Mark Brown

SP2 Compatibility Problem

2004-08-11T23:20:00Z

Microsoft has warned its customer base that SQL Server 2000, Microsoft CRM 1.2 and a few other Microsoft applications are not currently compatible with SP2.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1738&ncid=1209&e=6&u=/zd/20040811/tc_zd/133299

Comment Spam and Blacklisting

2004-07-27T20:34:00Z

Eric's “Killing Comment Spam“ post and Luke Hutteman's comment sparked a little adventure for me. Of course, it's not complete or very functional. It's more of a motivation piece to get something started. I might have to jump into the .Text source to see about implementing some sort of plugin. I know .Text (Community Server :: Blogs) is provider based so it might be fairly easy to implement this into the Comment Provider... if there is such a beast. Here's a little bit of test code that grabs the MT-BlackList from the Comment Spam ClearingHouse.

namespace BlackList
{
    class Check
    {
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            ArrayList expressions = new ArrayList();
            expressions = BuildBlackList();
            if ( expressions.Count > 0 )
            {
                foreach (string expression in expressions)
                {
                    try
                    {
                        Regex pattern = new Regex(expression, 
                         RegexOptions.Multiline|RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
                        if (pattern.IsMatch("01-logo.com"))
                            Console.WriteLine("Found A Match");
                        pattern = null;
                    }
                    catch {}
                }
            }
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
        private static ArrayList BuildBlackList()
        {
            // In reality this file would be local and downloaded once a 
            // day. Or, if we were in a web environment we could cache it. 
            // But, hey, its just a demo to spark some thought.
            //
            string url = "http://www.jayallen.org/comment_spam/blacklist.txt";
        
            ArrayList expressions = new ArrayList();
            WebResponse response = null;
            try
            {
                WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(url);
                if (request != null)
                {
                    response = request.GetResponse();
                    using (StreamReader sr = 
                     new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream())) 
                    {
                        String line;
                        while ((line = sr.ReadLine()) != null) 
                        {
                            if (line.Substring(0,1) != "#" )
                                expressions.Add(line);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            catch(Exception) 
            { 
                throw;
            } 
            return expressions;
        }
    }
}

Searching Outlook

2004-07-27T14:40:00Z

I finally got around to installing Lookout. Wow! What an amazing search tool. I don't know how I ever got along without this killer Outlook plugin. Looks like it uses the open source Lucene.Net search engine too.

Telligent Open Source Products

2004-07-16T18:04:00Z

Wow!. I have the feeling we are going to see some really cool stuff now that these products are under one roof.

Virtual Server 2005

2004-07-15T15:26:00Z

Virtual Server 2005 is in the release candidate development stage. Virtual Server allows you to run multiple x86-based operating systems concurrently on a single physical server.

VM technology serves a variety of purposes. It enables hardware consolidation, because multiple operating systems can run on one computer. Key applications for VM technology include cross-platform integration as well as the following:

Legacy application migration. Legacy operating systems and applications can run on new hardware along with more recent operating systems and applications.
Server consolidation. If several servers run applications that consume only a fraction of the available resources, VM technology can be used to enable them to run side by side on a single server, even if they require different versions of the operating system or middleware.
Isolation for development, testing and technical support. Each VM acts as a separate environment, which reduces risk and enables developers to quickly recreate different operating system configurations or compare versions of applications designed for different operating systems. In addition, a developer can test an early version of an application in a VM without fear of destabilizing the system for other users.
Software demonstrations: VM technology allows users to recreate a clean operating system environment or system configuration quickly.
Courseware delivery and training. Organizations can configure and deploy a variety of training scenarios quickly.
Software distribution. IT groups can deliver prevalidated configurations for complex software solutions for fast deployment.

What will break?

2004-07-02T04:46:00Z

Information on the 2.0 Framework Beta is everywhere. My RSS reader is going nuts with all the excitement. Take a look at Backwards Breaking Changes from version 1.1 to 2.0 as you start to migrate.

