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  • API-based solutions for sending payments to people without bank accounts

    - by Tauren
    I'm looking for inexpensive ways to send payments to hundreds or thousands of individual contractors, even if they do not have a bank account. Currently I only need to support payment in the USA, but may eventually be international. Here's the scenario: I offer a service that allows an organization or manager-type person to coordinate contractors for very short term jobs. These jobs are typically only an hour or two in length. A contractor may get only one job over an entire month, several jobs spread out over a month, multiple jobs on a single day, or any other combination. Thus, a single contractor could earn as little as one job's payment up to potentially payment for dozens. Payment for a month could be as little as $10 up to $1000's. Right now, the system provides payroll reports to the manager and it is the manager's responsibility to produce checks, stuff envelopes, and send mail via the US postal service. I'd like to remove this burden from the manager and have all the payments taken care of for them automatically by the system. I'm not sure where to start or what the best options would be. I'm starting to look into the following solutions, but don't know specifics yet and would like some advice before pursuing them. I'd also like to hear about other ideas or suggestions. PayPal (Send Money, Adaptive Payments, x.com, other???) Amazon (Flexible Payments System?) Fund some sort of pre-paid debit card? Web service with API that mails checks for you? Direct deposit via a bank API (for users with bank accounts)? The problem is that many of these contractors may not be able to obtain bank accounts or credit cards within the USA. I don't mind doing a hybrid of solutions, but are there any that would work well with this issue? I want the solution to be easy to use for the contractors, meaning that they can get the money easily (via check in the mail, debit card ATM withdrawal, etc.)

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  • Solving problems with near infinite potential solutions

    - by Zonda333
    Today I read the following problem: Use the digits 2, 0, 1, 1 and the operations +, -, x, ÷, sqrt, ^ , !, (), combinations, and permutations to write equations for the counting numbers 1 through 100. All four digits must be used in each expression. Only the digits 2, 0, 1, 1 may be used, and each must be used exactly once. Decimals may be used, as in .1, .02, etc. Digits may be combined; numbers such as 20 or 101 may be used. Example: 60 = 10*(2+1)!, 54 = ¹¹C2 - 0! Though I was able to quickly find around 50 solutions quite easily in my head, I thought programming it would be a far superior solution. However, I then realized I had no clue how to go about solving a problem like this. I am not asking for complete code for me to copy and paste, but for ideas about how I would solve this problems, and others like it that have nearly infinite potential solutions. As I will be writing it in python, where I have the most experience, I would prefer if the answers were more python based, but general ideas are great too.

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  • SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services - The Word is But a Stage (T-SQL Tuesday #006)

