Disqus - Latest Comments for helmsb

Re: Download a Local Copy of your Linode Backup

helmsb — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 09:59:51 -0000

That's still not answering the question that was asked. Snapshot has been taken--can see all the backup history. Can I download one of those snapshots to my local machine? If so, how and where are the snapshot files themselves located to download them?

Re: Download a Local Copy of your Linode Backup

helmsb — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 11:44:36 -0000

That's not the answer to the question. Where is the location to download the backup snapshot? There is no option to download the snapshot in the dashboard.

Re: iOS 15 beta 6 redesigns Safari yet again with new address bar on top

helmsb — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 14:18:57 -0000

SharePlay is being pushed until a point release. I wonder if they're going to do the same thing with Universal Control.

Re: How to get a lock-screen weather forecast every morning

helmsb — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 12:29:35 -0000

You can have it not wake you up on weekends but you can’t have a different bedtime. I also work from home a couple of days a week and I don’t wake up as early when I don’t have an hour commute.

Re: How to get a lock-screen weather forecast every morning

helmsb — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 18:22:12 -0000

The big problem with the bedtime feature is Apple still doesn’t realize that people might want to sleep in or stay up late on the weekends. As long as they assume that everyone wakes up and goes to sleep at the exact same time everyday I can’t use it.

Re: Mobile Safari is holding the iPad back

helmsb — Sun, 03 Jun 2018 15:27:37 -0000

I would go a step further and say that not allowing other web rendering engines on iOS is also holding the platform back.

Firefox, Chrome and Edge are moving fast implementing all kinds of new APIs which allows the open web to become a much better alternative against native. However, Safari is not moving nearly as fast and the fact it’s tied to OS releases means it never will.

Safari (WebView) really needs to be reved on a separate cadence from the OS and we need the competition of other renderers.

Apple created the App economy but the boom is over, the cost to develop and maintain multiple native apps for many classes of apps is untenable and the open web is quickly proving to be a better alternative. Google and Microsoft has recognized this and I think Apple does too.

At the end of the day the prestige of having a native app is nice but it won’t pay the bills.

Re: Our Book Has Been Released! Introducing Istio Service Mesh for Microservices

helmsb — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 11:37:17 -0000

Great job on the book! One small issue I found, on page 11, there is an errant slash in the curl command before the -osx.tar.gz. I took that out and it worked find.

Re: < .NET Rocks! />

helmsb — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 11:32:56 -0000

I had not heard of the program but that sounds really cool! Thanks for leading the group and serving your local .NET community!!

Re: < .NET Rocks! />

helmsb — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 11:31:16 -0000

Hi Gary, that is a great question! I have put together a blog post where I list my equipment and give an overview of my process. If you have any specific question just leave a comment on the post and I will get back with you! http://code-coverage.net/re...

Re: < .NET Rocks! />

helmsb — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 12:39:53 -0000

Hi Matt,
The real point that we wanted to make with the show was to encourage people to look at starting communities of their own and to share some of our experiences. We're still fairly new but our newness has also given us a perspective that some long standing groups may not have. The idea behind our meetup really started with a discussion between Robb and I about how we really missed the type of community we had when we were first entering the industry and that led to us starting our meetup.

It's a lot of work and commitment but it's been one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done as a technology professional and we want to encourage others to do the same.

I'm planning on doing some blog posts in the near future with more specifics on some of the things that we've done and lessons learned.

I hope that you still found some value in the show and thanks for taking the time to give feedback Matt.

Re: < .NET Rocks! />

helmsb — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 12:28:04 -0000

Hi Bart,
Thanks for what you're doing to build a community in Hong Kong! I completely agree, the conversations are one of my favorite parts as well. I really enjoy talking to people about their challenges and especially like you said, their successes! It's so cool to talk to someone and learn how they faced an issue and came up with an awesome solution to overcome it!

You make a really good point with the breakfast meetings and I think that's a great way to reach out to people who may not be able to make the evening meetings. It would also really energize me to go into work and solve problems! I believe the key to building a great meetup is to make your primary focus about helping each other and building a community.

I could not agree more about not going it alone. I COULD NOT have done it without the support of Robb or the partners we have in the Steel City SQL Group or Samford University. The last thing you want to do is burn out so you need others that you can rely on.

Keep up the great work Bart!

Re: < .NET Rocks! />

helmsb — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 22:49:52 -0000

That is a great point and there have been several SQL sessions that I wanted to go but wasn't able to but It has also given people the opportunity for devs who might not have made it to the SQL user group to go and listen or for traditional SQL people to go to a dev session and having them the same night gives us some great time to network between groups. It's like a mini code camp every month! I would love to one day have a track focused on QA and testing and maybe one focused on professional development to give even more choices. The format is something we will be constantly revisiting and get feedback from the group and we may change it one day.

Re: Throwback Thursday: Ultra-Mobile PC and the Origami Experience

helmsb — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 10:33:22 -0000

I loved my Samsung Q1 back in the day. It was so cool to have a full PC that small back in the day.

