César Soto Valero

Some Things to Remember Before Acting Pretentiously

And a few personal thoughts on the value of sincere humility

Posted on June 7, 2024

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A few days ago, I was asked: “Where do you see yourself in 10 or 20 years?” I replied: “I would like to get some sort of recognition for my contributions… maybe to be known as an expert in something, or someone who is consulted and listened to before important...

The Last Paper's Myth

A tale of contending interests

Posted on May 5, 2024

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Last week, I met a colleague from a renowned research lab. She is currently doing the last year of her PhD. I asked the usual: “So, how are you doing? Writing your thesis?” She replied with a wistful smile: “Not started yet, I’m working on my very last paper, or...

On the Rise, Decline, and Persistence of Web Technologies

From Static HTML Pages to WebAssembly

Posted on April 27, 2024

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I’ve been doing some frontend web development lately as part of my daily job.1 Along the way, I’ve been thinking on how the whole thing is built under the hood. The web technologies that we all use every day have changed and evolved over time. While digging into this topic,...

The Most Relevant Technical Skill in My Career

It isn't Java coding

Posted on March 30, 2024

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Eleven years ago (do you still remember 2013?), I was in the last year of my undergraduate studies. I started working on my thesis and soon realized that, to earn my diploma, I had to collect, analyze, and summarize data in a specific way. Because at the end of the...

AI Doesn't Make Me the Same Coffee

And it doesn't understand wine either

Posted on February 13, 2024

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I started to consume and appreciate coffee after I moved to Sweden in 2018. Coffee is a key part of the Swedish culture of fika, and it’s used as a way to combat the dark winter days months. For years, I’ve been considering the idea of buying a fancy coffee...

Building and Leveling Up a Computer Scientist Résumé

My personal take to stand out from the crowd

Posted on January 12, 2024

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Recently, a few friends kindly asked me to provide some feedback on their résumés. They are all Computer Science PhD graduates looking to land a new job in the tech industry. These people are the cream of the crop, so those résumés should look awesome, right? Well, not really. I...

Revisiting Ken Thompson’s Reflection on Trusting Trust

One of the most chilling ideas in cybersecurity's history

Posted on December 27, 2023

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Let me ask: Would you trust a cracked version of Adobe Photoshop downloaded from a random website? I hope your answer is negative. But what if I ask you instead: Do you trust that your latest purchase will be processed correctly by your bank’s mobile app? Sure, you do. We...

How I Peer Review Research Papers

My reviewer flow, focused template, and personal tips

Posted on November 12, 2023

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In academic circles, peer reviewing is the act of assessing the quality of a research paper to determine if it’s worth to be published in a journal or conference. Peer reviewers are supposed to be (human) experts in the field, and their opinions have direct influence on the final decision...

My Ultimate Terminal Customizations for Windows

Another guide

Posted on October 13, 2023

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I went back to using Windows lately in my current job.1 But let’s be honest, I don’t enjoy the change.2 Anyway, I’ve to deal with it to do my job right. One of the things that I miss the most from my previous setup is my nice macOS terminal customizations....

Surviving the AI Revolution as a Software Engineer

Is there still any hope?

Posted on September 17, 2023

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Dear software engineer, as you may already know, AI is here to stay. It’s inevitable, and it changes everything. If you are worried about what OpenAI’s ChatGPT can do, hold on because it’s just the beginning. The next wave of extremely powerful and specialized AI models is coming faster than...