Greg's Cool [Insert Clever Name] of the Day

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Krypton Toolkit 2.5 Released

"Use the following download link...
www.componentfactory.com/downloads/KryptonToolkit250.msi
Release Highlights

New Krypton Ribbon component added

Performance improvements for custom chrome

Custom chrome support for Vista Glass

A range of bug fixes"

Now you can add a free Ribbon (Office 2007 UI) control to your applications.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

File Helpers 2.0.0 Released

FileHelpers - FileHelpers 2.0.0 Released

"Here do you have all the stuff that keep me busy for a while :P

Here is the download link:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=152382&package_id=169468&release_id=499968

And the History en HTML format with links:
http://www.filehelpers.com/history.html#v2_0_0

..."

The very cool import/export library, FileHelpers, has reached an important milestone, v2.0.

Marcos is a great person and this project is obviously a serious labor of love for him. Congratulations Marcos!

All gushing aside, if you're doing any fixed width or delimited file importing or exporting, you need to check out File Helpers.

Related Past Post XRef:
RegMon to RegFile Utility from Jon Galloway... (another blogger I greatly respect who used FileHelpers in a project...)
FileHelpers 1.6.0 Released
FileHelpers 1.5 Released
FileHelpers Rev’ed to v1.4.0
File Helpers Rev’ed to v1.3.5
FileHelpers Library 1.3.1

1 Hundred and 1 Online Converters (well maybe not that many, but you get the idea)

Smashing Magazine - Online Converters

"Online converters always come in handy. Once you need to perform some operation with your files, they can save your time achieving the same results online, without installing some specific software. In fact, there are many online tools, which convert formats, files and code snippets for free. Some of them are quite specific tools aimed for developers, but some are common “all-rounders”, which manage to convert almost every format to a more popular one. Using them, you can generate .pdf-documents out of images, images out of texts or RSS-feeds out of web-sites. You can also convert any audio- and video-files immediately - the results can be received via e-mail.

..."

This is a nice list of online converters, from multimedia to PDF's to web development to graphic formats and more...

If you need to convert one electronic thing to another format, this is a good starting place to find a web site to do it for you.

PackageThis - Create Custom Offline Collections from the MSDN Library

CodePlex - Package This

"Package This is a GUI tool written in C# for creating help files (.chm and .hxs) from the content obtained from the MSDN Library via the MSDN Content Service. You select the content you want from the table of contents, build a help file, and use the content offline. You are making personalized ebooks of MSDN content. Both help file formats also give full text search and keyword search.

The code illustrates how to use the MSDN Content Service to retrieve documentation from MSDN. It also shows how to build .hxs files and .chm files programmatically.

..."

What stood out for me on this project was its consumption of the Content Service, the public SOAP API to TechNet/MSDN.

The code downloads, complies and runs with no problems. Provided is a simple tree based interface where you select the articles you want included in your custom offline library/package. Then it's a quick Export to HxS or CHM and you've got your package...

(via MSDN and TechNet Labs and Innovations - You Can Take it With You - New CodePlex Project for MSDN2 Content Packaging)

Related Past Post XRef:
MSDN/TechNet Doc's Now Available via Public SOAP API

Monday, April 09, 2007

Using Google/GMail as your .Net SMTP Server

My C# Corner - How to utilize Google gmail server in your.NET Web & Windows Applications

"Did you know you can use your gmail mail server to send and receive emails programmatically for free?

It's true; gmail allows you to use their mail servers to send email from your applications. If you combine that with the ASP.NET System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient class, you are ready to use your free gmail account and server.

..."

In hindsight of course you can do this... If Outlook can be configured to send emails through GMail's SMTP's servers, then so can a .Net app.

I guess sometimes I need to get smacked over the head to help focus my hindsight. ;)

And best of all (IMHO) their SMTP server (smtp.gmail.com) runs on a non-SMTP standard Port (587), and thereby may not be blocked by outbound filters (okay, yeah I know, that's a good thing/bad thing...).

In any case, this is a good bit of info I should be able to use...

(via DotNetKicks - Programmatically send emails using Google mail server and System.Net.M)

Update 4/9/2007 @ 9:42AM PDT:

Sigh... I REALLY should search my own blog before posting...

I blogged about this already last May, "Send E-Mail from your .NET application using your GMail Account"

Dogh!

Saturday, April 07, 2007

"7 Behaviors That Mess Up Communication: Are You Making A Good Impression? "

A Better You Blog - 7 Behaviors That Mess Up Communication: Are You Making A Good Impression?

"Have you ever felt puzzled by how others react to you? Do you want to improve communication in your family, your marriage, or other relationships? Are you wondering how to get along better with others at work? Here are 7 behaviors you can quickly change to smooth out differences and improve communication. Each of these behaviors sends the message that you are better than, more important than, or more valuable than the other person. When you do not want to act this way, are you doing it anyway? Show respect by changing your actions, and create some peace where there is strife.

..."

There are some great tips/points in this post.

Sigh...I seem to have a couple listed areas I need to improve on though (gee, funny that ;)

Still that's the good first step isn't it? Acknowledging that there is room for improvement?

(via Jason Haley - Interesting Finds: April 7, 2007)

Windows Workflow Foundation Web Workflow Approvals Starter Kit

"This starter kit is a Visual Studio 2005 project that demonstrates using Windows Workflow Foundation for simple task oriented workflow in an ASP.NET web application. A workflow model is used to automate work order requests at a small example company. It includes three pre-defined roles which each play a part in the work order creation, approval and monitoring. The starter kit may be modified for other workflow models to suit other small web based task management systems."

This might be useful... A way to wrap your head around WF in an ASP.Net app.

(via Public Sector Developer Weblog - Windows Workflow Foundation Web Workflow Approvals Starter Kit)

Windows Movie Maker 2.6 (Updated for Vista Users who couldn't run it before)

Microsoft Downloads - Windows Movie Maker 2.6

"Movie Maker 2.6 is for Windows Vista users whose computer cannot run the Vista version of Movie Maker.

To test if your computer can run the Vista version of Movie Maker:
1. From the Start menu, click All Programs.
2. Click Windows Movie Maker.

If Movie Maker launches, you should not download version 2.6.

If you get an error message that says, "Windows Movie Maker cannot start because your video card does not support the required level of hardware acceleration or hardware acceleration is not available", download and install Movie Maker 2.6.

..."

Yep, I was one of those people who couldn't run it. I guess it was my Windows Experience of 1.0... ;)

Well with this update/new version I can now run it.

One thing that confused me a little... This download does not replace your existing Vista Windows Movie Maker. It installs an additional copy, side-by-side. Meaning after you install this, you will have two Movie Makers installed.

When you "Start" make sure you select "Windows Movie Maker 2.6". (i.e. if you keep trying to launch "Windows Movie Maker" and not "Windows Movie Maker 2.6" you'll still get the hardware warning...)

Reusable Outlook Style Rules Wizard

Code Project - Reusable Rules Wizard in Outlook style

"Introduction

If you are a regular user of Microsoft's Outlook you may have come across the most useful "Rules and Alerts..." feature. This feature is a great tool to help you automatically manage and organize your emails. The power in this feature lies in the fact that it allows the user to define his or her own set of rules on how he/she would like to have things organized. This gives a great sense of freedom and configurability within an application for the user.

