If that's working for you - fantastic. It seems like the way that you're looking to build products is focused on development ease & minimizing JS usage. We also build products that way at my company, and it allows us to build & iterate quickly with few developers.
If you'd like to implement some modern front-end technologies that lend themselves to this style, you could look to Vue.js (https://vuejs.org/) paired with a technology like Turbolinks or Turbograft (which allows for partial page refreshment).
It allows you to build something that feels more dynamic but still is based in Rails/ERB templates.
When asked if I prefer physical or digital books, I always want to say that I prefer paper. The truth is, while I switch back and forth pretty regularly, I find paper is pretty annoying.
I'm reading The Wheel of Time series right now, entirely on paperback, and I'm constantly aware of how it is physically more annoying to read. I have to constantly switch positions depending on lighting, or which side of the page I am on.
While reading on my kindle, I get to sit still in a comfortable position and not worry about flopping around to catch the light differently on a each side of the book.
This is one of those cases where I completely forgot that I had an account, and now it has been compromised. I'm scratching my head wondering what information/password I had associated with it.
Makes a case for actively destroying accounts on services that you're no longer planning on using.
I agree, my initial thoughts were that it reminded me of G+.
I personally love the G+ feed, the issue was lack of content to fill it. I was starting to get pretty tired of looking at the same old cluttered feed on facebook. I always felt that the feed column was surprisingly thin, and that the left column took up a lot of real estate for something I interacted with so rarely.
I think this will be a refreshing change for Facebook.
The isolation can definitely get to you. I've been working remotely for just over a year and a month now. I found it was becoming really difficult around the 6 month mark.
I was rarely leaving my apartment and working long hours because it was really difficult to "turn off", especially when I never really left the office. I fixed this by getting a dog, and honestly it was one of the best choices I've made. Working remotely, you're in a unique position to provide a great lifestyle for a pet. My dog gets a couple walks a day, and is rarely home alone.
Getting out of the house for one or two hours a day to get some sunshine and take a break is extremely healthy. Plus, there is a local dog park near by that is always filled with people.
Dog aside, it seems that you had much less conversation with other employees than I've got at my job. There is an unwritten rule to leave Skype on, just to hear about updates with the company. Just being able to easily reach out and send someone a message (not through email, basecamp, etc) is important to me.
Site took a long time to load, but when it did, I gladly signed up. Got my first email already.
Really looking forward to this, thanks.
* Edit, It appears that the video "Objectified" (Or at least the preview) is not available to rent from YouTube in Canada.
"The uploader has not made this video available in your country." :(
I don't have time to try renting it right now, but I'll test it this weekend. Perhaps only the trailer is unavailable. Can anyone test/confirm?
I'm in a similar boat. I've just began with Rails in the last six months, and I've really been enjoying it. These vulnerabilities are unnerving but I am comforted by the visibility of the announcements. The community seems to get the message out very quickly when an exploit is found/patched.
My entire Twitter feed is filled with Rails developers telling others to upgrade immediately, and HN has multiple new posts about it.