SubSonic 1.0.6 Released

Merry Christmas... SubSonic 1.0.6 was released on Tuesday.

No change log yet but we'll just have to wait and see.

Taking your ASP.NET app offline

Something really interesting and useful for ASP.NET is the ability to take your application completely offline. As a matter of fact when you publish your website Visual Studio 2005 takes your application offline. So even if you go to mysite.com/here/there.aspx you will still get an "application offline" message. The best part is that you can customize the message.

All you have to do is upload a "app_offline.htm" file to your website. Thats it! You can create your own custom message in the htm file. There's no special tags to use, the file itself lets .NET know you want your app offline. Just remember to take it off ;)

If you want more details, including an example file, check out the 15 Seconds article: Taking an ASP.NET 2.0 Application Offline.

ASP.NET AJAX under the hood

Great article by Omar Al Zabir on some advanced tips & tricks using AJAX. Omar is the architect behind Pageflakes.com and uses ASP.NET / AJAX as the foundation. If you're using AJAX, much like I am, you will find the article very useful. It goes into batch calls, timeouts, caching, javascript tricks, and a few other items.

One thing I found very useful was how Omar implemented a "retry" feature when doing an AJAX call. This is exactly (or very close to) what I have implemented in my StickTo application. So go on and take a look. And in the near future I'll be posting some AJAX tips of my own including: displaying a progress bar without an update panel and how to use JSON de/serialization from client/server and back.

SubSonic - Sweet!

I've been using SubSonic: The Zero Code DAL (formerly known as actionpack) for about two months now and I LOVE IT! SubSonic is a tool that helps a website build itself. Remember how long it took to write your SQL Data Access Layer? Well SubSonic takes care of all of that for you in a real-time ORM Mapping manner and even incorporates Views and Stored Procedures too!

My favorite part of SubSonic is that since I've started using it I haven't had to write ANY Data Access Layer functions at all. SubSonic takes care of everything. I can get a DataSet in my business layer by simply calling something like:

Public Function QueryAllProducts() as DataSet
Return New Query(Tables.Products).ExecuteDataSet()
End Function

That's it!! Also looking at the code you can see: Tables.Products... Yes, everything is Strongly-Typed too, even the Stored Procedures! The project is still under development but it's certainly a strong build, a few applications have already been built using SubSonic. So certainly join the community and give SubSonic a try.



Check out the 20 minute demo webcast: http://www.wekeroad.com/actionpackintro.html

ATLAS: POST is slower than GET

A good article explaining that ATLAS defaults to POST when calling back and that POST is generally slower than calling a GET. However GET only supports strings, dates and numerals. The article goes on and shows how to implement a GET statement from your web service.

Very handy if you're looking to increase performance on your AJAX.NET app, if applicable of course :)

Choosing Between VB.NET and C#

Good article on choosing between the two languages. A lot of people look at VB.NET differently because of the older VB6. However VB.NET is just as powerful as C#, minus the ability to break out of managed code - which in a lot of cases is not recommended. Anyways, take a look at the article you'll find VB.NET is just like C# ~ And my personal opinion reflects this too. I can write C# just as well as I can VB.NET.

http://dnjonline.com/article.aspx?ID=mar05_vbvscsharp

Debug Javascript in Visual Studio 2005

I haven't posted in a while but came across something worthy and helpful! It's an article on how to debug javascript with VS2005! This is definitely going to come in handy. Just finished one of my other sites and can now move on to the project I've been excited about!! Debugging javascript will be intense so this came just in time.

Debug JS with VS2005

P.S. I needed to add some images, it was just too "texty" here.

Computer Geek!

For those of you not yet aware, Internet Explorer 7 is now available for download (the actual release not the beta). Get it here.

I just realized how much of a computer geek I am!! I just received an email from one of my co-workers and she said we have Visual Studio 2005 and the MSDN Library ready and waiting for us to install, unfortunately only after a version release, which isn't until the middle of November. I'm excited and can't wait to click the install button! Why!? *sigh* I'm the only one in my group who's excited...

Something worthy for you from Steve Wozniak (Apple co-founder)...

My advice has to do with what you do when you find yourself sitting there with ideas in your head and a desire to build them. But you're young. You have no money. Those ideas are what drive you, they're all you think about. But there's a big difference between just thinking about inventing something and doing it. So how do you do it? How do you actually set about changing the world?

· Believe in yourself. Don't waver.

· A revolutionary new product won't be understandable to most people. Don't let these people bring you down. They only know what they're exposed to. It's a type of prejudice against the spirit of invention. Trust your intuition, that way lies happiness.

· See things in "grey scale".

· Don't follow the crowd. Do a factual study. Don't waste time supporting a bad idea. Keep your ego out of the equation.

· Work alone.

· Don't work in a corporate environment where products are designed by committee.

-- STEVE WOZNIAK

Attributes.Add Lameness

Had some trouble today with *.Attributes.Add and using an ampersand &.

