Daniel D'Agostino

Programming. Writing. Gaming. Music.

Who Am I?

• Software Engineer
• Retro gaming enthusiast
• Maintainer of several websites and tech blogs including:
  • Gigi Labs (2014): latest tech blog, portfolio
  • Programmer's Ranch (2013): earlier tech blog
  • Swords and Software (2006): tech & gaming (non-Ultima) website
  • Dino's Ultima Page (2002): info website dedicated to the Ultima series
• Learning to play music
• Originally from Malta (EU)

Contact

• Email: see my email address
• Not quite active on social media any more

Articles (Selection)

I've written well over 400 articles at Gigi Labs, Programmer's Ranch, and other places. Below is a selection of some of the most interesting and detailed ones.

• Technical
  • Working with Maps in Go (21st January 2024)
  • Running Puppeteer under Docker (3rd April 2023)
  • Project Management is a Graph Problem (8th January 2023)
  • From .NET to GoLang: Here We Go Again (16th November 2022)
  • Filebeat, Elasticsearch and Kibana with Docker Compose (26th August 2022)
  • From .NET to GoLang: Where Did Everything Go? (1st August 2022)
  • Pitfalls of AutoMapper (18th April 2021)
  • Managing ASP .NET Core Settings in Multiple Environments (9th February 2020)
  • Family Tree with RedisGraph (17th November 2019)
  • Using Time-Based One-Time Passwords for Two-Factor Authentication (19th October 2019)
  • Log Shipping with Filebeat and Elasticsearch (19th March 2018)
  • Indexing and Searching Geopolygons using ElasticSearch (27th January 2018)
• Non-Technical
  • Hiring Software Engineers: From Dev to Interviewer (4th December 2022)
  • Surviving in Canton Zurich (30th October 2022)

I've also written 18 professionally edited articles for various (mostly SaaS) company blogs on various technical topics in software development and DevOps, between 2019 and 2021.

Public Tech Talks

See the Public Talks page at Gigi Labs for more details.

• Building Flexible APIs with OData (2020) at Virtual APIDays Helsinki 2020 (virtual) organised by Osaango
• A Practical Introduction to RedisGraph (2020) at RedisConf 2020 (virtual) organised by Redis Labs
• Virtual Actors with Microsoft Orleans (2017) at session organised by Ignite MT
• What's New in C# 6.0 (2015) at session organised by Tech Spark
• Visual Studio 2010: What's in it for Coders (2010) at Microsoft DevDays 2010, organised by Tech Spark and Microsoft Malta
• DirectX: A Brief Overview (2010): winner of the Tech Spark Speaker Idol Competition

Tech Projects (Selection)

• Minesweeper 6 (2026), a 3D Minesweeper clone built using AI
• Minesweeper 5 (2021), a Minesweeper clone built with React
• Picaxo 2 (2016), an image viewer written in C++ using SDL2
• Lilly Notes (2014), a sticky notes application written in C# using WPF
• ImapTalk (2012-2015), a diagnostic tool facilitating interaction with line-based internet protocols, written in C# using WPF

See more at the Projects and Gaming pages at Gigi Labs.

Gaming

See the Gaming page at Gigi Labs for more details.

• Several walkthroughs and detailed game guides:
  • Ravenloft: Stone Prophet walkthrough (coming summer 2026)
  • Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession walkthrough (2024)
  • Menzoberranzan walkthrough (2023)
  • Day of the Tentacle walkthrough (2023)
  • Ultima 1 Guide and walkthrough (2014)
  • Eye of the Beholder 2 walkthrough (2011) and info
  • Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne Bonus (Orc) Campaign walkthrough (2011)
  • The Savage Empire Guide and walkthrough (2006)
  • Ultima: Escape from Mount Drash Guide (2003)
  • Ultima 8 Guide and incomplete walkthrough (2003)
• Speedruns:
  • Fastest Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession speedrun in 1:12:37 (2024)
  • Fastest Menzoberranzan speedrun in 51:47 (2023)
  • Savage Empire speedrun in 15:27 (2021; held the world record between 2020-2025)
• Published reviews:
  • Day of the Tentacle 30th anniversary review published in The Times of Malta (2023)
  • Ravenloft: Stone Prophet review published in The CRPG Book (2018)
• Ultima bugs discovered and investigated (2022):
  • The Savage Empire Portraits Bug: info, repro video
  • The Savage Empire Gold Falls Bug: investigation, repro video
  • Ultima 6 Moon Phase Bug: info, repro video
  • Ultima 6 Zeta Bug: info, repro video
• Websites
  • Swords and Software (2006): tech & gaming (non-Ultima) website
  • Dino's Ultima Page (2002): info website dedicated to the Ultima series

Music

Music has been growing for a while into one of my main hobbies.

• I've been learning to play several string instruments on and off since December 2012
• I've been attending Ukulele Tuesday on and off since September 2018
• I taught ukulele casually between March and July 2025
• I performed "House of the Rising Sun" (singing and ukulele) at the open mic event of the Ukulele Hooley 2025 festival
• From September 2025, I've been getting more involved with Ukulele Tuesday: helping maintain their website, playing a few songs on the bass during Tuesday sessions, and performing at charity gigs with their Community Group
• In February 2026 I joined the Ukulele Tuesday volunteers, helping to organise the Ukulele Tuesday sessions