recent techy blog posts

Using Windows 10 UWP APIs from a .NET Core application
There's a new NuGet package around that makes it very easy to use UWP APIs from a .NET Core based desktop app
Posted 22/05/2019
Reading and writing a memory-mapped file in .NET Core
Memory-mapped files are a useful tool to hav available, this is a simple example of reading and writing one
Posted 15/05/2019
Updating IIS application pools using appcmd
Appcmd is one of the many ways that you can configure IIS, it's useful as it's always installed
Posted 13/05/2019
Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2015: "TF401189: The source branch has been modified since the last merge attempt."
Sometimes TFS does weird things, like stopping you from closing a pull request for a branch that no longer exists
Posted 08/05/2019
Where does Certify put the certificate if you choose 'No Deployment' as the Deployment mode?
Using Certify to generate a Let's Encrypt certificate writes it to disk, but where?
Posted 03/05/2019
Scaffolding an Entity Framework Core database in a project that targets .NETStandard
You'll need a helper project as you can't scaffold against a .NETStandard project
Posted 18/04/2019
Adding a delay to ASP.NET Core Web API methods to simulate slow or erratic networks
Adding a delay to responses from Web API actions is a good way to make sure the components that call them don't break when things take longer than they expect
Posted 19/03/2019
Running Pi-hole on a CentOS virtual machine
Running Pi-hole as a way of blocking ads is awesome, it's a really well put together little package that focuses on doing one thing and doing it *really* well
Posted 17/03/2019
'The specified URL cannot be found' - it can, but your Barracuda WAF doesn't want it to be
The Barracuda WAF can, and will, block JSON values that are too long with a '404' and 'The specified URL cannot be found'
Posted 04/03/2019
Adding logging to an old .NET 4.0 project via Castle Windsor to measure performance
Logging is a great way to do quick and dirty performance measurements against code, particularly code that isn't well suited to extracting out into a benchmarking framework
Posted 22/02/2019
Resolving 'missing' assemblies where the assembly has been renamed
A solution to not being able to use assembly binding redirects when the assembly has been renamed by using the AssemblyResolve event
Posted 08/02/2019
Upgrading a Windows MySQL instance from 5.1 to 8.x
Upgrading MySQL from a *very* old version to 8.x is a bit of a minefield, but not as bad as it may seem!
Posted 24/01/2019
Don't store monetary values as doubles
Everyone should know that you shouldn't store monetary values as doubles, but I guess everyone doesn't!
Posted 20/01/2019
TIL: You can use column aliases in an ORDER BY clause
You can use column aliases in ORDER BY, who knew? (Lots of people other than me, I'm sure!)
Posted 08/01/2019
Ignoring parameters that haven't been specified in a SQL query
Using ISNULL/COALESCE to allow for optional parameters to SQL queries
Posted 02/01/2019

recent cooking blog posts

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled chicken
Putting all the ingredients in a slow cooker for four hours, then coming back, shredding the chicken and eating it - couldn't be easier!
Posted 28/04/2019
Chorizo, Lentil and Potato soup
It feels like soup season is almost over, but my love affair with Chorizo in soup continues
Posted 23/02/2019
Special Breakfast Tomatoes
This is a bit of a childhood favourite, it doesn't lokok pretty but it does taste amazing!
Posted 26/01/2019
Lamb Hotpot
Lamb Hotpot recipes normally use chunks of meat, rather than minced meat. This recipe, based on one from gousto, uses minced lamb which keeps the cost and the cookl time to a minimum
Posted 13/01/2019
Soda Bread
Soda bread is a 'quick bread' which means it's great when you're short of time and need a bread fix
Posted 30/12/2018
Sausage Ragu
An attempt at re-creating a dish I had when dining with colleagues. It's a long, slow cook time but well worth it!
Posted 26/10/2018
Banana Bread
Make this a day or so before you need it, if you can, it gets stickier and tastier after baking!
Posted 29/09/2018
Ham & Cheese Toastie
It feels like a bit of a stretch to call a Ham & Cheese Toastie a recipe, but I don't care
Posted 22/09/2018
Braised greens
This recipe for greens is a nice way to lift them a bit for variety and make the meal a little bit richer
Posted 17/09/2018
Creamy Chicken
A tried and tested tasty dish that takes 30 minutes all-in, yes it's rich, but it's a bit of a treat meal!
Posted 15/09/2018
Chicken and Ham Pie
Another pie recipe, this time Chicken and Ham with some leeks snuck in for good measure
Posted 10/09/2018
Yorkshire Puddings
An essential accompaniment to the roast dinner, I think there's actually a law that says you can't have one without the other!
Posted 09/09/2018
Ham and Mozarella Panko-crumbed Kievs
The Chicken Kiev has got a bit of a bad reputation now thanks to the mass-manufactured ones made from formed chicken rather than a whole chicken breast. Once you've had a Kiev that's been made from a breast rather than processed meat, you'll probably never want to go back!
Posted 02/09/2018
Tomato, Mozarella and Basil plated salad
Another of the sides I roll out when we BBQ, a bit of variety other than a green salad makes a nice change
Posted 05/08/2018
Blueberry and Banana Mini-Muffins
Gooey, sticky and full of fruit. These mini-muffins disappear into hungry litte ones very quickly!
Posted 22/07/2018

