Greg's Cool [Insert Clever Name] of the Day: 10/22/2006

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 IDE Enhancements (VS2005 SDK Power Toys)

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 IDE Enhancements

"Visual Studio 2005 IDE Enhancements are a set of Visual Studio extensions that are designed to make you more productive. These enhancements are directly integrated into the Visual Studio IDE. ... Previously, these enhancements were only available via the Visual Studio 2005 SDK. This installation does not require Visual Studio 2005 SDK. [Greg: Emphasis added]

...

Source Code Outliner : The Source Outliner tool is a Visual Studio extension that provides a tree view of your source code's types and members and lets you quickly navigate to them inside the editor.

Visual C++ Code Snippets:...

Indexed Find :...

Super Diff Utility: The Super Diff Find tool is a Visual Studio extension that compares text files. It uses color coding and graphics to show the difference between the files in deleted text (red), changed text (blue), inserted text (green).

Event Toaster Utility:..."

Some interesting utilities/power toys for VS 2005...

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Windows Live Barcode

"What is Windows Live Barcode

Windows Live Barcode is a set of services that transfer information between various media (PCs, billboards, magazines etc.) and handsets via Quick Response Code (QR Code), a two-dimensional barcode. It provides a new method for people to exchange information and enjoy various online services on handsets. Windows Live Barcode aims to enhance handset utility and provide you with more convenience and flexibility.

What is QR Code

The QR Code is a two-dimensional barcode. It contains a considerably greater volume of information in both vertical and horizontal directions than typical barcode in one dimension. "

I thought this a hoax/joke at first. Windows Live Barcode? LOL

But it's not and kind of makes sense.

It's meant to turn your Mobile device/camera in your phone into a barcode scanner.

You create the QR Code, the bar code. Print it, post it on a web site, display it somewhere, put it on your business card, etc. Then with the Live Barcode app on your cell, you take a picture of the barcode. The app then converts that bar code into text or a new Contact.

A QR Code can contain 450 characters of text or a kind of business card.

For mobile devices without a keyboard, it might really come in handy. A low tech, yet very easy method, to share a bit of data.

Here's an example.

If you had the Live Barcode app, you could point your cell phone's camera at your display and take a picture of this QR Code.

The app would translate it into this text;

"My name is Greg Duncan and my blog is Greg's Cool [Insert Clever Name] of the Day at http://coolthingoftheday.blogspot.com/"

I think that's actually pretty darn cool...

(via MS Tech Today - Windows Live Barcode Launches)

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

XNA and VB.Net...

Alan Phipps - Visual Basic 2005 and XNA Game Development

"...

Tutorial 1 - Install and Configure XNA for use with VB.NET

Tutorial 2 - Create and XNA 3D Device

Tutorial 3 - Display a 2D Texture

Tutorial 4 - Create Game Area

Tutorial 5 - Creating a Rotating 2D Texure"

Want to play with XNA, but VB is your native coding language? Then check out Alan's tutorials above.

Alan also points out that The ZBuffer has additional info, tutorials and downloads for XNA & VB.

(via XNA, Managed DirectX and Game Programming - Using VB.Net for XNA Development)

AddDirectoryContent (as Linked Files) VS2005 Add-in

Pascal Belaud [MSFT] - Adding the content of a whole directory in your Visual Studio 2005 project as linked source files? It's now possible with the "AddDirectoryContent" AddIn

"I often need to add the source code content of a whole directory to my Visual Studio 2005 projects

...

If you simply drag and drop a folder in Visual Studio 2005, an actual copy of the files is made, not a link to them.

This is precisely why I have written a Visual Studio 2005 AddIn named Add Directory Content

To download the latest version of this FREE AddIn : http://www.msfrancedev.net/ AddDirectoryContent/ AddDirectoryContentSetup

..."

Very nice and something I'll be able to use soon...

Update #1 10/24/2006 @ 10:58AM PDT:
Fixed broken link (Thanks Nicolai)

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

"SharePoint Explorer Client 2.0 - Community Edition"

The Dot Net Factory - SharePoint Explorer Client 2.0 - Community Edition

"The Dot Net Factory’s SharePoint Explorer is an IE add-in providing end-users and administrators the richest possible SharePoint usage and navigation experience for all SharePoint 2003 and 2007 versions. SharePoint Explorer provides a friendly tree-based interface allowing novice and expert users alike to see all SharePoint sites and content at a glance while providing right-click menus for all common functions

...

Installed on your PC to work with any number of SharePoint servers and sites

Visualizes all SharePoint Areas, sites, Document Libraries, and Lists to any depth

Navigate to any location in a single click

Quick search of any site

Context sensitive right-click menus provide instant access to almost every function

Items counts display for Document Libraries and Lists

My Outlook functionality providing quick access to Outlook while working with SharePoint

Add alternate credentials for accessing different sites with different user accounts

..."

This is a cool IE/SharePoint add-in. I've downloaded and installed it and I think it's a keeper.

