I've been going quietly mad trying to fix a constant dropped connection issue with our Linksys E4200 router. There's lots of advice around tweaking  the MTUs, upgrading firmware and disabling UPnP (a good idea anyway) but none of this helped at all. The connection just continually dropped, eventually came back, dropped again, ad nauseam.

The fix was to change the 5GHz and 2.4GHz networks to use different network names (SSIDs).  I then connected to the 2.4GHz flavor and the connection is now solid.

I guess the problem was that by sharing the SSID devices would keep switching between the networks whenever they got the chance to connect to the juicy 5GHz flavor. The 5GHz network is flakier (higher frequencies having less range) and so the constant dropouts.

Add your comment...

Related Posts

• Chromecast won't connect to wifi - finally found the fix
• Overvalidation
• How to get technical support without spending hours on the phone
• Securing the Internet of Things
• Catfood Software Support

(All Etc Posts)

(Published to the Fediverse as: Fixing dropped wireless connection for Linksys E4200 #etc #e4200 Using different network names for the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands can help with persistent connection problems with your WiFi (How to fix on Linksys Router). )

Microsoft has released Visual Studio Achievements, an extension that brings gamification to Visual Studio in the form of badges. The achievements are a mix that include feature discovery, best/worst practices, printing source code and swearing. 

Initially I wrote this off as a silly little feature. But it could be the start of a whole new development methodology religion that I'm going to call Badge Driven Development (BDD). 

It's related to Test Driven Development, but instead of writing unit tests first you start with creating a set of achievements. These should be a measurable mix of business goals, personal development, coding standards and random mayhem. Once you have measurable badges you can start writing code and build a leaderboard for teams and individuals. 

BDD has all the ascetic one-upmanship of TDD, and owes something to EDD as well. It's the Parkour of Agile. I should start a training business where you can become a certified Badge Driven Scrum Master.

Add your comment...

Related Posts

• StackOverflow DevDays
• DeepCoder
• Business of Software 2009
• Download a Sharepoint File with GraphServiceClient (Microsoft Graph API)
• Fortune Cookies for Android 1.50

(All Etc Posts)

(Published to the Fediverse as: Badge Driven Development #etc #development #gamification #bdd The hot new development methodology - start with the award you want to receive and iterate until you win it. )

I've just spent several hours scanning and then shredding tedious statements, medical documents and other nasty paperwork. This is even after I've gone paperless with as many companies as possible. Very tedious, not to mention a monumental waste of time and money.

The companies that are paperless vary in what gets stored, for how long and in what format. And if I ever need some statement from years ago I may not even still have an account. I seem to change medical insurance at least twice a year at the moment. 

How about a common standard for pushing paperless whatevers out to a third party storage service? These could go directly to Evernote, SugarSync, etc and bypass the post-scan-shred cycle of doom. Just send a PDF, a date, a summary and maybe a service type. Make it easy (or mandatory) to opt in when signing up to each new bank account, health insurer, wireless carrier, etc. Make the world a slightly greener and slightly less boring place. 

Add your comment...

Related Posts

• Folder Insights
• Think before you print?
• Google Photos killed my Aura Frame
• Shiti
• Lock up the Flexible Spending Account Administrators

(All Etc Posts)

(Published to the Fediverse as: Better Paperless #etc #paperless #evernote #sugarsync We should have a standard to send junk-ish mail directly to the cloud service of your choice. )

Jiri Novotny at Dextronet wrote a great post this week on improving installers for micro-ISVs.

One essential that I'd add is writing your installer early and including it as part of the build process. It's the first thing that potential customers see and leaving the installer to the last minute is a huge mistake. You should be testing with a complete installer as pretty much the first milestone in any new project.

For Windows products I'd recommend WiX. It's easy to learn, and easy to include in your build. The latest beta includes Burn, a bootstrapper to install dependencies before the main MSI runs. I'm sick of having to do this part myself and I can't wait for Burn to become a stable part of WiX.

Add your comment...

Related Posts

• WiX Tricks for Screen Savers
• Server Migration Complete
• Do you want me to use Edge, Microsoft?
• Licensing Fail: WinZip vs. ScanToPDF
• State of the Micro-ISV-osphere

(All Etc Posts)

(Published to the Fediverse as: Installation: Early and Often #etc #uisv #msi #installation For desktop software the installer should be part of your continuous integration process as early as possible, )

LEGO Friends is “The new LEGO theme – for girls!”

So I guess the current sets not for girls include Alien Conquest, Architecture, Atlantis, Cars 2, City, Creator, Harry Potter, Hero Factory, Heroica, Kingdoms, Mindstorms, Ninjago, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pharaoh’s Quest, Prince of Persia, Racers, Spongebob Squarepants, Star Wars, Technic, Toy Story and World Racers.

I know they’ve tried this before, but still, how about LEGO Vikings: The new LEGO theme – for Danes!

Misogynistic plastic peddling marketing weasels.

Add your comment...

Related Posts

• LEGO Management
• Go-arounds: LEGO and Legislative Service
• Toys
• Three reasons the dream of a robot companion isn't over
• Bishops

(All Etc Posts)

(Published to the Fediverse as: LEGO, now for Girls #etc #lego #girls #denmark Should there be LEGO sets marketed as being specifically for girls? )

Citigroup sent me a nice notice saying they are going to share my information in about four thousand different ways, most of which can’t be limited. For the few that can limit you can’t update preferences on the web site, you apparently need to call them and beg to not be spammed. As I’m writing that number makes you type in your account number and then says ‘I’m sorry, our records are unavailable.’ Most likely they’re in the Citigroup basement behind the Beware of the Leopard sign.

If you decide to just cancel Citi then say that they will continue to share when you are no longer their customer. It reads like even if you take the time to phone in to opt out they’ll revert to happily sharing promiscuously once you leave. But you can contact them again anytime although it’s not clear what can be limited once you leave. Dear customer, we hate you.

Presumably there is some well meaning legislation to require that Citi sends clear information about their marketing policy and opt outs. Only you can’t opt out and I can’t for the life of me understand what happens if I close my account. How about requiring opt out of everything from the web site and no marketing to ex-customers instead?

Add your comment...

Related Posts

• Even Shitier - Citibank Remortgage Scam
• Download.com goes nuclear
• Is it safe to open securedoc.html (Cisco Registered Envelope)?
• Email marketing - don't shoot yourself in the foot
• Twitter's API has got too painful for me

(All Etc Posts)

(Published to the Fediverse as: Shiti #etc #citi #citigroup Citibank is going to share your information regardless of if you want them to or even if you are no longer a customer. )

8.2.3.2 Installation of kitchen or food preparation facilities The installation of a kitchen in premises where the number of staff exceeds twenty requires that proper heating arrangements for those who like pies of high quality are made. Where the number of staff exceeds 50 this should be an aga. (See Chapter 2, paras 2:5 and 2:6.)

Add your comment...

Related Posts

• Catfood Weather 2.30
• Installation: Early and Often
• Convergent Evolution in Retail
• Mangler
• EAT

(All Etc Posts)

(Published to the Fediverse as: Section 8.2.3.2 #etc #pies The installation of a kitchen ... requires that proper heating arrangements for those who like pies of high quality are made. )