🎮
~/davidwesst blog
Blog
Writing, game notes, and campaign logs.
🎮
🎮
🎮
🎮
🎮
🎮
🎮
🎮
🎮
🎮
🎮
blog
From 11ty to Wordpress and Back Again
2025-01-30
I stepped away from blogging thinking that the problem was that my Eleventy (11ty) setup and continually tinkering with it was keeping me away from blogging. So, to make it "easier" I spent a couple of months worth of my B-time moving my website over to Wordpress site. Once it was done, I had a fancy editor, a bunch of plugins, and all the tooling I could ever want. I didn't write a single post. This is post is my experience (not) blogging with Wordpress and returning to 11ty.
🎮
🎮
🎮
blog
Defining the Problem before the Solution
2023-01-27
Before you create a solution, you need to understand the problem. It sounds obvious enough, yet I see developers (including myself) getting into the code and design phase before they really understand the problem they are trying to fix. These are the steps I take a properly understand a problem I am trying to solve, prior to coding or solution-ing anything.
blog
Docker Build Hangs When Adding Key with apt-key in WSL2
2023-01-11
The solution to the problem where an apt-key command seems to run forever in your docker build.
blog
Highlight Reel for 2022
2023-01-05
When a new year arrives, it is a great opportunity to take a moment to reflect on where you started at the beginning of the year, and where you ended. When I look back on 2022, I noticed events reflected in my GitHub contribution graph that highlight some common cycles in my own behaviour. I want to take a moment to document this, and hopefully you can use this an example to examine your own progress and behaviour patterns that might be aiding (or impeding) your own personal and professional growth.
blog
Speaking at Tech Events Helps You Grow
2022-12-20
A large part of my career growth is tied directly to speaking at tech events like conferences and user groups. I have had many people ask me about my experience and wanted to share it for others who might be wondering what benefits actually are.
blog
Docker Desktop for Linux is not the same as Docker Engine
2022-12-13
With Docker for Desktop available for Linux (which I like), I managed to get myself confused regarding its role on my Linux-based development machine. This post clarifies a few things I discovered while triaging an issue I had trying to test my GitHub Workflows locally.
blog
Prairie Dev Con 2022 Takeaways
2022-12-06
The talented speakers that come together for Prairie Dev Con always bring fresh ideas to my mind and give me pause to think about my own efforts and how I can learn from their experience. Although not a complete list, these ideas the ones that stood out the most from Prairie Dev Con 2022.
blog
Open Graph Tools and Resources for Web Nerds (Like Me)
2022-11-29
A compilation of tools and resources I used to implemented the Open Graph Protocol (OGP) for my website to make posts and pages more engaging on LinkedIn and other social networks.
blog
Does GDPR Apply to Personal Websites?
2022-11-16
While rebuilding my personal website in 2022, I wanted to know how or if GDPR applied to my little side project. My internet sleuthing did not bring up any clear and cut answers, but I put together some thoughts that might help others answer it for themselves.
blog
How much is enough documentation?
2022-11-08
Documentation is important, but it takes a lot of time and if you are a solo developer, what documentation to you really need? Still, good docs can provide the context I forget after putting a project on the shelf, or explains how to fix something in older code I use, but haven't touched in a long time. So how much is 'enough' documentation and what types of documentation do I need to invest in give my future self the the best value for the effort I put in?
💻
blog
How to fork (a repo) like a boss!
2022-11-01
Everyone thinks about forking. It is a natural thing, yet how do get the job done and fork? I used to ask myself the same thing, until I learned these pro-tips and forked like a boss.
💻
blog
Azure Static Web Apps (SWA) are fine, just not great
2022-10-12
Azure Static Web Apps feel like a good idea, but in practice I struggled with understanding what the product is trying to be. This post documents my experience working with SWAs on a few projects, namely this website, along with the problems and workarounds/solutions I found to those problems.
