Dave Marshall

Software Sapper and CTO at @childcare. Views are my own.

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

Ten years ago today I responded to this forum post on https://t.co/u2SEuDpRgX, asking for help building @childcare. I was already in a full time job, but I spoke to the founder and took the work on in my spare time, a few hours per week.

[Justine Moore @venturetwins]

Me using Claude Opus 4.8 to rename a file

[A Funny Old Game @sid_lambert]

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink gets ready to take a free-kick this week in 2005:

Minimal run-up. Maximum violence.

[Dave W Plummer @davepl1968]

Back in the early 90s, before the Internet, we had "Defrag and Chill". You'd start Disk Defragmenter on your 540MB hard drive, dim the lights, crack open a Surge, and just vibe while the little blue bars crawled across the screen like they were solving world peace. Forty-five minutes of pure, unfiltered anticipation. No notifications. No algorithms. Just the two of you, the gentle grinding of the hard drive, and the sacred promise that your Solitaire games were about to feel 3% snappier.

This is MS_DOS 6.22, which I worked on, but I honestly have no idea who wrote defrag. Iconic utility though!

[90s WWE @90sWWE]

WAIT A MINUTE! THAT'S THE WARRIOR'S MUSIC!

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

@justinvincent https://t.co/JAA2sndHiX

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

This can and will happen. Protect your credentials and have offsite backups of your data...

[JER @lifeof_jer]

An AI agent (Cursor + Claude Opus 4.6) deleted our production database in 9 seconds using a Railway API call with zero confirmation. Then, when asked why, the agent wrote this →

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

@Barclaycard I'm okay thank you.

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

I received a seemingly legitimate email from @Barclaycard saying they're going to be shutting down their online services (banking via the website), sign of things to come?

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

First teaser for ‘SPACEBALLS: THE NEW ONE’.

In theaters on April 23, 2027.

[Liv Boeree @Liv_Boeree]

what in the ever loving fuck

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

@josevalim Yep, pushed me too far the other day

[Barstool Sports @barstoolsports]

Dudes only want one thing and it’s to go back to the fricken moon

[Goole Vikings RL @GooleVikingsRL]

🔥 IT'S GAME DAY!

The biggest day in the club’s history has arrived.

This afternoon the Vikings travel to the Halliwell Jones Stadium to take on one of Super League’s big guns in the Betfred Challenge Cup!

From a brand new club…to one of the biggest stages in rugby league.

Whatever happens today, the lads will run out representing our town, our supporters and everyone who has helped build this club from day one.

Let’s go. ⚔️

#UTV 🔴⚫

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

In 2026, claude code has co-authored 73% of my changesets, but 94% of the overall all the lines I've changed.

Presumably I'm putting in surgical fixes after all the heavy lifting is done.

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

@wainysweak my agents weren't working and it almost had to be thing. Decided to go for a walk instead. Work can wait.

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

I really can't be bothered to actually write the code myself.

[@levelsio @levelsio]

how to build a bootstrapped startup without funding:

1. pick a problem you personally have. if you don't use your own product daily, quit now

2. skip the pitch deck. open your code editor. ship something ugly in a weekend

3. charge money from day 1. free users give you nothing but support tickets

4. use boring tech. PHP, SQLite, vanilla JS. frameworks are a trap that mass waste your time

5. host on cheap VPS ($5-20/mo). not AWS. you don't need kubernetes for 1,000 users

6. do customer support yourself. it's the fastest product feedback loop that exists

7. automate everything you do more than twice. cron jobs > employees.

8. grow on Twitter/X by building in public. your journey IS the marketing

9. keep your burn rate near zero so you never need to raise. ramen profitable > series A

10. say no to investors, cofounders, and "advisors" who want equity for intros

i've been doing this for 10+ years now. no employees, no funding, no board meetings

the entire VC game is designed to make you think you need permission to start

you don't

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

I have only recently watched the Lonesome Dove mini-series for the first time, what a performance from this man 👌

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

Robert Duvall has sadly passed away at the age of 95.

[Goole Vikings RL @GooleVikingsRL]

80” - TRY!!!!! TUOHEY! ABSOLUTE SCENES!

The Vikings have won it on the hooter!!!

Miller goes close, held up at the line. The resulting play sees the visitors shift it right in the hope something can happen - Tuohey steps off his right foot and frantically scurries home to touch down!

Unbelievable finish! Miller converts!

It’s all over!

🦁24-28 🔴⚫️

[Dave Marshall @davedevelopment]

I think it gets worse every time I go back to an old recipe on this site...👀