Think .Net Cache = System.Web.Caching? .Net 4 has a present for you, System.Runtime.Caching.

Robert MacLean's blog - .NET Baby Steps: Part VII – Caching

“.NET has had one out of the box way to do caching in the past, System.Web.Caching. While a good system it suffered from two issues. Firstly it was not extensible, so if you wanted to cache to disk or SQL or anywhere other than memory you were out of luck and secondly it was part of ASP.NET and while you could use it in WinForms it took a bit of juggling.

The patterns & practises team saw these issues and have provided a caching application block in their Enterprise Library which has been used by everyone who did not want to re-invent the wheel. Thankfully from .NET 4 there is a caching system now included in the framework which solves those two issues above. This is known as System.Runtime.Caching.

…

…”

.NET Framework Class Library -  System.Runtime.Caching Namespace

“The System.Runtime.Caching namespace contains types that let you implement caching in NET Framework applications.

The output caching functionality and types in the System.Runtime.Caching namespace are new in .NET Framework version 4. The classes in this namespace provide a way to use caching facilities like those in ASP.NET, but without a dependency on the System.Web assembly.

The caching types that are provided in this namespace offers the following features:

• Caching is accessible to all .NET Framework applications, not just ASP.NET.

• Caching is extensible.

• You can create custom caching providers. For example, instead of using the default in-memory cache engine, you can create custom providers that store cache data in databases, in custom objects, or in the file system.

…

…”

So much to learn… (which is why I LOVE this job! :)

BTW, while you’re there checking out Robert’s post, make sure you check out the rest of his very cool “.Net Baby Steps” posts.

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0 and Unity 2.0 RTW (& EntLib 3.x, 4.x to 5.0, Unity 1.x to 2 Migration Guide)

“If you want users to RTFM, write a better FM”

>kloctalk - If you want users to RTFM, write a better FM

“…

In the end, it probably comes down to this: Make tools usable. Then technical communicators can spend more time creating truly helpful help, and less time explaining a bad UI.

If our goal as communicators is not just great help, but a great product, Agile makes more sense than ever.  If we want our usability suggestions to be implemented, we need to get developers’ attention while they’re working on that feature. …

…”

This slide made me snort-laugh…

As a “developer” it’s important to not stop at the slide but continue reading. Remember your Doc Team isn’t “a pain,” isn’t “fluff,” isn’t “extra overhead” but are a very important part of the team.  They can be your “canaries” and provide that first critical feedback on a new feature or capability (i.e. if you show them something and they fall over dead, you might want to rethink it…).

We all want to provide a great product. I guess the key, for me at least, is to remember what makes sense to me, might not be all that clear to others (NO! Say it isn’t so!  lol)

(via Global Nerdy - Kathy Sierra: “Make a Better FM”)

PowerShell Community Extensions (PSCX) 2.0 Released – New Cmdlets, PowerShell 2 and XCopy, oh my

PowerShell Community Extensions - 2.0 Production

“Released: May 10 2010

…

The primary purpose of the Pscx 2.0 release is to convert from the previous approach of using a PSSnapin and scripts over to a completely module-based approach. As a consequence, Pscx 2.0 only works with Windows PowerShell 2.0. If you need support for Windows PowerShell 1.0, you can still download the Pscx 1.2 release. The other major change is that Pscx no longer uses an MSI installer. In fact, the "install" is merely an xcopy deployment of the Pscx module into your modules folder (~\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules).

…

NEW CMDLETS

• ConvertTo-Metric
• Get-AlternateDataStream
• Test-AlternateDataStream
• Remove-AlternateDataStream
• Unblock-File
• Get-LoremIpsum (lorem)
• Get-TypeName (gtn)
• Get-Uptime
• Get-FileTail (tail)

…

…”

CodePlex - PowerShell Community Extensions

“Project Description

PowerShell Community Extensions (PSCX) is aimed at providing a widely useful set of additional cmdlets, providers, aliases, filters, functions and scripts for Windows PowerShell that members of the community have expressed interest in. …

PSCX Makes It into Scott Hanselman's Big Ten Life and Work-Changing Utilities

We're honored by such lofty praise. We hope that you also find PSCX to be a very useful addition to your Windows PowerShell toolkit.

…”

Always good to see a cool project continue to grow and improve…

(via Keith Hill's Blog - PSCX 2.0 Released)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
PowerShell Community Extensions V1.1.1 Released
Cool Command line utility of the day: clip

Extra .Net 4 Parallel Extension goodness in the Parallel Extension Samples, with RTM updates and a few new Projects

Dr. Dobb's and Intel Go Parallel Programming - .NET 4 Parallel Extensions Also Have Powerful Extras

“…

.NET Framework 4 includes the new Parallel Extensions. They offer the new task-based programming model, PLINQ (short for "Parallel Language Integrated Query") and many other features to tackle the multicore and manycore revolution.

Parallel Extensions Extras is a complementary project that isn't part of the .NET 4 classes but it has been developed by Microsoft. As these extras include the source code, you can also tailor them for your specific needs. The extras are a bit hidden because they are included in one of the projects within the Parallel Extension Samples. The direct link to download its recently updated latest version is http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/ParExtSamples/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=4179. So, if you download these samples for parallel programming with .NET 4, you can find and inspect the "ParallelExtensionExtras" project that contains all the extras organized in many folders, as in the next picture that displays the contents for this project in Visual Studio 2010 Solution Explorer.