💻
blog
Working around 'Refuses to Connect' Issues with IFrame Embedded Twitch Players
2022-01-26
With me doing more livecoding sessions on Twitch, I wanted to embed some clips into my blog posts and hit some weird issues. I managed to get it working and wanted to document the workaround so I don't forget it.
💻
blog
Cannot Find Module Bootloader.js in VSCode DevContainer
2022-01-18
Problem: When running node commands from within a DevContainer, you receive the error 'Cannot find module bootloader.js'. This post contains the solution.
💻
blog
Personal and Professional Fulfillment through Cake and Ice Cream
2022-01-12
I made a cake and two kinds of ice cream, from scratch, for my daughter's birthday. The process of making a plan, adapting, executing, delivering, and being validated highlighted how important it is to feel fulfilled, both personally and professionally.
💻
blog
Advent of Code 2021: Day 1
2021-12-02
My initial thoughts after completing the first day of my first journey into the Advent of Code
💻
blog
I am NOT trying to be a Game Developer
2021-07-22
It's time for me to come clean about something: I am not trying to become a game developer. BUT...I am still trying to make video games.
💻
blog
Finding Inspiration in Princess Tomato and the Salad Kingdom [NES]
2021-07-20
In search for inspiration in my own game collection I've decided to explore this text-based salad adventure.
💻
blog
YouTube and Twitch: My Revengence
2021-07-05
I miss making video content, but what value does YouTube and Twitch content give you?
💻
blog
I Can Teach Your Dog Quantum Physics
2021-06-28
It's true! I read a book about it and everything. Let me breakdown the highlights of this book that does a pretty good job of explaining the physics behind quantum computing.
💻
blog
What Value Does Making Content Bring to Me? (not a typo)
2021-06-14
I realize it's a selfish question, but if the post isn't valuable to me then why would it be valuable to you?
💻
blog
Should you bother with a Website?
2021-06-07
It's 2021. Websites are sooooooo....2006. With social media dominating the way people consume content these days, what is the point of having a website today? I asked myself this question as I put the effort into reviving my dead website and I stand by the idea that having a website for yourself, project, or business is a need rather than a nice-to-have.
💻
blog
My Secret Addiction to Likes
2021-05-31
I decided to take a month off of contributing to social media. More specifically Twitter and YouTube, but Facebook and Instagram as well. That single month has turned into just over three months now, and I learned a few things about myself and how I think my return to some social media will be a good thing.
💻
blog
Lucky Number v7
2021-05-24
I fixed up my blog-website-thingy again. I'm calling this v7, although I'm pretty sure there are a few incarnations of the site that were lost early on in my years, but v7 seems about right for the content I'm sharing here. In any case-- I thought I'd share the "why" around the new website revamp and how I think a project like this is just what I need.
💻
blog
From Travis CI to GitHub Actions (and GitHub Pages)
2020-11-10
We recently migrated the continuous integration and deployment workflow for the Western Devs website from Travis CI to GitHub Actions. These are the steps I followed to get it done.
💻
blog
New Artwork and a Complete Rewrite...ish | Out the Door Devlog
2020-11-09
My effort continues on Out the Door with some new artwork, a rewrite (of sorts) to fix the build process, which has led to something of a self-driven code review.
💻
💻
blog
Game Portfolio Self Evaluation (in prep for Ludum Dare 47)
2020-09-18
Ludum Dare 47, a weekend long global gamejam, is coming up in a few weeks. In order to prep for the event, I decided to take the time for review and reflect on my game portfolio to see what I learning objective and goals I can set for myself.
💻
blog
Release Notes for Little Shop of Wall Street 0.1.0-beta
2020-07-02
Little Shop of Wall Street has a 0.1-beta release!
💻
💻
💻
blog
Jan 2020 Devlog
2020-02-04
A vlog post where I review the progress I've made on the game Car Scientist.
💻
💻
💻
blog
GitHub Game Off 2019 Game Jam featuring DW
2019-11-26
For the past month I have been participating in the GameOff 2019 Gamejam hosted by GitHub over on Itch.io and I've been devlogging about it over on my YouTube channel.
