Off the Beaten Path

A New Beginning - Visual Studio 2005 Launch Tour, Here I Come!

2005-12-02T07:42:00-06:00:00

The last few months have proven to be most interesting for me - working hard on concluding some old projects and looking forward to taking on new ones (using newly available technology). On Tuesday, the Visual Studio 2005 Launch Tour swings through Halifax and I am sure that once the event has concluded, many will be eager and motivated to return to the office and start building right away. There has been so much information and preview product available leading to the official launch (as well as webcasts and free training) that it will be a great opportunity for some face to face discussions - just like it used to be in the Windows 95 Product Launch era.

A Pretty Great Place to Live

2005-06-09T16:21:00-05:00:00

I recently completed building a web site for a local company, Toney Bay Land Development Company - the web site is www.sandpiperridge.com . What a beatiful area we live in! I have been to many places around North America and have seen some pretty spectacular scenery but when considered, none of it surpasses the scenery of this area.

Long Live Legacy Apps

2005-06-09T16:15:00-05:00:00

I had the opportunity to revisit an old tool yesterday that I have not seen for some time. A customer had an application built with Visual FoxPro 3.0 in the mid 1990's (we are on version 9.0 now) and upon trying to re-install on a recently acquired system, he had problems! On a referral from the Microsoft Regional Director for Atlantic Canada, Derek Harchard, I was recruited to see what I could do leaning on my many years of Fox experience - I have been preaching to Derek the 'coolness' of Visual Fox (for certain projects) for some time now but he remains true to Visual Studio.NET.

Come to find that our possibilities were limited as the customer never insisted on getting the source code from the contractor and he has since moved on (get the source code!!!). The issue was based on the .exe file's reliance on the Visual FoxPro 3.0 library support files (vfp300.esl) - as a work around, I built a new project using Installshield X and included the required support files so they would get installed and registered on the destination system - success for the most part! The old application still was not happy running on one of the systems (Windows XP Pro on an IBM Z-Pro with Xeon Processors, SCSI drives etc) but would run well on a couple of his other work stations (Windows XP Pro with P-4 processors). It was alot of fun to revisit similar problems I faced 10 years ago and had long forgotten about.

A Really Cool Tool to Assist the .NET Development Process > XI-Community

2005-04-27T11:39:00-05:00:00

My partner, Mike Moses of OneWorld Host Corp., pointed me to a really cool .NET community web site called XI-Community. The site contains a wealth of information on .NET development with an objective to bridge the gap between IT and Business people assisting developers build “cutting edge” .NET applications that clients want. Once you get signed up (did I mention that registration was free), you gain access to XI-Factory which is an web-app tool that will assist in Modeling, Prototyping, Validation and the Application Generation processes.

If you are a .NET developer, it is definitely worth a look - XI-Community. Simply sign up and you are off!

The results are in - Microsoft's Antispyware Tool (Beta) a big boost!

2005-01-26T21:42:00-06:00:00

Spyware is a real problem - one that takes alot of my time away from software development! I have not had a great deal of success in spyware removal (until now) using only one tool - I have used SpyBot, Adaware, Hi-jack This, among others - and have had limited success with each. My preferred method to this point was backup, reformat and reinstall Windows. But Microsoft's new Windows Antispyware (Beta) tool may change all of this.

Earlier today, I had a friend/customer call me seeking advice on a problem with his outgoing mail - after some discussion on how the system was responding (error messages etc), I figured the problem to be spyware related. Norton Antivirus was up to date and scanning clean; he had run the newest version of SpyBot (with up to date definitions) and system came up nearly clean (3 entries). I pointed him to download the new Microsoft Antispyware tool - he validated his version of windows (as required), downloaded/installed the application and ran the scan - less than 30 minutes later, he called to thank me for the great advice - his system was rid of issues he has tolerated for months - 83 returned issues and all were successfully removed. His system was running as he remembered when it was new!

