03 Jan 2026
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The Cloud FinOps Prime Directive

AWS, Cloud, FinOps
When it comes to allocating cloud resource costs to cost centers, teams, and/or products, you must consider the Cloud FinOps Prime Directive (at least, that's what I call it): No cloud resource should be provisioned without proper tagging. As anyone who has had to explain where all the money is going on cloud costs can tell you, properly tagging your cloud resources is a must. However, tagging isn't, and can't be, the full solution. Here are a few items to consider: Not every resource (in AWS) supports tagging. Some resources simply cannot be tagged. In the case of these resources,…
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11 Apr 2024
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Artifact Representation Using OO Techniques

Articles, Artificial Intelligence
I was recently perusing some of my old code and research papers from prior college years (many years ago!) and came across one titled Artifact Representation Using Object-Oriented Techniques. This paper was for an Introduction to Artificial Intelligence class. From what I recall (it was a long time ago!) we spent most of the class focused on representing facts (knowledge) and rules as well as building and/or using inference engines to correlate disparate bits of knowledge. Along with languages such as Prolog (a programming language suited to representing facts and rules), I also recall using other systems such as CLIPS…
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18 Jul 2023

Running C# in Windows Terminal!

C#, Development
23 years ago this month, Microsoft announced the initial developer availability (essentially, the "alpha" release) of the .NET Framework and Visual Studio .NET. Being in attendance at the 2000 Microsoft PDC (Professional Developer Conference), I received a set of CDs containing the pre-release bits for .NET, including C#. I've been writing C# ever since! Side Note: While C# has been my primary language for a couple of decades now (wow!), it is not the only language I make use of. C# is a very capable language, but there are many other languages out there that can be a better fit,…
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07 Nov 2022

Creating a Blazor PWA Hosted in AWS Amplify

Amplify, AWS, Blazor
If you build apps for the web, including progressive web apps (PWA's) then you might be familiar with Microsoft's Blazor technology. If you're not familiar, Blazor lets you create and host web apps with .NET and C# that can run on any web browser using WebAssembly, server-side in ASP.NET Core, or even in native client apps - all without having to write any JavaScript! In this article, we are going to walk through the process of creating a Blazor PWA using Visual Studio Community Edition. We will then deploy and host the Blazor app into AWS Amplify straight from a…
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25 Jul 2022
My Linux Challenge as a Windows User

My Linux Challenge as a Windows User

Linux
Some Quick Background  While I have experimented with a few Linux distros over the years (e.g., Slackware, Tails, Mint, Ubuntu, and several others), I have spent the better part of my technology career using Windows-based systems. I've never had to fully rely on Linux to complete my on-going projects.  With my oldest son starting college next month, I decided to pass my Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 on to him and order a new laptop for myself. I placed the order on July 1st, 2022 with an expected delivery date of July 12th. I thought, hey, that's less than two weeks, I'll install Linux on a…
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18 Mar 2022

Microsoft PowerToys – Useful or Just Toys?

Utilities, Windows 10, Windows 11
TL;DR Microsoft PowerToys The short version of this article is, if you are not currently using Microsoft PowerToys (assuming you're on Windows 10 or 11), then stop what you're doing and install them now. There are some great capabilities provided by the PowerToys that you will no doubt find useful. For a bit of a history lesson and an overview of whats available in Microsoft's PowerToys, including my two favorite PowerToys, read on! A Really Short PowerToys History Lesson If you've been using Windows long enough, you might recall PowerToys for Windows 95 or PowerToys for Windows XP. If not,…
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17 Mar 2021

SURVEY: DevOps – IAC Practices

DevOps, Surveys
I will soon be starting a new adventure in the world of (cloud/hybrid) platform management (more on this next week 😀) and am interested in learning more about how those who live in the world of DevOps manages their platform infrastructure. Specifically, what tools and processes do you follow when releasing updates to your cloud, on-premises or hybrid platforms? I am familiar with many of the tools that manage infrastructure as code, such as AWS CloudFormatiom, AWS CDK, ARM Templates, Terraform, and so on. I also know some of these tools have proprietary domain-specific languages (DSLs) and others support various…
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09 Mar 2021

Preparing for (CLF-C01) AWS Cloud Practitioner

Cloud Certification
Recently, I posted a quick update about passing the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam and promised to share the steps I took to prepare for the exam. In this post, I'll cover my goals for passing the exam and the resources that I utilized to help me prepare. Goals When I started preparing for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam, I had three simple goals: Utilize resources that are available online at no cost (i.e. free!). I am not opposed to paying for training when there is benefit to be had, but I felt that there were enough resources available…
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22 Feb 2021

My Cloud Journey Continues

Cloud Certification
Current State About a month ago, I passed the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam. About a year has gone by since I passed the Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals exam. In the first post of this series, I stated that I'd like to complete the certified architecture paths for both Azure as well as AWS. Roughly one year later, here's where I stand. While I have completed the two initial exams, I really thought I'd be further along by now. I'm also not really surprised, either, since I've been focused on other cloud technologies over the past six to nine months…
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23 Jan 2021

New Host, New Domain, Same Blog :-)

General
Looking Back When I first started this blog about 15 years ago (!!!) I was hosting it on BlogSpot (now Blogger). Then, about 8 years later, I decided to change blog hosts because of some issues I was experiencing with BlogSpot. For the most part, this worked well for years. Over the last year or so, I have been experiencing a degradation in performance on my site. That said, I didn't really feel like going through the motions to evaluate hosting platforms and moving my blog site yet again. That is, until now. :-) I am currently looking at setting…
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