The problem is Attributes.Add and here's what I found:

Using Reflector to trace through System.Web.UI.WebControlsWebControl.Attributes to see if it was doing any kind of encoding turns out that
System.Web.HttpUtility.HtmlAttributeEncode is called on any text added via Attributes.Add. HtmlAttributeEncode turns & into & and turns double quotes (") into "

Lameness I say! Anyways the solution I used was to register a startup script and place my onClick in a function then on my attributes.add I just call the javascript function. Works well, and note that this happened to me on ASP.NET 1.1, not sure if it occurs in 2.0

Quick Book Review

Just finished reading:

• Cascading Style Sheets 2.0 Programmer's Reference
  by Eric A. Meyer
  McGraw-Hill/Osborne © 2001 (334 pages) : ISBN:0072131780

If you know Eric Meyer then you know he's a well known CSS professional. His book is undoubtedly good, even research Amazon.com to see the user reviews.

I was looking for an intermediate introduction to CSS. I have a general knowledge of CSS and use it quite often when designing websites. Recently I heard all about CSS layouts and that they are the way to go. Since I was not too familiar with using CSS for layouts, or the extent and benefits of CSS, I decided to pick up this book. Glad I did because Eric goes over everything you'll need to know and then some. Be forewarned though that beginners who have never touched CSS before may find it hard to catch on, this is certainly an intermediate to expert reference book. I'll be keeping this book close knowing I will be using it for reference quite often. Remember to check his website for great examples.

2007 Camaro

Yes this is not programming related but my love for the '69 Camaro SS has been rekindled! I just got a glimpse of this on accident and I am drooling!! GM is planning on bringingback the amazingly sexy (IMO) Camaro with the 67-69 body style. I can certainly say, God-willing, this will be my next car. (Assuming they stick to anything remotely close to the concepts pictured here)
I've wanted a 69 SS for a while now but seeing these new beauty's really makes me want them. There's nothing better than a new oldie. And this one certainly gets my heart pumping! Cant wait to see the real thing!

Project Foundation

Ok, it's late... I've had a stressful day... and I'd like to try the new Blogger Beta posting... so here goes.

I've finalized my foundation for my new project. After many hours researching and learning about some of this stuff I have chosen a very sexy set of tools and components as my new foundation. Here it is:

• Visual Studio 2005 / ASP.NET 2.0 / VB.NET


• ASP.NET AJAX


• Prototype


• Script.aculo.us


• Curvy Corners - Snicker all you want the curves are sexy ;)


• And I've been looking at Wilson ORMapper or NHibernate - not sure yet
  

There ya go! If anyone has any suggestions or comments please let me know!

New Visual Basic Keywords

For those of you still jumping into VB.NET I have compiled a list of new keywords available in .NET!! These will come in handy so have a sharp pencil ready.

New Keywords:

• Continue


• Using


• My


• IsNot


• TryCast

Below you will find quick explanations of each:

Continue: Enables you to work through loops more logically in specific situations.

Ex:

For i As Integer = 0 To (s.Length() - 1)
   If (s(i).Equals(" ")) Then Continue For
      spaceCounter += 1
Next

Using: The Using keyword ensures that resources get destroyed as soon as possible instead of remaining in memory until the method is executed. No more waiting for garbage collection! Note that there is no need to Dim our object.

Ex:

Using conn as New SqlConnection
   ' use the conn object
End Using ' Automatically disposes our conn object

My: This new keyword is designed to quickly give you access to a large variety of resources you may need to access when developing your applications. Different implementations in ASP.NET and VB.NET / Winforms.

Ex:

'Retrieve the computer name
Dim computername As String = My.Computer.Info.OSFullName

IsNot: The IsNot operator is the opposite of the Is operator.

Ex:

If myObject1 IsNot myObject2 Then ...

TryCast: The TryCast statement attempts to cast without having to handle the invalid cast exception. If the cast is invalid a Nothing value is returned.

Ex:

manager = TryCast(obj, Employee)
If manager IsNot Nothing Then
   ' use the manager object
End If

And that is that! Those are some extremely useful additions to the VB.NET language. Information was referenced from Professional ASP.NET 2.0, Appendix A. For further information and descriptions I highly recommend:

Professional ASP.NET 2.0
by Bill Evjen et al.
Wrox Press © 2006 (1290 pages)
ISBN:0764576100

ASP.NET / AJAX Page Loader Progress Bar

Ran across this article for using ASP.NET and AJAX to create a splash screen / loading bar for your web page (sort of like the loading screens you see in Flash). Haven't had a chance to try it out so I'm not sure of it's performance. If anyone decides to use this let me know how it works out, otherwise I'll post some feedback later on.

Click here for the article / source

RSS How To

Found a good site today that runs through a How To for building and using an RSS feed. It goes through a breif history, how it works, structure of RSS, and throws some examples at you as well. Handy if you'll be building an RSS feed for your website. Check it here
Tags
web developer, syndication, rss, rdf
Relevant pics from Flickr



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My little brain

I took some training for my job this week, the topic being "Designing and Coding Secure Systems." It was a very interesting class probably geared more towards the entry-level, perhaps mid-level, security professional. I was in total awe of the teacher simply because he was so knowledgeable on the subject. It got me thinking about how much I know about my every day job. The teacher has been at his Phd for nearly ten years. That amounts to an immense amount of knowledge and experience.

