Announcing the ASP.NET 2.0 Webcast Series! From the site:
Welcome to the Microsoft® ASP.NET 2.0 Webcast Series, sponsored by Microsoft, Dr. Dobb’s, and O’Reilly. Choose from 45 webcasts organized by track—JSP, PHP, and ColdFusion. Each track has been designed to take advantage of your existing Web development skills and includes insightful content contributed by Dr. Dobb’s and O’Reilly. Select the track you’re most familiar with, and then pick the webcast topics that’ll make your skill set even more versatile.
When you attend three webcasts, you’ll receive an ASP.NET 2.0 Development Pack, including Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005 Standard Edition (Not for Resale), five chapters of Programming ASP.NET 2.0 Core Reference, by Dino Esposito, and more.
Get your complimentary ASP.NET 2.0 Development Pack.
Attend three webcasts, either live or on-demand, and you’ll receive*:
- Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005 Standard Edition (Not for Resale)
- Five chapters of Programming ASP.NET 2.0 Core Reference, by Dino Esposito
- A 30-day hosting account to try out your custom Web applications
- Microsoft Developer Security DVD with how-tos, white papers, tools, webcasts, and code samples that demonstrate how to write more secure code
- A 50% discount on a Microsoft Certified Professional Exam so you can add your new skills to your resume
- A voucher that allows you to buy Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition with an MSDN® Professional Subscription at renewal pricing (a $400 savings)
Altogether, this complimentary package has an estimated value of $400.
The link for the site is
www.learn2asp.net Register today, there are some awesome sessions up there.
Announcing the CTDOTNET Study Group:*
I am please to announce the beginnings of something
new and great for developers in CT, the CTDOTNET Study Group.
CTDOTNET will be offering another great service to its members
starting in Spring of 2006. Are you working on getting your
MCSD, MCAD certifications? Just want to take a couple exams?
Why not get together with fellow CTDOTNET members and work together on
studying and preparing for the exams? This study group is
*brand new*, so we're looking for good ideas and participants. If you
are interested in being a part of the study group, please
contact Dan Krhla at 'ctdotnetstudy@gmail.com'.
We will be working out the hows, whens and wheres of the group
over the next month, so if you have ideas, suggestions or an
interest in joining, please email Dan soon! Also, if you have
already taken the exams and would be interested in sharing your
tips and advice with others interested in taking them, please
let Dan know and we will arrange to have you sit with the group.
Also any exam prep resources you no longer need would be a great help
to the group, so bring or send in your books, pdfs, videos or
anything else.
We will be mainly focusing on developer and SQL exams for now,
but if you have other exam interests, please contact Dan today.
<DISCLAIMER> Follow these instructions AT YOUR OWN RISK. We had no problems at all doing this, but if you are playing with GDI+ on your Win 2000 machine, you better know what you are doing! If you are not careful, you run the risk of breaking any other GDI+ applications you have on your machine. BUT, if you ARE CAREFUL, it worked for us, so good luck to you. I am no way, shape, or form responsible for anything you do to your machine by following (or not correctly following) these directions. If you are unsure of yourself, please find someone else who would be comfortable doing this for you. </DISCLAIMER>
We were trying to install Windows Defender today at work on a few older Windows 2000 machines and got the error below:
This software requires GDI+, Please load the Windows 2000 Security Software PreRequisite Pack.
