Troy Howard's Blog

Chuck Norris vs Shift It's my second to last day at discover-e Legal before moving on to AppFog and it's probably the most important day of the year for the company.

Chuck Norris vs Shift It's my second to last day at discover-e Legal before moving on to AppFog and it's probably the most important day of the year for the company.

I'm working with designer Julie Olver to create an awesome logo for NodePDX 2012.

I'm working with designer Julie Olver to create an awesome logo for NodePDX 2012.

Nexus Contraptions

Nexus Contraptions

Portland by Rowdy Kittens

Portland by Rowdy Kittens

Nice view (from last night).

Nice view (from last night).

Serious hotness.

Serious hotness.

The trouble begins with a design philosophy that equates "more options" with "greater freedom"...

The trouble begins with a design philosophy that equates "more options" with "greater freedom"...

Introducing Google+ Real Life

Introducing Google+ Real Life

I want this in a t-shirt, mug, and office poster.

I want this in a t-shirt, mug, and office poster.

Let me start by saying I'm a Google fanboy and a half.

Let me start by saying I'm a Google fanboy and a half.

Someone asked in the Lucene.Net mailing list about implementing something similar to SOLR's copy-fields.

Someone asked in the Lucene.Net mailing list about implementing something similar to SOLR's copy-fields.

The topic of implementing IDisposable within Lucene.Net comes up a lot.

The topic of implementing IDisposable within Lucene.Net comes up a lot.

During the course of my work, I use a hex editor a lot.

During the course of my work, I use a hex editor a lot.

"Temptation" © ; Factory / Writer(s); Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert "The Temptation of Victoria" © Michael Shamberg, Recorded; May 2005

"Temptation" © ; Factory / Writer(s); Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert "The Temptation of Victoria" © Michael Shamberg, Recorded; May 2005

When I was a kid (7 years old) I got my first computer.

When I was a kid (7 years old) I got my first computer.

No, I'm not about to wax poetic about the deep ontological issues raised in The Matrix, or speak meaningfully about how transient the modern world of communication is and how the artifacts of our lifetime have become ephemeral such that our posterity will…

No, I'm not about to wax poetic about the deep ontological issues raised in The Matrix, or speak meaningfully about how transient the modern world of communication is and how the artifacts of our lifetime have become ephemeral such that our posterity will…

I had the need to detect wether or not a given string (in .Net/C#) was unicode or not..

I had the need to detect wether or not a given string (in .Net/C#) was unicode or not..

Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I was recently working on VB6 application that uses Office COM automation.

Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I was recently working on VB6 application that uses Office COM automation.

Instead of doing a college survey and asking a bunch of probing questions about the lives of twenty-somethings, there's an easier way to get information about your current culture.

Instead of doing a college survey and asking a bunch of probing questions about the lives of twenty-somethings, there's an easier way to get information about your current culture.

Recently someone had a problem where they had some massive control block full of if statements looking at a string, dispatching one of a variety of functions.

Recently someone had a problem where they had some massive control block full of if statements looking at a string, dispatching one of a variety of functions.

So not that long ago, someone posted a question asking how to deal with a certain situation.

So not that long ago, someone posted a question asking how to deal with a certain situation.

So, recently I needed to make an application that allowed a user to enter an arbitrary SQL query, and elsewhere in the UI I needed to display a drop-down with the fields that this arbitrary query returned.

So, recently I needed to make an application that allowed a user to enter an arbitrary SQL query, and elsewhere in the UI I needed to display a drop-down with the fields that this arbitrary query returned.

As usual, WinForms GUI programming is a terrible PIA.

As usual, WinForms GUI programming is a terrible PIA.

BlackBox - A simple puzzle game where you shoot rays of light into a black box, and determine the location of atoms inside the box based on the entry and exit points of the ray.

BlackBox - A simple puzzle game where you shoot rays of light into a black box, and determine the location of atoms inside the box based on the entry and exit points of the ray.