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Atomic Spin

Atomic Object’s blog on everything we find fascinating.

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I Built a Whole App Just to Keep My Characters Straight

Atomic Spin ·

2025/11/09

If there’s one thing that people know about me, I’m unapologetic about my hobbies, and out of that tends to come a passion project or two. Outside of coding, I love sim-racing, I love cars, and I love to write, amongst other things. So when an opportunity presents itself for me to combine some of […]The post I Built a Whole App Just to Keep My Characters Straight appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Looking Back on the First 100 Days of Our Website’s...

Atomic Spin ·

2025/11/08

About three months ago, I asked my team to run an experiment: deploy an AI chatbot on our website, trained on our website’s content. Though I had some concerns about contributing to the internet’s slow enshittification, my curiosity got the better of me. I decided it was worth navigating the risks of hallucinations, pop-up fatigue, […] The post Looking Back on the First 100 Days of Our Website’s AI Chatbot appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Build a System to Learn and Remember Technical Topics...

Atomic Spin ·

2025/11/07

As a developer and consultant, I’m constantly absorbing new information like frameworks, tools, design patterns, and domain-specific knowledge that surfaces through projects and conversations. Unless I intentionally build a system to manage this flood of ideas, most of it slips away before I have the chance to act on it. Over time, I’ve realized that […] The post Build a System to Learn and Remember Technical Topics as a Developer appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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SST Makes Infrastructure Easy — Too Easy?

Atomic Spin ·

2025/11/06

SST is an infrastructure-as-code framework that automates quite a bit of deployment. I recently worked on a small project where we used it to handle our AWS setup, and for the most part, found it enjoyable to use. It made a lot of generally complex aspects of infrastructure easy to manage. That said, is it […] The post SST Makes Infrastructure Easy — Too Easy? appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Maximize Vim with Macros

Atomic Spin ·

2025/11/05

Macros are a powerful Vim feature that I find many people are unfamiliar with or don’t know how to use well. Out of the box, Vim can do nearly anything, but the motions and commands to make it happen can be hard to learn. Macros let you capture a series of the actions and replay […] The post Maximize Vim with Macros appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Pencils, Not Stencils: A Better Way to Prune Git...

Atomic Spin ·

2025/11/04

At Atomic, we build all kinds of software, from deep systems integrations to greenfield apps. But sometimes, it’s the tiniest tools that deliver surprisingly big wins. Here’s a shell script I wrote to solve a problem that every dev hits eventually: cleaning up old Git branches. Yeah, you can prune Git branches manually, or with […] The post Pencils, Not Stencils: A Better Way to Prune Git Branches: fzf and a Tiny Loop appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Learn to Use Rapid Prototyping Sprints in Cursor

Atomic Spin ·

2025/11/03

When I’m exploring a new idea, I’ve found that building small prototypes is the fastest way to test assumptions. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with running prototyping “sprints” in Cursor, and it’s changed how quickly I can move from idea to outcome. My role in these sprints is to maintain user goals and product outcomes, as […] The post Learn to Use Rapid Prototyping Sprints in Cursor appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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So You Want to Code in JavaScript: A Setup Survival Kit

Atomic Spin ·

2025/11/02

Whether you’re joining an existing codebase or starting your first side project, it can be overwhelming to find the right tools to set things up. From installing software, configuring environments, or hunting down dependencies, to getting your software working together, you can try an abundance of different tools before you even write a single line […]The post So You Want to Code in JavaScript: A Setup Survival Kit appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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From Daunting to Doable: Kill It at Your Next...

Atomic Spin ·

2025/11/01

Networking. What pops into your head when you hear that word? 😬 Awkward small talk? A room full of strangers? That creeping feeling: “Do I really have to do this?” If your first reaction is social anxiety, panic, or just plain reluctance, you’re in good company. Even the most outgoing extroverts sometimes get sweaty palms […] The post From Daunting to Doable: Kill It at Your Next Networking Event with These 5 Hacks appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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How to AirDrop a SQLite Database from Your React...

