Who is CTO?

I worked as a technical director in many businesses of different sizes. From startup companies with few employees, to international corporations with tens of branches around the World.

So you can call me the Serial CTO :)

CTO Goals

Company structures are different, business processes are different, people and culture are even more different... The goals for CTO are always the same:

Ensure guaranteed fulfillment of all business tasks using only available human and financial resources.

That is, in short, in one phrase.

What the CTO is actually doing?

The first task for any Technical Director is to select technologies and to build processes that will cover all the necessary business tasks.

The difference lies in the details and limitations:

• Time limits.
• Limited funding.
• Availability of human resources.
• Competition in a business niche.
• The balance between tactical and strategic objectives.

The next big task for the CTO is the creation and development of the technical team.

Why the technical team is important?

The technical team maintains the operability of the technological system, guarantee the fulfillment of business tasks with the proper quality on time.

Depending on the maturity of the business, the balance between tactical and strategic objectives may change. In this case, making changes into the system without stopping work processes is provided by the technical team.

Why some HTML tags disappear in Wordpress?

Do you have Wordpress powered website, and HTML tags like <form></form>, <input />, <script></script> disappear when you are updating the existing post or page?

Congratulation! You also have found a bug in the security of Wordpress CMS...

Change the author of page/post to the current user or just re-login with a proper Wordpress account.

Online tests for Google Analytics and Tag Manager

I've spent a lot of time setting up and testing different actions using Google Global Site Tag.

Moreover there are at least 3 different versions of installation codes for Google Analytics plus Google Tag Manager.

So I've gathered all these codes in one website and added some testing tools there. For example, you can generate any event on the fly.

Installation Codes and On-line Tests for Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager.

PIN stop working on Windows login. Cannot change or reset the PIN.

I was using PIN to unlock my Windows 10 computers for years. But one day my laptop requested Password instead of PIN. Moreover the PIN option disappeared from the Welcome screen completely :(

Finally, I've remembered my password, get logged and decided to set the PIN again.

But System Settings worked weird: "Add New PIN" button was available, but when I clicked it, the system asked for the PIN instead of Password! Moreover, there was no "Reset PIN" or "Forgot PIN" option :(

I've been Googling this bug for about 30 minutes but none of the solutions worked for me… Then I tried to remove the PIN settings manually and solve the problem :)

Here is a step by step instruction:

You need a file manager with Administrator access level and enabled view for "hidden files". You can use Windows Explorer but you have to add permissions for some folders manually.

Go to "[Windows]\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Ngc" folder:

Delete or rename "{xyz}" sub-folder.

Open "System Settings > Accounts > Sign-in Options", press "Add" button and create a new PIN code for your account.

After that the PIN will work on the Login screen. "Remove" button and "I forgot my PIN" options are also available:

Let me know if you have any issues with PIN on Windows login. Just write a comment to describe how and when the problem appeared. Thank you.

Tic Tac Toe game made with Unity3D

Few years ago I was trying to get a job as a game developer. My test task was to make the Tic Tac Toe game using Unity3D game engine.

I didn't get the job but the game worked and looked good. Moreover my C# source code of Tic Tac Toe game is simple and well commented.

So I decided to publish the Tic-Tac-Toe project on GitHub.

Hope the sources of this game project for Unity3D will be a useful tutorial for some game developer or other person who want to learn the programming. Enjoy :)

PHP scripts inside HTML on webserver with FCGId

There are lots of articles how to enable PHP scripts inside .html files using AddType and/or AddHandler directives in the Apache web-server configuration file.

But if you have the hosting with PHP engine is running as FCGId module, all these tutorials will not work or will issued downloading of the binary file instead of opening the HTML content in the web-browser :(

Here is a workaround that works for me, just modify .conf file of your website in the following way:

DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm index.php index.php4 index.php5
<Directory /home/xyz/public_html>
...
RemoveHandler .html
AddType application/x-httpd-php .html
AddHandler fcgid-script .html
FCGIWrapper /home/xyz/fcgi-bin/php7.2.fcgi .html
...
</Directory>

The "magic" comes in AddHandler + FCGIWrapper detectives. Enjoy :)

P.S. If you have HTTP and HTTPS websites, don't forget to configure both Apache .conf files!

Windows 10 - On Screen Tap Keyboard - Tapping Sound Location

Application and resources of "On-Screen Keyboard" for Windows 10 in Tabled Mode are located in "{Program Files}\Common Files\microsoft shared\ink" folder.

Executable file is TabTip.exe, so you can open the Tap Keyboard by pressing Win+R and typing "tabtip" in the command line.

Sound are played from WAVE resources in tabskb.dll library:

There is strange bug with playing sequence of taping sound: the tap sound disappears at all or is played on low volume...

BTW, the option to enable or disable the tapping sound is not shown in the control panel for desktop and notebook PCs without touchscreen!

Also old-school "On-Screen Keyboard" in OSK.exe are still here :)

Press Win+R and тype "osk" as a command.

No Sound from Speaker but Headphones Work?

Some notebooks manufactured by ASUS (maybe by other vendors too) have strange issue with sound output. When all required drivers are installed and everything is properly set, you can not hear any sound from the internal speakers. Only plugged headphones or external audio works...

I was trying different tricks. Even soldered new audio jack connector to the motherboard of my ASUS U36SD notebook. I've spent lots of time, but found the solution! It is not a hardware issue. It is software/driver glitch :)

So if you have the same issue with your notebook: no sound from speakers, but headphones works. Here is the solution:

1. Restart computer.
2. Open BIOS/Setup console, by pressing F1, F2, F10 or Del key depending on your notebook model.
3. Choose "Load Default Settings" option at the beginning.
4. Then search for "Ring on Boot" or "Boot Sound Volume" option(s) and TURN IT OFF or set the volume level to ZERO!
5. Save BIOS/Setup settings and restart computer again.

Now you can hear sound from the internal speaker of your notebook, laptop or tablet :)

Let me know if this workaround helps you and please specify the model of your notebook in comments. Thank you.

BTW, do you know about my Auto Mute software utility to make computer silent by default? :)

Skype freezes and hangs your system?

The best solution is uninstall the Skype and never use it again!

But if you still need Skype application to contact your siblings and co-workers, here is a useful trick

New Design

Old blog template looks bad on huge monitors and there was no mobile version of website. So I fix it by applying some modern theme, hope you'll like it :)

Also I've add some advertising slots. You can purchase something at Alibaba.com and I'll get few bucks. Wish you good shopping ;)