The conversation starts with a discussion with growing up watching the Disney Channel which lead into a discussion of true crime podcasts. Chloe then shares her experience working as an actor. Group then talks about technology and the arts. The conversation then falls into a theme park rabbit hole. Chloe then shares her story of how she went from acting to becoming a technologist. The discussion then wraps up with the group talking about how to make technical learning fun and interesting. Chloe Condon on Twitter Bio Chloe is a Bay Area based Cloud Advocate for Microsoft. Previously, she worked at Sentry.io ...

The conversation starts with April talking about an injury she's recovering from and then discusses her time in competitive bodybuilding. Then the discussion takes an unexpected turn when we learn that April played rugby. April then talks about connecting with people during COVID, treating science as fact, and meeting Bill Nye. The conversation wraps up with April sharing her love for fashion and creating her own clothing designs including creating her own brand. Bio April Speight is an author and developer advocate based in Beverly Hills, CA. She graduated from the University of Maryland University College with a BA in Global ...

The conversation starts with Dr. Sarah sharing how she got involved in technology and the importance that quality instructors had in her education. She then shares how she decided to shift her focus from medicine to technology. Dr. Sarah goes on to tell her immigrant family story and how she deals with imposter syndrome. The conversation then wraps up with a discussion on how the panel is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Links TEALS Program - Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS) is a Microsoft Philanthropies program that builds sustainable CS programs in high schools. Bio Dr. Sarah Guthals is a Principal ...

The conversation starts with Eugene talking about his background and how he got into tech. He then talks about his experiences in developing Pluralsight courses. Eugene then shares about his struggles with diabetes and how he rose to overcome them. The conversation then moves to Eugene’s love of boardgames and he suggests some boardgames that are great for newbies. The conversation wraps up around Eugene telling us his involvement in Live Action Role Play (LARP). Bio Eugene Meidinger works as a Power BI consultant and full time Pluralsight author. He talks about a wide variety of data issues on the SQL ...

Cecil and Richie both share what they've been up to during the Away From The Keyboard hiatus and what they have planned for the future of the show. Bio Cecil Phillip is a Software Developer from South Florida with many years of experience building applications on the .NET Framework. Throughout his career, his primary focus has been providing web and service based solutions for various markets. Cecil’s current tool-set of choice comprises of C#, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Web API, jQuery, KnockoutJS, Entity Framework, XUnit and FakeItEasy. He has a passion for software architecture, interoperability, and testing. Cecil also enjoys experimenting with ...

The conversation starts with Lara discussing her start in technology which believe it or not started with Lord of the Rings, international studies, a semester in Prague, and photography. Lara then goes in and discusses how she started speaking publicly, how she prepares to for a presentation, and why she wrote the book "Demystifying Public Speaking". The panel then talks travel and their tips for traveling. Lara then shares about her trip to New Zealand and what she does when she's away from the keyboard. Links Lara's book: Demystifying Public Speaking Lara's website Lara on Twitter Adam Savage at Weta Workshop Bio Lara ...

In this episode, we have the pleasure of chatting with developer, author, and dedicated learner, Ian Felton. We start off the conversation talking about Ian’s background and learning how he got into technology. He tells us about his experience in college, playing in a band, and recording music. We also get some insight into how he got into NASA with some help from a college professor. Then we spent some time understanding how Ian dealt with the pressures of his figure job. We also get to learn more about Ian’s book, The Code of the Samurai. Ian tell us where ...

The conversation starts with Aurelia sharing what she's currently watching on Netflix. Which leads to a discussion about 13 Reasons Why and the controversies around the show. Aurelia then shares what she does at the Mozilla Science Lab and the projects she's worked on. She then talks about her time studying Art in grad school. Cecil then inquires about Aurelia's love for maps which leads to a discussion on open source mapping tools. The conversation then wraps up with Aurelia talking about what she does when she's away from the keyboard including her radio show Stereo Semantics. Links Aurelia's Website ...

The conversation starts with Chris talking about how he got started in web development and his experience as a web designer. The conversation then turns to his site, CodePen. Chris describes how CodePen got started, how they determine features, and some of the interesting things that people are building with CodePen. Chris then talks about some of the things he likes to do when he's away from the keyboard and then describes what it was like living in Miami for six months. Links CodePen CSS-Tricks Shop Talk Podcast The dark side of .io: How the U.K. is making web domain ...

The conversation begins with Kevin talking about his early childhood and how he ended up in the technology field. The conversation then turns to what he's learned by authoring books and the difficulties in writing them. Kevin then talks about speaking and how it has made him a better professional. The conversation wraps up with Kevin sharing the problems he encountered while leading the community organization PASS. Links Kevin on Twitter SQL in a Nutshell Cecil on Channel 9 about Away From The Keyboard Cecil on Channel 9 about languages Bio Kevin Kline is a renowned database expert and software industry veteran. ...

