Archives
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[tip] Using IE when it's not your default browser
Firefox has been my default browser for nearly a year, but there are a few sites that I have to use that use IE specific HTML. A usual offender is corporate intranets, since they've got a captive audiance.
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Monoppix 1.0.6 Release
Monoppix is a bootable Linux CD that runs .NET applications on the Mono framework. It makes it easy to see your .NET code running on Linux without installing a thing.
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Supersize my Windows Media Library
Steve's got a great idea here:
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Avalon and Indigo Beta SDK Now Available
From the main download page for the Betas, you will find a link to the updated SDK (iso format). Looks like Friday's announcement kinda jumped the gun, but it's all available now.
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.Math Expression Compiler
Welcome to .Math, the OpenSource expression compiler for the .NET platform written entirely in C#. Offering speed through compilation of expressions, the library allows for variable handling, an entire function library and the ability to add your own functions.
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Issue with Firefox v1.0.3 upgrade - blank screens
Hmm... this is a bit circular. Don and I both had problems with our Firefox extensions when we upgraded to 1.0.3 - every page we browsed to was blank. I figured out the solution, Don blogged it, so I'm just going to quote him:
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[link] Rewriting the URL using IHttpHandlerFactory
Don Good told me about Jeff Putz's cool article on Rewriting the URL using IHttpHandlerFactory. I don't know how I missed that one. It's a great technique that gets around all the grimy hacks you need if you're doing this the standard way, using HttpContext.Current.RewritePath(someFile). This one instead maps a custom handler for ASPX files to your class which implements IHttpHandlerFactory. Then in the code logic, you just load the code from the physical ASPX file instead of redirecting to it and screwing with your context:
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An overview of the Enterprise Library
We've been looking for some standard components in my group at work. The main issues were logging, data access, and centralized configuration. We'd kicked the tires on the Enterprise Library a bit, but our reaction was the standard "Gee, it looks complicated. Probably more trouble than it's worth." Then within one week, we got a barrage of EntLib information: a presentation by Scott Mitchell at the local San Diego .NET user group, presentations by Tom Hollander and Blake Dong (Avenade) at the Microsoft San Diego Architect Council, and an onsite Q & A with Tom Hollander. It all made sense: this is exactly what we were looking for, and it might be worth a second look if you'd decided to pass on it, too.
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[VPC] Compressing VHD files
As mentioned some time ago, we're shuttling VHD files around the office to share preconfigured developer environments. Even precompacted, VHD files are still pretty huge - 5 to 10 GB. They can compress down quite a bit, though - as much as 70% or so.
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[VPC] Using Virtual PC for developer portability
I've been using VPC quite a bit lately. At work, we've got a few applications which can take days to get set up for development - one app is ASP.NET mixed with VB DCOM on DB2, another is even more confusing. Both take a few days to configure, and that's if you follow the directions and ask the guys who built it. That kills developer portability - a 30 minute bug fix becomes a 30 hour bug fix if the developer hasn't gone through the installation initiatiation on that system yet.
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Free Opera Browser v7.54 License
It's nice to test drive the top alternative browsers, especially if you're involved in web development and want to see how your sites are displayed. I've never used Opera before because I'm terminally cheap and very happy with Firefox.
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[OT] Teaching a child to read
I'm teaching my 4 year old, Rosemary how to read. I thought I'd share a few of my experiences in case it's helpful to others.
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Hiding that "Server Application Unavailable" error message - Answered
Time's up, pencils down.
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ASP.NET 1.1 database cache dependency (without triggers)
Here's a way to implement a database cache dependency in an ASP.NET 1.1 application. At a high level, it uses a timer on a background thread (in an HTTP Module) that checksums database tables. No database triggers are required.
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[OT] Let's crank this blog back up
Hmmm... no posts for more than a month. A reorg at work got me a small promotion and a ton more work. Bunch of other non-computer related stuff.
Enough of the bloguilt - let's crank this sucker back up. Got 275 notes on blog post topics and several code samples that are just about complete, so here goes...