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Deploying an Amazon Lightsail Virtual Private Server on a Canadian Datacenter

In the past, I found that AWS was not easy or cost effective for deploying a simple cloud based solutions for popular applications such as WordPress… that is until now. Enter Amazon Lightsail, which abstracts away some of the AWS overhead, along with fixed pricing to rival most VPS providers. But to succeed, some technical chops, and investment in understanding the AWS ecosystem is still very much required.

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Add face-detection to your app with the Machine Learning Kit from Firebase

It’s becoming easier to use machine learning (ML) in your mobile apps, especially with technologies like TensorFlow and CloudVision. But training machine learning models can take significant time and effort, that’s where Google’s Firebase ML Kit can help! Even if you have no machine learning experience, you can use any of the pre-trained models to get a head start. Common use cases include face detection, recognizing text, labeling images, and scanning barcodes. Let’s take a closer look at how the Face Detection API works.

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Going Serverless: Firebase vs AppSync

The benefits of going “Serverless” with your next web or mobile app are becoming too great to ignore. Especially if you’re a solo developer, small team, or startup. As a Full-Stack Developer, I enjoy configuring and maintaining the whole stack. But the back-end overhead is often costly in time and resources, sometimes you just want to launch something as quickly as possible! That’s where using Google’s Firebase or Amazon’s AppSync for your next project can help, so here’s a quick overview of both.

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Vagrant boxes for local development: Laravel Homestead vs Scotchbox pro

If you’re looking to use a preconfigured Vagrant box for your local development environment, you might be wondering which  is better for LAMP/LEMP development.  After spending the last few months using two of the most popular options, I can compare Laravel Homestead to Scotchbox Pro. Let’s find out! Continue reading “Vagrant boxes for local development: Laravel Homestead vs Scotchbox pro”