https://ctrlaltbrian.com/ Free how-tos on automation, GenAI prompts, and building things that actually work. Tools and prompt packs when you want the full kit. en-us Sat, 18 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/10-things-stopped-saying-prompts.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/10-things-stopped-saying-prompts.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A concrete list of the 10 words and phrases I cut from my AI prompts, with before/after examples, the measurable difference each cut made, and the 1 phrase I will never cut. Prompts https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/3-line-cron-saved-marriage.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/3-line-cron-saved-marriage.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A real story about a 3-line cron expression that fixed a recurring conflict, the 6 weeks of arguments it ended, and the surprisingly small amount of code that did it. Automation https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/3-words-i-use-most.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/3-words-i-use-most.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A small reflection on the 3 words I find myself using in every conversation, every post, and every email. The 3 words, the 1 I would not cut, the 1 I have been overusing, and the 1 I have been underusing. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/4-ai-courses.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/4-ai-courses.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 An honest review of the 4 AI courses I bought in 2025, what each one taught me, the 1 I would re-buy tomorrow, the 3 I would skip, and the 1 I would build instead. Prompts https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/5-line-bash-script.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/5-line-bash-script.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A real, copy-pasteable, runs-every-day bash script that backs up my laptop, prunes old logs, and tells me when something is wrong. Plus the 3 hours I spent getting the error reporting right. Automation https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/5-minute-code-review.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/5-minute-code-review.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A practical 5-step code review workflow, the 4 questions I ask, the 1 thing I do not do, and the real reason most code reviews take longer than they should. Automation https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/5-page-vs-50-page-plan.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/5-page-vs-50-page-plan.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A real case for short planning docs, the 7 sections that go in a 5-page plan, the 4 things you cut from a 50-page plan, and the 1 situation where a 50-page plan is actually right. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/email-i-almost-did-not-send.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/email-i-almost-did-not-send.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A real story about a 1-paragraph email I almost did not send, the 4 things that would have been different if I had not sent it, and the 1 question I ask myself before every hard email now. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/list-of-lists.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/list-of-lists.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 An organized catalog of the 12 prompt lists I keep, the 3 I use daily, the 4 I revisit quarterly, and the 5 I am embarrassed to admit I have. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/postmortem-of-postmortem.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/postmortem-of-postmortem.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A meta-postmortem on writing the 4-Failed-Blogs post, what worked in that post, what flopped, and the 3 things I would do differently if I were writing a similar post today. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/quiet-update-doubled-email-list.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/quiet-update-doubled-email-list.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A real story about a 1-line change I made to my site that doubled my email list, the 90 days of data, the 3 things I tried that did not work, and the 1 thing I would tell past-me. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/quit-hacker-news.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/quit-hacker-news.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 An honest account of my 7-year daily HN habit, the moment I quit, the 3 things I lost, the 4 things I gained, and the 1 thing I would tell anyone considering a similar change. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/readme-replaced-sales-call.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/readme-replaced-sales-call.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A real story about a 1-page README that did the selling for me, the 3 calls I stopped taking, and the 4 sections that made the README actually work. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/weekend-project-zero-dollars.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/weekend-project-zero-dollars.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 An honest case study of a side project that made $0, what I learned from the project that I could not have learned from the $300 project, and the 1 thing that made the $0 worth shipping. Releases https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/1-page-project-plan.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/1-page-project-plan.html Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A 7-section, 1-page template for any project before I start building. Plus the 3 questions that determine whether the project is worth starting at all. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/2026-tool-stack.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/2026-tool-stack.html Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A real, no-affiliate, what's-actually-on-my-Mac list of the 14 tools I use daily, plus the 3 I would change tomorrow if I had to start over. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/30-days-of-posts-in-one-weekend.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/30-days-of-posts-in-one-weekend.html Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Not by writing faster. By removing every step that was not writing. Here is the exact pipeline, the prompt pack that runs it, and the honest part about what it does not do. Releases https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/30-minute-ai-audit.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/30-minute-ai-audit.html Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A practical workflow for triaging your AI tool stack every 90 days. Includes the prompt that runs the triage, the scoring rubric, and the decision matrix. Prompts https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/30-minute-morning-routine.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/30-minute-morning-routine.html Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A 4-step morning routine, the version that worked, the 2 versions that did not, and the 1 thing I would tell past-me. Behind the Build https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/4-failed-blog-attempts.html https://ctrlaltbrian.com/posts/4-failed-blog-attempts.html Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 An honest postmortem of the 4 blogs I started before this one, what each one got wrong, and the 1 thing the 5th one got right. Behind the Build