What I enjoyed of this experience was that I was able to (quickly) help a friend/customer by simply pointing him in the direction of an effective tool - his problem was fixed on his own, with minimal downtime, at no cost and his computing experience was dramatically improved. As Microsoft exits the beta phase later this year, having this tool released at no cost (as part of a service pack/patch cycle) would pay significant dividends in the goal to make the computing experience a more pleasurable one!

Visual FoxPro 9.0 Available now on MSDN Downloads

2004-12-22T08:08:00-06:00:00

A lot of great things have been written lately on the power of Visual FoxPro 9.0 – it is considered to be as important an update as was Visual Fox 3.0 (and that was a while ago). Many felt the product would not survive but yes the product has survived and continues to prove its worth. The beta has been available for a while now but the released product was posted last night to MSDN Subscriptions for download.

Scott Guthrie's Whidbey Status Report

2004-10-25T15:55:00-05:00:00

I just read the very in depth report by Scott Guthrie on the current status of VS2005 (Codenamed Whidbey)...I think he answers every question I have pondered in regards to the product release in this one blog entry...a worthwhile read for those interested in VS2005.

Microsoft Canada Terrarium Contest

2004-10-08T09:48:00-05:00:00

Microsoft Canada is having it's very own Terrarium contest with some pretty cool prizes (trip to VSLive 2005 in TO, X-Box video game consoles, .NET learning tools etc.). This was a popular contect when it ran in the US and now we have our very own. Check out the details if interested. Great job MS Canada!

ASP.NET Alert Issued by Microsoft

2004-10-06T13:49:00-05:00:00

I just received an e-mail (an Alert) from Microsoft to advise of the availability of information on the web of a security vulnerability in ASP.NET where a malicious user could provide a specially-formed URL that could result in the
unintended serving of secured content.

Microsoft is asking ASP.NET developers to become familiarized with the issue and take precautionary measures to prevent current (and future) applications from being affected.

The Microsoft Knowledge Base article can be viewed here: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=887459

The web page that discusses the current investigation into the public reports of a vulnerability in ASP.Net can be viewed here: http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/aspnet.mspx

The issue is also being discussed in the ASP.NET Security Forums at: http://www.asp.net/Forums/ShowForum.aspx?tabindex=1&ForumID=25

I am a Software Developer

2004-08-27T09:50:00-05:00:00

I am a software developer…this is what I enjoy, this is my passion - anything that makes my phone ring a little less (unless it is for new projects) must be a good thing...Right?

I had a call yesterday from a client who was experiencing some difficulty sending e-mail. Most of his e-mail messages were being returned as undeliverable. Was this my problem? Shouldn’t they be calling their e-mail server host to work through this problem? I built an application for this firm and do a lot of web work for them…am I the guy to best handle this issue? They have a lot of trust in me based on the work I have done for them in the past (thus the reason for the call)…such credibility is a good thing but really affects productivity - I expect this is common scenario with many other small firms like mine.

His manager (a day earlier) requested that he follow their normal troubleshooting procedure before seeking outside help…ensuring firewall is turned on, Windows Update is up to date, Anti-virus is active and virus definitions are current…and was advised by the end user, “oh yes, everything is current and running as expected.” As my support call continued with the user, I walked him through all of the proper settings of Outlook and everything was as it should be…test messages were still failing (being returned). This seemed odd so I then asked him to send me a message to my personal account…it wasn’t 10 seconds and Norton barked of an infected message being received and was successfully identified and quarantined. Low and behold, his system was infected with a W32.Netsky virus and his few days of frustration could have been avoided and my time saved by taking responsibility for his machine and following a few simple requirements. He could not believe how this could have happened…was certain (and trusted) that Norton virus definitions were updating automatically and scanning regularly.

