I've been looking for a way to programmatically take screenshots of websites. Most of the solutions I've found won't work on headless servers, require complex libraries to be installed, or cost money. So, what do we do when faced with a knotty programming problem? Hack it! Google has a "Pagespeed" service, it allows any webmaster to get a comprehensive report on how Google assess their page. …
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Occasionally, I get some really interesting freelance gigs. It turns out there's a rising market for conference hack-days. New company Digiotology paid me - and several others - to participate in a hackathon based at the Extreme Medicine Conference in London. Conference goers could attend lectures, visit exhibitor stands, and come discuss their needs with a group of friendly hackers. We…
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A little curio for you all. A StackOverflow user has pointed out that certain Twitter profiles contain very odd Unicode characters. What on Earth is going on? Let's take a look at Bill Clinton's profile on Twitter. Ok, that looks pretty normal. But let's take a look at the HTML source. Huh... What are those funny characters? Unicode Character U+0003 is "End of Text" - it's one of the…
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A few months ago, I asked if we could entirely do away with physical ports on phones. We have Bluetooth to replace the headphone port, WiFi can replaced the data transfer properties of the USB port, all that's needed is a way to get power into the damn thing! That's what the "Qi" standard hopes to change. A simple way to get inductive charging working on phones. So, thanks to some Amazon…
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There was an interesting discussion on HackerNews last week about the Linux Kernel coding style. During the discussion, I kicked off a minor holy war about whether one should vertically align code. I'm all for it! Let me explain why. What Is Vertical Alignment? Take this trivial example: int robert_age = 32; int annalouise_age = 25; int bob_age = 250; int dorothy_age = 56; I find easier to …
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Monument Valley - the hyper-praised indie game from UsTwo - has just hit a bump in the road. It wants to charge users for new levels. This particular review has been doing the rounds on Twitter. Yes, it's hyperbolic and ranty - but it is the absolute truth. Monument Valley is overpriced. Now, don't get me wrong, it is a gorgeous game. Sure, it's a bit derivative of the Xbox hit Fez.…
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Recently, I set up an older MacBookPro to run Ubuntu 14.04. As ever, these are mostly notes to myself. You don't need to do any of these things - it's just how I prefer my set up. Turn Off Dash Amazon Search No one wants their dash searches going off to Amazon. In the dash, search for privacy. Use A Proper Desktop - MATE 1.8.1 As per the instructions: sudo apt-add-repository…
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Does your email suck? Chris Woods has some suggestions on how to fix it. Check out his Better Emails tool for Outlook. 🔊 Better Emails🎤 Terence Eden 💾 Download this audio file. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon by Ils…
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A short chat on why accessibility matters - and what we can do to improve how we approach it. 🔊 Accessibility with Laura Kalbag🎤 Terence Eden 💾 Download this audio file. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon by Ilsur Ap…
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Chatting once again with Chris Woods - find out more about infantile spasms at With Big Hair. 🔊 Infantile Spasms🎤 Terence Eden 💾 Download this audio file. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon by Ilsur Aptukov from The Nou…
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The Internet's own bearded wonder - Documentally - talks for about a minute on the wonder that is... The No Phone! 🔊 No Phone🎤 Terence Eden 💾 Download this audio file. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Streckfus. Stopwatch Icon by Ilsur Aptu…
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Today, a quick natter about how Intel wants to reinvent Cloud Computing. 🔊 Cloud Computing🎤 Terence Eden 💾 Download this audio file. Find out more from Intel about Cloudwave or follow Chris on Twitter. Get About A Minute as soon as each episode goes live. Stick this Podcast Feed into your podcatcher Or you can Subscribe on iTunes Intro music "Gran Vals" performed by Brian Strec…
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