    - by smisner
    Host Michael Coles (blog|twitter) has selected LOB data as the topic for this month's T-SQL Tuesday, so I'll take this opportunity to post an overview of reporting with spatial data types. As part of my work with SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services, I've been exploring the use of spatial data types in the new map data region. You can create a map using any of the following data sources: Map Gallery - a set of Shapefiles for the United States only that ships with Reporting Services ESRI Shapefile - a .shp file conforming to the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) shapefile spatial data format SQL Server spatial data - a query that includes SQLGeography or SQLGeometry data types Rob Farley (blog|twitter) points out today in his T-SQL Tuesday post that using the SQL geography field is a preferable alternative to ESRI shapefiles for storing spatial data in SQL Server. So how do you get spatial data? If you don't already have a GIS application in-house, you can find a variety of sources. Here are a few to get you started: US Census Bureau Website, http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/ Global Administrative Areas Spatial Database, http://biogeo.berkeley.edu/gadm/ Digital Chart of the World Data Server, http://www.maproom.psu.edu/dcw/ In a recent post by Pinal Dave (blog|twitter), you can find a link to free shapefiles for download and a tutorial for using Shape2SQL, a free tool to convert shapefiles into SQL Server data. In my post today, I'll show you how to use combine spatial data that describes boundaries with spatial data in AdventureWorks2008R2 that identifies stores locations to embed a map in a report. Preparing the spatial data First, I downloaded Shapefile data for the administrative boundaries in France and unzipped the data to a local folder. Then I used Shape2SQL to upload the data into a SQL Server database called Spatial. I'm not sure of the reason why, but I had to uncheck the option to create a spatial index to upload the data. Otherwise, the upload appeared to run successfully, but no table appeared in my database. The zip file that I downloaded contained three files, but I didn't know what was in them until I used Shape2SQL to upload the data into tables. Then I found that FRA_adm0 contains spatial data for the country of France, FRA_adm1 contains spatial data for each region, and FRA_adm2 contains spatial data for each department (a subdivision of region). Next I prepared my SQL query containing sales data for fictional stores selling Adventure Works products in France. The Person.Address table in the AdventureWorks2008R2 database (which you can download from Codeplex) contains a SpatialLocation column which I joined - along with several other tables - to the Sales.Customer and Sales.Store tables. I'll be able to superimpose this data on a map to see where these stores are located. I included the SQL script for this query (as well as the spatial data for France) in the downloadable project that I created for this post. Step 1: Using the Map Wizard to Create a Map of France You can build a map without using the wizard, but I find it's rather useful in this case. Whether you use Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) or Report Builder 3.0, the map wizard is the same. I used BIDS so that I could create a project that includes all the files related to this post. To get started, I added an empty report template to the project and named it France Stores. Then I opened the Toolbox window and dragged the Map item to the report body which starts the wizard. Here are the steps to perform to create a map of France: On the Choose a source of spatial data page of the wizard, select SQL Server spatial query, and click Next. On the Choose a dataset with SQL Server spatial data page, select Add a new dataset with SQL Server spatial data. On the Choose a connection to a SQL Server spatial data source page, select New. In the Data Source Properties dialog box, on the General page, add a connecton string like this (changing your server name if necessary): Data Source=(local);Initial Catalog=Spatial Click OK and then click Next. On the Design a query page, add a query for the country shape, like this: select * from fra_adm1 Click Next. The map wizard reads the spatial data and renders it for you on the Choose spatial data and map view options page, as shown below. You have the option to add a Bing Maps layer which shows surrounding countries. Depending on the type of Bing Maps layer that you choose to add (from Road, Aerial, or Hybrid) and the zoom percentage you select, you can view city names and roads and various boundaries. To keep from cluttering my map, I'm going to omit the Bing Maps layer in this example, but I do recommend that you experiment with this feature. It's a nice integration feature. Use the + or - button to rexize the map as needed. (I used the + button to increase the size of the map until its edges were just inside the boundaries of the visible map area (which is called the viewport). You can eliminate the color scale and distance scale boxes that appear in the map area later. Select the Embed map data in this report for faster rendering. The spatial data won't be changing, so there's no need to leave it in the database. However, it does increase the size of the RDL. Click Next. On the Choose map visualization page, select Basic Map. We'll add data for visualization later. For now, we have just the outline of France to serve as the foundation layer for our map. Click Next, and then click Finish. Now click the color scale box in the lower left corner of the map, and press the Delete key to remove it. Then repeat to remove the distance scale box in the lower right corner of the map. Step 2: Add a Map Layer to an Existing Map The map data region allows you to add multiple layers. Each layer is associated with a different data set. Thus far, we have the spatial data that defines the regional boundaries in the first map layer. Now I'll add in another layer for the store locations by following these steps: If the Map Layers windows is not visible, click the report body, and then click twice anywhere on the map data region to display it. Click on the New Layer Wizard button in the Map layers window. And then we start over again with the process by choosing a spatial data source. Select SQL Server spatial query, and click Next. Select Add a new dataset with SQL Server spatial data, and click Next. Click New, add a connection string to the AdventureWorks2008R2 database, and click Next. Add a query with spatial data (like the one I included in the downloadable project), and click Next. The location data now appears as another layer on top of the regional map created earlier. Use the + button to resize the map again to fill as much of the viewport as possible without cutting off edges of the map. You might need to drag the map within the viewport to center it properly. Select Embed map data in this report, and click Next. On the Choose map visualization page, select Basic Marker Map, and click Next. On the Choose color theme and data visualization page, in the Marker drop-down list, change the marker to diamond. There's no particular reason for a diamond; I think it stands out a little better than a circle on this map. Clear the Single color map checkbox as another way to distinguish the markers from the map. You can of course create an analytical map instead, which would change the size and/or color of the markers according to criteria that you specify, such as sales volume of each store, but I'll save that exploration for another post on another day. Click Finish and then click Preview to see the rendered report. Et voilà...c'est fini. Yes, it's a very simple map at this point, but there are many other things you can do to enhance the map. I'll create a series of posts to explore the possibilities. Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!

