Balodia Techhttps://tech.balodia.com/Practical guides to programming, Windows, browsers and privacy, with a clearly dated technology archive.enGit cheat sheet: everyday commands with fewer surpriseshttps://tech.balodia.com/git-cheat-sheet/https://tech.balodia.com/git-cheat-sheet/Sun, 24 Jul 2022 11:08:34 GMTUse this as a reference while working, not as a script to run from top to bottom.Five esoteric programming languages and what makes them unusualhttps://tech.balodia.com/esoteric-programming-languages/https://tech.balodia.com/esoteric-programming-languages/Sat, 23 Jul 2022 06:49:00 GMT“Hardest programming language” is not an objective ranking.Windows 11's interface: separating early leaks from the releasehttps://tech.balodia.com/windows-11-interface-history/https://tech.balodia.com/windows-11-interface-history/Sat, 23 Jul 2022 06:41:18 GMTThe previous version of this article described an early Windows 11 leak as if the product had not yet been announced.CVE-2021-24370: the Fancy Product Designer upload flawhttps://tech.balodia.com/fancy-product-designer-cve-2021-24370/https://tech.balodia.com/fancy-product-designer-cve-2021-24370/Sat, 05 Jun 2021 10:11:40 GMTCVE-2021-24370 concerned an unauthenticated file-upload flaw in the WordPress edition of Fancy Product Designer.MIUI 12.5 device lists need a region and a datehttps://tech.balodia.com/miui-12-5-device-list-2021/https://tech.balodia.com/miui-12-5-device-list-2021/Sat, 13 Feb 2021 04:19:13 GMTA rollout list is incomplete without the region, exact device model and date.WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal: revisiting the 2021 privacy debatehttps://tech.balodia.com/messaging-privacy-debate-2021/https://tech.balodia.com/messaging-privacy-debate-2021/Sat, 16 Jan 2021 05:01:07 GMTThe WhatsApp policy debate in early 2021 prompted readers to compare messaging services.Created and modified timestamps in LoopBack 4https://tech.balodia.com/loopback-4-timestamps/https://tech.balodia.com/loopback-4-timestamps/Sat, 12 Dec 2020 09:01:32 GMTA creation timestamp and a modification timestamp have different rules.Windows Terminal Preview 1.5: the 2020 releasehttps://tech.balodia.com/windows-terminal-1-5-2020/https://tech.balodia.com/windows-terminal-1-5-2020/Sun, 15 Nov 2020 11:33:25 GMTWindows Terminal Preview 1.5 arrived in November 2020.WhatsApp's Always mute option: the 2020 changehttps://tech.balodia.com/whatsapp-always-mute-2020/https://tech.balodia.com/whatsapp-always-mute-2020/Sat, 03 Oct 2020 03:00:28 GMTThis post began as a 2020 note about WhatsApp testing an “Always” mute choice.Amazon Luna's 2020 launch: the cloud-gaming ideahttps://tech.balodia.com/amazon-luna-launch-2020/https://tech.balodia.com/amazon-luna-launch-2020/Sat, 26 Sep 2020 04:51:10 GMTAmazon introduced Luna in 2020 as a way to stream games from remote servers to supported devices.Windows tricks worth keeping—and myths worth droppinghttps://tech.balodia.com/windows-tricks-and-myths/https://tech.balodia.com/windows-tricks-and-myths/Wed, 23 Sep 2020 02:55:17 GMTOld collections of Windows “tricks” often mix harmless shortcuts with bad technical advice.Programming jokes that work without putting people downhttps://tech.balodia.com/programming-jokes/https://tech.balodia.com/programming-jokes/Sat, 19 Sep 2020 03:39:55 GMTProgramming jokes work best when the code is the target.Show a sign-in message in Windowshttps://tech.balodia.com/windows-sign-in-message/https://tech.balodia.com/windows-sign-in-message/Wed, 16 Sep 2020 03:20:06 GMTA Windows sign-in notice appears before a user signs in.Map a folder to a drive letter with substhttps://tech.balodia.com/windows-subst-folder-drive/https://tech.balodia.com/windows-subst-folder-drive/Wed, 16 Sep 2020 03:14:32 GMTsubst gives a local folder a drive-letter alias.Linked lists in C++: ownership before menu optionshttps://tech.balodia.com/cpp-linked-list-ownership/https://tech.balodia.com/cpp-linked-list-ownership/Wed, 16 Sep 2020 03:12:01 GMTA linked list is a good ownership exercise, but a long menu does not make its pointer handling correct.A console tank game: separating state, input and drawinghttps://tech.balodia.com/cpp-console-tank-game/https://tech.balodia.com/cpp-console-tank-game/Wed, 