Adam Cogan [SSW] in Sydney 🇦🇺

Blogged: SSW purchases TinaCMS – the #1 CMS on GitHub – we love Markdown ❤️ I’m excited to share that we have acquired @tinacms – as I believe, every website should use GitHub with Markdown. Tina also comes with a rocking Markdown editor and of course, the best version control system on the market, bar none. We are competing with big players such at Contentful, Sanity, Sitecore and many others that we have build great solutions on over the years. They all have the same Achilles Heal being a propriety database. GitHub is the answer, the question is irrelevant :-) In addition, over the years as SSW’s Chief Architect, I’ve seen firsthand how Markdown simplifies so much for content editors. We’ve been fans and using TinaCMS for a while, it even powers the SSW website! That is because we wanted a simple UX + awesome version control. Tina’s vision of a seamless Git CMS is shared by SSW engineers. I have a lot to learn, and am excited to be adding features to make Tina the best CMS out there. Users will start seeing more features very soon as the Tina team will be supercharged with engineering power from SSW. If you have product suggestions or bugs please post on GitHub, and for support check out our community Discord. More at adamcogan.com/2024/05/15/ssw…

On Friday I did something very different.  I keynoted at Australia’s #1 Payroll conference at the Hilton in Sydney.   The event was full of payroll professionals, HR people and accountants from across the country. I had heaps of great conversations after my talk. Since over 90% of my expenses at SSW are payroll, I was looking for some hot tips 😂 😂 Doing a keynote is more responsibility and more preparation than a normal session and the conference organizers were really helpful and diligent. My session, “Supercharge Yourself with AI: Practical AI You Can Use Right Now for Payroll and More” explored how AI is transforming common workflows for payroll teams by boosting productivity, reducing admin, and improving accuracy. I loved preparing for this talk and it was all practical - SSW has already implemented AI solutions for payroll companies in both Australia and France, helping teams automate repetitive tasks, and get the right answers for complicated questions that can never be wrong. While speaking I asked a few questions and this is what I learnt: * 90% of the room had used Copilot * 10% Claude Cowork (that will change quickly) * 50% Beryl - the AI assistant for Payroll that SSW built for APA (Australian Payroll Association). It was a fun project and quite a bit of work, so that was rewarding to see that. (See Beryl in a photo) I did have a conference attendee come up to me and sternly say   “Adam I wont use it until you change the name!” I asked why and she said   “My sister in-law is named Beryl” 🚀 AI in payroll is no longer ‘coming soon’ - it’s here and delivering real results. Sing out if you need help.

ssw.com.au/rules/rules-to… Following the Sun means handing work from one team to another as time zones change, allowing projects to keep moving even when part of the team is asleep. At SSW, we use this approach to accelerate software delivery. Following the Sun is about intentional handovers so that each team can confidently pick up where the last one left off. These rules define how we Follow the Sun at SSW, ensuring work gets done faster, context is never lost, and teams across Australia, Europe, China, and North America operate as one. WATCH youtu.be/6pdvDVr3rJA

Do you write an AGENTS.md? 👋 ssw.com.au/rules/write-ag… Last week at SSW we looked at AGENTS.md 🤖 - a way to standardize your agents' behavior within a codebase, among your team. AI coding assistants like Cursor and GitHub Copilot are incredibly powerful, but they work best when they understand your project's specific architecture, coding standards, and common tasks. Without this context, they may suggest patterns that don't align with your codebase. AGENTS.md is an agreed-upon standard between all the big AI players, replacing things like .cursorrules and copilot_instructions.md All current and future SSW projects now include an AGENTS.md file by default! Check our Clean Architecture template's AGENTS.md for a good example: github.com/SSWConsulting/… Do you write an AGENTS.md?

My best Christmas present was from the SSW Rules team who migrated from Markdown to MDX using the awesome editor tina.io Now it is even easier to edit .MD files on GitHub Enjoy youtu.be/lqqduKKhH_o (8 min) Thank you guys for this. Happy New Year 🎉 ssw.com.au/rules

Blogged – .NET Aspire 9.4 – CLI Magic and Developer-Friendly Dashboards! The updates from the Aspire team are coming in rapid fire this year! At SSW we are using it on large projects. This release brings powerful new features, including: ✨ Aspire CLI in GA 🧠 AI Integration with GitHub Models & Azure AI Foundry ✨ External Service Modeling ✨ Interaction Parameter Prompting Check out my blog for my favourites from this release (and a few from 9.3 too) adamcogan.com/2025/08/12/net…

Poll: UI - What is your preference for callout boxes? (see image in thread) I was surprised there was not consensus with my designers on this one. What is your choice:

Just blogged - How to Choose the Right Software Architecture Choosing the wrong architecture hurts! Avoid future pain by knowing when to pick Clean Architecture, Microservices, Modular Monolith, or Vertical Slice using the SSW Architectural Decision Tree.   🟥 Enjoy! adamcogan.com/2025/07/08/how…   Q: What makes your #devlife happy? #CleanArchitecture, #Microservices, #VSA or #MoMo?

