The Code Gnome’s Wild Ride

Not quite a year ago, I received an email. It was a rather good email that came at just the right time. You see, a lot of things were changing in my life, and not all for the good. Really, I needed a pick-me-up. The email told me I’d been awarded a Microsoft MVP.

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Have kit, will travel–What’s in my kit bag

I love bags. I mean, I REALLY love bags. Along with jackets, they’re my favourite piece of clothing (note I said clothing, not accessory). That said, a bag has to be functional and hold things. So, how do you decide what you put in your bag? I was posed exactly that question recently.

Old tricks and new dogs: PHP and character encoding

Recently, I’ve found myself maintaining a code base that involves, amongst other things, a fair bit of PHP code. I mean a lot. It’s been a few years since I’ve been elbow deep in PHP, and I figured it’d be like riding a bike. It is like riding a bike, and falling off still hurts.

How To: Git and VS Code

So you have git working with VS Code (even if it’s a local TFS server), and you were wondering: Now what? Well, now you git to work.

How-To: Set up VS Code with Git and TFS Server

I am consistently impressed with Visual Studio Code. It’s light weight, it’s open source, it’s on OS X, Windows, and Linux, and it’s free. Whether the use case is having people on different platforms, and different hardware configurations, having the same experience, or simply avoiding the need to spin up a full IDE, VS Code gets things done. And it even supports Git out of the box! What’s not to like?

How To–Authenticator app on Windows 10 Mobile

For me, the Windows Phone Authenticator app is a must-have. I’ve been using it on Windows Phone 8.1 for a while, and I love it. I can’t see myself working without it. And then I got Windows 10 Mobile and it broke. So I fixed it.

Translating Tech: Don’t get cocky

We’ve all been there. Sitting in a meeting, carefully explaining what it is that, “you do.” Defining acronyms, using kludged paraphrasing, and ham-fisted allegories. Sometimes, it feels like you’re speaking a different language. Well, on a certain level, that’s exactly what is happening.

The real trick, is don’t let it go to your head.

PHP and Local Testing

So you’re developing a website and you’ve decided, or been required, to use PHP to handle some of the server side controls. Not a problem. You’ve done the reading, have your favourite help sites ready, and are down with the challenge. So you startup the website locally to do some testing. And nothing happens.

Translating Tech: Working with non-technical co-workers–Speak their language

We’ve all been there. Sitting in a meeting, carefully explaining what it is that, “you do.” Defining acronyms, using kludged paraphrasing, and ham-fisted allegories. Sometimes, it feels like you’re speaking a different language. Well, on a certain level, that’s exactly what is happening.

The best translators I’ve met speak both (or more) languages fluently. If you’ve ever wondered what that “Other duties as required” part of your job was, this falls under that.

Translating Tech: Working with non-technical co-workers–Use your words

We’ve all been there. Sitting in a meeting, carefully explaining what it is that, “you do.” Defining acronyms, using kludged paraphrasing, and ham-fisted allegories. Sometimes, it feels like you’re speaking a different language. Well, on a certain level, that’s exactly what is happening.

One of the major barriers to learning a new discipline, or even simply explaining something, is jargon.