Introducing AnonymizeReviewer: Remove Author Metadata from Word Docs Without Losing Edits
When you’re collaborating on a Microsoft Word document, tracked changes and comments are essential tools. However, when it's time to share those files outside your team, another concern often arises: the names behind every comment and edit are embedded directly within the document.
There are times when anonymity is important. Whether you’re simplifying client reviews, preparing materials for a broader audience, or just removing unnecessary distractions, Word doesn't make it easy to cleanly strip names without accepting all changes or removing valuable context.
To solve that problem, I created AnonymizeReviewer, a lightweight Python script that lets you anonymize Word files while preserving everything that matters.
How to Extract SSL Certificates from a PFX File on macOS
If you’ve ever been handed a .pfx file and told to “just upload the certificate,” you know the pain that’s coming.
PFX (PKCS#12) files bundle your private key, SSL certificate, and any intermediate certificates into one encrypted file. That’s great until you actually need to extract those pieces for something like an NGINX server, AWS load balancer, or third-party CDN that wants them all separately.
MacOS has OpenSSL built in, which is all you need. Here’s a simple shell script I use to generate the cert, private key, and chain in one shot and make them clipboard-ready for easy pasting.
Supercharge Your Laravel Development and Get AI to Understand Your Models
Hey there, Laravel enthusiasts! Today, I'm diving into a nifty trick that'll make getting AI to understand your Laravel model structures a breeze. We'll harness the power of bash scripting and AI to analyze our migrations quickly and efficiently. Let's get started!
How to Take Ownership of Files and Folders Using PowerShell
Ever had to take ownership of a bunch of files and folders? It's a pain, right? Well, not anymore!
How to enable MacFuse/PCloud Drive on Mac Sonoma 14.2.1
I recently upgraded to Mac Sonoma 14.2.1 and MacFuse stopped loading which affected my ability to load PCloud and NTFS drives. I spent a few days trying to troubleshoot everything and in the end it turned out I had to disable Mac System Integrity Protection to get everything to load. I'm sharing in case it helps anyone else.
To disable SIP on your Mac Sonoma for extensions like MacFuse and pCloud Drive:
How to Delete a Row in Excel Using the Elgato Stream Deck
Recently I was working on a massive Excel Spreadsheet and needed to manually review each entry and clean up rows that were no longer needed. The Elgato Stream Deck came in handy for a quick shortcut so I thought I'd share it in case anyone else can use it.
I took this opportunity to practice creating the first of what I hope are many training videos. This took me around 30 minutes to do from start to finish as I had to learn the video editing software including how to record, how to split and edit, and how to add text overlays. Hopefully the next videos will be faster but it was a fun exercise and I hope someone else finds it useful.
How to Delete Folder with Special Character in Windows 10/11
I ran into an issue where a folder was created by some application with a special Unicode character that Windows Explorer doesn't seem to play nicely with. I also was unable to tell what the character was since nothing would reveal it. The folder's there, but you can't rename or delete it. If I tried to remove or delete it, I'd get an error saying the folder doesn't exist:
How to deploy a React app to Amazon S3 using Gitlab CI/CD
I've been trying to build more CI/CD scripts using Gitlab to automate pipeline deployments for work. Here's a useful one for building and deploying a React app to Amazon S3.
You'll need to add a variable called S3_BUCKET_NAME to your repo or replace the variable with your bucket path.
Windows 7 & 10 How to Bulk Unblock Blocked Files
While setting up a new computer, Windows was throwing up warnings that files transferred from a backup drive might be unsafe. The files were text and images, so the warnings were safe to ignore but the directory had over one thousand files. Rather than unblocking each file manually, Windows PowerShell makes it easy to unblock files in bulk. Load up Windows Powershell:
List of my must-have Alfred Workflows
Use a mac? You'll want to grab Alfred App. I'm finding it an invaluable replacement for spotlight and the workflows allow me to supercharge my workflows. It's so useful that I've purchased the Powerpack lifetime license. In addition to the standard features, here are a list of the most useful workflows for dev/tech: Kill process – by Nathan Greenstein (@ngreenstein) I use it as an activity monitor for CPU usage, and from there I can easily force quit any process if needed. It’s easier to see all processes on the Alfred UI instead of opening Activity Monitor on your mac. There’s also the workflow Kill Application – by Sebastian Hallum Clarke (and also on his site you can find other cool workflows). Timer – by Daniel Bader I use this one a lot. It’s super simple and by writing “Timer” and the number of minutes, you can easily set a reminder. It's great for anyone using the Pomodoro technique or even if you leave something on the stove and want to go back to work. Copy SSH Public Key - By oldcai This one saves me time when I need to deploy my SSH key on a new server. Type 'pk [ssh key file name]' and it'll copy the ssh key to the clipboard. Incognito - by Nedwood I find myself using this when I need to test a page and bypass the cache. Type 'incog [url]' and it'll launch a new chrome window in incognito mode. Find Folder by Samvlu Finds a folder by name. I find this is faster than spotlight in just about every search. Smart Folders by Deanishe List all the Smart Folders/Saved Searches (same thing) on your system and drill down into their contents. Works in much the same way as Alfred's File Filter, but Smart Folders are also available outside Alfred and are a bit more flexible. For example, you can configure a Smart Folder to show all video/audio/image files without having to specify each different filetype individually. If you already use Smart Folders, this workflow can save you the work of re-implementing them as File Filters. What's more, you can exclude specific filetypes with a Smart Folder, which Alfred cannot do. Advanced Google Maps Search by stuartcryan This workflow gives you some quick and dirty shortcuts into Google Maps: Commands: To Configure: mapsethome <home address including street number, name, postcode> (i.e. what you would type into Google Maps) mapsetwork <work address including street number, name, postcode> (i.e. what you would type into Google Maps) Commands for Use: maps <query> - Search Google maps for an address dir <query> to <query> to <query> etc (seperate multiple addresses with " to " minus the quotes, and you will get a multiple location search) dirfw Show directions from Work to address dirfh Show directions from Home to address dirtw <query> Show directions from query to Work address dirth <query> Show directions from query to Home address trafficw - Show traffic from Home to Work traffich - Show traffic from Work to Home StackOverflow Search by deanishe If you use stackoverflow as much as I do, this is a must-have. Date Calculator I find myself needing to calculate differences between dates in my personal life a lot lately. This workflow saves me a lot of time to do that. Want to know how far Christmas is away in days? 'dcalc 12-25-16 - now d' returns the number of days (assuming you're using the US short format like I am). Wifi Control by miroman All my Macbooks periodically have issues with wifi. I've never been able to figure out what's causing it but I use Wifi Control to restart the wifi which allows me to connect successfully. Bugnot by vitor If you use bugmenot at all, this is a useful extension to get logins without loading a new tab. Type 'bn domain.com' and you'll get a list of matching passwords to use.