…

…”

I’ve blogged about this project before, but the above article prompted me to check it out again. Looks like it’s been updated for the .Net RTM and new projects have been added… :)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
“Samples for Parallel Programming with the .NET Framework 4” gets some VB love…

[Insert Three Hour Tour and/or TPL Report Joke Here] - “A Tour of Various TPL Options” – 28 page free ebook about parallel programming options in .Net via the Task Parallel Library (TPL)
TPL (That is, Task Parallel Library) Article of the Day: “Parent-Child Task Relationships in the .Net Framework 4”
[.Net 4.0]: Get your Parallel Extensions here… All baked in and part of the Core…. Get your Task Parallel Library here…

Getting “Cloud Ready” on demand - Windows Azure FireStarter event recordings now available (We’re talking 8 hours of event video…)

ISV Developer Community - Windows Azure FireStarter Videos Up on Channel 9

“The videos from the Windows Azure FireStarter event in Redmond are now available for on Channel 9. You can watch or click to see the videos: …”

Windows Azure FireStarter 

“…

Maybe you've already watched a webcast, attended a recent MSDN Event on the topic, or done your own digging on Azure. Well, here's your chance to go even deeper. This one-of-a-kind event will focus on helping developers get ‘cloud ready’ with concrete details and hands-on tactics. We’ll start by revealing Microsoft’s strategic vision for the cloud, and then offer an end-to-end view of the Windows Azure platform from a developer’s perspective. We’ll also talk about migrating your data and existing applications (regardless of platform) onto the cloud. We’ll finish up with an open panel and lots of time to ask questions.

…

8:30 am - 9:00 am	Event Kickoff	View Now >>
9:00 am - 10:30 am	Platform Overview for Developers	View Now >>
10:45 am - 11:45 am	Windows Azure Storage	View Now >>
11:45 am - 12:30 pm	SQL Azure	View Now >>
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm	Building Applications for the Cloud	View Now >>
2:45 pm - 4:15 pm	Migrating Applications to the Cloud	View Now >>
4:15 pm - 5:00 pm	Panel and Close	View Now >>

That’s a good bit of Azure goodness…

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Increase your dev skill cloud compatibility level – Attend the free, all day, Windows Azure Firestarter event (even if you can’t make it to Redmond… yep, via all day online simulcast…)

VB 10/2010 & Dotfuscator CE Users: Patch for Dotfuscator Community Edition 5.0.2300 (i.e. what shipped with VS2010) affecting VB.NET RTM Projects. Get the 5.0.2400 patch…

PreEmptive Solutions - Patch Released for Dotfuscator Community Edition 5 Affecting VB.NET RTM Projects

“A late breaking change in the RTM version of Visual Studio 2010 causes the included version of Dotfuscator Software Services Community Edition (version 5.0.2300) to fail to build new VB.NET projects with an “Encountered nooptimization at line X” message.  A patch is available to update Dotfuscator and is available at http://preemptive.com/support/dotfuscator-support” [GD: Post Leached in Full]

PreEmptive Solutions - Dotfuscator Support

Note that when you download and apply this patch, you’ll be prompted with a Remove/Repair dialog. Hit Repair and the patch will be applied (which I’ve confirmed by looking at the version numbers before and after).

(via Alvin Ashcraft's Morning Dew - Dew Drop – May 9, 2010)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
CodePlex projects now get free application analytics data hosting. PreEmptive Solutions' Runtime Intelligence Service + CodePlex = Cooler Project Reports

HTML Agility Pack gets LINQ’able (and more) in the new v1.4 release

Html Agility Pack - 1.4.0 Stable

“…

Release Notes

1.4.0 Adds some serious new features to Html Agility Pack to make it work nicer in a LINQ driven .NET World. The HtmlNodeCollection and HtmlAttributeCollection now generic ILists and expose IEnumerable<T> methods to mimic LINQ to XML. This opens an alternative to XPATH for querying the HTML tree. Beyond this 1.4.0 introduces tons of code cleanups and removal of all old non-generic classes (no more arraylists :).

1.4.0 also brings basic msdn like documentation and a new program called HAP Explorer for viewing the HTML tree.

Changes from Beta 2.

• The biggest changes are better support for character encoding and support for medium trust environments.
• Removed DescendantNodes() function since it was identical to the Descendants() function.
• Patch# 4706. Added UserAgent property to HtmlWeb class to be used in webrequests. Minor update to code supplied by radicull
• Patch# 4432 . Applied HtmlEntity decoding of UniCode html entities supplied by tsai
• Patch# 4396. Applied UTF-8 changes from JudahGabriel
• Applied JonGalloways HAPExplorer patch
• Added Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 Solution
• Fixed compatibility in Medium Trust environments. Added a default list of extensions and content types to be used when the registry is not available.
• Updated Charset detection to use a Dictionary<string,string> instead of arraylists of NameValuePair
• search tag support in HAPExplorer

…”

CodePlex - Html Agility Pack

“What is exactly the Html Agility Pack (HAP)?
This is an agile HTML parser that builds a read/write DOM and supports plain XPATH or XSLT (you actually don't HAVE to understand XPATH nor XSLT to use it, don't worry...). It is a .NET code library that allows you to parse "out of the web" HTML files. The parser is very tolerant with "real world" malformed HTML. The object model is very similar to what proposes System.Xml, but for HTML documents (or streams).

