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Sr. Content Developer at Microsoft, working remotely in PA, TechBash conference organizer, former Microsoft MVP, Husband, Dad and Geek.
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Removing byte array allocations using ReadOnlySpan
20 minutes by Andrew Lock
Andrew describes a simple way to remove some byte array allocations, no matter which version of .NET you're targeting, including .NET Framework. He looks at the changes to your C# code to reduce the allocations, how the compiler implements the change behind the scenes, and some of the caveats and sharp edges to watch out for.
The end of push-wait-guess CI
sponsored by Depot
Edit YAML, commit, push, wait, squint at logs, guess, repeat. That was CI debugging. Watts, an engineer at Depot, walks through how Depot CI replaces the push-and-pray cycle with a local loop you can actually control. Run your existing GitHub Actions workflows against uncommitted changes, scope runs to a single job, and SSH into the runner mid-build to debug your environment in real-time.
C# records
3 minutes by Ricardo Peres
C# records are a cleaner way to define classes and structs. They come with built-in equality checks, hash codes, and string output, so you don't need to write that code yourself. Properties defined in the primary constructor are read-only by default, making records a good fit for immutable data. One thing to watch out for is circular references, which will cause an error when calling ToString.
Clean architecture vs onion architecture in .NET
1 minute by Yohan Malshika
When building modern applications using .NET, one of the biggest challenges is structuring it in a way that remains clean, testable, and easy to change over time. Two popular approaches that solve this problem are Clean Architecture and Onion Architecture. Yohan explains both in a simple, practical way, especially from a .NET developer’s perspective.
Validating configuration at startup with IValidateOptions
3 minutes by Bart Wullems
Configuration binding in .NET won't catch missing or invalid values, so apps can start fine and break later in production. IValidateOptions lets you write a dedicated validator class that the framework runs automatically at startup. Unlike Data Annotations, it supports cross-property rules and can use injected services. Pair it with ValidateOnStart() to fail fast before your app accepts traffic.
Discriminated unions in C# and .NET 11
5 minutes by DeeDee Walsh
C# finally has union types in .NET 11, giving developers a clean way to return multiple possible result types from a function. This is especially useful for modernizing VB6, PowerBuilder, and Clarion applications that rely on Variant-style returns. Unions make translated code more readable, safer, and easier to maintain by allowing compiler-checked handling of every possible outcome, reducing the need for error-prone workarounds like nullable wrappers or custom result classes.
And the most popular article from the last issue was:
When teams start building multi-agent AI systems, the first instinct is to wire agents together with ad-hoc scripts. Call Agent A. Then call Agent B. Add some if statements for error handling. Ship it. That works for a demo. It does not work for anything you need to trust. The problem is not the agents […]
The article 6 Multi-Agent Orchestration Design Patterns Every Developer Should Know was originally published on Build5Nines. To stay up-to-date, Subscribe to the Build5Nines Newsletter.
Looking for gripping dystopian story ideas? Here are 7 dystopian plot ideas to inspire your next dark and unforgettable story.
People are either optimists or pessimists, right? When they’re storytellers, that translates to either Utopias or Dystopias. While a Utopia describes a better version of society, Dystopian fiction describes how society turns into hell. This blog will give you some ideas for Dystopian plots.
Before you continue, it is helpful to know what the genre is about. Here are two blog posts that might help you.
Dystopian Fiction is exciting to read. Have you ever wondered why?
Whenever the world is evolving rapidly (when isn’t it?), the archetypal fear of change rises. Change is frightening in itself because it takes us into the unknown. It forces us to leave our comfort zone.
It’s the writer’s job to see where that change might lead us. What current trends and events will become more important in the future? If you then combine that with some archetypal fears, then you have a Dystopian plot!
Dystopian plots all have a few elements in common. You can read up on them in our blog, What Is Dystopian Fiction And How Do I Write It? Before we develop a few ideas, let’s recap some central themes of Dystopian fiction:
Now all we need to do is take these themes and pair them off with some of the current topics in our society. Let’s see if we can exaggerate and distort them to come up with some truly terrifying plot ideas. Basically, we’ll play ‘What if?’ to create the perfect literary hell.
I won’t give you detailed plotlines, but I’ll show you my premise and how I apply the ‘What If.’
We’ve all seen what AI can do. Right now, people are just playing around with it, and it’s already frightening to see how real fake images can look.
What if…
… Artificial Intelligence has already taken over? What if it has secretly developed a conscience of its own and just lets people believe they can still control it? What would that computer conscience look like? Would it abide by Asimov’s Laws of Robotics? What ethics would AI give itself? Where would it contradict mankind, revealing itself?
There’s always an armed conflict going on somewhere in the world. So far, it’s been a competition of manpower and arms. People have gotten very inventive using drones and cyber-attacks.
What if…
… someone came up with a way to wage war without the enemy even noticing it? What if you could use artificial intelligence to fight the war for you? To infiltrate your enemy’s internet and steer their society to destruction? How would you protect yourself?
With COVID, we’ve all seen what a worldwide virus can do. Many scientists have said that we were lucky, that with the increase in travel and globalisation, pandemics would occur more often. Mankind might not be fast enough to develop vaccines every time.
