Articles from Melroy van den Berg

Upgrading GitLab server

6 August, 20186 August, 2018 Melroy van den Berg

I got a running GitLab server on my Debian Jessie server. GitLab Community Edition is an open-source git repository manager, but also supports code reviews, wiki’s, issue tracking and much more! GitLab is very similar to Github in a way, however you have full control of the server. You are running your own git server. Normally Github will do all the system administration, upgrades and such for you. They make sure your code is safe and saved no matter what. Since I use GitLab, I need to take care of…

Telegram – Why?

27 December, 201728 December, 2017 Melroy van den Berg

Most of the people know I’m using Telegram. But I never explained the reasons why I use Telegram. Let me explain why I think you should also use Telegram. Telegram is an alternative of WhatsApp. Read the full article, and be amazed by the features of Telegram.

RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 – Cross-platform

24 October, 201723 January, 2018 Melroy van den Berg

I was triggered by a name ‘OpenRCT2’ on the web. I was wondering if that was a game just like 0 A.D. (an open-source re-implementation of Age of Empires). And yep it was, OpenRCT2 stands for ‘Open-source RollerCoaster Tycoon II’! I was thrilled when I discovered this. OpenRCT2 is a re-implementation of the classic hit game called RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 from Infogrames (Atari). Only in US; Rollercoast Tycoon 2 sold 940,000 copies and earned $21.6 million by August 2006. Background For the people who don’t know RollerCoaster at all, it’s…

Git hooks

31 December, 201623 January, 2018 Melroy van den Berg

Recently I found the benefits of using git hooks. I want you explain in this article more about git hooks. What are git hooks in the first place? What for hooks are there? (no I’m not talking about a fish hook). And how to use git hooks in combination in my favorite open-source git server: GitLab. Git hooks A git hook is a way to fire off your own custom scripts (perl, python or bash it doesn’t really matter). These scripts may contain important actions or other things you would…

Pokémon GO – The science behind it

26 December, 201623 January, 2018 Melroy van den Berg

Most of the people know about the new augmented reality game named Pokémon GO. You grep your smartphone go out-side and gonna catch ‘m all. I won’t explain what a gym is or a pokéstop are or even how to battle. Instead I purely focus on how the game technically works, I share some history behind the game. Explaining some bugs and try to predict the future. Also don’t forget to read the ‘Did you know’ section at the end.

Let’s Encrypt – Is your website secure?

22 December, 201623 January, 2018 Melroy van den Berg

I was searching for a good and free TLS certificate which is signed by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA). A CA is an organization for issuing digital certificates. You need to have a Certificate Authority when you want to use HTTPS, secure HTTP web server connections. You know; when you visit a secure web-page (https://) and you will see a green lock-icon in your web-browser. This icon indicates that you have an encrypted connection with this website. In this article I will explain how TLS certification requests normally works and how Let’s…

Why should you upgrade to PHP7?

10 December, 201623 January, 2018 Melroy van den Berg

Developers who running PHP-enabled websites such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento or even PHP frameworks like Laravel and Symfony should know about the new major PHP version. As a developer you should think about switching to PHP7. I will talk about the how-to use it, some history, the benefits of PHP7 and finally how to get PHP7 on your system. And uhm…. what about PHP version 6? Usage About about 98% of the websites are still using PHP version 5.*. PHP 5 is now more than 11 years old, so…

How do I see the future of Technology?

1 December, 201623 January, 2018 Melroy van den Berg

I always like to debate and dream about new technologies and the future. Which is sometimes sci-fi, but most of the sci-fi becomes reality. I would like to share some of my (crazy?) predictions and technologies I think become truth and fully accepted within several years from now.

Switching to English

30 December, 201523 January, 2018 Melroy van den Berg

As of today all my blog articles will be published in English instead of Dutch. I hope to help and reach more people through the universal language in the world: English. Most of the people who are in computers already know English, so it’s a logical step. The website is already in English, however only the articles from today onwards will be published in English. Dutch version below.

Herstel bricked Router

29 December, 201523 January, 2018 Melroy van den Berg

Ik had per ongelijk de Netgear router gebrickt, of in ieder geval de router startte niet meer goed op. Als een apparaat (router, smartphone, game console) “bricked” is, betekend dat hij niet goed geconfigureerd is, corrupte firmware of een hardware problemen heeft. Waardoor het betreffende apparaat niet meer goed kan functioneren. En daardoor zou de router enkel nog bruikbaar zijn als jawel een “brick” (=baksteen). Oopsy!