Ken Dale

Creating A User Readable Timestamp From Cosmos DB _ts Using SQL Query

Wed, 06 May 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Convert Cosmos DB's Unix _ts timestamp into a readable date and time using a SQL query.

Prompt To Benchmark: C# Benchmarking Via GitHub Agent Running .NET In The Cloud

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

A reusable prompt for a GitHub coding agent to create and run C# BenchmarkDotNet benchmarks in the cloud.

Making Friends with Reviews: Providing Great Feedback

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 05:00:00 GMT

A conference talk and summary on providing kind, useful code reviews and actionable feedback.

Return 408 Request Timeout For a Regex Timeout Using ASP.NET Core Middleware

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Return HTTP 408 for regular expression timeouts using ASP.NET Core middleware.

Comparing Template Versions For Azure Resource Manager (ARM), Bicep, or Terraform Using Azure

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Compare Azure resource schemas when updating API versions in ARM, Bicep, or Terraform configurations.

C# List Add Method Missing Items When Count Inspected When Adding Items In An Async Task

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Why concurrent List.Add calls can lose items, and when a concurrent collection can help.

C# Tasks Unexpectedly Running More Than Once (Async Lambda IEnumerable With foreach Loop)

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 05:00:00 GMT

Why enumerating a deferred IEnumerable more than once can unexpectedly run asynchronous work again.

Operating A Wi-Fi Enabled Robot Vacuum / Mop During A Home Internet Outage Using A Smartphone Hotspot

Sat, 22 Jul 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Use a smartphone hotspot to operate a Wi-Fi robot vacuum or mop during a home internet outage.

Previewing DACPAC Deployments By Generating Deployment Reports And Scripts

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Preview DACPAC changes by generating deployment reports and SQL scripts before deploying.

DACPAC Deployments Can Delete/Drop Indexes Not In DACPAC By Default

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Understand how DACPAC deployment defaults can drop indexes that are not included in the DACPAC.

Leniently Parse Comma Separated Configuration Values Using C#

Sun, 11 Jun 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Parse comma-separated configuration values while tolerating spaces, empty entries, and missing values in C#.

Azure Key Vault: Certificate "Download in PFX/PEM format" Not Available

Thu, 25 May 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Enable Azure Key Vault certificate downloads in PFX/PEM format with the necessary secret permissions.

Using Different Email Addresses For Git Commits For Azure DevOps And GitHub

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 05:00:00 GMT

Automatically choose Git commit email addresses for Azure DevOps and GitHub using conditional configuration.

Lessons Learned Implementing a Must Succeed Durable Functions Workflow

Tue, 09 Aug 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Lessons on failure handling, recovery, and instrumentation for a must-succeed Durable Functions workflow.

Setting Regex Timeout Globally Using .NET 6.0 With C#

Fri, 22 Apr 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Set a global regular expression timeout in .NET 6.0 and understand its scope and behavior.

Retrieving ObjectIds In An Azure Active Directory Group Using Azure CLI

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Retrieve the object IDs of Azure Active Directory group members using Azure CLI.

Naming Durable Functions With Prefixes For Application Insights Filtering

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Prefix Durable Functions names to filter orchestration telemetry in Application Insights.

Retrieving All Managed Identity ObjectIds In Resource Group For Azure App Services And Azure Functions Using Azure CLI

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 04:00:00 GMT

List managed identity object IDs for Azure App Services and Functions in a resource group using Azure CLI.

Thoughts On Debugging Durable Functions Extension Orchestrations For Azure Functions Backed By Azure Table Storage

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Debug Durable Functions orchestrations backed by Azure Table Storage using instance IDs, tooling, and logging.

Running Code On Local Computer / Localhost Only Using Azure Functions With C#

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Use AZURE_FUNCTIONS_ENVIRONMENT to run development-only code in Azure Functions with C#.

Debugging Fan-Out Operation Failures With Custom Exception Messages Using Durable Functions Extension For Azure Functions On C#

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Improve Durable Functions fan-out debugging with exception messages that identify failing HTTP operations.

Avoid Exposing Status Uri From Durable Functions Extension For Azure Functions To Untrusted Parties (It Contains A Secret Key!)

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Avoid exposing Durable Functions status URLs containing secret keys, and rotate keys if they are exposed.

IDisposable, IAsyncDisposable, and Tasks: Dispose Behavior With Tasks In C#

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Explore IDisposable and IAsyncDisposable behavior when working with tasks in C#.

Retrieving Managed Identity Access Tokens For Azure Web Apps Using PowerShell Console

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Retrieve a managed identity access token from an Azure Web App's PowerShell console.

Prevent Duplicate Invocations of Durable Functions Using Azure Functions With C#

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Check in-flight Durable Functions orchestrations before starting a potentially duplicate operation.

Get Basic Information For Azure AD Object Ids Using PowerShell

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Retrieve basic information about one or more Azure AD object IDs using PowerShell.

Reverting Azure ARM Template Changes Using Change History And Manual ARM Deployment

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 05:00:00 GMT

Recover an earlier Azure resource configuration using change history and a manual ARM deployment.

SQL ADO.NET Scaler And Reader Sync vs Async Benchmarks Using BenchmarkDotNet, LocalDB, And C#

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Compare synchronous and asynchronous ADO.NET scalar and reader operations with BenchmarkDotNet and LocalDB.

Monitoring Web Application Deployment Impact Using Artillery

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Use Artillery to send requests during a web application deployment and observe its impact.

Dynamic Parameterized SQL Using ADO.NET With C#

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Build dynamic parameterized SQL queries using ADO.NET and C#, including a complete SQLite example.

Limiting Concurrent Operations With SemaphoreSlim Using C#

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Limit concurrent operations with SemaphoreSlim while maintaining throughput in C#.

Thread Safe Lazy Initialization Using C# Notes

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Notes on Lazy, thread-safety modes, and exception behavior in C#.

Troubleshooting Private NuGet Packages With dotnet CLI

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Troubleshoot private NuGet package sources and credentials when using the dotnet CLI.

Keyboard Shortcuts For Efficient Visual Studio 2019 Testing

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Use Visual Studio 2019 keyboard shortcuts to run and debug tests more efficiently.

Using BenchmarkDotNet with Azure Functions

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Set up BenchmarkDotNet to benchmark an Azure Functions application.

Peas&Carrots: The Importance Of Url Encoding Query String Parameters

Tue, 26 May 2020 04:00:00 GMT

Avoid broken query strings by URL-encoding parameter values containing characters such as ampersands.

Coding To Support Both .NET Full Framework and Modern .NET

Wed, 19 Feb 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Support .NET Full Framework and modern .NET with conditional code paths and package references.

Quickstart for Creating a Library Using the .NET CLI

Sun, 02 Feb 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Scaffold a .NET library, solution, and xUnit test project using the dotnet CLI.

Using SQL Server LocalDB with Travis CI Windows Builds

Sat, 05 Jan 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Install SQL Server LocalDB with Chocolatey for Travis CI Windows builds.

Using JavaScript Promises And async/await Together

Sat, 16 Sep 2017 04:00:00 GMT

Examples of using JavaScript promises and async/await interchangeably.

A Minimal UI Visual Studio Code Configuration

Sun, 23 Jul 2017 04:00:00 GMT

Reduce Visual Studio Code interface distractions with a minimal settings configuration.

A Complete Protractor Travis CI Solution for Angular E2E Testing

Mon, 17 Apr 2017 04:00:00 GMT

Configure Protractor and Travis CI for Angular end-to-end testing and continuous integration.

Providing Outdated Browser Notifications Using Angular

Sat, 08 Apr 2017 04:00:00 GMT

Notify users of outdated browsers without depending on an Angular application successfully loading.

Resolving Blacklisted RxJS Import TSLint Error

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Resolve blacklisted RxJS imports in TSLint by importing individual submodules and operators.

TypeScript Constructor Assignment: public and private Keywords

Sat, 04 Feb 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Use TypeScript constructor parameter properties to declare and assign public or private fields concisely.

Run Custom Functionality When Angular Http Errors Occur

Tue, 31 Jan 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Extend Angular Http to run custom functionality when HTTP requests fail.

Comparing Angular NgModule and TestBed Side by Side

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 05:00:00 GMT

Compare Angular NgModule configuration with TestBed.configureTestingModule side by side.

2016: Personal Highlights

Sat, 31 Dec 2016 05:00:00 GMT

Highlights from 2016, including a Microsoft MVP award and speaking at NDC Oslo.

Subscribing to Browser Title Changes Using Angular

Mon, 26 Dec 2016 05:00:00 GMT

Create a subscribable Angular title service to keep an in-page heading in sync with the browser title.

Angular 2 MockBackend Service Testing Template Using TestBed

Sun, 23 Oct 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Test Angular 2 services with TestBed and MockBackend without making real HTTP requests.

Angular 2 Services Testing Template

Sun, 23 Oct 2016 04:00:00 GMT

A simple template for testing Angular 2 services, with optional real HTTP calls.

