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March 17, 2023

Creating a Custom WordPress Plugin: Rendering a SPA and Exposing a REST API

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If you’ve been on the Internet, chances are you’ve used a WordPress site. WordPress, a free, open-source content management system (CMS) that allows you to host and build websites, is currently responsible for 43% of all websites on the Internet. With so many WordPress websites out there, finding ways to increase your site’s useability and efficiency is key. One easy way to do that? By rendering a SPA and exposing a REST API. 

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March 2, 2023

iBeacon: Reconnecting an iOS App to a Bluetooth Device if the App is Terminated

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While working on a recent iOS project in which an iOS app connects to a Bluetooth device, we discovered an issue: the connection between the app and the Bluetooth device could not be re-established if the app was terminated unless the user manually relaunched the app. Our Bluetooth device was turned on and off periodically throughout the day, so it was essential that it was able to reconnect automatically, even if the app was in the background or had been terminated.

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March 1, 2023

Gaining Wisdom from the Ghost of Lotus Notes

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Rapid application development has always been the Holy Grail of information technology. The idea that someone with little to no technical expertise could automate their own processes by creating a functioning application is a powerful concept. 

Low-code and no-code developments promise to make this elusive Holy Grail a reality. But they are not the first. Promising the same results as Lotus Notes did in the 1980s, will these developments be able to succeed where Lotus Notes could not? 

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February 10, 2023

Building A Canvas Slideshow with React Konva

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Recently, I was tasked with building an application that allowed users to interact with product configurations on an HTML canvas. When using the app, users would be able to: 

  • Drag and drop different products on the canvas
  • Move and reorder products
  • Easily change between the main product images using navigation buttons or by swiping left and right. 

After searching extensively for a code example that could provide a framework for the canvas, I came up with zero results. This meant, of course, that I would need to build the functionality from scratch. It felt like a daunting task. 

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December 21, 2022

An Insight into Daikin HERO Cloud

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In a world of smartphones connected to smart lights, garage doors, alarm systems, and doorbells, it feels as if we can bring smart connectivity to practically anything. Yet it isn’t as simple as having the idea for new technology. 

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November 25, 2022

The Key to Viral Growth

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Have you ever stopped to ponder how certain things—Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Fidget Spinners, or Planking—manage to take society by storm? Why these things, and not the trillions of other trends, seem to captivate us?  If so, you’re not alone. 

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October 28, 2022

Tips for Successful Online Workshops

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For the past few years, Grio has offered User Story Workshops – often as the first step of a new project. In the past, these meetings were held over the course of two days in our San Francisco offices. However, since the move to remote work, we’ve adapted these workshops to an online environment. As we’ve transitioned, we’ve had to figure out just what makes an online workshop successful. 

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October 21, 2022

Spoil Your Power Users: Add Command Palettes

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Unlike the theater, where the maxim “always leave them wanting more” is a common philosophy, when we create new apps, our goal is to give our users all the features they desire. In fact, nothing makes us happier than when our power users- those users that maximize our app’s potential- find new elements that they have been requesting. It’s time to give them the thing they didn’t even know they wanted: command palettes. 

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October 12, 2022

Time-Traveling with the James Webb Space Telescope

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On December 25, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched from Kourou, French Guiana. Hailed as the most powerful telescope ever built, the JWST is expected to provide 5-10 years of infrared imagery that will allow us to learn more about space than ever before. 

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