alexkwood's comments

alexkwood | 5 months ago | on: Excel as a Frontend

it is already decoupled, lots of products have been been using .xlsx (format) as data interchange/template driven inputs for a long time. Libraries in almost all programming languages to create .xlsx with formulas/formatting etc have been around for a long time

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: I've been using Claude Code for a couple of days

here is one solution i am helping out with which was very very easy to create using claude https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R72TvoXCimg&t=2s

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: Mermaid: Diagramming and Charting Tool

with this plantuml excel plugin, you keep keep all your diagrams in excel and also no need to learn the syntax for couple of plantuml diagram types https://docs.cornerstoneappsolutions.com/getting-started/ https://www.youtube.com/@CornerStoneAppSolutions/videos?app=...

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: Launch HN: Manaflow (YC S24) – Automate repetitive office work in tables

Re: Witnessing an operations manager show us folders of spreadsheets for his business, we realized that spreadsheets have limited functionality.

did you bother finding out where those spreadsheets come from, internal systems, external reports from vendors, are they consolidated bank statements, inventory counts and status, amazon/shopify inventory status

your ai tool should enable them to work with these spreadsheets as a starter.

I totally agree with vector_spaces comment, having a AI agent create a new workflow and train business manager on using it is a dead end. They have had the last 30years to explore VBA, Access and the other tools Microsoft comes with, and they last thing they will do is understand python the way your demo shows

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: Ask HN: Would you use an architecture diagram tool to save infra costs?

my username @ gmail.com

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: Ask HN: Would you use an architecture diagram tool to save infra costs?

Managing production IT infrastructure is akin to overseeing a construction project. It’s crucial to refrain from implementing any tasks without comprehensive diagrams. Maintaining cost control is of utmost importance for the longevity of a business. With GitHub Copilot, the automation of complex integration tools becomes significantly more manageable.

We are in the process of developing a freeware Excel plugin for the PlantUML component. This plugin will enable users to generate diagrams directly from spreadsheet templates. If you’re interested in trying out the beta version of this plugin, please send me an email and I’ll be happy to share it with you.

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: Ask HN: Would you use an architecture diagram tool to save infra costs?

we have a solution based on plantuml deployment/networking api's where we generate static 2D diagrams as .svg from our datasets. We also have a basic 3d representation using python scripting and blender which exports to .gltf 3dmodels which we import into godot game engine web edition.

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: Ask HN: Would you use an architecture diagram tool to save infra costs?

we have dedicated finance staff who compile all billing reconciliation end-to-end, any tags we need just gets added as a lookup to their datamart controlled by a unique asset tag. Very hard to justify giving access to compliance staff who always reject such requests

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: Ask HN: Would you use an architecture diagram tool to save infra costs?

Re 1: We have stacks of excel workbooks and worksheets documenting all assets, will you be providing templates where we can plug in these values and it gets imported Re 2: Same we consolidate all daily usage reports available from the cloud vendors Re 3: Would your tool consolidate data as a CMDB, then it would be good Re 4: Suggestions is fine, access to directly modify/delete NO

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: Seattle Public Library Website Down Due to Ransomware Attack

another related story

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-library-ranso...

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: Ask HN: Which Tech Stack has still maintained its charm?

If the client wants Java, I always go with https://quarkus.io/ or hilla.dev. GraalVM allows you to create native executable images.

alexkwood | 1 year ago | on: Ask HN: Which Tech Stack has still maintained its charm?

c#, dotnet with blazor webassembly; for a new project I was hired to rework on for downsizing a 20user Salesforce SAAS app having around 30 tables everyone is happy with the performance. It is 2nd version of the rewrite which started of as a next.js app.