Well there are two types of IT people in the world. One is the "out-of-the-box" techie, like the teacher, who's at the edge of technology pushing the boundaries out. The other is the "in-the-box" techie who implements the new technology to come up with new services and products. Without either of the two we are stuck in either a "out-of-the-box" world where technology is vastly advanced but never used, or we're in the "in-the-box" world where there's no new technology and we must forever re-invent the wheel.

Have no idea where I was going with this but there's an issue at work so I gotta go sorry!

Get Vista RC1 and a Serial Now

Follow the instructions on the page and you will be given a link to download Windows Vista RC1 and a serial.

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SQL OPENXML - Cool Stuff

I came across this really useful code earlier today and I had to share. This is an example of using XML and SQL to update multiple things at once.

First inside of your code you need to generate the XML. Here's an example of an already-generated XML doc:

<root>
<item someID="2245" crewName="G" />
<item someID="2245" crewName="V" />
<item someID="2245" crewName="O" />
<item someID="2245" crewName="Q" />
<item someID="2245" crewName="M" />
<item someID="2245" crewName="B" />
</root>

CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.exampleOXML (
@someID int,
@XMLItemList text
) AS

DECLARE @tCount INT
SET @tCount = @@TRANCOUNT

IF @tCount = 0
BEGIN TRAN exampleOXML
ELSE
SAVE TRAN exampleOXML

-- BEGIN OUR COOL STUFF
DECLARE @myXMLDoc int

-- Add our document
EXEC sp_xml_preparedocument @myXMLDoc OUTPUT, @XMLItemList

-- Use OPENXML
SELECT
someID, crewName
FROM
OPENXML (@myXMLDoc, '/root/item', 1) WITH (someID INT, crewName VARCHAR(4))

-- Remove our document
EXEC sp_xml_removedocument @myXMLDoc

IF @@ERROR <> 0
ROLLBACK TRAN exampleOXML
ELSE IF @trancount = 0
COMMIT TRAN exampleOXML

GO

You can also use the following, assuming all parameters match:

OPENXML (@myXMLDoc, '/root/item', 1) WITH item

Bully gets his

HAHAHA This guy gets what is coming to him.

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SpellingCow

I ran across this yesterday as I was reading up on COWS Ajax. It's a spellcheck component that you can implement on your website simply by copying a few lines of JavaScript. It's really easy to wire it up to your existing pages and the UI of the tool is very intuitive. Visit the home page to test how it works. www.spellingcow.com

I had a few issues with the "favelet" on IE. Couldn't get it to work well but that aside, the tool works pretty well.

SpellingCow can spell check as you type on any web page. Just add one line and your website will have the best spell checker on the net! You may also run SpellingCow on any website you visit via the use of a favelet.

Container Livin'

Wouldn't it be great to live in... a container? Hah.. yea believe it or not there is a company who is prototyping it. It's an interesting idea in which I am sure is reasonable however I just don't think its going to catch on... Although there could be some very useful situations, such as the Katrina disaster, in which this would help. Anyways take a look at the pictures:

"TLOT-EK’s MDU is based on the concept that, around the world, there could be colonies of standard container docks where an urban nomad population could arrive and plug in its module houses." Read More...

The thing about me

I always find myself thinking
Of the way things should play out
Imagination sees only what it wants
And memories jump in to taunt
You know there's a chance out of two
That it can play out a certain way for you
So you dream of your victory
And raise your arms triumphantly
You've acheived it all
But back to reality you fall
Even if you win, you still lose
But you live to fight another day

The Way I Think of You

It's static, It's automatic
The way I think of you, It's tragic
So sadly, So badly
The way I think of you, So madly
And pathetic, And aesthetic
The way I think of you, And poetic
You're empowering, You're cowering
The way I think of you, You're devouring
Always breaking, Always taking
The way I think of you, Always shaking
It's above, It's hugs
The way I think of you, It's love

A New Way of Tracking Users' Browsing Habits

Extremely clever way of seeing where the web surfer has been using Javascript.

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If only the thoughts in my mind were real

Take your records, take your freedom
Take your memories, I dont need them
Take yourself with all your reasons

Did I ever cross your mind
As much as you've crossed mine?
Just cant live like this anymore
Its been too long and you're gone

Going Just a Little Crazy

I'm going just a little crazy lately. Hit a real nice slump. I've been working my ass off and I really need a work break man! I want to go somewhere far, like a vacation. Some place nice like maybe the beaches of Mexico or Hawaii. Yea Hawaii sounds good. Lets see to stay in Maui it looks like about $1,000 for 3 nights including round trip airfare and a rental car... not bad! Damn this looks so tempting! I can take a friday off as well as a monday then leave friday morning get there by the afternoon, check in... stay all three days then get back on Monday! SWEET!! Damn I've wanted to travel sooo bad!! Too bad I'll end up going by myself, but oh well!!