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  • The Partner Perspective from Oracle OpenWorld 2012 - IDC’s Darren Bibby report

    - by Richard Lefebvre
    Below is IDC’s Darren Bibby report on ‘The Partner Perspective from Oracle OpenWorld 2012’. If you missed the 2012 edition, I trust this will give you the willingness to attend next year one! October 26, 2012 I attended my fourth Oracle OpenWorld earlier in October. I always go in with the lens of, "What's in it for partners this year?" Although it's primarily thought of as a customer event - and yes, the bulk of the almost 50,000 attendees are customers - this year's conference was clearly the largest and most important partner event Oracle has ever run. Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Exchange There were more partner attendees than ever, with Oracle citing somewhere around 5000. But the format for partners this year was different. And it was better. Traditionally, Oracle hosts a one-day only Partner Forum on the Sunday before the customer-focused conference begins. This year, the partner content still began on the Sunday, but the worldwide alliances and channels group created an exclusive track throughout the week, just for partners. It featured content specifically targeted towards partners, and was anchored at a nearby hotel. This was a great move for Oracle. The Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) team has been in a tricky position for years in that they have enough partners that they need a landmark event in the year, but perhaps not enough to justify a separate, worldwide, large, partner-only event. Coinciding a four day event with Oracle OpenWorld, where anybody who's anybody in the Oracle world attends anyway, is a good solution. The channels leadership team can build from this success for an even better conference next year. It's expected that they will follow a similar strategy. Cloud Announcements for Partners As for the content, it was primarily about the Cloud. For customers, for VARs, for ISVs, for everyone. There were five key Cloud related announcements for partners at the event: Cloud Builder Specialization. This is one of the first broader Specializations that isn't focused on one unique product. It is a designation for partners that offer design and implementation services for private cloud solutions. As such, it will surely be something that nearly every partner will consider, and many will pursue. New Specializations for Cloud Services. Unlike the broad, almost "strategy-level" Specialization above, there are a group of new product-based "merit badges" for many of the new Cloud offerings. Think about a Specialization for the Cloud version of HCM, for instance. Each of these particular specializations will also have Rapid Start implementation methodologies that allow a partner to offer a fixed scope and fixed price bid to customers. Based on the learnings from Oracle Consulting, this means a partner might be able to deliver Cloud HCM in six weeks for a fixed price. In the end, this means more consistent experiences for Oracle customers. Cloud Resale Program. For those partners who achieve one of these Cloud Specializations, it will mean they can actually resell the subscription-based Cloud product. This is important because it has been somewhat of a rarity in the emerging Cloud channel for partners to be able to "take the paper", take the revenue, do the billing, be first line of support etc. This is an important step for Oracle and one the partners will be happy to see. Cloud Referral Program. For those partners who are not as engaged with these specific Cloud products that the Specializations revolve around, there is a new referral program that provides an incentive to recommend Oracle Cloud products. This one-two punch of referral and resale programs is similar in many ways to other vendors who allow more committed partners to resell, while more casual partners can collect fees. It's the model that seems to work. The key to allow a company to resell a subscription product - something that is inherently delivered directly between the vendor and customer - is trust. Achieving a specialization is a good bar to have to meet. Platform as a Service for ISVs. Leveraging some of the overall announcements made by CEO Larry Ellison around a cloud version of its famous database, Oracle also outlined a new ability for ISVs to build cloud services on its new PaaS offering. Details were less available for this announcement, though it's an expected and fitting play for ISVs comfortable with Oracle technology who can now more easily build out cloud applications. There wasn't much talk of an app store to go along with this, but surely it's in the works. Specializations And "The Gap" Coming back to Specializations, Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) has 4600 partners worldwide that hold 20,000 Specializations. These are impressive numbers just three years into the new OPN framework. The actual number of Specializations has also grown significantly, up to 111 today and soon around 125 or so with the new Cloud designations. Oracle may need to look at grouping some of these and creating higher level, broader designations that partners could achieve by earning several Specializations in that group. At 125 and growing, this is a lot. On the top of the pyramid, Hitachi Ltd. successfully became the eleventh partner to make it to the highly prestigious Diamond level. Partner programs partially exist in order to recognize capable partners. And it's more than abundantly clear that the Diamond level does this. But I think Oracle has a gap. Specializations show capability in a very specific product area, and all sizes of partners can achieve these. The next level at which to show a level of expertise is the Advanced Specialization. However, this is a massive step up from the regular Specialization. The advanced level requires 50 people to have certification in that particular product area. Most other industry programs have similar higher level statuses, but none are even close to that number. Whereas a customer who sees an Oracle partner with an advanced specialization can be very sure of capability, there is a gap in that there are hundreds or even thousands of 20-50 person solution providers who are top notch in their area of expertise. They will never get to Advanced due to numbers alone. These boutique partners don't really have a way of showing off their talents in the current program. Advanced may not need to be so high to really show that a company has deep expertise. Overall it was a very successful Oracle OpenWorld for Oracle partners of all sizes. There was progress made on making it a bigger and more relevant event. And also on catching up and maybe even leading in some cases with cloud opportunities for partners.

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  • New <%: %> Syntax for HTML Encoding Output in ASP.NET 4 (and ASP.NET MVC 2)

    - by ScottGu
    [In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at: twitter.com/scottgu] This is the nineteenth in a series of blog posts I’m doing on the upcoming VS 2010 and .NET 4 release. Today’s post covers a small, but very useful, new syntax feature being introduced with ASP.NET 4 – which is the ability to automatically HTML encode output within code nuggets.  This helps protect your applications and sites against cross-site script injection (XSS) and HTML injection attacks, and enables you to do so using a nice concise syntax. HTML Encoding Cross-site script injection (XSS) and HTML encoding attacks are two of the most common security issues that plague web-sites and applications.  They occur when hackers find a way to inject client-side script or HTML markup into web-pages that are then viewed by other visitors to a site.  This can be used to both vandalize a site, as well as enable hackers to run client-script code that steals cookie data and/or exploits a user’s identity on a site to do bad things. One way to help mitigate against cross-site scripting attacks is to make sure that rendered output is HTML encoded within a page.  This helps ensures that any content that might have been input/modified by an end-user cannot be output back onto a page containing tags like <script> or <img> elements.  ASP.NET applications (especially those using ASP.NET MVC) often rely on using <%= %> code-nugget expressions to render output.  Developers today often use the Server.HtmlEncode() or HttpUtility.Encode() helper methods within these expressions to HTML encode the output before it is rendered.  This can be done using code like below: While this works fine, there are two downsides of it: It is a little verbose Developers often forget to call the HtmlEncode method New <%: %> Code Nugget Syntax With ASP.NET 4 we are introducing a new code expression syntax (<%:  %>) that renders output like <%= %> blocks do – but which also automatically HTML encodes it before doing so.  This eliminates the need to explicitly HTML encode content like we did in the example above.  Instead you can just write the more concise code below to accomplish the same thing: We chose the <%: %> syntax so that it would be easy to quickly replace existing instances of <%= %> code blocks.  It also enables you to easily search your code-base for <%= %> elements to find and verify any cases where you are not using HTML encoding within your application to ensure that you have the correct behavior. Avoiding Double Encoding While HTML encoding content is often a good best practice, there are times when the content you are outputting is meant to be HTML or is already encoded – in which case you don’t want to HTML encode it again.  ASP.NET 4 introduces a new IHtmlString interface (along with a concrete implementation: HtmlString) that you can implement on types to indicate that its value is already properly encoded (or otherwise examined) for displaying as HTML, and that therefore the value should not be HTML-encoded again.  The <%: %> code-nugget syntax checks for the presence of the IHtmlString interface and will not HTML encode the output of the code expression if its value implements this interface.  This allows developers to avoid having to decide on a per-case basis whether to use <%= %> or <%: %> code-nuggets.  Instead you can always use <%: %> code nuggets, and then have any properties or data-types that are already HTML encoded implement the IHtmlString interface. Using ASP.NET MVC HTML Helper Methods with <%: %> For a practical example of where this HTML encoding escape mechanism is useful, consider scenarios where you use HTML helper methods with ASP.NET MVC.  These helper methods typically return HTML.  