The wizard in Outlook may look very intuitive and easy, however I found that it is actually quit a bit of work to implement this in my own application and faces some challenges. So what I tried to do here is to make a framework where this same concept can be used in your own applications and applied to any type of business objects you are managing in the application. E.g. this could be list of emails such as in Outlook, but also for managing other 'business domain types' such as Contacts, Transactions, Sales, Suppliers, Projects or any other business domain you can think of. The sky is the limit ;-)

In the demo application I have added examples where it is possible to manage a list of customers using the Rules Wizard, simply by defining your own set of applicable rule conditions and actions to be performed that are relevant and tailored for your own application and business domain. I also included an example on how to simply save and load the rules to and from file.

..."

This is a cool bit of work...

Friday, April 06, 2007

TFS Related CodePlex Project List

Buck Hodges - TFS tools on CodePlex (April '07)

"Sébastien Monteil, C# MVP, sent me email about a tool on CodePlex called Fissum, which is a tray app that shows your work items. That reminded me that back in September I wrote a post listing the tools for Team Foundation Server on CodePlex. So I thought this would be a good time to post a new list. It's great to see that the list has gotten quite a bit longer! It's in popularity order, according to the search that I did on CodePlex.

..."

Buck provides a great list of TFS related CodePlex projects. Some from MS (Guidance, Branching, etc), many from third parties...

If you find yourself saying, "I just wish I could do XYZ on TFS..." then check out this list. You might find an answer (or at least the start of an answer) already here...

(via INauseous() - Buck Hodges : TFS tools on CodePlex (April '07))

Enterprise Library 3.0 - April 2007 Released

Microsoft Downloads - Enterprise Library 3.0 – April 2007

"This release of Enterprise Library includes: Caching Application Block, Cryptography Application Block, Data Access Application Block, Exception Handling Application Block, Logging Application Block, Policy Injection Application Block, Security Application Block and Validation Application Block.

..."

Another Enterprise Library release, another statement that I still want/mean to use it... ;)

Update 4/6/2007 @ 8:55AM PDT:

Here's some more good info on this release...

David Hayden [MVP C#] - Enterprise Library 3.0 Released

"...

You get a whole bunch of really awesome enhancements in this new version of Enterprise Library:

New Validation Application Block
New Policy Injection Application Block
New Visual Studio-Integrated Configuration Editor
DAAB support for System.Transactions, Batch Updates, and SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition
Rolling Flat File Tracelistener
WCF Enhancements in all of the blocks
Various Automation Tools like Application Block Software Factory
etc...

I have about 20 - 30 Enterprise Library 3.0 Tutorials as well as several Code Camp Presentation Slides and Demos.

..."

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Ease Use of Vista Task/Common Dialogs with Project Glidepath Windows Vista Bridge Package

Project Glidepath - Project Glidepath Windows Vista Bridge Package now available!

"Today we're releasing a new Project code-named "Glidepath" package that enables you to take advantage of the new Task and Common file dialogs unique to Windows Vista. There is a 5-minute screencast you can watch to see a demo of the Vista Bridge package in-action.
...
Windows Vista contains numerous enhancements that give developers opportunities to deliver an easier-to-use and more optimized User Experience. Some of the new features, however, have only a complex unmanaged interface.

Inside the Windows SDK there is a library called the Windows Vista Bridge that exposes some of these new features for .NET developers but it's not easy to find and, like the unmanaged code, contains a complex API.

The Project Glidepath Windows Vista Bridge package delivers information on the Vista Bridge library and an automated system that actually writes the code to make the calls into the library to deliver 3 kinds of Task Dialogs and the new Vista-only Common File Open and Common File SaveAs dialogs.

The Vista Bridge package works with both Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation and is offered in versions which work with either C# or VB.NET." [Post leached almost in full, just missing a couple paragraphs...]

I've not looked at Project Glidepath much to-date, but this looks kind of interesting...

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Guitar Hero II for the XBox 360

My son and I just went out and picked up Guitar Hero II 360 and wow... I stink! But I don't think I've had more fun stinking at a game than I have at this.

This is our first Guitar Hero game and I can see why it has such a following.

Time to take some Advil (damn, I have to get in shape... Hero shape! ;) and to get ready to play some more...

BYW, here's a good meta-review from XBox 360 Fanboy, As if you need it: Guitar Hero II metareview

Expression Web and Blend Available for MSDN Premium Subscribers (and the Entire Suite to Team Suite MSDN Subscribers)!

Somasegar's WebLog - Listening to your feedback - Expression and MSDN

"When we announced Expression Studio last December, we saw great excitement from both the design and development community – excitement that is clearly reflected in the hundreds of thousands of CTP and trial downloads we’ve already seen. Following the announcement we received a lot of questions about why we did not include some of these products, particularly Expression Web, within customers’ MSDN subscriptions.

...

Based on this feedback, I am pleased to say that we will be making Expression Web available starting today to all MSDN Premium subscribers. We will also make Expression Blend available to MSDN Premium subscribers shortly after the Expression Studio release later in Q2 2007. ...

The decision extends to all MSDN Premium subscribers, including those with Visual Studio Professional and Visual Studio Team Edition’s. For customers that have premium subscriptions to Visual Studio Team Suite, we will be making the entire Expression Studio available to them.

..."

Rock on!

It really bugged me that the Expression tools were not part of my uber Team Suite MSDN Subscription. And there was NO way my boss was going to pony up the funds for these, given what we've already paid for my MSDN subscription...

It very nice to see MS make this move. I feel they've listened to their community and took (IMHO) the right action.

(via AddressOf - "Community Happens")

DockPanel 2.0 Released

DockPanel Suite - DockPanel Suite 2.0 Released

"The Version 2.0 of DockPanel Suite has Visual Studio 2005 look and feel, full RTL support, XP theme support, and more... " [Post leached in full]

Looking for a docking panel/tab UI for your OSS app? Then this might be a great place to start...

Tree Surgeon Now Available on CodePlex

Fear and Loathing - Tree Surgeon has a new home... on CodePlex!

"About a week or so ago Mike Roberts posted a note that he was no longer going to be working in the .NET world as the Java world was taking over at his company. Mike is the author of many blog posts on setting up a development tree in .NET and these blog posts spawned a tool called Tree Surgeon. As Mike was no longer going to be working in the .NET space, he threw out the gauntlet for someone to pickup the maintenance for the tool.

I picked it up as I think it's a great tool and can only improve with time. You can find the new home for Tree Surgeon here on CodePlex.

I've setup all the documentation the same as the original site along with putting out version 1.1.1 (the last release)...."

CodePlex - Tree Surgeon

"Have you ever spent a few days setting up a new development tree? Have you ever spent several days setting up several development trees? Have you even spent weeks trying to perfect all your development trees using a set of best practices?

If the answer to any of the above answers is 'yes', then you'll like Tree Surgeon!

Tree Surgeon is a .NET development tree generator. Just give it the name of your project, and it will set up a development tree for you in seconds. More than that, your new tree has years worth of accumulated build engineering experience built right in.

..."

A cool tool has been resurrected... Nice!

LOTRO (Lord of the Rings Online) "Expansion Preview" (Humor)

You guys know my current addiction is LOTRO. With release coming soon (open beta starts on the 6th and preview purchasers can play already [yes, I already have 2 PC's at the preview/open beta 15 lvl max...] ) well I have LOTRO on the mind.

