or bathroom mirror into your personal assistant.
https://www.joekarlsson.com/portfolio/magicmirror%c2%b2-smart-iot-mirror/
Moodlite – Smart IoT Light Panels
Moodlite is an open source 3D printable mountable interconnecting system.
https://www.joekarlsson.com/portfolio/moodlite-smart-iot-light-panels/
IoT Kitty Litter Box
My favorite things in life are cats 🐈, computers 🖥 and crappy ideas 💩, so I decided to combine all three and make an IoT (Internet of Things) litter box using a Raspberry Pi and JavaScript!
https://github.com/JoeKarlsson/iot-kitty-litter-box
Rose Hobart
Exploration of the lack of performativity in the current version available of Joseph Cornell’s Rose Hobart. It is an attempt to bring the performative aspects of screening Rose Hobart back to the film by allowing viewers to change the soundtrack, filter, speed, and other options as they view the film.
https://www.joekarlsson.com/portfolio/rose-hobart/
rosehobart.herokuapp.com
So how can Art+Tech make you a better developer?
Explore new technologies, languages, frameworks, libraries, whatever you want.
Release your inhibitions and build something just for you. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
I think Art frees us from the constraints of making something to profit from.
Making something fun helps me actually enjoy the process of building and learning. I would much rather make a community art installation than make another app that somehow monetizes the dead or privatizes community spaces.
Studying “beautiful” code makes you better.
Exploration is a part of learning and growing as a developer.
Final thoughts
Digital art is a new frontier and as people in this room right now, you are all uniquely positioned to push humanity forward. To take back control and make our field more human and inclusive.
Recap
Questions
End!
DevOps and Databases
Have you included your databases in your DevOps pipeline? Databases are frequently not included when transforming an application and engineering culture towards a DevOps or continuous deployment engineering organization. And, you could be forgiven for this, because setting up repeatable, fast, and up-to-date database environments for an application is really hard!
Join me for a live demo and technical best practices for setting up your databases in your DevOps workflow. I will show you how to:
➡️ Set up continuous database deployments
➡️ Run a sample CD workflow for test and back up your database on push
*Flow:*
* Introductions
* Technical best practices for database DevOps
* Intro to GitHub & GitHub Actions Demo
* A high-level overview of the project
* Go through the demo
* Q&A
*DevOps for Databases Technical Best Practices:*
* To begin with, databases were never part of the original DevOps vision.
* Lack of culture and well-established processes
* Microservices are a good way to decouple the database.
* The database schema, including indexes, need to be in source control.
* Data that controls business logic such as lookup tables also need to be in source control.
* Developers need a way to easily create local databases.
* The shared database should only be updated via a build server.
* Migrations to the rescue
* Practice in a production-like environment
* Monitoring database systems for performance and compliance, taking into account regional differences and regulatory requirements.
test!
* You need to test a change before applying it to a production environment.
* Containers are a good way to practice.
My code: [https://github.com/singlestore-labs/singlestore-and-github-actions-demo](https://github.com/singlestore-labs/singlestore-and-github-actions-demo)
You can view a complete list of my past and upcoming talks with video on my website [https://www.joekarlsson.com/speaking](https://www.joekarlsson.com/speaking/).
How to build a data stack that your company actually uses
Many organizations struggle with the underutilization of their data stacks due to a disconnect between the technology and user needs. Our session tackles this issue head-on, presenting strategies for building an effective, user-friendly data stack that will see active usage across your company. Understanding your organization’s unique requirements is paramount. We’ll delve into assessing team needs and technical skills and selecting appropriate data stack components—data sources, ETL tools, warehouses, and BI tools.
The session includes an overview of best practices for data stack implementation and management, touching upon data governance, security, and user accessibility. A live demo illustrating the building process in a simulated organization will be featured.
This talk offers insights on fostering a data-driven culture by creating a data stack that not only aligns with technical needs but also encourages widespread adoption.
## Audience Level
- **Level**: Professionals dealing with data stack management and utilization.
## Target Demographics
- **Roles**: IT Managers, Data Engineers, Solution Architects, Data Analysts, CTOs, and related professionals.
## Session Highlights
- **Understanding Requirements**: Assessing team needs and technical skills.
- **Selecting Components**: Guidance on data sources, ETL tools, warehouses, and BI tools.
- **Best Practices**: Data governance, security, user accessibility.
- **Live Demo**: Building a data stack in a simulated organization.
## Technical Requirements
- **Computer and Tools**: For the live demonstration of building data stacks.
- **Projection and Internet**: To facilitate the presentation.
## Speaker Qualifications
- **Expertise**: Profound experience in data stack management, implementation, and optimization.
- **Relevance**: Practical insights into aligning data stacks with user needs.
## Unique Selling Points
- **Holistic Approach**: Strategies to address both technology and user aspects.
- **Practical Guidance**: Overview of best practices with real-world application.
- **Live Demonstration**: Practical illustration of concepts discussed.
## Concluding Remarks
This session aims to address the common issue of underutilization of data stacks by providing actionable strategies and insights. With a balanced focus on technology, user needs, and practical implementation, it promises to be a valuable experience for professionals seeking to foster a data-driven culture.
How to Secure Your Cloud by Building a Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) System in 15 Minutes
Did you know that [45% of breaches](https://www.ibm.com/uk-en/reports/data-breach) are cloud-based? [According to a recent survey](https://go.snyk.io/state-of-cloud-security-2022.html) from Snyk, 80% of companies have experienced at least one cloud security incident in the last year, and [27% of organizations](https://pages.checkpoint.com/2022-cloud-security-report.html) have experienced a public cloud security incident—up 10% from last year.
This session dives into constructing a Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) solution on your infrastructure using open-source tools in only 15 minutes. You will learn to harness the power of these tools to enhance security compliance and monitoring across cloud environments.
In this hands-on session, we will:
- Set up a CSPM solution using Docker Compose for a local development environment.
- Integrate CloudQuery, PostgreSQL, DBT, and Grafana to form a cohesive security management system.
- Develop customizable dashboards in Grafana to visualize security metrics and insights.
You will also gain practical experience with:
- Configuring CloudQuery to extract and load data from cloud platforms into PostgreSQL.
- Utilizing DBT to transform data to generate actionable security insights.
- Leveraging Grafana for dynamic visualization and alerting based on security data.
By the end of this session, you will have built a fully functional CSPM solution that is ready for deployment in both local and production environments and equipped with the knowledge to adapt and expand it to your specific security needs.
Data Engineers and Platform Engineers focused on cloud infrastructure security and compliance.
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