With the help of a friendly consultant here at work, here's what we came up with: What we ended up doing here was getting the newest version of gdiplus.dll (from the framework 2.0 folder) from our machine, copying it to system32, and then it let us install the app, once it installed, but before we actually ran the app once, we copied the gdiplus.dll to the WindowsDefender directory to get it away from system32 (since the directions were very clear not to put it here, we didn't want to leave it here) . That seemed to work, but I don't reccomend people who are not afraid to GdiScrew their machines to do this :)
If there a more user friendly way to do this, please let me know. It worked for us, we're all set, but I dunno how people will feel having their mothers and other non-tech people doing this :)
Link to Windows Defender http://microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Link to GDIPlus installer (self executing zip, ignore the directions and put it in the System32 folder for install, then move it to the Defender folder.: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/gdicpp/GDIPlus/GDIPlus.asp
<DISCLAIMER> Follow these instructions AT YOUR OWN RISK. We had no problems at all doing this, but if you are playing with GDI+ on your Win 2000 machine, you better know what you are doing! If you are not careful, you run the risk of breaking any other GDI+ applications you have on your machine. BUT, if you ARE CAREFUL, it worked for us, so good luck to you. I am no way, shape, or form responsible for anything you do to your machine by following (or not correctly following) these directions. If you are unsure of yourself, please find someone else who would be comfortable doing this for you. </DISCLAIMER>
Great new article up on MSDN today. Convert Visual Basic 6 UI controls into Visual Basic 2005. From the article:
In the world of conversion of Visual Basic 6 applications, little causes more concern than controls that just won't convert. Between in-project controls that you have the source code for, custom ActiveX controls that you bought back in 1997, and the built-in Microsoft controls that have no real conversion path, the task is not easy.
There is hope, however. Code in Visual Basic 6 user controls convert fairly well to Visual Basic 2005. You can use some third party controls via interop. Tools are provided in Visual Studio 2005 to assist with OCX proxy creation. All is not lost.
Here's the link:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbrun/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/dnvs05/html/UIConVB6and05.asp
Microsoft Anti-Spy is now Windows Defender get beta 2 today!
Windows Defender (Beta 2) is a free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software. It features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it's detected, and a new streamlined interface that minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive.
Here's the link to the product page:
Here's the download link:
Get it today and save yourself a lot of headaches!
Nooo, not springtime, springtime Code Camp Time!!!
Well, I guess I waited long enough to do this, but can't hold off any more.
Meet my beautiful son, Ryan Daniel Krhla. Here he is at 6 months:
HE IS AWESOME!!!
As a follow up to yesterday's LUA post, I want to point you to a post from Wintellog on LUA. John points to an article on adminfoo.net and eWeek. The eWeek article is interesting because they took 3 logins (admin, power user and user) and did some surfing and, well, here's a quick quote:
Look at the results table from a eWeek article where their test labs ran as an Administrator, Power User, and User and "visited a series of less-than-savory Web sites in an effort to install various types of adware and spyware bundlers." The results are amazing. On Windows XP SP2, the Administrator and Power Users accounts had 16 detected threats. The User had zero! Do you believe all of us clamoring for everyone to run as LUA now?
Holy crap. I thought it was a good idea, but here's the proof in the chocolate pudding!
Yeah, it isn't the easiest thing to get used to, and yeah, some apps don't play nice with LUA, but, maybe that could be the fault of the vendors who are making software that has no real need to access admin areas (registry, windows system folders, etc..) and not the principle of LUA?
If you were waiting for the one compelling reason to quit running as admin, I think the eWeek article is it.
If you still don't switch after reading the article, you deserve every piece of spyware you get (even those you don't even know you picked up) and your internet connection should be taken away, permanently. I wish upon you every virus, spyware, mal-ware, and syphilis too.
For those of us that *do* run LUA, it's up to you to convert the stubborn. Their laziness, or stubbornness, or whatever is still propagating this crap throughout the internet, and if you think the other 10000000000 people running admin, sharing spyware and viruses with each other are not affecting you, think again. That crap is still bogging down *your* internet, the whole web, even though you aren't infected.
Here's the article : http://wintellect.com/WEBLOGS/wintellect/archive/2006/02/08/2492.aspx
Here's a neat tip I found on the 43Folders Wiki:
Every 6 months or so, I photocopy anything essential in my wallet and file it away. I photocopy my credit cards, ID, HMO membership, llibrary card, etc. (I skip the burrito punch cards.) Copy both sides. This way, if my wallet is lost, I know what is missing, and I've photocopied the phone numbers I need to call to cancel the credit cards, etc.
They have a great wiki for
They have some great ideas in there, if you have some of your own, be sure to add them!
TechEd coming to Boston in 2006!!