I say this posted in the LOTRO forums and I am still laughing. The language is mature (think "South Park mature"), so if profanity offends you, you shouldn't visit it...

While it's intended for LOTRO players, if you've played a MMO you'll still get it...

Lotro Expansion Preview

"Lord of the Rings Online is in open beta. At release, the game implements only the first 1/6 of the story. Here is what to expect in the expansions:

The Forming of the Fellowship

Gandalf: 'o.k. merry, pippin, sam. you're going to have to stay in rivendell.'
Pippin: why?
Gandalf: 'we can only fit 6 people in our fellowship and we’re going to need a well rounded group’
Gandalf: 'we'd create a raid, you know, but then none of us would get any xp when we destroy the ring'
Pippin: ok
[LookingForFellowship] Sam: '3 hobbits LFF'

..."

Monday, April 02, 2007

NDepend 2.1

Patrick, of NDepend, emailed me last week letting me know of a cool new feature in NDepend Professional, the Build Comparison feature.

"Demo Build Comparison
Explains how to know precisely what have been changed between 2 builds, how coupling has been impacted and how to detect breaking compatibilities issues. "

After checking out that demo, I thought it was time again to check out NDepend. It seems that I've blogged about NDepend once a year, for the last three years, so I'm due...

NDepend is a "... tool for .NET developers that allows controlling the complexity, the quality and the evolution of .NET code. NDepend analyses source code and assemblies and generates a report. A GUI allows to visualize, zoom and control any part of the code. "

For me, my interest in NDepend is based on the key word, "evolution." I'm looking at it to help me manage not just my code, but the libraries/assembles I rely on. I want to see, in code, what has changed between different versions of the third party assemblies I use.

For example, I use the GData .Net assembly in a couple projects and have a pretty aggressive release cycle. I want to use NDepend to help me determine the differences between the current GData assembly and the one I'm using. To help me determine if I want to actually use it, help me focus my testing on new/changed areas that I'm actually calling, etc, etc.

Also I think NDepend will be critical for me the next time a new, yet already existing project, is thrown over the wall to me... In playing with it, it looks like one great way to visually explore the code and structure of a project. A way to help me get a bigger picture of a project, its dependences, etc.

And last, I like the UI. :)

I have yet to use a treemap in a project, but I keep looking for the right opportunity. NDepend's usage of a treemap makes understanding the code just that much easier.

There are other touches I dig too. The entire UI seems designed to help you deal with lots of data, yet with the ability to zoom in to help you focus on the details too. The Zoom on the grids/pivot tables is pretty cool. It lets you zoom in and out on them, again to let you see the Big Pic or to focus on a specific method... That's pretty neat UI (and something I want in my apps ;).

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You can easily (samples are included) add NDepend reporting/analysis to your build process (MSBuild, NAnt and CruiseControl.NET). So you can get automated NDepend reports with each build...

Okay, enough for now... There's a free trial/Open Source/academic version which, while having limited features, gives you a good feel for the utility.

The Professional version is not hobby coder cheap, but for work not too expensive. It's one of those things that would take you forever to write yourself and when you need it, you'll really need it...

[Full Disclosure Notice: I've been offered a free Professional License if helped create a little buzz about NDepend. But I've been blogging about how cool NDepend is for that last three years, without that incentive... Also I'd blog about the Build Comparison feature anyway, as it's pretty cool and something I can really see a use for. And my wife is not about to let me buy NDepend Pro for my OSS projects, so if I can do something I was already going to do anyway, and get something cool free for it... well... ;) ]

Related Past Post XRef:
NDepend V2 (beta1) Released
NDepend
NDepend 1.0

Visual Studio Management Model Designer (VSMMD) (aka Design For Operations)

David Aiken - Announcing the Visual Studio Management Model Designer VSMMD

"Today we got one step closer to building manageable applications. On codeplex, right now, is the bright shiney new Visual Studio Management Model Designer.

The designer, available on Codeplex at http://www.codeplex.com/dfo , is built upon the Visual Studio DSL. The designer allows Architects to describe a health model including defining Managed Entities, Aspects and Health State Indicators, as well as specifying abstract and concrete implementations for multiple trust levels.

Furthermore the health model can be used to auto-generate the actual .net implementation code for writing events and performance counters. This will significantly reduce the amount of developer effort required to build manageable applications.

..."

CodePlex - patterns & practices - Design for Operations

"...

This project has created two deliverables. First is the Visual Studio Management Model Designer (VSMMD). The VSMMD is a tool for modeling line-of-business health scenarios and the associated instrumentation. The tool includes guidance packages that generate platform instrumentation (called Instrumentation Helpers) and validators to confirm that application source code contains instrumentation defined in the Health Model. Lastly is the Management Guide that contains prescriptive guidance on building highly manageable applications on the Microsoft Windows platform.

The VSMMD also includes a guidance package to export a transformed model to the stand-alone Management Model Designer (MMD). The MMD may be used to continue to model additional management attributes as you progress to the total system view. The MMD also enables you to generate a Management Pack for Microsoft MOM and System Center.

VSMMD is in an early stage of development. It was developed to help raise the Architect and Developer awareness of the needs of the ITPRO..."

Interesting... I like the idea of making it easier for me to build applications that are easier to monitor and manage.

One thing though... I wish they had a "DFO/VSMMD For Busy Developers" summary. On a Monday morning trying to cram the above buzzwords/jargon into my brain is a little tough.

Something like, "DFO/VSMMD will help you, the developer, build applications that IT can monitor, manage and support. For example, it will help you build applications that can be monitored from System Center and/or Microsoft Operations Center. It will help you build into your apps the tools your IT First Responders need to help your clients (i.e. helps them handle the call without the client calling you...)" ;)

There's supposed to be a 300 page doc coming this week with more details. I'll grab that and, if appropriate, post more details...

(via ActiveWin - Announcing the Visual Studio Management Model Designer (VSMMD))

Friday, March 30, 2007

Virtual Earth now covers my city with high resolution images & Birds Eye coverage

Live Maps / Virtual Earth - Virtual Earth Imagery Update for March 29

"...I blogged earlier that the Chicago Birds eye Imagery was online. But that was just a small portion of this 3.8TB update featuring dozens more cities of Birds eye coverage as well as some high res ortho imagery from the Ultracam and GlobeXplorer...

...

United States
Chicago, Ventura County California, Broomfield Colorodo, Pinellas Florida, Charleston South Carolina
..."

Yeah!

Since Virtual Earth came out (MSN Virtual Earth Beta Released (well it will be later today/tomorrow morning) ), it's bugged me that my city had out-dated sat images. I mean OLD images... And that the Google map/earth images were so much better.

Well not any more! The Virtual Earth/Live Maps is now much better, providing newer, higher resolution images and more features (i.e. birds eye view) of my home and town.

It's pretty fun, zooming around my town in Birds Eye mode, seeing things I never knew were there... ;)

Photoshop Vista/Office 2007 Preview Handler Project

The Code Project - Photoshop Preview Handler for Windows Vista

"...

In this article we will create a preview handler for Adobe Photoshop^® (PSD) file....

