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Fledgling IT geeks, when they become of working age, are practically required by law to take a helpdesk job. The usual implications are that the pay will suck, the work will be unfulfilling, and the users will be stupid, but at least it builds character and acts as an important first step into the computing industry. Back when [...]
Earlier today I found myself attending BarCamp Rochester #5, my first-ever BarCamp. It was a last-minute decision, and for the entire morning I was working away on a Powerpoint about database normalization. I scrapped it around lunchtime, because seriously, have you ever tried to teach database normalization inside of an hour? There’s a reason the RIT curriculum [...]
Since my introduction to Ruby by way of talking foxes and chunky bacon, I’ve been fascinated with the works of the enigmatic “why the lucky stiff”, also known as _why. He became famous throughout the Ruby community for his eccentric demeanor and numerous quirky projects, all of which excellently demonstrated the power and beauty of the language in a [...]
I sometimes say that QuickBASIC was the first programming language I ever learned. This is a half-truth; a shortcut that allows me to avoid a lengthy explanation of what ZZT-OOP is, and how it was really the first programming language I ever learned. But since this is my blog and not a casual conversation, we have a bit [...]
While the latest version of Microsoft’s much-maligned browser did fix a menagerie of rendering bugs in the process of introducing full CSS 2.1 support, it unfortunately introduced one glitch that will probably have you scratching your head the first time you see it. The bug is this: If you have a textarea with a width [...]