Author Archives: Richard Rodger

Do Something Practical With CSV Files!

Want to be able to export and import tables from your database using a web interface? You've come to the right place! I've just finished a new tutorial for our CSV Manager product: Uploading and Downloading CSV Files from a … Continue reading




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Spark Lines Without the Spark

Sparklines are one of those great ideas that you just know is “right” the moment you see it. Edward Tufte invented them, and let me tell you, he knows his stuff. Here's an example: . Want to make some yourself? … Continue reading




Posted in Rant | Leave a comment

Some Volatile Patterns

I've always regarded Java's volatile variables as voodoo variables. In fact, I've been scared off by very many articles telling you how terribly dangerous they are. In cases like these I tend to retreat to the safety of a few … Continue reading




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How to Beat Nasty Interview Programming Tasks

Shane Bell does a write-up of an interview he went through. Apparently the company just dumped a programming exercise on him and left him with a pencil and paper for an hour. Nasty! While the basic idea of a “real” … Continue reading




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Level 3!

Well you might have thought that I had given up on the touch typing. I've been trying to learn to touch-type for the last two years. It's all going tragically slowly. But, I can tell you that I am in … Continue reading




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Boxes and Lines, Boxes and Lines…

Charles Miller posted a great comment on his blog that absolutely cracks me up: Pretty much any computing problem, given a sufficient level of abstraction, can be reduced to a diagram of boxes joined together with lines. At this level … Continue reading




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How to Create a Comment Archive Using CSV to Generate HTML

I've been trying to find a workable way to manage my comments for quite some time. By which I mean, the comments that I make on other people's blogs. You need to be able to go back and see if … Continue reading




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Ruby: A Quick Cleaner for Your Adwords Invoices

If you advertise on Google then you probably have to save and print your monthly adwords invoices. Especially if you want to get the VAT back! In fact, I do this with pretty much all my online services. I need … Continue reading




Posted in Web | Leave a comment

Beat ya to it Joel!

Ah, imitation, the sincerest form of flattery Now Joel, just because I posted my demand curve doesn't mean you have to post yours. Ah, only kidding. Actually it's good to see some data from a more established business. I definitely … Continue reading




Posted in Business | Leave a comment

Squidoo?

I thought I would give Seth's Squidoo thing a go. Of course, what other subject to create content on, but CSV files! Let's see if it generates any traffic…




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