In any major software development project, a broker tier is a critical element.
We’ll examine what a broker tier is, what it does, and several advantages to having one.
Every year, major electronics retailers and discount stores offer “amazing deals” on personal computing devices, such as laptops, tablets, and desktops.
Here are some reasons you should be skeptical, and perhaps avoid them altogether.
Tech Tip: Navigating Tabs
Browsers and other applications use tabs as part of the user interface, allowing the user to multi-task within the application.
Here are some time-saving shortcut keys for navigating tabs within browsers and other applications.
| Hotkey | Action |
| CTRL+Tab | Move to the next tab |
| CTRL+SHIFT+Tab | Move to the previous tab |
| CTRL+F4 | Close the current tab |
| CTRL+SHIFT+T | (Firefox and Chrome) Open the previously-closed tab |
Using hotkeys works especially well when you’re composing in one tab, while referencing material in a 2nd tab. Hotkeys allow you to move back and forth without lifting your hands off the keyboard.
It’s that Turkey time of year again, and with turkey comes leftovers.
Here are some amazing ideas that transcend the turkey sandwich.
The Coffee-Muffin Death Spiral
Step 1: Mmmmm this nice, warm muffin is delicious. You know? This would go GREAT with a cup of coffee…
Step 2: Obtain coffee.
Step 3: Finish muffin.
Step 4: This is great coffee… it sure would go PERFECTLY with a nice, warm muffin…
Step 5: Obtain muffin.
Step 6: Finish coffee.
Step 7: Repeat Step 1.
Given a point, P on plane A, and a set of control points on plane A that correlate to a set on plane B, this document describes how to translate P to its new location P’ on plane B.
This can be used for virtual to physical mapping, or vice-versa.
Download or view the PDF:
Proxy vs Firewall
I got asked the question recently, “What is the difference between a proxy and a firewall?”
I’ll paraphrase my simple analogy in response:
If you think of a firewall as a telephone, you can think of a proxy as a telephone operator.
As analogous to a firewall, you can think of calling the server via telephone, and then speaking directly to the server in order to make a request, and the server responds to you directly. The telephone might have some rules built in to it, about who you are allowed to call, and when (these are the firewall rules).
Extending this analogy, a proxy is like a telephone operator. Rather than make a request to the server directly, you are only allowed to call the operator. The operator receives your entire request, and then makes a separate call to the server. After passing the request to the server, the operator then receives the entire response from the server, and passes the response to you.
Now, imagine that the operator must consult a long list of rules to see if your request is valid before passing it to the server, and also must compare the server response to another long list of rules to ensure that it’s valid before passing the response back to you. This is known as filtering.
Or,
How to Not Screw Up Your Product
From time to time, manufacturers and developers make unilateral design decisions that affect the way a product functions.
This isn’t always a good thing.
Here are some examples of why major product design changes should always include feedback from the user community.
So, you’ve been thinking about “going green” by purchasing and driving an electric car — you think you’ll be helping to save the environment. I have news for you – you’ll still produce carbon emissions and other waste, and you’ll tax the already-overburdened power grid.
We’ll compare electric to conventional gas and diesel engines, and examine some truly environmentally-friendly alternatives.
Shortcut: Pinch to Zoom in Android Emulator
Also, pinch to zoom with one finger in Android
This is known to work with Android Marshmallow. I have not tried this with other versions, but I have tried it on Bluestacks emulator as well as physical devices.
Problem: Can’t Pinch to Zoom in Android Emulator
When you do Android development, running an emulator is a necessity. In the emulator, the mouse simulates a touch event. Unfortunately, using only a mouse, you can’t “pinch to zoom” in or out. Although some laptop panels and computer monitors support touch input, this is expensive, and not a guaranteed solution.
Solution: Tap then Drag
Remember that the left mouse button simulates a virtual finger touching the display…
- Tap: Click the mouse button (quickly press, then release the left mouse button)
- Drag: Press the left mouse button and hold it down. Move the mouse to a desired location, then release the left mouse button.
In quick succession, Tap, then Drag
Zoom Out
Starting at the bottom-middle of the display, tap, then drag up to the upper-right.
Zoom Out: Tap on the bottom-middle (A) then quickly touch and drag (B) from the bottom-middle to the upper-right.
Zoom In
Starting at the upper-right of the display, tap, then drag down to the bottom-middle.
Zoom In: Tap on the upper-left (C) then quickly touch and drag (D) from the upper-left to the bottom-middle
Caveats
- This is known to work with applications that let you pan in both directions, such as Google Maps
- Although this effect seems to be built in to the OS, it might be difficult to trigger this effect in applications that explicitly scroll in one direction (such as vertical only).
- This approach might not work with applications that implement their own custom multi-touch logic.