Nearly every application in existence requires some form of configuration. After
all, no two instances of the same app are exactly the same. The "tried and true"
(read "quick and dirty") way of doing this has conventionally been with arrays.
This works well for most basic configuration values of scalar types, however,
sometimes it may be necessary to configure complex objects.
Read More
Use a Linux system long enough and eventually you'll need to schedule a
recurring task. Of course the defacto scheduler is cron (and there's nothing
inherently wrong with it) but I've grown to like the flexibility and features of
systemd timers. Some of the benefits they provide over cron include:
Read More
Use a Linux system long enough and eventually you'll need to schedule a
recurring task. Of course the defacto scheduler is cron (and there's nothing
inherently wrong with it) but I've grown to like the flexibility and features of
systemd timers. Some of the benefits they provide over cron include:
Read More
Frameworks are among the most important tools we developers have and yet they
are often taken for granted. The way I see it is a framework has two primary
benefits: 1) saving individual developers time by providing predefined solutions
to common problems and 2) allowing teams to work more efficiently by giving them
a common model for coding standards, file organization, design language and
more. However, these benefits quickly break down when framework conventions are
broken or ignored, intentionally or otherwise.
Read More
I'm loving The Witness. It's a beautiful game, and challenges me in a way very
different from just about any other puzzle game I can think of. I highly
recommend it to anyone looking for a brain teaser and something off the beaten
path of modern games.
Read More
When installing Windows 7 it's very picky about which installation disc you use
(Full vs. Upgrade) and if improperly matched with your key can prevent you from
activating your copy of Windows usually returning an "Invalid Product Key" error
message. You may also see the same or similar error when you do a full, clean
installation with an upgrade disc. This can be very annoying, especially when
you have a legitimate key and disc but just didn't install it the way Microsoft
thinks you should. In the event that you are having trouble activating your
Windows 7 installation with a legitimate key, try the following registry hack:
Read More
Too many people today don't backup their files. And of those that do, many don't
do it well. An easy way to remember a "safe" way to backup your data is with the
"3-2-1 Backup Rule" which goes like this:
- Keep 3 copies of any important files (your primary/working copy counts as one)
- Store your files on 2 different media types (Example: Hard drive and in the Cloud)
- Always have 1 copy off site
Read More
My brother is currently attending the DigiPen School of Technology working on a
degree in video game programming / design. He's an avid gamer but has missed
some of (IMO) the best games of all time, specifically, the Half-Life saga.
Naturally, I email him recommending these games in the hope of inspiring him or,
at the very least, giving him a better understanding of some of the good games
he's missed out on and where the industry came from. I even offered to buy the
games for him if he didn't want to pay for them himself. Well, he acquired the
first Half-Life game and started playing it. This was his response:
Read More
