Home on HexTxt

Compensation

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This policy is valid from November 10, 2025

This is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact hello at hextxt dot net.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

Contact

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Got ideas or comments you want to share?

Email Me

Find Me on Socials:

I can be found on:

X (Twitter)

Privacy

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Notice:

This site does not set or use cookies.
This site does not store data in the browser to be shared, sent, or sold to third-parties.
No personal information is shared, sent, or sold to third-parties.

Effective Date: November 10, 2025

Terms

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Compensation

This is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact hello at hextxt dot net.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

How to Deploy A Phoenix App in a Sub Directory

Sun, 21 May 2023 14:01:14 -0700

Did you know you can host multiple Elixir Phoenix web applications under the same domain without using Umbrella? While you can find people discussing hosting multiple web apps learning how though another story. At least for this beginner how to get things configured was not always obvious.

What started this adventure was a growing fascination with concurrency in programming languages. Which led to Elixir and Erlang’s concurrency capabilities catching my attention.

How to Use the ChatGPT API in Python

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 13:33:03 -0700

The first thing you need to do assuming you have python is to install openai. Using pip:

$ pip install openai

Now you can import openai into your python script. The os module is useful for reading getting OpenAI’s API key from a file or environment variable.

import openai
import os
from pprint import pp

# Need a key from openai.com but don't store the key in the script.
# Read the first line from the secret file where the key is kept.

with open('secret', 'r') as f:
 txt = f.readline()
 key = txt.strip()

# Define additional parameters for the API request
params = {
 "engine": "text-davinci-003",
 "temperature": 0.5,
 "max_tokens": 500,
 "top_p": 1,
 "frequency_penalty": 0,
 "presence_penalty": 0
}

# create a completion

def gpt3_response(prompt, key, params):
 openai.api_key = key

 # Print list of available models
 models = openai.Model.list()

 for model in models.data:
 print(model.id)

 completions = openai.Completion.create(
 prompt=prompt,
 engine=params["engine"],
 temperature=params["temperature"],
 max_tokens=params["max_tokens"],
 top_p=params["top_p"],
 frequency_penalty=params["frequency_penalty"],
 presence_penalty=params["presence_penalty"],
 )

 return completions.choices[0].text
 
# print the completion

prompt = "Write a blog post on advantages there are to having ai write blog content." 
response = gpt3_response(prompt, key, params)

pp(response)

As you can see it really is not very difficult. The hardest part was figuring out where to put the key. I have the key in my .bashrc but Emacs wasn’t reading the environment variables from Linux. Keeping the key in the script is not a good idea either.

Hugo Posts With Featured Images

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 10:37:55 -0700

Last week I spent quite a bit of time messing around with implementing featured images on my blog. The main problem I was having was getting the featured image to display in the link preview on social media sites. Mainly the problem was with Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn for some reason was showing the images while the other two were not.

After some random tinkering I figured some things out. I don’t know if it is optimal or Hugo best practices but it does work for me.

Hugo Workflow, Archetypes, and Other Things of Note

Sun, 19 Mar 2023 08:46:43 -0700

Welcome to the first ever Week in Review from ReplTo! My hope is to make this a regular thing. I often get to the end of a week and look back wondering where the heck all my time went.

Doing a review is really handy. When I reflect on my activities for the week I realize I really didn’t just wander aimlessly through the past seven days. Even better I get new ideas to explore and share with you.

How to Use Python With Excel Files

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 11:14:45 -0700

Ready to leverage the power of Python? If you have data in Excel, Python is just what you need to make the most of those files.

First though you need to get the data into Python. Luckily, reading Excel files is simple and easy. All you need to do is install a few modules.

Using pip install the following. If you are using environments make sure you are working in the right environment.

How to Run the Python Debugger

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 11:16:53 -0700

Are you having trouble getting your python code to run? Luckily, there are a couple of ways to figure out what is causing the errors.

The first is to put print statements near where you think things are going wrong. If the print statement executes you know things were working fine until that point. Add more and move them around until you get to the misbehaving line of code.

Yes, I have too many years of experience doing exactly that painful process. One day though I saw another way.

Review: Asus ZenWiFi AX6600 XT8

Sat, 11 Mar 2023 12:35:57 -0800

Last month (February 2023), my home network was a mismatched collection of Ethernet-Over-Power devices, a couple different WiFi routers, and even a switch somewhere. The network though did its job pretty well.