I know it's not breaking news, but it seems to have slipped through the cracks, TechEd is coming to Boston in 2006.
Important Dates:
• January 31, 2006: Registration opens
• March 15, 2006: Last chance for VIP Sweepstakes
• April 14, 2006: Early Bird registration ends
• June 11–16, 2006: Tech·Ed 2006
Just a friendly reminder I guess, get all the info at :
http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2006/default.mspx
There's an excellent whitepaper released by Microsoft on the practice of running with LUA in Windows XP.
I try to be as security conscientious as I can, and I started running as 'user' for my day to day tasks after a New England Code Camp with
Robert Hurlbut.
It makes a lot of sense on so many different levels.
For those not familiar with LUA, I *strongly* suggest you give the article a read. The basic gist of LUA is to use an account with the least privileges as possible for your day to day computing. There are a number of benefits to this, my favourite being spyware. It is a lot harder for spyware to get installed on your machine if you are running your browser, and Windows with an account that does not have permission to install software. By using a login with the most restrictive permissions possible, you reduce the risk of a security breach. The article covers the benefits, risks, gotchas, and implementation of LUA.
Working for myself, this is a great idea. I don't have time to waste trying to rid myself of any internet nasties I may have picked up. As an employee of a larger organization, I can also see the huge reduction in costs of the IT department having to go remove WebRebates off the computers of the 200 users that could not live without that 500000000 emoticon add-in for Outlook that they just *had* to download. I originally say LUA as a power trip by a couple of IT losers that wanted to play power games and try to make themselves feel more important and useful than they really were, but I few years ago I really started to 'get it'.
As a developer, it makes a ton of sense. Why develop an application assuming that your end users will be running with the broadest set of permissions available, only to find out the 200 people in your corporation that are using your app will not have admin permissions, and that app you spent months developing needs registry, program files and system access that your users will not have? I never thougth of it that way before Robert's session. Just one more way to reduce the
'duhhhh, um it worked on *my* machine, duhhhh!'
Check it out today, it definitely is a little hard to get used to, but really try to stick with it and in the end you *will* be *very* glad you did. For those day to day tasks that *do* require admin permissions, there are some excellent tools out there like the admin cmd prompt, as well as the "right click, run as…" option.
article at : http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=58445
Ever wonder how you can get your article published in MSDN magazine? I found this great post on Stephen Toub's blog about writing for MSDN magazine:
Write Articles for MSDN Magazine
MSDN Magazine is always on the look out for talented developers and writers looking to get their quality ideas and content published in the magazine. If you've got a great idea for an article relating to development with Microsoft technologies, by all means, let us know! It might take a bit of time for me to respond, but I do look at and consider and respond to every single proposal that comes in (so, if you don't hear back from me within several weeks, it's possible one of my spam filters caught it, and feel free to ping again). Send all proposals to mmsubmit@microsoft.com. For more information, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/submit.aspx (note that the list of topics on that page is just a guideline... we're always considering proposals for articles on all appropriate topics).
Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Steve
Sounds great, check it out today!
While checking out the SQLExpress Advanced Tools Beta from my previous post, I found some gold. I've heard this question asked a few times by customers and people at user groups, and lo' and behold, this is what I found:
There are a lot of people downloading and installing SQL Server Express. One of the common questions we get is “What should I do next?” We’ve worked hard creating a great product that easy to use, free to download and distribute, and bundled with good guidance and code samples illustrating how to use SQL Server Express. We also arranged the following list of items to help people take their first steps with SQL Server Express.
First off, register! You may wonder why there’s any benefit to registering, but the whole new Express suite of products (Visual Web Developer, Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual C++, Visual J#) has lots of reasons. You’ll get an assortment of 250 royalty-free images from Corbis for inclusion in your web sites and applications, selections of application components useful when you’re developing applications, and full-text electronic books and articles helpful to professional developers, hobbyists, and everyone in between. Registration is easy and only takes a few moments. No long forms or activation codes stand between you and your free benefits.
