Today's Question:  What does your personal desk look like?        GIVE A SHOUT

SEARCH KEYWORD -- Unix Philosophy



  Accessing Reddit top posts using OAuth

Previously one can use the https://www.reddit.com/r/rprogramming/top.json API to access one subreddit's top posts. This API doesn't require any access token to fetch the data. However, this API may not work all the time. Reddit may block the API's request if it finds that you are using a script or some app which accesses the API now and then. For an app or script which needs to fetch the data routinely, what should we do? Reddit provides one method which can be used to fetch this kind of to...

   REDDIT,OAUTH,TOP POSTS,HOT POSTS     2023-12-16 07:24:14

  Landing page optimization : Less is more

There is a question on Quora : Why doesn't Quora show interesting questions/answers on their landing page? Why is it this? not this? Quora's product manage gives his answer to this question, it's agreed by many users in this community. Here is his answer: The logged out homepage is pretty sparse now mostly because it hasn't been given much treatment since the initial product launch. But we have plans on redesigning it and testing different variations (some with less info on the page, some with...

   Landing page,Optimization,Principle     2012-11-03 01:50:07

  Javascript Frameworks Are Too Small

A while back I stumbled upon a great post by Jean-Baptiste Queru. It describes the incredible depth of the modern technology stack. Layers upon layers of complex science, hardware, and software, each layer creating a simpler abstraction around the previous. This ultimately enables our paltry human brains to create amazing things that would otherwise be impossible (or really difficult). This is, in my opinion, the lifeblood of modern software development. For some reason, however, when i...

   JavaScript,Framework,Size,Small,jQuery     2012-01-10 07:20:59

  Google Chrome Alternatives: Best Browsers For Android

Most Android phones come with Chrome pre-installed as the default browser. There’s nothing wrong with that. Chrome is a great browser with excellent features. And it feels natural alongside all the other Google products that also come pre-installed on Android. But the type of browser someone uses is super important. In the end, the browser may be one of the most-used apps on any phone.  Browsers need to fit the needs and lifestyle of the person who is using it. To name a few examples,...

   FIREFOX,MICROSFT EDGE,CHROME     2020-06-18 07:12:35

  How to secure an Ubuntu Apache web server

Securing server software is not a straightforward task. Not all of our operating environments are the same, leading to a variety of potential security vulnerabilities. However, using a few basic configuration and security options, you can stay a little ahead of where you want to be. 1. Fail2ban Fail2ban is a Python-based intrusion prevention software that detects and blocks malicious IP addresses from multiple unsuccessful attempts at software logins. In other words, if someone is attempt...

   Unix server security,Log,.htaccess,Cache     2011-12-27 09:25:32

  10 habits of 10x developers

Last week, I discovered The Rise of Developeronomics via Brad Feld. As long as I’ve lived, it has always been a great time to be a software developer. The economics keep getting better for us. My favorite quote: The one absolutely solid place to store your capital today — if you know how to do it –  is in software developers’ wallets. If the world survives looming financial apocalypse dangers at all, this is the one investment that will weather the storms. ...

   Developer,Efficiency,Advice,Rest,Focus     2011-12-26 02:54:06

  Why, oh WHY, do those #?@! nutheads use vi?

Yes, even if you can't believe it, there are a lot fans of the 30-years-old vi editor (or its more recent, just-15-years-old, best clone & great improvement, vim). No, they are not dinosaurs who don't want to catch up with the times - the community of vi users just keeps growing: myself, I only got started 2 years ago (after over 10 years of being a professional programmer). Friends of mine are converting today. Heck, most vi users were not even born when...

   Linux,Vi,Vim,Advantage,History     2012-02-05 07:21:17

  An experience of fixing a memory-corruption bug

During the last 4 months, I was disturbed by a memory-corruption bug, and this bug will cause program crash. Until last Monday, I found the root cause and fixed it. This debug process is a difficult but memorable experience, so I will share it in this article.   My program works as a SMS Hub. When it receives a SMS, it will allocate a structure in heap memory like this: typedef struct { ...... int *a[8]; ...... } info; After processing the SMS, the program will free the m...

   c, debug, unix, solaris, multi-thread     2014-05-04 03:52:43

  How Do I Enable Remote Access To MySQL Database Server?

By default remote access to MySQL database server is disabled for security reasons. However, some time you need to provide remote access to database server from home or a web server. If you want to remotely access to the database server from the web server or home, follow this quick tutorial.MySQL Remote AccessYou need type the following commands which will allow remote connections.Step # 1: Login Using SSH (if server is outside your data center)First, login over ssh to remote MySQL database ser...

   MySQL,Remote access,Enable,Host or webdomain     2011-10-31 00:31:41

  Test-Driven Development? Give me a break...

Update: At the bottom of this post, I've linked to two large and quite different discussions of this post, both of which are worth reading... Update 2: If the contents of this post make you angry, okay. It was written somewhat brashly. But, if the title alone makes you angry, and you decide this is an article about "Why Testing Code Sucks" without having read it, you've missed the point. Or I explained it badly :-)Some things programmers say can be massive red flags. When I h...

   Test driven,Application design,tool     2011-10-17 10:19:16