Until it didn’t, 20 minutes before my wife needed to sign into work.

We had been having intermittent connection issues I blamed on the modem and our ISP. So I wasn’t surprised it happened again I did eventually get everything working in time for work. But worrying about everyting being stable in the wee hours was getting old.

Hugo Custom Font

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 16:15:33 -0800

Sometimes the smallest things can take forever to get done. Such was the case with changing the font for this site ~~RelpTo~~.

Why change?

The old font was okay. I think it was Verdana. A sans-serif font which looked fine and I still am using on my rather non-technical blog. For this blog though there is one little detail which I couldn’t let slide which doesn’t matter on my other site.

Multiple Python Installations

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 08:11:09 -0800

When did Python 1.52 make an appearance in the programming world? Python 1.52 was the first version I used. Still have an old reference book for that version. Time keeps rolling along.

Having spent a couple years or so recovering from my last cubicle burnout experience I feel ready to get back into some tech fun. Having served me well all these years I decided to get my Python mojo back.

Caddy Configuration Notes

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 10:45:55 -0800

In early 2023 I decided I wanted to move my blogs to a VPS. Some time before that I had already moved from Wordpress to Hugo. Which meant all I really needed was a spot to server static files. Maybe a VPS was overkill but I found a cheap one with decent reviews.

Plus, I really do like having full access to my little slice of the server via the command line and Emacs. So for my own future reference and maybe to help you out I am posting an example entry for the Caddy web server configuration file.

How I Learned to Not Hate a Cubicle Job

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 12:38:05 +0000

Cubicle jobs. Some people appear to thrive in their cubicle. I do not.

Maybe I spent too many years doing my own thing while raising my daughters? I don’t know. Spending all day at a desk in a cubicle can feel like torture at times.

It’s not the people or the company. Both are really quite decent. Plus, they moved my desk to somewhere kind of office like and I feel better. Privacy can help. All of that still hadn’t really changed my experience, yet. Things weren’t terrible but ….

Fizz Buzz in Python 3

Wed, 12 Jun 2019 17:21:46 -0700

I got home today from my day job slinging SQL code. Thought I would take a crack at Fizz Buzz in Python 3 after coming across an article by John Sonmez at Simple Programmer.

Though I am pretty sure I originally saw it at Jeff Atwood’s blog Coding Horror via Hacker News or something.

Fizz Buzz is a simple way for an employer to see if a programmer can, well, program. The task is for every number from 1 to 100:

Changing Fonts on Your WordPress Site

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 18:57:38 +0000

This week I decided to change the font I use on this web site. Why? When I first showed the site to my wife and a few other people they thought the domain name was pronounced ox-craft. As in oxen.

Oops. My attempt at a cleverly geeky domain name didn’t go quite like I planned.

Nope, this site is not about oxen related arts and crafts. At least not yet. Of course, who knows what the future holds?

Learning to Break Encryption with Python

Fri, 18 Aug 2017 21:59:53 +0000

Lately, I’ve been giving cryptopals (http://cryptopals.com) another shot. Spring 2016 was my first try and I had made my way to Challenge 6. Not completely happy with my progress I took a break. A long break.

Why am I doing these challenges?

Cryptopals is one of the ways I am using to expand my knowledge in the information security realm. Big take away so far, as I work my way through the challenges I am developing an appreciation for how easy something like writing your own encryption is to screw up.

Windows 8 Taskbar Freezing or Unresponsive

Wed, 27 Jul 2016 01:39:56 +0000

Are you having problems with your Windows taskbar freezing? This is a rather perplexing problem. In my research I found out freezing taskbars are both somewhat common and appear to happen randomly. After helping a client with a freezing workstation I wanted to share what we found.

There are a few common symptoms you may experience when your taskbar freezes:

The clock might have stopped updating the time.
The taskbar icons are non-responsive even though you can click the icons on the desktop to launch programs.
Hovering your mouse over the taskbar icons won’t shift focus to the icon you’re hovering over.

My client had a Windows 8.1 workstation with a frequently freezing taskbar. The taskbar would become unresponsive at least once an hour or more. Typical times it would freeze:

Information Security! My Education Plan Update

Fri, 08 Jan 2016 02:43:00 +0000

Years and years ago. Before my children came along, early in my first marriage, while I was pursuing a career as an airline pilot, not long after college. (This would be in the early to mid-90s.) I became enamored with the security side of computers.