Html Agility Pack now supports Linq to Objects (via a LINQ to Xml Like interface). Check out the new beta to play with this feature

Sample applications:

• Page fixing or generation. You can fix a page the way you want, modify the DOM, add nodes, copy nodes, well... you name it.
• Web scanners. You can easily get to img/src or a/hrefs with a bunch XPATH queries.
• Web scrapers. You can easily scrap any existing web page into an RSS feed for example, with just an XSLT file serving as the binding. An example of this is provided.

There is no dependency on anything else than .Net's XPATH implementation. There is no dependency on Internet Explorer's MSHTML dll or W3C's HTML tidy or ActiveX / COM object, or anything like that. There is also no adherence to XHTML or XML, although you can actually produce XML using the tool. The version posted here on CodePlex is for the .NET Framework 2.0. If you need the old version, please go to the old page or drop me a note.

…”

I’ve used this project for a number of years and it’s saved me countless hours… If you’re doing HTML parsing then you owe it to yourself to check out this project

(via J-Maxx Net - Html Agility Pack 1.4.0 Released)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
HTML Agility Pack (Think Managed HTML DOM Parser, with XPath)
.NET Html Agility Pack

The one Microsoft Demo VM to rule them all? (Think “Win Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 R2, VS2010, SharePoint 2010, Office Web Apps 2010, FAST, Office Com Server, Exchange 2010, Office/Project/Visio 2010…”) [Now with Download URL’s for FDM]

Microsoft Downloads - 2010 Information Worker Demonstration and Evaluation Virtual Machine (RTM)

“This download contains a two Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Virtual Machine set for evaluating and demonstrating Office 2010, SharePoint 2010 and Project Server 2010.

Version:	TBD
Date Published:	5/8/2010
Language:	English
Download Size:	1 KB - 18566.9 MB*

…

Virtual machine “a” contains the following pre-configured software:

1. Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Evaluation Edition x64, running as an Active Directory Domain Controller for the “CONTOSO.COM” domain with DNS and WINS
2. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition with Analysis, Notification, and Reporting Services
3. Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007 R2
4. Microsoft Visual Studio 2010
5. Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise Edition
6. Microsoft Office Web Applications
7. Microsoft FAST Search for SharePoint 2010
8. Microsoft Project Server 2010
9. Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010
10. Microsoft Visio 2010
11. Microsoft Project 2010
12. Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2

Virtual machine “b” contains the following pre-configured software:

1. Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Evaluation Edition x64, joined to the “CONTOSO.COM” domain
2. Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Active directory has been preconfigured over 200 “demo” users with metadata in an organizational structure. All of these user profiles have been imported and indexed for search within SharePoint Server 2010.

…

Evaluation Period:

The Virtual Machines contained in this package are 180 day evaluations.  Additionally they will require activation, or re-arming, after a 10 day period after which they will shut down after 2 hours of continuous operation.  To "re-arm" the Virtual Machines use the shortcut provided under Start > All Programs > re-arm > Re-arm Windows (restart required).  This will reset the grace period for 10 days.  This can be done twice.  In order to activate Windows you must add a second network card to each VM in Hyper-V and connect it to the Internet.  Once connected you can activate Windows within the Virtual Machine and the VM will run for 180 days.

…”

That’s quite the VM. A little something for everyone, IT, Dev or DBA… :)

 

Update #1 5/9/2010@10:15AM PDT:

Here’s the direct download URL’s (i.e. feed these to Free Download Manager [FDM] or like utility…)

http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part01.exe
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part02.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part03.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part04.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part05.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part06.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part07.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part08.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part09.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part10.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part11.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part12.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part13.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part14.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part15.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part16.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part17.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part18.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part19.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part20.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part21.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.part22.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7a.sfv
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7b.part01.exe
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7b.part02.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7b.part03.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7b.part04.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7b.part05.rar
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/2010-7b.sfv
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/C/67CB77BF-3B90-4DA8-9840-CD17D7E82562/2010-7%20External/Virtual%20Machine%20Setup%20Guide.docx

Play Space Paranoids! (Yes, that “Space Paranoids”… cough… Tron… cough… )

Wired Game|Life - Play Tron’s Fake Arcade Game, Space Paranoids

“Space Paranoids never appeared in arcades and never really existed, but now you can play the classic Tron videogame online.

The fictional company Encom launched a browser-based version of Space Paranoids Thursday that is free to play (no quarters required).

Space Paranoids is the fictional videogame created by master programmer Kevin Flynn in the 1982 movie Tron. The slick new browser game, a promotional piece for the forthcoming movie Tron Legacy, was announced at a fake press conference at WonderCon in San Francisco last month.

Despite being an ad, Space Paranoids does a remarkable job of re-creating the look and feel of the phony game we saw in the old Disney movie.

…

…”

Come on, you KNOW that’s cool!  :)

Password Scrambler releases Google Extension – Safe passwords the simple and easy way now in all three major Windows browsers

Password Scrambler

“Password Scrambler is a browser add-on that allows you to automatically generate secure, hard-to-guess passwords for every site you visit, based on a master password of your choice. It achieves this by uniquely "scrambling" your password for every site you visit.

Password Scrambler helps you address problems related to using the same password in multiple sites, a practice that results in security vulnerabilities.

Think about the following questions:

• Do you use the same password everywhere?
• How many password-protected sites do you go to?
• Can you remember all the passwords you use, or do you end up using the same password everywhere?
• What if one of these sites was compromised, and your password was stolen?
• Do you use multiple passwords and keep forgetting which one to use where?
• Have you ever frantically tried every password you know in the hope that's the right one? What if the site is recording all those attempts, and thus learning all your passwords?

Use Password Scrambler instead - it's free, it's convenient, and it helps you be more secure!

…”

Password Scrambler - Download

This has been my password utility of choice for a number of years now. It’s simple, doesn’t require ANY kind of storage (local or web) and makes password creation/management painless and easy. Oh yeah, it’s free too… ;)

Use this utility, or another (like keepass, etc) but use something. These kinds of utilities allow you to use one password to unlock and use many passwords, site unique passwords… So it’s like using one everywhere but you’re not! (i.e. having your cake and eating it too, etc, etc)

IE:

  

Chrome;

FireFox;

CodePlex projects now get free application analytics data hosting. PreEmptive Solutions' Runtime Intelligence Service + CodePlex = Cooler Project Reports

Port 25 - CodePlex Users get Application Analytics Data

“The latest update to CodePlex, Microsoft's Open Source software project hosting repository, brings integration with PreEmptive Solutions' Runtime Intelligence Service, which lets users instrument their applications to get analytics on their runtime usage.

While CodePlex has long offered reports on what user activity occurs on the project Web site, what happened after the user downloaded the software was unknown. Now, using the analytics capability of this application, CodePlex users can see information like how many people are using the application.

The Runtime Intelligence Service lets developers inject usage instrumentation directly into application binaries. When the application is run by an end-user, the instrumentation will collect analytics data from the application, but no personally identifiable information is ever collected, and applications can include opt-out dialogues.

…”

CodePlex Weblog - Application Analytics and Browsing Forks

“With today’s release, CodePlex users now have the ability to instrument their applications to get analytics on their runtime usage. CodePlex has long offered reports on what user activity occurs on the project website, but what happened after the user downloaded the software was unknown. Now, using this new application analytics capability, CodePlex users can see information such as how many people are using the application.

This capability is provided by the new Runtime Intelligence Service from PreEmptive Solutions. The Runtime Intelligence Service allows for developers to inject usage instrumentation directly into application binaries. When the application is run by an end user, the instrumentation will collect analytics data from the application. No personally identifiable information is ever collected and applications can include opt-out dialogues.

CodePlex users instrument their .NET applications via the latest release of Dotfuscator Software Services Community Edition included in Visual Studio 2010. Application analytic reports will then be available on CodePlex from the project statistics page with the ability to view more advanced statistics through a portal hosted by PreEmptive Solutions.

…

…”

That’s pretty cool. I dig the thought, where this is leading, of a single dashboard for your source available/OSS project. Where not only the code, discussions, doc’s, work items, etc is hosted but also post-deployment runtime information too. Counting downloads is one thing, but see how often an app is run is something totally different.

But PLEASE use this intelligently. Allow your users opt-in. If you opt them in automagically you will lose there trust and your app will pay the price. Again, only use this for users who opt-in. Period.

Now if only CodePlex would add [Guess what feature I’m going to ask for… ;]

 

Related Past Post XRef:
How do you know if your users are using a given application and/or feature? Or how often they are using it? Check out the free, included with VS2010, “Dotfuscator Software Services - Community Edition”

ADO.Net Data Services Update for .Net 3.5 SP1 - With added Feed customization, Office/SharePoint 2010 integration, enhanced blob and more (Think “ADO.Net Data Services .Net 3.5 SP1+++”)

ADO.NET Data Services Update for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 or ADO.NET Data Services Update for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

“The ADO.NET Data Services framework consists of patterns and libraries that enable the creation and consumption of REST-based data services for the web. This update to the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 provides additional features which extend the functionality provided in version 1.0 of the ADO.NET Data Services framework

Version:	3.5
Knowledge Base (KB) Articles:	KB982307 & KB982306
Date Published:	5/6/2010
Language:	English
Download Size:	1.7 MB - 10.8 MB*

The ADO.NET Data Services framework consists of patterns and libraries that enable the creation and consumption of REST-based data services for the web. This update to the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 provides additional features which extend the functionality provided in version 1.0 of the ADO.NET Data Services framework.
The ADO.NET Data Services Update for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 provides the following new features and improvements:

• Built-in integration in Microsoft Office 2010 now makes it simple to expose Microsoft Office SharePoint Server data as a data service and access that data using the ADO.NET Data Services client library.
• Custom Data Service Provider support now makes it easier to build an ADO.NET Data Service over any data source.
• A new DataServiceCollection class has been added that supports rich two-way data binding. The new collection implements automatic change tracking on client side objects created using the ADO.NET Data Services client library.
• Feed customization, provides a rich and flexible way to shape and modify the structure of ATOM feeds produced by an ADO.NET Data Service. Modifying the structure of the ATOM feed produced by the ADO.NET Data Services makes it possible for third-party clients that can consume an ATOM feed in a custom format to consume feeds from an ADO.NET Data Service.
• Enhanced blob support for streaming large binary objects to/from a data service. Support has also been added to the ADO.NET Data Services client library to provide the ability to upload and download binary objects (such as: images, videos, documents, etc.) from an application created using the library.
• Server-driven paging allows a service author to limit the size of the result set returned by a query; this gives the service author a new level of control over the network bandwidth and computation time required to process any request.
• A new select query option allows the result of a query to be projected into an arbitrary type; projecting gives the client the ability to request a specific set of properties of an entity. Reducing the number of properties requested in a query reduces processing time and network bandwidth for the request.
• The option to request a count of the number of entities in a set and the option to include the total count of the number of entities in the set when a query returns a partial result.
• Request pipeline improvements give the service author greater control and customization ability over various stages of query processing.

