Rands is the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

and

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

of Michael Lopp (born 1970 in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

), a

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

ger,

software engineering Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...

manager, and

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

author. Lopp originally used the name "Rands" as his chat room

handle A handle is a part of, or an attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and object manipulation, manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomics, ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt wi ...

, and it is his persona when writing about software management. Rands is his wife's maiden name, though they were dating at the time he chose it. In 2010, he began working at PalantirLinkedIn Profile
/ref> after more than eight years at

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

. In June 2014 after 4 years he left Palantir for

Pinterest Pinterest is an American social media service for publishing and discovery of information in the form of digital Bulletin board, pinboards. This includes recipes, home, style, motivation, and inspiration on the Internet using image sharing. Pint ...

. He became Vice President of Engineering at Slack in May 2016, then left Slack in 2019 to return to Apple as Senior Director of Engineering in 2020.

Web publications

Starting in 1996, Lopp wrote The BitSifter Digest, a website that published "the more interesting collections of bits which arrive at our desks" once a week, which increased in frequency and became daily by 2001. According to Steve Baldwin of disobey.com's Ghost Sites, it received recognition for its "pioneering use of borderless frames" and "topical, eclectic editorial content", and "was an important forerunner of the 'Blog.'" The BitSifter Digest stopped updating in 2001 and no longer exists at the

domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...

bitsifter.com. Lopp co-created the

''Jerkcity'' (now ''BoneQuest''), which started in 1998 and included a character named "Rands". In April 2002, Lopp started a

titled Rands in Repose. It explains aspects of technological or corporate culture, with particular focus on techniques for improving management skills. For example, one post explains the nuances of an interesting application, and another identifies and names workplace stereotypes. Posts contain a level of

observational humor Observational comedy is a form of humor based on the commonplace aspects of everyday life. It is one of the main types of humor in stand-up comedy. In an observational comedy act, the comedian makes an observation about something which is common eno ...

, such as direct explanations of management jargon.

Print publications

In June 2005, an essay by Lopp was published in the book ''The Best Software Writing I'', edited by

Joel Spolsky Avram Joel Spolsky (; born 1965) is a software engineer and writer. He is the author of ''Joel on Software'', a blog on software development, and the creator of the project management software Trello. He was a Program Manager on the Microsoft Exc ...

. The essay was the July 2004 post on Rands in Repose titled "What To Do When You're Screwed." In June 2007, Lopp published a book titled ''Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager''. A supporting website, Managing Humans, gives a brief pitch for the book. In August 2010, Lopp published his second book titled ''Being Geek: A Software Developer's Career Handbook''. A website, Being Geek, supports the publishing of the book and includes an original teaser video for the book.Being Geek
/ref>

References

External links

BoneQuest

Rands In Repose
{{authority control American webcomic creators Living people Writers from California 1970 births American computer programmers Palantir people