18+ years' experience delivering production systems across development, infrastructure, and cloud
A long time ago in my SysAdmin days, I was a big fan of Nagios . Recently, I decided to revisit it and see if I could run it in a Docker container to monitor my local network. This guide will walk you through the process of setting up Nagios monitoring using Docker. Finding a Docker Image for Nagios First, we need to...
It is that time of year again, time to reflect on the year that has passed and look forward to the year ahead. As with many years 2024 has been a mixed bag, some good stuff, and some not so good stuff. I did not make any goals at the start of 2024, but I am going to fix that for 2025. Goals for 2025 Blog Posts More...
Creating pull requests is part of the development process when working with version control systems like Git. Pull requests allow developers to propose changes to a codebase and collaborate with team members to review and merge those changes. When you have long running branches, it can be challenging to keep them up to...
AI is everywhere at the moment, from chatbots to code completion tools like GitHub Copilot. Here are some common AI and Copilot terms with explanations. Common AI and Copilot Terms Artificial Intelligence (AI) Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to...
I have been wondering what devices in my house use the most electricity. I have a smart meter which tells me how much electricity I am using, but it doesn’t tell me what devices are using the most electricity. Recently I purchased 12 of these ANTELA Smart Plugs (they come in packs of 4 so it hasn’t broken the bank)....
What is .Net Aspire? .Net Aspire is a comprehensive set of tools, templates, and packages designed to simplify the development of cloud-native applications using .Net. It focuses on building observable, production-ready apps by providing a consistent and opinionated set of tools and patterns . The key features of .Net...
Every November it is like Christmas for .NET developers, as Microsoft releases the next version of .NET. This year is no different, and we have version 9 of .NET to play with. This release is packed with new features and improvements across the board. If you haven’t already head on over to the dotnet website and...
Understanding the Strategy Design Pattern. In the world of software development, design patterns are essential tools that help developers solve common problems in a standardized way. One such pattern is the Strategy Design Pattern. This pattern is particularly useful when you need to define a family of algorithms,...
Code Clubs are free, welcoming spaces designed to introduce young people to the exciting world of programming and digital skills. Today, I had the pleasure of taking my son—an absolute coding enthusiast—to one of these sessions, held at Leeds Central Library. The club was hosted in a cozy room on the top floor of the...