💻
blog
Streaming Code and Play on Mixer every Thursday and Sunday
2018-09-27
This month I started livestreaming game code and gameplay every Thursday and Sunday night at 9:30pm CT
💻
💻
💻
💻
blog
Windows Subsystem for Linux is Cool. No really, it is.
2017-09-20
With the Fall Creators update of Windows 10, you can go to the Windows Store and install Linux. Yeah, that's a thing now and it's pretty cool.
💻
blog
Sonar, the Linter I Never Knew I Wanted
2017-09-19
Meet Nellie the Narwhal, the official mascot for Sonar, the linting tool for the web. Nellie represents a tool that is long-overdue. It provides any web application the ability to verify they are meeting a high level of quality when it comes to their web applications, and not miss any common mistakes.
💻
blog
Service Workers and PWAs are Super Cool
2017-09-18
One of the core items highlighted by the Microsoft Edge team, along with many others who were just web professionals, was the importance of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). I started out thinking they were something that could be interesting one day, but left the conference convinced that this will change the way we think of the web.
💻
blog
Posh-GVM, the Groovy Version Manager for Powershell
2017-08-17
Here's another dev thing I use: Posh-GVM, a Groovy version manager that works for Windows.
💻
blog
Jabba, the Java Version Manager for Everyone
2017-08-16
Here's another dev thing I use: Jabba, a cross-platform Java version manager that works for Windows.
💻
💻
blog
NVS, the Node Version Manger for Everyone
2017-08-15
Here's another dev thing I use: NVS, or the Node Version Switcher. It works on Windows and it's great.
💻
blog
IstanbulJS Code Coverage Reports in VSTS
2017-08-03
Here's another dev thing I use: IstanbulJS in Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) builds and display the test reports as part of the build reports.
💻
blog
Mocha Test Reports in VSTS
2017-08-01
Here's another dev thing I do: Display my MochaJS test report in the Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) build report.
💻
💻
blog
Introducing My Game Project - March 2017 Devblog
2017-04-03
This is the first of monthly status update posts on my video game project I call Conquest.
💻
blog
How to Compile TypeScript into a Single File with SystemJS Modules with Gulp
2017-03-14
I decided to move a TypeScript project from AMD modules (i.e. RequireJS) to SystemJS, still using Gulp. In this post, I walk you through the sample project I've created and share the lessons I learned along the way.
💻
blog
Initial Thoughts on Using Phaser
2017-03-07
As a side project, I started making another JavaScript-based video game and decided to go with Phaser as my framework of choice. Here are my initial thoughts about Phaser after using it on my project for the past two months.
💻
blog
How to Blog with VSTS (Part 4)
2016-11-21
I wanted to understand how to use Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) for a "real" project. Being a noob, I decided to move my blog to VSTS to understand how _any_ project can benefit from ALM practices using VSTS. In part 4 of 5, we setup a _Build_ script.
💻
blog
How to Blog with VSTS (Part 3)
2016-11-14
I wanted to understand how to use Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) for a "real" project. Being a noob, I decided to move my blog to VSTS to understand how _any_ project can benefit from ALM practices using VSTS. In part 3 of 5, we start to make plans and _Work_ on our blog.
💻
blog
How to Blog with VSTS (Part 2)
2016-11-07
I wanted to understand how to use Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) for a "real" project. Being a noob, I decided to move my blog to VSTS to understand how _any_ project can benefit from ALM practices using VSTS. In part 2 of 5, we get our blog into source control.
💻
blog
How to Blog with VSTS (Part 1)
2016-10-31
I wanted to understand how to use Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) for a "real" project. Being a noob, I decided to move my blog to VSTS to understand how _any_ project can benefit from ALM practices using VSTS. In part 1 of 5, we get things setup.
💻
blog
How to Use Global NPM Packages on a VSTS Self-Hosted Build Agent
2016-10-24
I setup a self-hosted build agent in Visual Studio Team Services. My build installed global NPM packages, but the tasks that used them later on in the script would fail because they were unable to use them. This post describes what I did to get them working.
