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Node-RED - How to use the Visual Studio Code debugger

Using the Visual Studio Code debugger to debug Node-RED issues

IT Glossary

Here are some of the terms, abbreviations and meanings that I come across regularly in the IT world. Some of these have specific meanings depending on the scope of use and I’ve listed the scope as well. For example, some terms come from the NHS world, others from ITIL, banking or elsewhere.

Secure Contact Form - Successful Submission

Thank you for contacting me. I will do my best to get back to you in the next couple of days. With regards, Julian Knight

Getting in Touch

Presentation: Security and Governance in the Cloud

Here is a presentation that I did recently for NHS CIO’s and CCIO’s. It is all about how NHS England has followed a journey to cloud services and the IT Security & Information Governance issues we had to deal with along the way. It tries to also show other NHS organisations how they might work towards similar aims.

Open Source vs Proprietary in UK Central Government Organisations

NB: This article is incomplete - it was converted from a previous blog site. It is included as a draft. Open source does not necessarily mean that open integration and open data is facilitated The issue of open source vs proprietary applications for organisations related to the UK government comes up regularly. the UK’s Cabinet Office have issued clear guidance that open source is preferred and should always be considered when procuring new systems.

A simple mail filer for Microsoft Outlook (VBA)

Like many people I receive an unmanageable amount of email each day. Many days I get through only around 1/3 of the email I receive. However, the role I am in professionally requires me to retain a large proportion of correspondence. Some because it relates to ongoing projects, other because of security, audit or compliance reasons. In addition, I work across many projects. It isn’t unusual for me to be involved in two dozen or so projects at any one time on top of my day-to-day management work.

Why I Still Don’t Use Bing For Searching

Microsoft continue to reinvent themselves for the 21st Century but Bing lags behind compared to its competition.

Mosquitto MQTT Server on a Raspberry Pi

To access an MQTT broker direct from the browser, you need websockets support. On a Raspberry Pi, this used to require a custom build from source. That is no longer required. You can now install direct from the mosquitto.org repository and add a simple config change. This article explains the details.

Switching to Excerpts on the Front Page

Some of my posts are rather long and may have more links that Google really likes. So I’ve decided at last to switch to the Excerpt view instead of a full post view on the front page. The instructions for doing this are taken from: Display Excerpts in Twenty Twelve Theme

A simple mail filer for Microsoft Outlook (VBA)

Like many people I receive an unmanageable amount of email each day. Many days I get through only around 1/3 of the email I receive. However, the role I am in professionally requires me to retain a large proportion of correspondence. Some because it relates to ongoing projects, other because of security, audit or compliance reasons. In addition, I work across many projects. It isn’t unusual for me to be involved in two dozen projects at any one time on top of my day-to-day management work.

No Code Business Solutions in Microsoft SharePoint

Resources to show you how to create code-free business solutions in Microsoft SharePoint

Home Automation Hub using Node-Red

The Internet of Things (IoT) comes alive with the help of Node-Red, a Flow-Based Programming (FBP) tool designed to help link together sensors, switches, logic and displays. With hardware magic from Arduino’s, Raspberry Pi’s, low cost sensors and wireless switches. We can easily build a bespoke home automation and monitoring hub.

Home Sensors

New Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga

I have the pleasure of trying a new laptop right now as we consider them for work. The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga. We have this configured with an Intel i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD with 16GB SDD speed boost, the touch & pen screen. It is a nice laptop with a screen that folds right over so you can use it as a slightly chunky tablet, the keyboard locks in this mode so you don’t accidentally press keys.