The goal:

User clicks on a photoshop file (vista_adobe.psd here) in the windows explorer
A readonly preview of the file will be shown in the preview pane as shown above
Number of layers in the PSD file will be shown in the tooltip as shown above
Dimension/Resolution/Color Depth/Compression information of the file will be available to the user
All of these, without the need of an Adobe Photoshop application

Background

The preview handler described here uses a Managed Preview Handler Framework MsdnMagPreviewHandlers.dll which was first described by Stephen Toub here. For those of you who want to jump in and view the preview handler in action can download the zip file containing the framework and Photoshop Preview Handler and follow the ReadMe.txt included...
..."

If you have allot of Photoshop/PSD files I can see where this could come in real handy.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Research Channel - Three Hour Video on Designing .NET Class Libraries

Research Channel - MSR Technical Education Series: Designing .NET Class Libraries

"Produced:
January 22, 2007

Description:
This class presents best practices for designing frameworks that are reusable object-oriented libraries. The guidelines are applicable to frameworks ranging in size and in their scale of reuse from large system frameworks to small components shared among several applications. They started as a small set of naming and design conventions, but have been enhanced, scrutinized, and refined to a point where they are generally considered the canonical way to design frameworks at Microsoft. They carry the experience and cumulative wisdom of thousands of developer hours, over three versions of the .NET Framework.

Speaker(s):
Krzysztof Cwalina, program manager, .NET Framework Team, Microsoft

Runtime:03:40:56" [Description leached in full]

Three hours of free video .Net Class design! Rock on! ;)

Actually it's very cool... And I saw Krzysztof's presentation at PDC2005 and really liked it. It's cool to see a refreshed version...

Also I think this is my first visit to the Research Channel and I'm pretty impressed. There's a ton (3000+ titles) of content and some pretty interesting topics and sessions (like Behind the Code with Anders Hejlsberg).

Time to do a little browsing... :)

(via The Server Side.Net - Designing .NET Class Libraries)

XSD to .Net Class Code Generator

Code Project - An XSD to .NET language code class generator that adds real punch to Microsoft's XSD Tool

"In document-centric environments where data is persisted as XML documents, the need often arises to provide business logic at various stages during the processing of these documents. One way to do this is to use the System.Xml.XmlDocument class to 'front' the XML document and provide a means to modify the data. However, XmlDocument essentially models the XML structure of the document, and not the data structure of the document itself. Another way to do this would be to provide a data-access layer with classes that model the actual data structure and content itself, and provide serialization support to read and write the data to XML streams.

The advantages of the second approach are significant to the code developer and maintainer:

The classes can be re-used in the context of other data composition classes.
The developer works directly with classes and data types that are mostly domain-based, which is semantically easier to understand, more concise to code, and usually the code is a lot easier to read and maintain.
The code is usually easier to update as the data definitions change.
Visual Studio automatically provides intellisense prompting for these data types, so coding is faster and less error prone.

...

If the XSD.EXE generated classes are viewed as data-access classes, looking at the code, one realizes that the code is fairly complex to use and encapsulation is not really provided as all attributes are defined as public fields. In fact, the code, although simple, is quite ugly, and does not conform to many of the practices applied in the production of robust application code.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the XSD tool output code can be modified to provide better encapsulation, robustness, and ease-of-use.
..."

I have a very near future feature where I need to consume a XML file, parse it and match/foreign key it to data in a DB. The producer of the XML file also provides an XSD...

Seeing the above project reminded me of xsd.exe and that this (and the above project) is something I will have to look very closely at (as I want to be as lazy as possible and don't want to write a bunch of parsing/etc code).

The one concern I have is that sometimes (so I'm told) the XSD may change (depending on project/client needs, etc). So that will need be taken into account (where as my cheese parsing could be made to handle that). Maybe the changes will not be dramatic enough to matter? Maybe I can consume the XSD at runtime and do some dynamic code generation. Maybe I'm being lame and xsd.exe doesn't actually do what I think it does (or need it to do)?

Maybe I just need to shut up and and give it a try. ;)

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Open Source Web Design - Web Template Resource for the "Design Challenged"

Open Source Web Design, www.oswd.org

"Open Source Web Design is a site to download free web design templates and share yours with others. We help make the internet a prettier place.

Currently 2080 free designs!

..."

This looks like a great resource for me (because I have a hard time graphically designing my way out of a wet paper sack, with holes on both ends and instructions on the side... ;)

(via Method ~ of ~ failed - open source web templates)

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

CodePlex Source Control Client Beta Released

CodePlex Weblog - Announcing the CodePlex Source Control Client

"A common theme we've heard from our users is the desire to be able to work offline (in the "edit-merge-commit" style) when working on their CodePlex projects. Six months ago, we started working to write such a client that would integrate with our existing TFS server infrastructure, and today we've released our first beta of the client.

The CodePlex Client is a command line client for Windows, and requires .NET 2.0. The online documentation is available here.
..."

Some of the included features are Automated Merging, Anonymous Access and Patch support.

The Patch support looks pretty interesting... But I'll be interested when there's a GUI (sounds like a coding op doesn't it? :)

(via .Net Adventures - CodePlex Source Control Client)

Monday, March 26, 2007

Visual Studio Team System Web Access (formally known as TeamPlain Web Access) now Free

bharry's WebLog - Microsoft Acquires TeamPlain!

"Today we are announcing that Microsoft has acquired DevBiz Business Solutions, the makers of the popular TeamPlain Web Access for Team System. TeamPlain is a web front end for VSTS that enables users to access the majority of TFS functionality from within a Web browser....
...
TeamPlain will become Microsoft Visual Studio Team System Web Access. Effective today, TeamPlain is available, at no additional charge, to users who own a Team Foundation Server and can be downloaded from here. It will be accessible by any user properly licensed with a TFS CAL.
...
What version of TeamPlain are you releasing? - The initial download that is available today is TeamPlain V1.0. After we have run it through the Microsoft release process, we will be releasing TeamPlain version 2.0 as a VSTS Power Tool. V2 includes some cool new features, including Viewing/Managing builds, additional version control capability, AJAX support for a more responsive experience and larger project support, and much much more.
..."

I love free stuff. Especially when it fills a huge hole/need. Not having a web front end has slowed TFS usage where I work ("but our existing system has this web page, why doesn't TFS...", etc, etc) and this should help close that out

Downloading and installing it now (I wonder if I should read something first? Na...installing it on my TFS server now :0

(via How Steve Got Burned Today - TFS: Microsoft Visual Studio Team System Web Access has arrived!!)

New Guidance in the Visual Studio Team System Guidance Project

J.D. Meier's Blog - New Prescriptive Guidance for Visual Studio Team System

"Our patterns and practices team has just released new prescriptive guidance for Visual Studio Team System!

Since my previous post we've made significant updates with the addition of the following content:

Explained: Branching in Team Foundation Server
Explained - Structuring Your Solutions and Projects in Source Control with Team Foundation Server
How To: Perform a Baseless Merge in Team Foundation Server
How To: Step Through Creating a Custom Check-in Policy for Team Foundation Server 2005
How To: Step Through Creating Your Source Tree in Team Foundation Server 2005
How To: Structure Your ASP.NET Applications for Team Foundation Server
How To: Structure Your Source Control Folders in Team Foundation Server
How To: Structure Your Windows Applications for Team Foundation Server
Source Control Practices at a Glance (updated)
Source Control Questions and Answers (updated)
Video: How To - Migrate from VSS to Team Foundation Source Control
Video: How To - Setup Your Source Tree in Team Foundation Server
Video: How To - Structure Your ASP.NET Projects for TFS

This puts us on course to deliver on these main outcomes we have in mind for our Visual Studio Team System Guidance Project

The single best repository of Visual Studio Team System guidance

..."

