Sign in

Aaron Sumner

@ruralocity.bsky.social
188 followers 116 following 401 posts

Non-equal part Petes Seeger and Townsend; depends on the day. I make things with code and wood and words. #STL aaronsumner.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I’ll be honest, #ScreenshotSaturday is about the only thing that keeps Bluesky fucking tolerable for me, as a respite from the steady stream of doom reposts. Especially you #pico8 developers—it is amazing and inspiring to see how creative people are within its constraints. 👏 👏 👏
161
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
J. L. Westover @mrlovenstein.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
1541743
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
zep.p8 @lexaloffle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
#pico8 now has the most officially published cartridges of any console in history. Well done everyone.
15695121
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
ICYMI, I added two chapters to my current book project, Testing Rails from Scratch. $9 while it's still WIP, just a few chapters to go! leanpub.com/everydayrails-testing-f… #Rails #Ruby #IndiePub #WIP #TDD
leanpub.com
Testing Rails from Scratch
Real-world advice for adding reliable tests to your Rails apps. Learn to test with confidence!
000
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
💥 And chapters 9 (system tests) and 14 (parting advice) are now live! Head over to @leanpub.bsky.social to get the latest updates to Testing Rails from Scratch. #Rails #Ruby #IndiePub #TDD #WIP
000
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
The Pragmatic Bookshelf ✅ @pragprog.com · 19/09/2026
The secret to better software isn’t *more* code, it's *smarter* code. With clever examples and insightful illustrations, Jay helps you understand performance and ship Python that scales. Vol 1: pragprog.com/titles/jwpyt... Vol 2: pragprog.com/titles/jwpyt...
021
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Big chunk of client work out the door today, now back to finalizing two new chapters of my book on Rails's default test stack. Still $9 while WIP. leanpub.com/everydayrails-testing-f… #Rails #Ruby #IndiePub #TDD #WIP
leanpub.com
Testing Rails from Scratch
Real-world advice for adding reliable tests to your Rails apps. Learn to test with confidence!
010
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
david celis @davidcel.is · 17/09/2026
interesting; it looks like Anthropic quietly pulled their donation of $150,000 in AI token credits to Omarchy. they no longer appear as a patron and this announcement post has scrubbed any mention of them. backlash… kind of works sometimes?
omarchy.org
Omacom Foundation secures $1.8M in tokens from leading labs - Omarchy News
Omarchy isn’t just a beautiful, fun & agentic Linux distribution for those who end up using it. It’s also built that way! With beauty, fun, and a whole lot of tokens. In fact, Omarchy Quattro has almost exclusively been…
933142
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Javier Cervantes: website feed @index.jvrc.ca.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026
Ruby is a beautiful programming language that balances functional programming with imperative programming with ideas inspired from other languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp). If you want to take a deep dive into its fundamentals and learn more about what makes Ruby a favourite […]
jvrc.ca
Recommended books for learning Ruby
Ruby is a beautiful programming language that balances functional programming with imperative programming with ideas inspired from other languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp). If you want to take a deep dive into its fundamentals and learn more about what makes Ruby a favourite tool for programmers, below is a list of recommended books to start your journey. ### Learn to program A thorough, but lighthearted approach that teaches you the fundamentals of computer programming, with a minimum of fuss or bother. Whether you are interested in a new hobby or a new career, this book is your doorway into the world of programming. ### Programming Ruby 3.3 (5th Edition) The Pickaxe Book, named for the tool on the cover, is the definitive reference on Ruby, a highly-regarded, fully object-oriented programming language. This updated edition is a comprehensive reference on the language itself, with a tutorial on the most important features of Ruby. ### Learn Enough Ruby to be Dangerous Designed to get you started writing practical and modern Ruby programs as fast as possible, with a focus on the real tools used every day by software developers. ### Practical Object-Oriented Design (An Agile Primer Using Ruby) This book is a programmers tale about how to write object-oriented code. It explains object-oriented design (OOD) using realistic, understandable examples. POODR is a practical, readable introduction to how OOD can lower your costs and improve your applications. ### The Well-Grounded Rubyist, Fourth Edition For over fifteen years, _The Well-Grounded Rubyist_ has taught beginner and developing Ruby programmers the veteran secrets of Ruby. This new fourth edition of the groundbreaking classic goes beyond syntax and commands into how a Rubyist really thinks. ### Eloquent Ruby, Second Edition Write better, clearer, more focused Ruby code by becoming truly fluent in the language. To express yourself eloquently in any language, you need to go beyond its vocabulary and syntax.