Angular 2 Component Testing Template Using TestBed

Tue, 18 Oct 2016 04:00:00 GMT

A reusable TestBed template for testing Angular 2 components.

100% Code Coverage Doesn't Mean It Works

Thu, 07 Jul 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Why executing every line of code is not the same as testing that the code works correctly.

Comparing Classes: C# 6, ES6/ES2015 JavaScript, and TypeScript

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Compare class syntax and behavior in C# 6, ES6 JavaScript, and TypeScript.

We Replaced a Multi-Application Home-Grown Authentication System

Mon, 27 Jun 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Lessons from replacing a home-grown authentication system, with an NDC Oslo talk recording.

TypeScript: Where's My C# Style Object Initializers?

Tue, 26 Apr 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Explore object initialization in TypeScript compared with C# object initializers.

TypeScript: Missing Properties When Using Type Assertions

Tue, 19 Apr 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Why TypeScript type assertions do not create missing properties or behave like C# casts.

Lindt Dark Chocolate Percentage EXCELLENCE Bars: Nutrition Comparison

Tue, 05 Apr 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Compare the nutrition of Lindt EXCELLENCE dark chocolate bars with 70%, 85%, 90%, and 99% cocoa.

Can We Make Some Changes First? Pull Requesting a GitHub Pull Request

Tue, 16 Feb 2016 05:00:00 GMT

Help a contributor by submitting a pull request to their pull request branch before merging.

GitHub Issues: Let's Take Action

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 05:00:00 GMT

Take action on accumulated issues to keep your team's work tracking useful and manageable.

Copying App Settings and Connection Strings Between Azure Web Apps

Tue, 12 Jan 2016 05:00:00 GMT

Copy Azure Web App settings and connection strings with the Azure Web App Configuration Copier.

2015: A Personal Recap

Thu, 31 Dec 2015 05:00:00 GMT

A look back at 2015, including conference speaking, music, and personal accomplishments.

Violin Backed by Gibber

Sun, 29 Nov 2015 05:00:00 GMT

Create a live-coded backing track with Gibber for a violin performance, with video and JavaScript code.

Microsoft Windows: Update Chocolatey, Atom, npm, and RubyGems packages cmd Script

Wed, 11 Nov 2015 05:00:00 GMT

A Windows command script to update Chocolatey, Atom, npm, and RubyGems packages.

IEMs and Headphones for Developer Use

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Consider isolation, comfort, convenience, safety, and sound quality when choosing headphones for development.

Integrating Google Chrome With KeePass Using chromeIPass and KeePassHttp

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Connect Google Chrome to KeePass using KeePassHttp and chromeIPass.

Once Per Test Run: Using the Azure Storage Emulator with xUnit.net v2

Wed, 07 Oct 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Use xUnit.net v2 collection fixtures to start and stop the Azure Storage Emulator once per test run.

Starting, Stopping, and Clearing the Azure Storage Emulator in C#

Thu, 01 Oct 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Control the Azure Storage Emulator from C# for local development with blobs, tables, and queues.

Displaying DateTime in Browser Time Zone in ASP.NET Razor Views

Thu, 03 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Display dates in the browser's time zone in ASP.NET Razor views using RimDev.AspNetBrowserLocale.

Sending Silverpop Transact XML Messages with C#

Wed, 06 May 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Send transactional email using the Silverpop Transact XML API from C#.

Trimming Down the Visual Studio 2013 UI

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Simplify the Visual Studio 2013 interface with settings changes and a downloadable editor configuration.

2014: A Personal Recap

Wed, 31 Dec 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Personal highlights from 2014, including public speaking, blogging, and open source contributions.

Exporting All Tickets from Zendesk

Thu, 11 Dec 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Export all Zendesk tickets, including archived tickets, for historical reporting.

Scary Words in Programming: Eventual Consistency

Fri, 31 Oct 2014 04:00:00 GMT

An introduction to eventual consistency and what it means for distributed applications.

Tips for the Aspiring or First Time Technical Speaker

Thu, 02 Oct 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Practical advice on rehearsing, demos, equipment, and enjoying your first technical speaking engagement.

Quickstart for Contributing to a GitHub Repository with a Development Branch

Mon, 29 Sep 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Fork, clone, and contribute to a GitHub repository that uses a development branch instead of its default branch.

Build and Deploy Node.js With Travis CI and Heroku

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Configure Travis CI to build a Node.js application and deploy successful builds to Heroku.

Refactor and Test jQuery/JS Code

Wed, 27 Aug 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Refactor unstructured jQuery code into testable JavaScript with a clear separation of responsibilities.