When I went to a University for a Computer Science degree, a required class was Introduction to Java Programming. I remember the first thing the professor taught seemed very confusing at the time. I can still hear his voice very clearly: “So to begin with, we’ll type… string string equals new string.” (more…)

When I was growing up, having chocolate milk was a huge treat. My mom would mix together some sugar and some dry cocoa powder into the glass and then slowly add milk. After some more vigorous stirring, I had my small glass of chocolate milk. It was quite the process, but it tasted great. Imagine my surprise when I found out that chocolate milk also came from the store pre-mixed! (more…)

“Trust falls” are a team-building activity that some of my friends have had to endure. I’ve been threatened with this exercise a few times. But, I’ve never had to do it. Luckily, I’ve been able to convince my team members I will participate without having to test their bicep and shoulder strength. Or, perhaps I’m just not trusting enough. (I once worked at a place that had a few employees that were really good friends... (more…)

Here is a PDF download of the presentation I made at the Greater Milwaukee Area WordPress Meetup. (more…)

I like to think that I’m somewhat of a PHP purist. And, when I travel to user groups, one of my favorite talks to give is named “Tell Aaron What To Do.” Basically, the goal is to solve two problems I pose using plain HTML and PHP. Oh, and do it with core PHP, no frameworks, no libraries, just plain vanilla PHP. At the end, I’ll run a number of integration and security tests against... (more…)

I just finished giving a talk at MKEPUG about 8 PHP Command Line Tips and Tricks. Normally I try to export my talks / slides into PDF. This time, my presentation was a little different - I used embedded video in KeyNote. So, I’ll provide the KeyNote file for download - sorry to those who don’t have KeyNote or a mac. :-/ (more…)

Are all American CEO’s psychopaths? It is a very interesting question - one that I tackled in 2012 when I was finishing my capstone at Cardinal Stritch University. Considering I write a lot about business in this blog - and a few years has passed now since I used this paper for credit - I thought I’d “open source” it for those who might have an extra few minutes in their day! Hah! (more…)

I’m going to say something that I never thought I’d say in my life. In fact, I’m not sure that a single programmer has ever said this! Ready? (more…)

I find it very difficult to find out information about my local elected officials. Even the federal website for congress mentions that there is no central database of email addresses and contact information for their members - which is just crazy to me. (more…)

In the last decade or two, the US proliferation of low quality reality television shows has been unstoppable. “Big Brother” would be ashamed by some of his siblings. There are shows that follow famous people (although, I’m not entirely certain why some of them are famous), shows that involve the audience, shows that support nerds; basically anything you can imagine! I pretend I’m above this, I surely don’t fall into the category of people who... (more…)