Jason Nadal

Restless C#ding

  • Awaiting Windows Vista Feb CTP

    I'm eagerly awaiting the rumored February CTP of Windows Vista.  Bink.nu reports it will be made available today, February 22nd 21st. Also rumored to be in this build is the return of the prodigal sidebar. We shall see....

    Update: apparently it's been pushed back a day, according to this article. Thanks for the update, Jesse Ezell

  • Virtual Machine failure

    While I've had plenty of experience in fixing seemingly dead physical machines, the death of my Team Foundation Server Dec. CTP machine has me flummoxed. It just sits there with a blinking cursor when I start the vitual machine up. This leads me to the following potential problems:

  • Free torrent source code

    After being away for a couple of days on vacation & catching up, here's a bit more of a frivolous post.

  • SQLCMD Mode (SQL Management Studio)

    By entering SQLCMD mode in a SQL Server Management Studio query window, you can do some very handy things without needing to jump back out to the command prompt.

  • Making Musician Rehearsal tapes via Simulated Instruments

    Through the use of Creative's SoundFont technology, you can get a pretty realistic sounding rehearsal tape for free, depending on the type of music you're working on. Here's a link to tons of different sounfont sites, with the key being the larger ones are usually better, including a few full orchestral sound fonts to let you play out full scores.

  • Team System Training / Tutorials

    I had found "Team System Rocks" a few days ago; the site is full of video / powerpoint combo tutorials to either or both show how to accomplish simple tasks in what is at first a daunting interface, or explain the architectural concepts behind the TFS (Team Foundation Server) API and framework.

  • Team Foundation Server, For Free (Sorta)

    As word gets out that Team Foundation Server has been signed off to RC (release candidate), which should be made available on MSDN soon, the plans for budget allocation and boss-justification must loom close for those who plan or hope to use it. Thankfully after a long, widespread blog dialog, involving key Microsoft decision-makers all the way up to "Soma" Somasegar, there may be a simple no-cost, free, limited solution for small teams. To appease the masses, MS is making available to those MSDN customers who currently have a "role" subscription (one of the premium MSDN subscriptions, aka a migrated Universal or Enterprise MSDN subscription) a free-for-five-users version of Team Foundation Server. They will still only have access to the development tools included in their role, and would need to purchase the Team Suite edition of Visual Studio to get the benefits of other roles, but at least now will have the following: