Lee Painter Music for the Soul. Code for the Bowl.

The Journal

Thoughts on software, music, AI, bootstrapping, trust, craft and making things without turning the whole operation into a funnel.

25 October 2026 / Uncategorised

The Most Expensive Sus4 in Music History

How a failed UPS, a pointless train journey and an unexpected moment at the piano helped shape one of my songs. There’s a moment in the creation of […]

23 October 2026 / Uncategorised

The Security Scanner Found the Wrong Problem

Today I received two security-related enquiries. One concerned a vulnerability in software we don’t even use. The other concerned a decade-old SSH library that someone was apparently considering […]

22 October 2026 / Uncategorised

AI Didn’t Invent Bad Code. We Did.

AI is making it easier than ever to build software. But writing code and engineering software have never been the same thing. I’ve spent more than 25 years […]

21 September 2026 / Code

I’m Not Vibe Coding. I’m Orchestrating.

There’s a lot of talk about vibe coding at the moment. And I understand the term. Someone who has never written software can sit down with an AI […]

18 September 2026 / Uncategorised

Sometimes I Feel Like a Grumpy Old Man

Sometimes I feel like a grumpy old man. Why am I always having to complain or deal with the incompetence of others? Why can’t I just buy something, […]

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