There's some good info here that I want to take a closer look at...

Saturday, March 24, 2007

VS2005/TFS Get Latest on Checkout Addin

SRLTeam - TFS GetLatest version on check-out Add-In

"Hi everybody,

And again about the famous issue of the TFS version control – Get latest version on check-out. I hear this question from many customers which migrate from VSS to TFS – "How can we configure TFS to get latest version on check-out, like in VSS?".

I wrote a little Add-In for VS2005 that performs silent GetLatest action when the user requests CheckOut. The Utility is configurable through the configuration menu which is located under the "Tools" menu of VS.

..."

Another cool TFS item from the SRL Team...

Friday, March 23, 2007

Windows Desktop Sharing API in Vista/Longhorn (with C# Sample App)

Terminal Services Team Blog - Writing a Desktop Sharing Application

"Windows Desktop Sharing (WDS) API provides a rich set of API to share your complete desktop or just individual applications. Below is a step-by-step guide to write a sharing application. I have chosen C#/.Net to make things simpler and we will be using Visual Studio 2005 as the IDE.

Windows Desktop Sharing API Introduction:
Windows Desktop Sharing API allows a Windows Desktop Session to be shared across multiple viewers. More information on the API can be found on MSDN at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa373852.aspx. You could also refer to the Windows Desktop Sharing API Introduction blog. Windows Meeting Space & Remote Assistance use WDS API for collaboration and assistance scenarios. Similarly, you can write applications to achieve your sharing, collaboration, assistance, administration and deployment scenarios.

Object Model of the API: API currently is published as an in-proc COM DLL (RdpEncom.dll) and is available in Vista. There are 2 primary objects that can be created:

1. IRDPSRAPISharingSession - COM object that enables sharing of desktop
2. IRDPSRAPIViewer - ActiveX control that can be embedded into a host window for viewing the sharing session.

..."

I can see where I could really use this. Think about embedding a feature in your app where with one button a user can share their desktop or app with you (or your support staff, etc). Think "Customized and streamlined Remote Assistance" for your app... That would be pretty cool.

This is now toward the top of my "Why Upgrade to Vista" list. To bad it's going to be a year or two until my users upgrade.

Still now that I know about this API, I'll be keeping an eye on it...

XML Notepad 2007 2.3 Released

Microsoft Downloads - XML Notepad 2007

Microsoft released 2.3 of their XML Notepad 2007 utility...

Based on the local update history a number of features where added, most what I would characterize as minor (but the "Added simple auto-updater to help user know when a new version is available" feature is one I appreciate in an app) and a bucket of bugs addressed.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

GData for Picasa

Google Code Blog - GData for Picasa Web Albums

"The Picasa Web Albums team is pleased to announce the release of the newest member of the GData family, the Picasa Web Albums data API.

Now you can access your albums, photos, comments and tags through a common GData API..."

Now that Blogger has an official picture API, it would be cool if a future version of Windows Live Writer could support it in a future version (since WLW is still beta, maybe prior to RTM? ;)

Medium term, it might be cool to see if I can add Picasa support to my WLW Picture Post plugin...

Related Past Post XRef:
Blogger Get's a New API

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Branching Guidance on CodePlex

CodePlex - Microsoft Team Foundation Server Branching Guidance

"Welcome the the Team Foundation Server Branching Guidance Community Site! The purpose of this project is to build some insightful and practical guidance around doing branching and merging using Team Foundation Server. It's a collaborative effort between industry experts, Microsoft Services, patterns & practices, and VSTS team members.

..."

"Real" source code/project branching is something I'm still wrapping my head around. Coming to TFS from SourceSafe (where project branching/merging wasn't really all that viable) I've been keeping my eyes open for good information on how to best use project level branching and merging.

This looks like a good starting place...

For offline reading, there's a 37 page PDF version of the content.

(via ajoyk - Did somebody say ".NET"? - TFS Branching Guidance in CodePlex)

Free Teamprise For CodePlex - It's a Keeper

Having received my free CodePlex only Teamprise license (see "Free (as in beer) Teamprise license for CodePlex users" for more details), I downloaded and installed the Teamprise Explorer.

It's a keeper...

Sometimes I just need a quick way to check in or out a file (like a readme or doc), add or edit a work item, etc, and firing up VS, going to the project, opening the source control view, yada, yada, yada is overkill.

The Teamprise Explorer is a just the ticket. It's fast, easy and cheap (hard to beat free).

The only very minor issue I had was that you have to remember that URL CodePlex is SSL based. So while the email from Teamprise reminds you to use https://, the connect dialog "Example" server URL doesn't. So of course I forgot to enter https://... dogh.

If you're a CodePlex Project user, you should check this offer from Teamprise...

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

"Free (as in beer) Teamprise license for CodePlex users"

Martin Woodward - Free (as in beer) Teamprise license for CodePlex users

"Today, I am pleased to announce that Teamprise are offering complimentary licenses of the Teamprise client suite for anyone wanting to use Teamprise to connect to an open source project on CodePlex. If you want to take advantage of this offer, see the sign up page.

For those of you who don't know, Teamprise offers three clients to help you talk to Visual Studio Team Foundation Server (TFS) from outside of Visual Studio 2005. They are:-

Teamprise plug-in for Eclipse - A plug-in to TFS that gives you full IDE integration inside an Eclipse based IDE.
Teamprise Explorer - A stand-alone GUI client for TFS that will runs using native look and feel on multiple platforms including Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS X, GTK Linux, Solaris etc etc
Teamprise Command Line Client - A command line client for TFS familiar in operation to Microsoft's tf.exe only ours runs from any platform with the necessary Java JRE

Why are we making this offer? It was a bit of a no-brainier really. We'd heard about some projects that wanted to move to CodePlex but couldn't because some of the developers were not running Windows. We have the necessary technology developed so it would make sense to get it in the hands of as many people as possible. ..."

That rocks. What a great move... A very nice bottom up approach. CodePlex users would likely not pony up the funds anyway, so it's not like they are losing any real sales. But getting their tools into the hands to OSS'ers could drive a good bit of corporate sales...

Personally I'm really interested in their stand-alone GUI (sigh... I guess it's the old SourceSafe user in me I guess.. out demon, out! :)

WinXP SP2 IE6 VPC Image Refreshed

PeteL's Blog - IE6 VPC Refresh

"In my original blog post about releasing the IE6 Virtual PC Image, we mentioned that it would expire on April 1st, 2007 (no, it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke), and that we’d be releasing a new VPC image to replace it sometime in March. Well, I’m happy to report that I propped the new VHD up on Monday morning. You can download the image here. Take note that a free download of Virtual PC 2007 is now available, replacing VPC2004.

I didn’t make any major changes to the image other than adding the latest security updates. I also managed to reduce the download size to just under 400 megs, shaving off almost 100 megs from the previous image size. This image is time-bombed to July 23^rd , but we will continue to release these images as long as they are needed. ..."

Need a free (but timebombed) IE6 WinXP VPC? Then here you go...

