Validate GUID's via RegEx

How to validate a valid GUID Value in C#

private static Regex isGuid = new Regex(@"^(\{){0,1}[0-9a-fA-F]{8}\-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}\-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}\-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}\-[0-9a-fA-F]{12}(\}){0,1}$", RegexOptions.Compiled);

                                    internal static bool IsGuid(string candidate, out Guid output)

                                    {

                                                bool isValid = false;

                                                output=Guid.Empty;

                                                if(candidate!=null)

                                                {

                                               

                                                            if (isGuid.IsMatch(candidate))

                                                            {

                                                                        output=new Guid(candidate);

                                                                        isValid = true;

                                                            }

                                                }

                                                return isValid;

                                    }

This might be handy as use GUIDs a great deal in my API's.
(Souce leached so I can find it in the future by searching my blog... Original code posted on Scott Galloway's Blog)

TaskArrange - Arrange the Taskbar Buttons the Way YOU Want Them

Elias Fotinis TaskArrange :: Arrange the Windows taskbar buttons

"TaskArrange is a simple utility that lets you rearrange the buttons of the Windows taskbar.

Sometimes we open our programs in a specific sequence, to keep their taskbar buttons in a desired order. But what happens if a program crashes or we close it, and then we open it again? That's right - its task button ends up last in the taskbar. Windows itself does not allow us to move the task buttons around, so we are stuck with two options: either accept the new order, or close everything and reopen them in the preferred order. TaskArrange brings an end to this annoyance, by letting us do exactly what we want: reorder the task buttons. ..."

Sometimes when I'm juggling a ton of different things I have a lot of app's running. Mentally switching between them, it helps if their task bar buttons are in a logical order (as apposed to the normal app started order). There's enough on my mind without having to hunt through the buttons looking for App X.

I've been using the TaskBar Sorter for about a year and it gets the job done well but ...

Today I came across another like utility, Task Arrange, which I'm giving a try. One thing I like about it over Taskbar Sorter is that at startup the list of items are sorted as currently shown (i.e. Taskbar Sorter just lists the items in some unknown order). Having the items listed in "as currently shown" order really helps when reordering...

Both utilities are small and thumb drive'able....

(Via SHELL EXTENSION CITY)

Post Post XRef:
The Code Project - Taskbar Sorter Utility

PhotoPlus 6 (and the Quest to become Uber Graphic Man)

Free Image & Photo Editing Software Download - PhotoPlus

"Download Now
Download and register your free image and photo editing software.

Why use PhotoPlus?
PhotoPlus 6 is the fun photo editing software that brings professional image editing to everyone with just a few clicks of the mouse. This free download enables beginners and professionals alike to produce incredible images for print, multimedia and the web.

PhotoPlus in Action
PhotoPlus 6 is incredible image editing software that enables you to create, manipulate, and enhance photographs, bitmap graphics, and web animations. All the tools you need are provided along with handy hints to enable you to achieve totally unique results. ..."

I've had to play "Application Graphics Man" recently which is a very difficult role for me... I've started using Paint.Net and like it. But I'm always looking for a graphics program that turns me into "Uber Graphic Man!"

So the search continues as I check out PhotoPlus 6...

I'm also checking out 3DPlus 2 from Free Serif Software.

(via OnlyTheBestFreeware.com - PhotoPlus)

IIS Reporter - Real Time IIS Connected User Reporting

IIS Reporter - Real Time IIS Reporting

"IIS Reporter a real-time IIS monitor for displaying current connected users and anonymous users. It is currently released as an open source code to be modified and used at your discression. Please feel free to submit suggestions and ideas for changes.

The IIS reporter program source code is currently available at sourceforge. For more information please use the links on the right. ..."

"IIS reporter was created by Jim Becher to make life easier when administrating IIS servers.

" One day I had to update 8 of our IIS servers with a hot fix. I remote connected to each machine and had to run the hot fix. Before running the hot fix I wanted a simple way to check how may people were are the current web server. Instead of going to performance monitor / then adding the current users I decided to create a little application that would show me who was connected. And IIS Reporter was born"
"

I can see where this could help. I've been in the same boat...

(via Richard Dudley - Before You Recycle That IIS Process)

Now This is a Wedding Gift...

The best gift is one from the heart

I'm man enough to admit that this post made me tear up a bit.

Say what you will about the House, this small action by the Honorable John J. Duncan Jr. is something his constitutes can be very proud of... That we all can be proud of.

Sometimes it's the small things that really matter.

God Bless America and keep our troops out of harm's way...

...You kicked It?

ARMOR GEDDON: 12 November: How to Detect Land Mines

"...

