Building an API with Visual Studio Code and Node.js

At the April Austin Microsoft Developer Meetup, I gave a talk about using Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code to build web applications and API’s with Node.js. I also showed everyone how to quickly and easily deploy those Node.js web applications to Microsoft Azure’s App Services. We used both Express and Hapi to build web applications –… Read More

Running in all 50 States – 50 States, 50 Marathons

Earlier this month, my wife Cheri and I finished running a marathon (or longer) distance in each of the fifty states of the US by finishing the Maui Oceanfront Marathon in Hawaii. It was a goal I’d worked on since my first marathon, in Maine, in October 2008. I gave a talk on running in… Read More

LittleBits/Matrix Color Rotator Code for Twilio Signal HackPack

I made my twitter handle scroll across the screen, changing colors as it goes – pretty simple effect, but here’s the Arduino code: #include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h> #include <Adafruit_GFX.h> #include <Adafruit_NeoMatrix.h> #define PIN 1 Adafruit_NeoMatrix matrix = Adafruit_NeoMatrix(8, 8, PIN, NEO_MATRIX_TOP + NEO_MATRIX_RIGHT + NEO_MATRIX_COLUMNS + NEO_MATRIX_PROGRESSIVE, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800); void setup() { // put your setup… Read More

Samsung Gear Smartwatch App: Knitting Puppy Row Counter

I recently got a Samsung Gear 2 Neo smart watch – it pairs with recent, powerful Samsung phones and tablets, but without them, it’s basically a pedometer. So I’d definitely only recommend it if you already have one of their recent devices (like the Samsung Galaxy S5 or Note 3 phones), and not if you use… Read More