As I was going through some things, I realized that I have a handful of author copies of my PowerShell Cookbook remaining. There are several of the first edition, several of the second edition, and several of the pocket references. After thinking about what to do with them, I hereby announce the PowerShell Pay-it-Forward Award. [...]

When we last left off, we discussed hash codes – a small unique identifier for an item based on its properties or features. There are many different ways to calculate unique identifiers for items. These different ways are called Hash Algorithms. Each serves a different purpose, but some popular ones right now are are MD5, [...]

On Tuesday of last week, Ubisoft released Rocksmith: an XBOX / PS3 / PC guitar game with a twist. You play a real guitar. You learn the real notes. Your fingers hurt just like every great guitarist before you.   For some context, guitar has been part of my life for a long time – [...]

[Download: Morser.zip, 155kb] [Updated 10/04/2011 – V2 includes support for audio input]   If you’re interested in Morse Code as a hobby or just as a neat lo-fi communication mechanism, one thing that might set you back is the lack of practical opportunities to use it. You can find lots of Morse Code apps that [...]

Shay Levy, one of our great MVPs, has been crafting sweet PowerShell desktop backgrounds for years now. One thing I’ve always loved is that they seem to carry a message. His first wallpaper was a screaming crowd. In my head, they are people chanting for the power of PowerShell, or the IT rock star that [...]

One aspect of software development (scripting included) that burns every single developer is developing for an international audience. The most common cause of problems come from incorrect handling of dates and numbers, but there are many more. I first cut my teeth on the topic when working on Encarta Online, via bugs teaching me the [...]

I got a question today with an interesting request – “How do I ensure that only one user can access a machine via PowerShell Remoting at a time?” We do have direct functionality to limit multiple sessions, but it that limit applies to sessions by the same user – see: MaxShellsPerUser for full detail about [...]

One of the things that’s always unsettled me a bit in a big organization is keeping yourself informed about changes that you care about, even when those changes never end up making it through the grape vine. For example: Promotions. Of course you want to congratulate them! Transfers. Finding out that a team has moved [...]

Last week, a co-worker mentioned a event being offered again by WMRRA (Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association) – the “Taste of Racing”. For $20, you get to bring your bike on the track for 20 minutes. A handful of control riders take you through some familiarity laps (and keep things under control during the ride.) [...]

[Edit: Please see V2 here: http://www.leeholmes.com/blog/2011/10/04/morser-keyboard-morse-input-device-2/]