Using Windows 10 UWP APIs from a .NET Core application There's a new NuGet package around that makes it very easy to use UWP APIs from a .NET Core based desktop app Posted 22/05/2019

Reading and writing a memory-mapped file in .NET Core Memory-mapped files are a useful tool to hav available, this is a simple example of reading and writing one Posted 15/05/2019

Updating IIS application pools using appcmd Appcmd is one of the many ways that you can configure IIS, it's useful as it's always installed Posted 13/05/2019

Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2015: "TF401189: The source branch has been modified since the last merge attempt." Sometimes TFS does weird things, like stopping you from closing a pull request for a branch that no longer exists Posted 08/05/2019

Where does Certify put the certificate if you choose 'No Deployment' as the Deployment mode? Using Certify to generate a Let's Encrypt certificate writes it to disk, but where? Posted 03/05/2019

Scaffolding an Entity Framework Core database in a project that targets .NETStandard You'll need a helper project as you can't scaffold against a .NETStandard project Posted 18/04/2019

Adding a delay to ASP.NET Core Web API methods to simulate slow or erratic networks Adding a delay to responses from Web API actions is a good way to make sure the components that call them don't break when things take longer than they expect Posted 19/03/2019

Running Pi-hole on a CentOS virtual machine Running Pi-hole as a way of blocking ads is awesome, it's a really well put together little package that focuses on doing one thing and doing it *really* well Posted 17/03/2019

'The specified URL cannot be found' - it can, but your Barracuda WAF doesn't want it to be The Barracuda WAF can, and will, block JSON values that are too long with a '404' and 'The specified URL cannot be found' Posted 04/03/2019

Adding logging to an old .NET 4.0 project via Castle Windsor to measure performance Logging is a great way to do quick and dirty performance measurements against code, particularly code that isn't well suited to extracting out into a benchmarking framework Posted 22/02/2019

Resolving 'missing' assemblies where the assembly has been renamed A solution to not being able to use assembly binding redirects when the assembly has been renamed by using the AssemblyResolve event Posted 08/02/2019

Upgrading a Windows MySQL instance from 5.1 to 8.x Upgrading MySQL from a *very* old version to 8.x is a bit of a minefield, but not as bad as it may seem! Posted 24/01/2019

Don't store monetary values as doubles Everyone should know that you shouldn't store monetary values as doubles, but I guess everyone doesn't! Posted 20/01/2019

TIL: You can use column aliases in an ORDER BY clause You can use column aliases in ORDER BY, who knew? (Lots of people other than me, I'm sure!) Posted 08/01/2019

Ignoring parameters that haven't been specified in a SQL query Using ISNULL/COALESCE to allow for optional parameters to SQL queries Posted 02/01/2019

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled chicken Putting all the ingredients in a slow cooker for four hours, then coming back, shredding the chicken and eating it - couldn't be easier! Posted 28/04/2019

Chorizo, Lentil and Potato soup It feels like soup season is almost over, but my love affair with Chorizo in soup continues Posted 23/02/2019

Special Breakfast Tomatoes This is a bit of a childhood favourite, it doesn't lokok pretty but it does taste amazing! Posted 26/01/2019

Lamb Hotpot Lamb Hotpot recipes normally use chunks of meat, rather than minced meat. This recipe, based on one from gousto, uses minced lamb which keeps the cost and the cookl time to a minimum Posted 13/01/2019

Soda Bread Soda bread is a 'quick bread' which means it's great when you're short of time and need a bread fix Posted 30/12/2018

Sausage Ragu An attempt at re-creating a dish I had when dining with colleagues. It's a long, slow cook time but well worth it! Posted 26/10/2018

Banana Bread Make this a day or so before you need it, if you can, it gets stickier and tastier after baking! Posted 29/09/2018

Ham & Cheese Toastie It feels like a bit of a stretch to call a Ham & Cheese Toastie a recipe, but I don't care Posted 22/09/2018

Braised greens This recipe for greens is a nice way to lift them a bit for variety and make the meal a little bit richer Posted 17/09/2018

Creamy Chicken A tried and tested tasty dish that takes 30 minutes all-in, yes it's rich, but it's a bit of a treat meal! Posted 15/09/2018

Chicken and Ham Pie Another pie recipe, this time Chicken and Ham with some leeks snuck in for good measure Posted 10/09/2018

Yorkshire Puddings An essential accompaniment to the roast dinner, I think there's actually a law that says you can't have one without the other! Posted 09/09/2018

Tomato, Mozarella and Basil plated salad Another of the sides I roll out when we BBQ, a bit of variety other than a green salad makes a nice change Posted 05/08/2018

Blueberry and Banana Mini-Muffins Gooey, sticky and full of fruit. These mini-muffins disappear into hungry litte ones very quickly! Posted 22/07/2018