013
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
davemakes🔶 @mixolumia.com · 15/09/2026
3 days!!
14219
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
My Digital Ocean footprint wasn't huge, but now it's zero. That's one down. #FuckNazis
000
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
New silly game idea, Billy the Beach Bum: Go around collecting ingredients for tiki drinks. Maybe a winter project, and a good project for learning multi-cart game building in #pico8 #ScreenshotSaturday #IndieDev
Screenshot of retro-style video game idea: Little dude on a beach, an island with a banana on it currently out of reach.
081
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
O'Reilly @oreilly.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
On 9/16, Jesse Vincent joins @timoreilly.bsky.social lly to share how a personal CLAUDE.md file and a handful of prompts grew into a methodology used by hundreds of thousands of engineers. Register here: bit.ly/4chZk4H
031
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
O'Reilly @oreilly.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We’ll be at the Javits Center September 15–16 for LDX3 New York. Will we see you there? Stop by our booth and talk with us about how O’Reilly helps engineering teams and leaders build relevant skills through trusted content, practical courses, and expert guidance.
011
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Poorly Drawn Lines @poorlydrawnlines.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Specifically.
3826201
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Javier Cervantes @jvrc.ca · 08/09/2026
I really enjoyed your post. I took the liberty of sharing it on the Ruby Forum, hope you don't mind: www.rubyforum.org/t/a-fresh-lo...
rubyforum.org
A fresh look at Hanami
Aaroon Summer recently publish his initial impressions and thoughts after working through the Hanami 3.0 official tutorial. He came away with some observations you might find interesting, especially ...
112
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
St. Louis Post-Dispatch @stltoday.com · 08/09/2026
The popular breadmaker has three locations. Its employees want to organize.
stltoday.com
Union Loafers workers rally outside St. Louis bakery, demand union be recognized
0123
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Jared Norman @jardo.dev · 06/09/2026
hanami, it's worth looking into leftofthe.dev/2026/08/24/hanami-3-i…
012
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Scenes from an office for #ScreenshotSaturday #pico8
Retro game-style illustrations of characters in office scenes: water cooler, copier, desk, and whiteboard
082
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · 05/05/2023
Randomly remembered this gem from Reddit
"I just don't understand it. I'm not even that old, | was born in the 90's. How can you be called they or them? You're a single individual not a group of people"

"What pronouns would you use to refer to a theoretical person of unknown gender?" 

"I will not refer to them using any pronouns until their gender is clear. That would be the respectful thing to do as well."
381983342
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
For the non-insomnia western hemisphere crowd! #Ruby #Rails #IndiePub #WIP
000
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
St. Louis Public Library @stlpubliclibrary.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
September is Library Card Sign-Up Month! 📚🎉 Sign up for an SLPL library card today and unlock books, video games, music, movies and so much more!
011
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Wide awake so I may as well wish Europe a good morning and share updates to my WIP book Testing Rails from Scratch! Highlights are new coverage of integration tests, and revisions to the test data chapters. leftofthe.dev/2026/09/01/testing-fr… #Ruby #Rails
leftofthe.dev
Testing Rails from Scratch: Early September 2026 book updates | Left of the Dev
The latest updates cover integration testing and revisions to the test data chapters, available now on Leanpub.