16 Sep 2020 03:03:39 GMTThe original tank game used DOS-era headers and console functions such as gotoxy , clrscr and getche .Facebook profiles and Pages: use the right account typehttps://tech.balodia.com/facebook-profile-vs-page/https://tech.balodia.com/facebook-profile-vs-page/Wed, 16 Sep 2020 02:52:31 GMTA Facebook profile and a Page serve different purposes.VBScript examples: a small, clearly dated referencehttps://tech.balodia.com/vbscript-examples/https://tech.balodia.com/vbscript-examples/Wed, 16 Sep 2020 02:09:50 GMTVBScript examples still appear in old Windows administration notes.Removing comments from source code needs a lexerhttps://tech.balodia.com/remove-code-comments-lexer/https://tech.balodia.com/remove-code-comments-lexer/Tue, 15 Sep 2020 02:55:30 GMTRemoving comments is a lexical problem.Print Hello World in C without a semicolonhttps://tech.balodia.com/c-hello-world-without-semicolon/https://tech.balodia.com/c-hello-world-without-semicolon/Tue, 15 Sep 2020 01:57:52 GMTAn empty if body lets a function call appear in a condition rather than in an expression statement.Change a Windows IP address without breaking the connectionhttps://tech.balodia.com/change-windows-ip-address/https://tech.balodia.com/change-windows-ip-address/Mon, 14 Sep 2020 02:53:45 GMTBefore changing an address, identify which address you mean.Choosing a programming language for a real projecthttps://tech.balodia.com/choose-programming-language/https://tech.balodia.com/choose-programming-language/Sat, 12 Sep 2020 09:27:25 GMTA language poll can tell you what its respondents enjoy.iOS 14: widgets, App Library and the 2020 releasehttps://tech.balodia.com/ios-14-features-2020/https://tech.balodia.com/ios-14-features-2020/Wed, 09 Sep 2020 03:12:59 GMTiOS 14 changed the iPhone Home Screen with widgets and App Library.MIUI 12: a look back at Xiaomi's 2020 updatehttps://tech.balodia.com/miui-12-features-2020/https://tech.balodia.com/miui-12-features-2020/Tue, 01 Sep 2020 03:36:17 GMTMIUI 12 was Xiaomi's 2020 interface update.Chrome dark mode on Windows: use the theme settingshttps://tech.balodia.com/chrome-dark-mode-windows/https://tech.balodia.com/chrome-dark-mode-windows/Sat, 27 Apr 2019 08:54:49 GMTChrome's dark theme changes the browser interface.WinRAR 5.30 beta: a 2015 release notehttps://tech.balodia.com/winrar-5-30-beta-2015/https://tech.balodia.com/winrar-5-30-beta-2015/Tue, 21 Jul 2015 04:51:53 GMTWinRAR 5.30 beta was an archive-manager release discussed here in 2015.jQuery 3.0 alpha: what the 2015 announcement meanthttps://tech.balodia.com/jquery-3-alpha-2015/https://tech.balodia.com/jquery-3-alpha-2015/Tue, 14 Jul 2015 09:36:28 GMTThe jQuery team announced the first jQuery 3.0 and jQuery Compat 3.0 alpha releases in July 2015.Apache .htaccess: small rules, careful changeshttps://tech.balodia.com/apache-htaccess-guide/https://tech.balodia.com/apache-htaccess-guide/Mon, 13 Jul 2015 11:10:23 GMTAn .htaccess file supplies per-directory Apache configuration when the server permits those overrides.Use WhatsApp Web and manage linked deviceshttps://tech.balodia.com/whatsapp-web-linked-devices/https://tech.balodia.com/whatsapp-web-linked-devices/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 06:07:31 GMTWhatsApp Web lets a supported browser act as a linked device.Reduce browser tracking with privacy filtershttps://tech.balodia.com/browser-tracking-privacy-filters/https://tech.balodia.com/browser-tracking-privacy-filters/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 06:05:43 GMTBlocking some tracking requests can reduce what third parties learn from a page visit.Adblock Plus: filter lists, exceptions and limitshttps://tech.balodia.com/adblock-plus-guide/https://tech.balodia.com/adblock-plus-guide/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 06:04:04 GMTAn ad blocker follows filtering rules.Save websites for offline reading with HTTrackhttps://tech.balodia.com/save-websites-offline-httrack/https://tech.balodia.com/save-websites-offline-httrack/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:59:21 GMTAn offline copy is most useful when the material is mostly static: documentation, a reference site or a collection of ordinary linked pages.Can you run iPhone apps on a Windows PC?https://tech.balodia.com/iphone-apps-on-windows/https://tech.balodia.com/iphone-apps-on-windows/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:52:48 GMTA Windows program with an iPad-shaped interface is not necessarily an iOS emulator.Find a website's IP address with nslookuphttps://tech.balodia.com/find-website-ip-address/https://tech.balodia.com/find-website-ip-address/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:47:51 GMTUse a hostname when you want to ask DNS for an address.Run Android apps on a PC: check compatibility firsthttps://tech.balodia.com/android-apps-on-pc/https://tech.balodia.com/android-apps-on-pc/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:43:49 GMTAn Android app does not become a Windows application just because it appears inside a desktop window.Torrent files and direct downloads are different thingshttps://tech.balodia.com/torrent-vs-direct-download/https://tech.balodia.com/torrent-vs-direct-download/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:40:55 GMTA .torrent file describes a transfer.How website design changed from static pages to responsive layoutshttps://tech.balodia.com/website-design-evolution/https://tech.balodia.com/website-design-evolution/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:36:25 GMTA screenshot of an old website shows more than an outdated color palette.KGB Archiver and the myth of guaranteed compressionhttps://tech.balodia.com/kgb-archiver-compression-limits/https://tech.balodia.com/kgb-archiver-compression-limits/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:33:03 GMTNo lossless archiver can promise to turn every one-gigabyte file into ten megabytes.Make a Windows installation USB without guessing the diskhttps://tech.balodia.com/windows-installation-usb/https://tech.balodia.com/windows-installation-usb/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:30:29 GMTPreparing installation media can erase the wrong disk if you identify a USB drive by an example disk number.Why YouTube age restrictions require sign-inhttps://tech.balodia.com/youtube-age-restrictions-sign-in/https://tech.balodia.com/youtube-age-restrictions-sign-in/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:27:21 GMTChanging a YouTube URL is not a dependable way to remove an age restriction.Check antivirus detection with the EICAR testhttps://tech.balodia.com/eicar-antivirus-test/https://tech.balodia.com/eicar-antivirus-test/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:22:31 GMTAn antivirus test should use a documented test file, not live malware.Replacing an old animated Twitter widgethttps://tech.balodia.com/replace-animated-twitter-widget/https://tech.balodia.com/replace-animated-twitter-widget/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:19:10 GMTThe original tutorial added a flying Twitter bird by loading JavaScript from a Google Code project.YouTube buffering: checks that are worth tryinghttps://tech.balodia.com/youtube-buffering-fixes/https://tech.balodia.com/youtube-buffering-fixes/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:10:45 GMTLowering a video's quality is often a more useful first step than changing obscure browser settings.Keep a dated work log with Notepadhttps://tech.balodia.com/notepad-dated-work-log/https://tech.balodia.com/notepad-dated-work-log/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:07:12 GMTA plain-text work log is useful when you want a record you can search and back up without choosing a notes service.YouTube downloads and VLC: what still workshttps://tech.balodia.com/youtube-downloads-vlc/https://tech.balodia.com/youtube-downloads-vlc/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:04:48 GMTVLC can open many network streams, but a YouTube watch-page URL is not a permanent link to a video file.Saving Facebook videos: use the options the owner provideshttps://tech.balodia.com/save-facebook-videos/https://tech.balodia.com/save-facebook-videos/Sat, 11 Jul 2015 04:51:37 GMTSaving a video to a Facebook collection and downloading a video file are different actions.