Author: dan

In the last post, we built a budget-friendly cloud development workstation on AWS—something powerful, secure, and cheap enough to run for about the cost of a couple coffees a month. This follow-up shows how to create the same experience on Azure, with the same goals: If you like the idea of your laptop becoming a…

Master Sifo-Dyas stood alone on the observation balcony above Kamino’s endless storm-washed oceans, watching rows of white-armored soldiers march in perfect synchronicity. To the Kaminoans, they were a triumph of biology. To Sifo-Dyas, they were a fragile shield against a future only he had glimpsed. His visions had grown sharper—blinding flashes of metallic swarms blotting…

Ever wished you could upgrade your laptop by just renting a faster one in the cloud? With AWS, you can. In this guide we’ll walk through setting up a secure, budget-friendly Ubuntu development machine on AWS, complete with NICE DCV for a graphical desktop and VS Code for your day-to-day work. Why build a cloud…

I run Ubuntu 24.04 on an older HP Envy 17, and for months I’ve tiptoed around a maddening bug: every time the laptop went to sleep, it would wake up straight into airplane mode. The Wi-Fi hardware light glowed orange, NetworkManager insisted the radio was off, and the only way out was a full reboot.…

Sync Your Bookmarks Everywhere (Without Google Workspace or Browser Lock-In) If you’ve ever switched between browsers, machines, or even just work and home setups, you’ve probably felt this pain: “Where are my bookmarks again?” Chrome syncs… but only if you’re signed into Google. Firefox has its own cloud. Safari lives in Apple’s walled garden. Edge?…

(and How to Do It Right with Google Workspace) When your organization is growing — whether it’s a nonprofit, community group, or small business — how you handle email addresses can make a surprising difference in efficiency, continuity, and security. Many teams start by giving each person their own address under the organization’s domain —…

This article is about vanilla. I want people to see it, so I want to increase its SEO by adding in simple links, but I don’t want to have to look them all up. If you want to learn more or download the plugin go to the github page. I made the Loom below when…

There’s a persistent idea in software circles that smaller code is always better. Conciseness is praised, verbosity is criticized, and engineers sometimes compete to see who can squeeze a function into the fewest possible lines. But like most absolutes, this view doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. The size of the code is not inherently good…

So You’re Looking for Work in Tech It’s a more competitive market than it’s ever been—but don’t despair! There are still plenty of jobs out there for humans who can demonstrate insight, creativity, and the ability to execute. Here’s a practical guide to help you prove you can do just that. 0. File for Unemployment…

If you participate in numerous video meetings and use OBS Studio for managing your video setup, you can record your webcam and use it as a looping background to appear present in future meetings, even if you step away. This guide explains how to achieve this using the OBS Virtual Camera feature, perfect for platforms…

written 2024.07.23 MariaDB version 10.11.6 Heidi 12.7.0.6 I was frustrated trying to do that — the main reason I was stuck is I was trying to use a too modern key format. Sometimes going backwards fixes things. First connect to you aws bastion and  First install putty and plink  I’ve on plink release 0.81 now…

Instructions for Developers on Using the safe_delete Stored Procedure To enhance safety and auditability of delete operations within our databases, we have implemented a controlled deletion process using a stored procedure named safe_delete. This procedure relies on a temporary table (temp_delete_table) that lists complete records intended for deletion, not just their IDs. This approach helps…

There is no overnight parking at the Baltimore Greyhound station, but 200 yards away is the Horseshoe casino, which has $5 a day parking, and free for Caesars Reward Clubs members.  The free parking is fine, but the Rewards parking is monitored.   You can get a rewards card for free in the casino, or at…

When I was a kid we went to Congregation B’nai Israel in Galveston, Texas. You wouldn’t think it, but Galveston has an old congregation by Texas standards and a beautiful Temple built by one of the great leaders in Texas Jewish history, Rabbi Henry Cohen. Every year we would do the first Passover seder at…

Throughout the Star Wars saga, the Force manifests in various mysterious ways. It guides, it connects, and sometimes, it influences. One of the most controversial and debated relationships in the series is that of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. Their love story seemed rushed and, to many fans, somewhat inauthentic. Was it truly love or…

Abstract This white paper proposes a novel “supertoken” authentication system that incorporates multi-vendor verification. The supertoken system allows users to authenticate with multiple authorities, and then utilize this supertoken to verify their identity across various web platforms. This enhances security measures and mitigates the risk of a single password compromise or impersonation, by leveraging multi-vendor…

At my last shop the onboarding process was kept in newDev.html, which was accessible in the dev, QA and gold environments, but not prod. included all the installs, checking out from vc, creating a Yourname.java file that extended Developer, and wrote your deets to the DB. Then you had to edit the Rollcall class to…

Shield Your Wallet: The Importance of RFID Blocking Cards in Preventing Remote Skimming  tl;dr  Buy this for $10, protect 4 wallets. RFID Blocking Wallet Inserts In our increasingly connected world, technological advancements have revolutionized the way we carry out daily tasks. From contactless payments to smart transportation systems, convenience has become paramount. However, as we…

One of the big hassles in starting a non-profit is the pain in the ass of setting up a bank account.  Most of the big players have high fees. In my last nonprofit we were constantly being hamstrung by Truist, who is among the worst banks in the world, at least for nonprofits.  I’m not…

Friends, My time at People for Liberty has come to an end. I’m very proud of the work I did there and what I accomplished with my colleagues.  PFL is continuing on, and I wish them every success. I am seeking new adventures. I’m available for contract work or potentially more. I’ve also got a…