Darrell Norton's Blog [MVP]

September 2004 - Posts

• Viewing MSDN code samples in Firefox or Mozilla browsers

  The MSDN facelift (not MSDN2) hosed the formatting of code samples in Firefox and Mozilla browsers. To fix it, add this to your userContent.css file (chromEdit is the easiest way to modify this file): /* Microsoft MSDN code stylesheet */ pre {  white-space: pre !important; } Posted Sep 30 2004, 07:49 AM by darrell with 9 comment(s)

• Hampton Roads Nerd Dinner tonight!

  Time:  7:00pm, Thursday Sep. 30 (that is tonight!) Place:  Coliseum Mall in Hampton (directions) What:  Geek talk and mall food Just look for me: Posted Sep 30 2004, 05:59 AM by darrell with 2 comment(s)

• Change the size of the search box in Firefox 1.0PR

  Firefox 1.0PR broke the old way of making the search box wider. The new way is to add this to your userChrome.css file (I like my search box BIG, you can adjust the number to suit): /* Make the Search box flex wider */ #search-container {    -moz-box-flex: 600 !important; } #searchbar {    -moz-box-flex: 600 !important; } This is much easier if you get the chromEdit extension, which allows you to edit userChrome.css, userContent.css or user.js, without the hassle of finding your profile. Posted Sep 29 2004, 12:30 PM by darrell with 16 comment(s)

• Development-related songs

  I just noticed the Beastie Boys’ CD To the 5 Boroughs has lots of good development-related songs. The SourceSafe (or Vault) song:  Ch-Check It Out The build song:  Time To Build When every manager expects you to finish:  Right Right Now Now The change log song (alternatively, a user’s way to trick you into just one more change request):  That's It That's All And what most developers drink on the weekends:  The Brouhaha Now all I have to do is hook these up to events in Visual Studio or Windows, and life will be good! Or at least entertaining. Posted Sep 24 2004, 12:19 PM by darrell with 8 comment(s)

• T-SQL weblog

  There’s a new T-SQL (the SQL Server variant of ANSI SQL) blog named, appropriately enough, TSQL_language's WebLog. In the first (real) post Eugene Zabokritski declares that the first part of most SQL queries, the SELECT clause, is actually executed last. Posted Sep 23 2004, 10:26 AM by darrell with 3 comment(s)

• Software Development magazine's Best Practices expo articles

  Software Development magazine is posting articles reviewing the current sessions at the “SD Best Practices” show. Good reviews include Kent Beck's Oprah Moment (Kent Beck), Common Sense Scrum (Ken Schwaber), and Admitting Uncertainty (Tom DeMarco). A good, short read. Free registration is required, but it's worth it. Posted Sep 23 2004, 06:11 AM by darrell with no comments

• NerdDinner.com: for all your nerd dinner needs

  For all your Nerd Dinner needs, check out Jim Blizzard’s nerddinner.com. For all your Hampton Roads nerd dinners, subscribe to the Hampton Roads Nerd Dinner blog! Thanks Jim! Help Jim out by spreading the word about nerddinner.com. Posted Sep 22 2004, 08:27 AM by darrell with 2 comment(s)

• Hampton Roads area Geek Dinner

  We’re gearing up for a Hampton Roads-area Geek Dinner. If you are in the Hampton Roads area, which would include Williamsburg, Newport News, Hampton, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, etc., you need to attend! Time:  7:00pm, Thursday Sep. 30 Place:  Coliseum Mall in Hampton (right off I-64, or get better directions) What:  Geek talk and mall food (how can you go wrong?!) Current attendees include Grant, Paul, Mark, Brendan, and myself. Let one of us know if you are going to be there! Posted Sep 21 2004, 06:10 AM by darrell with 4 comment(s)

• OT: The uncloggable toilet

  Check this out: a toilet that is guaranteed not to clog. Has a Flash video demonstration too. If you want white, it’s only $408, $525 for a color. Posted Sep 20 2004, 10:10 AM by darrell with 6 comment(s)

• Free web-based survey app

  I found a free survey application called NSurvey. It’s a free ASP.NET survey application written in .NET. Here’s the official list of features: User friendly web based administration interface. Unlimited paging support Page navigation (previous / next) Survey progress can be saved and resumed later Value piping from query, session, cookie or server variables Client (javascript) & server side field validity checks (Numeric, dates etc...) Receive an email report after each entry completion Single or matrix question layouts Flexible form engine allowing you to create almost any form Extensible security addins architecture (click here for a schema) Cookie and IP security addins to prevent double submissions ASP.net context security addin (Forms , Windows authentication etc...) Restrict survey entry on email code using the email code security addin XML answer "feeder" (eg: countries, us states ...) Specify a maximum / minimum answers required for each question Email invitations Full multi-language support Conditional question branching logic Reports filtering through custom rules Editable detailed individual vote reports Opening / closing date Scored surveys to create tests, quizzes Protect your survey with a password security addin or a "thank you" message Custom redirection URL at the end of the survey Customizable design with visual studio / webmatrix designer support Open API Last but not least ... It's free! It’s definitely better than writing your own. Posted Sep 20 2004, 08:30 AM by darrell with 2 comment(s)

• I've found my new RSS Aggregator: Bloglines!

  Thanks to Brendan, I am now a Bloglines aficionado! It’s much faster than RSS Bandit or SharpReader because it doesn’t have to poll every feed. True sometimes the feeds aren’t updated to the minute, but if that’s your problem, please direct your OCD elsewhere. The usability is great. I have this habit of deleting a post when I’ve read it. It’s sort of my “todo” list. I do the same thing with emails (or I file them in a folder). When Bloglines marked all the feeds as read when I clicked on my feed list, I thought “NOOOOO!” But they have something just as good. There is a little collapse link in the feed pane. And, not only is the collapse link at the top of the post, but at the bottom too! So I read a post, then collapse it, and my world is good again. Plus I can check my subscriptions wherever I am and not have to reread or re-delete posts that I’ve already looked at. I can also display the new posts since the last session (the default), or in the last 1, 6, 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours, 1 week, 1 month, or ALL items! Gosh the choices are just so exciting. Ok, maybe not exciting, but so far it’s been handy a couple of times. There is also a recommendations feature, sort of like Amazon’s “people reading this book also read…” stuff; very cool. I found 1 new feed this way, and regularly look to see if anything is different. There are a lot more features that I haven’t even tried yet. It can generate a blogroll for your blog, it offers a download notifier, it allows you to save blog “clippings”, and perform blog searches. Check out this subscribe button: Posted Sep 17 2004, 09:56 AM by darrell with 9 comment(s)

• Look at all the downloads

  Wow, look at the Atlanta Visual Basic Study Group Downloads page! [via Christopher Bowen] Posted Sep 16 2004, 11:58 AM by darrell with 2 comment(s)

• MSDN version 2.0

  MSDN v2 Alpha is accessible. [Via Craig Andera] Posted Sep 15 2004, 12:58 PM by darrell with 4 comment(s)

• Web Application Stress tool tutorial

  Here is a very good tutorial on using Microsoft’s Web Application Stress (WAS) tool. Posted Sep 15 2004, 06:47 AM by darrell with 10 comment(s)

• WeProgram.NET meeting Tuesday, Sep 14

  Are you in the Hampton Roads area tomorrow night? If so, stop by for our next meeting. The topic is “N-Night - Open Source or Free .Net Tools: NCover, NAnt, NUnit and FxCop.” Paul Laudeman and I will be leading a hands-on exploration of how these tools can help you build better software. Since this will be hands-on, we encourage you to bring a laptop with Visual Studio .Net installed on it, and we will provide the N-family of tools. Those who don’t have laptops are still welcome – you can team up with a laptop-enabled WeProgram.Netter and do some pair programming in good Extreme Programming fashion! This meeting will be at ESI in Newport News, and starts at 7:00 PM. Get directions here.       It's important to thank our web hosting sponsor, OptimizeIT.net, for hosting the WeProgram.Net website. OptimizeIT also buys refreshments and provides speakers. CapTech Ventures, a regional IT consulting firm, sponsors WeProgram.Net by providing speakers, giveaways, and refreshments. Wintellect is a premier training, consulting, and debugging firm. Wintellect sponsors WeProgram.Net in a variety of ways, including Wintellectual speakers, book giveaways, and more. INETA is a non-profit, independent organization, that supports all user groups interested in the Microsoft .Net platform. INETA helps WeProgram.Net stay connected with the broader .Net community and offers specials to WeProgram.Net members. ESI (Electronic Systems) provides our Newport News meeting facility.  O'Reilly sponsors WeProgram.Net by providing book donations and review copies of new O'Reilly titles, access to authors, and 20% discounts on conferences and products from O'Reilly. SAMS sponsors WeProgram.Net by providing book donations and review copies of new SAMS titles. Addison-Wesley sponsors WeProgram.Net by donating books for us to review and give away. Posted Sep 13 2004, 11:55 AM by darrell with 2 comment(s)