03 Dec 08 Songbird - a new iTunes rival on the block
Mozilla today released Songbird, a new cross-platform open-source media player to rival iTunes. It’s based on the same software engine as Firefox and much like Firefox, it’s extensible via add-ons. It was quick and easy to download and setup and looks a lot like iTunes. You can get the free download here.
You can check out a more extensive review of it here.
03 Dec 08 State of my Fat Ass Address
Week 1: 190lbs
I hate to admit it but I have been going without disability insurance for some time now (well, actually I’ve never had it). Seeing as how I’m the only one working and with benefits for my family I finally got off my lazy ass and put the wheels in motion to get some disability insurance. Actually, to be honest, I actually inquired and started to put the wheels in motion back in February 2008, they just didn’t roll very far. So finally in October I contacted the same disability company again and asked for them to renew my quote and adjust a few things.
I took about a month and a half to two months from start to finish from the paperwork phase to the approval phase. Last week (a few days before my birthday) I got some paperwork from the insurance company. I assumed it was the final paperwork that I needed to review, sign and send back. What it turned out being were the test results for my blood work, which they send out as a formality and “for my records.” The strange thing was how many things fell into the abnormal or high column (I forget the exact working at the moment). Aparantly my cholesterol is pretty high (total was like 250 or 254). I guess from what I’ve seen from my research that over 200 total is in the “high” category.
I’ve never really had any problems with cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc. I guess the past few months of not going to the gym and eating like total crap have really caught up with me. I haven’t yet gotten the final paperwork from the insurance company based on these results, but I’m assuming that these “risk factors” will probably make the rate they quoted me slightly higher. I guess I’ll now need to decide if I go and get re-tested in a few weeks or just pay the higher rate, hoping that I can get re-assed and lowered later when I’m in better health.
My previous excuse for the exercising at least has been that I’ve been working a ton of hours lately (~65). I used to go during lunch on work days which was a nice break in the day. Now I’ve been working through lunch and not leaving myself any time to exercise. Starting this week I’ve decided that I need to stop making excuses and to get my ass up an hour earlier during the week to get to the gym.
As stated at the start of the post, my weight at the start of this week was 190 lbs. My ultimate goal would be to get down to 170, but I don’t think that’s realistic. I’d be happy with 175. We’ll see how it goes. Not only am I going to get back into the gym habit but I’m going to cut out fried food and really watch what I eat. The biggest problem for me will be trying to cut out beer. I may just have to work out a little more/harder to make up for that vice. I guess we’ll see how things go!
08 Aug 08 SQL Server 2008 RTM released!
Not that I think I’m breaking any news here, but SQL Server 2008 has been officially RTM (released to manufacturing). So far I’ve been very pleased working with SQL Server 2008 and am excited to get my RC0 version updated to an official release.
One thing I stumbled across was a warning users to wait for Visual Studio.NET 2008 SP1 to be released BEFORE upgrading to the RTM version of SQL Server 2008. This blog post cites compatibility problems if you don’t have SP1 installed before working with the RTM version of SQL. What I’m not sure about is if this applies to people using beta versions of SQL Server 2008 (RC0), Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and .NET Framework v3.5 SP1 like I am. This uncertainty made me think that it may be best to wait for the final release of SP1 for VS.NET and the 3.5 Framework.
I then came across a nugget here that said:
well….there’s a…ahem…NDA about this topic…but SQL Server 2008 RTM ships with a RTM version of the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 bits…i’ll let you connect the dots.
I guess it’s time to dig around in the RTM version of SQL 2008 to see if it’s there. I also wonder if it’s safe to install over top of my RC0 version of if I should remove RC0 before installing the RTM version. I guess I’ll have to Google more to see what’s required. I’ll provide updates as I find answers and get upgraded.
**** Update:
According to the release notes the beta SP1 isn’t an acceptable solution. And since they’re saying SP1 will be officially released next week anyways, it makes sense just to wait for that I think.