Related Past Post XRef:
WinXP SP2 IE6 VPC Image

IcoFX - Free (and Portable) Icon Editor

IcoFX

"IcoFX is an award winning freeware icon editor. It is an all-in-one solution for icon creation, extraction and editing. It is designed to work with Windows XP and Windows Vista icons supporting transparency.

With a wealth of tools and more than 40 effects at your fingertips, there’s virtually no limit to the icons you can create. You can convert your favorite images into icons, or icons into images. With IcoFX you can extract icons from other files, including Windows Vista files. You can easily work with multiple files using the batch processing capability of IcoFX.

Support for Vista icon with PNG compression
Create icons for Windows 98 / ME / 2000 / XP / Vista
Support for transparency (alpha channel)
Batch processing for import, export and extract
Multiple language support
More than 40 effects + custom filter
Resolutions up to 256x256
Data types: 2, 16, 256, True Color, True Color + Alpha
Extract icons from 32 bit exe and dll
Import and export images
Transparent, Brighten/Darken, Blur/Sharpen tools

..."

About twice a year I seem to need to edit an icon and each time I seem to forget which icon editing utility I last used and end up hunting the Net for another.

This one looks pretty cool and one I'll have to try the next time I play my icon game... ;)

(via the Portable Freeware collection - IcoFX Portable V1.5)

VS 2005 Vista Sidebar Gadget Template

Method ~ of ~ failed - vista dev: updated sidebar gadget templates

"i did a quick refresh on my windows vista sidebar gadget templates for visual studio. it is a simple refresh that accomplishes the following:

puts both the VB and C# web project templates in the same visual studio content installer
moves the structure around to demonstrate how to use locale folders within gadgets (see image below)

i get questions on the first one (VB/C# templates) a lot. really there is no difference between the templates, the only reason i created two is so that when you choose "new web site" it will show up under both language options. that's it. gadget development itself is mostly html/javascript (unless you are using something like script#), so the templates are there for convenience only.

..."

A cool Visual Studio 2005 Project template to help you develop your Vista Sidebar Gadgets...

Included are stubs for docked/undocked appearance, gadget settings, flyout, etc.

Note: To use the template, you need to "Create" a new Web Site.

(via Steve Clements - Vista Sidebar Gadget VS template)

Sunday, March 18, 2007

D&D Baby

Scott Kuhl - Dungeons & Dragons Baby

That made me snort-laugh (damn you! ;)

Friday, March 16, 2007

Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 v1.0 Released

SharePoint Developer's Blog - VSeWSS Version 1.0 has been released

"Greetings everyone, from Visual Studio 2005 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 development team.

VSeWSS Version 1.0 has finally been released and is available for download on the web. Please try our official version of VSeWSS and experience the Next-Generation SharePoint development.

Visual Studio 2005 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 version 1.0
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=19f21e5e-b715-4f0c-b959-8c6dcbdc1057&displaylang=en

..."

May come in handy one day...

Advanced XNA Tutorials (Terrain, Flight Sim, Lighting,etc)

Riemer's XNA Tutorials

"Welcome to my XNA Tutorials. On these pages you can find everything you need to start writing your own XNA project! The aim of these XNA Tutorials is to kickstart your XNA programming in the shortest possible time. If you have some basic programming experience, whether it be using Microsoft Visual Basic or Java, you can start coding on your XNA project right away. All the software you need to start writing your XNA application is completely free! On the first page of Series 1 you can find the link where you can download Microsoft’s Game Studio Express.

The XNA Tutorials are presented in series of tutorials. Instead of writing small stand-alone chapters, I've opted to introduce you to the various XNA concepts one at a time, and gradually integrate the new concepts into our project as we move on. This way, you can see a real-use example of all the features explained in the chapters. The major aim of these XNA Tutorials is to produce nice-looking results within the shortest possible time. Let me show you the final screens of the 4 projects we create during the tutorials:

..."

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Sometimes you just need some Hash(es)

James Manning's blog - get-hashes.ps1: Get the hashes (sha256, md5, whatever) for a file

"A slight modification of Mike's version, since sometimes I want md5, sometimes sha1, whatever, and I happen to like the '-' separators :) I think sha256 makes a good default, though.

The other differences are style related and just my personal preference:

optimize for reading instead of writing (I've written and read enough perl in my life to know that it takes effort to make for readable scripts in such a language :)
use scripts instead of functions so you can just add them to your script collection
provide types for your arguments if you require them to be a specific type
check that required arguments are passed

..."

Sorry about the title... It's one of those juvenile jokes in my team (hehehe.. he said "hash"...)

Anyway... This, because of the many hashing algorithms it supports, may come in handy in the future.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Step By Step Guide to Creating a MOSS 2007 VPC Image

How to Create a MOSS 2007 VPC Image: The Whole 9 Yards

"Now that I've finally completed my series of posts describing how to build a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 Virtual PC image for demos and development work, here is a one-stop-shopping index of all 20 posts:

..."

Yep, you read that right... Provided are 20 steps to Microsoft Office SharePoint Services 2007 VPC happiness.

What it doesn't cover is the initial Win2k3 VPC base image creation. For that you can try the MS VHD page and get the Windows 2003 R2 EE VHD. Then again, since that's a trial version, it might be worth creating yourself a new retail Win2k3 reference/base image...

Anyway, if you want to play with MOSS 2007, using a VPC is a great way to do it...

(via Public Sector Developer Weblog - How to Create a MOSS 2007 VPC Image: For those who want to expirement with MOSS 2007)

Windows 2003 SP2 Released

Microsoft Downloads - Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (32-bit x86)

"...

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) is a cumulative service pack that includes the latest updates and provides enhancements to security and stability. In addition, it adds new features and updates to existing Windows Server 2003 features and utilities. SP2 can be installed directly on the following operating systems:

Windows Server 2003 Editions (all 32-bit x86)
Windows Server 2003 R2 Editions
Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 Editions
Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 (SBS 2003 customers - Please read Knowledge Base Article 932600 before installing SP2)

Before installing this service pack please read the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 Release Notes

..."

It's Win2k3 SP2 day!

All the different flavor's (ISO, x64, I64, etc) of SP2 has been released to MS Downloads. The above version is a 372MB download.

Blog Upgrade Complete... That was pretty easy..

If you're seeing this, then my move to new Blogger is complete.

Pretty quick, easy and painless(so far).

Now let's see if I can publish this from WLW....

Update #1: Sigh, that didn't work. Let's try updating the WLW blog settings and try again...

Blog Upgrade - New Blogger Here I come...

I can't seem to log into my Blogger blog anymore without being forced to upgrade...

I'm clicking on the "Old Blogger" link, etc, but all paths seem to force me to the migration.

I really HATE forced upgrades.

sigh...

So I'm going to back up my blog and give the upgrade a go. Keep your fingers crossed.

Quick Search for Team Foundation Server Work Items Addin for Visual Studio

Noah Coad's Code - Search Work Items, Team System Addin

"The ability to quickly and easily search for work items using a little search box seams to be a popular Team System wishlist feature. Teamprise has a Java Team Explorer client, which they say they make sales because of their search capabilities alone.

This plugin puts a little search box right into Visual Studio to make it easy to find work items. It is an addin for Team Foundation Client (Team Explorer) and is accessible from the Team menu when you're connected to a Team Foundation Server and is also avalible from a VS Toolbar. You just type in some search text and it runs a work item query for you showing you results across the work item store.

