Chris Blunt

Banner for Plymouth Software promoting "People-First" software and data engineering services. At the bottom is a link to find out more at www.plymouthsoftware.com.

We're proudly a #PeopleFirst software development business.

- Supported - not replaced - by #AI.
- Every line of code reviewed by humans.
- Direct, human communication.
- Independent, professional advice.

👉 Learn how we can help your organisation's software & data needs: www.plymouthsoftware.com

2026-01-25 Moment 2026-01-25 Moment

[Moment] View across Dartmoor to Plymouth from nr. Foggintor Quarry. (2026-01-25)

www.chrisblunt.com/2026-01-25-m...

#moments #dartmoor #devon

An office building with a clear blue sky overhead. There's a well-maintained green lawn in front of the building, where a paved pathway leads up to its entrance. The building has modern architecture, and there are trees providing some greenery around it. It is a sunny day, but some clouds are visible on the horizon.

☕️ Morning coffee and writing updates on plymouthsoftware.com in the winter sun at #ElementsCafe at Plymouth Science Park.

#plymouth #devon #coffeeandcode

People-First, Collaborative AI: How we use Code Assistants and AI Tools in our Business. — Plymouth Software Like every business, we find ourselves using AI in the day-to-day workflows of business. Learn how we use AI as trusted code assistants while ensuring our code is is human‑reviewed for quality and sec...

🤖 AI is a helpful collaborative tool, but I'm keeping the focus of @plymouthsoftware.com on #PeopleFirst code and software development.

👉 www.plymouthsoftware.com/articles/peo...

#rubyonrails #software #development #coding

@todoist.com was one of my key apps for life-management, but now it's going everything #AI 😞.

Looking for open-source / plain-text alternatives, I'm currently trying out tasks.org + self-hosted CalDAV server; and a simple todo[.]txt file in @obsidian.md with Todotxt mode plugin.

A nice surprise coming back into the office today - I'd forgotten I'd given it a clean and tidy before the Xmas break! 🧹✨

Diving back into #rubyonrails upgrades (☕ first, though), including looking at #ruby4 and how it will benefit the apps we manage.

Happy New Year - 2026 Happy New Year - 2026

[New Post] 🎉 Happy New Year

I hit publish just in time www.chrisblunt.com/happy-new-ye...

Inspired by @olly.world, updated my site to include my #appdefaults on their own page at www.chrisblunt.com/uses/

2025-12-21 Moment 2025-12-21 Moment

2025-12-21 Christmas Lights @ #EdenProject #Cornwall

www.chrisblunt.com/2025-12-21-m...

#moments

No AI* Here - A Response to Mozilla's Next Chapter - Waterfox Blog Mozilla's pivot to AI first browsing raises fundamental questions about what a browser should be.

As @firefox.com plans to become #AI first, I'm trying out @waterfox.net (fork of Firefox - no AI).

www.waterfox.com/blog/no-ai-h...

(I'm Finally updating my #moments feed www.chrisblunt.com/moments)

2025-06-15 Moment 2025-06-15 Moment

Coast walk at Coleton Fishacre, Devon (taken 2025-06-15)

www.chrisblunt.com/2025-06-15-m...

Cup of coffee on a table with a small glass of hot milk next to it. In the background are two windows looking out to a wintery sky at sunrise.

Winter warming #coffee at #ElementsCafe #PlymouthSciencePark, whilst upgrading a legacy #rubyonrails app.

#coffeeandcode #softwaredevelopment #plymouth #devon

New Monthly Developer Subscription Plans — Plymouth Software At Plymouth Software, we understand the challenges businesses face when managing ongoing software development and maintenance. To help companies streamline their projects, manage costs predictably,…

Our latest monthly developer service plans are now available. Learn how your organisation can take advantage of simple, flat-rate monthly software and data engineering services to streamline development, reduce technical debt, and improve the software that powers your business.

👉 buff.ly/IpNBU9k

THE PIG-at Combe was a stunning location for the @chamberdevon.bsky.social #DevonNetworking event yesterday. Great to meet new people and businesses from across the region! #devon #business #southwest

Photo of a green GWR train along the beach wall tracks at Dawlish. The photo is taken at sunset from the beach looking back towards the trainline.

Love that part of the journey! We were on the "other side" of the photo just the day before ... #ObligatoryDawlishShotFromTheBeach 🙂

Hope you had a good trip! 🚄

Green coffee cup on a wooden cafe table. In the background, out of focus trees are visible with the sun rising behind them.

Morning #coffeeandcode at @elementscafe on Plymouth Science Park to fuel today's #rubyonrails upgrade work.