08 Aug 08 What’s wrong with my Linqdatasource? - Method not found!
I’ve been having a very weird problem in Visual Studio 2008 when trying to use the automatic operations for the Linqdatasource (insert, update or delete). It seems that no matter what I try I get this weird “Method not found” problem. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a lot of help out on the web about why this may be happening. I’m starting to think that there may be something goofed up with my 3.5 Framework or Visual Studio 2008.
Here’s the error and a link to the problem I posted out on the ASP.NET forums. If anybody has come across this weird problem let me know. Unfortunately the 1 person that has replied on the discussion forums hasn’t been much help and offers up only basic suggestions as to why it may not be working, all of which were things that I had already known or tried right off the bat.
System.MissingMethodException: Method not found: ‘System.Object System.Web.UI.WebControls.Parameter.GetValue(System.Object, Boolean)’.
Generated: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:40:10 GMT System.Web.HttpUnhandledException: Exception of type 'System.Web.HttpUnhandledException' was thrown. ---> System.MissingMethodException: Method not found: 'System.Object System.Web.UI.WebControls.Parameter.GetValue(System.Object, Boolean)'. at System.Web.UI.WebControls.LinqDataSourceView.MergeDictionaries(Object dataObjectType, ParameterCollection reference, IDictionary source, IDictionary destination, IDictionary destinationCopy) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.LinqDataSourceView.BuildInsertDataObject(Object table, IDictionary values) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.LinqDataSourceView.ExecuteInsert(IDictionary values) at System.Web.UI.DataSourceView.Insert(IDictionary values, DataSourceViewOperationCallback callback) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.FormView.HandleInsert(String commandArg, Boolean causesValidation) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.FormView.HandleEvent(EventArgs e, Boolean causesValidation, String validationGroup) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.FormView.OnBubbleEvent(Object source, EventArgs e) at System.Web.UI.Control.RaiseBubbleEvent(Object source, EventArgs args) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.FormViewRow.OnBubbleEvent(Object source, EventArgs e) at System.Web.UI.Control.RaiseBubbleEvent(Object source, EventArgs args) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.LinkButton.OnCommand(CommandEventArgs e) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.LinkButton.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.LinkButton.System.Web.UI.IPostBackEventHandler.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument) at System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(IPostBackEventHandler sourceControl, String eventArgument) at System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(NameValueCollection postData) at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at System.Web.UI.Page.HandleError(Exception e) at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest() at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestWithNoAssert(HttpContext context) at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest(HttpContext context) at ASP.sellyourhome_aspx.ProcessRequest(HttpContext context) at System.Web.HttpApplication.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() at System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously)
Comments (from previous blog):
Have you installed the beta for Visual Studio 2008 / .NET Framework 3.5
SP 1?? I had the exact same issue on my development box until I
uninstalled the beta and installed the official release at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=FBEE1648-7106-44A7-9649-6D9F6D58056E&;displaylang=en . Make sure you first run the beta removal tool: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=A494B0E0-EB07-4FF1-A21C-A4663E456D9D&;displaylang=en
16 Jul 08 2008!!
Wow, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted. It was just into 2008 back in January. Wow how time flies!
Well, 2008 has brought many new versions of the tools that I use on a daily basis for my job. Visual Studio has a 2008 version out. Microsoft SQL Server has their 2008 version out (well, RTM will be next month so they say). Also the .NET Framework is cranking along with the 3.5 framework which they are almost out with a final release of SP1.
I am excited that my job and the project I’m currently working on has given me the ability to upgrade to the latest versions of these tools. So far I’ve been the most excited with SQL Server 2008 and all of the new features it has to offer. Intellisense for T-SQL, now that’s nice!
I’m also anxiously awaiting Apple’s rumored update of their MacBook Pro laptop line. Once they come out I’m going to get one and beef it up for my .NET Development. I know many .NET developers out there would never think of owning a Mac, but man… once you go Mac you never go back! My desktop at work is a HP workstation with Windows XP and I can’t even tell you how many times I need to reboot to keep things running smoothly. It’s sad that as a Windows user I just am in the habbit now of rebooting when I leave for the day or when I go out to lunch. With the Mac, I’m like “gee, I haven’t rebooted in a few weeks, I should probably just do it for the hell of it.”