Ok now to make plans...

Liquid Time Machine Freezes Drops Mid Fall

This is so cool! An impressive hack using UV strobe lights, luminescent-dyed water, and a timer to create the illusion of water stopping in the air, slowing down the splashes into the pool beneath, and even travelling upward. You have to see it to believe it.

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JavaScript, round decimal numbers

This is some good code to round a decimal number to however many places you need using javascript:

// Round a number (num) to however many decimal places (dec)
function roundNumber(num, dec) {
var result = Math.round(num*Math.pow(10,dec))/Math.pow(10,dec);
return result;
}

Bummer!

Oh man, what a boring weekend. Just as I suspected, a lame ass weekend. It started off by my friend calling me to come to his party on Friday ~ But I didn't get the message until Saturday (today) so what did I do Friday night? Nothing. Then today... BORING! I went out for some Starbucks just now... *sigh* nice night but not a night to spend alone :( I keep thinking about someone who's bothering the crap out of me... I was doing so well too.

Lets dive into some good news... Went over to my friend Danny's house and his aunt was there, hadn't seen her in forever - she was recently married - and she nearly brought the feeling of family to me again but reality quickly set in and I was back to normal... anyways she noticed that I had been working out... Hah cool! My workout has been paying off! I try to go every day after work, since the gym is just literally 2 blocks away from my building... Well it brought up my self-esteem and motivated me to continue my routine!

Work is good, I'm kicking ass and taking names. Signed up for some training, the .NET 2.0 MCST cert training and some T-SQL - I could use a refresher in T-SQL. Anyways enough about work. I went to Lake Gregory/Lake Arrowhead today and took my neices... they played in the water, I stayed on the sand. Didn't see anyone checking my hot sexyness out so I need to work out some more. Need more motivation!!

And here's a new poem...

Blinded by this fog
It leaves me thinking I've won
Until again the wind blows strong
And takes this fog from my song
No longer it hides and in roll the tides
Once again to bury my eyes
This supernova ready to go
openeing up a big black hole
The Heavens cant think
and the Earth goes away
Together again these feelings one day

The Flexible Office Space

Ok, I came across something pretty cool, I thought, earlier today. It's called the flexible office space. It's a great business idea and here's what they do: They help find mostly small, short-term, ready-to-use office space. Their emphasis is on helping make the leap from home office to "real" office. So why is this cool? Well if you've ever ran a home business, or if you currently do, then you'll know exactly why this seems so cool...

You remember right? You pick up the phone and the dog is barking, the baby is crying, the TV is up loud so you yell to turn it down... You begin referring to your pet gold fish as employees... yea you get the point. Thats why when I heard about this company I had to make a post! They also have a "Home Office from Hell" contest where you can submit your "war stories" and if you win they'll pay your office space (up to $12,000) for a year!!

I give http://www.offices2share.com two thumbs up for helping the home businesses of America and for such a great business idea!

Master Detail Update Issue, Resolved

For those of you who have had a problem in ASP.NET 2.0 using a Master Detail setup, (example: gridview as master and detailsview as details):

If you're having trouble getting the GridView to show changes after updating the Details then here's your solution. You're doing the DataBind() command on the GridView (which would rebind the data) in the wrong place. The correct area is: DetailsView1_ItemUpdated as shown below.

Protected Sub DetailsView1_ItemUpdated(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Web.UI.WebControls.DetailsViewUpdatedEventArgs) Handles DetailsView1.ItemUpdated

GridView1.DataBind()

End Sub

The reason for this, I believe, is that the databind must be called prior to other page events. It makes sense because you should rebind the datasource when the details are updated. Enjoy!

Ok Spidey Fans

Ok so I'm sitting here working on Floobee (what is it you ask...? Wait...) And I decide to check up on my PPP... Not bad $15! Question is, can I still post about my daily junk and the ad itself? I'm going to find out right now!

This website is for all the Spiderman fan junkies out there... Hey I figure the more keywords I use the more these search engines will find me! Anywho... This website has like EVERY single spiderman comic on its front page that you can imagine! I still remember reading spiderman comics when I was younger, way younger. But this website has all the information you could ever dream about as far as spiderman goes. And check out their staff pics too, funny! The main point is if you love Spidey and you wanna chat about him and all his kick ass powers, especially since Spiderman 3 will be out soon... Then check it out http://www.spiderfan.org/

Superman Returns

OK So I saw Superman Returns on IMAX down in LA on Tuesday... whoa! Superman kicks ass. I really liked the preview. The movie was very good however I think some of the storyline jumped around too much, for my taste anyways! The main actor who plays Superman resembles Christopher Reeves... scary. Overall I would recommend viewing it, its a good movie but decide for yourself, check out the trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/supermanreturns/hd/

Pay Per Post

Ok, have you heard about http://www.payperpost.com yet? It's a pretty interesting business idea. Basically you get paid to blog about products and services! Interesting that you can make money doing what you love... blogging. So I decided to give this a shot.

