https://fordprior.dev/writing.html Essays on AI, engineering and civic tech by Ford Prior. en-us Wed, 29 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://fordprior.dev/writing/cursor-is-coming-to-rva.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/cursor-is-coming-to-rva.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Community AI & agents When I left AWS in 2023, the first thing I did was sit in a coffeeshop and download a new IDE called Cursor (now officially SpaceX) which I used to vibe my first full-stack app. My takeaway: we had entered into a new … https://fordprior.dev/writing/anthropic-certs-back-to-back.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/anthropic-certs-back-to-back.html Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT AI & agents Career Starting a few weeks ago, Anthropic now offers four Claude exams : ** Associate - Foundations (CCAO-F) - **difficulty: ★☆☆, my score: 934/1000 (✅ pass) ** Developer - Foundations (CCDV-F) - **difficulty: ★★☆ ** Archit… https://fordprior.dev/writing/anthropic-dreaming-agents.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/anthropic-dreaming-agents.html Wed, 13 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT AI & agents Like many, I watched Anthropic's Code with Claude keynote out of SF last Wednesday. Sessions were streamed live (but not shared publicly afterwards), and IMO the marquee announcement was a feature called dreaming … https://fordprior.dev/writing/neurons-swarms-lobsters.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/neurons-swarms-lobsters.html Mon, 09 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT AI & agents I learned last night that we're teaching petri dishes of human neurons to play DOOM. Like, actual brain cells wired into a digital environment, figuring stuff out. https://fordprior.dev/writing/ideation-engine.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/ideation-engine.html Wed, 19 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT AI & agents Engineering I joined GEICO as an Engineer and Evangelist to help my old boss Paul Devitt, PhD run an innovation lab, drive engineering productivity using AI tools, and write posts like this spreading the simple news that GEICO Te… https://fordprior.dev/writing/147-meeting-notes-living-knowledge-base.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/147-meeting-notes-living-knowledge-base.html Fri, 14 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT AI & agents Engineering After just 30 days at GEICO , I already have a folder called "meeting_notes_Q32025 " with 147 markdown files, 1 for each meeting I've had. 🫠 I've opened maybe six of them since I wrote them. https://fordprior.dev/writing/open-source-ai-models-morning-commute.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/open-source-ai-models-morning-commute.html Mon, 03 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT AI & agents Community Every morning at 5:30 AM, I begin the process of getting the kids to school and down to my co-working spot at Common House. Though my commute is fully analogue (e.g. https://fordprior.dev/writing/augment-dont-automate.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/augment-dont-automate.html Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:00:00 GMT AI & agents Career No, you're not going crazy. This is a bizarre time to be a software engineer. https://fordprior.dev/writing/why-you-should-write-about-your-work.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/why-you-should-write-about-your-work.html Tue, 21 Oct 2025 12:00:00 GMT Career Community I once crashed my laptop during a live demo in front of 200 people at the 2023 Richmond Technology Council - rvatech/ Data & AI Summit. Standing there with a black Apple loading screen, I wondered: am I a masochist? https://fordprior.dev/writing/5-tips-for-the-successful-engineer.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/5-tips-for-the-successful-engineer.html Thu, 05 Oct 2023 12:00:00 GMT Engineering Career So, you're successful . Congrats, now you're prone to a whole new category of pitfalls. https://fordprior.dev/writing/my-year-working-abroad.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/my-year-working-abroad.html Fri, 18 Aug 2023 12:00:00 GMT Life & work Last year, my family of 5 moved to Costa Rica for a 12-month "working sabbatical". We had both become weary with the house, the kids, the grind of American culture. https://fordprior.dev/writing/half-built-treehouse-unlimited-pto.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/half-built-treehouse-unlimited-pto.html Tue, 04 Jan 2022 12:00:00 GMT Life & work Cornered in the kitchen A couple weeks ago, my 7-year old son cornered me in the kitchen one evening after dinner. The tree-fort , he reminded me with a touch of accusation, was still unfinished. https://fordprior.dev/writing/pandemic-isnt-over-yet.html https://fordprior.dev/writing/pandemic-isnt-over-yet.html Tue, 13 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMT Life & work Last year was a roller-coaster. Like many tech workers in my demographic, I was shielded from the worst of COVID-19.