…”

There’s a number of cool items here for .Net 3.5er’s

“Money for nothing…” - Microsoft Money, Sunset Edition. Get Money for free, without activation DRM (and without links to online services)

Microsoft Downloads - Money Plus Deluxe Sunset

“Money Plus Dlx Sunset is a replacement for Money Plus Standard, Dlx, and Premium sku's which shipped with digital rights management that required activation of the product.

…

File Name:	USMoneyDlxSunset.exe
Version:	17
Date Published:	5/6/2010
Language:	English
Download Size:	34.0 MB

Microsoft Money products since Money 2007 have utilized a digital rights management system which required users to activate their product at or shortly after setup. Now that the Microsoft Money product line is nearing the end of its supported lifecycle, the activation services will also be ending. To enable users the ability to continue to use Microsoft Money manually, (without online quotes or online banking services), Microsoft is releasing "Money Plus Deluxe Sunset", and a "Money Plus Home and Business Sunset". The Sunset skus do not require activation, and come preconfigured with no online services, thus allowing users access to their Microsoft Money data files.

…”

We’re talking full on Microsoft Money for free, no activation, etc. This is great if you have been using MS Money and need access to the data files but were concerned about the impending end of life…

From the download (when run);

And when finished;

Doing LOB apps in Silverlight? Wondering how to help your IT guys get SilverLight 4 deployed to your users? “SilverLight Deployment Guide v4” – 34 Pages to make you a hero to your IT (well… at least not hated… ;)

msigeek - Silverlight Deployment Guide v4 is available for Download

“Early last week the new version of the Silverlight Deployment Guide went live and can be found on the Silverlight Resources page.

This guide is great for any enterprise who wants to deploy, manage, or troubleshoot the installation of Silverlight version 1-4 in their corporation.  The previous version 2 of the guide has more than 100,000 completed downloads to date.

The major new additions since the previous versions of the guide are:

…

…”

From the Doc;

“This guide helps you to plan and carry out a corporate deployment of Silverlight. The guide describes the system requirements and deployment methods, as well as the techniques to maintain and support Silverlight after deployment.

…

The Silverlight™ Deployment Guide documents the options and processes involved in deploying Silverlight to user's computers that are running Windows® 2000 with Service Pack 4, Microsoft® Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Server® 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista® or later Microsoft Windows operating systems in a network environment. Silverlight also installs on Apple Mac OS X (install files created by Microsoft) and on Linux (via Novell’s Moonlight product), but these deployments are outside of the scope of this document.

To learn more about Silverlight, go to http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight.

This guide should be used during the planning phase of your Silverlight deployment project. The information provides key points of guidance for a deployment project. It is not intended as a step-by-step guide, and not all of the steps described in this guide are necessary for deploying Silverlight in every environment. This document is valid for versions 1 through 4 of Silverlight and possible later versions

…

With its full trust, COM, printing and device capabilities SilverLight 4 has a bright future for LOB app’s. But getting SilverLight 4 itself actually deployed may be hardest part. This guide seems like a good start down that road…

 

Related Past Post XRef:
SilverLight 4, RIA Services, MEF and MVVM, oh my… A four part series from the mind of Shawn Wildermuth (updated for VS2010/SL4 RTM)
Looking for a little help moving from WinForms to WPF? How about a “toolbox-centric” Quick Reference Guide?
Interested in Silverlight 4? Here’s a free Silverlight 4 Training Course and downloadable materials
“Getting Started with Silverlight and Expression Blend” (SilverLight v4, Blend v3) DZone Refcardz
.toolbox Free online Silverlight/Blend and/or Design training (or the “I’m a developer, can you teach me how to design?” site )
Expression Hands on Labs/Tutorials - Introduction to Silverlight, Styling and Skinning, DeepZoom, SketchFlow and New Blend 3 Features

CodeRush Xpress for C# and Visual Basic for Visual Studio 2010 (aka v2010 1.1 [1.2] and/or 10.1.1 [now 10.1.2]) released and still very free (registration not even required)

MSDN Visual Basic Developer Center - CodeRush Xpress for C# and Visual Basic inside Visual Studio 2010

“CodeRush Xpress is a powerful developer productivity tool from DevExpress. Microsoft has made arrangements with Developer Express to make its CodeRush Xpress product available as a free download to Visual Studio customers. Note however that CodeRush Xpress will not load in the Express Editions of Visual Studio.

Download CodeRush Xpress

CodeRush Xpress includes features that support common developer tasks in the following areas: Navigate, Declare, Select, and Refactor.

CodeRush Xpress fully supports all language features of Visual Basic and C# in Visual Studio 2010. If a specific feature applies to only one of these two languages, it will be noted with either a "VB" or "C#" icon.
…”

The setup in progress…

Installed… :)

Update #1 5/7/2010 @ 10:45PM PDT:
The download is working again (it was dead for a bit) and the version is now 10.1.2....