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/31

My software development team and I recently worked on a React Native application on a project where we needed to collect data locally. Then, we had to make that data available for analysis outside of the app. Due to project constraints, we didn’t have time to focus on a backend setup that could enable something […] The post How to AirDrop a SQLite Database from Your React Native App appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Add Custom Claims Using Auth0 Actions

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/30

I recently worked on a project using Auth0 for login where I needed to enforce password resets every 90 days. We needed to check the user’s last password reset date without making an additional request to the Auth0 management API. This information is available in the user metadata, but accessing it directly can be tricky. […] The post Add Custom Claims Using Auth0 Actions appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Wrapping Up My 4-in-a-Row Experiment with GPT-5 High

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/29

Over the past year, I’ve been exploring what it means to build a game with AI—sometimes restricting myself to unusual constraints, and other times leaning on new tools to see how far I could push the technology. In my first installment, Building a Game with AI: A 30-Minute Experiment, I explored whether I could create […] The post Wrapping Up My 4-in-a-Row Experiment with GPT-5 High appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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The Cursed Legacy of JavaScript’s Date Class

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/28

Ask any developer what the “weirdest” part of JavaScript is, and most will mention its quirky type coercions, bizarre equality operators, or NaN oddities. But lurking underneath all that chaos is something even more cursed: the Date object. Let’s look into the cursed legacy of JavaScript’s Date class. Originally lifted straight from Java’s java.util.Date (JDK […] The post The Cursed Legacy of JavaScript’s Date Class appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Task: A Modern, Friendly Make Replacement

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/27

Every project is better with great developer automation. If you’ve ever tried to build up a nice toolset using shell scripts, Makefiles, package.json scripts, or the like, you’ve likely run into the pain of keeping things organized, dependencies between tasks, or arcane Makefile syntax. Task: A Modern, Friendly Make Replacement Task is a tiny, cross‑platform […] The post Task: A Modern, Friendly Make Replacement appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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5 Tools Developers Can Use to Get Unstuck

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/26

Every software developer, no matter how experienced, eventually finds themselves staring at the screen, feeling stuck and uncertain about what to do next. The act of sitting there and metaphorically spinning your wheels can be frustrating and be incredibly stressful. Therefore, it’s important to have a few tools in your back pocket to help you […] The post 5 Tools Developers Can Use to Get Unstuck appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Stop Sending “Syncs” and Start Sending Clarity

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/25

I often get invited to meetings with titles like “Account Sync” and “Budget Chat” and nothing in the body of the invite. Those titles gives me a little context, but not enough to know what to bring or how to prepare. Are we reviewing client feedback, planning upcoming work, or talking through risks and dependencies? […]The post Stop Sending “Syncs” and Start Sending Clarity appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Journaling Strategies for Scattered Workflows

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/24

I have often dreamed of a version of myself that has less going on. The fact of the matter is as I move through life, more and more opportunities arise. I am no stranger to biting off more than is reasonable to chew. However, I’m also blessed that the opportunities I take are ones I […] The post Journaling Strategies for Scattered Workflows appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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Streamline Your Code Reviews: How AI-Powered PR...

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/23

We’ve all experienced that moment of overwhelm when opening a pull request with dozens of modified files, wondering where to even begin. Code reviews can be challenging and time-consuming, particularly when changes span multiple components and architectural layers. AI PR summaries have become one of my most effective productivity strategies for addressing this challenge. As […] The post Streamline Your Code Reviews: How AI-Powered PR Summaries Save Time and Improve Team Collaboration

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Level Up Your Emoji Game: A Command-Line Shortcut for...

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/22

Custom Slack emojis are a big part of Atomic Object’s culture, with everyone developing their own emojis and funny ways to use them. There’s something uniquely satisfying about sending a message and getting a colorful, playful response from your teammates. It’s a small but meaningful way to connect with those around you and create a […] The post Level Up Your Emoji Game: A Command-Line Shortcut for Making Custom Slack Emojis appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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My Relationship with an AI Code Editor

Atomic Spin ·

2025/10/21

I’m sure you’ve seen numerous headlines similar to this: “XYZ offloads critical thinking, other hard work to AI,” or, “I Built an AI Fill-in-the-Blank.” Of course these end up spilling into daily conversations, with strangers, or remain in the back of your mind. Especially at work, this is a topic that never ceases to be […] The post My Relationship with an AI Code Editor appeared first on Atomic Spin.

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494 results