Back in 2013 I changed from developing embedded systems in Linux with Java and C++ to developing enterprise applications on Microsoft Windows in .NET.  The new development stack turned me into a fish out of water looking for some direction.  I had 30 to 40 minute commute to work so I looked to fill it with podcasts that could give that direction.  Over the the last few years I’ve narrowed them down to a half dozen that I subscribe to and recommend to other developers.

• .NET Rocks – Don’t let the name fool you.  While this podcast started out focused on the .NET Framework it now covers a whole host of development technologies.  They have gone over Rust, Imposter Syndrome, Functional Development, .NET Core, CSS, Docker, and so much more.  The show is published one to two times a week and occassionally does a Geek out into unrelated topics like interplanetary travel and superconductors.
• Coder Radio – If you want a look at what its like running your own dev shop, how changes in tech can affect a small business, and how to keep resilient even when bigger companies are going after your space this is a good show to follow.  They also go over headlines like 10x Engineers and topics like Burnout.
• Freakonomics Radio – This is one just to get you to thinking on things besides technology.  It is a show about, as they put it, the hidden side of everything.  Politics, student loans, and how to fail like a pro.
• HBR Ideacast – This one is not geared towards developers but instead provides great insight into topics dealing with management, business trends, foreign business developments, and career growth.  If you have any desire to move outside of the development realm then this is a worthwhile podcast to follow.
• Startups For The Rest Of Us – Do you want to start your own business?  Then this is THE podcast to add to your list.  Every aspect of the business is discussed from launching products to raising money to common product launch mistakes.  The hosts and their guests are upfront and honest about the joys and hardships of running their own businesses.
• Weekly Dev Tips – This podcasts consists of sub-ten minute episodes about development and career tips.  I have found it as a great way to hear about various topics and then on my own, or on the podcasters website, dive deeper into the topic of interest.  They have discussed the S.O.L.I.D. principles, TDD, and working from home tips.

One thing I can’t recommend enough is to explore areas outside of your core area of interest.  Broaden your knowledge with podcasts like American History which go out and have a different lecture from across American universities each week.

Recently I updated one of my applications to use the Cordova Plugin AdMobFree to show advertisements in my Ionic app to generate revenue. There are several plugins available to Ionic developers to use for showing ads from AdMob but this one provided the core features I needed without a bunch of bells and whistles I didn’t. This post will go over the steps I took in order to get the plugin to work in my project. If you run into any issues let me know and I’ll see if I missed a step.

To start, let me be clear that this is geared to projects developed utilizing the Ionic 3 framework. It should work for Ionic 2 applications as well but I would not base an Ionic 4 application off of this code given all the changes that have been made for that framework.

Installation

$ ionic cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-admob-free --save --variable ADMOB_APP_ID="<YOUR_ADMOB_APP_ID_AS_FOUND_IN_ADMOB>"
$npm install --save @ionic-native/admob-free@4

Make sure you include your APP ID from AdMob. You can get the value by going to AdMob then clicking on the application under Apps and going to App Settings.

In your config.xml file you should see a section for cordova-plugin-admob-free that has the ADMOB_APP_ID variable defined with the value you passed in during the installation. If not then run the remove command for the plugin and try adding it again.  

One thing worth remembering is that if you run into build issues where errors are reported about the Android version or support libraries used then you’ll want to install the Cordova Android Support Gradle Release npm package.  

When it comes to installing your Android platform I recommend installing version 6.3.0. 

$ ionic cordova platform add android@6.3.0

With that you should have all of the packages and configuration completed.  It is now time to dive into the code.

Code

The first changes to your code have to be made in the app.modules.ts file.  You’ll need to import the plugin and add it to the providers section.

import { AdMobFree, AdMobFreeBannerConfig } from '@ionic-native/admob-free';

@NgModule({
    declarations: [...],
    imports: [...],
    bootstrap: [...],
    entryComponents: [...],
    providers:  [...
        AdMobFree,
        ....]
    })

On the page you want to show the ads you’ll only need to make changes to the underlying TypeScript file.  You’ll first want to import the necessary packages.

import { AdMobFree, AdMobFreeBannerConfig } from '@ionic-native/admob-free';

constructor(...,
    private admob:  AdMobFree) {}

private createBanner() {
    let logger:LoggingProvider=this.logProvider;

    try {
        let bannerConfig:any= {
            id: <android banner id>,
            autoShow: true,
            isTesting: true
        };

        this.admob.banner.config(bannerConfig);
        this.admob.banner.prepare()
            .then(() => {
                //We have a banner :)
            }).catch((error) => {
                // Handle the error case
            });
        });
    }
    catch (exception) {
        // Something bad happened
    }
}

And that is it.  You should have a basic banner displaying on the application.  Once you are ready to go to production you’ll want to change the isTesting parameter to false so real advertisements come through.

