Blog

• Security through Obsolescence: Are Old Floppy Disks Secure?

  An examination of whether old floppy disks hold up as secure storage, covering data recovery methods, access challenges, and obsolescence limits.

• Switch from Gutenberg to Markdown for a Better Writing Experience

  Gutenberg gets in the way of writing. Switching to Markdown simplified the process, improved focus, and made content easier to manage long term.

• Use Regular Expressions in Excel VBA to Parse Substrings

  VBA and regular expressions offer a cleaner alternative to nested Excel formulas when parsing substrings from cell values.

• Create Cascading Drop-Down Lists in Excel with Data Validation

  Cascading drop-down lists in Excel, built with data validation and named ranges, reduce input errors and improve consistency in shared workbooks.

• Power BI Slicer for Multi-Value Columns by Splitting Delimited Data

  Multi-value columns in Power BI cannot be sliced directly. Splitting delimited data into rows first solves the problem cleanly and effectively.

• Why I Continue Blogging

  Blogging still has value for knowledge sharing and personal growth even as traffic declines and AI-generated content increases.

• How to Manage Digital Photo Clutter: A Guide to Photo Deduplication

  Photo deduplication reduces digital clutter, recovers storage space, and brings order to large photo libraries. Covers the methods that work.

• Astro: How to Manage Drafts and Published Posts Easily

  Managing draft posts in Astro by extending the content collection schema, filtering drafts from production builds, and keeping them visible in development.

• Astro: Add Related Posts to Blog Entries

  Adding a related posts property to an Astro content collection schema and wiring it up to display contextual links on blog entries.

• Create and Use Custom Date Tables in Power BI for Date Hierarchies

  Custom date tables in Power BI give precise control over hierarchies, time intelligence, and date formatting, built here using Power Query.

• PowerShell: Recursive File List with Long Paths and Complex Filenames

  Generating a recursive file list in Windows using batch and PowerShell, with handling for long paths, unusual filenames, and Unicode characters.

• Build Filled Donut Charts in Power BI Using DAX & Cards

  Combining DAX measures and Card visuals to produce a filled donut chart in Power BI with key metrics displayed in the center of the chart.

• Power BI: Unicode Characters in Visualizations

  Using DAX measures and Unicode characters to render color-coded icons in Power BI Table and Card visualizations, a lightweight alternative to custom visuals.

• Power BI: Filter Using Card Visualizations and Bookmarks

  Bookmarks and transparent shapes turn standard Power BI card visualizations into interactive filter controls without custom visuals or extra licensing.

• Excel: Combination Clustered and Stacked Column Chart

  Producing a combination clustered and stacked column chart in Excel without modifying or restructuring the underlying source data.

• Astro: Adding Previous and Next Post Navigation Links to Blog

  An Astro component that adds previous and next navigation links to blog posts using relative position within a content collection.

• Excel VBA: Automate E-mail Content Extraction from Outlook

  Custom VBA for extracting structured data from Outlook emails into Excel, covering both plain-text parsing and HTML table-based extraction methods.

• Excel VBA: Retrieving Outlook Address Book Values

  A custom VBA function for retrieving field values from Outlook address book entries, with support for both local contacts and Exchange.

• Astro: Collection Pagination Using Rest Parameter Dynamic Route

  Implementing collection pagination in Astro using rest parameter dynamic routes, with TypeScript type handling and page navigation included.

• Power Query: Access REST APIs Secured by Basic Auth and API Key

  Querying secure REST APIs from Power Query using API key and Basic Auth headers, covering both authentication patterns with practical examples.