Mount a Windows share in Linux

On my home network, I have a Windows server running - I use it to run a Plex media server, a file sharing server, and a few other applications. My personal desktop and laptop machines are running Linux (Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS on both) and each has a mounted folder for the shared Windows Server directory. … Continue reading Mount a Windows share in Linux

Display a message box with Python without using a non-standard library or other dependency (Windows)

I've been using Python a lot more lately and have discovered some pretty interesting things - one of which I want to share here. A recent project had a requirement for a Python script that would be deployed to users' machines as a scheduled task, triggered on login to run at a set interval every … Continue reading Display a message box with Python without using a non-standard library or other dependency (Windows)

How to automate a Python script (or anything else) in Windows and Linux

A common task I need to perform both at work and on my personal/home computers is configuring a script to run automatically on a schedule. Some examples from my experience include running a script nightly to update an application database with new data from an external source, or running a weekly script on my laptop … Continue reading How to automate a Python script (or anything else) in Windows and Linux

The Microsoft Edge Dev Tools extension for VS Code is so awesome that I’m ditching Chrome for web development

I've been using Visual Studio Code enjoyably for several years, but the Microsoft Edge Tools for VS Code extension has brought web development tooling to another level. This extension was game-changing enough for me that I made Edge my daily driver browser for web development work, replacing Chrome. Early versions of VS Code did not … Continue reading The Microsoft Edge Dev Tools extension for VS Code is so awesome that I’m ditching Chrome for web development

Vintage GIS: Rand McNally TripMaker 1996

The history of computing has always been a fascinating topic for me, and as I have gotten older (and more nostalgic), I have found a hobby in vintage computing. Virtual machines running ancient operating systems and software have allowed me to revisit the days of exploring computers as a kid and young adult. Recently, my … Continue reading Vintage GIS: Rand McNally TripMaker 1996

Friday FOSS shoutout – Pinta: Painting Made Simple

Here's a great free and open source image editing software title I've been using for the last year or so: Pinta: Painting Made Simple In my day to day work, I need to do simple photo editing: crop, resize, add text, convert between formats, etc. I also need the ability to add layers to an … Continue reading Friday FOSS shoutout – Pinta: Painting Made Simple

How to get a desktop-like experience with Chrome and Google Workspace (formerly GSuite)

I started a new job recently, and was pleased to learn they used the Google Workspace suite of applications for daily business tasks. I did have some experience with Google Workspace (then called GSuite) prior to my current job, but the bulk of my professional career has been with companies that used Microsoft Office. What … Continue reading How to get a desktop-like experience with Chrome and Google Workspace (formerly GSuite)

error: no such partition. Entering rescue mode…

I recently updated my desktop from Linux Mint 19.3 to 20.1, but ran in to an issue where I was no longer able to see the GRUB boot menu on system startup. I wanted to document the fix here in hopes anyone else who encounters the same issue can find a resolution (and for my … Continue reading error: no such partition. Entering rescue mode…

Booting a virtual machine from a physical Windows disk partition

I am a long time Linux user (Mint being my preferred distro) and have dual booted Windows and Linux on every computer I have owned in the last decade. Recently, I have been using Linux Mint 19.3 as my primary operating system, booting into it more often than Windows 10. I do still use Windows … Continue reading Booting a virtual machine from a physical Windows disk partition

A really simple C# async example

Asynchronous programming is awesome, and C# makes it very easy with the .NET Task Parallel Library. At a high level, asynchronous programming is all about not letting independent tasks block each other so you can do more than one thing at a time. One common analogy used to describe the asynchronous pattern is cooking. Let's … Continue reading A really simple C# async example