Re: 1236 - Windows Workflow with Blake Helms

helmsb — Sat, 02 Jan 2016 20:07:23 -0000

Hi Wouter,

That is definitely a trap that is easy to fall into when using Workflow to implement the single responsibility pattern. When we initially started we ended up with some pretty nasty looking flows (although they were still much easier to understand than the system we were replacing) Over time we determined that the best fit for us was to break groups of like activities into individual workflows which gives you more of a hierarchical view. In order processing you may have a workflow for taxes, shipping, inventory, etc.

At a high level you can see all the various things that need to happen for a particular order. If you want to dive more into taxes you can open the tax workflow and get a more fine grained view. The biggest benefit for this approach that we've seen is testability. Each component of our Workflow and each Workflow itself is extremely testable because we break it into small chunks.

This may not work for everyone but it has been extremely beneficial for us.

Also Im working on a blog post (I'll post the link when it's ready) as we speak where I will be doing a deep dive into building a complex Workflow that should hit on some of your concerns and gives a detailed view than the simple examples that are out there.

Re: 1236 - Windows Workflow with Blake Helms

helmsb — Sat, 02 Jan 2016 19:58:52 -0000

Hi Avi,
I completely agree with a lot of if logic being a red flag and that is something that you have to watch out for. Workflow can make this more apparent by laying it out visually but as a developer you still have the responsibility of evaluating your design choices or working with the business to simplify the process.

Honestly, one of the reasons I felt compelled to come on the show was to raise awareness of Workflow and show Microsoft that there are people who use it and like it. Microsoft uses it in several of their own products and it's built into the framework so it won't disappear over night. They also published several bug fixes and a new feature in 4.6.1 which was encouraging.

It's kind of a chicken and egg problem, developers are apprehensive to use a product that doesn't appear to be getting love and Microsoft isn't going to give all the love to a product that not a lot of people seem to use.

Re: 14 Powerful Facts About the Hoover Dam

helmsb — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 21:48:14 -0000

The Hover Dam is one of the most impressive man-made objects I've ever seen. If you ever get a chance to visit you should. You just can't begin to understand the grandeur of it until you're there. And as "Tasmanian Devil" said, they have really nice bathrooms.

Re: Microsoft's Ultra-Awkward 'Windows 7 House Party' Video

helmsb — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 21:29:11 -0000

Ah this brings back memories. I snagged two kits. One is still wrapped up in my office. It's a neat little tech artifact. I mean how many people have Windows 7 paper plates and streamers?

The other we used at the company I was working for at the time. It started as a joke but we went all out with a big launch party. It was a lot of fun.

Re: Hands-On with (a Near Final) Microsoft HoloLens

helmsb — Mon, 04 May 2015 19:01:58 -0000

I think it's the final form factor but after playing with it I think it will be much later in the "Windows 10 timeframe" than originally thought.

Re: Hands-On with (a Near Final) Microsoft HoloLens

helmsb — Mon, 04 May 2015 18:59:36 -0000

I was at BUILD and was able to demo HoloLens. The problem wasn't so much moving your head as it was moving your head to try and find a virtual object that you can't see in your peripheral vision. The best analogy I can think of is HoloLens is like looking through a periscope into a digital world. If they can fix field of view, they have it made. The image quality, stability, sound everything else was spot on. As long as the image wasn't clipped, the illusion was fantastic, one of the best tech demos I've ever experienced.

Re: An Ode to Surface Pen Loop

helmsb — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 17:20:55 -0000

I ordered one from the Microsoft Store and they inadvertently sent me a case of them, 144 loops. Called them up, they profusely apologized, asked that I keep one and ship the rest back with a shipping label they sent me, credited my card for the original purchase and threw in a $25 gift card for the trouble. Can't beat their customer service.

Re: The Time Everyone “Corrected” the World’s Smartest Woman

helmsb — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 11:24:50 -0000

The host knows which door the prize is behind and by him showing you what's behind a door that you didn't choose and the fact that he will never show you the door which the prize is behind he has just given you extra information you didn't have when you made your initial choice. The host through his actions, is telling you that if one of those doors had the prize behind it, he would not show it to you, which means that the chances that a prize is behind the door he didn't show you are higher.

Re: The Curious Case of the Two Dollar Bill

helmsb — Sat, 17 May 2014 16:39:29 -0000

We used to have a Ted's Montana Grill in my city and they gave change in $2 bills and $1 coins.

Re: The Late Movies: Old Prodigy Ads

helmsb — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 12:51:52 -0000

I still remeber going with my dad to Sears and buying a modem and the Prodigy software, coming home and setting it up on our 286. For the time it was actually a really good service and I spent WAY too much time playing "Mad Maze"

Re: PRADCO Outdoor Brands opening Alabama distribution center, new Birmingham headquarters

helmsb — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 09:37:51 -0000

PRADCO is a subsidiary of EBSCO Industries Inc not EMSCO

Re: Star Trek: Voyager's Photon Torpedo Problem

helmsb — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 20:03:36 -0000

Just remember, if Voyager had not been so bad, Ron Moore might not have given us Battlestar Galactica.