This page lists everything we've written on the site. We've written a lot over the years and we try to revisit articles to make sure the information in them is current.
If you want to read about specific topics, you may find these interesting.
If you have an idea for an article you would like to see us write, then please get in touch.
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5 Optimization Tools Every Business Should Be Using in 2023
Here are five different types performance optimization tools you should consider using -
Using CSV files with Postgres on Heroku
How we can use CSV files to import and export data to Postgres databases hosted on Heroku. -
Fixing USB disconnects on sleep on MacOS Ventura
How I avoided having to unplug and replug my keyboard each time my Mac went to sleep -
Creating Docker images with M1 Macs
I ran into an issue with my Dockerfile when using it on a Linux machine, setting a platform fixed the issue -
What does --no-owner mean in Postgres?
You have read a guide to doing Postgres exports or imports and seen --no-owner, this is what it means -
What does --no-acl mean in Postgres?
You have read a guide to doing Postgres exports or imports and seen --no-acl, this is what it means -
Restart the CodeDeploy agent after changing IAM profiles
The CodeDeploy Agent needs to restart to see new IAM profiles -
Fixing Issues with GitHub Actions and Rails
How I went about fixing some issues with a first push of GitHub Actions on a Rails project -
How to add HTML into an iframe
Using srcdoc to add inline HTML into an iframe -
Common issues I've encountered when scraping
Common issues I've found when scraping content, and how to mitigate them -
Setting rel attributes in Markdown
Markdown can't do everything, including rel attributes. Use HTML for these links instead. -
Replacing Sidekiq with GoodJob
We recently moved a client to GoodJob, and would do it again! -
Where is everything? - Keeping track of project details
Quickly find where everything lives for a project with a little proactive documenting -
Tips For Effectively Managing Part Time Software Developers
Tips that will help you to build a productive software development team and manage it effectively -
Use to_sql without slashes
Do you hate slashes in your to_sql output? Then this post is for you! -
Using the paranoia gem when joining tables
Something I learned today about joining two tables that both use acts_as_paranoid -
Setting up a dedicated Sidekiq queue
If you want one type of queue to always be processed, a dedicated Sidekiq process is the answer -
What I use SetApp for
A rundown of the applications I use SetApp for, and why I'm happy to continue using it -
Changing colours in Rails Admin
How to change up the colours in Rails Admin -
Previewing markdown in VSCode
How to check your markdown in VSCode -
What is SetApp
The first in a series all about the SetApp service and some of the applications within it. -
Adding timestamps to join tables in Rails
How to go about adding timestamps to your Rails join tables -
Ignore empty nested attributes when using Rails Admin
How to resolve issues that arise with saving models if you have empty nested attributes using reject_if -
Why Java is still popular for Web Development in 2022
Some of the reasons why Java is still a popular programming language -
Git commands we use most often
Some basic Git commands that we frequently use here at Tosbourn Ltd. -
Auto reloading Rails Admin
How to avoid restarting your server when making Rails Admin changes -
Using nginx args helper to search for a URL param
Using nginx args helper to quickly check for a param in a request -
Getting sign out link_tos to work with Rails 7
How to get your sign out link_tos to work with Rails 7 -
OmniFocus to Reminders
Why I moved from OmniFocus to Reminders -
Getting Obsidian word count on iOS
How to quickly see how many words you have written in Obsidian -
What Are The Differences Between DevOps And DataOps?
Do you know the difference between Dev and Data Ops? -
What is the Aptfile
Do you use an Aptfile in your project? This is what it does -
Getting vips to work with Rails on Heroku
As of Rails 7, vips is the default way to manipulate images. This is how we got vips working on Heroku -
We are dropping our rates
We are dropping our rates for our friends in the charity and third sector -
What are the square brackets in my Rails migrations?
Let's look at what these little square brackets are doing in our Rails migration files -
Setting a minimum TLS version with CloudFlare
How to set a minimum TLS version on CloudFlare and why you should consider it -
Rebasing in Git - A Basic Guide
Some of the more basic commands I use when rebasing in Git -
Best Books for Beginners in Java
6 books that every Java programmer should read -
Setting up Permissions Policy with Rails
How to set up Permissions Policy HTTP header in your Rails app -
Basic guide to Content Security Policy with Rails
The basics of setting up CSP with your Rails app -
Previewing Markdown files with VScode
How to quickly see if your Markdown files are formatted correctly -
Postico basics
The basics of using Postico -
Rails migrations - add default value to existing column
Here's how to update an existing column to use a default value -
3 Tips for Managing a Growing SaaS Company
Here's 3 tips on how you can manage a growing SaaS company -
Optionally creating or removing a column or table with Rails migrations
Here's how to go about creating or removing a column optionally using Rails migrations -
Using Faker with Rails
A guide to setting up Faker to work within Rails and why you'd want to -
Things our micro business does
Here are some of the things that we do as a micro business -
Using Shoulda Matchers with RSpec
A guide to setting up Shoulda Matchers to work with RSpec -
How to turn on invisible characters in VScode
A quick guide to turning on invisible characters in VScode -
Saving time with TextExpander and URLs
How I save time jumping between URLs on various browsers -
How to turn on invisible characters in TextMate
A quick guide to turning on invisible characters in TextMate -
Cut and Paste in Vim
A quick and easy guide on how to cut and paste using Vim -
Upgrading WordPress plugins on Lightsail with wp-cli
How we update WordPress plugins on a Lightsail/Bitnami install using wp-cli -
Testing Routes with RSpec
Testing routes can give you more confidence and help drive application development; here is how to do it with RSpec -
How to ignore Bullet in RSpec tests
Using Bullet during a test can pick up mistakes but also has false negatives; here is an easy way to ignore them -
How we used Nokogiri to fix a sizing issue in YouTube's oEmbed
At some point, one of our calls to YouTube's oEmbed endpoint was returning videos way too small; we fixed in in our Rails application by using Nokogiri -
How to comment Rails migrations
We recently learned how you could apply comments to your migrations in Rails -
Action Text Sanitizer update to more inclusive language
How I went about updating my Action Text allowed tags/attributes -
Four tools I use to keep projects on track
Incomplete projects are the worst; here I discuss my workflow and tools to try and complete a project as soon as possible -
Adding a service worker to Jekyll
Here is how we added a service worker to this very site -
Running Rails migrations automatically on Heroku
How you can tell Heroku to automatically run your Rails migration (and how to do it manually if you need) -
SEO for Ruby on Rails projects
How to do technical SEO with your Ruby on Rails application -
Converting images to use Google's webp format
A quick guide to using Google's command line tool to convert images to webp format -
Recent News Coverage
We did our first bit of PR, here is how it went -
Speed up pasting text into Rails console
Recently we had to copy and paste large amounts of text into a ruby console and we found a pretty quick way to do it -
A quick tip to speed up bundle installs
Use more computing power to install gems faster -
Getting Turbolinks to work with Webpack
How to re-add Turbolinks back into a Rails app when moving to Webpack -
How to add Tailwind UI to a Rails project
The steps we went through to set Tailwind UI up on an existing Rails project -
History of Ruby Programming Language
The history of the Ruby programming language - the essentials -
What I look for in a CTO
There are eight things I always look for when deciding if someone would make a good CTO -
Running Commands On Heroku
How to run commands on Heroku locally and from their web interface -
5 ways to speed up your software development
I love feeling like I am speeding through development tasks, here are five things that can help speed up your software development -
The main reasons why we shouldn't use click here as link text
There are many reasons why we shouldn't use click here or similar as link text, let's go through them -
How To Select A Web Hosting Service
Things to consider when selecting a web hosting service -
Blog posts are projects not action items
Get more blog posts written by treating them as projects instead of action items -
Removing fields with a Rails migration
Ruby on Rails gives you powerful tools to make removing old fields easy, lets walk through how we can do this -
Calculating Instagram Velocity From Your Browser
A small script that lets you quickly work out the velocity for posts within a hashtag -
Firefox Printing Issue for Grid CSS
If your body using a layout of grid is causing issues when printing, here is a fix -
The two snippets that cover 90% of my LinkedIn messages
These are the two snippets of text that can end up answering 90% of my messages on LinkedIn -
Testing Arrays In RSpec
Three patterns for testing ruby arrays in RSpec, pick the one most appropriate for your use case -
5 Simple Ways to Keep a Computer Safe and Secure
You don’t need to be an expert to keep your computer safe and secure -
6 things I do to respond to support queries quickly
Here are some of the things we do to make sure we're responding to support queries as quickly as possible -
Prolonging your laptop's battery
Some short and long term solutions to extending your laptop's battery life -
Working when travelling by plane/train
Some tips and tricks for maximising working whilst travelling -
Using RSpec to test meta descriptions
A little code snippet to show you how to test meta descriptions in RSpec -
Rails Admin - only display field on edit
Conditionally displaying fields only if they are present in the database -
Best Web Development Courses for Students
Some of the best web development courses to learn web development -
Jekyll admin and frontmatter setup
Quick article creation with Jekyll Admin and frontmatter config -
Generating Open Graph social media images
A Ruby Open Graph image generator using Tinify and RMagick -
Fixing an issue with Sprockets and feature tests
A fix we found for issues with the asset pipeline on CircleCI -
Getting photo orientation data with JavaScript
How we can use exif-js to get image orientation information -
Essential non-programming skills for engineers
How soft skills benefited my career and can help your career too -
Quickly create gifs from movs in the command line
How to quickly take your .mov files and turn them into .gif -
Removing unused Trix Editor buttons
How to quickly remove unused Trix Editor buttons from your site -
Quick and dirty initial avatars
A quick guide to adding initial avatars using the Avatarly gem -
Creating a SagePay Encryption in Ruby
A SagePay encryption for Ruby that some folk might find useful -
Setting SEO titles in Jekyll
What titles work best for SEO and for your readers sometimes differ, let's see how we can have the best of both -
Wildcard A Records
Wildcard A records are a big no-no unless you know what you are doing (I didn't) -
Active Storage - resizing images on upload
Our fix for app timeouts due to upload of large images when Active Storage was used -
iOS simulator battery level
I have always enjoyed this feature I noticed on the iOS simulator -
How to build your email list
We look at some ways you can go about building your email list -
Google Search Console and S3
Hosting your sitemap somewhere other than your main domain requires some additional steps in Google Search Console -
What Kind of Jobs Can You Get with Java Programming Training?
A discussion about the career path of a Java programming with appropriate training -
TextExpander Usage Statistics
I was curious about how TextExpander calculated usage across different apps, here is what I've found -
Making your Trix toolbar sticky
Editing long sections of text can be cumbersome with the Trix editor. Let's make it better -
Tools I Use When Blogging
A summary of the tools I use when blogging, updated for 2019 -
Removing Zoom
How to completely remove Zoom from your Mac, including some of the stuff it leaves behind -
Python Tutor Help - A Way to Solve any Task in Programming
Learn about a new offering from Assign Code about teaching Python -
Testing ActionText without JavaScript
I needed JS to get out of the way so I could do basic testing -
Exit Interviews
Why exit interviews are important and how to go about doing one -
Website Checklist before Launching
Top 20 things to consider before launching your website -
Getting wireless printing working on Virgin Media Hub 3
A guide on how to get wireless printing working on Virgin Media if yours has suddenly stopped working -
TextExpander Review
In this TextExpander review, I cover what it is and why I have been using it for years to be more productive, updated for 2021 -
Office 365 Security
Office 365 is an incredibly popular product with some amazing security features -
10 EdTech Apps Every Student Needs to Conquer College
Lets talk through 10 apps and services that every student should be aware of -
How to install a beta version of Rails
This article will show you how using the gem command you can install beta versions of Rails -
The Welcome to Rails image is more inclusive
When playing with the new beta of Rails I noticed a more inclusive image -
Ruby Conferences
Ruby conferences are a chance for the Ruby community to come together and share what we have learned recently -
TextExpander snippets I like
These are some of my favourite Text Expander snippets that help me do my work and have some fun -
Cocoon Development Training
We'd highly recommend Cocoon for Apple development and Apple training -
Adding issues from other organisations into Github Projects
Let's talk about how you can add issues from other organisations into your Github Project -
Integrating RSS feeds to Slack (including YouTube)
How to add an RSS feed to a Slack channel to automatically post new content from the feed -
Our hardware and software setup
Here is a writeup of the hardware and software we use on a daily basis. Updated for 2021. -
How to fix problem installing Charlock Holmes Gem
My fix for installing 0.7.6 of the Charlock Holmes gem on macOS -
Rubocop CircleCI Config
How to fix issues with Rubocop running on your entire code base -
Testing DNS Speeds
Here are some quick scripts for testing DNS speeds and comparing the results -
Compilers - Let's understand compilers a bit better
Let's learn about Compilers, what they are and how they work -
Adding an integration to a Slack room
How to add an integration to a Slack room. Part of our Slack mini series -
Abstract Syntax Trees
Let's learn about Abstract Syntax Trees, what they are and why we need them -
FrontEnders - Web Performance
Sharing some of my thoughts on a FrontEnders meetup on the topic of Web Performance -
Tips for how to ask for time off to attend conferences
Asking for time off to attend a conference can be nerve-racking, these tips will get you closer to attending the conferences you're interested in -
Using the 'it' Gem to add links to translations
How to can use the 'it' Gem to add links to your translations -
Custom Startup Messages on Slack
How to set a custom start up message on your team's Slack channel. Part of our Slack mini series -
Reducing PDF image size on OS X
How you can greatly reduce the size of PDF files using stock applications that come with OS X -
Creating a download button for Wistia videos
Here is how you can quickly add an external download button for Wistia videos -
Post Holiday Checklist
What we as freelance developers do after a break to try and quickly get back into the swing of things -
Companies House First Time Director Seminar
My thoughts on the Companies House First Time Director Seminar -
Fixing Elixir issues after installing High Sierra
If you experience segfaults after updating to High Sierra, here is how to fix it -
Setting up Rails to use PostgreSQL
A short guide to setting up your Rails project to use the PostgreSQL database -
Hiding Secrets in Terraform
Let's discuss how you can hide secrets in Terraform. There are several methods, some more dangerous than others -
Jekyll Raw Code Block Syntax
A guide to formatting code blocks using the Jekyll raw syntax -
How to escape backticks in Markdown
How to escape backticks when you're trying to write inline code blocks with Markdown -
Thank You – We've survived a year!
We’ve a lot to be thankful for in our first year in business -
Syntax Highlighting on Slack
How to do syntax highlighting on Slack. Part of our Slack mini series -
Making a Channel on Slack
How to make a new Slack channel. Part of our Slack mini series -
How to use the howTo Schema type
How to use the howTo Schema Type to mark up How To articles -
Formatting on Slack
How to do formatting on your Slack messages to improve their readability -
The Hiring Book Review
This is my review of The Hiring Book, a book on hiring web developers by Happy Bear Software -
Using Formspree to add Contact Forms to Static Sites
An guide to adding Formspree to your static site for a contact form -
Rebuttal- How to get devs to implement SEO recommendations
An article by Search Engine Land was really off the mark in my opinion, here is why -
Using QuickTime to make Screen Recordings from iPhone
An guide to making a screen recording of your iPhone using OSx and QuickTime -
Shrugging on Slack
How you can go about adding a shrug to a message in Slack -
Setting Your Status on Slack
How to set your status on Slack to give people an idea of what you're doing -
Making Custom Emojis on Slack
A guide on how to make custom emojis for your Slack team to enjoy -
Adding Semantic UI to Phoenix 1.3
A short post on what you need to do to add Semantic UI to a Phoenix 1.3 application -
Accessibility Options on Slack
A short guide to some of the accessibility options available on Slack -
Setting Reminders on Slack
A comprehensive guide to everything you can do with reminders in Slack -
Generating Comments on Static Sites with Staticman
A beginners guide to creating a Jekyll site and using Staticman to allow commenting -
Keeping Elixir Packages Updated
How to check that your mix.exs file is giving you the latest and greatest -
Simple Postgres Commands I always forget
Here are some simple Postgres commands that I almost always forget -
Elixir Default Params
Learn how to assign a default parameter or argument to your Elixir functions -
Quick and Easy CSS Minification Using Atom
A guide to quick and easy CSS manual minification using Atom. Sometimes you don't need a build step -
Adding Author to Jekyll Posts
This is how I added the notion of an author to my Jekyll posts. Author information helps people who who wrote the post they are reading -
Testing Absinthe with ExUnit
This is how I tested some GraphQL endpoints using ExUnit -
How to add content grouping for Google Analytics in Jekyll
How to add content grouping for Google Analytics to a Jekyll website -
How to change the column type with Rails migrate
How to change the column type with a Rails migration. Lets find out how to do this common Rails task -
Jeremy Keith Interview
Today I interview Jeremy Keith about all things related to Print CSS -
JavaScript 30 Review
JavaScript 30 is a free JavaScript fundamentals video course, this is my review of it -
Could charities open source their websites?
