Month: March 2019

  • PowerShell’s Call Operator (&) Arguments with Embedded Spaces and Quotes

    I was recently upgrading a PowerShell script that used the v2 nunit-console runner to use the v3 one instead when I ran across a weird issue with PowerShell. I’ve haven’t found a definitive bug report or release note yet to describe the change in behav…

  • PowerShell’s Call Operator (&) Arguments with Embedded Spaces and Quotes

    I was recently upgrading a PowerShell script that used the v2 nunit-console runner to use the v3 one instead when I ran across a weird issue with PowerShell. I’ve haven’t found a definitive bug report or release note yet to describe the change in behav…

  • CI/CD Server Inline Scripts

    As you might have already gathered if you’d read my 2014 post “Building the Pipeline – Process Led or Product Led?” I’m very much in favour of developing a build and deployment process locally first, then automating that, rather than clicking buttons i…

  • CI/CD Server Inline Scripts

    As you might have already gathered if you’d read my 2014 post “Building the Pipeline – Process Led or Product Led?” I’m very much in favour of developing a build and deployment process locally first, then automating that, rather than clicking buttons i…

  • New website and chips, please!

    HOWTO: celebrate finishing a project. If you are reading this you might have noticed that the Riverblade website has undergone a bit of a redesign. This is something we’ve been working on for a little while in the background, and we think it’s probabl…

  • New website and chips, please!

    HOWTO: celebrate finishing a project. If you are reading this you might have noticed that the Riverblade website has undergone a bit of a redesign. This is something we’ve been working on for a little while in the background, and we think it’s probabl…

  • Abstraction with Database Views

    After being away from the relational database world for a few years it’s been interesting coming back and working on a mature system with plenty of SQL code. It’s been said that SQL is the assembly language of databases and when SQL code is written onl…

  • Abstraction with Database Views

    After being away from the relational database world for a few years it’s been interesting coming back and working on a mature system with plenty of SQL code. It’s been said that SQL is the assembly language of databases and when SQL code is written onl…

  • The ACCU’s Overload magazine

    ACCU is an organisation for programmers. Its original focus was C and C++, but now members use a variety of languages, talk about testing and process and how to keep learning. ACCU holds an annual conference in the UK, attended by people from around th…

  • The ACCU’s Overload magazine

    ACCU is an organisation for programmers. Its original focus was C and C++, but now members use a variety of languages, talk about testing and process and how to keep learning. ACCU holds an annual conference in the UK, attended by people from around th…

  • The Perils of Multi-Phase Construction

    I’ve never really been a fan of C#’s object initializer syntax. Yes, it’s a little more convenient to write but it has a big downside which is it forces you to make your types mutable by default. Okay, that’s a bit strong, it doesn’t force you to do an…

  • The Perils of Multi-Phase Construction

    I’ve never really been a fan of C#’s object initializer syntax. Yes, it’s a little more convenient to write but it has a big downside which is it forces you to make your types mutable by default. Okay, that’s a bit strong, it doesn’t force you to do an…

  • Rabbit Escape 0.12 out now, with water

    The newest feature of Rabbit Escape, water, has been brewing a long time, but we now think it’s ready: Water can flow, it can put out fires, and it can drown rabbits. Rabbots seem to be immune though… Check out the 20 new levels we have released! (T…

  • Convert a video to a GIF with reasonable colours

    Here’s a little script I wrote to avoid copy-pasting the ffmpeg command from superuser every time I needed it. It converts a video to a GIF file by pre-calculating a good palette, then using that palette. Usage: ./to_gif input.mp4 output.gif The file t…