In being an honest blogger and not in it entirely for the money I will be doing product reviews and posting them on my site of things that I actually own/want to promote. I figure I will only review the services that I have tried and tested. That way I won't have to spam my blog either.

So I invite you to visit Pay Per Post and if you like it, sign-up. I'm not making any money by having you sign up, just this post alone could net me a few bucks. But hey, if you like to write like me then give it a shot. I'll keep you all updated on my progress as this goes further.




My quote of the day:

It's not who you are, it's what you do that defines you.

AMD Plans Major CPU Price Drops Day After "Conroe"

I was building myself a new computer since mine is fairly outdated and I luckily ran across this before I purchased a CPU... I'm gonna wait til July to buy!

AMD will drastically cut prices on its desktop processors after the July 23rd release of Intel's Core 2 Duo Conroe processors.

* AMD Athlon 64 price cuts will receive price cut up to 30%
* AMD Athlon 64 X2 will receive price cuts up to 50%
* AMD Sempron processors will receive price cuts up to 15%

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My Head Hurts

I close my eyes and see you there
God damnit I see you everywhere
You're laying there on the floor
Smiling so big with your glasses on
Your hair pushed up inside a bun
Seems like you're having so much fun

Sometimes these thoughts get too deep
As I pray for you every night before I sleep
These feelings only you have touched
I never asked the world for much

I can't escape these thoughts of you
These thoughts of you they're killing me
It seems there is only one escape
Unfortunately it's one I cannot take

You were sitting there taking a bath
Thinking of me with your rubber duckies
You decided to call, I remember it all
How that night I wish I didn't fall
I should have stopped and talked to you longer
Instead I had to go back to class and ponder
God damn I miss you

What comes around goes around

Hah, just read that Microsoft is interested in purchasing eBay. That is funny, Microsoft eBay??

So last night I went to hang out with my buddy Derek at Zonni's. It was empty, what do you expect at the end of Memorial Day weekend? Anyways, he mentioned the word "untouchables" to me... basically an untouchable is a girl who is so hot and stuck up that she loves attention but thats as far as she'll go. I'm also pleased, in a way, to announce that what comes around goes around. And it appears it is going around. Finally some closure :)

Quote of the Day:

Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.

X-Men Review

Ok so last night I saw X-Men 3. Waited in line for hours, outside too! Oh well I guess it was worth it, it was a pretty good movie. Jean Grey/Phoenix was played by Famke Janssen and if you don't mind me saying for an older woman she's a hottie. My kinda girl! But Phoenix made its appearance very rampantly throughout the movie. I love the effects they did with her. She looked very evil in a sexy kinda way. Can you imagine the make-up sex with a girl like that!!? (as long as you're still alive hah).

The only problem I had with X3 is that the storyline seemed to jump around too quickly. It wasn't as smooth as X-Men 1 or X-Men 2. They introduced Juggernaut in the movie, a somewhat brief appearance. A plus in the movie was Mystique appearing in human form. I was always curious as to who played her. She's cute.

Poems
It has come to my attention I have not posted a poem in a while. Don't worry, they're coming.

And my quote of the day,

Always behave like a duck - keep calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath.

Holy Strawberries Batman We're in a Jam!

So I haven't posted in a while. Been busy I guess, getting some new ideas off the clouds and putting them on the stove. Well today the Net Neutrality bill passed the House Committee by a vote of 20-13... not bad, now just one more round to go.

And yes, I am finally fed up with the lack of extensibility in Google's personalized home. And it is time to do something about it!! Lets see what I can conjour up in the next few weeks.

My daily Quote:

Strange as it seems, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and higher education positively fortifies it.

Da Vinci Code Movie Review

To start, I did not read the book. So I went to see it last night and well how can I put it, I was disappointed. If you followed the Google Quest then it probably hyped you up pretty good. The movie was good but in my opinion there were character development issues and not enough puzzles! But the movie's plot went rather smoothly.

Sophie was a definite hotty. she was played by a good actress. Silas was an interesting guy and I think he played the part very well. Langdon, or Tom Hanks, was a strange character, didnt make a lot of sense to me in a few parts. I did like the end though, they actually left you with closure rather than leaving the ending open which I was very thankful for.

Overall it's a pretty good movie but you can only form your opinion by watching the movie yourself.

Flagship (poem)

Flagship sailing now away
Wont you stop and say you'll stay
Your provenance is yet unknown
With your departure the wind has blown

Flagship sailing farther now
You sail so fast I ask you how?
Like the evil bird a raven
You have left this sacred haven

Flagship gone now from my horizon
Leaving me behind still and frozen
I'm leaving these shores now for good
I'm suggesting now you too should

Debug Javascript with VS2005

Found a great article on how to debug Javascript with Visual Studio 2005. I'm adding this here for all to read and so that I can refer to it later when I start needing this. Considering I am going to be doing more ATLAS development... Here is the link

My daily quote:

I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.

