Rachel Stephens
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rstephens.me
Rachel Stephens
@rstephens.me
3.6K followers 470 following 620 posts
sunshine and rainbows and f-bombs 🌈
she/her
@redmonk
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rstephens.me
Maybe not every SaaS service needs a year in review...
"Your 2025 review is here: see the expenses that defined your year" -- year end review of my corporate expenses
December 29, 2025 at 6:30 PM
rstephens.me
our kids sleep with stuffed animals that you can warm up in the microwave before bed.

the result is super cozy, but it’s always a little unsettling to be the person in charge of nuking the baby animals.
Axolotl, seal, and bobcat cooking in the microwave
December 29, 2025 at 2:25 AM
rstephens.me
Still can’t speak Spanish past what I remember from high school, still terrible at chess, still fiercely protective of my streak
Duolingo 12 year anniversary celebration
December 20, 2025 at 12:47 AM
rstephens.me
The @redmonk.com team allows* me to plan activities for the team holiday happy hour every year, and I am SO EXCITED for today's Show and Tell festivities.

*begrudgingly allows
RedMonk Holiday Party 2026 Ho-ho-hope you’re ready to reveal the treasures and curios that have (until now) been lurking just off camera on all our Zoom calls; it’s time for RedMonk Show and Tell! We’re going to do 3 rounds of show and tell at the holiday happy hour on Dec 19. Choose your items in advance and have them within reach on Zoom. Each person gets one minute per round to present their item and explain why they chose it. Interpret the prompts as creatively as you’d like; weird, entertaining, and unexpected selections highly encouraged. :) Round 1: Something You’ve Given Up On Ideas: - a book you did not finish - a hobby you were sure you’d love but only did twice - a device that hasn’t held a charge since the Obama administration - your DVD collection even though you no longer own a DVD player Take the team into a corner of your proverbial junk drawer. Round 2: Something In Your Home That You’d Classify As “Chaotic Good” Ideas: - the toy your cat loves but makes the the worst noise - the cute mug that turns to magma in the microwave - the Lego brick you most recently stepped on - the creepy doll that you feel morally obligated to keep because your grandmother made it If it causes chaos, confusion, or existential dread while still earning its place in your home, it counts. Round 3: Presenter’s Choice Ideas: - your favorite object on your desk - your most sentimental treasure - your weirdest possession What do you have that needs its moment to shine?
December 19, 2025 at 3:42 PM
rstephens.me
More from Zach here:
December 16, 2025 at 3:30 PM
rstephens.me
Yesterday my kids' hypothetical was "what if the word 'poop' meant 'tickle' and the word 'tickle' meant 'poop'?"

Anyways, in think this particular line is tickle.
Such gains would allow the economy to grow faster without kicking off inflation, something economists describe as raising the “speed limit” for noninflationary growth. Increased productivity and a larger economy provide us with more opportunities to address the problems that my generation is leaving our kids and grandkids: high levels of debt, climate change and excessive income inequality.
November 20, 2025 at 7:19 PM
rstephens.me
“we’re taking another selfie, this time look like you like us”

Getting ready for @redmonk.com beers with @sogrady.org and @kateholterhoff.com

Join us at 7:00 and see if Steve gets more smiley as the night progresses
Rachel, grumpy Steve, Kate Rachel, smiley Steve, excited Kate
November 11, 2025 at 11:01 PM
rstephens.me
This #kubecon keynote from @puerco.mx and @staceypotter.bsky.social is an absolute delight. more luchadore-themed talks please!
Stacey and Adolfo on stage (with Adolfo in a luchadore mask)
November 11, 2025 at 3:04 PM
rstephens.me
fwiw United it making everything refundable; my guess is Delta does too? www.united.com/en/us/newsro...
And importantly, any customer traveling during this period is eligible for a refund if they do not wish to fly – even if their flight isn't impacted. That includes non-refundable tickets and those customers with basic economy tickets.
November 6, 2025 at 3:40 PM
rstephens.me
LMAO. @kateholterhoff.com accidentally turned on Zoom's AI Companion at the start of a call and then immediately turned it off. It still sent us a recap.
Meeting assets for Zoom Meeting are ready! Meeting summary Quick recap Kate expressed frustration about an AI companion feature that she felt was misleading, and Rachel suggested turning it off. Next steps Next steps were not generated due to insufficient transcript.
November 5, 2025 at 5:27 PM
rstephens.me
What do you get when you mix Akamai's edge network with @fermyon.com's WebAssembly platform? A fun conversation about what’s next for serverless edge computing!