What if…
… someone developed the deadliest virus to use it as a weapon. What if that virus were accidentally set free before the developers could create an antidote to protect themselves?
The predictions about where climate change will lead our planet are rather detailed. We know what’s in store for us. The laws of evolution tell us that if climate change is not stopped, mankind must adapt.
What if…
… we run out of time faster than we think? What if something unforeseeable happens to our planet, like a collision with an asteroid? It might introduce bacteria to our planet that could be a much greater threat. How do you fight a space virus?
Astrophysicists think that space travel helps us discover new chemical elements and new technologies that might be marketable, and, one day, will help us earn lots of money.
What if…
… astronauts brought home a chemical element that promises to be a safe and unlimited source of energy. How would society change? What if our naïve enthusiasm for that energy source makes us careless? What if that chemical element has hidden features that are extremely harmful?
For the past decades, the big churches in Europe have been complaining about a loss of members. But the world population grows, especially in Africa and Asia. This is why the Catholic Church, for example, has equally grown on these continents. This means that their influence on the church grows, too, in terms of topics related to their culture.
What if…
.. the last Western pope feared that the Vatican might one day be obsolete in Europe? What if the nexus of Catholicism shifted elsewhere? What if a secret organisation within the Vatican started a crusade to purge the Church of these influences? How could Asia and Africa be a threat to the Vatican, and what would a modern crusade look like? Would the average church-goer join the crusade? How would you fight in a modern crusade?
The search for meaning is increasingly important in many people’s lives. There are modern ways to find that meaning, for example, in social media. Remember, influencers need to be convincing because the number of followers translates to money in their pockets. But the tools to influence people can also be abused.
What if…
… we watch an influencer rise to stardom, posting valuable information. But then that influencer becomes desperate to keep his followers and resorts to propaganda. What cult could develop? And how does that cult keep people glued to social media, losing their individuality? How could that eventually cause the breakdown of modern society?
You can only write a good Dystopia if you’re on a personal mission. You need to have a cause that’s dear to your heart. How can you find that? Here’s an idea.
Here are some examples of Dystopian novels:
by Naomi Alderman – set in a world where women develop the ability to generate electrical power and upend global power structures.
by Cormac McCarthy – a bleak survival journey through a ruined world.Writing a Dystopia is no small feat. And it’s not for pantsers. Because a Dystopia combines the elements of social criticism with fantasy, writers need to do an enormous amount of worldbuilding.
In fantasy, the fictional world can have very creative laws of nature. Not so in a Dystopia. The Dystopian world needs to be logical and relatable to our own world, or the message won’t come across. This requires planning!
Beware of overused tropes like the wasteland setting, the mousy protagonist with special talents, and the illogical and cruel villain. This doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to use them – but you have to take special care to find a new angle.
Happy writing as you try out these plot ideas!
By Susanne Bennett. Susanne is a German-American writer who is a journalist by trade and a writer by heart. After years of working at German public radio and an online news portal, she has decided to accept challenges by Deadlines for Writers. Currently she is writing her first novel with them. She is known for overweight purses and carrying a novel everywhere. Follow her on Facebook.
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The post 7 Gripping Dystopian Plot Ideas For Writers appeared first on Writers Write.
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Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 3, 2026.
Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter.
Microsoft employees eligible for the company’s first-ever voluntary retirement program learned the details Thursday, including cash payments of up to nine months of base pay, up to five years of healthcare coverage, and continued stock vesting. … Read More
A small team inside Microsoft led by Corporate Vice President Omar Shahine is building “Project Lobster,” an OpenClaw-based agent designed to work around the clock on behalf of knowledge workers within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. … Read More
By combining massive floating power generators with onsite AI hardware, Panthalassa turns the ocean into a self-sustaining computing powerhouse — all without needing a single mile of underwater power cables. … Read More
Amazon VP Yunyan Wang is now Chewy’s CTO; Smartsheet names new CFO; and a longtime Microsoft exec joins NetApp’s C-suite, among other tech moves. … Read More
Microsoft’s 2026 Work Trend Index finds that the biggest barrier to AI at work isn’t the technology or the workers — it’s the organizations around them. … Read More
Beyond massive curtains inside its Everett, Wash., R&D facility, Helion is betting that a downsized testbed can answer key technology questions as the company races to meet deadlines. … Read More
Contrary to popular myths, our taxes are relatively low, haven’t exploded skyward, and are nowhere near the point of creating serious damage to the commercial sphere. … Read More
Amazon launched Amazon Supply Chain Services, bundling freight, distribution, fulfillment, and parcel shipping into a single offering for any business. … Read More
New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is winding down Gaming Copilot on mobile and canceling its console launch, barely a year after Microsoft debuted the AI feature. … Read More
More than 300 members of the Pacific Northwest tech scene packed the Showbox SoDo to honor the year’s top startups, founders, leaders and deal makers across a dozen awards categories. … Read More
In this stream, I'll continue working on adding replacement capabilities to Rocks.
https://github.com/JasonBock/Rocks/issues/410
#dotnet #csharp #roslyn
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