I noticed the current version of SQLite now supports foreign key constraints. (Previous versions would parse the definition, but not enforce the constraint.) I wanted to take advantage of this in a project I’m working on, but it was oddly a bit convoluted to get there. I don’t know why my installed version was more [...]
I was going to write a long, tutorial-style post on how I was able to get my university’s VPN working on OS X without having to resort to the Cisco client, which is what they provide. (Doubly frustrating, as the first client offered for download is a PowerPC only version … it’s not clear it [...]
I’ve been excited about the Microsoft Surface. I want to like it, but given my experience with Microsoft products over the past few years, my expectations were low. Ever since Vista, workflows that should be simple have become more complicated, and software more bloated. Simple examples like the restructured control panels, User Account Control, frustrations [...]
I’ve been wanting to send email from different addresses through the same email account (specifically, Gmail). It’s trivial to do if using multiple accounts or servers, but Gmail allows users to send mail through a single account using different from addresses, and as I perpetually have a plethora of addresses, I wanted to too. This [...]
In the past few days I’ve come across posts of several programmers switching back to VIM (in most cases, specifically to MacVim). As some have pointed out, this seems predominantly in the Ruby community, which tends to be fad-driven. I’ve thought about giving VIM a shot. But I won’t end up doing it. The trouble [...]
WindowShade X I complained just over a year ago that Unsanity’s WindowShade X, a utility that provides better minimization options than just shoving more stuff in my dock did not yet have a working release for Snow Leopard. As it turns out, Unsanity released it seven month later (this past April, 2010)—hey guys, an email [...]
I’m teaching beginning programming using C# to university business students (CIS) in the upcoming Fall semester. It’ll be doubly fun, as I’ve never used C# until about a month ago. Sure, I’ve used plenty of other languages, but for some reason, never anything from .NET. (Partly it’s because I’ve used a Mac as my primary [...]
It’s probably old hat to anyone doing design for a living, but I found a couple of new color tools for OS X that are making my web design work easier. I use TextMate for coding, and wasn’t thinking about the CSS bundle item that brings up OS X’s default color picker (Command-Shift-C; the TextMate [...]
Via Gruber, who posts following a TechDirt article. A federal judge denies an individual of property (contents of an email account) without notification, with no opportunity for appeal (the person is not a party to the matter), and with no cause to suspect wrongdoing. Saith Gruber, who dubs U.S. District Court Judge James Ware “Jackass [...]
For years, I’ve kept a personal (and unfortunately, unwritten) list of books I think every manager, programmer, and [insert category here] should read. A book every programmer should read The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master. Every programmer I hired was required to read this book. It’s a great resource for people managing programmers too. [...]
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