Case and point…install XP Service Pack 2 - ensure that firewall is turned on, with auto update and anti-virus kept current and monitor often (trust Security Centre but periodically take some personal initiative to manually ensure that all is working as expected). I have read so many recent newsletters and postings that for the most part are complaining how XP SP2 does not go far enough in security and tend to focus on recent vulnerabilities and how these can be exploited. I personally feel that for the money that I paid for XP SP2 (a free download), that the improved security (and performance) is good value for my investment. If it does nothing else but put a great deal of focus on what users need to be aware of to keep their systems running optimally and secure, that is enough for me. I have installed XP SP2 on as many machines as I can get my hands on with no problems experienced. I am encouraging my entire customer base to do the same. My expectation is that client systems will experience less downtime allowing users to be more productive which allows me to do what I love best, build software!

Windows XP Service Pack 2 Now Available

2004-08-09T22:09:00-05:00:00

Microsoft has just released to manufacturing the long awaited security release service pack for Windows XP (Service Pack 2) - the only place it appears to be available is on the Subscriber Downloads side of MSDN but should be widely available over the next couple of weeks - it is a pretty stiff download (just under 500Mb), especially over dial up but worth the wait. I have it installed on 4 machines with one to go and each has gone without a hitch. It is nice to see all of those 'Hot Fixes' gone from my Add/Remove Programs list.

Dinner with Bill Gates

2004-07-28T23:34:00-05:00:00

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be invited to the home of Bill Gates? Read this entry to get a really interesting perspective by one Microsoft intern who recently had the opportunity.

Office 2003 Service Pack - OneNote Enhancement

2004-07-28T12:06:00-05:00:00

I downloaded/installed SP1 for Office 2003 yesterday and found a pretty cool enhancement affecting OneNote. I rely heavily on my iPaq 5450 Pocket PC to keep my life organized and was pleasantly surprised to see that I can “easily” synchronize my Pocket PC Notes and Recordings (voice notes) with OneNote - this ability was not there previous to SP1 and was the biggest concern I had in my continued use of OneNote. I only recently began to utilize the rich features of OneNote to organize my thoughts as I am generally working on numerous software projects simultaneously but found it limited as it had no relationship to my Pocket PC (yes, there were work arounds but I wanted seemless integration). Now as a thought 'pops' into my head while out of the office, I can make my hand-written or voice recorded note on my iPaq and when I get back to the office, all of my notes are automatically brought into my OneNote for follow up.

Groove 3.0 Released...Pretty Cool Tool!

2004-07-14T19:50:00-05:00:00

I have been a user of Groove (now Groove Virtual Office v3.0) for a little more than a year now at the recommendation of Derek Hatchard and have grown to rely on this most useful tool. Earlier today, Groove 3.0 was released so I had to download and install right away...it has been in beta for a while now but wanted to wait for official release before taking the time to familiarize myself with the new features. The upgrade was painless and all of my previous workspace settings were brought forward perfectly. Looking forward to putting this new tool to work!

Picking the right tool for the job

2004-07-05T11:37:00-05:00:00

I was recently approached to build a small application (data management app) for a long time customer of my firm. Since we began discussing this new project, I have been spending every spare minute learning as much as I can of the new technologies that is (or soon will be available) at my finger tips with Visual Studio 2005, and how some of these new technologies could be implemented into this new project. But I find myself being forced to consider a tool that I have relied on for such similar projects for many years…being Visual FoxPro. It is so tempting to push forward and build the application with these new tools but my “rational” side keeps pulling me back to the reality of the situation. I have years of experience with Visual FoxPro (as well as Visual Studio) and this experience tells me that Visual Fox will build the application they require with no limitations, in less time and therefore at a cost savings to the customer. Yet my addiction to new technologies fed by the ‘Microsoft Marketing Machine’ makes me eager to build an application (production app) using these new technologies.

In fairness to my customer (and my desire to retain this customer), I am proceeding with the tool that my “gut instinct” tells me is the best for this particular app (Visual FoxPro) but it is so tempting to move forward with some of these newly introduced technologies.