Could and should charities open source their websites? Would developers get involved more if they did? -
Andy Croll Interview
In my interview with Andy Croll we talk about how he is finding freelancing amongst other subjects -
Live Dictation Review
I live review the inbuilt dictation software on Mac OSx -
Orphans and Widows in CSS
What are orphans and widows in CSS and how can we use them the best? -
How to get spoken to at conferences
Speaking to people is over-rated, let people speak to you -
Andreas Jung Interview
I interview Andreas Jung about print based CSS and his work on print-css.rocks -
Interview with Håkon Wium Lie
Håkon Wium Lie talks about CSS printing, its history, and Prince -
When to include irb in Ruby 2.4.0
When should you include irb into your scripts and when you don't need to in Ruby 2.4.0 -
The Settlers Packaging
I recently found the packaging for The Settlers, I’m sure some of you will appreciate -
BuzzSumo Review
I’ve been trialling BuzzSumo for a while, here is my review -
How I Started a UK Business
I am often asked how I started my UK business, so here it is -
Working when you want is amazing & challenging
Some of the unique challenges and perks that come with being able to work when you like -
ActiveJob Vs ApplicationJob
A very quick clarification on ActiveJob and ApplicationJob -
Doubling Down on Recurring Revenue
A short article on why I am going to double down on recurring revenue as ways to make money -
Some stats from frontend focus
I wanted to play with some array manipulations in JavaScript to compiled some interesting stats -
Removing Kadira from Meteor
How to remove Kadira from your Meteor Project (since it is going away) -
My first thoughts of Alexa
My first thoughts of Amazon’s Alexa service, not a review but does contain a fun video -
What I’ve learned from looking through my old posts
Here are some things I’ve learned from looking through lots of old posts of mine -
A guide to writing up conference talks
A short guide on how to write up conference talks, written by someone who loves to write up conference talks -
Reducing Image Size for better page load times
The ultimate guide to reducing image sizes for more performant web pages -
Eric Brantner Freelancing Interview
I interview Eric Brantner about Freelancing and find out how he has been being so successful all these years -
Removing AMP pages from your Jekyll Sitemap
In this quick post we look at how to remove AMP pages from the sitemap generated by Jekyll -
Daniel Miller Freelancing Interview
I interview Daniel Miller about Freelancing as a Conference Organiser -
Getting OS X to trust self-signed SSL certificates
Here is a quick trick you can use to make sure your browsers accept self-generated SSL certificates on OS X -
Banks Getting My Name Wrong
Banks seem to like to get my name wrong, gah. I'm Toby not Tony -
Why Centralise Email Functionality
Why should you look to consolidate your transactional and marketing emails into one system -
Judson Lester Freelancing Interview
I interview Judson Lester about Freelancing, we talk about his background and what he is working on now -
Tom Hirst Freelancing Interview
I interview Tom Hirst about Freelancing, what he loves about freelance WordPress development and what he has learned along the way -
Conor O'Neill Freelancing Interview
I interview Conor O'Neill about how he started freelancing and what he loves about it -
Najaf Ali Freelancing Interview
I interview Najaf Ali about freelancing, things he has learned and what advice he has on freelancing -
Gina Charles Freelancing Interview
I interview Gina Charles about what she loves about Freelancing and what she has had to do that she didn't think she would -
Freelancer Interviews
I’ve been interviewing freelancers about their experiences -
Owning the conversation about your company
Why it is important to own the conversation about your site and how you can do it -
Going Freelance
I am going freelance! Learn what I will be doing and why I have decided to take the plunge -
How I try and accelerate my learning
How I try and accelerate my learning by setting projects for myself and focusing on concrete tasks -
Spring and Foreman complaining about secret_key not being set
Spring and Foreman when freshly set up can complain about secret_key not being set when it is, I will show you how to fix this -
API - Application Programming Interface. APIs explained simply
The term API described in really simple terms. You don't need a Computer Science degree to understand -
Dealing with team culture and an employees depression
What to do if your employee is worried about team culture and their depression -
Rust (explained simply)
The Rust programming language described in really simple terms -
Slack Shortcuts
Here are some of my most used Slack shortcuts, using these will improve your Slack experience, making it quicker to get to the conversations that matter -
LRUG July 2016
My writeup of the July 2016 LRUG, a monthly Ruby User Group meetup in London, England -
Brighton Ruby 2016
My writeup of Brighton Ruby 2016, an annual Ruby conference in Brighton, England -
AWS Summit
I attended the AWS Summit in London in 2016, here is my writeup of it -
Lead Developer Conference Reading List
My Reading list have the Lead Developer Conference in London recently -
Some notes on my last Out of Office message
Some notes on my last Out of Office message which I think you will find useful if you need to write an out of office message yourself -
Captioning at Conferences
Captioning at Conferences is a fantastic idea that really helps a lot of people -
Code Review
My thoughts on Code Review, when code review should happen and what to review during it -
Nginx Cache Busting Rewrite Rule
Following on from an excellent guide on cache busting, we see how you can accomplish this in nginx -
List of Countries without a Postcode
If Stripe doesn’t always expect a postcode, it is because some countries don’t have them – here is a list of countries that don't -
Fixing No Default Alternative Specified error in rails
If you spot an error saying No default alternative specified when starting up rails, we can fix that -
GitKraken Review
GitKraken is a great GUI for interacting with Git. This is my review of it -
Posting to Slack with PHP
Posting to Slack with PHP is incredibly quick and easy, here is how you can -
Quickly tidy up old git branches
How to quickly tidy up your local and remote git branches -
Tracking AdWords Conversions within JavaScript
How you can track Adwords Conversions from JavaScript callbacks, AJAX requests etc. -
Fueling Hyper Growth – A Salesforce Event
My writeup of a set of talks around the subject of hyper growth -
Close proximity leads to ideas being shared too soon
Does sharing a close proximity with someone lead to ideas being shared too soon? I think so -
Complete list of custom icon properties for Bootstrap 3 Datepicker
Complete list of custom icon properties for Bootstrap 3 Datepicker -
Getting access to Channel 13 on a Raspberry Pi 3
Getting access to Channel 13 on a Raspberry Pi 3. In some countries you need to change these channels, I can show you how -
My takeaways from the Productive Habits email course
My takeaways from the Productive Habits email course, a course by Belle Beth Cooper -
Open iTerm2 links in Vim
A quick tip on how you can open iTerm2 links in Vim (or any text editor you can access from the command line) -
Fix for OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError on RestForce / Faraday
Fix for OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError on RestForce / Faraday. Hopefully this will save you some time if you see this RestForce error -
S3 – A guide to Simple Storage Service from Amazon.
S3 described in really simple terms. By the end of this guide you should understand what S3 is and why we use it -
What to do when things go wrong
Steps to take when something goes horribly wrong with a website or app that you are building -
The EU Cookie Law
A backup of the EU cookie law website which used to live at theeucookielaw.com, the content is hosted here instead -
Using Slack as part of the GTD capture stage
Using Slack as part of the GTD capture stage to make sure you have all your tasks down in Omnifocus -
Recursion Explained in simple terms
Recursion described in really simple terms, this guide assumes no knowledge of computer science topics and by the end of it you should understand recursion -
Introducing Simple CS
Introducing a project to explain computer science concepts in an easy to understand way -
CSS - Cascading Style Sheets - Understanding CSS
CSS described in really simple terms. This article assumes no prior knowledge and by the end of it you should understand what CSS means -
Stopping your wireless from turning off on your Raspberry PI
How to stop your wireless from turning off on your Raspberry Pi -
Loading a specific file into Dotenv
Loading a specific file into Dotenv. A quick guide for when you want to run Ruby files from outside of a document root -
Steps for replacing an SSL certificate
Some basic steps for replacing an SSL certificate on a certificate. Always defer to the issuers instructions though -
See what disk space is left on your Linux web server
How to find out how much disk space is left on your Linux web server -
Review Pibow Zero
My review of the Pibow Zero – a case for the Raspberry Pi Zero which I love and I think you will too -
The SSH Command
A beginners guide to the SSH command, what it is and how you use it during normal web development -
Grep flags that I like
Here are some grep flags that I use often, almost to the point of automatically appending them regardless of the search -
How to overcome thinking that no one will find your posts useful
How to overcome thinking that no one will find your posts useful -
Viewing what is running on the server
Here is how to view what is running on the server along with the resources each process is using -
How does Capistrano work?
How does Capistrano work? There is nothing magic, there is nothing to be scared of -
Debriefing Development Teams
11 Best Practices and Tips I borrowed from an article aimed at intensive care situations -
Art & Math & Science, Oh My!
My writeup of Amy Wibowo’s recent talk on the intersection of art and science -
Setting up Moat and DFP
Setting up Moat and DFP isn't as straightforward as I would like. Here is a guide to getting it done -
Omnifocus Custom Columns
I love seeing Estimated Duration using Omnifocus Custom Columns -
My notes from November 2015's LRUG
My notes from the London Ruby User Group that happened in November 2015 -
Pictures from LRUG Nov ‘15
Some pictures from November 2015’s London Ruby User Group -
Safari Extensions I am using
Safari Extensions I am using at the moment. There might be something useful here for you if you're a Safari user -
What I have learned about roadmaps
What I have learned about roadmaps and the process of roadmapping -
Speeding up accessing Safari’s URL bar on El Capitan
Tonight, my friends, I have found what I believe to be a fix to interacting with the URL bar in Safari -
Meteor @dev was not detected
Why do you see @dev was not detected in test output when running cucumber tests for Meteor -
The steps I take before a large backup on the Mac
Here are the steps I take before doing a large backup on the Mac -
Setting up the Windows 200 Wired keyboard on the Mac
How to setup your mac to work well with the Windows 200 Wired keyboard -
Udemy Fail
Udemy sent me some crappy marketing to try and get me to promote a crappy page of theirs (spoiler, it didn't happen) -
Adding Alt tags to images using image_tag in Rails
Rails makes it easy to add alt tags to images using a handy helper method -
Breathing new life into an older Mac
Find out some tips on how to breath life into an older Mac -
Finding new people on Chatter
How to quickly find new people on Chatter. Salesforce's Chatter tool is great but you can't follow all by default -
Review: BubbleSort – How do Calculators Even
A enjoyable and cute intro to Computer Science by Amy Wibowo -
What is a Gemfile
What is a Gemfile? Here is my detailed explanation of what a Gemfile is and what it does, enjoy -
Finding the List ID for the Marketo API
Here is how you find the LIst ID when using the Marketo API -
Adding skip_after_filter to Rails Admin
How I added a skip_after_filter to rails_admin, which is something I recently had to do to extend the functionality of Rails Admin -
6 Months in and bowing out
I am stopping my writing project early. I wanted to write daily for a year but couldn't quite manage it -
Checking for both versions of Google Analytics with JavaScript
Here is how I check for both versions of Google Analytics -
Tracking Ctrl+F events in Google Analytics
How I decided to track Ctrl+F events in Google Analytics -
Key code for Command on OS X
There are a couple of key codes for the OS X Command Key -
Join the Anthony Nolan Register
I joined the Anthony Nolan Register and I think you should too -
Uploading files with Capybara in RSpec tests
You can easily upload files with Capybara when testing with RSpec -
An experiment in highlighting words
An experiment in highlighting words using only some CSS and JavaScript -
The difference between Render and Redirect in Rails
Find out the difference between Render and Redirect in Rails -
Quality of your Input and Output
I try and prune my inputs as much as possible to keep the quality high -
Mastering Your Tools
I need to get better at mastering my tools, I feel like I knew much more about my tools years ago than I do today -
The iPhone is my main content creation computer
The iPhone is my main content creation computer, I do lots of stuff on it given how portable and powerful they have become -
Let's talk vasectomies
So let's get personal and talk about a super intimate procedure -
Mac Apps I use to stay productive
Here is a list of useful apps I use for Mac which help my productivity -
Some of my favourite Mac shortcuts
Here are some of my favourite Mac shortcuts - hope you find them useful -
Up the tracking speed on your mouse
How you can go about upping the tracking speed of your mouse -
Hiding the dock for fun and profit
OS X doesn't need the honking great dock that you get with a stock install. Kill it -
What is a Proc?
Here I explain what a proc is in Ruby and some of the nuances -
Raspberry Pi for Secret Agents
Here are some fun activities that you can do with your Raspberry Pi -
Getting HTTP Status Codes from the Command Line
How you can go about getting HTTP status codes from your terminal -
Custom Routing of Github emails
You can update your email preferences on a per organisation basis in Github -
HTTP Status Codes for SEO
Let us learn what the important status codes are for SEO -
iTerm2 Tricks
Some of my favourite iTerm2 tips and tricks. A mixture of useful and fun tips for iTerm2 -
Deleting Attachments with rails_admin
How you can go about deleting attachments using Rails Admin -
Scrutiny 5 review
I really like Scrutiny 5, there's a free trial so you can try it out -
Fixing a 'broken' webcam on OS X
You can’t use the webcam on OS X without having a Photo Booth Library -
Never assume your wage is safe.
Unfortunately you can never assume your pay is safe, you need to take steps to protect yourself. -
Adding Descriptions to Pages with Jekyll
What is a page description and how to add one with Jekyll -
iPhone photos not freeing up space when deleted
An issue with the iPhone not freeing up space and how to fix it -
Speeding up the internet on OSx Yosemite
How you can go about speeding up the internet when using OSx Yosemite -
Come play Codewars with me
Codewars is a great tool for learning fundamentals, you should try it out -
What a Developer can take away from SEO Now 2015
Here is what I think a developer can take away from SEO Now 2015 -
I love programming
Here are some of the things that I truly love about programming -
My first screencast
I made my first screencast, here's how I did it and what I would improve in future -
Good Habits for Student Developers – Documentation
Here is some information about why documentation is important -
A Pragmatic Approach to adding Schema
Adding Schema to your website doesn't have to be daunting, here is a pragmatic approach -
Updating a Slug on a live Rails System
How you can go about updating slugs and dealing with redirects -
Katrina Owen – Here be Dragons
My thoughts on Katrina Owen's talk at Pivotal Labs London -
Robert Wint – Using Content to Improve the Customer Journey
My thoughts on Robert Wint's talk at Chief Digital Officer Forum -
Re-building the Marketing Department to be Fit for the Future
A talk from Patrick Jubb at the Chief Digital Officer Forum in London -
Martin Trickey – Do we Tell Stories Differently Now?
My thoughts on Martin Trickey's talk at Chief Digital Officer Forum -
Mark Elkins – From Passion to Purchase
My thoughts on Mark Elkins' talk at Chief Digital Officer Forum -
Kerensa Samanidis – Breaking in to the online video market
My thoughts on Kerensa Samanidis' talk at Chief Digital Officer Forum -
Chief Digital Officer Summit London - Day 1 Morning
My thoughts on the first day of the CDO summit in London -
Ana Serrano – Digital Transformation & Continuous Innovation
My thoughts on the talk Ana Serrano gave at the Chief Digital Officer Forum -
Amanda Neylon – The Importance of Focusing on Social Strategy
My thoughts on Amanda Neylon's talk at the Chief Digital Officer Forum -
Ruby’s Partition for Enumerables
Something new I learned about partitioning on enumerables in Ruby -
Getting Money out of Uganda
I run a site which has users in Uganda and it isn't easy getting money from Uganda -
POODIR On Testing
I've been re-reading Sandi Metz' POODIR and here are my thoughts on testing -
Good habits for student developers – Time Keeping
Here I talk about good time keeping, how to do it and why it's important -
Creating an iOS application in 5 minutes using Meteor
How you can quickly and easily create an iOS app using Meteor -
What to do when refactoring a large codebase without tests
Some things that can make refactoring easier when you have no tests -
What I would look for in a junior developer
Some things which I think are good qualities in a junior developer -
How the technical direction of a project can be influenced
How outside and internal influences can change project direction -
Squash br inside contenteditable
A fun CSS hack I recently discovered that I thought I'd share -
Good Habits for Student Developers - Backups
Here is an overview of backups, how to do them and why to care -
Facebook's Anonymous Login
Some of my thoughts and worries on Facebook's Anonymous Login -
CSS last-of-type as a fix for last-child in Ember applications
A fix for last-child with CSS in Ember applications and others -
Using Monodraw for fun tweets
Using the Monodraw ASCII art editor for Mac for fun tweets -
Rails Migrations for Beginners
An overview of Rails migrations, what they are and how to use them -
Getting Rid of Vintage Belfast – Do you want it?
A site I set up a while ago which I didn't give time or love to -
A beginners guide to ARIA
Help to get yourself some quick semantic wins with ARIA -
Set Intersection in Ruby
How to see commonalities between two data sets using Ruby -
Please don't actually use Retweet and Favourite for polls on Twitter
These are not what these are supposed to be used for - don't do it -
Hearthstone APIs
Here is an overview of Hearthstone and some of the APIs available -
My thoughts on the latest TechHubTuesday Demo Night
I attended this demo night and here are my thoughts around it -
Some useful resources for generating content ideas
Here is a list of resources I found for generating content ideas -
My time at Buffer wasn't great
How things just didn't work out between me and my job at Buffer -
Divs still have their place
Despite being abused by some folks they do have their uses -
Making an app in just over an hour with Meteor and Heroku
Here's how you can quickly get an app together with these tools -
My highlights from On the Shortness of Life by Seneca
Here are some of the highlights I got from reading this book -
View Markdown Files in your Terminal
How you can view Markdown files in your terminal easily -
The correct way to markup an image and caption in HTML
How to use figure and figcaption for semantic HTML gains -
Some stumbling blocks I hit following my first Swift tutorial
Here I detail some difficulties I encountered with my first go at Swift -
Quick Semantic Wins
Here's a list of things that can quickly give you some semantic wins -
Accessibility and SEO are tightly linked
How both these things are tightly linked and how accessibility benefits SEO -
How I am using Omnifocus
Here's an overview on how I use Omnifocus day to day for to-dos -
My Birthday Haul
A round up of some awesome presents that I got for my birthday -
What the header element can be used for
A conversation with Derek Johnson got me thinking about the header element -
Review: A Web for Everyone
A great book to learn about designing accessible websites -
Gender Neutral Swear Words
We use too many gendered swears - here are some which aren't so bad -
Every developer makes mistakes all the time
We all make mistakes no matter the level and that's okay -
A rough guide I am going to try and follow for blog posts
Here's my thoughts on how I'm going to form my posts from now on -
Backblaze is part of a great backup solution
My thoughts on Backblaze and how it's really helped me out -
Imagine your RAM was erroring
How this analogy relates to me and my life and how you can fix it -
365 Articles in 2015
My attempt at averaging writing an article per day in 2015 -
My Wedding Speech
Here's an online backup of the speech I gave at my wedding -
Backup of Making Your Website Pay for Itself
A backup of an ebook I wrote on making your website pay for itself -
Some notes and links on WebSockets with Rails
Here's some useful points on using WebSockets with Rails -
Please stop using features by testing for browser
An issue that I encountered and why it shouldn't have been -
Great content has no shelf life
A great example of evergreen content from over 50 years ago -
Kill off any process on a particular port - An explanation
I've written about this before but felt it needed a little explanation -
Space Invaders
A fun look at why the Space Invaders game gets progressively harder -
Nokogiri won't install? Check that you have accepted Xcode's EULA
An non obvious reason for being unable to install updates to Nokogiri -
WhiteHat Aviator Phoning Home?
A concerned email and the response from WhiteHat and why Aviator phones home -
Converting numbers to hex using to_s in Ruby
How you can use the Ruby to_s method to convert numbers to hex -
Backing up an s3 bucket to another s3 bucket
How you can go about backing up your s3 bucket to another one -
Force a CSV download from a WordPress Plugin
How you can go about forcing a CSV download from a WordPress Plugin -
Nav Elements, not just ul wrappers
A great tip shared by Derek Johnson to make my site more accessible -
The ways I have made Sites Pay for Themselves
Some things I've done to allow sites to pay for themselves -
Review: PiFace Control and Display
My thoughts on the PiFace Control and Display LCD screen -
How Much Does Your Website Cost You?
It's a good idea to know just how much your website costs you -
Marketing is More Important than Your Code
Even with the best app in the world it will rarely be a success without marketing -
Review: Raspberry Pi Camera Board
My review of the Raspberry Pi Camera Board, a useful camera for the Raspberry Pi -
VimR - A first look
My first impressions on the new VimR and a quick install guide -
Running VimR From the Command Line
How you can go about running VimR from your command line -
Turning off the PiFace Control and Display
Here's how to go about making sure the LCD screen cleans up after itself -
I messed up
I messed up, I won't do it again. I wrote a book and rushed to get it out. It wasn't to a standard I was happy with -
Derek Johnson talking about Modern Web Design
Here I talk to Derek Johnson all about design on the modern web -
Review: HTML5 Game Development Hotshot
Ever wanted to make HTML5 games? This could be the book for you -
Question: When should you send your first email list email?
I'm wondering what the recommended practice should be with the amount of subscribers and when I first send -
Review: Penetration Testing with the Bash Shell
Here's my thoughts on Penetration Testing with the Bash Shell -
Review: Node.js Blueprints
Here's my thoughts on Node.js Blueprints by Krasimir Tsonev -
Kali Linux 32 bit mini ISO getting stuck on samba
Here's an issue I had with installing the Kali Linux 64 bit mini ISO -
Advertising in China
A few thoughts on advertising in China and some companies that may help -
Get the name of a Ruby class
Here's how you can go about getting the name of a class in Ruby -
My face - on a stamp!
Here's a cute, fun present that I was bought, a stamp with my mug -
Belfast Bloggers 3rd Meetup
My thoughts and feelings on the third Belfast Bloggers Meetup -
Review: Raspberry Pi Server Essentials
Here's my review of Raspberry Pi Server Essentials by Piotr Kula -
Review: Raspberry Pi Robotic Projects
Here is my thoughts on Raspberry Pi Robotic Projects by Richard Grimmett -
Packt Publishing
Here is a bit of an overview on my dealings with Packt Publishing -
Why thinking small helps create software that lasts.
