CSharpner

Jeri Ryan Endorses My New Blog

2012-01-25T22:47:00.001-05:00

Well, at least one of my articles she does. Check it out here. Click the image below.

My Experimental Blog

2012-01-24T10:26:00.001-05:00

I’ve replicated this blog (with the exception of this post) at: http://CSharpner.com/blog Please visit it. It has all the same articles as this blog, but I believe the look and feel is immensely better. Please feel free to report any issues either as comments to this article or on the article(s) in question on the new blog. I know of a couple already. Thanks for reading!

Review: Acer All-In-One AZ3731-UR21P Touch Screen Computer

2012-01-15T15:47:00.001-05:00

The most prominent feature of this PC is that it has a Multi-Touch monitor! Yes! You can control the PC by touching the screen! The next most prominent feature is how inexpensive this was. The ENTIRE set up was cheaper than most touch screen monitors. I mean, the whole PC, monitor, keyboard, mouse, software, EVERYTHING was cheaper than a single touch screen with no PC or anything else.

Is Google+ boring to you because it seems like no one’s there?

2011-12-24T16:43:00.001-05:00

Well, if that’s the case, then you’re using it wrong. There’s more activity on Google+ than you can shake a smartphone at! Remember, G+ is NOT Facebook! You can follow anyone, even if they don’t follow you back! You just have to start following some interesting people. It doesn’t matter if “my friends are all on facebook”! I’ve met TONS of interesting people on Google+, 99.9% of which I’ve

Hellish Nightmare swapping my new iPhone 4

2011-12-10T21:07:00.001-05:00

My brand new iPhone had an ugly, brown tinge to the screen (image to the right: Left is my Android MyTouch 3G showing screen shot e-mailed from iPhone, right is my iPhone). So I went in to complain and they said I could swap, but they insisted it was within spec. Being a graphic artist myself and knowing that Apple is considered the panacea of digital art, I'd have expected MUCH tighter

Check out my 3rd article on Chris Pirillo’s Lockergnome.com

2011-10-21T21:28:00.001-04:00

I’ve been asked by Chris Pirillo to write some articles for his web site Lockergnome.com. This is my third article. It talks about the pros and cons of the new Windows 8 app store. Windows 8 App Store: What You Need To Know If you haven’t heard of Chris Pirillo (and shame on you, if you’re a techie and haven’t), he used to host the TV show “Call for Help” on TechTV and lots of other cool stuff.

Check out my 2nd article on Chris Pirillo’s Lockergnome.com

2011-10-21T21:21:00.001-04:00

I’ve been asked by Chris Pirillo to write some articles for his web site Lockergnome.com. This is my second article. It describes how to save money and protect yourself online when making purchases with a credit card. Save Money and Protect Yourself with Your Online Purchases If you haven’t heard of Chris Pirillo (and shame on you, if you’re a techie and haven’t), he used to host the TV show “

Web.config and App.config variables can be fully type safe

2011-10-12T11:28:00.001-04:00

I’m going to introduce a MUCH better way of accessing your variables that you have created in your web.config or app.config file. Most likely, you’re probably storing your variables in your .config file like this: Click here to follow me on Google+. <appSettings> <add key="EMailAddress" value="me@something.com"/> <add key="IsProduction" value="true"/> <add key="MaxWait" value="

How to use untyped Session Variables

2011-10-12T10:26:00.001-04:00

Session variables are helpful, of course, but they have many drawbacks, including having to access them by name in a string (no intellisense, no compile time error checking), they’re untyped, so you have to cast them, and it’s easy to accidentally use the same name from different pages for different purposes and overwrite their contents, creating odd runtime behavior that’s nearly impossible to

Accessing form UI elements in your ASP.NET code-behind

2011-10-05T13:41:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe that in 2011, when .Net has been around over 8 years and is in version 4.0 now (It’s 6th release, BTW (1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0)), that people are still coding like this to access form elements: <input id="username" name="username" type="text"> <input id="password" name="password" type="password">.csharpcode, .csharpcode pre{ font-size: small; color: black; font-family:

Relativity for Everyone: Part II, Time and Length are Relative

2011-09-30T21:21:00.001-04:00

In part I, I talked about the constancy of the speed of light. If you haven't read that yet, it's required reading before continuing here. There are terms and symbols used here that were already explained in Part I. Relativity for Everyone: Part I: The Speed of Light NEVER Changes! By now, you should have allowed the post about the constancy of the speed of light to simmer for about a day and

Why the recent news of Neutrinos reportedly Going Faster than Light is Rocking the Scientific World

2011-09-27T11:55:00.001-04:00

If you’ve heard the recent news about the speed of light supposedly being broken by neutrinos being detected as having traveled faster than the speed of light or 186,000 miles per second or 300,000 km/s (henceforth we’ll simply call “c”), unless you’re familiar with relativity, you might not understand how Earth shattering this would be if it turned out to be true. Click here to follow me on

Relativity for Everyone: Part I: The Speed of Light NEVER Changes!

