Author: emersonthis

  • How to convert MySQL database to Postresql on Heroku

    Here is my quick-and-dirty recipe for how to make the switch a Heroku app from MySQL to Postgresql with minimal downtime.

  • Which is the best seed starting medium? An experiment

    This year I’m growing almost all my vegetables from seeds. I’ve been alternating between several different seed starting mediums, and I wondered which was the best. So I did an experiment to find out. The results were surprising.

  • Tracking velocity off the clock or: Getting things done when no one is watching

    I heard myself saying things like “My list of things to do just keeps getting longer!” and “There aren’t enough hours in the day.” I also noticed I was often scrambling to finish things at the end of my day, rushing to cross something off my list before dinner or evening plans or bedtime. I […]

  • A fast, cheap, AND good raised garden bed

    Over the past few years, my approach to setting up a raised garden beds has evolved quite a bit. The following is my cheapest, easiest, and most effective design to date. You can buy all the parts for $65 (or less) and complete the entire project in less than two hours.

  • Happiness: A Daily Checklist

    This is very much a work in progress… What is a good day? What are the things I do that matter and make me happy? I’m doing an experiment in which I make a point to do a few simple things every day. To help myself remember, I made a simple printable wristband, which you […]

  • How to convert a Rails (erb) view to React (jsx)

    I’m rebuilding the front end of a Rails 5 project as a single page app in React. Here’s my “quick and dirty” search and replace approach to jump-starting the process. Comments HTML comments need to be converted to JavaScript comments. Search: <!– Replace: {/* Search: –> Replace: */} ERB Tags The dynamic content that was […]

  • project_log: Road Show

    This is the first of (hopefully) several installments in which I will log my process of designing and developing a new product. I’ll start with the very first concept and end… wherever it ends. I have two reasons for doing this. I hope my foibles are interesting or informative to others, and I also suspect […]

  • How to wash a dog in the shower

    My house only has a shower, and my dog likes to run around in the mud. So I have had no choice but to perfect this art.

  • You might not be designing a website

    If the designs you work with originate as Photoshop files that later turn into websites, there are a variety of symptoms that can be considered warning signs…

  • Running Rails with MySQL on Heroku

    It is not difficult to set up a Rails app with MySQL on Heroku if you know what to do, but there are a surprising number of “gotchas” that are not well documented.