💻
blog
Windows Not Required - The New Microsoft Development Story (Video)
2016-10-03
I delivered a presentation at the Winnipeg .NET User Group last week, where I recorded it and posted it on YouTube. I go over a number of Microsoft development tools and technologies that don't require Windows and deliver the demos on my Linux machine.
💻
blog
How to Fix node-gyp Error on Windows
2016-09-26
Whenever I get a new machine, I pull down a new project using the `npm install command and get an error related to python and node-gyp. This post will remember the fix for this problem that I always forget.
💻
blog
How to Build ReactJS with Gulp
2016-09-19
I started to tinker with React last week and needed to do some digging on how to transpile the React JSX files using Gulp. In this post, we walkthrough my newly updated Gulp task that transpiles JSX and JavaScript files.
💻
blog
How to Compile Typescript into a Single File with AMD Modules with Gulp
2016-09-12
The lessons I learned and the steps I took to compile TypeScript modules into a single file with AMD modules using Gulp, along with how I consumed those compiled modules in my HTML application.
💻
blog
How to Use Highlight.Js with Bower and Gulp
2016-08-29
One of the best libraries I've seen for syntax highlighting on the web is highlight.js, IMHO. The catch to using the library is that it takes a bit more effort to setup than just adding a script tag and being done with it. In this post, I'll walk you through the steps I took to get this up and running with Bower and Gulp.
💻
blog
Mobile First Design Tips
2016-08-16
When redesigning my personal website and blog, I started from scratch and attempted to apply a mobile-first design approach. Here are a few tips that I picked up along the way while creating and implementing my new design that might prevent some mistakes on your own sites.
💻
blog
Keeping Your Edge on an Extended Break
2016-07-18
A few quick tips on how I kept up-to-date in the professional world while taking a four month hiatus for parental leave _without_ giving up time with my daughter.
💻
blog
Measuring in CSS is Cool
2016-03-07
I've been on this CSS kick for the past while, and I had forgotten how much CSS can do now. More specifically how things have changed when it comes to measuring height and width.
💻
blog
Using text-overflow:ellipsis with Inline Flex
2016-02-29
Two out of three Dave's hit this obscure CSS problem that turned out to be expected behaviour. David Wesst walks us through the reason why and how to fix it.
💻
blog
JavaScript Framework or JavaScript Core (Part 2)
2016-02-22
Is it always better to use JavaScript Frameworks? David continues his analysys and shares the pros and cons of writing your JavaScript from scratch.
💻
blog
JavaScript Framework or JavaScript Core (Part 1)
2016-02-16
Is it always better to use JavaScript Frameworks? David analyzes the pros and cons of using JavaScript frameworks versus only using core JavaScript.
💻
blog
Exploring JavaScript Game Frameworks
2016-02-08
David reviews a handful of JavaScript-based game frameworks he went through before selecting one for his new game.
💻
blog
Why ChakraCore OSS is Important
2016-01-14
It's pretty cool that Microsoft has released the source code of their JavaScript engine Chakra. But, why it is important and how do developers actually benefit from this?
💻
blog
Highlight Reel for 2015
2016-01-01
David Wesst takes a moment to look back at his personal and professional development throughout 2015.
💻
blog
Looking Forward into 2016
2016-01-01
DW documents and shares his planning session for 2016 based on what he's learned from 2015.
💻
blog
Code - The Visual Studio for Everybody
2015-12-07
Last week I delivered three presentations: one at the Winnipeg .NET User Group and the other two at Winnipeg Code Camp. Being as awesome as we are, the user group presentation was recorded and has been published on the YouTube page.
💻
💻
💻
💻
💻
💻
💻
💻
💻
💻
💻
💻
blog
Why Networking is Critical
2015-07-09
With my new gig as an Application Developer, I started back into technology podcasts. I'm not sure how I came across MSDevShow, but I did notice that Lori Lalonde, the wizard of mobile development in Microsoft-land, was in an episode and decided: Why not?.
