Ahmed

Hey, I’m Ahmed, a software developer, writer, and maker. I’m interested in entrepreneurship and working remotely. Read more about me.

I’m based in Morocco, and currently working at Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com.

My projects

Remote.ma

I help Moroccan creatives join the future of work. Sharing tips, information, and building tools for remote workers.

Visit remote.ma

Make.ma

Tools, articles, and everything a Moroccan maker needs to start hacking. Let’s create more than consume.

Visit make.ma

More?

I also work on other stuff that you may find interesting. You can see all of them in my online resume/about.

Visit my about page

Latest blog posts

Anything you want by Derek Sivers. Extended book resume

Anything you want by Derek Sivers, is one of my all-time favorite books. It’s a short book you can read in an hour and contains 40 lessons Derek learned while building and selling cdbaby.com, a platform for independent musicians to sell their albums. The following is a summary of the 40 lessons. This is anContinue reading “Anything you want by Derek Sivers. Extended book resume”

November 10, 2020October 24, 2020

Remote.ma: from a blog to a platform

It’s been two years since I started remote.ma, but I didn’t share why I started it before. So today, I’m going to share this with you. It all started when I wanted to work remotely: The story I applied to Automattic for three reasons: I wanted to work on something with an impact. And forContinue reading “Remote.ma: from a blog to a platform”

October 27, 2020October 16, 2020

Is it bad practice to choose your own document ID in Firestore or a NoSQL database?

What if you’re left to choose the IDs of your documents on a NoSQL database like Firestore? Will you use a random string for your IDs, or try to use a combination of your document fields? Let’s take books for example. A good candidate for a unique ID is the ISBN, it’s a book identifierContinue reading “Is it bad practice to choose your own document ID in Firestore or a NoSQL database?”

October 22, 2020October 22, 2020

Acquiring my first Internet project: okjob.io

A few months ago, I acquired my first project ever: okjob.io, a remote jobs board. The following is a recap of why I acquired it instead of building it myself and how I’m planning to use it. But first… Why the heck a job board? It’s been a while since I wanted to build aContinue reading “Acquiring my first Internet project: okjob.io”

October 6, 2020October 1, 2020

Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. Extended book resume

A new way of operating. This is one of the books every creator should read. It is full of information for those trying to build an online audience. In this new world where information is abundant, it’s hard to be spotted. How to get people to notice your work? How can you get your stuffContinue reading “Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. Extended book resume”

September 16, 2020September 15, 2020

Why developers hate Ruby on Rails

Hey I’m Ahmed, a self taught software engineer. In my path of self learning, I tried multiple languages and frameworks; and one of them was Ruby on Rails. That was at least 5 years ago, and I hated it. I didn’t know why, but it just felt different in a bad way at that time.Continue reading “Why developers hate Ruby on Rails”

September 1, 2020September 1, 2020

The day I accidentally built a nudity/porn platform

I didn’t know that my next project will turn into a nudity platform and a home for spammers. But it did happen while I wasn’t paying attention. And here are the details. For the next 5/10 years, I’ve decided that my mission will be: “Can a Moroccan build an online business and make a livingContinue reading “The day I accidentally built a nudity/porn platform”

August 11, 2020August 11, 2020

The green presence dot

Nowadays, every app with a chat feature has a presence indicator. It comes with different flavors, like a green dot, an “online” mention, or a “last seen” feature. But they all serve the same purpose. It’s a trap. Every one of them fights for your attention, trying to spend more time with you while usingContinue reading “The green presence dot”

June 29, 2020

Reversible decisions and tomato purée

We freak out when we hear “decisions”. We don’t want to make them. We prefer to avoid making decisions. We think decisions are hard because they are irreversible. Once you make a decision, it will haunt you all your life. But the truth is, the majority of decisions are reversible. You can choose a path,Continue reading “Reversible decisions and tomato purée”

May 19, 2020May 19, 2020

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