Although this seems pretty easy, this is something that I have struggled with. In turn, I wanted to write a post so that if there is someone else out there struggling as well, they have some steps to help them out.

So you want to add email confirmations to your app? Great. Now how do you do that.

In this case, I am using devise. So these steps are for those using the devise gem in their rails app.

1. Update your users model by adding confirmable
When you set up devise, you probably made a user model. Go to that model and update the code by adding confirmable

devise :registerable, :confirmable

2. Generate a migration
Make sure that you generate a migration to add confirmable to your users table.

You can create a migration with code like this:

rails g migration add_confirmable_to_devise

In the migration file, you will need to add this, making selections for whether or not...

…how do I do that?

Reading this article made me feel better.
I think that is the question that I always come back to. How do I do these things that seem to be so unprecedented? Why is that always what I end up wanting to do? Does that make me a dreamer, or a visionary?

Because of reading Shopgirl, I wikipedia'ed Steve Martin. I was surprised to find that not only was this man a comedian, and apparently a real writer (not the I wanted to write a book so here you go writer. But the, I have critical acclaim and emmys for my writing kind of writer) but that he is also a musician. He plays the banjo, for real, and has won grammys for it. And I thought, how awesome that this guy is not just an entertainer, but that he is also an artist. Cause after you are done entertraining, it is the art that will live on. I want that.

I don’t know exactly what my art is (maybe writing?) but I know...

This is the second part to my take aways from the Learning How to Learn Course. If you are struggling to learn something new, I would recommend checking it out. They offer explanations as to why some of your past methods may not have worked, as well as new exercises that you can implement to make your learning more smooth and effective. In the short time since I finished The Iron Yard, I have found these tips to help me navigate the self learning that I do now. It is never too soon for another reminder that learning isn’t hard, but disciplining yourself to do it right takes effort, and guidance, at times.

Here are a couple more tidbits to help improve your learning.

1. Chunking

Your working memory has about 4 slots, meaning you can hold about 4 items in your working memory before they start to disappear. If you want to really learn something, you will have to start engraining it...

This post is a part of a blog series on Black Tech and Media Entrepreneurs

Roy Clay is a pioneer of the old computing days. He worked as the Research and Development Director of Hewlett-Packard’s computer division back in the 1960’s, when the company was building its first computers. Although he graduated with a mathematics degree, he did not start his career in technology. Instead he started as a teacher.

It was the early 1950’s and due to racial discrimination, Clay found it challenging to find work in computing. But by 1956, he started working as a programmer, at IBM. Due to his intelligence and determination, by the early 1970’s, Clay was a technology consultant. He spent his time helping to identify technology startups (like Compaq and Intel) to invest in for top venture capitalist firms. And in 1977 Roy Clay founded ROD-L Electronics, the hipot and electrical-safety test...

This post is a part of blog series on my 2015 tech, anthro, and business reading list

This is one of those books that I didn’t originally plan to read this year, but came to me at the right time.

Like some of the other books on the list, this is a book that I had purchased in the past, but had never gotten around to reading. Now that I am in the process of deciding if I want to continue making it on my own with freelancing, or if I want to get a job, or both, the seeds of doubt start to creep their way in.

This book is a great antidote for that. It is all about changing your thinking, and realizing that you are where you are because you thoughts around your current situation are what they are. And that means that you can change it if you want to.

Eker has lots of advice in this book. Thinks like “…nothing has meaning except for the meaning we give it” is a good reminder for my...

In the few weeks since The Iron Yard ended I have been contemplating what it is that I want to do with my new found technical skills. Obviously, I want to be a developer….but in what way? I know that I enjoy freelancing, it give me the chance to learn new skills. I know that I want to go deeper into rails and gain more experience. I already have a slew of projects that I want to take up. But I also know that I want to bridge the gap between my new technical skills and the near 10 years of work experience plus 2 degrees I already have.

How do I do that?

That has been the question on my mind lately. So here is the answer I have come up with.

Find an alternative career.

And it seems that I am not alone. There are ways to be a developer, and still bring in some of your previous skills. Jeff Atwood wrote a post that described a similar concept. He outlined opportunites for people who...

This post is a part of blog series on my 2015 tech, anthro, and business reading list

“In any communication with humans, you can leave out all sorts of steps or concepts and let them fill in the gaps. In fact, you have to do this! We’d never be able to get anything done otherwise. The typical example is making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Normally, if you wanted someone to make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you might simply say, “Hey, could you make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” But if you were talking to someone who had never done it before, you would have to tell them how:

1. Get out two slices of bread (and put the rest back).
2. Get out the peanut butter, the jelly, and a butter knife.
3. Spread the peanut butter on one slice of bread and the jelly on the other one.
4. Put the peanut butter and jelly away, and take care of the knife.
5. Put the slices together, put...

This post is a part of a blog series on Black Tech and Media Entrepreneurs

Kimberly Bryant is the Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls CODE, a non-profit organization dedicated to introducing girls of color (ages 7-17) to the field of technology and computer programming with a concentration on entrepreneurial concepts.

She is an accomplished professional with a technical background, earning her bachelors in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science from Vanderbilt University. She has worked in the biotechnology industry for over 20 years. Her inspiration for starting Black Girls CODE came from her daughter’s interest in computer science, and the dismal access African American girls had to STEM fields, especially technology. Kimberly’s goal is to rectify that by providing exposure to technology through teaching young girls of color to code.

Here are her own...

This is a blog series that highlights Black entrepreneurs in the space of technology and media.

1. Kimberly Bryant—Black Girls CODE
2. Roy L. Clay— ROD-L Electronics

This post is a part of blog series on my 2015 tech, anthro, and business reading list

“I think you’re on a quest.”…“I know it sounds silly, but every now and then great men have gone on quests to find answers to the big questions. There have been books written about men who search the whole world for answers” – Norma

This quote for me sums up the premise of this novel. It is a story about a man on a quest. But in some ways, it isn’t about finding answers to the big questions, it is more about asking himself the little questions. The questions that for so long he has denied himself to ask. Instead, he has spent much of his adult life working at a job he hates, drinking and eating to much, and despising himself every minute for it.

That is until his parents die suddenly. And then for him everything changes.

Smithy lets go and just starts riding, Going on many adventures and meeting...