💻
💻
💻
blog
Living on the (Microsoft) Edge on May 5 & 6
2015-05-04
2015 brought introduced a lot of new stuff in the Microsoft space, including how Windows 10 is changing up the web application game.
💻
blog
MSDevShow...A Dev Podcast Review
2015-04-30
I like podcasts. Especially the technical kind, but I find it's challenging to find quality dev podcasts in the sea of options out there. MSDevShow is one that a discovered, and it did not disappoint.
💻
blog
Zany Video Game Quotes - Live and in the Cloud
2015-04-28
I've been working on a side project for roughly 5 years now, and this past week I managed to finally launch it. Zany Video Game Quotes, is a site worked on acquired by a very close friend of mine. He worked on the content and enlisted me as the lead developer.
💻
blog
Traf-O-Data and Windows NT on LGR Tech Tales
2015-04-08
In recent days, a specific YouTube channel has my caught my attention. It's called Lazy Game Reviews, and last night I came across a great playlist of only four episoded called: LGR Tech Tales where LGR, the host, goes through a specific event in computer history.
💻
blog
Retrospective: The YouTube Experiment
2015-02-05
At the beginning of the month I announced I'd be doing a web series on YouTube called Script Unscripted.
💻
blog
NetFront-- the Unknown Browser Everyone Owns
2015-01-14
Netfront is a web browser that I hadn't heard of before, but I have installed on six of my devices.
💻
blog
Video Games Preventing Cancer with AGDQ
2015-01-08
I wanted to share something I find freaking cool. It's called Awesome Games Done Quickly, or AGDQ.
💻
blog
Make New Habits with New IE VMs in the New Year
2015-01-07
Happy New Year! Time to start working on self improvement and developing new habits.
💻
blog
Script Unscripted Starts January 8th
2015-01-06
Last week I launched my first YouTube video with Get to the Point.
💻
blog
IE...err...Spartan Makes IGN News
2015-01-02
Watching my YouTube based video game news on IGN News, I came across this report that blends the two worlds.
💻
blog
Highlight Reel for 2014
2015-01-01
This past year has been a rough one for me personally, but professionally, not so bad.
💻
blog
Get to the Point: My Pilot Video
2014-12-30
To close out the year, I'm kicking off a new project that I've wanted to do for a long time now.
💻
💻
blog
JavaScript Coding is Gameplay in Screeps
2014-11-19
I found this on reddit last week. It's called Screeps and it comes out tomorrow (November 20th).
💻
blog
Think Before You Tweet: A Lesson in Humility
2014-11-17
Over the weekend I tripped over brain and sounded like a goof on Twitter while trying to engage a number of technology experts.
💻
blog
Can ASP.NET Become the Next Node.JS?
2014-11-14
I realize how crazy that sounds, but after yesterday's keynote from Microsoft at the VS Connect event in New York, I'm wondering if my goal to find a true cross-platform technology is sitting back at base camp just...leveling up.
💻
blog
November 27 - Going Terminal: Learning to be IDE Free
2014-11-13
I'm making my public speaking comeback after nearly a full year off with a new original presentation called Going Terminal: Learning to be IDE Free.
💻
blog
Remote IE - No More Testing Excuses
2014-11-03
Today the IE team released Remote IE. This is awesome. Let me explain.
💻
blog
SimCity in the Browser...with Source Code
2014-10-31
If you haven't played the classic SimCity, I mean Micropolis then you missed out.
💻
blog
Why the Humble Mozilla Bundle is Awesome
2014-10-29
Last week, I saw my worlds collide in this Humble Bundle my mind was blown.
💻
blog
Installing Games JavaScript Style
2014-10-24
I bought the Humble Mozilla Bundle earlier this week and I wanted to take a moment to show people what it looks like to install a JavaScript game in the browser.
💻
blog
Humble Bundle Games Go JavaScript
2014-10-23
Last week, I noticed a playable game on the Firefox start page.
💻
blog
ThatOneVideoGamer Brought To You By: Me
2014-10-22
Yep, that's me. It's all me. It's awesome!!!!
