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2010-10-04T09:49:00.002-04:00

Here's a post I found today that is just awesome.

It reads almost like a poem.

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Using .Net usings...

2010-08-18T10:49:00.003-04:00

In .Net to make use of other namespaces (libraries of classes) you do so by the 'using' keyword. On the other hand you can fully qualify the namespace if you wish to avoid including 'using' methodology. Whatever the case this isn't a lesson on the using keyword.

The real point of this post is to attempt a practical ordering included namespaces for all classes. The pattern I'm suggesting (hell, maybe it's even actual recommendation already?) is the following:

(Core namespaces)

(Your [company/project/school] namespace)

(3rd Party namespace)

Essentially giving organization to something that is usually a mess.

Lets take a peek at an example.

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.IO;
using Dundas.Charting.WebControl;
using MyCompany.Core.Framework;
using MyCompany.Core.Utils;
using MyCompany.Project.Common.Analytics;
using MyCompany.Project.Common.Utils;
using MyCompany.Project.Core.Emissary;

Look at this mess, no order, its not immediately obvious which 3rd party components are being used.

Now using my suggestion:

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.IO;

using MyCompany.Core.Framework;
using MyCompany.Core.Utils;
using MyCompany.Project.Common.Analytics;
using MyCompany.Project.Common.Utils;
using MyCompany.Project.Core.Emissary;

using Dundas.Charting.WebControl;

Doesn't that look better? It gets across everything immediately and in an standard fashion.

Oh also, always always always get rid of unused namespaces. More clutter to junk up your files.

Quick easy fashion to do this. Right click on your class definition -> Organize Usings -> Remove and Sort. Now there is no excuse to have unordered, non-used namespaces in your files, and its built in.

Unknown Windows shortcuts

2010-04-29T15:00:00.002-04:00

Most keyboards these days have the Microsoft logo'ed Windows key. This key is simply magic.

For example hold that key down and tap the 'E' key.
My computer just pops up, bam! Navigate away.

Windows key + 'R' : The run prompt shows up ready to do your bidding.

Couple this with the different service consoles or applications (services.msc or notepad++ for example) and you are just getting around without even taking your hands off the keyboard.

Windows key + 'D' : Minimize all visible applications, OR re-display visible applications as their previous display. Try it, its amazing.

Most of these are known and used everyday, however there are a few people I show are still wowed by. And recently Lifehacker posted some Windows 7 tips that wowed me.

If you're using Windows 7 with multiple monitors you just have to use these.

Windows + Up Arrow = Maximizes active window
Windows + Down Arrow = Un-maximizes active full screened window OR minimizes active windowed application.
Windows + Left (or Right) Arrow = Cycles window in direction of arrow key across monitors. Amazing!

I've been loving this since I learned about it, just changes everything!

Lull point

2010-04-26T21:00:00.007-04:00

I've not posted in so long, my massive audience has now probably stopped following. Sorry loyal followers!

I must admit, I feel I just don't offer enough as a developer to post compared to other avid/interesting bloggers. And as of recently I've been in a development lull.
No interesting discoveries, no new tools I've dabbled with, nothing really.

Recent work has changed from a News harvester to a rewrite of a very high traffic site.
While it is exciting/new/challenging, I'm just tanking in enthusiasm.

Ah well, pity me huh?

Recent things I can blurb about:

-Read Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition By Steve Krug.
Thoughts: Very easy read and sensible book on usability. Life changing? No, but sometimes I think you need to get smacked in the face with obviousness to realize things. For example the chapter on web usability I found really informative.

-Going to Spain! As we try to do every few years, we are getting out of the U.S. for a duet of weeks to see exactly what Spain is about. Very excited about this, and the excitement is growing as the days counting continue downward.

That's about all I can dump off the mind at the moment. I believe it is a glimpse at my lull.

Ah well.... as Johnny Cash said, Drive on...

Dear Microsoft

2010-01-21T16:12:00.003-05:00

Ever since I was a gaming noob or programming wanna-be (I guess I still am this though) I've been interested in computing ergonomics. Ergo mouse, ergo keyboard, ergo desk, ergo monitor configuration etc. While this puts me out as the dude at work with the weird setup, it is surprising to see how many career developers don't even consider it. The risks are real.

I currently use the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000+ v1.0

This is a great keyboard. Honestly...

But there is one thing that I can totally do without. Take a gander at that gigantic number and arrow pad section. It's basically 1/3 of the keyboard in total. Imagine an ergonomic style keyboard (with wavy keys) without a number pad. This gigantic number pad requires me to move my right arm an additional 8ish inches to the right causing some discomfort after long periods of use. Now when I'm whipping out design elements on a windows form dragging and dropping things all over; the additional mobility cost spent to rename default name properties is fatiguing.

I imagine what it would be like to have my keyboard not off set from the front of me or my mouse in an ideal location. The first keyboard maker that comes out with this will have real market for this. With the continued research into repetitive stress injury and computer related injuries (I realize that sounds crazy) will come the increased knowledge and want for extremely ergo items.

Netbooks - Should you or not?

2010-01-10T12:41:00.005-05:00

In a recent post on one of my all time favorite blogs, Jeff Atwood discusses another bloggers thoughts on the netbook. This kind of fired me up reading why this Joey DeVilla is knocking the netbook. Let me explain.

In August, as a graduation gift I purchased a Acer Aspire One A150 for my newly Masters educated honey bunny. I bought it on after seeing her destroy my old Dell Inspiron 5100 throughout her school. It was sort of a whim, sort of to stay current on today's technology. But after a solid 3 month use cycle, I know this netbook has changed our computing lives.

First a few changes that as a result of this purchase/gift:
1- We have a laptop with us anywhere we go.
Explanation- With the light weight (3 pounds) and size, the Aspire One fits in any purse/book bag we bring when traveling. Also it does not choke out my shoulders when its in my bag. Also in flight it fits every so nicely on the super small tray, right next to your built in cup holder for a movie or coding on the go.

2- While at home the netbook is always on, and unplugged.
Explanation- The battery life on this netbook has impressed the heck out of me and continues each time. We can stream 3-4 Netflix movies and still have juice for random browsing/playing in flight. My old Inspiron would last maybe an hour just browsing a flash based site. About to go to library on Saturday, pop that bad boy out of sleep mode and look it up in 2 shakes.

3- It has withstood my girlfriends abuse.
Explanation- Well to put it bluntly my lady abuses the laptops. My Inspiron had a screen dangling from one hinge that did not stand up unless you propped it on something, see pics below. It was dropped daily, had various liquids spilled within it, and amazingly still turns on and displays. Mind you I have had to disassemble both the old and new netbook numerous times to 'fix' any issues these problems have caused. But the Aspire One is still holding strong. In fact there are no scratches on its beautiful case or screen. They keyboard pops out with no screw driver necessary for easy cleaning, and totally disassembling takes maybe 15 minutes. Super maintainable.

This purchase has now made my girlie a more online monster than I am now. I wake up this morning, walk out to the living room to find her on the netbook researching flights for our yearly vacation, all while having a newspaper in her lap and eating bowl of cereal. She brings the netbook with her everywhere but happy hours and uses it as her work machine.

Now some guys or large handed lady's may seem adverse to the small nature of the netbook. I will offer this advice/knowledge, its fine. While the keys are in a tighter area, I have not encountered any issues writing emails/code with the same speed as a normal sized keyboard. Try it at a local Radio Shack (The Shack?) or other computer retailer. It is fascinating.

My only complaint is the mouse buttons are a bit too demanding on how hard you push to register a click. Its better to use the tap functionality of the touch pad.

All in all, for $350 one of the best purchases I've made and one of the most used gifts I've given.

I recommend this particular netbook to anyone wanting a truly portable awesome device.

Groovy Google Maps

2009-02-17T18:36:00.003-05:00

I was attempting to use Google's Street View today to see if a local gas station had a standard beater brush Car wash, cheesy I know but who wants to drive around only to be disappointed. "Driving" around with the product I enter the groovy zone. Take a peak...

