Blog

Thoughts, insights all hot off the virtual press.

Blog | 06 March 2019

Redirects validator and exporter

If only there were a tool to turn redirect mappings from clients into something Apache understands, validating and error-reporting along the way….
Redirects Validator & Exporter
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Blog | 27 February 2019

Building a flexible, animated timeline in WordPress

Displaying a brief history of BrightMinded.
BrightMinded timeline
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Blog | 20 February 2019

What is Rubber Duck Debugging and does it work?

As programmers, problem solving is a big part of the software development process. Frequently these problems are complicated enough that we need help, and in these moments it is tempting to turn to our co-workers for assistance. But there’s a better alternative: Rubber Duck Debugging. In software development, rubber duck debugging is a method of debugging code.
Rubber duckies in the office
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Blog | 23 December 2015

Blockchain content licensing for Cognitive Computing

At the time of this writing there is no satisfactory business model that addresses licensing of copyrighted content for use in Cognitive Computing Applications (CCAs) and APIs such as IBM Watson™. We propose a novel solution based on Blockchain technology that simultaneously guarantees proof of ownership of the content, incentivises the content owner/publisher to distribute via the new channel and guarantees pricing fairness and cost control for CCAs implementors through accurate measure of actual, real-time content usage.
Mobile phone showing TRAIN ME Pro app
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Blog | 25 November 2015

Accessibility for front-end developers

Most front-end developers understand what accessibility is, and why it’s a good idea, but for many of us it’s an area filled with confusion and conflicting advice. I want to show how accessibility doesn’t have to be complex, and that by building it in from the start we can build better experiences for our users.
BrightMinded bulb logo
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Blog | 22 September 2015

Our blockchain event

A funny thing happened on the way out of the office on a Friday evening. It turned out that Gerry Hussein, ­the organiser of the Brighton and Hove Ethereum Meetup group I had just joined a few days earlier, ­works in our building. In fact just two doors away from our office! Gerry is a business analyst and an advocate of new, potentially disruptive technologies in both the social and business realms. I on the other hand needed an excuse to play with an exciting piece of tech called Blockchains ­an implementation of which is, you guessed it, Ethereum. Gerry had the excellent idea of joining forces to organise an event for the Brighton Digital Festival that would be focussed on exploring different perspectives: the socio­political aspects (Gerry’s turf), possible applications (Gerry’s turf), and the actual technology (my turf!). It seemed the right time to do this for several reasons: ­Blockchains have the potential to become a disruptive technology and a whole world of opportunity and rewards is available to those pioneers who establish themselves early. ­
Overview room Digital Catapult Blockchain event
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Tutorial | 19 July 2014

How to? Apache Rewrite Rules: Pass-through

This is our first video on Apache Rewrite Rules. The first rule we quickly show is the PASS THROUGH.
Screen showing flow of information
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Tutorial | 01 September 2013

How to? JAR signing using openssl certificates

This is a quick and to the point video on how to sign a Java ARchive (JAR) file using an openssl self-signed certificate.
Screen showing code
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Tutorial | 13 April 2013

How to? SSL basics

A quick and dirty explanation of SSL from the point of view of the SSL handshake and a quick look at Self-Signed Certificates and what they are for.
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Tutorial | 10 March 2013

How to? An example of SSH tunnelling

In this video we show an example of SSH tunnelling that may be useful in real life.
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Tutorial | 25 November 2011

How to? Connecting to a remote database using SSH tunnelling

In this video our CTO, Cristiano, shows you a neat trick called SSH tunnelling in the context of connecting to a remote database.
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Tutorial | 05 November 2011

How to? Installing an SSL certificate on Apache (Part 3 of 3)

This is the third of a three-part video where we show how to install an SSL certificate onto an Apache webserver.
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