How ChatGPT Helped Me Find the Right Running Shoes

It started with a little knee pain. The kind you tell yourself will go away if you just stretch more, ice it, or ignore it long enough. A couple of years ago, I got into the gym habit — running 4–5 times a week at OrangeTheory Fitness, usually 25–30 minutes on a treadmill as part of high-intensity interval classes. Within a few weeks, I started feeling it in my knees. Naturally, I blamed my shoes. ...

April 26, 2025 · 4 min · Rida Al Barazi

Returning to the Blank Page

I used to write to learn, to reflect. That’s how I entered the world of Ruby and Ruby on Rails. In my early days, blogging was both my thinking tool and my amplifier. I’d write about what I was learning—Rails conventions, design patterns, developer tools—and through that process, I’d find clarity. I also built connections. People read, commented, shared, and sometimes offered opportunities. That’s how I launched my career. Now I find myself coming back to writing—not because I’m starting something new, but because I’ve been building quietly, and I want to bring a little structure and reflection back into the process. ...

April 20, 2025 · 3 min · Rida Al Barazi