Google Book Search, Cool Stuff

Heard of Google Book Search yet? I just stumbled across it and thought it was worth mentioning. You can search literally thousands of books just from typing in a search string. I tried a search for ASP.NET 2.0 and got plenty of results including ASP.NET web hosting, O'Reilly books, and plenty others. For the most part the advertisements were about ASP.NET Website Hosting and that but the books had limited preview only. Unfortunate because it would be great to read them. However copyright more than likely comes in to play. But if you're doing a report I'm sure you can get plenty of information!

ASP.NET 1.1 and ASP.NET 2.0 web hosting shows up. The www.asp.net site is a portal site for the ASP.NET development community. From here you can download ASP.NET, download Web Matrix - a free web builder. Asp.net 2.0: A Developer's Notebook. Programming Asp.net - by Jesse Liberty, Dan Hurwitz successor to ASP.NET.x, which was the successor, in turn to Active Server. Asp.net 2.0 Cookbook - by Geoffrey T Leblond, Michael A Kittel - Computers - 2005 - 989 pages ASP.NET 2.0 provides a new approach with master pages that comes close to meeting these primary goals. Master pages contain all of the common HTML. ASP.NET .NET 2.0 web host

Packaged Meat (poem)

Damaged again
Am I just the rotten meat
That you pick up at the store?

Picked up by one
Tossed back again
Picked up by two
Broken in again

Wont a shopper take me in
Cook me and eat me
I'm processed meat
Packed and wrapped in this skin
Discolored on the outside

You would never know
Deep on the inside
I was packed so gentle
Sealed with so much love

But noone will ever know
Because I've pushed myself down
Hidden behind the others
That you take for granted

Slowly I'll turn to poison
And finally she'll find me
But its too late by then

She'll cook me and eat me
I'll run through her veins
My poison taking over
Stopping the beat
of her beautiful heart

Anger Train (poem)

What its not about
Is exactly what its about
Stepping on stones
Over shark infested waters

You arrive on the scene
Jumping the wall
Being careful not to fall

Find your enemy
Ready your fists for many
Your target is acquired
Focus the hatred in

Clinche the fists of fire
Walk tall towards him
Unleash a holy vindication
Breaking his disrespect

Adapt yourself to the fear
Let it engulf your soul
Set your place
In the minds of others
Acknowledging your brothers

What its not about
Is exactly what its about
Get off the tracks
When the train is coming through

MI 3 / Mission Imposible 3

Ok so I just got home from watching Mission Impossible 3. Lets get straight to it... I give it a 7 out of 10. Not a bad movie but I must admit I liked part 2 better. Still a good movie to watch, head over to cinemark and pay... now! Ok maybe not now but the movie is good, there are a few aggravating points to the movie but without spoiling it lets just say they leave a few unknowns by the time the movie is over. Not much sex in the movie, or at all so for those of you with weak eyes fear not!
I must admit the bad guy did a pretty good job acting, I remember him before thinking he was a B movie level actor, however it was nicely played this time around.

Anyways, it's late, I have work tomorrow (or today), and I am quite tired! And do you see the AdSense links above and below? Yea? Feel free to visit them if you find them interesting, as I like the $0.08 / click I get from them - Don't worry I've only made $2.00 in the past month :
Ah, and dreams... Make sure you are living your life with a dream. More on this on my next post (hopefully).

Fake Best Buy Clerks

Hah, there is a funny article on CNET News about a synchronized prank at a Best Buy store in which 80 people joined together in blue shirts and khakis, so that they look like Best Buy employees. They didn't say they worked for Best Buy but can you imagine having a look-a-like Best Buy rep everywhere? In the tech area, the gaming area... every movie and dvd aisle... Hilarious!

Here's the full article. Enjoy!

(If only I could arrange a similar prank)

Ah, and my quote of the day:

If you live to be one hundred, you've got it made. Very few people die past that age.

Vindicate (poem)

Time is flying so fast
My memories begin fading in the past
You can see it in my face
I'm tired of this place
But you share this moment only once
And you can't turn back the clock
Its a wish on a star thats long burned out
You see yourself in your own eyes
And play yourself to be what you think you are
But we can see right through you

And the wind sails through
Slowly skating on the ice
One last time to bring the thunder
That covers my last wish on the sky
And rumbles away my dreams
In a flash of light
Striking the same place twice

I planted a seed to grow
Gave it sunlight and water too
The seed grew up in the blink of an eye
It was beautiful but it wouldn't last
When you open your eyes in the morning
You'll see it has all passed
And there is nothing left to show
But a dream that needs to be found again

And the wind sails through
Slowly skating on the ice
One last time to bring the thunder
That covers my last wish on the sky
And rumbles away my dreams
In a flash of light
Striking the same place twice

When you're driving home
And you're wondering if it just might
You'll see you're wrong its true
Leave a dream behind and find yourself alone
So that one day you'll cross the desert
Realizing that you have lost your dreams
But I'll find myself again
And find my dreams realizing what this life means
And a smile crosses my face
Knowing I'm not destined to die in this place
You'll see when I return
I have no more reasons to mourn

And the wind sails through
Slowly skating on the ice
One last time to bring the thunder
That covers my last wish on the sky
And rumbles away my dreams
In a flash of light
Striking the same place twice

3D Modeling by Google (sketchUp)

There's a new Google tool out that allows you to make 3d models and you can even save them to Google Earth. Haven't had a chance to look at it yet, even though it's downloaded, but it seems somewhat interesting. You can download it (free) from here (Google SketchUp)

And of course, my daily quote:

Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.