Why thinking small helps create software that lasts. Some thoughts and notes from the Dublin Web Summit -
Removing Protected and Private from WordPress posts
By default WP will prepend Protected to any post title that is protected by a password and will prepend Private to any that is set as private, let's fix that -
Copy and Rename multiple files in Linux
How you can go about copying and renaming files in Linux -
The worst thing you can do for your productivity
Here's one of the biggest time sinks I've come across for me -
Resources for making your website pay for itself
Here are a list of resources which will help when getting your website to pay for itself -
Not able to cd or ls into drive mounted by s3fs
An issue I encountered with not being able to move into a drive mounted by s3fs -
Using Ember's App.reset() to kill off any local data
How I resolved an issue with data persisting on the front end -
What App.reset() does in Ember
An indepth line by line look at what App.reset() does in Ember -
The Tim Ferriss Show
Here's how what Tim Ferriss has to say, has had some positive impact in my life -
Quitting Postgres psql
I've just started using psql and had no idea how to quit - here's how -
The safest way to track goal URLs in Google Analytics
How you can go about tracking your goal URLs in Google Analytics -
Research has shown a case for closing down Vim for a while
How a research paper has made me reconsider my use of Vim -
Setting to change to get notified of all interactions on Twitter
How you can make sure that you are being notified of all your Twitter interactions -
Review: Raspberry Pi Projects for Kids
Here are my thoughts on Raspberry Pi Projects for Kids by Daniel Bates -
Disable a button component with Ember
How to enable or disable a button in realtime using Ember -
Setting I changed to up my Chromebook's internet speed
How I went about speeding up the internet on my Chromebook -
Review: Understanding the 4 Rules of Simple Design
Here are my thoughts on Understanding the 4 Rules of Simple Design by Corey Haines -
Programmatically finding the size of the retry queue with Sidekiq
How to use Sidekiq's API for querying the state of queues -
Problems with Evergreen Content
Here are some of the problems that I can see with creating evergreen content -
My Chromecast Setup
Here I run through how I've gone about setting up my Chromecast -
Making Tech isn't always right but is necessary
Making Tech for the sake of making tech isn't always the right thing to do, but it is sometimes the necessary thing to do -
Using Ruby to get access to Google Keywords
Here's a guide on how you can use Ruby to get access to Google Keywords -
Font Faces for Dyslexic Folk
Some font faces that can make it easier for dyslexic folk -
David Stewart thinks it is OK to creep on women on LinkedIn
This creep thinks it's okay to approach women on LinkedIn -
Review: Backbone.js Patterns and Best Practice
Here's my thoughts and feeling on this book to learn Backbone.js -
Generating migrations with couchrest_model
How you can go about generating migrations with couchrest_model -
CouchRest Rails Setup - Blank username/password issues
Setting a blank username/password is not the same as not setting a username/password -
An introduction to Ruby/Rails/Git - Belfast Ruby
Here's a writeup of an event that I attended in Belfast -
When testing the datasift ruby gem locally be sure to turn SSL off
Here's how to go about not getting caught out with this -
Review: Work - How to find joy and meaning in each hour of the day
I love this book, it really helps me to focus day to day -
Things I do not love
Here are some things and tools which I am not particularly fond of -
Tools & principles I am most passionate about
What tools / technologies / ideas / principles / things I am most passionate about -
A case for writing unit tests for your blog posts
Here's some thoughts on writing blog posts and how it relates to code -
Hacker News follow up post
I recently wrote about the problems I faced setting my own work hours -here's the feedback -
Some HipChat Tips and Tricks
Here are some HitChat tips that I think may help you out -
CodeIgniter - when to use get_instance()
How I learned when to use get_instance with CodeIgniter -
Resources for getting up to speed with Redis
Here's a list of resources that will help you get up to speed with Redis -
How to install the latest version of Redis on Ubuntu
A quick guide to installing the latest version of Redis on Ubuntu -
My first week at Buffer
Here's an overview about how my first week at my new job with Buffer -
I get very ill if I mix Citalopram and Green Tea
So here's something unpleasant that I discovered about green tea -
Newbie Programming Resources
Here are some useful resources for folk new to programming -
Open a file in Github from your command line
How you can use your command line to open a file in Github -
Values returned to ActiveMerchant by SagePayGateway during 3d secure
How to tie back values returned to ActiveMerchant by SagePayGateway -
Soon I will be joining the Buffer team!
I'll be starting a new job soon with the Buffer team - exciting -
Some Interview Tips for Junior Developers
Some tips for helping you through a software engineering interview -
You should serve up assets without a protocol
Why and how you can go about serving up assets without a protocol -
Review: Whitehat Aviator
Some of my thoughts on the new web browser available for Mac OSx -
Things to remember to do before any video conference / online call
How to get set up for a conference call so you can have the optimal experience -
Keep your CV fresh
Here's how I go about keeping my CV fresh and how you should too -
Looking for Bootstrap's popover-inner?
Missing some of your popovers? Here's how to go about displaying them -
Good things happen to those that blog
Some good things that come from blogging about your work -
Indenting Text using Vim
How you can go about indenting your text in the Vim text editor -
GitGutter – A Sublime Text plugin for seeing changes in git
A short overview of GitGutter and how you go about getting it -
Copy and Paste in Vim
A quick and easy guide on how to copy and paste using Vim -
Belfast Ruby: Talks on Elixir, Tmux and Jekyll
A quick write up on a few different talks given at Belfast Ruby -
A quick post about depression and software development
Some things that have helped me deal with my mental health and my job -
Interview with Trevor Orsztynowicz about Caliper
We get chatting to Trevor Orsztynowicz about Caliper. A performance monitor for Single Page Web apps -
Using Devise to verify an email address and password
How to go about using Devise to do verification on user credentials -
navigator.mozApps.installPackage no longer works
navigator.mozApps.installPackage will no longer work use navigator.mozApps.install -
Barry Gordon talks about Vagrant - Belfast Ruby
A short writeup on a talk given at Belfast Ruby by Barry Gordon -
Accessing Popover Data with Bootstrap 3
How I solved this issue with access popover data with Bootstrap 3 -
Right clicking inside Linux on your Chromebook
You might have issues right clicking in Linux, here's how I dealt with it -
Getting Debian to recognise your UK Chromebook
How you can go about getting Debian to recognise your UK Chromebook -
Automation is a lot like your windscreen wipers
Here's an analogy on how I think automation is a lot like windscreen wipers -
Upgrading from Bootstrap's Typeahead to Typeahead.js
A guide for swapping from Bootstrap Typeahead to Typeahead.js -
A fix for window.location.origin in Internet Explorer
A straightforward fix for this issue in Internet Explorer -
Transliteration with Typeahead.js
How to deal with special characters when using typeahead.js -
Typeahead.js The Book!
I wrote a book about typeahead.js, here's an overview of it -
Setting a minimum length for your search in Typeahead.js
How you can set a minimum length for your search in Typeahead.js -
Getting the flot-rails gem to play nicely with IE8
How to go about getting this Gem working nicely with IE8 -
Refreshing local data with typeahead.js
Here's the three step process you need to follow to refresh local data with typeahead.js -
Rspec's be_an_instance_of is pretty useful
A handy little method I found when testing my application with RSpec -
If someone does something really sucky, hit them in the Twitter
Female developers are not a job perk on a job specification -
Passing a day of the week into Ruby's Date.parse
How you can go about passing a day into Ruby's Date.parse -
Some things I have learned about Ruby's fetch method
Here are some things that I have learned about 'fetch' that you may find useful -
Nobody Will Train You But You - A talk by Zach Briggs
Here are some thoughts on a talk I watched by Zach Briggs -
The quickest way to get from nothing to Ruby and Rails
How to get Ruby on Rails set up easily and quickly on your Mac -
Getting rid of text selection at the bottom of Sublime Text docs
Getting rid of annoying text selection at the bottom of Sublime Text documents -
Some useful Github shortcuts
Here are some GitHub shortcuts that I thought folk may find useful -
Deploying a branch to Engine Yard from the command line
How to go about deploying branches from your command line -
Killing all instances of Ruby on Rails running on a certain port
How to find and stop all instances of Rails running on a specific port -
Bad example of how to do unsubscribe pages
Here's an example of how Game have a terrible unsubscribe page -
Using Loops in Jasmine
How to call tests numerous times when testing with Jasmine -
Useful Chrome Extension for Backbone.js Debugging
Here is a useful Chrome extension that I found for debugging -
Insane Chown Posse
Something funny I found on Twitter that I thought I would share -
Stacking the founder chips in your favour
Here's some thoughts on a recent podcast and how you could apply them -
Internet Explorer Version 999.1
Here's a funny thing I found today that I thought I would share -
MySQLslap - A quickstart guide
How you can set up MySQLslap quickly and easily - a guide -
Unboxing the Firefox OS Developer Preview Phone
I recently got a Firefox OS Developer preview phone, here's my thoughts on the hardware -
Review: jQuery HotShot
Here's what I think is a great book for getting better at jQuery -
