Articles

Technical insights on .NET, Azure, and modern software development

Framework 16 Laptop Review

5 min read

A deep dive into the Framework 16 laptop experience, covering everything from build quality and performance to the innovative modular design that promises to revolutionize how we think about laptop ownership and sustainability.

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Tech Communities, AI in Development and Roller Coasters | Fervent Four Podcast

5 min read

Last week I had the pleasure of being on the Fervent Four podcast with Zack Miller and Tim Ryan. We talked about vibing coding and how AI needs to be handled the same way using offshore talent is handled. We discussed roller coasters (because of course) and the origin of my Shedquarters! And talked a lot also about the software development community in the Norfolk / Virginia Beach area.

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Azure Cloud Talk Podcast: The Accidental CTO

5 min read

I joined Azure Cloud Talk to chat about my journey as an 'accidental CTO' and share some honest thoughts on AI tools (including my love-hate relationship with Cursor Composer). We talked about the real challenges of software development, why I prefer stable brownfield projects over shiny new tech, and my controversial take that building greenfield software is like having a newborn – painful but somehow we forget and do it again.

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My $8,000 Serverless Mistake

5 min read

What started as a cost-effective solution ballooned into a costly oversight as Azure ramped up resources to handle the load. After this experience, I realized not every problem is a serverless problem and shifted memory-intensive tasks to Azure Container Apps, which provided better control over resources.

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Hampton Roads DevFest 2024 Retrospective

5 min read

On May 31st, 2024, Hampton Roads DevFest successfully re-engaged the local developer community in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with 183 attendees. Organized by the non-profit RevolutionVA, the event featured local speakers and took place at the Zeider's American Dream Theater, chosen for its affordability and unique setting. Ticket sales and sponsorships, including support from Microsoft, contributed to the event's income, though it ended with a net loss of $486.63. Despite this, the event was deemed a success, effectively revitalizing the community and providing valuable insights for future events.

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HttpContext Issues with Azure SignalR Service

5 min read

Last week, the team and I were migrating an application built with ASP.NET Core and SignalR to use the Azure SignalR Service. We ran into an issue with the HttpContext when using Azure SignalR Service. Unlike in a normal SignalR integration, where you can access HttpContext via IHttpContextAccessor in the Hub class, with Azure SignalR Service the connection changes, affecting the available HttpContext data. This required a shift in our approach, leading us to directly pass the necessary information from the client to the hub.

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Five Reasons Why I Love HangFire

5 min read

Setting up HangFire in my .NET applications is effortless. This library helps me offload the strenuous tasks from my web applications by establishing background services using my existing code without requiring special interfaces. Its dashboard is handy for managing jobs and gives me a clear view of the active, failed, and scheduled jobs. For scheduling and recurring jobs, HangFire provides flexible configurations. If it fails, it'll make multiple attempts to run a job, making debugging a breeze for me.

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Building Background Services with HangFire Course Launch!

5 min read

As I've been going on the road to talk about background services within the .NET ecosystem, one of my favorites has HangFire. I've been using HangFire in my applications for years, and it's been a vital tool for offloading some of the heavy lifting from my web applications.

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