Hurt Ridge Labs

06/17/2026

12.5 hours of autonomous coding!

I kind of ramble a bit in the video (true to form!) but I figured I'd show people some of the wiring that goes on behind the scenes when I'm developing software.

This was one I am kind of proud of because it was an example of how powerful agentic AI can be. I wrote up detailed instructions and set my agent loose developing features without me micromanaging it. And it's work that would have taken a senior developer days if not weeks to produce--no exaggeration.

I've been building Tavina, a personal assistant which everyday professionals and small business owners will use to automate their repetitive tasks just like I am.

I want to help my friends and neighbors claw back their time so they can get back to enjoying life. :)

06/16/2026

Someday, I will get a humanoid robot and train it to pull thistle weeds around the homestead. 😄

Watch this and then consider HOW they trained it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeL2BmgcFJs

- the researchers used simple video (not expensive 3D capture) to record humans performing this dance
- a 3D simulated world was used to adapt the human movements to ones which were compatible for the robot's joints and actuators
- thousands of simulations were run to help discover balance and movements in a shorter time frame than physical, without risk of damaging physical hardware.
- the resulting winning combinations were then installed into the physical robot where it can apply those lessons.

What this demonstrates is the ability for a human-to-humanoid robot learning process that can become automated: simply by recording human actions and letting the AI train by observation and mimicry.

ROBOTIS HUMANOID AI Sapiens.Open-Source Humanoid Platform for Phys...

06/12/2026

🐑 "Do robots dream of electric sheep?" 🐑

One of the features I've developed for the Tavina personal assistant is Dreaming--a nightly conversation summary cycle which forms the backbone of Tavina's five-layer memory system.

Humans have conversational, short-term, and long-term memory. For your assistant to "know" you, it should have something similar!

06/11/2026

At the Capitol for a Pride of Dakota Advisory Council meeting earlier today. I'm honored I was asked to serve a second term!

Yes, that's right: even service businesses like Hurt Ridge Labs can be members and benefit from the marketing support, workshops, events, and many other opportunities to promote North Dakota grown entities.

06/11/2026

Since mid-March, I've been working nonstop day and night at building out Tavina, an AI assistant aimed at helping professionals and small business owners save time by automating tasks.

The architecture of this project has gotten pretty complicated, so I asked my assistant to draw an illustration showing the various containers (isolated components) and how they relate to one another. I printed and hung it on the wall of my office so I can refer to it when we're having troubleshooting conversations.

I guess this is my baby AI agent's first crayon drawing for the refrigerator. 😁

06/04/2026

I'm finally at the stage where the AI assistant I've been building out for months can help troubleshoot herself. It's not only helpful, but at times amusing as well. 😆

04/20/2026

Is there any song prettier than that of North Dakota's state bird? I love it so much, I decided to make that the default alarm chime for my AI personal assistant. 🐦

04/15/2026

Friday is going to be blustery but the rest of April is shaping up to be perfect gardening weather!

One of the personalized pieces of software I wrote a few months back was a dashboard for my wife and me (Frank + RaeLea = "FraeLea"). The things we look at daily get pulled up on our phones and computers so we don't miss them: calendar, tasks, server health, and of course the weather.

Living on a clay hill in North Dakota means that wind speed and direction is of particular interest! I've got the temperature track color-coded so I can see when I need to turn the chicken coop heaters on, at-a-glance.

04/13/2026

Splendiferous greetings to you!

It's been over three months since RaeLea and I announced the closure of Hurt Ridge Candy. We've not been idle, however!

I (Frank) have returned to my roots as a technologist. HurtRidge.com has been relaunched, the focus shifting to agentic AI. My motto is "Artificial Intelligence for Genuine People." My goal is to build useful tools that help my neighbors and friends save time and money so they can get back to living their lives.

I've signed my first two paying clients and delivered world-class software to one of them already. I'll go into detail in future posts.

AI isn't as sweet as candy, but it's pretty exciting! If you choose to stick around as a Facebook fan, I'll be posting updates on some pretty cool things I've been building.

And of course you can visit the website to learn more if you can't wait.

(You can still find our freeze-dried sweets everywhere Bison Country Distributing distributes, while stock remains!)

12/26/2025

🚨NEWS: Hurt Ridge Candy is shutting down (but our candy is still available for a while).

It's been a heck of a ride building this brand and slinging sweets these past few years. We've had the privilege of meeting thousands of customers, producing tens of thousands of packages of freeze-dried candy, and partnering with over 50 retail locations throughout the state.

As much as we loved building this brand, there's no denying market conditions (higher costs, increased competition from Mars and Hershey's with their own freeze-dried lineup, and general tightening of consumer spending on "luxuries"). When we separate emotion from the equation, the math just couldn't math out for us, so we're winding things down.

You'll still be able to get our candy as our distributor, Bison Country Distributing, has acquired our full inventory, keeping our retail partners supplied throughout 2026.

And rest assured, we aren't disappearing, ourselves; we are returning focus to our passion for storytelling as we write our 9th novel after leaving our readers waiting for far too long.

We invite you to follow that adventure at Frank and RaeLea Hurt, Authors

THANK YOU for enjoying our candy. It's been a true joy. 🥰

--Frank and RaeLea Hurt