learning - Grant Winney

Making Your First Chrome Extension

We all have our favorite web browser with our favorite extensions loaded, but have you ever considered writing your own? In the past few months I've created a couple extensions to suit my own needs. Here's what I've learned!

ghost

How to build on top of the Casper theme in Ghost

This blog runs on the Ghost platform, and I've done a bit of customization to the styling. Nothing major. I was mildly surprised when I ran a "ghost update" the other day and

api

What do we mean by API?

An API is an Application Programming Interface, but what's that really mean? In a more practical sense, it's one programmer hiding the (possibly messy) details of their own code behind a nice veneer, in order to make it easier for another programmer to consume it in their own program.

visual studio

How to Unit Test using Visual Studio for Mac (it's easy!)

Last month at the AkronCodeClub they selected the magic square kata, which was a new one for me. Basically, you arrange 9 unique numbers in a 3x3 grid such that they add up

erlang

Concurrent Programming in Erlang - Scaling Up (week three)

The concurrent programming in Erlang course ended this week. It's been informative. There's been a ton of resources shared (both in the course itself and in the comments), but wow I was spending

erlang

Concurrent Programming in Erlang - Winning by Failing (week two)

No one wants to fail. We'd like to succeed in life, to pass our exams, advance in our jobs, achieve our goals. And when we become bored with the usual challenges, we see

erlang

Concurrent Programming in Erlang - You've Got Mail (week one)

This past weekend was great weather-wise. Sunny and 70. Summer's around the corner but in Ohio there are never any guarantees... the weekend before it snowed 4 inches. We had places to go

books

Cooking with Simon Monk - Raspberry Pi Cookbook

It’s been too long since I messed with the Raspberry Pi. It started with Hacktoberfest a few months ago, then we had a baby, and then I got it in my head

books

Book Review: Getting Things Done, Part 1

Do you ever get exhausted, thinking of everything that needs to be done? I do. I always have this feeling that there’s tons of “stuff” to do – some that needs to get

python

Learning Python for the Raspberry Pi

Once you’ve connected the peripherals, installed NOOBS, and gotten your Raspberry Pi up and running, pat yourself on the back and take a moment to bask in the glow of the large

raspberry pi 2

Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi 2

I got a Raspberry Pi 2 for Christmas, and finally took it for a spin this weekend… just as the community is getting ready to celebrate the Pi’s 4th birthday. After using

books

Charles Townes, The Laser, and Fostering Curiosity

When I hear about a discovery or invention, it sometimes seems inevitable that the people involved should’ve ended up where they were, doing what they did, as if they were handed the

books

Review: Visual Studio 2013 Cookbook, by Jeff Martins and Richard Banks

I was recently offered a complimentary copy of Visual Studio 2013 Cookbook. This was timely, since I focus primarily on the Microsoft stack and use Visual Studio 2012 daily, and our team at