2011-09-27T09:38:00.001-04:00

In this series of articles, I'll be explaining Einstein's Theory of Relativity. I'll use little to no math. If I do use math, it'll be roughly 3rd grade level, not to insult you, but because that’s all that’s really necessary. Relativity can't be given "point blank". There are steps involved. Its conclusions are counter intuitive and impossible to believe without being walked through the

Facebook copies Google+’s “Data Liberation”

2011-09-26T02:45:00.001-04:00

Wow! Facebook is clearly on high alert (ie. They’re scared shitless) by Google+. A lot of the cool stuff that Google baked into Google+ from the beginning, Facebook is playing catch up with. Just in the last day or two, Facebook has copied yet another Google+ exclusive in another “ME TOO!” move. This time it’s with Google’s “Data Liberation” feature which was implemented to show one of the

Check out my article on Chris Pirillo’s Lockergnome.com

2011-09-25T20:22:00.001-04:00

I’ve been asked by Chris Pirillo to write some articles for his web site Lockergnome.com. My first article is how to choose the right kind of light bulbs to save the most money, taking just about all variables that affect your expenses into account. How to Save Money with the Best Light Bulb If you haven’t heard of Chris Pirillo (and shame on you, if you’re a techie and haven’t), he used to host

Google+ Netiquette

2011-09-20T13:47:00.001-04:00

Now that Google has opened the flood gates to Google+ to anyone, without the need for an invite, it's time to publish the proper netiquette on Google+. If you've been lucky enough to have been in the trial phase, you probably noticed that, for the most part, discussion has been civil. Of the thousands of posts I've seen, I've only seen less than a handful of people commenting with things like, "

Windows 8 Out in the Open, Finally!

2011-09-14T14:49:00.001-04:00

OK, yesterday, September 13, 2011, Microsoft had their “Build” conference and gave us LOTS and LOTS of details about Windows 8. Here’s my rundown and opinion. There’s a lot to cover, so I’ll divide it into the following sections: Click here to follow me on Google+. UI (User Interface) OS (Operating System) Functionality Hardware Support x86 ARM Windows Phone Security App Store

Windows 8 User Interface Out in the Open, Finally!

2011-09-14T14:46:00.001-04:00

On September 13, 2011, Microsoft unveiled and showed in great detail the new Windows 8 Operating System. Here are the details of the new User Interface (UI) of the new OS: First, let me point out that there are TWO DISTINCT User Interfaces in Windows 8. One is the old, familiar user interface with the task bar, the desktop, and resizable windows. That won’t change and that stays, and there are

FBI’s Most Wanted

2011-09-11T01:20:00.001-04:00

This man is wanted for planning an attack on 9/11/2011 for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11/2001 attacks: Please share the FBI link with everyone on FaceBook, Twitter, Google+ and anywhere else you can! http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/alert/jude-kenan-mohammad Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Terrorists; Conspiracy to Murder, Kidnap, Maim, and Injure Persons in a Foreign Country JUDE KENAN

Rant: You do NOT have “A Facebook”!

2011-09-10T18:01:00.001-04:00

<rant on>Let's be clear here: You do NOT have "A Facebook"! There is only ONE Facebook. It's a humongous web site run by hundreds of people. But, there IS ONE person that has "A Facebook" and it's not just "A Facebook", it's "THE Facebook" because there's only ONE Facebook. That one person that has THE Facebook is Mark Zuckerberg because it's HIS Facebook. Everyone else has a Facebook ACCOUNT on

Why is my Google+ Profile mostly blank?

2011-09-07T14:05:00.001-04:00

Read this: Is the need for Pseudonyms only for Fringe cases? The fields I’ve left blank and why: Employment: I post opinions online and I’d prefer that those opinions stay out of the work place. See link at the top of this article. Publishing this provides no benefit for me. I don’t want strangers who may hate me because they disagree with me connecting the dots to find me or my family in

Is the need for a Pseudonym only for “FRINGE” cases?

2011-09-07T12:56:00.001-04:00

The reality is people that can use their “real names” online, without concern, are actually the fringe group. How so? The only way a person could use their “real name” online on a service like Google+ is if they fit ALL of the following criteria: Click here to follow me on Google+. Have no political opinions or zero desire now or at any time in the future to express them AND: Currently have

Sign up with Google+ and have your Picasa account deleted PERMANANTLY!

2011-09-07T07:50:00.001-04:00

That’s right! If you have a Picasa photo sharing account that’s not your name on your birth certificate, then you sign up with Google+, then they’ll not just kill your Google+ account, but will also kill your existing Picasa account!

Google suspends my Google+ profile AGAIN!

2011-09-07T07:43:00.001-04:00

My profile was suspended in July with the 1st round of suspensions, but they re-enabled it. Now, they’re doing it again: This time, it’s even worse. The Picasa account I’ve had for YEARS is under this same account, but now they’re going to disable THAT?!??!? I need YOUR help! Please use the feedback button in the lower right of your Google+ page or the feedback button in your menu in the

What, EXACTLY, is Google+?

2011-09-06T18:04:00.001-04:00

People are very adamant about what they believe Google+ is and they think everyone else should just fall in line with their way of thinking. They even believe that everyone should be posting the types of posts they think should be posted. Everyone has an idealistic view of what they believe Google+ is or should be. But, the truth is, if you ask 10 different Google+ users what Google+ is, you’