SEP Tips Articles
Beyond Compare: The Diff Tool I Refuse to Live Without
I love boosting productivity. If you’re manually comparing files, squinting at Git diffs, or struggling to sync folders across servers, you’re wasting time and there’s a better way— it’s called Beyond Compare. I’ve been using this tool for over a decade, and I’ve paid for it with my own money. That’s how much I believe […]
A New Approach to Professional Growth: Personalized Learning Paths with Claude AI
Working with teams over the past 25 years, I have often been asked about where individuals should start on Professional Development. While I read a lot and know a good number of people that I can direct individuals to, I am always looking for better resources to help people. Recently, I was working with a […]
Forwarding USB connections through Hyper-V — or anywhere on your network!
My development workflow revolves around virtual machines: I have dev VMs for multiple concurrently-running projects. Some are Windows, some are Linux. My hypervisor of choice used to be VirtualBox, but with the introduction of VBS, VirtualBox has become extremely slow because it’s forced to function under Hyper-V. So I switched to just using Hyper-V by […]
Naming Your Computer: How to Do It & Why It Matters
One of the tools you will be using daily at work is your computer, and that’s why one of your first onboarding assignments is usually naming your computer. Your computer is an extension of you, your interests, and your work! At SEP, we like to give our computers a unique name that feels meaningful to […]
Your personal programming project misses you. How to make more time.
Personal programming projects are a great way to explore new topics. They can allow you a scaffold for exploring new technologies or techniques. They can use a personal interest as a motivator to overcome the trials of learning. But they compete for your limited time with your responsibilities, friends, and family. Sitting down for a […]
UX Writing Best Practices: 8 Principles to Improve Your Product Design
User experience (UX) writing is an often overlooked, but extremely important aspect of any digital product or service. It involves the deliberate use of words and language to guide users through a User Interface (UI), helping them achieve their goals while also providing them with a frictionless and even an enjoyable experience. No matter what […]
Avoid the Hidden Costs of Taking Shortcuts in Software Design
In today’s risk-averse economy, businesses often adopt conservative spending strategies to mitigate risk. This cautious mindset prompts questions about what expenses can be trimmed, delayed, or replaced with more economical alternatives. We have all experienced meetings where questions such as, ‘Is it a necessity?’, ‘Could we postpone it to a later date?’, and ‘Is there […]
Gutting the Phish: How to Spot the Signs of a Phishing Email
Do you remember that Nigerian prince? The one who emailed you in desperation telling you that if you just sent him your bank account, he would transfer you a certain percentage of his vast fortune. After a while, it became part of the cultural zeitgeist, and everyone knew that no prince just wanted to give […]
Keep Your Team Organized with the ART of an Effective Meeting Checklist
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, there’s no escaping meetings. Thankfully, it doesn’t take much to transform a meeting from a waste of time into a purposeful gathering. Laying the groundwork before, running the meeting efficiently, and knocking out action items after the meeting can make all the difference. At SEP, we follow a framework called […]
A Super Simple How-To Guide for Running Lean Coffee Meetings
Almost every time I facilitate Lean Coffee meetings, someone will follow up afterward to ask, “What was that meeting style called? Can you share a ‘how-to’?” Well, I didn’t have one. And a quick Google search, like “how to run a lean coffee meeting,” only leads to long articles, hard-to-parse explanations, and companies trying to […]
How to Write a Support Ticket Your IT Team Will Love
Hi! 👋 I’m Kishan, a Junior Systems Administrator at SEP since 2022, and I know a thing or two about support tickets. One of the exciting parts about my job is helping SEPeers solve issues that may arise from the services and technologies they are using. An essential component of a modern IT department is […]
10 Figma Shortcuts to Improve Your UI Design Proficiencies
Though most shortcuts in work are ill-advised or perceived as lazy, some have proven otherwise. As Figma has exploded in use amongst many in the design field these last few years, almost all SEP’s designers have adopted this tool in their own unique way. Like artists, designers have their own approach to the pieces they […]