Matthew LateganWriting about software, cloud infrastructure, and things I find interesting.https://matthewlategan.co.za/en-gbHello, World — Building This Sitehttps://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/hello-world/https://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/hello-world/How and why I built a static portfolio and blog with Astro, Terraform, and AWS. A walkthrough of the stack, the trade-offs, and the fun bits.Sun, 03 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTTIL: Git's --fixup Flag and the Power of Interactive Rebasehttps://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/til-git-fixup-flag/https://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/til-git-fixup-flag/A quick note on keeping commit history readable without the tedium of manual squashing.Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTBalcony Garden Part 2: What the Plants Taught Mehttps://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/balcony-garden-part-2-what-the-plants-taught-me/https://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/balcony-garden-part-2-what-the-plants-taught-me/Four months of pot gardening, and some unexpected lessons about attention, failure, and small victories.Sat, 18 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTWhy I Still Use a Terminal for Everythinghttps://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/why-i-use-the-terminal/https://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/why-i-use-the-terminal/IDEs have never been more powerful. I still default to the terminal. Here is why that is not just nostalgia.Sat, 04 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMTHome Brewing Part 3: Conditioning and the Art of Patiencehttps://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/home-brewing-part-3-conditioning/https://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/home-brewing-part-3-conditioning/The hardest part of brewing is waiting. What happens inside the bottle, and why rushing it ruins everything.Sun, 01 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTHome Brewing Part 2: My First All-Grain Brew Dayhttps://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/home-brewing-part-2-first-all-grain/https://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/home-brewing-part-2-first-all-grain/Six hours, one near-overflow, and a surprising result. A full walkthrough of my first all-grain batch.Sat, 02 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTHome Brewing Part 1: Getting Startedhttps://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/home-brewing-part-1-getting-started/https://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/home-brewing-part-1-getting-started/Everything I wish I knew before buying my first kit — equipment, ingredients, and managing expectations.Sat, 05 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMTBalcony Garden Part 1: Starting a Herb Garden in a Small Spacehttps://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/balcony-garden-part-1-starting-out/https://matthewlategan.co.za/blog/balcony-garden-part-1-starting-out/No yard, no problem. How I started growing herbs on a Johannesburg apartment balcony with very little money.Sat, 14 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT