2025–09 My Substack Exclusive Articles
Read them on Substack.
1. Software Side Hustler Tip: My “Hit Two Birds With One Stone” Secret — Excel both day job and side projects. Part 4: Advice
In this article series:
- Part 1: The Approach
- Part 2: Why It Works?
- Part 3: How Apply it? *
- Part 4: Advice
- Part 5: FAQ (upcoming)
For readers who have read the last three parts, I guess the №1 question is that “The approach sounds good and practical, however, I don’t have the E2E test automation skills”.
My answer is old-school: “Learn it”. I did in 2005, when I was in my thirties and a senior Java developer (contractor).
You may have come across the resources (books, tools, articles and training) I’ve created over the past 20 years. Honestly, to learn and master E2E test automation, money isn’t the issue at all. This newsletter features approximately 300 free articles, plus an additional 300+ for premium members. My books start at just $10, and I offer a 30-minute one-on-one coaching session (once for a person) for only $1.
So, it really comes down to your motivation and how important you believe end-to-end (E2E) test automation is to the success of your side app. For me, E2E test automation is the top priority. It accounts for about 70% of the software development life cycle and is what makes daily production releases possible.
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2. Job Seeking Advice: What Is Your Profile on ChatGPT?*
Like many others, I’ve gradually shifted from using Google to ChatGPT for both technical and general searches. In other words, others might form their impression of you based on AI-generated summaries, which can be useful for job hunting or professional networking in the future.
Today, out of curiosity, I asked ChatGPT, “Who is Courtney Zhan?” (my daughter). Below is ChatGPT’s reply.
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As shown, Courtney’s AI profile is mostly about her achievements in her spare time, under the guidance of a mentor.
3. Reflections on Changes to the U.S. H-1B Visa Under the Trump Administration. Part-B: Factors of Hiring Overseas Talents
In this series:
The U.S. government has increased the H‑1B visa application fee to $100,000. As I discussed in my previous article, while this sounds significant, it’s hardly a deal-breaker for tech giants. Spread over three years, it adds only about 10% to staff costs, and many applicants — mostly from India — would happily cover this from their own salary package.
What about small and medium-sized tech companies?
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