Using Windows 10 UWP APIs from a .NET Core application
There's a new NuGet package around that makes it very easy to use UWP APIs from a .NET Core based desktop app
Posted 22/05/2019

Reading and writing a memory-mapped file in .NET Core
Memory-mapped files are a useful tool to hav available, this is a simple example of reading and writing one
Posted 15/05/2019

Updating IIS application pools using appcmd
Appcmd is one of the many ways that you can configure IIS, it's useful as it's always installed
Posted 13/05/2019

Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2015: "TF401189: The source branch has been modified since the last merge attempt."
Sometimes TFS does weird things, like stopping you from closing a pull request for a branch that no longer exists
Posted 08/05/2019

Where does Certify put the certificate if you choose 'No Deployment' as the Deployment mode?
Using Certify to generate a Let's Encrypt certificate writes it to disk, but where?
Posted 03/05/2019

Scaffolding an Entity Framework Core database in a project that targets .NETStandard
You'll need a helper project as you can't scaffold against a .NETStandard project
Posted 18/04/2019

Adding a delay to ASP.NET Core Web API methods to simulate slow or erratic networks
Adding a delay to responses from Web API actions is a good way to make sure the components that call them don't break when things take longer than they expect
Posted 19/03/2019

Running Pi-hole on a CentOS virtual machine
Running Pi-hole as a way of blocking ads is awesome, it's a really well put together little package that focuses on doing one thing and doing it really well
Posted 17/03/2019

'The specified URL cannot be found' - it can, but your Barracuda WAF doesn't want it to be
The Barracuda WAF can, and will, block JSON values that are too long with a '404' and 'The specified URL cannot be found'
Posted 04/03/2019

Adding logging to an old .NET 4.0 project via Castle Windsor to measure performance
Logging is a great way to do quick and dirty performance measurements against code, particularly code that isn't well suited to extracting out into a benchmarking framework
Posted 22/02/2019

Resolving 'missing' assemblies where the assembly has been renamed
A solution to not being able to use assembly binding redirects when the assembly has been renamed by using the AssemblyResolve event
Posted 08/02/2019

Upgrading a Windows MySQL instance from 5.1 to 8.x
Upgrading MySQL from a very old version to 8.x is a bit of a minefield, but not as bad as it may seem!
Posted 24/01/2019

Don't store monetary values as doubles
Everyone should know that you shouldn't store monetary values as doubles, but I guess everyone doesn't!
Posted 20/01/2019

TIL: You can use column aliases in an ORDER BY clause
You can use column aliases in ORDER BY, who knew? (Lots of people other than me, I'm sure!)
Posted 08/01/2019

Ignoring parameters that haven't been specified in a SQL query
Using ISNULL/COALESCE to allow for optional parameters to SQL queries
Posted 02/01/2019

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled chicken
Putting all the ingredients in a slow cooker for four hours, then coming back, shredding the chicken and eating it - couldn't be easier!
Posted 28/04/2019

Chorizo, Lentil and Potato soup
It feels like soup season is almost over, but my love affair with Chorizo in soup continues
Posted 23/02/2019

Special Breakfast Tomatoes
This is a bit of a childhood favourite, it doesn't lokok pretty but it does taste amazing!
Posted 26/01/2019

Lamb Hotpot
Lamb Hotpot recipes normally use chunks of meat, rather than minced meat. This recipe, based on one from gousto, uses minced lamb which keeps the cost and the cookl time to a minimum
Posted 13/01/2019

Soda Bread
Soda bread is a 'quick bread' which means it's great when you're short of time and need a bread fix
Posted 30/12/2018

Sausage Ragu
An attempt at re-creating a dish I had when dining with colleagues. It's a long, slow cook time but well worth it!
Posted 26/10/2018

Banana Bread
Make this a day or so before you need it, if you can, it gets stickier and tastier after baking!
Posted 29/09/2018

Ham & Cheese Toastie
It feels like a bit of a stretch to call a Ham & Cheese Toastie a recipe, but I don't care
Posted 22/09/2018

Braised greens
This recipe for greens is a nice way to lift them a bit for variety and make the meal a little bit richer
Posted 17/09/2018

Creamy Chicken
A tried and tested tasty dish that takes 30 minutes all-in, yes it's rich, but it's a bit of a treat meal!
Posted 15/09/2018

Chicken and Ham Pie
Another pie recipe, this time Chicken and Ham with some leeks snuck in for good measure
Posted 10/09/2018

Yorkshire Puddings
An essential accompaniment to the roast dinner, I think there's actually a law that says you can't have one without the other!
Posted 09/09/2018

Tomato, Mozarella and Basil plated salad
Another of the sides I roll out when we BBQ, a bit of variety other than a green salad makes a nice change
Posted 05/08/2018

Blueberry and Banana Mini-Muffins
Gooey, sticky and full of fruit. These mini-muffins disappear into hungry litte ones very quickly!
Posted 22/07/2018