#plymouth #plymouthsciencepark #coffee #sunrise

Why Maintaining Your Organisation's Software is Key to Success — Plymouth Software Maintaining an up-to-date software stack is fundamental to the security of your business. The rapid pace of technological advancement makes it essential to keep every component current to ensure…

When custom software is the foundation of your business, keeping it secure, up-to-date and free of technical debt is key to the success of your organisation.

Our flexible, monthly Service Plans free you and your team to focus on growing your business.

👉 Learn more at buff.ly/ogPDseE

I've recently been trying out @zed.dev for coding a #rubyonrails project. It is *fast*, and (seems) to render fonts very nicely.

Overall really enjoying using it as my daily code editor.

#softwaredevelopment #coding

☕️💻 Creating a small R&D branch to explore how a large legacy app can take advantage of modern #rubyonrails #hotwire to replace a number of frontend components.

#coffeeandcode #software #coding #development

Automation Consulting to Optimise Your Business — Plymouth Software Have you ever tracked how long some of the day-to-day admin tasks take in your business? It's easy to lose time to these tasks without noticing, and suddenly find hours spent doing the repetitive…

Automation Consulting has launched at @plymouthsoftware.com. Find out how we can help you optimise your professional service business with software and automation,

👉 Read more at www.plymouthsoftware.com/articles/aut...

Screenshot of code showing two snippets from docker compose files. The second snippet shows how to completely override a ports mapping (rather than merging it) by adding an !override modifier.

Recently learned about the `!override` and `!reset` modifiers in Docker Compose files. Very helpful for cascading configurations where you need to remove previously-set values.

#docker #compose #devops #software #code

A yellow/green mug, filled with coffee, sits on a wooden table. A small amount of foam rises from the drink. Behind the mug, a window with partially drawn blinds suggests daylight. A plant is also present. Sitting to the left of the coffee, part of laptop can be seen.

Morning coffee and coding session at Elements Café, Plymouth Science Park

#coffeeandcode #plymouthsciencepark #plymouth #coffee #devon #business

[New Post] Rails on Docker: Rails on Docker: Kamal Proxy Health Checks with Cloud Load Balancers.

www.chrisblunt.com/kamal-proxy-...

#rubyonrails #devops #kamal

Transcript: Need help deploying your Rails apps with Kamal and Docker? Our simple rolling monthly service plans include continuous improvement of your devops processes and infrastructure as standard. Upgrades. Code Improvements. Security Fixes. Data Engineering. Infrastructure. CI/CD Optimisation. www.plymouthsoftware.com."

Need a hand deploying your #rubyonrails apps wth #kamal and #docker / #podman?

👉 www.plymouthsoftware.com

A black coffee cup sits on a wooden table, with sunlight pouring in through a glass door behind it. The glass door is open and there is a window next to it. The window offers a view of trees and buildings outside. On the windowsill, a vase filled with flowers. The light from the window casts long shadows on the table.

A morning coffee and code session at PSP Elements Cafe working on a project to help with multiple #Kamal deployments, and a new addition to the #RailsOnDocker portfolio.

👉 www.railsondocker.com

#rails #rubyonrails #docker #kamal #devops #coffeeandcode

Coastal walk near Haugesund, Norway. A photo of a rocky shore with a grey boat resting on its side. A blue ocean, a wooden fence, and a distant island create a scenic landscape under clear blue skies.

Coast walk near Haugesund, Norway (2025-04-09)

www.chrisblunt.com/2025-04-09-moment

#moment #travel #norway

Screenshot of testimonial that reads "Plymouth Software updated a bespoke application belonging to the University of Exeter. They worked with us efficiently with regular communication, delivering an updated application to agreed timescales. Excellent!" by Paul O'Neill, University of Exeter.

Wrote a quick overview / case study on the recent #rubyonrails upgrade we carried out for @exeter.ac.uk.

It was a pleasure working with the team and great to see their Rails app up and running on Rails 8 with Docker and Kamal.

www.plymouthsoftware.com/case-studies...

A busy harbor with many docked sailing boats, set against a backdrop of city buildings and trees under a blue sky with white clouds. The photo is taken from a high location providing an overview.

Great talks at @chamberdevon.bsky.social #cityconversations this morning.

Unfortunately had to head away a little earlier than planned, but managed to catch some of the exciting things happening in #Plymouth in the weeks and months ahead.

#business #devon

"Plymouth Software updated a bespoke application
belonging to the University of Exeter, they worked with
us efficiently with regular communication, delivering an
updated application to agreed timescales. Excellent!"
- Paul at @exeter.ac.uk

👉 www.plymouthsoftware.com

#rubyonrails #consulting