How often have you created a database for a new Rails application and then sat staring at the empty tables? Often times when building a new application you need sample data to help flesh out the user interface or to show off the application to your customer. Rails provides a convenient method of loading this data via the seeds.rb file, but you still have to create the content for this file. This article will discuss a mostly automated way of generating content for your database.

A failure of any kind requires you to remain calm while you triage the event, in order to minimize the damage as much as possible. Afterwards, you can look back on the failure with a clear head and identify the conditions that led to it, and implement improvements that minimize the change of the same failure in the future. In short, it is an opportunity to grow.

If I were to say the word database to you, what might be the first thing that would come to mind. It would probably depend on your current situation and background. Corporate developers might immediately think of Oracle Database or Microsoft SQL Server. Open-source developers would probably think of MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or MongoDB. Desktop users might think of Microsoft Access, Paradox, or even dBase. In general, what you are actually thinking of is the DBMS (Database Management System) or the software that allows you to interact with the database.

The posts discusses a method of addressing Windows Update error 0x80072F8F in the context of SCCM and non-domain joined machines.

This brief post talks about my first attempt at creating art using the Processing visual arts programming environment.

This walk-through will describe how to configure AutoMySQLBackup to perform scheduled backups of a MySQL database and then use rsync to make a redundant copy to another computer.