It's already helped me make sense and use a number of SharePoint sites. I also like how easy it makes searching a given site.

Yep, it's a keeper.

(via Fear and Loathing - Free Community Edition of SharePoint Explorer)

Paste As Plugin Now Available on Windows Live Gallery

I just got word my Windows Live Writer Paste As plugin has been accepted and is now available on Windows Liver Gallery.

This also is an updated version based on feedback I received when submitting my Text Template plugin... So now I have two CodePlex projects I'll be releasing to Production this week.

IE7 Radio Spot in Los Angeles

Driving to work today, on a AM news station, I heard a 30 60 second radio spot for IE7...

I thought it interesting that that level of investment was made for a free product. And the date, so close to the Firefox 2 release. Coincidence? (Could be, since IE7 shipped late last week.)

When was the last time we heard a paid radio spot for an Internet browser? Brings back memories of the .boom era...

Update 10/24/2006 @ 7:09am (PDT):

IEBlog - IE7 Hits the Street

"...We have the first IE radio spot that I can remember us doing..."

This is a WMA of the spot I heard this morning...

Monday, October 23, 2006

Text Template Plugin Now Available on Windows Live Gallery

I just got word my Windows Live Writer Text Template Plugin has been accepted and is now available on Windows Liver Gallery.

Yeah!

Based on feedback from the WLW team, it's an updated version with a few tweaks and minor (but cool) usability updates. The submitted version is currently available on the CodePlex site as 1.2.4 beta and I'll be rolling it into production this week (I was holding off incase there was more feedback).

(So let's see... I now have it available from three different locations, all of which I need to keep in sync [GotDotNet, CodePlex, Windows Liver Gallery]. Dogh! I'm keeping all future plugin's on CodePlex and Gallery. Two places is enough ;)

As for my other plugin's, my Paste As plugin is already pending approval and I'm not yet ready to submit my Related Post plugin (just need to add a few more features... ;)

.Net Tracing Article from CoDe Magazine

CoDe Magazine - Instrumenting Applications with .NET Tracing

"Application instrumentation gives you the ability to perform runtime diagnosis of enterprise application state, which is critical to mission success. To help with instrumentation and logging, .NET ships with tracing types in the System.Diagnostics namespace. Using these types, you have the ability to log information to multiple output streams for diagnosis of application runtime behavior. Information produced by instrumentation and tracing types enable you to examine the runtime state of an application and fix problems that would be otherwise expensive and painful to solve.

For many small and medium sized programs, it isn't too difficult to find and fix bugs based on reproducible information from users. As applications increase in size and complexity, the ability to figure out what is causing a bug becomes more difficult. On larger enterprise systems you need a way to track what is happening to find out what is causing problems. You must instrument your application so you can turn on tracing that will reveal pertinent information about your program's behavior. ..."

I've known about .Net tracing for forever, but never really used it. But then again, I hadn't built any major .Net apps. (Ton's of utilities and such but few LOB critical apps...)

Well that's changing and I'm starting to build and roll out a number of major apps, so it's time I revisit tracing and trace listeners...

(via http://del.icio.us/siderevs/.net/)

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Future Force Company Commander (F2C2) - Free PC Game Brought to you by the US Army...

SAIC Produces Future Force Company Commander (F2C2)

"(MCLEAN, VA) - Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has created a videogame, Future Force Company Commander (F2C2), designed for the personal computer by the company's Tactical Systems and Solutions Business Unit. The F2C2 videogame was produced to help demonstrate the networked battle command that the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is developing for the U.S. Army.

F2C2 is a real-time tactical strategy game that allows the player to learn about the Army's FCS program by assuming command of a Mounted Company Team in the year 2015. Through game play, F2C2 showcases how FCS can provide the 21st century soldier unprecedented situational awareness, and the ability to see first, understand first, act first and finish decisively.

"SAIC's F2C2 videogame demonstrates the FCS network-centric architecture that is being designed to seamlessly link advanced communications and networking systems with soldiers, platforms, weapons, and sensors," said John Gully, SAIC senior vice president and general manager of the Tactical Systems and Solutions Business Unit.

..."

Game homepage, http://www.saic.com/products/simulation/f2c2/ & http://www.army.mil/fcs/f2c2/

I'm not sure how I feel about these US Army games... On one hand I like free, but on the other they are NOT free as my taxes are paying for them.

I think I'd rather the money go toward actually buying the FCS (or training and equipping our troops, etc). Maybe if the game had in-game ads that went toward paying for the FCS... (LMAO. Now that would be weird... an ad supported Army? Companies endorsing Army Units? [82nd Airborne, brought to you by Tide... ] Ad decals on tanks? I think that might be pushing the free market society a little too far [Ya think? LOL]. But that does sound like a possible game/book idea...)

As a geek and developer, I think this is pretty darn cool. As a taxpayer, I'm not so sure.

sigh...

Still I'm downloading it (674 MB) anyway... ;)

(via Richard Taylor's Blog - The Future Combat Systems Videogame for the PC)