Update: An overview of the changes can be found here.

Framework 1.1 Gets a Refresh

2004-07-02T04:32:00Z

“Tech Previews“

NET 1.1 SP1 - A flavor for Win2K3 and another for other OSes.

Mono 1.0 Released

2004-07-01T13:13:00Z

I need to take a break more often...

~~~
Mono includes a compiler for the C# language, an ECMA-compatible runtime engine (the Common Language Runtime, or CLR),and class libraries. The libraries include Microsoft .NET compatibility libraries (including ADO.NET and ASP.NET), Mono's own and third party class libraries. Mono's runtime can be embedded into applications for simplified packaging and shipping. In addition, the Mono project offers an IDE, debugger, and documentation browser.

If you have questions about the project, read the project launch statement or visit our list of Frequently Asked Questions.

For details on the project's future direction, read the roadmap, and download Mono 1.0.
~~~

The way these guys move we'll have 2.0 features by the end of the year. Amazing.

Spying on spyware

2004-06-18T20:53:00Z

Sheesh, 1 in 3 machines are infected.

“Internet access provider EarthLink and security software maker Webroot scanned nearly 421,000 computers for their April Spy Audit report. Trojan horses and system monitors accounted for 133,715 pieces of the spyware found on those computers--representing almost one in three machines.“

Mono Beta 3 Released

2004-06-16T19:26:00Z

Ug. Novell has gone ahead and released Beta 3 of mono. I just got Beta 2 installed a week ago.

Scripting the XP IIS single site limitation

2004-06-16T14:48:00Z

The single site limitation in IIS on XP is frustrating. Since I can't have more then one site on the box, I needed a way to quickly change the Home Directory of the root web. To satisfy my need I came up with this little script.

' setw3.vbs
Dim objArgs
Set objArgs = WScript.Arguments

If objArgs.Length = 0 Then

' Use the current patch
Set WshShell=WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
currentPath = fs.GetAbsolutePathName(".\")

Else

currentPath = objArgs.Item(0)

End If

Set IISObject = GetObject("IIS://LocalHost/w3svc/1/Root")
IISObject.Path = currentPath
IISObject.Setinfo

I put this script in my path and can call it from the command line or a batch file.

For example:

w3set “e:\dev\project1“

or a batch file sitting on my Desktop

cd /D e:\dev\project1
w3set

Unit Testing in all VS 2005 Versions

2004-06-14T16:54:00Z

I agree with Scott.

“Unit Testing support should be included with all versions of Visual Studio 2005 and not just with Team System.“

I've been wondering why this was only available in the Team System.

Here's Peter Provost's origianl post.

Integrate NUnit into the IDE

2004-06-11T16:33:00Z

As I've mentioned before I've been jumping into NUnit more and more lately. I just found this little gem to integrate NUnit and the IDE.

“TestRunner seamlessly integrates NUnit testing and debugging into a compact Visual Studio .NET 2003 add-in.“

http://www.mailframe.net/Products/TestRunner.htm


1using System;

2using NUnit.Framework;

3

4namespace TestRunner

5{

6 public class Library

7 {

8  public static string HelloWorld()

9  {

10   return "Hello World!";

11  }

12 }

13

14 [TestFixture]

15 public class UnitTest

16 {

17  [Test]

18  public void TestEqual()

19  {

20   string TestString = Library.HelloWorld();

21   Assert.AreEqual("Hello World!", TestString );

22  }

23 }

24}

Microsoft Security Updates via RSS

2004-06-10T22:05:00Z

"TechNet is now providing an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feed for its Security Bulletins, with more RSS content for IT pros on the way in the months ahead. RSS feeds deliver new content to you on the topics you are interested in."

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/secrss.aspx

Windows XP Service Pack 2

2004-06-10T20:08:00Z

Everyone who develops applications for the web needs to start thinking about the upcoming release of this service pack. Read How to Make Your Web Site Work with Windows XP Service Pack 2.