Join Allen Duet (Akamai) and Matt Butcher (Fermyon) as we talk about distributed serverless compute.

redmonk.com/videos/akama...
October 30, 2025 at 6:57 PM
rstephens.me
Normally I try to call them retros but I think post-mortem is correct in this instance.
message that reads: but really if we want to place the blame anywhere.... and hear me out... really it's my dead grandma's fault.)
October 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM
rstephens.me
next day’s function high-class luncheon
#dreamforce
October 16, 2025 at 3:47 PM
rstephens.me
I am a sucker for branded latte art
Chai latte with Salesforce logo in the milk Coffee menu and biscotti
October 15, 2025 at 3:36 PM
rstephens.me
The CRA is rewriting the rules of selling software.

After 2027, anything sold in Europe must meet strict security standards. This will reshape how we build, patch, and monetize software, and how we work with open source.

I spoke with Mike Milinkovich of the Eclipse Foundation to learn more.
October 9, 2025 at 4:11 PM
rstephens.me
Thank you @dynatrace.com team for enabling an amazing #monktoberfest cruise!!!
Dyantrace team sponsor of the dinner on the Mknktoberfest cruise
October 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
rstephens.me
a text from @quinnypig.com describing his layover at the Denver International Airport:
text message that says "the horse that killed its creators is my spirit animal."
September 30, 2025 at 8:14 PM
rstephens.me
I wish I could convey the absolute power the axolotl has over the K-5 demographic in our neighborhood.

Axolotl shirts. Stickers. Toys. Stuffies.

Axolotl drawings gifted to friends.

I truly couldn’t count how many axolotl coloring pages my kids have done.

All hail the all-powerful axolotl.
Kid axolotl art
September 6, 2025 at 6:20 PM
rstephens.me
does anyone else sing "Remember Me" from Coco every time they click that box during a log in flow?
Username > password > REMEMBER ME though I have to say goodbye remember me don't let it make you cry > log in :)
August 28, 2025 at 3:47 PM
rstephens.me
I was instructed to find a ~1 minute long promotional soundbite of my conversation with @kat.lol, but I feel pretty confident I can sell you with just 5 seconds.

Come hear the whole thing, it's a delight: redmonk.com/videos/kat-c...
July 29, 2025 at 4:05 PM
rstephens.me
Nemeses unite! #redmonkbeers
Rachel and Corey say ahhhhh!
July 1, 2025 at 4:25 AM
rstephens.me
Our problem is that the veracity of Stack Overflow as source data is increasingly questionable.

Tags for the top 20 programming languages in the last period were roughly 10% of the volume of questions at Stack Overflow's peak.

redmonk.com/rstephens/20...
A bar chart titled “Stack Overflow Tags Over Time” shows the volume of questions asked about RedMonk’s Top 20 programming languages as percentage of max, from 2012 to 2024
June 18, 2025 at 6:39 PM
rstephens.me
Our analysis dates back to 2012. We correlate cumulative language usage as seen through non-forked PRs on public GitHub repos against questions asked on Stack Overflow.

It's an incomplete story, but gives us a pulse on language traction using publicly available data.

redmonk.com/rstephens/20...
A line chart titled "RedMonk Language Rankings: September 2012 – December 2024" shows the top 20 programming languages over time based on a combination of GitHub and Stack Overflow data. The x-axis represents time in half-year increments from 2012 to 2024, and the y-axis represents rank, with 1 at the top and 20 at the bottom. Each language is represented by a uniquely colored and labeled line, with the final rankings labeled on the right. A dark background with horizontal grid lines enhances readability. The chart is branded with the RedMonk logo in the bottom right corner.
June 18, 2025 at 6:39 PM
rstephens.me
Behold: @redmonk.com's Top 20 Languages Over Time, the decline of the Stack Overflow tags that feed the analysis
A line chart titled "RedMonk Language Rankings: September 2012 – December 2024" shows the top 20 programming languages over time based on a combination of GitHub and Stack Overflow data. The x-axis represents time in half-year increments from 2012 to 2024, and the y-axis represents rank, with 1 at the top and 20 at the bottom. Each language is represented by a uniquely colored and labeled line, with the final rankings labeled on the right. A dark background with horizontal grid lines enhances readability. The chart is branded with the RedMonk logo in the bottom right corner. A bar chart titled “Stack Overflow Tags Over Time” shows the volume of questions asked about RedMonk’s Top 20 programming languages as percentage of max, from 2012 to 2024
June 18, 2025 at 6:39 PM
rstephens.me
It's my first #GoogleIO and I'm kind of hyped for the keynote. It's a beautiful day at Shoreline, and I'm digging the chillwave music from Toro y Moi. It's so much better than a loud house band, and fits with the vibe code theme they're laying out thus far.
Toro y Moi on stage at Google IO, DJ
May 20, 2025 at 4:48 PM