Related Past Post XRef:
CodeRush Xpress 9.2 Released – Better (memory usage), Faster (performance) and still free…
CodeRush Xpress not just for C#’ers anymore - CodeRush Xpress for C# AND VB now available and still free

Use MSDN/TechNet Product Keys for Office Professional Plus 2010 or Visio Professional 2010 from before May 1st? Then your likely missing some features… (i.e. You may be using an ‘intended to enable Terminal Services capability.’ key)

Microsoft Support - MSDN and TechNet Subscribers who installed Office Professional Plus 2010 or Visio Professional 2010 before May 1, 2010 may not have all product features enabled (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/983473)

“…

MSDN and TechNet subscribers who obtained their product keys for Office Professional Plus 2010 and Visio Professional 2010 products earlier than May 1, 2010 may not see the following product features enabled.

Affected features

Visio Professional 2010

• Data Connection

Office Professional Plus 2010

• Create IRM documents and emails
• Outlook Retention Policy
• Outlook / Exchange Online Archiving (aka Managed Folders)
• Create labels and barcodes
• Initiate and complete workflows
• Publish to PowerPoint Libraries
• Publish to XL Services

Note: Subscribers who obtained product keys after May 1 have the correct keys.

…

To resolve this issue, customers who obtained their product keys between April 22 and May 1, 2010 will need to reactivate their products using the following steps in order to enable advanced features. Your key allocation will not be impacted.

The product key you originally obtained from MSDN is intended to enable Terminal Services capability. That product key enables installation and activation but does not enable all features. In order to use all of the functionality you must get the new product key that is now available. If you have existing installations of Office 2010 Pro Plus or Visio Professional 2010 with the original MSDN product key then you only need to configure the new key to activate the features. You can optionally use both product keys as needed but for new installations you should always use the new Office 2010 Pro Plus or Visio Professional 2010 key respectively.

Note: Customers are not required to download any new software or patches, only to obtain and activate new product keys.

…

…”

At least it’s easy to change the Product Keys…

(via Paul Clement - Notes from the Field - Did you install Office 2010 Plus or Visio 2010 Professional from Technet or MSDN - read on..…)

Making your SQL Server hum like a fine instrument - “Secrets of SQL Server: Performance Tuning.” The free (reg-ware) five hour virtual event , June 29th.

Andrew Kelly - Free Online Performance Tuning Event

“On June 29th 2010 I will be showing several sessions related to performance tuning for SQL Server and they are the best kind because they are free :).  So mark your calendars. Here is the event info and URL:

June 29, 2010 - 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Eastern

…”

Secrets of SQL Server: Performance Tuning

“SQL Server is the platform for business. In this day-long free virtual event, well-known SQL Server performance expert Andrew Kelly will provide you with the tools and knowledge you need to stay on top of three key areas related to peak performance in SQL Server. You'll gain a better understanding of which bottlenecks might be affecting your system, along with the knowledge of how to address them once you find them. Together, these three sessions will give you a solid basis from which to start tackling the performance bottlenecks in SQL Server.
Sessions will cover the following topics:

• Automating and Analyzing SQL Trace with the RML Utilities
• Collecting and Analyzing File and Wait Statistics
• Maximizing Plan Reuse

Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask live questions via our platform’s interface, chat with other attendees in the Networking Lounge, and chat directly with vendors in the Exhibit Hall. Also, visitors who reach a certain points level (determined by activity in the environment, visiting booths, etc.) will have the opportunity to win some great prizes! Please join Andrew Kelly for this free virtual event to get key takeaways that can help you with your SQL Server performance strategy!

…” [GD:Page Leach Level, 95%]

Signed up… :)

Windows Phone Developer Training Kit, now April and VS2010 RTM Fresh…

Windows Phone Developer Blog - Windows Phone Developer Training Kit April Refresh

“As part of our efforts to help developers jumpstart development of Windows Phone applications and games, yesterday (5/4/2010) we released a refresh of the Windows Phone Training Kit  on Channel 9. You can download a local copy of the training kit, or you can go to the online version on Channel 9.

This release includes Windows Phone MIX10 videos as well as one new lab. Due to the limited nature of this release, which focused on getting the tools to work with VS2010 RTM, we managed to introduce only one new lab – Using Push Notifications. This lab features an end-2-end scenario for a simple weather application that register to receive Push Notifications as well as a WPF client application that mimics the 3rd party backend server.

On top of that, the training kit includes additional four labs (all refreshed to the new tools

…

…”

Windows Phone 7 Developer Training Kit

“Windows Phone 7 promises to be an amazing mobile phone operating system given its innovative user interface and functionality, as well as its great development platform upon which you can quickly and easily build games and applications. With a myriad of new devices, a powerful and immersive software platform, and a new marketplace to attract developers and provide easy access to applications, consumer demand for Windows Phones will be high, and developers will quickly adopt the Windows Phone platform to capitalize on this growing mobile marketplace. This Training Kit will give you a jumpstart into the new Windows Phone world by providing you with a step-by-step explanation of the tools to use and some key concepts for programming Windows Phones.

Audience Prerequisites:
This training kit is geared for beginners who want to get started with developing applications for the latest Windows Phone operating system. Even if you don’t know Silverlight or XNA Framework, you’ll find this Training Kit useful. More seasoned Silverlight developers should also find this kit useful, as it explains some of the differences between Silverlight and Silverlight for the phone.

Audience Prerequisites

• Experience using previous versions of Visual Studio .NET and the .NET Framework

Technical Prerequisites

• Windows Vista or Windows 7

…

 

After downloading and installing it (46.5MB download, expands to 50MB);

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Windows Phone 7 in 7 – Learning how to develop for Windows Phone 7, in 7 minute blocks… [Coming soon, starting April 5th]

Use the Camera in the Windows Phone 7 Emulator? Yes, you can… kind of

JAPF - [WP7] Using the camera in the emulator

“In the very first release of the SDK for Windows Phone 7 development, it was not possible to use the camera in the emulator. The latest version of the SDK fixes this problem.