💻
💻
blog
Always Use Node (Even on Non-Node Projects)
2014-10-09
That's right. I said it: Always use Node, no matter what! Even if your server isn't going to be a Node server, just have it installed because you'll use it.
💻
blog
Why do you RequireJS?
2014-10-07
Get it? RequireJS is a dependency management framework I use in JavaScript to manage...well my dependencies. But, the title is a play on words cause...of course you require JS...cause...JavaScript is required to...
💻
💻
blog
Why do you CoffeeScript your JavaScript?
2014-09-30
I was asked this the other day: Why don't you just write your code in JavaScript directly? As in, why would you use a langugage that abstracts JavaScript, which doesn't require compiliation?
💻
blog
Why do I JavaScript?
2014-09-25
The answer is simple: I don't want to limit about my platform options on day one.
💻
blog
The MVP Network is Awesome
2014-09-23
Over the weekend I hit a Windows Azure issue in my side project that totally blocked me. Yesterday, I reached out on Twitter, and the Canadian MVP network picked it up and helped me solve it in 30 minutes.
💻
blog
IE on Reddit - Highlight Reel
2014-08-15
To me, this is IamA (I am a something ask me anything) is historic with web platforms.
💻
💻
💻
💻
💻
blog
Microsoft IE MVP - Year Four
2014-04-05
That's right everyone, I've been awarded the the Microsoft MVP award in the area of Internet Explorer again for 2014.
💻
blog
Answering the question: When will IE support that HTML feature?
2014-04-03
Tired of waiting to hear from Microsoft on whether or not IE will support the latest HTML5 feature?
💻
blog
BUILD 2014 Cool Stuff - Day 1
2014-04-03
I haven't been to BUILD, but I always follow it as Microsoft makes a bunch of really cool announcements throughout that pump me up.
💻
blog
Pro Tip: Office 365 to Simplify Communication
2013-11-05
I believe the key to being professional is communication.
💻
blog
DW on Tour
2013-10-29
That's right, I'm heading out on a small tour out west in November and December to do some talking about HTML and JavaScript. I suggest you find your way to DevTeach in Vancouver or Saskatoon in November to learn some awesome tricks.
💻
💻
💻
blog
HTML Gaming for Core Gamers
2013-09-07
This is part of a blog series discussing my afterthought on attending PAX Dev and Prime 2013 in Seattle.
💻
blog
Instant Eyedropper: The Colour Picker Tool I've Been Missing
2013-08-20
I came across this today, and I wanted to share it as this is the first time I've found a simple, minimalistic eyedropper tool that allows me to get the HEX value (or another variety of colur value) of any colour that is on my screen.
💻
blog
Picking The Technology for my Game
2013-08-01
I want to develop a game, and not just produce it.
💻
💻
blog
Excited about WebGL because of Grandia II
2013-07-18
Last week, I was asking my partner for some advice on what game I should play. This is a regular occurrence for both of us, as we are both video game lovers and tend to lean towards single player games, and only have one television to share between us. Ultimately, we enjoy watching each other play through video games, but want to make sure that the non-player is at least going to enjoy themselves to a certain degree as we go through some kind of virtual adventure over the next few days.
💻
blog
Time for a Real Change
2013-07-07
I know I seem to change my blog once a year saying 'this time it's different'. The message this time around isn't different than that, except the change is leading to a completely different direction.
💻
blog
Stop Hating IE and Be a Professional (Part 3)
2013-01-18
This post is part three of three. Part 1 (Be a Realist) and Part 2 (Be a Strategist) are already published and available.
💻
blog
Stop Hating IE and Be a Professional (Part 2)
2013-01-17
This post is part two of three. Part 1 (Be a Realist) and Part 3 (Be a Leader) are also available.
💻
blog
Stop Hating IE and Be a Professional (Part 1)
2013-01-16
This post is part one of three. Part 2 (Be a Strategist) and Part 3 (Be a Leader) are available as well.