001
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Misandrosaurus Hex @bexone.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
A hand holding a sticker designed after the “I want to believe” poster from the X-Files except it says “I want two Aleve” and instead of the ufo it’s two pills of Aleve
442080
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
At work, I'm experimenting porting a collection of shell scripts fronted by a justfile to Typer and Cobra. I'd written off the latter awhile back but am becoming smitten now. #python #golang #cli
000
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
What are you using for dotfile management these days? I use chezmoi, but am looking for something easier for applying them inside devcontainers and without having to fiddle with symlinks myself. #LazyEngineer
100
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Steve’s Hot Dogs™ @steveshotdogs.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
​We’re deeply saddened by the passing of Dolly Parton—a true hero to our team for her spirit and work with the Imagination Library. 🕊️✨ ​This Sat & Sun, $2 from every Dolly Dog (sausage gravy, bacon, maple bourbon drizzle) sold goes to the STL County Library! 📚❤️ (Dine-in/app only)
318139
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Jeffr0 @jeffr0.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
More Dollys and less Elons please.
074
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
St. Louis Public Library @stlpubliclibrary.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Celebrate Dolly Parton’s remarkable legacy, from her storytelling, lyrical genius, voice and humor to her faith, advocacy and kindness toward others, by exploring her work in our catalog. slpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/disp...
011
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I worked through the Hanami 3.0 tutorial and liked it! For now, I've written up my initial impressions and thoughts as a mostly Rails developer, but I can't wait to explore more. leftofthe.dev/2026/08/24/hanami-3-i… #Hanami #Rails #Ruby
leftofthe.dev
A fresh look at Hanami | Left of the Dev
Love Ruby, but looking to expand beyond Rails? Here are my notes on a quick visit to Hanami.
110
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Anil Dash @anildash.com · 24/08/2026
Do I know any folks who can connect me to academics or researchers who are more fluent in the history of rhetoric used to attack the Roma people? I am far from an expert and want to be thoughtful in how how I’m articulating the danger of DHH’s hateful screeds.
2311883
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I just learned about Roundhouse. Good timing as I wonder what to do with a couple of Rails apps I'm worried about supporting as Rails long-term. www.rubyforum.org/t/have-you-guys-s… #Rails
rubyforum.org
Have you guys seen Roundhouse?
This is a wild project which takes your rails application and translates it into C#, Crystal, Elixir, Go, Kotlin, Python, Rust, Swift, and TypeScript. It also translates it into magic-less ruby which is incredibly verbose but runs faster and is more JIT friendly. He claims it also runs under spinel which means you could compile it to a binary. Crazy project.
112
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Javier Cervantes @jvrc.ca · 20/08/2026
I’ve been doing some explorations about deployment options for Ruby, so I’m curious to learn more about what you’re using to deploy your applications. Please participate in the poll, I would love to get your input: www.rubyforum.org/t/where-do-y...
rubyforum.org
Where do you deploy your Ruby apps?
Hello! Lately, I’ve been doing some explorations about <span class="hashtag-icon-placeholder"></span>deployment</span> options for Ruby, so I’m curious to learn more about what you’re using to deploy ...
122
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Chapter 6 of my new Rails testing book is out! A fresh look at factories vs. fixtures. Get it for $9 with this WIP coupon code: leanpub.com/everydayrails-testing-f… #Rails #Ruby #TDD #IndiePublishing
leanpub.com
Testing Rails from Scratch
Real-world advice for adding reliable tests to your Rails apps. Learn to test with confidence!
000
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
O'Reilly @oreilly.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
We’ll be at the Javits Center September 15–16 for LDX3 New York. Stop by our booth and talk with us about how O’Reilly helps engineering teams and leaders build relevant skills through trusted content, practical courses, and expert guidance. Drop a comment if you’re attending.