Location, Location, Location
How I have found a central working location great after working out of town -
Web Developer Equipment
Here's some of my thoughts on how your equipment may or may not affect your work -
BornInBlood
I've recently taken one of first websites off the net, here's a memorial -
Using Dropdowns in Watir Webdriver
How you can go about using dropdowns using the Watir Webdriver -
Controlling a jQuery datepicker with Watir
Using a jQuery datepicker with the Watir Webdriver - example code -
Write simple rspec tests on one line for fun and profit
How you can change your simple RSpec tests to one liners -
Using Bootstrap's typeahead from inside a modal window
How you can go about using Bootstrap's typeahead in a modal window -
Stack Exchange is winning the internet and this is not a good thing
Stack Exchange results tend to be the first ones on Google and this isn't always a good thing -
Adding Data Attributes using haml_tag
A guide to using haml_tag to add data attributes - dealing with hyphens -
Sublime Text reading SASS files as HAML
A fix for when Sublime Text is reading SASS files incorrectly -
Getting the rmagick 2.12.2 gem working on Mac OS X
How you can go about getting RMagick working on Mac OSx -
Safari on Windows doesn't like outline inside of :after
Here's a weird edgecase and a little detail on how this issue breaks down -
Turn Off the built in apache on OSx
How to turn off and turn back on the built in apache on OSx -
Review: Wunderlist
My thoughts on using Wunderlist for managing my to-do items -
My immediate impressions of the Samsung Chromebook
My first thoughts on unboxing and using my new Chromebook -
Speculation on why Google stopped blocking sites
Here's my thoughts on why Google has stopped allowing folk to block sites -
Only Firefox honours !important in CSS animations
A recent inconsistency I came across while working with CSS animations -
Review: Mastering Redmine
If you need to get better at using Redmine, this is the book for you -
Good Surge Protecting Power Blocks
The bad weather in Belfast has me worried about my electrical items -
Open all your browsers at once in OSx
Here's how to go about opening all your browsers at once -
Validation Helpers
Here are some of the common validation helpers in Ruby on Rails -
Some Notes on SSL Certificates
Here are some notes about SSL certificates you may find useful -
Different ways to undo in Git
Several different ways that you can undo things in Git and why you should or shouldn't -
Big Wet Fish Get Marketing
How Big Wet Fish did a little gesture which got a lot of us round Belfast talking about them -
Some command line tips for the web developer
Here are some command line tips that we think you may find useful -
Insert Gists without JavaScript
How to insert GitHub Gists into your blog posts without JavaScript -
How to turn on invisible characters in Sublime Text 2
A quick guide to turning on invisible characters in Sublime Text 2 -
Update your Git install
You should really keep Git up to date and here's how I done it -
Installing PEAR for PHP on OSx
A guide on how you can go about installing PEAR for PHP on OSx -
Google Translate tracking in Analytics
How to go about recording translations inside of Google Analytics -
Quick Tip for Reddit and Imgur and multiple sub-sections
Something I wanted to share about Reddit and Imgur that you may find useful -
What you need to make Firefox OS applications
A checklist of things you will need to learn to make Firefox OS applications -
Using Mozilla's Mortar and App stub for Firefox OS apps
How to use Mozilla Mortar and App stub for bootstrapping -
Getting Firefox OS on your Android phone
How you can go about getting Firefox OS on your Android phone -
If you store WP code on Github consider your wp-config.php
Something to think about if you store WordPress code on GitHub -
Secure your Redmine install by patching Ruby on Rails
How to go about securing your Redmine install on Ruby on Rails -
Using Stack Exchange to be better at what you do
Some tips on how to get the most out of yourself on StackExchange -
Added some non-js social share buttons
An update on a previous blog post I had written on non-JS social share buttons -
Dealing with interruptions whilst you are developing
A pragmatic approach to dealing with interruptions whilst you are developing -
Replacing Social Media Buttons with non-JS counterparts
How to avoid using JavaScript when adding social media sharing buttons -
Quick email tip if you need to clear out your inbox
Here's a quick tip on how you can go about clearing out your inbox -
Finding email to delete if you are over quota in mail.app on OSx
A quick way to clear out some space on your mail app on OSx -
Editing remote files locally in OSx
A quick guide to how you can edit remote files locally in OSx -
Git branches seem to be case insensitive
A weird quirk with casing and Git and how to resolve it -
Barry Adams SEO Talk About the Future of SEO at DigiExNI
My thoughts on a talk given by SEO Barry Adams at DigiExNI -
People who care will always get my business
That extra level of customer service that made me very happy -
Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner - Except Me
I am devilishly funny. Especially when I use CSS to make bad puns -
Changing the font-style of placeholder text CSS
How to go about simply changing the font-style of placeholder CSS -
Every time you write non-standard or invalid code
A rant on how you writing messy code makes another developers life a pain -
This Charmander is adorable
A sunshine-y gif that I hope will brighten up your day, it did for me -
Setting up Redmine from a blank Ubuntu install
How to go about setting up Redmine from the very start on Ubuntu -
Apache and PHP webserver version
Finding out what version of Apache and PHP a webserver is running when you have little access -
Commit Driven Development
What I believe could be a precursor for Test Driven Development -
Entering your email at the inbox is a bad idea
Why this is and what you can do to avoid having to do it -
Setting up Apache on OSx Mountain Lion
A quick guide to setting up Apache in OSx Mountain Lion -
Parallels: Learning to drive & learning to code
Things about learning to drive I wish I knew when I was learning to program -
The trigger that gets hit when you get a positive Twitter ratio
Somethings that seem to happen when you have more followers on Twitter -
Facebook - The optimal size for posting an image to a page wall
What I think is the optimal size for Facebook page wall images -
CakePHP and htaccess caching funtimes
An issue I had with CakePHP and htaccess and how I fixed it -
What is the RAILS_GEM_VERSION
Where to find it and what it actually does in your application -
Styling Scroll Bars
How to go about styling scroll bars if you need to with CSS -
Google should minify their 404 page
How Google should make saving by serving a smaller 404 page -
An interview with Umut Muhaddisoglu from Uptime Robot
We catch up with Umut Muhaddisoglu from Uptime Robot about his involvement with the project -
How to search PayPal transactions by email address or name
A quick guide to searching PayPal transactions that you mightn't know -
How I use MindNode to help craft blog posts
How I use the brain storming tool MindNode to plan out my posts -
Zoe Bogner: What would you like to see more of on the web?
We follow up with Zoe Bogner about what she would like to see more of on the net -
The EU Cookie Law website
I made a site which details what the EU Cookie Law website is -
Review: CodeLobster
Here's my thoughts and feelings on using the CodeLobster software -
What Meteor does when you install it
A quick overview of what Meteor does when you install it -
A case for going agile
A talk I wrote for an internal meeting about changing our style of development, presenting a case for going agile -
Interview with Stephen Kinkaid from Big Wet Fish
Stephen is the owner and Founder of the Northern Irish based hosting company Big Wet Fish -
Copying a CakePHP Project from Linux to Windows
A guide on moving a CakePHP project from Linux onto Windows -
PHP - Turn UK Date into US Date
How to go about changing UK date to US date when using PHP -
Review: The CSS3 Anthology
An excellent CSS3 guide by someone who writes wonderfully -
Interview with Derek Johnson
An interview with frontend developer Derek Johnson. We cover all things, well, frontend -
Things to check for in your htaccess file
Here is a list of things you should check before you go live -
Hit Tail - What was it and what I used it for
This was a keyword tool that analysed your traffic and generated keywords relevant to your audience -
Chrome's Lord of the Rings Easter Egg
Here's a Lord of the Rings Easter egg I spotted in Chrome -
Printing on the web
A quick overview of some of the biggest sites on the web and how they fail at Print CSS -
Validation in CakePHP 1.3
How to go about doing validation when using CakePHP 1.3 -
Permissions issue with Iomega Home Media Network Drive
A quick fix I found when I encountered a permission issue -
Deleting Magento Session Files
How you can go about deleting your Magento session files -
Reducing Google Contacts storage on Android devices
How you can go about reducing storage on your Android device -
My scribbled thoughts on Belfast Ruby's first meet up
Some jots on what I thought about the first meetup for Ruby folk -
CakePHP 2.0 Read Recursive
Something that caught me out when I was using CakePHP at first -
CSS Vendor Prefixes - A potential use case
A nice fix that I found that I thought you'd like to know about -
Canonical and Base URLs
A guide to canonical and base URLs and why you should care about them -
What can The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo teach us
Important lessons that we can learn from Stieg Larsson's book about web design -
Ruby Fizz Buzz Solution
My Ruby Fizz Buzz solution - I've been trying to get to know the language better -
Having FTP in your IDE is part of a broken model
My thoughts on why having FTP in your IDE is not a good thing -
Useful Web Developer Bookmarklets
Here are some bookmarklets I use on a regular basis that you may find useful -
Updating PHP5.2 to PHP5.3 using apt-get
How you can go about upgrading PHP to 5.3 from 5.2 - a guide -
Too many posts about the same thing on your Twitter timeline?