Video: youtu.be/fi1IGNwmaS8 Purchasing an ice-cream from a robot in China 🇨🇳 (a fun experience in Dali south-west China) Would you use this to buy an ice-cream?

GPT Canvas looks great - you can target just the right parts when you are trying to get an email together. I wish these AI companies would use the same terms Eg. Either Canvas or Artifacts Eg. Either GPTs or Projects

Great work Tina team 🦙 I know this one was harder than it looked. @tinacms now on #node22

1/2 Norway’s garbage bins are amazing - I’ve seen these bins for years and just noticed they are brilliant 🇳🇴 ⭐️

2/2 They have such a good UX that I had not noticed that they are special bins. In addition, with the sensors inside, they only get emptied when they are full. And unlike Sydney bins, they only require 1 person to empty them. Add to that, they are huge, have a closed lid and so don’t smell and don’t attract vermin. Super efficient and clean ❤️ Enjoy the video youtu.be/Hbq7QXTdEjI

@feroxneto @tinacms No plan or pricing changes are planned. We are busy on features… very busy.

@AdamCogan @tinacms Hi Adam, first of all congratulations. I first heard of Tina through SSW and this acquisition show how much you guys believe in it. My question is, how does this acquisition it affects Tina's licensing model?

Blogged: SSW purchases TinaCMS – the #1 CMS on GitHub – we love Markdown ❤️ I’m excited to share that we have acquired @tinacms – as I believe, every website should use GitHub with Markdown. Tina also comes with a rocking Markdown editor and of course, the best version control system on the market, bar none. We are competing with big players such at Contentful, Sanity, Sitecore and many others that we have build great solutions on over the years. They all have the same Achilles Heal being a propriety database. GitHub is the answer, the question is irrelevant :-) In addition, over the years as SSW’s Chief Architect, I’ve seen firsthand how Markdown simplifies so much for content editors. We’ve been fans and using TinaCMS for a while, it even powers the SSW website! That is because we wanted a simple UX + awesome version control. Tina’s vision of a seamless Git CMS is shared by SSW engineers. I have a lot to learn, and am excited to be adding features to make Tina the best CMS out there. Users will start seeing more features very soon as the Tina team will be supercharged with engineering power from SSW. If you have product suggestions or bugs please post on GitHub, and for support check out our community Discord. More at adamcogan.com/2024/05/15/ssw…

Yesterday, we had a blast sharing the news and celebrating our acquisition of @tinacms at @slashnewtech in Newcastle, marking a significant step in enhancing markdown editing. 🥳 We threw a party at SSW #Newcastle to celebrate our biggest news ever, and here are some of our favorite moments from the conference and our llama-themed celebration. 🦙🎉 Thank you to all attendees and the SSW and Tina team for making it a fun and special day! 🎈 Learn more about TinaCMS ➡️ tina.io #markdown #github #CMS #tech #conference #launch #slashNEW

BLOGGED + VIDEO: AI Saved My Life – My Melanoma Journey WARNING: Don’t read if you don’t like nudity! Yes, you read that correctly: AI saved my life. there are AI optimists and AI doomers. When some people think about AI, they worry about how dangerous it might be. However, more often than not, AI helps humans. I’d like to share my melanoma journey and how my tech-savvy dermatologist saved me with AI. Aussie Life in the Sun I grew up like most Australians my age, not particularly wary of the sun. I often got burnt and sometimes was in pain for a few days as I waited for the burn to subside. By the time my 2 girls came along, I had learned to cover up to protect my skin. These days you’ll never see me outside without a shirt, hat, and more often than not, some sunscreen. Like me, my girls have grown up outside at the beach, but you’ll never see them leave the house without their sunscreen on. To them, sun safety is no joke. Read more at adamcogan.com/2024/04/13/ai-…

I feel I got way too many people 😂 😂

Awesome - I know it was a ton of work. It is not easy getting a bunch of software developers in sync 👑