Any ideas on how (the best way) a Console Application can start ITSELF minimized? I have been trying to track this down for a while now.
I just finished previewing a portion of Pro ADO.NET with VB.NET 1.1.
I must say that I began my reading with a little bit of scepticism figuring that this was yet another rehash of the MSDN Library. I am happy to report that I was wrong.
If you think that when it comes to ADO.NET you have been there, done that, got the t-shirt, then you really should pick up a copy of this book. The authors of Pro ADO.NET really take the time to teach the real nuts and bolts of using ADO.NET effectively and efficiently using concrete examples. Topics that are covered include ADO.NET architecture, Data Sets, Data Adapters, Data Readers, data relationships, performance optimizations, and much more. If you are looking for something to fill the gap that the MSDN Library or books that are near carbon copies of the MSDN Library have not filled, then look no further. This book is the one. If you ever wanted to take that next step and truly become an ADO.NET guru, I recommend adding this book to your collection.

Warning! Rant on whiners follows....
A colleague of mine sent me an article about the current hiring situation in the IT Industry, and it got me thinking. Man am I sick and tired of those who constantly blame others for them not being capable of finding work. I am sure you know a few them... You know the type...
The articled reaffirmed for me that as a consultant you have to be flexible and be able to adapt to market conditions. It’s the whole supply and demand thing. If there are not enough people that want your services, then find something else to do. If I have to become a teacher, construction worker, author, presenter, whatever.. You do what it takes. Hopefully you can find a demand for something that also fits your interests and passions. That is one of the things I DO love about this country (Canada) and I am sure the same can be said for the U.S. and others. I can be whatever I want to be and nobody can do a damn thing to stop me. Watch me!
We have two choices
1) Sit and feel sorry for ourselves and blame the rest of the world for us being out of work
2) Get off our ass and do something about it and take accountability for our situations.
I prefer the second option.
1) I have a web server control, lets say TextBox1 (System.Web.UI.WebControls.TextBox) declared (not dynamically created in code behind) inside a form on my aspx page
2) This control has the runat="server" attribute
2) Inside the PageLoad event I dynamically create another TextBox control (TextBox2) and set its Text property to some text "My New Text"
3) Still inside the PageLoad event I try set TextBox1 = TextBox2
4) Now that TextBox1 points to TextBox2 I look at the value of the Text property on TextBox1 (in the Watch window) and see that it is equal to "My New Text"
5) Great so far... Not so fast. When the page gets rendered TextBox1 does not contain the string "My New Text"
6) HOW COME????
I have been using
FireFox for a couple of weeks now. The implementation of Tabs and lack of clutter has me hooked. I am going to start testing a few of my ASP.NET apps and see if there are many issues with rendering. So far, things look I'll keep you posted.
So why are you using/not using FireFox? Can FireFox take a signfigant bite out of IE's market share? Its going to be interesting to watch.
Windows Media Player 10 will be available for download today at 6am P.D.T as announced by Microsoft.
Check out this PDF for a Features Overview.

I spent a couple of hours last night listening to an interview with Charles Petzold that was conducted by Carl & Rory on DotNetRocks. I particularly enjoyed the first 45 minutes or so where Charles talked about his interest in the history of the computer. Both Carl & Rory gave very high marks for his book (Code: This Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software) discussing the inner working of computers. After reading some reviews and discussing the book with some of my colleagues that have already read it, I decided to order a copy of the book today. It sounds like this book should be a staple for anyone wanting to learn about how the guts of computers work.
Carl & Rory . You did a great job getting Charles to open up a bit. He did not seem like the easiest subject to interview. I especially enjoyed the story about how he was an accomplice in writing a virus and placing it on the PC of a senior editor (I think he was an editor anyway) at PC Magazine. Hilarious stuff!
I highly recommend you all have a listen to the interview. This is truly a great interview with a quality individual.
Click on the book for details.

I have tried all three of these media players on my PC and I have been very disappointed with the performance when working with large lists of media (30,000+ items (Mp3, Mpg, etc...) It takes a long time (minutes) to load and save playlists etc). Windows Media Player seems to be the worst. I have plenty of CPU power and a GIG of RAM.
Am I expecting to much when dealing with such a large volume? Are others having similar problems? My guess is that I am just going to have to create smaller playlists.. oh well.
So what media player software are you using?
Frustrated and looking for a decent media player!
More Posts
« Previous page -
Next page »