Windows Phone 7 SDK comes with a set of Task (in the Microsoft.Phone.Tasks namespace). A task can be launched from your application in order to perform some work. Currently available tasks are:

…

…”

Your code can fire up the camera in the emulator, but that camera doesn’t use your machine’s camera. It DOES let you code to the camera though (which sure is better than nothing)

You need to add references/using’s for Microsoft.Phone.Tasks and Microsoft.Phone. The white image below is the result from “taking a picture”.

IE9 Platform Preview Updated (1.9.7766.6000)

Microsoft Downloads - Windows Internet Explorer Platform Preview

“Test drive the new Internet Explorer 9 Platform via the Internet Explorer Platform Preview

File Name:	iepreview.msi
Version:	1.9.7766.6000
Date Published:	5/5/2010
Language:	English
Download Size:	14.3 MB

The Internet Explorer Platform Preview has been updated. We encourage you to try out the newly added platform capabilities, and report any issues that you find in the Internet Explorer 9 web platform. Note: some features are incomplete or might change later. For more information, visit the IE9 Test Drive site and read the Platform Preview User Guide .

…”

Installed over top the Previous version with no problems, no reboots, etc. Just install and run. This version continues to run side-by-side with your existing version of IE

Before:

After:

Deep delving with these cool Deep Zoom tools

Dr. Z's Blog -  Handy Tools Complimentary to Deep Zoom Composer

“Deep Zoom Composer is a tool that allows the preparation of images for use with the Deep Zoom feature in Silverlight 3 and higher version. …

…

HD View Utilities

The HD View Utilities are a set of tools that help you create stunning HD View images. This package includes a Photoshop plug-in that enables you to export an HD View Web page or a cross-platform Silverlight Deep Zoom page from within Photoshop…

…

JellyFish Deep Zoom

Jellyfish Deep Zoom is open source toolkit for dynamic deep zoom application for silverlight development that oriented to most of system integrators and web agencies …

…

AndreaMosaic

You can use this free tool to create mosaic work with selected pictures. …

…

…”

Found a couple cool tools here (one OSS and one free… my DFO’s favorite price point ;)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Deep Zoom the .Net Framework 4 Poster
I HAZ UR DEEP LOL – Deep Zoom meets LOLCats

New Deep Zoom Composer – Now with uploading to PhotoZoom and photo stitching
Take A deep breath and zoom - Deep Zoom Composer Tech Preview
PhotoZoom - DeepZoom your Photo's

Star Wars Day – The Revenge of the Crafts!

Craft: - Get Crafty to Celebrate Star Wars Day

“Today is Star Wars Day (May the Fourth Be With You) so let's celebrate in a crafty way. Here are some of our favorite Star Wars crafts that have been featured on CRAFT. See even more by searching "Star Wars" in the search box at the top of the page. Have other Star Wars crafts you love? Share them in the comments!

…”

My favorite is this one. I almost (keyword) want to have a baby JUST so we can use this… LOL

 

Come on, you KNOW you want one!  :p

(via Make: - Get crafty on this Star Wars Day)

Your last chance to get BumpTop (the 3D Desktop for Windows & Mac) – Even the free version will not be available after May 7th

An important BumpTop announcement

“More than three years ago, we set out to completely change the way people use their desktops. We're very grateful for all your support over that time — not just financially but also through all the encouraging messages from people who found BumpTop inspiring, useful, and just downright fun.

Today, we have a big announcement to make: we're excited to announce that we've been acquired by Google! This means that BumpTop (for both Windows and Mac) will no longer be available for sale. Additionally, no updates to the products are planned. [GD: Emphasis added]

For the next week, we're keeping BumpTop Free available for download at bumptop.com/download to give BumpTop fans one last chance to grab a copy.

…”

Tweaking with Vishal - BumpTop 3D Desktop Acquired By Google, Download FREE Copy Until May 7

 

Not sure if I’m going to use it, but it looks kind of cool and since it’s going away… heck drive space is cheap… ;)

Turning PowerPoint into a fun, multiplayer, teaching tool with Mouse Mischief

Teaching Ideas and Resources - Mouse Mischief for PowerPoint released

“…But, I am really pleased to announce that the full version is now available to download for free at www.microsoft.com/mousemischief

If you haven’t read my last post and don’t know what Mouse Mischief is, then here is a brief summary. Mouse Mischief is an add-in that Microsoft makes available free of charge, and that allows teachers who use Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 to make interactive presentations. With Mouse Mischief, teachers can add multiple choice questions to their presentations, and large groups of students can answer the questions using mice connected to the teacher’s PC.  

Mouse Mischief not only gives students the ability to engage, have fun, and learn in new, interactive ways, but it also provides teachers with a more affordable alternative to purchasing expensive student response systems, commonly known as clickers, by letting students use affordable wired or wireless USB mice that their school already own

…

…”

Mouse Mischief Home

“Try a little Mischief.

Mouse Mischief integrates into Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, letting you insert questions, polls, and drawing activity slides into your lessons.

Students can actively participate in these lessons by using their own mice to click, circle, cross out, or draw answers on the screen.

