Dirk Strauss

Upgrading Your Windows 7 OS With Windows Anytime Upgrade

Dirk Strauss — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:25:50 +0000

So you have just purchased your new laptop, and along with all the other software, it came pre-installed with Windows 7 Home Premium. Did you know that you can upgrade your version of Windows 7 without having to use a disk? As long as you have a valid upgrade license key, you are good to [...]

Import Application Option missing in IIS Manager

Dirk Strauss — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:44:20 +0000

With the release of Visual Studio 2010 came support to package up your ASP.NET Web Application. This also packages dependencies like the web.config, databases etc. An administrator can then import the created package via the Import Application option in IIS Manager. When I first read about this option, I thought it was the best [...]

Add External Tools (All-In-One Code Framework v4) to Visual Studio 2010

Dirk Strauss — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:30:33 +0000

Today saw the All-In-One Code Framework Sample Browser updated to Version 4. I have to say, that I really love the look and feel of this latest version. Now while I know that there is a Sample Browser Visual Studio Extension for 2010, I feel that version 4 looks nicer and I wanted to have it available [...]

Creating a Windows Service with a Timer

Dirk Strauss — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:21:46 +0000

Okay, you probably all know this, but somewhere someone doesn’t. And I thought it might be a nice article to post. Have you created a Windows Service with a Timer that isn’t working? The reason for this is because you probably added a Windows Forms Timer to your Service instead of a System Timer. So [...]

Visual Studio 2010 Windows Application and Log4Net

Dirk Strauss — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:44:54 +0000

I just wanted to post a quick note here regarding a build error I got for the Log4Net Logging Service and Visual Studio 2010. I added the Log4Net DLL and some logging to my application, but on the Build, I received the following Warning: The referenced assembly “log4net, Version=1.2.10.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1b44e1d426115821, processorArchitecture=MSIL” could not be [...]

Life in the key of C# (Part 3)

Dirk Strauss — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:49:22 +0000

Trust but Verify This was the almost signature phrase adopted by Ronald Reagan. At the signing of the INF Treaty he used it again and his counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev responded: “You repeat that at every meeting,” to which Reagan answered “I like it.” Well in my mind, Ronald (who by the way, would have been 100 years old on the [...]

Life in the key of C# (Part 2)

Dirk Strauss — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 06:31:22 +0000

Streams of Inspiration When do you know it all? You might be wondering what I mean by saying that, but is it possible to ever say that you know all there is to know about your chosen programming language? There are really some very good programmers out there. Guys and girls that dedicate their lives [...]

Life in the key of C# (Part 1)

Dirk Strauss — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:11:33 +0000

Hello C# My Old Friend Simon & Garfunkel’s song title (Hello Darkness my old friend) reminds me of how I feel we should see the language we develop applications in. It should be a friend, not true? In other words, you should be very comfortable with your abilities developing in your language of choice. I’m [...]

Programmer’s Survival Tips – #10

Dirk Strauss — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:00:25 +0000

Working from Home – The Pros and Cons I have taken some time to write this next post, simply because I wanted to give it some thought. Working from home….. It sounds like a dream come true, right? My company has their HQ in Johannesburg, and I have been working for one of their provincial [...]

Programmer’s Survival Tips – #9

Dirk Strauss — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:45:37 +0000

If you understand it, you can code it In the 1989 movie, Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, his character (Ray) hears a voice whisper, “If you build it, he will come”. He sees a vision and promptly proceeds to turn his corn field into a baseball field. Well that takes a bit of determination [...]