Atomic Spin

DevOps & System Admin. • Jul 26, 2012

Standalone Puppet with Capistrano

Puppet is a great way to manage server configuration, but the client/server model can be too complex. The standalone Puppet agent can be run with Capistrano.

Embedded Systems • Jul 25, 2012

Vectors: Solving Geometry Problems without Trig

If you're coding something that needs to track positions and/or movement and you're _not_ using vectors, you are over-complicating things.

Growing as Makers • Jul 24, 2012

Self-Taught Developers: Are You Missing Your Foundation?

Every software developer needs a basic understanding of computer science in four essential areas.

Web Apps • Jul 20, 2012

Simple Natural Sorting in ExtJS

A simple method to sort numbers lacking leading zeroes, using a regex string replacement.

Personal Optimization • Jul 19, 2012

Systemantics and How They Apply To Everything

The principles in Gall's Systemantics helped me understand malfunctioning systems and gave me a better grasp on the agile manifesto.

UX/Design Practices • Jul 18, 2012

The Information Age – Getting Away With Mimicking the Mechanical Age

Using mechanical-age objects to represent technical concepts can be very useful, but it can also be limiting.

.NET / WPF • Jul 16, 2012

Making WPF Controls Modal with Adorners

How to create a transparent overlay over a WPF window "behind" a given control, using a subclass of Adorner.

Development Practices • Jul 12, 2012

Embedded Developers Aren’t Special

We can make embedded software better if we take testing more seriously, avoid optimization until it's necessary, write more abstract code, and stop believing we're special.

Web Apps • Jul 11, 2012

GET and POST Parameter Parsing in Rails

Rails does a lot of magic to parse the data browsers submit into a meaningful, complex Ruby object. Here's how it does it.

Web Apps • Jul 06, 2012

Getting Live Updates when Changing Stores in Ext JS

I recently had a live updating problem when moving an Ext JS model from one Ext.data.Store to another. Here's the solution I found.

Web Apps • Jul 03, 2012

Testing HTML5 Offline Features Against a Remote Server Using Capybara/Selenium

Covers the process of testing a mobile app with offline caching against a remote Windows server application.

Personal Optimization • Jul 02, 2012

5 Tips for Success When Joining a New Development Team

Success isn't just what you know – it's how well you work with others. Use your skills more effectively to build great software and relationships.