CTO @USDResponse. Ex-Eng Director, Dropbox; Creator, cprogramming.com; Author, Jumping into C++. Co-host decodingsalespodcast.com. @alexallain@mas.to
San Francisco
- Tweets 716
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- Followers 2,224
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Pinned Tweet
Hi everyone - Twitter's not a place I'm planning to spend much time for the foreseeable future. You can find me at @alexallain@mas.to
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Alex Allain retweeted
The Elections team at @USDResponse is hiring a software engineer role. You'd get to work with awesome people like @priyaisms @lindseywilsn @mkinthehouse & @alexallain! us-digital-response.breezy.h…
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Alex Allain retweeted
🌟 Bay Area governments & job seekers who are public service curious! @USDResponse is hosting a happy hour in Oakland on Wednesday 12/7. eventbrite.com/e/getting-int…
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Alex Allain retweeted
#localgov #stategov friends - do you have some #civictech #govtech #it #digitalservice jobs to fill? Join us at the @digitalsnet career fair and we’ll feature your org and the great work you do. Learn more: mailchi.mp/digitalservice.ne…
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Alex Allain retweeted
Scaling Civic Technology: Transitioning to Civic Technology by @USDResponse is coming up soon on the civic tech event calendar (ift.tt/EBJIPcA). Event info here: ift.tt/L0ozxNR
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Alex Allain retweeted
Just for fun, I once went through the "shipped" mailing list and summed up the claimed impact of new features and compared it to actual company growth.
The two didn't even come close to adding up, but it's in the interest of product org to be able to claim big wins, real or not.
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Alex Allain retweeted
❤️🔥 Considering a career change to civic technology, but not sure where to start / if the move is right for you?
🧑💻Our next Scaling Civic Technology, hosted by @alexallain, will featuring a panel of tech experts who made the switch!
📅 Join us Dec. 13th!
eventbrite.com/e/scaling-civ…
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y'all important PSA: despite being a "zero calorie sweetener" every gram of Splenda contains 3.36 calories: fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.htm…
Apparently the trick is that the serving size is 1g, and you can call anything with <5 calories "zero calorie" 🤦
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Alex Allain retweeted
"The Education of a Civic Technologist" by Alex Allain @alexallain from Strange Loop 2022 piped.video/watch?v=nxlotDog…
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Alex Allain retweeted
Check out our latest Scaling Civic Tech series, hosted by @alexallain!
This time we're exploring the engineering work behind our Federal Grants Portfolio
Also hear from our panelists on their decision to transition from the tech industry to civic tech.
piped.video/watch?v=-S3icH7U…
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Alex Allain retweeted
This is an absolutely gem of a talk on what effecting actual change requires and the importance of humility when working with large complex systems. While the talk is about working with governments, the lessons are likely applicable to any tech job
"The Education of a Civic Technologist" by Alex Allain @alexallain from Strange Loop 2022 piped.video/watch?v=nxlotDog…
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Alex Allain retweeted
Interested in how technology can be used as a force for good?
Wondering how to make an impact in the #civictech space?
Check out this talk by @alexallain, @USDResponse CTO!
"The Education of a Civic Technologist" by Alex Allain @alexallain from Strange Loop 2022 piped.video/watch?v=nxlotDog…
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My talk from @strangeloop_stl about what I've learned in our work @USDResponse is up!
"The Education of a Civic Technologist" by Alex Allain @alexallain from Strange Loop 2022 piped.video/watch?v=nxlotDog…
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Alex Allain retweeted
Excited to write my first desystemize in ages but this tweet does such a perfect job of capturing the argument I'm drafting I wonder if i even need to lol
look it's not your fault SBF was a crook but if you can't tell if the first crypto billionaire who takes a shine to you is a crook or not how much confidence can you have in yr ability to predict what will or won't maximize utility in the year 1 trillion
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Alex Allain retweeted
Nice thread about the misconception that major tech companies run systems that can run without intervention because they're automated
The example comes from Google, which is more automated compared than most major companies (MS, etc.), but still quite manual in an absolute sense
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This is useful - theverge.com/2022/11/10/2345…
Would be a good feature to add to Twitter!
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Alex Allain retweeted
The Legibility Fallacy: influencing something you can easily measure is better than influencing something you can't easily measure.
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Alex Allain retweeted
Layoffs suck
You know what doesn't? Working for your state or fed government or non-profit serving the community!
Some awesome paths fwd
@CrisisTextLine
@18F
@USDS
@USDResponse
@codeforamerica
Also check out usajobs.gov/
Hopefully others will put their recs too!
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Alex Allain retweeted
Or think about public service! @USDS @USDigitalCorps @18F @USDResponse @codeforamerica @FAScientists
All these engineers and other tech people piling into the labor market, great time to start a remote first startup.
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