The Curious Engineer

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Relentless Simplicity

bill.harding.blog

Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us.

Software / engineering practiceRuby / RailsEngineering management / careers

’10’15’20’25
Posts
232 from 29 Jan 2007 to 13 Sep 2026
Posting
now and then (4 in the last year)
Kind
personal blog
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https://bill.harding.blog/feed/

2026 4

  1. The Concise State of AI & Slowdown Data Infographic Data
  2. Notes from Montpellier Hertz Return (April 2026)
  3. Data roundup: Which code models performing best this month (April 2026)?
  4. The Dilbert Afterlife Takeaways: Too Clever by Half

2025 5

  1. Did the CEO of Google really say that AI only increased productivity by 10%?
  2. Incentives make the world go round: are there any other comparable prediction tools?
  3. Copilot vs. Cursor vs. Anthropic vs. DeepSeek vs. OpenAI LLM Examples from 2025
  4. Understanding Rrule’s bysetpos property
  5. Visual Studio Code (+ Cursor) IDE Setup on macOS for Jetbrains-experienced Programmers

2024 8

  1. Attention pendulum (goal setting)
  2. Tim Ferriss explains how identifying “super tasks” in his to-do list helps plan his day
  3. Comparing Task Dependency Features Among Tier-1 To-do List Apps (Todoist, TickTick, Amplenote)
  4. A 2024 Glimpse Into Life as a Google Ads Customer
  5. Comparing Online AI Infill Painting Tools, Reviews Undertaken Q4 2024
  6. Bill’s Reaper Hotkeys — With Screenshots to Show UI When Applicable
  7. Disable Ruby 3.2 IRB autocomplete with Rails
  8. Interesting Podcast Idea? Habits of World-Class Programmers

2023 8

  1. Business suggestion: Play games with an unfair advantage
  2. Function detection: the pain & triumph of tackling hard projects on a small team
  3. First Generation, Second Generation, and Third Generation Note Taking Apps
  4. Use the “frame” command in Ruby debugger: example & explanation
  5. How to change Google Ad Campaign Networks: Video
  6. If software businesses were castles
  7. Question: If I want to become a Full-Stack Developer, which technology to learn first? Front-end? Back-end? Both?
  8. Ruby/Rails performance comparison of Intel Mac, M1 Max, and M2 Max

2022 2

  1. Locale-specific pure Javascript first day of week function
  2. Cracking open the development process

2021 11

  1. Recording screencast videos: a novice’s guide to best 2021 macOS software
  2. Seattle’s Harborview Hospital Covid Visitor Policy
  3. The thrill of pursuit, programmer edition
  4. Iterate over a table in Rails without ActiveRecord
  5. Forking Docker Discourse for configuration beyond plugins
  6. Rails 6.1 DEPRECATION WARNING: Initialization autoloaded the constants: What to do about it
  7. Linux Touchpad like Macbook Update: Touchpad gestures land to Qt, Gimp and X server
  8. Building on @Lethain’s “developer meta-productivity tools” blog post
  9. ProseMirror Cheat Sheet & Concept Overview
  10. Grow Slow, Ambitious Programmer
  11. Linux Touchpad like Macbook Update: Touchpad gestures in Qt, Gimp, Firefox and X server

2020 10

  1. Setting up Shakacode’s React on Rails: HMR, SSR, xhr, and a handful of hacks
  2. Rails/React gem options comparison: react-rails vs react-on-rails vs webpacker-react
  3. A list of measurements that “measurement haters” probably appreciate
  4. Q3 Linux Touchpad like Macbook Update: Multitouch gesture test packages are ready
  5. Linux Touchpad Like a Macbook update: progress on multitouch
  6. Linux touchpad: preliminary project funding, survey results
  7. Linux touchpad like a Macbook Pro, May 2020 update
  8. Google Charts Advanced Tooltip Placement
  9. Jetbrains/Rubymine Mass Undo of Accidental Commit Revert
  10. List of Postgres 11 Time Zones

2019 5

  1. Twilio’s toll/click fraud runs up big customer bills: what to do?
  2. Linux touchpad mini-update
  3. Native emoji support (color emojis) in arch Linux
  4. Linux touchpad like a Macbook: progress and a call for help
  5. Measuring developer productivity in 2019

2018 5

  1. Best interview questions to ask candidate interviewees
  2. Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
  3. Alternatives to Xmarks (now discontinued)
  4. Counting lines of code for fun & profit
  5. Linux with a Macbook Touchpad Feel, Pt 2

2017 3

  1. Toward a Linux touchpad as smooth as Macbook Pro
  2. Fixed: My i7 Intel Dell Laptop is Ridiculously Slow
  3. Why’s “open link in new tab” not working in Safari + iOS 10 + iPhone 7?

