July 2003 - Posts
The IE Web Control Treeview has a very annoying problem. Whenever you set the
TreeNodeSrc property to a file name, whether an aspx file
or an xml file, it accesses the file using a separate process
which means that the file cannot be behind any authentication. This
has been the cause for tons of developer headaches and newsgroup
posts, but there is a simple solution which is not immediately apparent (since
it is un-documented).
The TreeNodeSrc is supposed to be set to a file name, but it
can also be set to a string of XML. The treeview control will read through this
string of XML just as if it was a separate file, the string will still need to
conform to the same rules that apply to the file. This means you can
simply build up a string of xml and then set the property using that
string without the need for an extra file.
-James
I don't currently have any plans to go to PDC, but if I had seen this session list earlier I might have made plans to go. I originally thought that PDC was going to be all about Longhorn, and while I think Longhorn is going to be pretty cool it does not have all that much influence on what I do for a living. I write enterprise applications, so what I care about most is the .NET framework, C#, and SQL Server. (Mobile stuff is also pretty cool)
The session lists includes sessions like these:
- CLR Under the Covers: "Whidbey" CLR Internals
- NET Framework: Exploring What's New in the Base Class Library for "Whidbey"
- Programming with Master Pages, Themes/Skins, and Site Navigation in ASP.NET "Whidbey"
Those sessions sound like they are going to kick ass and I wish I could be there to attend. If Scoble wants to generate some buzz about PDC he should pimp out these sessions instead of focusing on Longhorn.
-James
I am the unfortunate owner of an e740 Toshiba Pocket PC. I bought it around
six months ago, and when I heard that Pocket PC 2003 was coming out I was
excited that I would be able to upgrade my current pocket pc.... but
unfortunately that is not the case. Toshiba has decided not to offer an upgrade
for the e740, even though other companies are offering upgrades for handhelds
much older than mine. I wonder who at the company makes such a stupid mistake,
look at all the crappy press they are getting:
The Register: Toshiba e740 PDA owners demand OS upgrade
Earth Village : Toshiba Pocket PC owners striking for their rights
There is even a petition about it on petitiononline.com
-James
I have a HP Pavilion laptop which in the last couple weeks has decided to
ignore when the power adapter is plugged in and go to battery power, until I
goof around with the connector enough for it to go back to power. The problem
has been getting worse and worse so I finally decided to contact HP support. So,
because I hate being on hold and waiting on the phone I figured I would try out
their online chat support. For most companies chat support is pretty good, they
know that they save a ton of money by me not calling.. but HP chat support just
sucks. I started the chat at 7:26 PM and I am still chatting an hour later,
there are times when there is no response for over 10 minutes.... that is
just rediculous. The person answering my chats is also using a bunch of "auto"
text which does not always sound right, and this is on top of never really
understanding my problem in the first place....
The worst thing about this is that HP will cancel the program in a couple
months and say that it is because no one wanted to use a chat program, they
would rather call.... when in fact the problem is that the chat support
sucks.
-James
"The (long awaited) .NET Compact Framework Service
Pack 1 has been released. Go get
it.
Now! Go, Go, Go! Put down the beverage, forget the
dog."
[Nino]
I am glad to see this service pack come out, sounds
like it might speed up the framework significantly. I have not heard about what
Microsoft's plans are for the compact framework from here on out, will we see a
new version of it when Whidbey comes out? If so when can we expect some sort of
beta? What will they be adding? etc...etc.. Anyone care to share the love
and spill the secrets?
-James
Ok, I am a week late in answering this question, but here is what I am reading at the
moment.
Technical Books
Non-Technical
Books
-James
"About.com reviews RSS News Aggregators. If you've been
wondering what RSS is, or what a news aggregator is, this is a good place to
start."
[Scoble]
Glad to see my two favorite readers, FeedDemon and SharpReader, ranked as 2
and 3.
-James
Scott's blog about technical writing is quickly becoming one of my
favorite blogs. His most
recent post is about improving your writing skills and he makes a number of
very good points. Along with what he suggests in his post, I would also suggest
every writer pick up a book called the Elements of Style. Elements of Style is a very small book that
includes an incredible amount of knowledge that can be immediately applied to
your writing. I think this book is especially valuable to technical writers as
it places emphasis on keeping sentences simple and eliminating unnecessary
words. With technical books the subject being written about is
normally complex enough without overly complex sentences and unnecessary
words making it even harder to read.
-James
Scott Mitchell has started a blog, and devoted it to writing about writing! If you do not
know, Scott has written a large number of ASP books as well as running 4GuysFromRolla. He has
already posted about some cool subjects, so be sure to check it out.
-James
FeedDemon Beta 2 has been released and I am downloading it
now. I know that many people who originally downloaded the beta were impressed,
but then ended up switching back to their old reader for some reason... I
never switched back and have been using FeedDemon since that
first beta. While I did find some issues with the software, the
features that it offers dwarf those of the other readers and hopefully this new
beta will fix some of the issues with the original beta.
If you have not tried out this reader yet, I would definitely recommend you
check it out...
-James
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