I love conferences. There is a certain vibe you can only get from being in a room with people who are just as excited as you about a subject. And not just because there's great speakers: some of my favorite times at a conference come from the "hallway track" - getting out of the session…
I've been using Vagrant and VVV with VV (a site creation wizard) for a while now as the cornerstone of my development workflow. I have customized my VVV quite a bit over the years, and - while I was happy with it - I was always on the lookout for something better to see if…
I love Twitch. I actually spend my work day with one browser dedicated to Twitch, and subscribe to MrHappy's daily Stream. So when rumors surfaced a few years ago their API, of course I wanted a way to interface with that API. In doing research, I realized that a lot of streamers don't have real…
Achievers in games want one thing out of their experience: to be the absolute best in whatever the game has in store. Whether it's winning the top prize or beating the baddest boss, these players want to climb to the top of the pyramid of success. Prestige, and the thrill of the achievement, are what…
We've learned that Gamification is the act of taking gaming principles and applying them to real world situations in order to modify behavior. But before we jump in with both feet, there's a few things we have to consider. Let's look at a few sample "players" - a term used to define the users we will be interacting…
I've never shied away from the fact that I'm a huge fan of gaming. Most nights, once the rest of the family has gone to bed, you'll see me traversing the lands of Eorzea as my alter ego Lucina. Beating bosses, collecting loot, and enjoying the company of the other players I work with -…
Did you know that there's a hidden options panel in WordPress? It's one page you can visit that will allow you to set every single option available to you on your site - even some of the hidden ones that are set via plugins and/or other functions. http://www.mydomain.com/wp-admin/options.php Navigating here will show you any options,…
Hibernation. I've been trying to come up with a good word that explains my life for the past year or so. Hibernation, I think, fits the bill quite nicely. The last few months have been a transition period. A new job (at Vanderbilt University). A new baby (who's three months old now). A myriad of other things…
A few days ago we showed you how to add an SSL certificate - one that you can purchase - to your newly created Amazon AWS Instances. As I was researching SSL certificates, I came across an interesting initiative: Let's Encrypt. It's an organization dedicated to serving up free SSL certfiicates so you can encrypt your…
The last few blog posts have been an in-depth tutorial on how to set up an Amazon AWS Instance. And, while the basics were more than covered, I had a few reader asking me about a super important topic: SSL and Encryption. What exactly is SSL Encryption? The short answer: it's that fancy green lock…
