Blog posts page 7 of 44

Build a great Windows 8 developer & gaming desktop for $900-$1500

With Windows 8 right around the corner itโ€™s time to build a new desktop PC that will scream for both development and gaming.

Having set a personal budget of around $1500 I started the arduous process that every DIY PC builder has gone throughโ€ฆ researching parts and playing with specifications until it feels just right.

Designing a great API

Several years ago I worked on a payroll package developing a core engine that required an API to let third parties write calculations, validations and security gates that would execute as part of its regular operation.

We were a small team and I had many conversations with another developer tasked with building a payroll using the API I would provide. Some methods here, classes there, the odd helper function and I had an API and then we had a mini payroll running.

My one-year check-in with my Windows Phone 7

Itโ€™s been almost a year since I bit the Windows Phone 7 bullet and put my iPhone 3G away. As a long-time Mac fan (our house is nothing but Macs) I wasnโ€™t sure Iโ€™d lastโ€ฆ

Contact and calendar management is truly awesome as I wrote about previously. With the latest mango release Twitter and LinkedIn get brought into this unified system and messages that start with a text message can switch in and out of Facebook and Live Messenger as available.

Typography can be fun

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  • ๐Ÿ“ฆ Typography

People are always surprised when they hear youโ€™re interested in typography. The appreciation and interest in the shape of letters and symbols is definitely a little more unusual to find as a hobby but itโ€™s actually quite fun!

Hereโ€™s a few ideas I hopehope will prove my point.

From somewhere small: Transport in the USA (well, Seattle)

Just over three years ago I packed up my Guernsey life to come and work for Microsoft in Washington. I thought it might be fun to share some things Iโ€™ve learnt. This one is about transport.

Be prepared for cross-referenced questions and mandatory fingerprinting to make you feel like a replicantย even though youโ€™ve done nothing wrong and your eyes donโ€™t glow in the dark.ย The gatekeepers at immigrationย are all-powerful and take their job seriously so you should too as I found out when I had a case of the giggles.