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Mirror Android Device to Computer
26.11.2019
As I continue my adventure into Android development, pair programming has been a huge help in learning this new platform. When it’s time to build and run the app, relying on the emulator is a fools’ game — the emulator is slow and it’s hard to reliably simulate gestures....
Firefox Kiosk Mode
16.10.2019
As someone who loves the HTML and web APIs, I want to see them used in all different types of devices and mediums. Being that I work for the amazing Mozilla Corporation, seeing Firefox and the gecko web engine thrive in those spaces is important to me. Firefox was recently featured in the Firefox...
How to Create a QR Code
15.10.2019
QR codes aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but I quite like them. If I see something I want to remember or check out later, especially when on the road, it’s super easy to take a quick picture — it’s much easier than trying to remember a URL and much faster than typing...
Stop Installing Packages Globally
9.9.2019
These days, most front-end projects are going to involve NPM packages of some kind. Occasionally, when browsing documentation for these packages, I’ll see a recommendation to install a package like this. yarn global add <package> Or like this. npm install --global <package> In both...
Report: Shell and Sinochem Discuss Blockchain Platform for Crude Oil
6.9.2019
Sinochem Energy Technology is reportedly discussing building a blockchain platform for the oil sector with Shell and Macquarie
How to Build Firefox
27.8.2019
Open source is a dream and a gateway to an amazing career — I’m a testament to that. One of the most amazing open source projects to ever exist, Mozilla Firefox, is a project I’m proud to work on as an employee of Mozilla. It’s rewarding, challenging, and a unique...
Mercurial Tips
19.8.2019
While most of the world seems to be using git for version control, Mozilla continues to use Mercurial (hg) to manage the Firefox source code. As a git and GitHub lover, it took me a while to get used to Mercurial. I don’t consider myself a hg expert but I know enough to complete...
How to Crop Videos
9.8.2019
During a recent episode of the Script and Style podcast, I had noticed that the video recording had showed a bit of our internal chat that wasn’t necessary for our viewers to see. While there’s nothing wrong with giving viewers a peek into the show preparation, presenting the best...
Shell Invests In Blockchain Startup That Uses The Tech For Energy Tracking
11.7.2019
Blockchain technology is the latest and most disruptive innovation that has been unleashed on the tech scene over the past couple of years. While it is true that most people associate it with cryptocurrencies, it is important to note that the creation of cryptocurrencies is only a tiny part of...
Oil Giant Shell Invests in Startup That Uses Blockchain Tech for Energy Tracking
11.7.2019
A blockchain startup that says it's working to give energy consumers more choice has raised an undisclosed sum from Shell and Sumitomo Group
Shell Invests in Blockchain-Based Energy Startup
10.7.2019
Shell, the world’s fifth largest oil and gas firm, invested in a blockchain-based energy firm
Fix Touch Bar Volume Buttons
30.6.2019
The touch bar on MacBooks has been a source of controversy since the beginning. Many mourned the loss of the escape key, while others refused to buy a new laptop to avoid the touch bar completely. I’ve not had many issues with the touch bar but mostly because I don’t really use it. One necessary...
Checkout the Last Public Revision with Mercurial
19.6.2019
I’ve always preferred git over Mercurial (hg) because the feature branch workflow makes organizing code and working off of master very easy. You don’t get that with vanilla mercurial — instead, commits can just sort of apply on top of each other, without much organization....
Convert Video to Grayscale
24.4.2019
I’m a JavaScript fanatic but I’ve always been fascinated with media manipulation. Maybe it’s because I’ve secretly always wanted to be a designer, but I’m fine with being able to manipulate art with software instead of create the art myself. One type of art I’ve...
Open FaceTime Call from Command Line
11.4.2019
Communication tools are always associated with UIs, and for good reason — if you want communication to be easy and intuitive, you need easy and intuitive interfaces. We need communication tools to provide the lowest barrier of entry, since not all users will be tech savvy. For tech experts...
How to Reverse a Video
9.4.2019
One of my favorite media utilities is ffmpeg. This command line utility allows us to do some pretty amazing stuff like; Slice videos Convert video formats Modify video speed Combine audio and video Every once in a while I see a meme or funny video that reverses a video for effect. Since ffmpeg does...
Set Branch Alias with Git
28.3.2019
Version control systems can be difficult to use, especially when you don’t use a UI app. Just think about main branch or revision names: svn uses “trunk”, git uses “master”, and mercurial (hg) uses “tip”. I need to switch between mercurial and...
Set Commit Author with git or hg
24.3.2019
Knowing who authored a code patch is a sacred and important practice in the world of software engineering. Knowing the author gives the reviewer an idea of trust level, know who to ask questions about the patch, and gives credit to the genius of an important fix. There have been times when...
How to Set Commit Author
13.3.2019
I’ve worn dozens of hats on a dozen different teams during my time at Mozilla, but none has been as rewarding and challenging as community management. Whether it’s mentoring students, welcoming new contributors, or reviewing pull requests, there’s always so much to be done....
Get File MIME Type from Command Line
28.2.2019
I’ve gotten skilled at shell scripting over the years. I love a good GUI but knowing how to automate makes you a much more powerful engineer. Much of my scripting requires recursing over directories and processing a file if it meets a given criteria, which is often file extension or MIME...