012
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
M. T. Anderson @mt-anderson.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
0132
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Missouri Botanical Garden @mobotgarden.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Coming to Japanese Festival this Labor Day weekend? Shop for something special from over 30+ vendors right here at the Garden! ⭐ Japanese Festival 🗓️ September 5–7 Learn more: buff.ly/slktUnC 📸 Mary Lou Olson #MOBOTGarden
Women looking at clothes from outdoor vendor
042
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Busted AC, trying to keep cool in a darkened room today while working on Left of the Dev, inspired a vibe-coded dark mode 😅 leftofthe.dev
leftofthe.dev
Left of the Dev
000
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Noel Rappin @noelrappin.com · 14/08/2026
My Robot Year. The underserved genre of LLM takes… as I come up on a full year of working with Claude. Prototypes vs finished products, exponential complexity, and Conway's Law with robots. Actually finished this because I was afraid the world would change three more times if I waited.
noelrappin.com
My Robot Year
It's been about a year since I started using LLMs extensively to build stuff. How's it going? I mean, kinda sorta all the ways?
061
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
ok! 💥 Chapter 5 of Testing Rails from Scratch is here. Follow along as I dive into fixtures. A factories-focused chapter coming soon. Thanks for sharing and checking it out! #WIP coupon for $9 at leanpub.com/everydayrails-testing-f… #RubyOnRails #TDD
leanpub.com
Testing Rails from Scratch
Real-world advice for adding reliable tests to your Rails apps. Learn to test with confidence!
000
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
So the chapter I've been wrangling turned out to be a bear because it's actually two chapters 😅 But it splits cleanly, and now I have not one, but two chapters of Testing Rails from Scratch close to release. leanpub.com/everydayrails-testing-f…
leanpub.com
Testing Rails from Scratch
Real-world advice for adding reliable tests to your Rails apps. Learn to test with confidence!
000
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Andrea Fomera @afomera.dev · 10/08/2026
This year's @rmrubyconf.bsky.social is looking like a good one (that first talk excluded with my face next to it) rockymtnruby.dev/sessions/ But if you're able to, you should come to my talk too. I'll try to make it worth your time
rockymtnruby.dev
Speakers
Rocky Mountain Ruby is a single track conference devoted to the Ruby programming language which features technical presentations, community events and outdoor experiences, in beautiful Boulder, Colora...
193
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
St. Louis Post-Dispatch @stltoday.com · 12/08/2026
She walked out of her home in the 3800 block of Minnesota Avenue, police said.
stltoday.com
St. Louis police search for diaper-clad girl, 2, who wandered away from home
021
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Javier Cervantes @jvrc.ca · 11/08/2026
Did you know there is an open source platform that any Ruby User Group can use when they need a place to host their events, registration, etc? www.rubyforum.org/t/on-ruby-wh...
rubyforum.org
On Ruby - Whitelabel Site for Ruby Communities
I think we all agree that Ruby meetups deserve a larger audience . But did you know there is an open source platform that any Ruby user group can use when they need a place to host their events, regi...
001
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
WNB.rb (Women and Non-Binary Rubyists) @wnb-rb.dev · 12/08/2026
Rocky Mountain Ruby brings together Rubyists for two days of thoughtful talks, hallway conversations, and community in Boulder, Colorado. We're especially excited because it's co-organized by WNB.rb member Bekki Freeman! 🎟️ rockymtnruby.dev #RockyMountainRuby #Ruby #RubyFriends #WomenInTech
084
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Jasmine Damani @webdevour.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
You won't hear this on the news, but a pack of ramen noodles is now $37
481
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Rose W @rosew.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
2. Take on hard problems where you do NOT know all the answers but have enough skills and support to figure them out. The first gives you access to knowledge and advice you otherwise wouldn't know existed. The second forces you to grow rapidly while doing your job.
021
Reposted by Aaron Sumner
Rose W @rosew.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The two biggest ways to quickly build your skills in tech: 1. Work places where you are never the most knowledgable person in the room. Even if you bring experience make sure there are other people who's experience you can also learn from.
153
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
And I am sorry for the delays on this book. It's been a rough few weeks (our cat died, other life things) but I'm planning to get back on track this week. I keep telling myself, my reward for finishing this book will be time to start learning Hanakai 😏
000
Aaron Sumner @ruralocity.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I've probably rewritten the test data chapter for my in-progress "Testing Rails from Scratch" to try to find something to like about default fixtures support. I'm getting in my own head and just need to wrap this up already.
000