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Living with Oura Ring – the smart way to track wellness and activity

  • Gadgets
Late last year I decided to place an order for a Oura Ring, the smart wellness and activity tracking ring from the Finnish startup. It took a few months to arrive, as they seem to be in high demand. While I’m writing this Oura’s site has a banner saying that orders placed today will be delivered by May. Impressive! I had two intentions for my… Read More »Living with Oura Ring – the smart way to track wellness and activity
Photo by Arya Meher @aryamehe / Unsplash.com

Fun with Azure Functions: Building a lookup tool for Azure AD tenant IDs

  • Azure
I sometimes find myself struggling with a technical issue that I just can’t seem to resolve in a timely manner. Over the years I’ve learned that once you’ve spent maybe 15 to 30 minutes troubleshooting without any noticeable progress, there’s only two things that will help you: a huge cup of fresh coffee or working on something else for a while. Some people claim asking… Read More »Fun with Azure Functions: Building a lookup tool for Azure AD tenant IDs
Photo by Rubén Bagüés @rubavi78 / Unsplash.com

One password to rule them all: Migrating to 1Password from KeePass and text files

I can’t quite remember when I started using a password manager, or which password manager it was at the time. As an IT Pro I’ve used everything from text files stored on Windows Desktop to encrypted Excel files to post-it notes to reusing the same password (“R3member1”, “R3m3mber2”..) to forgetting my password and resetting it. Repeatedly. I left Microsoft exactly 10 years ago, and we… Read More »One password to rule them all: Migrating to 1Password from KeePass and text files
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Migrating SQL Server 2008 databases to Azure SQL

“This is a quick one”, I thought. A customer asked me to have a look at their old CRM environment, that was running in a local physical server in their datacenter. The plan was to decommission the server, but rescue the CRM database. I knew I could lift-and-shift the database or databases to Azure SQL quite easily. This post walks through my experience and some… Read More »Migrating SQL Server 2008 databases to Azure SQL
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Building a secure remote access solution for Azure-based virtual machines using Azure AD and Windows Admin Center

I’ve had some fun times lately with Azure. It seems there really is a second wave of adoption for cloud-based infrastructure and services from organizations. This is especially true in the Nordics, where Azure is commonly accepted as a trusted option for datacenters and PaaS services. This post stemmed from the idea of figuring out what options do we have for accessing and managing virtual… Read More »Building a secure remote access solution for Azure-based virtual machines using Azure AD and Windows Admin Center
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An adventure in containers and command-line tools: Running MongoDB in Azure

I’ve used a Synology NAS solution at home since 2012. It’s simply great – very affordable, runs everything I need and has consistently given me uptimes of 60-90 days (I reboot it mostly to patch things up). In 2015 my Synology model (a DS412+) received an upgrade enabling it to run something called Docker containers. I’d read by then about Docker, and containers of course.… Read More »An adventure in containers and command-line tools: Running MongoDB in Azure
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The comprehensive licensing guide to Microsoft Flow and PowerApps

[Last update: June 22nd, 2019: I’ve added more details on multiplexing and connection pooling as it relates to licensing, and also some additional thoughts on the ramifications of the license change.] [Last update: Jan 31st, 2019: I’ve updated bits and pieces with additional details and clarification – I’ve marked those with a timestamp in the guide] In 2006 I applied to work at Microsoft, in… Read More »The comprehensive licensing guide to Microsoft Flow and PowerApps

Automation made easy: Using Microsoft Visio to create Flows

One of the most anticipated features since September for me has been the ability to use Microsoft Visio to plan and create Flows. This capability is now in public preview, and part Visio. What follows is a walkthrough of my first Flow that I created with Visio. Requirements You will need the following to be able to follow up on this walkthrough: A working Office… Read More »Automation made easy: Using Microsoft Visio to create Flows

I want to become a carpenter – and here’s my plan

  • Thoughts
I’ve thought about becoming a carpenter for as long as I can remember. The idea of crafting something out of a solid block of wood is enticing, and I’m pretty sure I’d excel, or even master carpentry given some time and practice. Unfortunately, I’ve worked in all things IT for about 25 years, so there are many things I should probably unlearn, and many things… Read More »I want to become a carpenter – and here’s my plan

I’m done with browser bookmarks

I originally started writing this post in early 2018, when I came to the realization I have no need for browser bookmarks anymore. It’s 2019 now, and I’m still in the same situation: I don’t use browser bookmarks. Do I still have bookmarks in my browser? No. I waited for a year, but they didn’t vanish. This weekend I exported all bookmarks from my browsers… Read More »I’m done with browser bookmarks