Groovy

Cheap gaming rig

2009-01-08T09:04:00.002-05:00

Looking for the most bang for your computing buck in these economic hard times?
User MikeL_HH over at HotHardware.com has created a solid guide to upgrading your rig from lame to game for $500 bucks or under.

Check it out: Build Guide

StackOverflow.com beta opens!

2008-08-05T21:36:00.002-04:00

Well Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky have finally opened up their new venture StackOverflow, a site for programmers by programmers. It's a registration free experts-exchange like site which has some neat features.

For one if you choose to register it uses an openID account, which is usable throughout various other web sites bypassing that 500th login/password combo you were going to create again.

Another quirky item is the default icons for each user. They have implemented use of a gravatar which basically translates to a unique image per user based on their IP address. Heres an example:

I've been very impressed with the simplicity of design while maintaining a slick minimalistic feel. All in all I wish the best for this site and hope everyone gets a chance to check it out.

New site/podcast

2008-05-29T13:46:00.002-04:00

Recently I posted a few of sites I frequent everyday Daily Sites.
One of them being Coding Horror run by Jeff Atwood a now ex developer of Vertigo Software.

Recently Jeff has parted with Vertigo in hopes of starting a new venture in partnership with Joel Spolsky (Founder of FogBugz). That venture being Stack Overflow. It is still in its infancy as they discuss what it will be and how they will implement the site. The main premise is basically a more community based Experts Exchange focused solely on software development.

If you are a developer I highly recommend both Coding Horror and StackOverflow. We not only need great readings and community based knowledge bases, but also to support our fellow developers who wish to further advancement of the field.

What do you do to help humanity?

2008-05-12T13:42:00.004-04:00

Recently I've been evaluating what I've done in my life and how I've impacted others lives around me. To be honest, I recently noticed that I had the mindset of taking care of myself and myself only. With this invading my mind, I figured it is time to change some. Something small, something I can ease off with (hey, its a start) and still feel like I'm making some difference.

My significant other is one of the most giving people I know. She signed up a while ago on a site called Kiva. Today I signed up and made my first donation toward a loan. Meet Mr. Abdul Sabor Mohammad (Right ad/banner), a DVD video exporter in Kabul.

Update Abdul's loan has been fulfilled and the banner has been updated to reflect another Entrepreneur in need.

I can't say I feel like I can and/or have changed the world. But if I gave one family the chance at a fraction of what I've had, its a pretty good thought/feeling.

Best random IM ever

2008-04-23T11:21:00.004-04:00

11:21 AM Tuesday April 23
Random IM comes on my screen from a coworker at a previous gig. One who I really don't talk to much anymore...

Any identifications have been removed to protect the guilty:

Once that flew across my screen he was signed off before I could even reply to lengthen this exchange...

Nintendo NES Console within a NES Catridge

2008-04-23T09:11:00.003-04:00

Take a gander at this awesome modification which turns an NES Mario Brothers cartridge into a complete system.

NES Cartridge System

While the language is in French, it doesn't take understanding to comprehend the awesome work that is displayed.

Bravo!

Survey - Software Engineers only!

2008-04-21T12:42:00.004-04:00

In support of my significant other's research and graduate studies, I would wish to ask some of my readers (any of whom are professional software developers) to complete this survey. It is a short survey pertaining to the ailments of sitting on our butts all day writing code. There is only enough free survey for 15 people before the service wants to charge, so it is on a first come first serve basis.

Academia and me would like to thank you for those that complete this. (By the way no personal information is used in this)

To the survey! :: Survey

GH3 - Wii Thank You

2008-03-26T19:54:00.004-04:00

Just got in today and found an odd package in my mailbox. Upon opening the box I found this:

Free faceplate!

Here's the card included for the explanation

Daily sites

2008-03-23T23:09:00.002-04:00

After having a couple positions under my belt I've noticed that all geeks in general have some similarity in sites they frequent. With that, I've also come the the conclusion that most know some obscure site that has similar content would be a daily if another knew about it.

Here are my daily's that I've come to appreciate and spend numerous hours on:
Development/Code related:
Coding Horror
The Daily WTF
Got API
General:
Digg
Experts Exchange
73Git
Random:
Entensity.net (NSFW, adult video links/images/ads)
Shopping:
Etsy - Awesome site for random artistic items
Jinx
Threadless

What are some of your daily's?

Guitar Hero 3 Replacement Disc Has Arrived

2008-03-03T19:49:00.003-05:00

For all of those that have been waiting for their replacement CD's I received mine today 3/3/08.
Yours should be coming soon!

Wii Guitar Hero 3 Replacement - Continued

2008-02-16T14:46:00.004-05:00

Today I received a envelope in the mail from an unknown mailer. What was it? The replacement packaging for Wii Guitar Hero 3 owners to send in.
The picture below is what you'll get (cd not included).
If you haven't gotten it yet, it is coming boys and girls.

Gaming related...

2008-02-05T09:57:00.000-05:00

In the seriousness that is gaming, we all get pissy (right?) but these guys take the cake... some rage based hilarity thanks to fellow qwned n00bs. Here to you guys...
http://www.gamerhelp.com/article_viewer.cfm?article_id=131860

Stephen Colbert and the National Portrait Gallery

2008-01-19T19:04:00.000-05:00

Stephen Colbert from The Colbert Report recently was granted a limited showing in the National Portrait Gallery in D.C. this week with his portrait within portraits rendering. The question will his display be appreciated?

Well the answer is an obvious yes. Not only was the Colbert display crowded with visitors, but there was a line formed just to take pictures. On top of that, there were 2 security guards to keep the walkways clear and lots of giddiness. By far the most crowded display I've seen in a museum here. Just amazing. I highly recommend visiting the display if you have the ability. Its filled with young enthusiasm, laughter and a lack of stiffness you normally get when in a museum.

Activision screws up again...

2008-01-18T17:36:00.000-05:00

Just checked my email to find this beauty sitting in my Inbox.... its a list of everyone's email that has signed up for Activisions Wii replacement disc for Guitar Hero 3.
Thanks Activision!

Numeric First Last with Next & Previous

2007-04-24T16:23:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone (Im the only reader?)
Long time since I last posted as I have not encountered anything that I felt was worth a post so that explains the lengthy duration.

Anyhow as the title suggests:
.Net GridView PagerSettings by default give you 4 options most useful , yet at times you may want something extra; such as a Numeric First/Last with previous and next paging ability. I was tasked with this and couldn't find anything that was not overly complex (required a custom pager etc). I found one blog (link to come if i can find it again) that had some customization taking place during the RowCreated Event. After thinking about it I threw it together.

First Set the GridView PagerSettings to "NumericFirstLast"
this will give you a pager that resembles the following:
1 ... 5 6 7 ... 10, where the "...",s will increment to the n number of documents.

Next wire up an event handler for the OnRowCreated Event. The following code explains the rest:

switch (e.Row.RowType)
      {
          case DataControlRowType.Pager:
              Table pagerTable = (Table)e.Row.Cells[0].Controls[0];
              TableRow row = pagerTable.Rows[0];
              if (row.Cells.Count > 1)
              {
                  LinkButton prev = row.Cells[1].Controls[0] as LinkButton;
                  if (prev != null &&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; prev.Text == "...")
                  {
                      prev.Text = "<<;                            prev.CommandArgument = "Prev";                        }                        LinkButton next = row.Cells[row.Cells.Count - 2].Controls[0] as LinkButton;                        if (next != null &&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; next.Text == "...")                        {                            next.Text = ">>";
                      next.CommandArgument = "Next";
                  }
              }
              break;
}

Basically when the pager row is created, we find the linkbutton on either side that jump pages forwards and backwards (the ...'s ) and reconfigure them to display the appropriate text we want and commandarguments.

Thus giving you a numeric first last and next/previous pager style with minimal work.
The code above resembles the following :
1 << 5 6 7 >> 10

And thats all from me for now. Good, Bad or Ugly ? you be the judge..

New Project

2007-01-11T20:33:00.000-05:00

Recently, I have been in the process of transitioning out of the Configuration Managment to a full blown developer position. My newest project is converting a severely outdated ASP web application to ASP.Net 2.0.

What was once done with Visual Basic 6.0 and dll registration, numerous registry entries and a whole slew of other older technologies is now done with at least 1/4 of the code, and all .Net.

We're between releases now at my company so there is no offical schedule currently, so its mainly a discovery phase. I would consider myself intermediate to advanced at html but ASP.Net I am total novice. With that in mind I have been able to compact 5 ASP pages into one aspx page.

GridViews and FormViews are some powerful controls. I really have been impressed with how simple it was to whip out a web application which functions near exact to what the older codebase did, without the messy attachments.

A few problems I encountered:
- Using a CheckBox control against data which is not boolean. It took me a bit to figure out the entrails but some custom handling OnRowDataBound and OnRowUpdateCommand events, and tada.
- DropDownList : I had an issue which was mainly lack of knowledge on my part which was setting the SelectedValue property based on what the current database field is.
You can set the SelectedValue property in the markup " /> and ta da!

And that has been about it. We're also using Microsofts shot at Ajax Controls and the associated Toolkit which looks great!

My ClickOnce Deployment

2006-12-21T12:48:00.000-05:00

ClickOnce, Microsofts new deployment mechanism, introduced in .Net framework 2.0 is just neat. Given a directive to make an application ClickOnce deployable I had to devise a way. Let me explain....

ClickOnce is primarily designed to have a development shop post their binaries to a web server and deployed to a clients box from that server. My charter was to make this application installable to a clients box, and hosted from that such that all clients would ping that box for installs and updates. This posed a problem due to the signing required for ClickOnce manifests and the application requiring configuration when it installed on that server computer.

My resolution was to have a standard MSI based installation which copied all of the required files for the application to the server machine, then using a bat file which called mage.exe generate and sign the manifests.

My bat file:

@echo off

if(%1) == "" goto error
if(%2) == "" goto error
if(%3) == "" goto error
if(%4) == "" goto error
if(%6) == "" goto error
if(%7) == "" goto error
if(%8) == "" goto error

echo ***Manifest Signing Application***

chdir %7
set var=%3
set var=%var:"=%

set product=%1
SET product=###%product%###
SET product=%product:"###=%
SET product=%product:###"=%
SET product=%product:###=%

set mfPath="%var%%product%.exe.manifest"
set appPath="%var%%product%.application"
set frmDir=%var:~0,-1%
if exist %mfPath% del /F %mfPath%
if exist %appPath% del /F %appPath%

mage.exe -New Application -ToFile %mfPath% -Name "%product%" -Version %2 -FromDirectory "%frmDir%"

cscript insert.vbs %mfPath% app.ico

if "%~5" == "" goto NoPassword

mage.exe -Sign %mfPath% -CertFile %4 -password %5
goto continue

:NoPassword
mage.exe -Sign %mfPath% -CertFile %4

:continue

mage.exe -New Deployment -ToFile %appPath% -Name "%product%" -Version %2 -AppManifest %mfPath% -providerUrl %6 -Install true

set desc=""
cscript replace.vbs %appPath% " "

exit 1

Has this been problematic? Absolutely, mainly due to configuration of the app.config file after the app has been installed. This is more of an overlook as the System.Deployment along with the System.Configuration namespaces allow for modification of the app.config file during runtime.

First Utility

2006-11-16T23:44:00.000-05:00

I did say I would post my developing accomplishments and solutions, and finally I have completed one.

This utility compresses tiff images using CCITT Group 4 compression. Initially the images were specified as "black and white" therefore I checked for 1 bit color, however it was later changed to support any bit depth. Images can be 1,4,8,12,16, 24 or 32 bit. I made use of 3rd party components from LeadTools, which made compressing and saving a snap. However the very large images (1GB and up) just wreck a machine with little memory.

Being this was/is my first ground up professional app I found out the hard way where things go wrong.

Check your I/O - file I/O will smoke you if you are not checking for success
Check your Database data, not checking this will smoke you
Use useful debugging messages

Mind you for any developer this is standard duh material or should be, however I've been working on automated builds (visual build) and wise for windows installer for over a year, I knew I was rusty, but wow.