…

Forget teaching, I think this could be fun/cool for a work presentation! Anything to keep the audience awake (err… um… wow, déjà-vu seems I’ve just said this… I mean “engaged” :)

Producer for PowerPoint updated - Capture and synchronize audio, video, slides, and images, then preview and publish it…

Microsoft Downloads - Producer for PowerPoint

“Use Microsoft Producer for Microsoft Office PowerPoint to capture and synchronize audio, video, slides, and images, then preview and publish a rich media presentation virtually anywhere for viewing in a Web browser.

File Name:	MicrosoftProducer.msi
Version:	2
Date Published:	5/3/2010
Language:	English
Download Size:	52.0 MB

Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint provides users with many powerful new features that make it easier to synchronize audio, video, slides, and images to create engaging and effective rich-media presentations. Producer gives content and media professionals, as well as everyday PowerPoint users a host of new content authoring features.

…

• Supported Operating Systems:
  Windows 2000 Service Pack 3; Windows 7; Windows Vista; Windows XP

• This download works with the following Office applications:
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010

• Users of Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010 will need to install Office Animation Runtime.
  • Refer to the PowerPoint 2002/2003 Add-in: Office Animation Runtime download page for more information.

…”

Been around for a while, but anything we can do to keep our audiences awake (err… um… I mean… “engaged”… yeah… that )

DPack 3 (3.0.1) is out - Think VS2010 RTM, VS2008 versions and with great tasting filling too…

USysWare Blog - DPack 3.0.1 released

“I’m proud to announce that new DPack version 3.0.1 for VS 2008/2010 is available now. This is a major update, which introduces VS 2010 RTM as well as Code Browser toolwindow mode support.

DPack is also available on Visual Studio Gallery site. The version you can download right from Visual Studio 2010 is slightly different from the standalone setup application you can get off DPack’s site. Visual Studio Gallery extension doesn’t include any keyboard mapping schemes where as the standalone setup application does.

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

…

…”

USysWare - DPack

The Compatibility line made me chuckle…

“…All features support C#, VB, J# (VS 2005 only), C++, Oxygene/Chrome/Prism language (Chrome v2.0 or higher), and Ruby In Steel based projects. …”

When reading this, I kept hearing “…and a partridge in a pair tree…” That and, “Check it out Brian Keller, J#!!”  :p

 

Related Past Post XRef:
DPack 2.8.1 Released (Now with VS2008 RTM Support)
DPack 2.6.1 Released (Last VS2003 Version)
DPack 2.5.1 with Visual Studio 2005 (RTM) Support Released
DPack 2.2.0 Released...
DPack 2.0 is live
USysWare DPack Home (1.3.2 Released)
USysWare DPack Home [Free VS 2003 Add-ins]

Deploying your ORK (Office Resource Kit, that is) – eBook (Doc) Deployment Guide for Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Downloads - Deployment guide for Office 2010

“This book covers information about the fundamentals of Deploying Microsoft Office 2010

File Name:	ORKDeployment.doc
Version:	1
Date Published:	5/3/2010
Language:	English
Download Size:	1.7 MB

…”

From the book;

“…

Published: April 2010

…

Abstract

This book provides how-to information: the recommended steps to execute specific deployment tasks, such as customizing the installation, installing Microsoft Office 2010 system on users' computers, implementing the deployment in many languages, and migrating to the new file format. The audiences for this book are IT professionals who plan, implement, and maintain Office installations in their organizations.

The content in this book is a copy of selected content in the Office 2010 technical library (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=181453) as of the date above. For the most current content, see the technical library on the Web.

…

…”

All those handy technical information, details, registry entries, tools, etc to help you get your Microsoft Office 2010 on…

A Feed You Should Read #29 – Tim Heuer’s Method ~ of ~ Failed

Today’s feed we continue with another person I consider a Microsoft luminary.

Plus his blog title always makes me chuckle (If you’re a VB Classic programmer you’ll get it. If not, you won’t)

Method ~ of ~ Failed

Background:

I’ve been following Tim’s blog for a few years now and have always found his posts interesting and useful. I also like that he “walks the walk” and has large number of OSS/Source projects. For example, check out his CodePlex Profile Page. I’ve been using the FilckrNet project for forever now…

One of his recent “things” is to take the cool Smashing Magazine Monthly Calendar wallpapers (May 2010) and package them as Windows 7 Themes (May 2010). This is an example of how this blog is a personal passion for him and not a “job” thing.

[Personal Note: If you like to provide wallpapers to others, please consider packaging them as a Windows 7 Theme. It makes it drop dead easy for people to enjoy your wallpapers]

When trying to come up with a way to describe what Tim blogs about I went to his Tag Cloud page… and snort-laughed (I hate when I do that). Below you can see why. You try to summarize/highlight that!  LOL

Why do I like this feed and think you might also?

Interested in “New Generation” UI/Tech, aka SilverLight, WPF, XAML, Expression?

Interested in Windows Phone 7 development?

Interested in following someone with a finger of the pulse of geek-cool?

Interested in someone with a Microsoft development passion, yet is not a zealot, nor blind to tech from others?

Then this is a feed you should consider reading…

Snap of the latest post:

Blog Information:

Name:	Method ~ of ~ Failed - A Blog by Tim Heuer
URL:	http://timheuer.com/blog/
Feed:	http://feeds.timheuer.com/timheuer
Post Types:	Microsoft Development focusing on SilverLight, WPF, XAML (i.e. new gen UI Tech)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
A Feed You Should Read TOC