2016 2

  1. Evernote vs Quip: A note taker’s detailed comparison
  2. Fixed: Rubymine doesn’t show files in “library” directories

2015 3

  1. Evernote QA Report: Merge & Sync
  2. Remove green checkbox from Dropbox on OS X
  3. Is Gmail secure from its employees?

2014 2

  1. Determine Ruby GC Garbage Collection Settings
  2. TBTTY: Freedom February

2013 5

  1. Rails 3.2 Performance: Another Step Slower
  2. Copy Ubuntu (Xubuntu) to new partition with minimum pain
  3. Ruby slice to end of an array
  4. Install Balsamiq (and Air) on Ubuntu/Linux Pangolin 64 bit
  5. Simplest AJAX upload with Rails Carrierwave and jQuery

2012 10

  1. One approach to fixing Mysql Alter Table hang
  2. What happens if two Google Adwords auto targets have the same bid?
  3. Early Signs of a Coder
  4. Rails Exception Handling and Notification with Errbit
  5. Fix: IRB pasting is super slow, typing in ruby debugger has lag
  6. Create a Custom Thumbnail Processor in Carrierwave
  7. Howto: Store a CarrierWave File Locally After Uploading to S3
  8. Ubuntu, Dark Side of Simplicity
  9. Copy Ubuntu packages between servers
  10. Fix it: Ubuntu CTRL-SHIFT-V Won’t Paste Into Terminal

2011 10

  1. Linux Mint Firefox & Chrome :: Remove Search Branding
  2. Ruby debugger list local variables
  3. Likes & Dislikes: The Product Edition
  4. EC2 vs. Heroku vs. Blue Box Group for Rails Hosting
  5. Nokogiri Recursively Find Children/Child from a Parent
  6. Rails 3 Slave Databases: Compare Octopus to SDP
  7. Rails 3 Performance: Abysmal to Good to Great
  8. Free Lock on Single Mysql Table Row
  9. Rails 3 Unit and Integration Tests Slow: So Fix It
  10. Rails 3 Autoload Modules/Classes – 3 Easy Fixes

2010 13

  1. Traits & Qualities of Best Developers on a Deserted Island
  2. Rails: Beware the custom truncate
  3. Join Multiple Copies of Same Model in Thinking Sphinx Index
  4. Hint for Job Seekers: Wake Up and Write!
  5. Rails tests: One line to seriously pump up the speed
  6. Get Session in Rails Integration Test
  7. Paypal Masspay Ruby Example
  8. Best of Rails GUI, Performance, and other Utilities
  9. Rails Unified Application Logging with Log Weaver
  10. Sphinx 0.9.9 Review, A Cautionary Tale
  11. Best Linux Git GUI/Browser
  12. Git move commit to another branch
  13. Javascript play sound (wav, MP3, etc) in one line

2009 22

  1. Savage Beast 2.3, a Rails Message Forum Plugin
  2. Rails Slave Database Plugin Comparison & Review
  3. jQuery XMLHttpRequest Object Documentation
  4. Buying Dell servers? Consider the hidden costs.
  5. Can’t open file in Rubymine?
  6. Ubuntu/Nautilus Script to Upload to Application Servers
  7. Linux/Ubuntu grep a directory for a word. The quick version.
  8. Bonanzle: A Year One Retrospective, Part I
  9. Determine location of ruby gems
  10. Copy aptitude packages between Linux (Ubuntu) Computers/Systems/Installations
  11. Copy Ruby Gems Between Ruby Installations/Computers/Systems
  12. Justice Served: My Favorite Part of the Internet
  13. Amazon Unbox Change Registered User / Account
  14. Set/Increase Memory Available in Rubymine
  15. New Relic Apdex: The Best Reason So Far to Use New Relic
  16. Rails Ajax Image Uploading Made Simple with jQuery
  17. Me No Blog Hella Ugly!
  18. Rails Blog Plugin Bloggity v. 0.5 – Now Available for Consumption
  19. Rails Fix Slow Loads in Development when Images Missing
  20. Is it just me?
  21. Monitor Phusion Passenger Memory Usage
  22. Nginx “24: Too many open files” error with Rails? Here’s why.