Other career interests and life distracted me from diving deep into the topic. Though every now and then I would get a taste. Securing a compromised web site (comment system on WordPress I believe) or someone finding a port left open and taking over a machine would kick in a delightful mix of my inner detective and problem solver.

Making My Emacs Start Fast(er)

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 22:32:00 +0000

Update: 2023-02-18 Hacker News discussion

In the choice of editors to use I finally decided to go with Emacs. (I really like Vim, too!) As I wade back into the deep end of the software and databases pool Emacs looks like a good fit for me. I like the idea of being able to work with Python, SQL, Matlab, check my email, write blog posts and organize my life all from one application. Especially, now that I have some key bindings that make sense for me!

How Not to be Hypnotized by Software Consulting Clients

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 00:23:00 +0000

This morning I had a fascinating conversation with my friend Bob. He’s been a consultant since forever. Programming since the 70s. We get together weekly to connect and share about life, technology and spiritual matters.

Since I’ve been struggling with how to talk with potential clients and get to their pain points Bob offered to role play this morning. He was playing the prospective client.

Here’s what happened.

Years of practice and training around being in a heart centered space of awareness went out the window. Sure, I was reaching a surface level of engagement. There was no connection building though. Which meant I wasn’t developing trust and rapport. Which meant I was not getting to the HEART of the problem my “client” was facing.

Retro Mac Mini Headless Server Hack

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 23:46:00 +0000

One of my projects this week was to put a Mac Mini I bought in 2006 back to work. It’s been taking up space in a box in the garage for a few years. Okay, the Mini doesn’t take up much space. There’s a lot of computer in a small form factor. Feels kind of wasteful not to be using it for something.

Hacking the Mac Mini

What am I going to do with the Mini? I’m not sure. Some ideas I’ve been tossing around:

Death, Meditation, and Recursion

Tue, 11 Aug 2015 00:46:00 +0000

Today is a day of hypnotherapy, software development, and remembering a new friend in my life. He was called and inspired to serve and relieve the suffering of others. My new friend died recently while out hiking. While I am writing this my wife is with his widow. We don’t know and don’t control when our path in this life transitions to whatever comes next.

Michael Singer’s books “The Untethered Soul” and “The Surrender Experiment” are helping me remember aspects of my growing self-realization. Looking back I feel like in some ways, I took a 25 year detour. Forgetting practices and habits I new were important. I stagnated in fear for a long time. Though what I learned in those years was apparently what I needed to learn. Which can be a little embarrassing to my ego. All part of my path. Including letting go of the embarrassment. Deaths of a kind.

Maximizer CRM Database Export Project Notes

Wed, 22 Jul 2015 00:55:00 +0000

This month I helped a client export data from his legacy installation of Maximizer 11 into Gmail. I’m going to post some of my process for my own future reference. Might help save you some time and frustration, too.

First, I didn’t know anything about Maximizer when I started. So I went on a treasure hunt to find where the data was kept. I would have used the backups but they weren’t current enough. After a bit of research I discovered Maximizer was using MS SQL Server and keeping the databases in the SQL Server DATA directory. Which was very handy. All I needed to do was transfer the databases from my client’s laptop to my system. Then I could export the data using MS SQL Server on my laptop. I could have used my client’s computer but I didn’t want to install MS SQL Server on his system.

Salesforce Explorations for Non-profits

Fri, 27 Dec 2013 01:32:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I started working with a local non-profit. They needed help with customizing Salesforce to keep track of their various volunteers, donors, event participants, and such. Salesforce is one of those SaaS apps I’ve been interested in getting my hands dirty learning. Perfect for both of us!

The first thing that struck me was how much access the developers have with the database. Pretty cool. At least for someone coming from a database admin/developer background. On the other hand I could see why my client found the application so confusing. There is a lot of functionality being exposed.

Quick Tip – Fixing a Dim Screen on my Toshiba Satellite

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 17:12:00 +0000

Late, the other evening I was working on my computer. Since I didn’t expect to be using it for long I didn’t plug it in. Of course, I got distracted and ended up going to bed without shutting it down. No biggie, right? It will just put itself to sleep.

Yes, kind of.

For some reason the battery still ran down over the course of the night. Okay, I must not have had my sleep settings etc. right under Linux. (I dual boot Linux Mint Debian Edition and Windows 7 on this laptop.) Still, no big deal, I’ll plug it in and boot it up, letting the computer charge the battery while I have breakfast.