My Blog

Having OneNote Withdrawals....
Having OneNote Withdrawals....
September 16, 2003

I finally finished downloading Office (System) 2003 from MSDN and found out that it did *not* include OneNote. It is like breaking a toy on Christmas morning. I admit I am one of the converted. I just love using it for a multi-tasking note taker. I don't just use it in meetings (which I have very few of any more), but all day. As I get an idea about something I am not working on immediately...it goes in OneNote. I just noticed that the MSDN website says the rest of the Office System will be available October 1st. Arg!

Observations at VSLive
Observations at VSLive
September 11, 2003

Url: http://www.ftponline.com/conferences/vslive/200...

Digging into ADAM...
Digging into ADAM...
September 6, 2003

I was a big Active Directory fan a ways back. Not for the usual reasons, but for application specific data. After dealing with the fiasco that was the LDAP store in Site Server, it was nice to see a large-scale robust LDAP store. The problem was that the data store was tied to the domain model too tightly.

App.config and C# Projects (Updated)
App.config and C# Projects (Updated)
August 23, 2003

Everytime I add a app.config file to a new C# App, it never does what I want. I want the app.config file to be deployed to the build directory so I can make changes to the app.config file and have it propogated. With the release of VS.NET 2003, us C# developers now have pre and post build steps. So I now have to remember to add the following to the post-build event:

I Couldn't believe this...
I Couldn't believe this...
August 22, 2003

Url: http://www.priorityclubpromotion.com/hi/towels/

Practical Experience
Practical Experience
August 19, 2003

I have been spending a lot of time writing about technology lately. After a phone conversation with Tim Ewald, it got me thinking. During the first half of writing the book, I was working full-time writing ATL/C++ apps mostly and trying to get up to speed with ADO.NET at night. While my girlfriend minds, I don't really.

Things About Typed DataSet Generation I Never Noticed...
Things About Typed DataSet Generation I Never Noticed...
August 14, 2003

I have been thinking a lot about how Typed DataSets are generated and was spelunking through the code again when it got me thinking. The Typed DataSet generator doesn't really generate the code based on the .xsd, but on the DataSet. It simply loads the .xsd into a DataSet then interrogates the DataSet directly for everything (tables, columns, relationships, constraints). So if the Typed DataSet Designer cannot handle something (like relationships *without* constraints, see below), but the DataSet schema allows it...simply create the DataSet and save the .xsd file to see what it produces! This gets around some fundamental problems with the designer. It does require you start looking and understanding .xsd, but it is a useful skill to have anyway...right?

Three Tier ASP.NET Apps
Three Tier ASP.NET Apps
August 12, 2003

I hear from a lot of readers that they are creating 3-tier ASP.NET apps and I always wonder if they know where the middle tier is.

How could I have missed it?
How could I have missed it?
July 30, 2003

I hope I am not the only one who missed the magic of CTRL-SHIFT-V. I have bungled about with copy-paste in the editor so many times...I accidently hit CTRL-C instead of CTRL-V and copy an empty line instead of pasting my code...Arg! Now I know to just hit CTRL-SHIFT-V and pick my lost copy from the clipboard ring.

VSIP Anyone?  Free VSIP Anyone?
VSIP Anyone? Free VSIP Anyone?
July 29, 2003

Url: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/partners/

Ink Blots as Passwords?
Ink Blots as Passwords?
July 26, 2003

Url: http://research.microsoft.com/displayArticle.as...

Quake 2 in Managed Code?
Quake 2 in Managed Code?
July 21, 2003

Url: http://www.codeproject.com/managedcpp/Quake2.asp

Of IDE's, Sun and Borland
Of IDE's, Sun and Borland
June 11, 2003

As a primarily .NET Guy, it has been fun watching from sidelines what Sun is trying to do for Java...

Enjoying Code
Enjoying Code
June 8, 2003

Url: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=9834

No Opteron Support in Windows 64 bit?
No Opteron Support in Windows 64 bit?
March 24, 2003

Bad news to all you AMD fans (yours truly included), Microsoft has announced that the upcoming Windows 2003, 64 bit edition will *not* have support for Opteron's 64 bit mode!

Happy Birthday XML!
Happy Birthday XML!
February 10, 2003

Url: http://news.com.com/2009-1001-983871.html?tag=f...

Do You Really Want Privacy on the Internet?
Do You Really Want Privacy on the Internet?
January 21, 2003

Url: http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/21/technology/veri...

Who cares if .NET is better than Java?
Who cares if .NET is better than Java?
January 14, 2003

In the last few weeks a number of comparison between Java and .NET have been floating around. As much as I am interested in these comparisons on an intellectual level, I really don't care on a practical level. Do most day-to-day developers really care? Sure, the number of jobs out there for any particular skill set move with the tides so most of us care. But on a purely technological comparison, the differences is minimal.

Did Microsoft's Security Push Work?
Did Microsoft's Security Push Work?
November 26, 2002

Url: http://www.wininformant.com/Articles/Index.cfm?...

Of Tablets, Smart Displays and Laptops...
Of Tablets, Smart Displays and Laptops...
November 19, 2002

I've been in the market for a new laptop for the last few months. With the upcoming new laptop ideas coming out (Tablet PC's, Smart Displays, etc.), I decided to wait for the technology to catch up to my desires. Finally everything is out!

Should 'www' be retired?
Should 'www' be retired?
November 4, 2002

Ok, maybe this may be petty, but why do so many sites require that 'www' before the names? I have wasted lot sof time trying to navigate to sites by just their domain name, only to find out that I need the 'www'. What do I mean? Both of these should work:

Code Generation: Another Justification
Code Generation: Another Justification
November 1, 2002

Url: http://sellsbrothers.com/news/showTopic.aspx?ix...

Isn't SOAP about XML Anymore?
Isn't SOAP about XML Anymore?
October 30, 2002

When I first read the SOAP specification I could not decide whether it was meant to be a replacement for DCOM/RPC or whether it was a messaging protocol. I loved the fact that the ligua franca of SOAP was XML. But at the same time, Section 5 supported the RPC view of SOAP. Unfortunately this section seemed to just confuse the issue between the RPC world and the document/literal world.

Is Oracle Missing a Great Opportunity?
Is Oracle Missing a Great Opportunity?
October 23, 2002

Url: http://technet.oracle.com/tech/windows/odpnet/c...