Ever wished your AI assistant actually knew your stuff? Your files, your schedule, or even a custom data source? That's exactly what the Model Context Protocol (MCP) makes possible. MCP is an open standard for connecting AI assistants like Claude to external data sources and tools. Think of
Over the years, I’ve learned that being a Technical Program Manager (TPM) is a bit of a strange hybrid role. You’re expected to understand the tech well enough to contribute meaningfully, but you’re not the one writing and deploying the code anymore. The best TPMs I’ve
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how PowerToys Workspaces helped me stop wasting time arranging windows every morning. Since then, a few people asked what else I use from the PowerToys suite. So today I want to talk about another tool that's quietly become part of my
Have you ever sat down at your computer, ready to get into a flow state, and then spent the first ten minutes just arranging windows? Dragging your editor here, your browser there, nudging Slack into a corner - only to close it all two hours later, and start from scratch
In my career, I've been many things - a Support Engineer, a Software Engineer and an Engineering Manager. These days, I've settled into a Technical Program Manager role (which I am thoroughly enjoying). As a Technical Program Manager (or TPM), you're often expected to
Have you ever wanted to create a backup of your website or blog? Maybe you're migrating to a new platform, or perhaps you just want a portable archive of your content that you can read offline. I've previously experienced issues with this site going down and
If you’ve ever had an app crash at the worst possible moment, you’ll know how frustrating it can be - both for developers and players. Recently, I wrote an article for the Microsoft Developer blog that dives deep into this exact challenge: how to diagnose and resolve crashes
Many years ago, I wrote an article on the basics of OAuth and while it was helpful, it is now quite outdated. A lot has changed in the past 14 years! OAuth 2.0 has become the de facto standard for securing APIs and authorizing users in modern applications. The
Back in 2013, I published a blog post about a simple HTML Minifier I'd built for web pages. At the time, web performance was becoming increasingly important, and I needed a straightforward way to reduce the size of HTML files in my projects. What started as a personal
If you've ever played a game on a modern handheld device, you'll know how much fun it can be. I recently wrote an article on the Microsoft Game Dev Blog about some key recommendations to help you craft exceptional gaming experiences for handheld devices. Please head
Over the past few months, I've been experimenting with Azure's Text-to-Speech service. It is a super powerful API that enables fluid, natural-sounding text to speech that matches the tone and emotion of human voices. Whether you are building an app or a game, Text-to-Speech can be
If you've recently ventured into the world of Azure Functions, you're likely familiar with the versatility they offer when it comes to scheduling tasks. In this guide, we'll delve into using Azure Functions' Time Trigger function with Node.js and Visual Studio Code,