..."

I found myself wishing for something like this just the other day... Funny how that happens. ;)

(via Microsoft UK Developer Tools Team - Work Item Search Tool)

CORK (ClickOnce Community Resource Kit) Moves to CodePlex

.Net Ramblings Brian Noyes' Blog - ClickOnce Community Resource Kit has found a new home

"For those of you looking for the ClickOnce Community Resource Kit I wrote for the Patterns and Practices Smart Client Software Factory team, you may have found that it has disappeared from its old location on GotDotNet.

...

The download for my ClickOnce Community Resource Kit can be found here:

http://www.codeplex.com/smartclient/Project/FileDownload.aspx?DownloadId=5060"

We'll be seeing these moves from GDN to other repositories allot in the coming months...

Related Past Post XRef:
CORK - ClickOnce community Resource Kit

Monday, March 12, 2007

VS Power Toys Pack Installer 1.0 Released

The JPK Experience - Pack Installer 1.0 Released!

"I'm happy to announce that Pack Installer 1.0 is now ready to go! The changes from Beta 2 to 1.0 have not been huge, but there are some improvements I'd like to call out.

Tool descriptions are no longer truncated to 256 characters. In addition to getting a preview of the description all the time, you can expand the description to see the whole thing, not just the first chunk of it.
Files are now verified to be the correct download before running an installation. Using the MD5 hash of the files we target for download, the Pack Installer checks to see if the file received is the one specified in the feed file. This way you can be sure what you're installing is what you asked for.

..."

Pretty cool...

I really like the idea of a single point of contact/download/info for VS2005 things from MS. It would be very cool to also support third party "toys," Like Reflector, C# Shiznit's VS 2005 add-ins, DPack, etc, etc.

Still it's pretty cool as is (and the C# source being available makes me a happy++ camper ;)

(via ActiveWin - Power Toys Pack Installer 1.0 Released)

Say Goodbye to MSXML4... Start planning your upgrade to MSXML6 now...

Microsoft XML Team's WebLog - MSXML4 is going to be kill bit-ed

"...

As a part of our MSXML4 End of Life plan , we are going to kill bit MSXML4 in the October – December timeframe of this year. Kill Bit applies to Internet Explorer only. After the kill bit , applications will not be able to create MSXML4 objects in the browser.(Add link for killbit) Applications outside IE like C++ apps will continue to work with MSXML4.

We are announcing this in advance so that our customers get sufficient time to try their applications with MSXML6 and give us feedback on their experience...
...
MSXML Supported Versions:

We addressed this in a blog entry http://blogs.msdn.com/xmlteam/archive/2006/10/23/using-the-right-version-of-msxml-in-internet-explorer.aspx
The summary is

MSXML6 - Should be your first choice. This is the MSXML version that will be carried forward. MSXML6 shipped with Vista and we are working on getting this in downlevel OS Service Packs

MSXML3 – This has the advantage of having shipped with every supported OS .We are committed to keeping MSXML3 robust and stable but won’t be adding any functional improvements.

MSXML4 - This is in maintenance mode with a very high bar for fixes approaching End of Life.

MSXML 5 – Exclusively meant for Office. Do not take any dependencies on it.

..."

I just checked a couple of my MSXML apps and it looks like I'm good (i.e. I'm still using MSXML3 in my "AJAX before there was AJAX" apps).

At one level I totally understand this move, but on another I hate forced upgrades...

DPack 2.6.1 Released (Last VS2003 Version)

DPack blog - DPack 2.6.1 is out

"New DPack version 2.6.1 is available for download now. This is a major update that features toolwindow mode support for File Browser. Note: this new version is also the last one to support VS.NET 2003.

Here’s what’s new and changed in this version:

Updated File Browser to work in two modes - dialog (default) and tool window (new) one. New mode is controlled via new ‘File Browser’ configuration options page available from Options dialog.
Added File Browser ‘Ignore File Types’ configuration option.
Restructured DPack Tools menu and combined all items under a single menu called DPack.
Added Code Browser dialog ‘Default Sort Order’ button. It toggles between sort by line number (default) and sort by member name modes.
Removed backup’s ‘Ignore Files’ configuration option.
Reworked General configuration page and added ‘Typical Solution Size’ option. This option is used to control browsers search delay.
Minor Solution Browser UI improvements.
Added ‘Browsers Display Mode’ installation application page.
More installation application updates with Windows Vista compatibility.
Enabled File Browser, Solution Statistics and Solution Backup support for Ruby in Steel solutions.
Fixed memory leak pertaining to all browser features.
Miscellaneous fixes and improvements.

The new version is available at www.usysware.com/dpack/. Enjoy." [Post leached in full]

Lots of goodness in this release... I like the continued Vista updates and also the consolidated DPack menu.

Note the bold [emphasis by the author] note above that this is the last VS2003 release...

Explore In Windows VS 2005 Add-in Updated

C# Shiznit - Explore in Windows Add-In updated - 1.0.0.2

"This is an update I've been meaning to do for some time. This update expands on the initial version in a few ways. Web projects will always be opened in Windows Explorer now, even if the web project was loaded via IIS.

Secondly, the ability to explore an item in Windows Explorer has been added to individual files, solutions, setup projects, and other miscellaneous project types.
..."

This is one of my favorite VS2005 add-ins. I seem to end up using it almost every time I fire up a project...

Related Past Post XRef:
"Explore In Windows" Add-In for Visual Studio 2005

Sunday, March 11, 2007

SharePoint 2003 / WSS 2 2007 DST Patch

Microsoft Downloads - WSS 2003 - Hotfix 18403 - DST2007 update

"...

Because Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services v2 and Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 are built on the Windows SharePoint Services platform, they are affected by the scheduled US daylight saving time (DST) change on March 11, 2007.

This update addresses the problem where some existing items that use Date and Time fields and that are affected by the scheduled DST changes, such as Events, Tasks, Announcements, and Lists may be off by 1 hour, this includes both future and past events.

..."

This patch got by me (i.e. some of my SharePoint servers are now creating items an hour behind). You might want to double check your SharePoint/WSS sites ...

(via ActiveWin - WSS 2003 - Hotfix 18403 - DST2007 update)

Virtual PC 2007 & Linux Sound

Musings, Ramblings, and the Occasional Useful Information - Linux Sound in Virtual PC 2007

"As mentioned in my last posting on OpenSuse 10.2 in Virtual PC 2007, I could not get sound to work. After just installing Mandriva 2007, I encountered the exact same problem. After a little research, I found the answer here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?t=149181

...

As I have already deleted my OpenSuse VPC image, I wasn't able to test and see if it worked, but I can confirm that sound works in Mandriva 2007 (within Virtual PC 2007) with the above steps...."

It's been a bit since I've played with Linux VPC's, but I'm sure I'll get the bug again in the future...

Friday, March 09, 2007

gSyncIt - Freeware Outlook to Google Calendar Sync Utility

daveswebsite.com - gSyncIt

"...

gSyncit for Microsoft Outlook keeps Microsoft Outlook and your Google calendar in-sync. After installing gSyncit and starting Outlook you'll find a new toolbar available to configure gSyncit and synchronize your calendars. You can manually synchronize your calendar or have it automatically sync on a preset interval.

gSyncit works by updating your Microsoft Outlook calendar with your Google calendar entries and then updating your Google calendar with your Microsoft Outlook entries....

