It all started with my upgrade to VS 2008. I've been using the trial version and only had 3 days left...time to do the deed.
IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: If you are using the trial version, you don't need to do a full uninstall/reinstall. I saw this option the very second I clicked the "uninstall" button. That cost me an hour and a half. Live and learn.
Back to the story...at the end of the Visual Studio upgrade I got the option to check for updates which I always do. I am reckless with updates and proud of it. I seem to be addicted to see what's going to happen. Will it work? Will it fail? If it fails, will it be spectacular? OMG, what have I done!...It's so exciting.
For the most part the installation was quite uneventful and I spent most of it daydreaming about my vacation next week.
Then comes the REBOOT! This is the best part of any major update. This is where it can go really really bad, really really fast. I love this part.
System loads. It pauses before the login screen to install the final 3 parts of Service Pack 1. In big bold letters is the warning, "Do not turn your computer off". I'm starting to sweat and my pulse races as it finishes part 1 and moves to part 2 (like I should care what part it's on--but I do!).
Part 2 is almost done then...BAMMMM! It's the final episode of Sopranos!
My screens goes black. The only thing displayed in all three monitors is a cryptic message only a machine could produce.
"!! 0xC00000 !! 255/73694 (_000000000000000.cfg-ms)"
I knew the exclamation points could only mean something tremendous had happened. Clearly, to tremendous to put into words.
I sit there, trembling. I wonder, "Is it dead? Should I leave it and just go home? Should I turn the computer off? No, it said not to. Computers know best, right?"
My hand shook as I held in the power button. Not from fear--from excitement! It's been a long time since I've had this much fun with an update.
I held my breath as it began to restart. My heart was pounding. I'm given a choice "Repair Windows Startup" or "Start Windows Normally".
What's the logical choice? "Repair", you say? As I selected "Start Windows Normally" (honestly, why wouldn't I want it to start anything but "normally"), I sat frozen, hoping it would be okay but at the same time hoping for some kind of explosion.
The update finished normally, and my machine seems none the worse for wear.
Now, isn't there an IE8 Beta out there somewhere...
I recently happened upon this intriguing little API that provides a nice interface for displaying events on a timeline. It was pretty easy to get my head around it and it's pretty easy to setup and use. It's got a Google Maps-like scrolling interface that is very intuitive. If you're not sure what a timeline looks like, you might want to jump straight to an example before continuing.
I've don't really like the standard options for browsing a blogs history which typically looks like this:
- January (10)
- February (5)
- March (11)
- ...
Kind of boring, right? So, as a proof of concept, I created a little test project to see what an RSS feed would look like in a timeline. Here's what it looks like for a busy RSS feed like Techmeme (or, view live demo):
RSS feeds don't typically output an entire history so this example isn't all that practical. However, if I had access to the database I could pull in all the posts to create a full blog timeline. As far as practical applications go, I can think of a number of other scenarios for using an interactive timeline over a plain old list:
- Displaying event logs
- Order tracking
- Live event blogging
- New user registration
- News tickers
- Twitter?
Take a look at the
Simile Timeline page if you would like more information, documentation, or some better examples. You can also download my little
test project/demo.
Apparently not much. According to the product pricing page, all you need is "Any other developer tool". Here is the full eligibility statement found at the bottom of this page:
Upgrade Pricing Eligibility
To qualify for upgrade pricing, you must be a licensed user of one of the following products:
- An earlier version of Microsoft Visual Studio
- Any other developer tool
The free Visual Web Developer 2008 Express edition binds you to a license and is a developer tool. Hmmm...seems to qualify. Can anyone confirm/debunk this assumption?
How about Dreamweaver or my dusty copy of FrontPage 97? Any Netscape Composer 4.0 users still out there?