May 2024 Summaries

The Write the Docs conference in Portland, Oregon, offered a transformative experience for Mano Toth, a senior technical writer attending his first in-person event of this kind, marking his first transatlantic flight and visit outside Europe. The conference was rich with innovative ideas, such as the "Docs as Tests" initiative, which integrates testing directly into documentation, and discussions on visually appealing and engaging documentation. It explored the "Docs as Code" approach that aligns documentation practices with software development, highlighting the pros and cons of using Markdown and newer formats like MDX and Markdoc. Talks emphasized the importance of documentation as a key differentiator in developer experience, supported by data from the DORA project. Beyond structured sessions, informal Unconference discussions fostered personal interactions and a deeper exchange of ideas. The event also allowed Toth to explore Portland's vibrant chocolate scene and engage with the natural beauty of the Pacific coast and Redwoods, blending professional enrichment with personal exploration and growth.

Since 2022, Axiom has offered an integration for Vercel, providing organizations with observability features for their projects, but upcoming changes will affect its users. Starting May 23, 2024, Vercel will alter the availability and cost of its Log Drains feature, a component utilized by the Axiom Vercel integration, by restricting it to Vercel Pro and Enterprise plans with new charges of $10 per 5GB of data transfer. Existing Hobby plan users can continue using their current Log Drains at no additional cost, while Pro and Enterprise users will face charges after August 27, 2024. Axiom suggests two alternatives: upgrading to a Vercel Pro plan or using Axiom libraries like next-axiom, which provide data insights without relying on Vercel's Log Drains. The company acknowledges that the new pricing may be high and remains committed to supporting its customers during this transition, while continuing to offer robust analytics and data services.