2008 41

  1. Rails Performance Analysis and Monitoring? Free and Easy with pl_analyze
  2. Rails Phusion Passenger vs. Mongrel Handlers, Anyone Dare Try?
  3. Rails 2.2 Log Format + pl_analyze = Ugly
  4. Rails 2.2 Connection Pools + Mongrel Handlers = Slow
  5. Bloggity – Rails Blog Plugin Made Stupid Simple
  6. Rails Fast(er) Clone/Copy of attachment_fu Images
  7. How Much Do We Want A Decent Version of Git for Windows? T-H-I-S M-U-C-H.
  8. Rails Thinking Sphinx Plugin: Full Text Searching that’s Cooler than a Polar Bear’s Toenails
  9. MySql Use “Distinct” and “Order by” with Multiple Columns AKA Apply “Order by” before “Group”
  10. Rails Hosting: Review of Slicehost vs. EC2
  11. Rails Mysql Indexes: Step 1 in Pitiful to Prime Performance
  12. Change ACL of Amazon S3 Files in Recursive Batch
  13. Bonanzle: “The Best eBay Alternative They’ve Seen”
  14. Bloggity – An Idea for a Rails Blog Plugin
  15. Rails script/server command line options
  16. Seattle Craigslist vs. Microsoft Expo, or, Don’t Ape the Mojo
  17. Rails Review: Fiveruns
  18. Oh Woe are We: Desecrating Rails for a Brighter Tomorrow
  19. Linux Set and View User Groups
  20. Starling Update from the Horses’ Mouth
  21. Craigslist Buyer and Seller Paradise
  22. Guide to Setup Rails with MySQL SSL
  23. Rails Starling Setup, Options, and Usage Documentation
  24. The Mothership has Landed
  25. Ultimate Guide to Setup SSL on Rails and Apache 2 (with Ubuntu seasoning)
  26. Quick Book Plug: Advanced Rails Recipes
  27. Rails Internet Explorer Integration Guide
  28. Rails Plugin: Javascript Unqueue Spring, all Javascript output at page bottom
  29. Rails Update Test Fixtures Upon Migration
  30. Rails Optimize Google Maps Load Times
  31. Setup Mongrel Cluster Options
  32. Engines Plugin Breaks Rails Exception Notifier No More
  33. Rails Engines Performance
  34. Load Rails Fixtures in Production Mode
  35. Compare Rails IDEs for Windows
  36. Comparing Rails Geolocator Plugins
  37. Savage Beast 2.0 – A Rails 2.0 Message Forum Plugin
  38. Rails Track Online Users through Session
  39. Rails Performance: A Brief History of the Universe
  40. Delete DOS Directories Recursively
  41. Assorted Plugs

2007 63

  1. One Liner
  2. Bonanzle.com
  3. Must Love Chaos and Compromise
  4. Oh my gosh that’s kind of evil
  5. Manually Set Rails Migration Version
  6. All Coming Together
  7. Automatically Reload Modules On Change In Rails 2.0.x
  8. Inflection Point
  9. Thousands of Pieces
  10. The Worst Ass Kickin’ There Ever Was
  11. In Search of Less Data Waste
  12. Books for a Better World, Pt. 1
  13. The Storm
  14. Be Wrong
  15. Lull Before the Storm
  16. Buy! Buy! Buy!
  17. Slog Conquers Blog
  18. Meetings: Important to Whom?
  19. Sleep Management
  20. Admitting You’re Wrong is the First Step
  21. The Slow Learning Advocate
  22. Close Call
  23. What the Hell Do I Know?
  24. Pre-Alpha Signup
  25. Dear Faceless Masses
  26. The Continued Adventures of Biz Plan v1
  27. Taking My Medicine
  28. 800 Steps to… Becoming a Farmer?
  29. Viva la Bill
  30. Troublemaker
  31. Noonhat and Immotion
  32. Jump
  33. Synergy: Beyond the Buzzword
  34. Bonanzle.com
  35. The Pickle Plan
  36. Back To Square One
  37. Seattle Entrepreneur Blogs
  38. Hours + More Hours = ?
  39. Profiteers, Continued
  40. The Hunt Continues
  41. Exploring Limits v. Self-Destruction
  42. What Flavor Businessman?
  43. The Joy of Rollin’
  44. Best of: Productivity Tools
  45. Steps 2-799: Not Important
  46. Now Hiring: Animals
  47. Go-Go Gadget Design!
  48. I ? Logo
  49. Forward Ho!
  50. People
  51. What’s So Bad About Getting Paid?
  52. This Party Is Started
  53. No Lines
  54. And So Forth
  55. The Farmer
  56. Realitivity
  57. Bonanzle!
  58. Kill the Gorilla
  59. Consulting
  60. Be Better
  61. Differentiation
  62. Inertia
  63. Welcome to 800 Steps to Entrepreneurial Success