In this episode, we get to chat with freelance Software Developer and educator, Victor Moreno. We start off the show with Victor telling us how influential his father was in encouraging his interest in computing. Victor also gives us the background story that lead to him becoming involved in education. We then get into an interesting discussion about his initial experiences being a teacher. Victor shares with us how he tries to maintain a balance of academic and engaging material with his students. We talk about the importance of having a support community, and also discuss what can the ...

Bradley Ball is back for his second stint on the show. The convo starts with Brad sharing what he's excited about in the comic movie world. Then we talk about the television shows that he's currently watching. The conversation then focuses on the excellent DC animated movies and how Batman is the centerpiece of it all. The convo then shifts to baseball and how the Cubs winning the World Series affected Bradley. Links Bradley's Blog Bradley On Twitter Bio Bradley Ball is a former Microsoft SQL Server and Data platform MVP with over 15 years of IT experience. He spent 8 years ...

This episode starts off in typical AFTK fashion with us finding out how our guest, Carlos, got into technology. Carlos let’s us know how influential his father was in the early days. Cecil asks Carlos how he went from being a SQL Server professional to starting his own company. Carlos talks us through some of the decisions he had to make and also things he had to consider, when starting his business. He also gave us some interesting advice if you’re interested in bringing on a partner into your company. In addition to this business, Carlos hosts a successful podcast, coaches soccer, ...

Part two of our conversation with Kasey Champion begins with Kasey describing how she joined Microsoft and how she was tasked with teaching the Word team how to write unit tests. The conversation then shifts to her involvement with the TEALS program and her experiences teaching at the collegiate and high school levels. Cecil asks Kasey what makes a good teacher and how does one create a course. The conversation wraps up with Kasey discussing her involvement with the edX program and a discussion on the rewarding aspects of teaching. Links Kasey on Twitter Kasey on Medium Kasey's edX courses ...

The conversation gets started with Kasey introducing herself and her school years. The Hamilton quotes get deep as she discusses her background in the theater. Kasey then reminisces about her transition from drama into computer engineering and how 2008 the financial crisis hit her family. Kasey then reveals her love for all things Disney and how that has influenced her small business. Links Kasey on Twitter Kasey on Medium Kasey's edX courses TEALS Bio Kasey Champion is a firm believer that “talent is universal but opportunity is not”; she is dedicated to bringing technical education, and the economic empowerment it provides, to ...

The conversation begins with Jo introducing himself and explaining how he got started with mobile apps. Jo then talks about his app biggest success, Ugly Meter. Cecil then asks Jo how he handled the success of Ugly Meter and what was some of the downsides to having 30 million downloads. The conversation then turns to Jo's current company, SwingDev. Jo talks about the genesis of the company and some of the characteristics that makes SwingDev so special. Links SwingDev Jo's LinkedIn Profile Ugly Meter: The iPhone app that rates your attractiveness” Bio Jo Overline, CEO of Swing Development, has been a successful ...

In this episode, we get introduces to two startup founders Alvaro & Maxeme who have built up an education startup called Caribu. We start off this episode with hearing how Max and Alvaro got their interest in education. We then get into a conversation about what can we do with technology to help push education forward. We also talk about important of recognizing different learning styles and encouraging children in the right way. This leads us into Max and Alvaro talking to us about Caribu; their education technology app that helps parents read to their kids where ever they ...

The conversation kicks off with Derick introducing himself and talking about his experience in working at fast food restaurants. Cecil then asks Derick about his introduction into software development. Derick then talks about his blog and describes how he creates the stick figure images that he uses. The conversation then moves to Derick's training products and the process he undergoes to create them. Links DerickBailey.com Derick's Podcasts Watch Me Code - Node.js and JavaScript Screencasts Code Ninja Gaming - Derick's YouTube Gaming Channel Bio Derick Bailey is a developer, entrepreneur, author, speaker and technology leader in central Texas (north of Austin). He's ...

In this episode, we talk to Zack Burt about his life as a Software Development Consultant. We start off with Zack telling how he got started with technology in 4th grade. He tells us how he got started building Facebook apps and a chat application called Compassion Pit. Zack then shares with the struggles he went through early on trying to get a job as a software developer. We then get into a discussion about how developers are vetted out today. Zack goes on to walk to us about ways developers can stand out from the pack. Then we ...

Charles starts part two of our conversation by sharing how he started DevChat.tv and the related conferences. Charles then describes how he balances his time with all of his podcasts. Charles then discusses some of the business aspects of his podcasts including how he gets podcasts and how he handles premium content. Charles then talks a bit about his new book and what he does when he's away from the keyboard. The conversation then wraps up with Charles giving some great advice for those who want to start their own podcast. Links Charles on Twitter Devchat.tv JS Remote Conf Bio Charles Max ...