More Da Vinci

There was an article on the news today that I found very interesting!

the judge who presided over the recent Da Vinci Code plagiarism case used steganography to embed his own code in the judgment using italic text in random places throughout the text

I've been following it since morning, seems this is the string that is encrypted: smithycodeJaeiextostgpsacgreamqwfkadpmqzv - it seems smithycode is the start, so perhaps the actual cipher starts after the words. What does it say? We dont know yet! The Da Vinci Code books talk about encryption, in particular the ATBASH cipher. I will update when I figure out what it is.

Read it from Slashdot here

Workage

Wow today has been busy at work!! However it will not stop me from taking a few moments to post my thoughts. Lets see, I have none.

And in other news, Microchunky (soft) has released another beta of IE. Read

Quote for today:

Weather forcast for tonight: dark. Continued dark overnight, with widely scattered light by morning.

The Da Vinci Code

For those following The Da Vinci Code game on Google, here's a helpful website that will help you solve the puzzles. Student-Rant is the website, go there check it out... get help with your answers. Of course if you have any bit of intelligence at all, you should be able to decipher the puzzles with ease.

Good luck!

And in other news... I'm a fatty! I seem to have developed a pudge. I will be going to 24-hour fitness non-stop til' I drop. And I need a tan, my girlfriend told me I glow white :\ Time to go mow the backyard with my shirt off, that way I save my neighbors from being blinded!

My random quote of the day:

My Karma ran over your dogma.

Candy Cane

This one candy cane
Red swirls around
Is not the same
As it once did sound

It's crooked and breaks
Fragmented in many places
And the smile it creates
Has left my many faces

Broken and lonely
This candy cane sits
Sadness for me only
His heart taking the hits

This emptyness inside
It just wont go away
It just seems to hide
Always wanting to stay

This one candy cane
Red swirls around
It seems just the same
As it forever will sound

VB.NET/ASP.NET XML String to Dataset

Ok, I had to post this! This is how you can take an XML string and create a dataset from it. Couldn't find anything on Google so I hope this helps everyone!

strXML = "<your><xml><string>"

Dim XMLreader As StringReader = New System.IO.StringReader(strXML)

' Create the dataset
Dim newDS As DataSet = New DataSet
newDS.ReadXml(XMLreader)

Simple!!




2006-05-19T20:21:38.9490000-07:00
63.105.105.111

Monday Monday La La

I really wanted to post about something today, however there's not much to post! I just recently read an article on how to get the External IP Address of your machine using .NET / VB.NET and C#... Which I may be using in a personal project sometime soon (it gave me ideas! ~ Strange I know). It's from the website: Chris Bellini. That will take you straight to the blog/code.

Ontop of that I don't have any new poems to write or share today. However I would like to say that as far as my certification path goes I have completed half of the first of eight books! Not bad for less than 2 days worth of studying. I was also reminded of a project that I have yet to start. Seems I get started on a project and scrap it for the next bigger, better project ~ *sigh* one day I'll completely complete a project.

Update: I have just wondered why, on websites that require you to login, they ALWAYS ask if you "Remember Me?" And what's worse is that there is never a textbox for me to write "No, I don't Remember You!" Instead they place a checkbox... *pun*

Another Poem

Poem 1:
Quiet now my one, the time has come for me to go.
This life of mine has lost its glow.
I loved you with all my heart and held you with all my soul.
I don't know how to let you go, I simply know I have to go.
I'm walking now alone this time but there is no life without your shine.
In God's eyes he knows you're mine.
With your sweet eyes and gentle mind.
Take this drop of blood of mine.
Take it with you for all of time.

Poem 2:
This love is pure
Of this im sure
My heart makes waves
Flowing through this maze
An angel in the distance
Has my eyes glazed
You are beautiful its true
Your face lights up this place
I'm lost in my thoughts of you
And i dont know what to do

So i'll think of something
When that sometime comes
When im alone out there
Beating my heart somewhere
When fate brought me to you
It knew just what i'd do
To turn this world around
And once and for all show
That in the end im still there

Dont know 'bout intelligent design
But its made my heart intelligently resign
I saw you somewhere in my dream
A place with too many faces
I reached out to you
But you walked right by
I knew I'd never find you
So I bled myself dry
Calmly melting into the sky
Like the candle in your room

My heart just wanted to say
We'll meet again soon
Perhaps not in this life
But on the ride back home

Winning Eleven Nine

Ok, I cant help it but post this. The game Winning Eleven Nine is really fun to play. Recently I've been playing this a lot with my step-bro and it's so fun! I certainly recommend it to anyone who enjoys playing soccer or just a good two player game.