...

Product Features

Works manually or automatically.
Supports synchronization of Google calendars to Outlook calendars.
Supports synchronization of events 365 in the past and 365 into the future.
Supports synchronization from Google to Outlook, Outlook to Google, or both.
Uses the Google gData Calendar API's

Pricing Information

FREEWARE"

Joe pointed this out to me yesterday, saying it's just up my ally... Cool Free stuff for Windows, Office/Outlook and Google? Yep, that's me. ;)

I currently have Outlook 2007 hooked to my gmail (Pop3, etc) and it works great, but I miss not having all my calendaring in one place (especially since Outlook 2007's calendaring is pretty cool now). This has kept me from fully utilizing my Google Calendar.

Well this utility may just be the ticket. It's simple, easy, focused and priced to move...

On Vista, make sure you right click, "Run as Administrator" when installing. Besides that it seems to be working well for me on Vista/Outlook 2007...

Also officially cool is that it supports selecting any Calendar folder to sync. So for sanity's sake, I added a new calendar folder to my local gmail pst. Then I set the gsyncit options to use that new folder, set my google userid/password, sync'ed and it was done. No fuss, no muss, sync'ed calendar appointments.

Very nice...

Related Past Post XRef:
Sync Outlook with Google Calendar and more...

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Note to Self: Apply SQL Server 2005 SP2r (Refresh)

HiED West Technology Briefings, News & Training - HIGH PRIORITY PRODUCT SUPPORT ALERT - MAINTENANCE PLAN CHANGES in SQL SERVER 2005 SP2

"...

This issue impacts customers who downloaded SP2 update before March 5th. Customers who download SP2 on or after Monday, March 5th, 2007 will not need take any further action since the refreshed SP2 installation package includes the necessary GDR.

Today, a refresh of the SP2 is available online. If you have not yet installed SP2, you should download the refresh as it includes all fixes for the maintenance issue. SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 refresh is available at: [here]

..."

I've yet to apply SQL 2k5 SP2 to my machines, so the timing on this refresh works out well for me.

I need to schedule some time to get SP2 onto my SQL 2k5 machines... Maybe after the DST dust settles next week?

SQL Server 2005 Performance Dashboard Reports

Microsoft Downloads - SQL Server 2005 Performance Dashboard Reports

"...

The SQL Server 2005 Performance Dashboard Reports are Reporting Services report files designed to be used with the Custom Reports feature introduced in the SP2 release of SQL Server Management Studio. The reports allow a database administrator to quickly identify whether there is a current bottleneck on their system, and if a bottleneck is present, capture additional diagnostic data that may be necessary to resolve the problem. For example, if the system is experiencing waits for disk IO the dashboard allows the user to quickly see which sessions are performing the most IO, what query is running on each session and the query plan for each statement.

Common performance problems that the dashboard reports may help to resolve include:
- CPU bottlenecks (and what queries are consuming the most CPU)
- IO bottlenecks (and what queries are performing the most IO).
- Index recommendations generated by the query optimizer (missing indexes)
- Blocking
- Latch contention

The information captured in the reports is retrieved from SQL Server's dynamic management views. There is no additional tracing or data capture required, which means the information is always available and this is a very inexpensive means of monitoring your server.

Reporting Services is not required to be installed to use the Performance Dashboard Reports.

..."

This might come in handy...

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista Released

Microsoft Downloads - Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista

"...

Overview

If the machine participated in the Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista Beta, please be sure to uninstall the beta first.
During the development of Windows Vista, several key investments were made to vastly improve overall quality, security, and reliability from previous versions of Windows. While we have made tremendous investments in Windows Vista to ensure backwards compatibility, some of the system enhancements, such as User Account Control, changes to the networking stack, and the new graphics model, make Windows Vista behave differently from previous versions of Windows. These investments impact Visual Studio 2005. The Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista addresses areas of Visual Studio impacted by Vista enhancements.

Many of the Windows Vista enhancements are documented at the Windows Vista Development Center.

This download installs the Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista for the following Visual Studio SKUs:

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office
Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition
Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition
Microsoft Visual J# 2005 Express Edition (English Only)
Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Premier Partner Edition
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Architects
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Testers
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Test Load Agent
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Test Load Controller
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Code Profiler
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Explorer

..."

Downloading & installing now...

Also here are the Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista release notes

CueCat Scanner, .Net and Amazon REST Lookup's

Coding4Fun's WebLog - Hardware Boneyard - Using the CueCat with .NET

"...

Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Less than 1 hour
Cost: Less Than $50
Software: Visual Basic or Visual C# Express Editions
Hardware: A CueCat - try eBay or your garage
Download: Download
In this installment of "Some Assembly Required" column, Scott Hanselman borrows Travis Illig's CueCat BarCode scanner and creates a plugin for Windows Live Writer than lets him blog more easily about books he's reading. We decode the bar code info, change UPCs into ISBNs, call Amazon's Web Service via REST and integrate with Windows Live Writer all in one article. Whew!

..."

There were a number of things I found cool & interesting items (CueCat bar code scanning, Amazon REST, UPC to ISBN conversion and the WLW integration) in this article.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Free TFS Outlook 2007 Addin

My VSTS Blog - Team System Outlook 2007 Addin available

"A little while ago, I blog about the Outlook 2003 Addin and what a handy utility this was. Unfortunately at the time it was only available for Outlook 2003. Well the good news today is that the guys from the MS Israel community have released the Team System Outlook 2007 addin so for Office 2007 users the wait is now over.

More Info & Download" [Post Leached in full]

While I'm not going to give up my TeamLook (I totally dig TeamLook, BTW... I can't imagine using TFS without it), the above addin is a option for those who want Outlook-TFS integration but can't/don't want to pay for a commercial product.

For example, for my home/personal CodePlex projects, this may be perfect...

Creators.XNA.com opens

XNA Team Blog - It’s time once more for the Game Developer Conference (GDC) and we’ve got a lot of exciting news to share!

"...

The XNA Creators Club Online community site is open for business!
Head on over to http://creators.xna.com and register for the XNA Creators Club Online community. You’ll find some great content such as:

A brand new starter kit! (Marblets)
Several samples including a skinning (animation) sample using the XNA Framework Content Pipeline!
Downloadable sample games.
New developer forums.
Video tutorials.
Much, much, more!

Join up now, and start contributing! XNA Creators Club members on the Xbox 360 will soon be flagged as Premium members and have access to even more benefits as you’ll find further down. ..."

Because I'm on this XNA kick... ;)

There are a few of what look like cool samples, videos and stuff already on the site.

I like how it's going to be linked to my XBox Live account, giving me additional value/stuff for my XNA Creators Club membership (i.e. it's one more way I can justify the 99 bucks to my wife... ;)

Portable Stick Figure Animation Utility

Portable Freeware Collection - Pivot Stickfigure Animator V2.2.5

"Pivot is an easy program to create stick-figure animations. You can build your own stick figures and load your own backgrounds. The animations can be saved as animated gifs. Some examples are included."

Doesn't everyone need a stick figure animation utility on their thumb drive? ;)

BTW, the source/original site doesn't appear to be up but the download link still works.