Download SQL Server Management Studio Express. This easy and user-friendly management tool adds a windows graphical front-end to SQL Server Express and enhances your ability to not just manage SQL Server Express, but all versions of SQL Server 2005.
Join the community! Look through the user forums, ask questions, post comments—your feedback helps make the product better. Let us know what you’re using SQL Server Express for and share helpful tools and information with fellow users.
Learn the basics. There’s lots of great information online for new developers. Check out first steps like Writing SQL Queries, Securing Your SQL Express Server, and Web Development with SQL Server.
Get to work. View the demo and check out some sample applications online over at Coding 4 Fun. You’ll find all sorts of ideas and creative applications. From web programming to game development, there’s sure to be something that strikes your fancy. There’s even a Geek Holidays section that includes holiday-oriented games and applications as well as a Geek Holiday Gift Guide.
Stumped about something as you’re going along? Have a feature request? Looking for information specific to SQL Server Express that you wish was available? Tell us! The best way to get what you want is to ask for it.
Our goal is to make sure your SQL Server Express experience is an easy and productive one. Whether you’re building powerful data-driven websites or stand alone applications, you’ve just taken your first step to joining a great and productive community. Have fun!
Thanks,
A. Burdette
SQL Server Express
Thanks to A. Burdette for a great, informative post. Check out the SQLExpress weblog today!!!
http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlexpress/default.aspx
Microsoft is looking for beta testers for the new SQL Express with Advanced Services. From the SQLExpress weblog:
Are you using SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and want to contribute to helping us continue to improve it?
Now is your chance. We are about to start a beta program for the next update to SQL Express and are looking for beta testers who have experience working with MSDE or SQL Express and who are interested in testing out the next update for SQL Express. You can nominate yourself by filling out a questionnaire on Microsoft BetaPlace.
Head over here for more information: http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlexpress/archive/2006/02/02/ExpressBeta.aspx and here (http://beta.microsoft.com/) is the link to Microsoft BetaPlace to sign up.
If there weren't enough reasons out there to make the switch to .Net, check this out from CNN Money:
Two tech jobs in high demand these days are .NET (dot net) developers and quality assurance analysts.
Developers who are expert users of Microsoft's software programming language .NET can make between $75,000 and $85,000 a year in major cities when they're starting out. If they pursue a job at a company that seeks someone with a background in a given field (say, a firm looking for a .NET developer experienced in using software related to derivatives) they might snag a salary hike of 15 percent or more when they switch jobs.
Those who work in software quality management, meanwhile, might make $65,000 to $75,000 a year and be able to negotiate a 10 percent to 15 percent jump in pay if they switch jobs.
Link to the whole article:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/03/pf/pay_hike_jobseeker/index.htm?cnn=yes
And for those developers looking to bone up on .net, check out Carl Franklin's .Net Rocks at www.dotnetrocks.com
Add blogging capability to your VB 2005 apps with My.blogs:
There's a great new article on MSDN about adding blogging to your VB 2005 applications.
There's a video demo with Chris Mayo and all the source code here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdntv/episode.aspx?xml=episodes/en/20060126VBasicCM/manifest.xml
They go over adding both reading and publishing blogs in win forms and web forms in this demo. They also include a blogging VS snippet and add-in as well as the dll they are using and the source to the dll. The session is listed as level 100, so it’s probably not going to be over anyone's heads, but it is interesting and useful enough for more experienced developers as well, just watch it at 125% speed!
There is a bold note on the page to disable any popup blockers as this may prevent you from viewing the content.
If you're using the Firefox browser and haven't upgraded to 1.5.0.1 yet, what are you waiting for? There is a new update out for the best browser ever, fixing some potential security holes. From PC World:
Mozilla has released a new version of its Firefox browser containing critical security updates. Version 1.5.0.1 of the browser, released Wednesday, also contains a number of "stability" fixes to address problems that cause the browser to gum up the performance of some systems.
If you have at least version 1.5, you will be prompted to use the new automated update feature. There are 8 'highly critical' security fixes included with the newest update. Head over to the Firefox site (http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/) to get the latest version of the browser.