Family life has been keeping me busy too. We welcomed our 3rd child this past March and have been knee deep in kids! Our twins turned 2 in June and they’re getting smarter and smarter with each day that passes. It scares me that they’ll no doubt have me/us tied up in a closet at some point as they take over the house.
I am going to make an effort to post more moving forward. God knows I come across enough technical things that would probably be helpful to others. I’m learning to work with LINQ (also, here, scroll down to LINQ section) and can’t wait to get more into that. Also, SubSonic, a great tool, is out with a new version. I’ll be playing with that too when building an application I’m working on for my side-business.
Stay tuned!
09 Jan 08 Testing email when working with no SMTP server
Happy New Year!
While this tip isn’t my own, it still seems as though it will be very helpful. I know that I do a lot of development locally where I don’t have an SMTP server setup. This tip, courtsey of .NET Tip of the Day, really will eliminate that problem and allow you to work with email without the headaches.
—
Testing code that sends email has always been a pain. You had to set up a SMTP service just to test that your .NET application sends the e-mail correctly.
However, there is a way to send e-mails with no SMTP server set up. Just configure your .NET application to drop e-mails into a specified folder instead of sending them via SMTP server:
<system.net>
<mailSettings>
<smtp deliveryMethod=”SpecifiedPickupDirectory”>
<specifiedPickupDirectory pickupDirectoryLocation=”c:\Test\” />
</smtp>
</mailSettings>
</system.net>
This will instruct SmtpClient class to generate mail message, save it as .eml file and drop it into c:\Test\ folder.
Tags: email, programming, visual studio
28 Nov 07 VB.NET RC4 Encryption for database storage
I recently had to upgrade some Classic ASP code to .NET for some data encryption. The routines use RC4 encryption and make the result database friendly. The following class can easily be dropped into your project for use with little effort. The sample code shows the encryption and decryption methods. You just provide the message and the key for either instance. From there you can drop it in your database or do whatever you want!
Sample Usage:
Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
Dim plainText As String = “I’m exposed!”
Dim passkey As String = “keep me safe”
Dim safeText As String
safeText = Common.Encryption.Encrypt(plainText, passkey)
Response.Write(safeText)
Dim decrypted As String
decrypted = Common.Encryption.Decrypt(safeText, passkey)
Response.Write(decrypted)
End Sub
You can view the entire class here. If you’re looking for some quick and easy encryption this will do the trick.
Tags: programming, rc4, security, vb.net
27 Nov 07 CMD Email updated
The email command line utility I wrote (and discussed here), CMD Email, has been updated. The latest release supports email attachments.
You can download the latest runtime or source from the project page on CodePlex.
Tags: cmd email, programming, software
26 Oct 07 CMD Email - command line email utility
I’ve completed my first open source project. I have been wanting to put something out on Codeplex for a while and finally got around to it. The project I released is a small little command line email utility that uses the .NET 2.0 framework. I wrote a more simple version of this years ago to email me when Windows scheduled tasks (batch files) completed. The released version accepts many more options and allows you to store certain data into an application configuration file.
As this post title states, the utility is called CmdEmail and can be found here on codeplex. From the project page you can download the latest (initial) release, see usage information and access the source code too. Here’s a blurb on the usage from the project’s home page:
CmdEmail -f nobody@nowhere.com -t you@domain.com -s Subject -b Body
CmdEmail -f "nobody@nowhere.com" -t "you@domain.com" -s "Subject" -b "Body"
CmdEmail -f nobody@nowhere.com -t you@domain.com,me@domain.com -s Subject -b Body
t, to Required. Recipient (To) f, from Required. Sender (From) b, body Required. Email Body s, subject Required. Email Subject h, host SMTP Server - Optional only if provided in app config p, port SMTP Port - Optional, can also be provided in app config u, username Username - Optional, can also be provided in app config p, password Password - Optional, can also be provided in app config help
12 Sep 07 Learn how to write better code for free!
Use FxCop to write better code. I’ve been using it for a little while now and it definitely has helped me out.
This article tells you how and why!
Tags: programming, software, windows
