What is the cloud? Explained

I'm continuing my "Computer Stuff They Didn't Teach You" series on YouTube. Please subscribe! I've set a personal goal to get to 100k subs by Christmas. This episode is very special as it features a Surface Duo *AND* a 1U Rack-Mounted Azure Stack Edge! It's a gentle and clear explanation of cloud computing. This 20 min video talks about the components...

2d

How to use a Raspberry Pi 4 as a Minecraft Java Server

My 14 year old got tired of paying $7.99 for Minecraft Realm so he could host his friends in their world. He was just hosting on his laptop and then forwarding a port but that means his friends can't connect unless he's actively running. I was running a Minecraft Server in a Docker container on my Synology NAS but I thought teaching him how to run Minecraft...

2w

Synology DS1520+ is the sweet spot for a home NAS and a private cloud

My long love of Synology products is well-documented. I checked my Amazon history, and I bought my Synology DS1511+ NAS in May of 2011! I have blogged about the joy of having a home server over these last nearly 10 years in a number of posts. I setup a home backup strategy without the cloud I later added CrashPlan Cloud Backup and still use it. A...

2w

It's 2020 and it is time for text mode with Gui.cs

Nearly 16 years ago I complained that Windows is completely missing the TextMode boat. It's 2020 and it's TIME FOR TEXT MODE BABY. I keep bumping into cool utilities made with Gui.cs. Miguel de Icaza made Midnight Commander (not Norton Commander, but evocative of it) and it's a joy. Head out to an admin command prompt on your Windows 10 machine now...

3w

Exploring the .NET Core library Coravel for Task Scheduling, Caching, Mailing and more

Coravel claims it is a "Near-zero config .NET Core library that makes Task Scheduling, Caching, Queuing, Mailing, Event Broadcasting (and more) a breeze!" A lovely claim, that is, in fact, true! It's open source and on Github at https://github.com/jamesmh/coravel so give Coravel a star! Coravel is available on NuGet as a package - as are all things ...

3w

Docker 101 and How do containers work?

Everyone is using containers and talking about containers. Except those for whom it hasn't "clicked." Obvious to some and unendingly frustrating to others, containers are changing how we build and deploy software. As part of my ongoing 'Computer Stuff They Didn't Teach You' Series on YouTube, I explain Containers and Docker in about 30 min, with lots...

3w

Connect to a device over Serial COM Port on Windows 10 with WSL1 TTY devices with Windows Terminal and minicom

I hope that this blog post is found and helps someone. I wasn't sure what to title it. Hope Google Juice got you here! Read this whole post, there's a lot initially but there's really just two or three small pieces. It'll be worth it because you'll be able to have a nice one click menu and drop directly into a serial port terminal on Windows in the...

4w

What is .NET? How does it work? Is it a language or a Platform?

If you want to learn about .NET, I worked with my friends to make a whole series of videos at https://dot.net/videos that go into lots of details about C# the language, .NET the platform, ASP.NET the Web Platform and all the cool stuff you can make with it. There are a ton of free .NET videos and tutorials for you to explore (like 100, and they are...

Aug 2020

Free Books for Learning and Getting Started with Cloud-Native .NET Apps

If you haven't been over to the Architecture section of the .NET site lately, I'd encourage you to go check it out. There is a TON of free learning content, books, code, and more! Containers for Beginners We've just put up a new Hello World tutorial for making your first microservice, and there's a video series on Docker and Containers as well. There...

Aug 2020

Reviewing the Elecrow CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi Laptop and STEM Education Platform

I love the Raspberry Pi and I am a fan of the CrowPi from Elecrow. I have two of their first CrowPi device and I use them in demonstrations and talks all the time, especially when talking to students. They have a Kickstarter ending this week for the new CrowPi2. It's an update of the original CrowPi which was basically a Raspberry Pi in a tiny suitcase...instead...

Aug 2020