"I saw this get uncovered as we was dragging the track from side to side so I kicked it to see what it was."

Underneath the long length of track, under the portion pulled up by the strap, SSG Terry had unearthed a large round flat cylinder. It looked like there were a few more next to it. The thing was about the size of a plastic dog food bowl. It was light tan colored and dirty looking. Like it had been there for a long time.

"SSG Terry. That's a goddam tank mine." I said to him quietly. "You kicked it?"

..."

No one really hurt, so this story is kind of funny (in a gallows humor kind of way). Reminded me of when I was in the Army (Not that I ever had to deal with real landmines... )

It does make me proud of our troops. Our soldiers rock...

How To Pass Parameters to Threads in Windows Forms Applications and Get Results

How To Pass Parameters to Threads in Windows Forms Applications and Get Results

"Launching new threads is easy, but it's not as obvious how you can pass parameters to the threads and get the results back. In addition, accessing Windows Forms controls from multiple threads can cause problems. In this article, you'll see how to pass parameters, receive results, and access controls safely from multiple threads in a Windows Forms application. ..."

I've tried to stay away from multi-threaded app development, not really needing them and not finding a true use case where they were worth the possible problems (yeah, I got bit by the Daniel Appleman's Multi-threading bug...). It's amazing what you can do with just raising a few events and so much easier than dealing with thread sync'ing/safety, etc, etc. "We don't need no stink'n multithreading..." ;)

But that's changing with some of the apps I'm now writing. I hope I can hold off till .Net 2.0, but we'll see...

Anyway this looks like a good article on the subject that I want to review in detail.

Koders.com Officially Launched Today

Koders - Source Code Search Engine

"... I thought you might like to know that this free search tool officially launched today (5/16). What’s new is that users can currently search over 190 million lines of code from more than 28 thousand projects in hundreds of open source repositories. It also now recognizes over 30 programming languages and can identify over 20 software licenses.


What you may not have know is that Koders.com also features a unique Project Cost Calculator that presents a side-by-side analysis of leveraging existing code versus developing it from scratch. Not only does this enable easy assessment of build-versus-buy alternatives, it also provides developers with a quantifiable perspective of their contributions to the open source community. ..."

Just got this email from Scot. Looks like Koders.com has gone live. I still like their nice clean user interface... And 190 million lines of searchable code is pretty cool too... :)

Past Post XRef:
Koders - Source Code Search Engine

MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search (RTW & Win2k3 now Supported)

Find Documents and E-mail fast using MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search

MS's Desktop Search has been renamed (cough... nice name, "MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search" cough...), released and now supports Win2K3.

That's cool... Installing/indexing.

Past Post XRef:
New Microsoft Toolbar/Desktop Search not supported on Win2K3?

A little More Info on Guidance Automation Toolkit (GAT) and the Composite UI Application Block (CAB)

Unleashing the power of GAT+CAB

"In the last two week there was a lot of excitement here at the MS patterns & practices offices.

The two current raising stars, most known as the Guidance Automation Toolkit (GAT) and the Composite UI Applicaion Block (CAB) are finally in the public domain ..."

Here's a post that talks a little more about GAT and CAB. Also includes links to webcasts (which I've registered for 'cause I really want to see these in action...), team bloggers, etc...

Past Post XRef:
Composite UI Application Block
Guidance Automation Toolkit (for VS 2005)

OpenTTD 0.4.0 Released

OpenTTD

"It has been a while, but finally OpenTTD 0.4.0 is out. Things took a bit longer than expected, and everyone was busy, but it is done.

Expect yet another major update. This time bigger maps, 'unlimited' amount of towns, industries, stations, etc., heavily improved and protected network-gameplay, a new, smart, pathfinder, multiple busstops, etc. Too much to say all at once.

Download 0.4.0 right now and enjoy the game!"

Post Post XRef:
OpenTTD 0.3.6 Released

DDL Queries For MS Access

Create Table Query and More Hidden Access SQL Queries

"When I first tried to create tables automatically in Access a couple of years ago, I fell back on my SQL background and went hunting for the Create Table command. But I didn't find it in the help and resorted to using more manual methods. When I was asked this question late last year, I had another look and found that all the SQL table management commands were actually supported. These commands are as follows

Create Table
Create Index
Alter Table
Constraint
Drop table ..."

Just what I needed... I needed a way to easily, via ADO.Net, create a primary index for an Access table (so I can use the dynamic Delete/Update features of the Data Adapter).

I'm glad I can just use a SQL statement to do it... Always nice to leverage my SQL Server skills... :)

Here's another article on this subject from MSDN, Fundamental Microsoft Jet SQL for Access 2000