In other news, I feel much better this week! Last week I was feeling like crap. I was very sick and it was just a lame week, matter of fact all last month kinda sucked. Anyways, I've started up my "nothing-better-to-do" website also... for those who don't know, its called EmoPorn. EmoPorn - thats just a funny word, think about it... emo people in pr0n... hah! Anyways its a good design and I don't want to waste it. I'll likely have it up soon and just add gradually to it. I'll post a link when it's ready.

Avalanche Man : The Trailer

Ok, here it is... Avalanche Man the trailer. Enjoy.

Getting Older, The Clock Ticks

Here's a poem I wrote tonight, reflection on myself I guess.

Its crazy how life can just change
Throwing these twists and turns at our age
Wondering what's in store for us tomorrow
Leaving behind our illness and sorrow

Taking the happiness that we now find
Never chancing our life to rewind
Blazing through all of our years
Going all the way through the 6th gears

Never stopping for nothing
Cant turn back the clock
The speedometer hits two hundred
And we have no breaks to stop
Hoping that our dreams and wishes
Will find us before the last beat of our clock

Living life to the fullest
Never regret what we passed in our past
Making each and every second last
Dont drown in the tears of yesterday
Take what you have here today
And make it the best that you can
Cause one day Grim will come knockin
And 30 ain't so far away

Oracle's SQL Developer vs. Toad

So a few weeks ago I ran into the new release of Oracle's SQL Developer originally named Raptor (free). I originally used TOAD which is the widely popular tool to interface with Oracle. So far I have been extremely pleased with SQL Developer. It gives plenty of features and functionality. The best part is no nag screens, it's free! Here's a complete article on SQL Developer, at least give it a shot.

Also on the really cool side, check out Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 (released March 20th) : Get the New Beta 2 Preview of IE7

In other news I have begun my Microsoft certification path. The course is: 70-305 Develop & Implement Web Apps w/VB .NET & VS .NET. YaY! Looks tough though, gonna have to spend plenty of time gaming... uhh I mean studying! Well plenty of stuff planned as far as learning goes, that just means I will have no life for a year or two. It's ok though, work now play later... right? Right?? Thats the plan!

Bummer of a Birthday

So my birthday was this last Saturday - March 25, I turned 22. It was a bummer of a weekend though. I slept most of the day, was really looking forward to spending time with my girl but that was shot to hell. Actually I broke up with her today. I just want someone who loves me, cares for me and wants to be with me. She was just always too busy with herself to think about my feelings. It's hard to find someone that really cares about you. To all those people out there who have a girl thats truly into you, keep it real, I respect that. Either way just knew that I didn't want to have a relationship like that. If I'm gonna be with someone then I want to be loved the same way that I love them. Enoough loathing...

Didn't do much this weekend, got some Olive Garden though thats always a bonus. Got sick a few days before my birthday too ~ still getting over it! Got a headache right now, a little stressed but I hope tomorrow has a good outlook for me.

AV Press

Just wanted to give a shout-out to my step brother who has been working hard to move forward with his Integrity in Academics project. Today he was featured on the front page of the AV Press and is receiving numerous recognitions throughout other newspapers including the New York Times as well as the Los Angeles Times. If you want to read the story go here.

Here's a quick excerpt from the AV Press:

LANCASTER - The Lancaster School District board of trustees voted to implement a "philosophy" of science instruction that encourages students to question Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and that permits science teachers to insert critiques of the long-standing and accepted scientific theory into the curriculum.

Being Productive

I'm sitting here at work and I decided to be unproductive (not to be confused with reproductive). So I have this headache right, and its really starting to pound on me. I didn't get much sleep last night but I had a good talk with Diana. The talk really put things into perspective for me. Why am I sitting around being a lame butt when she really deserves someone who cares for her and is passionate about her? She's a very intelligent girl and she's never caused me any ounce of pain, something I am truly grateful for. I know she truly cares about me and for a while I was afraid of opening up to her, well today will be different. Hopefully I'll be able to take her out to dinner and tell her how much she means to me.

So in other news, my step brother has decided to move to Illinois *gasp*!! Well more power to him for being able to make that decision. As for me, I'm gonna stick around for a while. At least until I get rich and decide to move away to Beverly Hills... hmmm yea.

Well I read some interesting articles in regards to AJAX programming. Microsoft has released their Atlas application today. So I'll be checking that out later this week (hopefully) and i'll slap some insight into it on a future blog. Until then, keep it real home skillets.

ASP.NET 2.0 and Classes with the HttpContext.Current

A few days ago someone asked me how they could access the Session object from within one of their classes located in the App_Code directory. Should be simple right?

I could just use:

Dim strMyVar as String = Session("myvar")

right?

Nope! Ok so for some reason it works within my aspx code and not the class. What should I do? Well never fear because the HttpContext.Current is here! HttpContext.Current provides access to the current http context (duh) ~ Which means I can not only get the Session object but the Server and Response object as well (among a boat load of others).

So now I need to do a redirect from within my class, here's how simple it is:

HttpContext.Current.Response.Redirect("~/mypage.aspx", true)

Enjoy!!

Howdy! Welcome to my blog. Lame first post, I know, but keep in touch I'll have more next week.