Daniel Mitchell

A Senior Software and Cloud Engineer based in the UK. Experienced programmer in a variety of languages, technologies and delivering solutions for the AWS Cloud.

AWS Certified

Currently work in a freelance capacity for a number of organisations that include developing and architecting back-end solutions in the cloud, for the web, desktop and mobile devices. Projects as diverse as management systems, cloud hosting, multi-channel communication solutions, telephony and the processing of audio and video media.

Feel free to contact me with your interesting project ideas. Email: me@daniel-mitchell.com

Sign ASL Year Review 2024

2 months ago 1 min read SignASL Year in Review

2024 saw new peaks in usage for the sign language dictionary, www.signasl.org. With a whopping 34,412,937 searches conducted on the platform and 908,000 unique visitors. This was a 6.8% increase from 2023, which had 32,197,037 searches. This continued growth speaks to our commitment to providing comprehensive resources for those learning American Sign Language. Top 50

Sign BSL Year Review 2024

2 months ago 2 min read SignBSL Year in Review

Greetings, British Sign Language enthusiasts! We're excited to share an incredible milestone in our journey to promote and support sign language learning. As we reflect on the year 2024, we’re thrilled to report some fascinating insights and achievements from www.signbsl.com. Record-Breaking Searches: In 2024, our website experienced a significant surge in activity, with 536,288 unique visitors and a staggering

Identifying Valid MX Records to Clean Up Your Mailing List

4 months ago 2 min read Email

When managing a mailing list, one critical task is ensuring that the email addresses in your list are valid. Sending emails to invalid addresses not only clutters your system but also harms your sender reputation, which can affect your email deliverability. One effective way to validate email addresses is by checking their Mail Exchanger (MX) records. What Are MX Records?MX records are

Send email with AWS SES in a CloudFlare Worker

8 months ago 2 min read Email

To send an email via a CloudFlare Worker you will need to call a email provider. AWS Simple Email Service (SES) is a robust transactional email provider that I already use in a number of other projects, and simplifies my billing. However the JavaScript SDK provided by AWS is very large and is not compatible with the CloudFlare Worker runtime. So we will

Unlocking Bank Switch Bonuses with Fifty Pence Direct Debit

9 months ago 2 min read

Switching banks has never been more rewarding. With enticing cash bonuses, interest rates, and other perks, savvy consumers are capitalizing on these offers. However, many of these deals come with a requirement: you need to have active direct debits. But what if you could set up these direct debits without breaking the bank? Enter Fifty Pence Direct Debit, the service that makes it

The Real Cost of Free Transactional Email Services

9 months ago 2 min read Email

When it comes to managing costs, especially ongoing ones, businesses and individuals with side projects alike seek efficient solutions. Email services are no exception. While free email providers can be enticing initially, they come with a serious drawback. Learn from my experience that see that resisting the draw of free email services and opting for paid transactional email services from the beginning is

SignASL year in review 2023

a year ago 2 min read SignASL Sign Language Year in Review

In 2023 32,197,037 searches were made on www.signasl.org a massive +22.5% increase from last year! (This is a 31% higher search volume compared to Sign BSL). Below I have provided a snapshot of the top 50 most searched words during the year. Search Query No. searches % change **** 62,356 96% **** 45,408 109% abortion 37,692 758% you're

SignBSL year in review 2023

a year ago 2 min read SignBSL Sign Language Year in Review

In 2023 24,587,983 searches were made on www.signbsl.com a +4.2% increase from last year indicating a growing interest in BSL which I expect to continue, especially with the plans to allow students to learn BSL as a GCSE subject. Below I have provided a snapshot of the top 50 most searched words. Search Query No. Searches % change from

Partitioned Cookies in C#

a year ago 1 min read C#

As browsers start to phase out 3rd party cookies developers need to start using the partitioned cookie attribute (this is a new feature of Cookies Having Independent Partitioned State CHIPS). This will allow users to login when accessing your site in an iframe whiles maintaining privacy. While blocking 3rd party cookies is not yet set as the default, all the major browsers are

Email Spam Headers

2 years ago 3 min read

One way to help reduce the chances of your emails being marked as spam is to understand email spam headers. Spam headers are the hidden messages that are attached to every email. They contain information about the sender, the recipient, and the content of the email. Two of the most important spam headers are SPF and DKIM. SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework.