In a previous blog, I mentioned a new Win32 project I'm undertaking (my first), which is creating a customized IE toolbart that taps various resources on my site, foremost among which is our internal news search tool.  I also mentioned how after lightly investigating the environments and type of programming required to get such a product completed, this was way beyond me.  For the past 7 years, I've been a teacher of all things web-related, and now I'm becoming a total student of the desktop. 

Thanks goodness for people like Geoff Appleby and Chris Howell, who read my post and thought it might be a fun thing to knock out and claim as your own.  I've corresponded with both of them numberous times about the spec sheet I drafted, and both are phenomenally more talented programmers than I, so I'm learning a lot about the process and general architecture involved from them.  Hell, this might even prompt me to take up desktop programming one of these days.  Ah, the power of networking...

Geoff is actually jamming hardcore on this project, as completing it would alow him to lay claim (pending qualification) to being the first person to write an IE toolbar completely in Visual Basic .NET.  He's run into some Interop issues with COM and registration within the GAC of late, which he's sussing through.  Check out his post and drop him a line if you've got the knowledge.