How to handle when you're getting irritated with the same content in your Twitter timeline -
Ruby Testing and Documenting best practice
A little learning project with Ruby and how it manages testing -
The Importance of First Contact
Some differences in location based results and first contact with Google -
Interview with Patrick McKenzie and Keith Perhac
We speak to Patrick McKenzie and Keith Perhac about the Kalzumeus podcast -
Get rid of var $name in CakePHP
How you can go about getting rid of var $name in CakePHP -
Keeping on top of my to-do list
How I manage tasks that I need to get done/handling my to-dos -
Kalzumeus Podcast
Here are some of my thoughts on the new podcast from Patrick McKenzie and Keith Perhac -
Proposal: Companies get your employees on Stack Exchange
Get your employees to answer questions on Stack Exchange and contribute to the community -
A recipe for creating a great workshop
Here are some of the things which I think makes a great workshop -
Interview with Shiela Dixon
We ask Shiela Dixon about the applications she is building -
Managing a Facebook development project
How I think accessing historic Facebook pages should be handled -
Testing if your domain is accessible from China
How to find out if your domain is accessible to folk in China -
Checking if a password field is present in Selenium
How to use Selenium to check if the password field is present -
My first doodle in about 7 years
I bought myself a Wacom Bamboo and had a bit of a play around with it -
An open letter to EUKHost
Here's some thoughts on the difficulties moving between providers -
Less Than Vs Less Than or Equal To - which is more efficient?
How to know the difference between Less Than and Less Than or Equal To -
Magento Auto Install
A small script for helping automate installing Magento websites -
Netbeans Private Key Authorisation Problem
An issue that I encountered with key based authentication -
MySQLTuner - An excellent free MySQL tool
Some thoughts on MySQLTuner and how to go about setting it up -
Apache - [notice] cannot use a full URL in a 401
[notice] cannot use a full URL in a 401 ErrorDocument directive --- ignoring! -
Accessing PHP variables from within JavaScript under WordPress
How you can access PHP variables in JavaScript in WordPress -
What I would change about the Computer Science degree course
Some of my thoughts on what I would've liked on my Computer Science course -
IsTwitterUp? Nope
I've removed the IsTwitterUp website as it's become a lot more stable -
W3C Web Application Privacy Best Practices - A Guide
The W3C have released Web Application Privacy Best Practices - What do we do with it? -
My Feelings On Adobe Edge
Here I share some of the feelings that I have with using Adobe Edge -
Disqus showing bullets
How I went about fixing an issue I had with Disqus showing bullets -
Changing upload permissions in vsftpd
The optimal solution for changing vsftpd upload permissions -
Getting Netbeans Working with OS X Lion
How to go about getting Netbeans working on OSx Lion on Mac -
The importance of using the ellipsis character
The semantics of using the ellipsis character versus a full stop -
Soon I will be in the market for a new laptop
Musing which type of machine I should pick up next for developing -
New Challenges
A exciting change in job and a sad goodbye to my old workplace -
Using Git to create an archive of changed files
A guide to creating an archive of changed files using Git -
Interview: Your take on the rise of e-learning sites
We ask Matt Johnston, Paul Synnott, and Toby Osbourn about the rise of e-learning websites -
Enabling telnet in Windows 7
A guide to getting telnet to work in Windows 7 as it's not a default -
Uninstalling Lotus Notes Traveler from your Android Device
How to go about removing Lotus Notes Traveler from your device -
IE7 td colspan width 'issue'
A thing which I believe IE7 have actually usefully gotten right -
Git command to show files changed in a commit
How to see exactly which files have changed in a single commit -
The importance of supporting OWASP
Security of the web is important and you should support it -
Edit an option of a select menu using jQuery
How to edit an individual option of a select menu using jQuery -
Interview: What would you like to see more of on the web
We ask Matt Johnson, Simon Staton, and Zoe Bogner what they would like to see more of on the web -
Netbeans Redmine Integration Version 0.1 released
An integration I developed for Netbeans and Redmine - a link -
Netbeans and Redmine Integration
A plugin I created for integrating Netbeans and Redmine -
Yum not installing 7zip
An issue I had with yum not installing 7zip on a CentOS machine -
Speed up Lotus Notes on a Mac
A quick guide how you can speed up sluggish Lotus Notes on Mac -
Location of bookmarks.nsf on the mac
A silly thing I am continually having to Google to remember -
Got an article printed in the IEEE software journal
I am very excited to be published in an industry journal -
Getting my Dublin Core on
A tool to facilitate the finding, sharing and management of information -
Two excellent talks on Git
Two great talks I watched on Git that I found very useful -
Howto: Email A Support Request
The best way to go about emailing an effective support request -
Getting the most out of StackExchange
Some tips and tricks on how to get the most out of StackExchange sites -
Quick way to switch between folders in the terminal
How to move and forward between your present and previous directories -
Importing a backup file from another MS SQL machine
How to safely import a backup file with no loss of data -
Possible issue when using parseInt function
How to force integers not to be octals in PHP applications -
PHP Security - General PHP setup Gotchas
My first post in a series dealing with security in PHP apps -
MySQL snippet - Selecting from table a items that aren't in table b
How I found items that were present in one table but not another -
Finding your SQL Server Version
How I went about finding out what my current SQL server version was -
PHP - Quick Is Not Set Replace
An issue that I encountered when I updated PHP and how I fixed it -
IE Cannot Open The Internet Site - Operation Aborted
An issue that I encountered when adding JavaScript into a page -
What you actually do when you untar something
What actually happens when you untar something when you're using Linux -
Find out which version of Ubuntu I am on
How I went about finding out which version of Ubuntu I was running -
Allowing your own From header with sSMTP
How to go about setting your own From header using sSMTP -
Useful Git Links
A useful list of resources for learning how to best use Git -
Using Open Source - Some Legal Considerations
An event I attended on the legal concerns of software houses using open source -
Robin Christopherson - Accessibility in Web Design
A talk I attended at this years Future of Web Apps conference -
Eoghan McCabe and Des Traynor - Sexy or Meaningful
Five Lessons We've Learned Sexy or Meaningful talk 2010 -
Skipfish - No such file or directory
A play around with Skipfish to see if I can automate security scans -
Owen DeLong - Content Providers must lead the way to IPv6
A talk I attended at the Future of Web Apps conference 2010 -
Martha Rotter - Too Much Information [University Session]
A talk I attended at the Future of Web Apps conference 2010 -
Renier Lemmens - The future of Mobile Apps
A talk I attended at the Future of Web Apps conference 2010 -
Simon Wardley - What is the cloud?
A talk I attended at the Future of Web Apps conference 2010 -
Raffi Krikorian - How to use Geolocation in your web app
Some thoughts I had on a talk at the Future of Web Apps 2010 -
Replace ereg with preg_match
How to update to using preg_match on newer versions of PHP -
Clean up your variables
How to go about cleaning up your variables to make your code safer -
PHP_DEBUG a very handy little constant
A constant that I have found very useful for setting debug mode -
Uptime Robot
Uptime Robot is an uptime monitoring tool I have started using -
Editing Git Repository Descriptions
How you can go about changing the description of your git repos -
Switching between full screen modes in PuTTY
How to quickly change between full screen modes when using PuTTY -
YayQuery (my new favourite podcast)
A new exciting podcast I have just discovered all about jQuery -
InFrame - Dynamic iFrame creation with jQuery
A really cool tool that I am excited to continue working with -
Exploring Built In Functions
My thoughts on the pros and cons of using built in functions -
Mapping the inside of buildings
How I think Micello is a really interesting tool for mapping -
JavaScript KeyCodes
Some JavaScript KeyCodes that I find useful to have around -
Refresh Belfast - The State of Typography on the Web
An event that I was contacted about that I am going to attend -
Clean out your links!
Some of my thoughts on how you should sort out link building -
Acronym and Abbreviation Tags
What they are and how they are useful for your folk using your sites -
Internet Explorer 8 Checkbox Issues
Here I detail some of the issues with checkboxes in IE8 -
About Pages - Are they totally necessary?
My thoughts on whether about pages are necessary or not -
Out of the box design
Some of the thoughts I went through prior to setting up this site