title	conference	date
Lost and Alone Over the Pacific	XO Ruby Austin 2025	2025-10-25
A wartime pilot loses navigation over the Pacific, flies 22 hours with failing instruments and only 7 hours of fuel, and survives because long‑range help uses… Talk on
Lost and alone over the Pacific	LDX3 London 2025	2025-06-16
Tells the full, concrete rescue: an ADF failure leads to a 23‑hour ferry flight with zero fuel left, VHF range and signal loss used to localise the Cessna, a… Talk on
Ice, Confusion, and the 38,000ft Crash	RubyConf 2024	2024-11-13
Decide by specifics: an actual causal claim that ice induced sensor confusion causes the 38,000ft crash; concrete flight-data numbers and timelines; methods… Talk on
Ice, confusion, and the 38,000ft crash	LeadDev Berlin 2024	2024-11-04
A forensic narrative that names the claim — a four‑minute cascade from icing to crash — and shows the evidence: recovered black boxes, ACARS telemetry and CVR… Talk on
You are here: The story of The Barbican	LeadDev London 2024	2024-06-11
A precise story of decision and craft: a 35-acre Barbican estate delivers 2,113 flats, three schools, the Guild Hall and a 2,000-seat concert hall after 20+… Talk on
The Magnitude 9.1 Meltdown at Fukushima	RubyConf Mini 2022	2022-11-15
A granular timeline of failure and improvisation at Fukushima Daiichi shows what actually fails and what actually works: diesel backup generators in the… Talk on
Taking the 737 to the MAX! Nick Means at	LeadDev London 2022	2022-06-07
Flight telemetry and the NTSC report show a faulty angle of attack sensor repeatedly triggers the new software system MCAS, causing uncommanded nose‑down trim… Talk on
Taking the 737 to the MAX!	Craft Conference 2022	2022-06-02
Boeing fits larger CFM LEAP engines forward to keep the 737 low to the ground and that change alters handling so Boeing adds MCAS to push nose down in specific… Talk on
Taking the 737 to the Max	SREcon22 Americas	2022-03-14
Clear timeline of engineering and business choices that create failure: Boeing chooses to keep a common type rating and squeeze larger CFM LEAP engines onto an… Talk on
Taking the 737 to the Max	RubyConf 2021	2021-11-08
A detailed timeline ties specific design choices to outcomes: Boeing adds MCAS to mimic older 737 handling, lets it run from a single angle-of-attack sensor… Talk on
Mach 2.0 at Scale	RubyConf 2020	2020-11-17
Explains why the Concorde actually flies and what its tradeoffs are: a Mach 2.0 supercruise enabled by slender delta wings and engine intake ramps, a droop… Talk on
Who Destroyed Three Mile Island	Stretch Conference 2020	2020-02-13
A detailed reconstruction shows operators turned off emergency core cooling two and a half minutes after it auto‑started because pressurizer readings, naval… Talk on
The race to Mach 2.0 at scale	LeadDev Austin 2019	2019-11-15
Anglo‑French Concorde reaches Mach 2 supercruise and crosses London–New York in about 3h15m by using slender delta vortex lift, a droop nose for landing… Talk on
Eiffel's Tower	The Lead Developer London 2019	2019-06-11
A concrete-and-iron project delivered in 22 months, the tower rises to 300 metres (1,063 ft) on four 6½‑foot concrete slabs, two legs anchored by piles driven… Talk on
Eiffel's tower	The Lead Developer Austin 2018	2018-12-06
A concrete checklist of what happened and why it mattered: Gustave Eiffel delivers a 300‑meter iron tower in 22 months using precise factory drawings, on‑site… Talk on
Eiffel's Tower	RubyConf 2018	2018-11-28
Recounts how Gustave Eiffel actually gets a 300‑meter centerpiece built for the 1889 exposition: precise offices produce 1,700 general and 3,629 part drawings… Talk on
Who Destroyed Three Mile Island?	The Lead Developer London 2018	2018-07-02
A minute-by-minute reconstruction explains why operators switch off emergency cooling: misread pressurizer level, a stuck pilot-operated relief valve, a… Talk
Who Destroyed Three Mile Island?	RailsConf 2018	2018-04-17
A control-room decision chain lets a small plumbing fault become a partial meltdown: a leaking pilot-operated relief valve floods the sump, operators see… Talk on
Lightning Talks	Keep Ruby Weird 2017	2017-10-27
Four short reports: one recounts teaching almost 100 students at a bootcamp and extracts three concrete lessons — beginner courage, contagious attitude, keep… Lightning on
The Original Skunk Works	The Lead Developer UK 2017	2017-06-08
Stories focus on concrete choices and outcomes: a prototype P-80 is assembled in 143 days using on-the-spot fabrication and minimal drawings; the U-2 hits… Talk on
Warning: May Be Habit Forming	RailsConf 2017	2017-04-25
Title promises habit advice and delivers numbers tools and outcomes: cites 8% follow-through for New Year’s resolutions, uses Vitamix + 30-day smoothie… Talk on
The building built on stilts	The Lead Developer New York 2017	2017-02-13
A famed structural calculation shows Citicorp Center is vulnerable: quartering winds produce 40% higher load on four chevrons than original design assumes… Talk on
The Building Built on Stilts	RubyConf 2016	2016-11-10
A 59‑story Citicorp Center sits on four ten‑story stilts using chevron braces and a 410 ton tuned mass damper to halve sway; wind‑tunnel rechecks show… Talk on
Keynote: The Building Built on Stilts	Keep Ruby Weird 2016	2016-10-28
A Citibank tower is cantilevered over St. Peter’s Church via a novel diagonal-brace skeleton built after the first air rights deal in NYC; the structure uses a… Talk on
How to crash an airplane	The Lead Developer 2016	2016-06-23
July 19, 1989 United Airlines Flight 232 suffers a tail-engine fan disc failure that rips out hydraulic lines so the DC-10 loses all hydraulics and… Talk on
Day 1 Closing Keynote: Skunk Works	RailsConf 2016	2016-05-04
Skunk Works delivers concrete wins: a P-80 prototype from metal to flight in 143 days, the U-2 reaching 70,000 feet with wafer-thin wings and bicycle landing… Talk on
How to Crash an Airplane	RubyConf 2015	2015-11-15
An uncontained fan‑disk failure severs hydraulic lines and loses all three hydraulic systems, leaving only engine thrust to steer; crews improvise… Talk
How To Code Like A Writer	Ruby on Ales 2015	2015-03-05
Argues that applying Strunk and White rules to code produces clearer, smaller Ruby: takes a 427-line Rails utility with 427 lines and no tests, writes… Talk on
How to Code Like a Writer	Keep Ruby Weird 2014	2014-10-24
Claim: the Elements of Style rules guide concrete refactors. The process refactors a 427‑line utilities class using tests, small extractions, and vocabulary… Talk on
You are Not an Impostor	RailsConf 2014	2014-04-22
Explains that impostor syndrome dates to 1978 and empirically affects 70% of people, maps a destructive loop—introversion, perfectionism, procrastination, fear… Talk on
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