If you want to give the option for your users to go advertisement free there is an easy method call to remove the banner.

this.admob.banner.remove(); 

When I get some time I’ll try to put up an example project or put in a pull request for a demo on the AdMobFree repo.  Until then, let me know if I missed anything and I’ll update the instructions.

Over the years I’ve collected a lot of spinning hard disk drives as well as solid state drives.  The problem has been easily swapping between them when all I had were enclosures.  This year I finally decided to start consolidating the drives and reformatting some of them to be used for backup and went searching for an easy solution to swap the drives.  What I found was the StarTech USB 2.0 to SATA IDE Adapter.  With this adapter I was able to quickly connect and switch between my laptop and desktop sized HDDs and SDDs.  My laptop is a Windows 10 machine and required no extra drivers to be installed.  All that I needed to do was plug in the power adapter and the data cable to the drive, then connect the data cable to the computer and plugin the power adapter.  After that the drives appeared on my computer and I could easily explore the files on them.

So if you are looking for cables to quickly connect SATA IDE drives to your computer via USB then the StarTech USB 2.0 to SATA IDE Adapter is the way to go.  They even have USB 3.0 connectors too for your newer machines.

In our garage the only way to turn on the light is to walk over to it and pull the cord.  Unfortunately this light is located between two hanging bikes, which my head hits often, and over our car.  After a few practice runs in the pitch black I’ve become somewhat proficient at pulling the cord without much fuss.  Still, it is a pain on several levels so a few months ago I started looking for an easy fix.  I didn’t feel like rewiring the light to a new switch by the door; too much work to figure out the right way to do it and patch all the holes I’d make.  And I didn’t want to install a smart light that could be controlled by an app as that seemed like overkill.  What I ended up settling on was a First Alert PIR725 Motion Sensing Light.

The sensor is a basic motion sensor that looks in a 360 degree radius for movement.  It seems to easily sense movement 15 feet away and is even able to peer through the bikes hanging on either side to detect when someone first steps into the garage.  Once the sensor turns on the light it will keep the light on for about two minutes after the last movement was detected.  This is great as it keeps the light from turning on and off while you are going in and out of a room as well as not letting the light stay on for a long time after you’ve finished up.  We’ve been using this light for about three months and haven’t had any problems with it.  So if you are someone who has a light in a hard to reach location I highly recommend taking a look at First Alert PIR725 Motion Sensing Light.  It just may make your life a little bit easier.

Cryptography is an art that has a rich history spanning over 2,000 years.  It has evolved from simple letter swapping algorithms called transposition ciphers, to using a key to shift multiple letters in the text with the Vigenère cipher, to modern day symmetric-key cryptography that uses advanced mathematics.  With this evolution the art has transformed itself into a science powered by mathematics.

The problem with cryptography is that it is extremely intimidating if you don’t already have a strong mathematical background.  While I enjoy math I am far from a strong candidate in the subject.  When I began to get really interested in the subject I started looking for a good book to break down the concepts into something easily understood and entertaining.  While there are plenty of books that deal with the raw subject the one I’ve found that walks the reader through the history and explains both how the algorithms work and how to crack them is The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography.  It even has a section at the end of the book that challenges the reader to break the codes for several different types of algorithms.

It is hard to imagine that a book which dives into the mathematical properties of cryptography could be a fun read but somehow the authors nailed it.  The first chapters start off explaining the basic forms of encryption and then build up to the advanced quantom cryptography that is being researched by some of the topped mathematicians.  The challenges at the end of the book have their answers available online.  When the book was published there was a challenge to see who could crack the codes first.  After just over a year the prize was claimed.  You can read about the challenge on the authors page, Simon Singh: Cipher Challenge.

If you have any interest in the subject I highly recommend picking up the book.  After you complete the book you’ll have a great grasp on the subject and maybe an itch to dive even deeper.