For example: the Html.TextBox() helper method returns markup like <input type=”text”/>.  With ASP.NET MVC 2 these helper methods now by default return HtmlString types – which indicates that the returned string content is safe for rendering and should not be encoded by <%: %> nuggets.  This allows you to use these methods within both <%= %> code nugget blocks: As well as within <%: %> code nugget blocks: In both cases above the HTML content returned from the helper method will be rendered to the client as HTML – and the <%: %> code nugget will avoid double-encoding it. This enables you to default to always using <%: %> code nuggets instead of <%= %> code blocks within your applications.  If you want to be really hardcore you can even create a build rule that searches your application looking for <%= %> usages and flags any cases it finds as an error to enforce that HTML encoding always takes place. Scaffolding ASP.NET MVC 2 Views When you use VS 2010 (or the free Visual Web Developer 2010 Express) you’ll find that the views that are scaffolded using the “Add View” dialog now by default always use <%: %> blocks when outputting any content.  For example, below I’ve scaffolded a simple “Edit” view for an article object.  Note the three usages of <%: %> code nuggets for the label, textbox, and validation message (all output with HTML helper methods): Summary The new <%: %> syntax provides a concise way to automatically HTML encode content and then render it as output.  It allows you to make your code a little less verbose, and to easily check/verify that you are always HTML encoding content throughout your site.  This can help protect your applications against cross-site script injection (XSS) and HTML injection attacks.  Hope this helps, Scott

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  • Accessing SharePoint 2010 Data with REST/OData on Windows Phone 7

    - by Jan Tielens
    Consuming SharePoint 2010 data in Windows Phone 7 applications using the CTP version of the developer tools is quite a challenge. The issue is that the SharePoint 2010 data is not anonymously available; users need to authenticate to be able to access the data. When I first tried to access SharePoint 2010 data from my first Hello-World-type Windows Phone 7 application I thought “Hey, this should be easy!” because Windows Phone 7 development based on Silverlight and SharePoint 2010 has a Client Object Model for Silverlight. Unfortunately you can’t use the Client Object Model of SharePoint 2010 on the Windows Phone platform; there’s a reference to an assembly that’s not available (System.Windows.Browser). My second thought was “OK, no problem!” because SharePoint 2010 also exposes a REST/OData API to access SharePoint data. Using the REST API in SharePoint 2010 is as easy as making a web request for a URL (in which you specify the data you’d like to retrieve), e.g. http://yoursiteurl/_vti_bin/listdata.svc/Announcements. This is very easy to accomplish in a Silverlight application that’s running in the context of a page in a SharePoint site, because the credentials of the currently logged on user are automatically picked up and passed to the WCF service. But a Windows Phone application is of course running outside of the SharePoint site’s page, so the application should build credentials that have to be passed to SharePoint’s WCF service. This turns out to be a small challenge in Silverlight 3, the WebClient doesn’t support authentication; there is a Credentials property but when you set it and make the request you get a NotImplementedException exception. Probably this issued will be solved in the very near future, since Silverlight 4 does support authentication, and there’s already a WCF Data Services download that uses this new platform feature of Silverlight 4. So when Windows Phone platform switches to Silverlight 4, you can just use the WebClient to get the data. Even more, if the OData Client Library for Windows Phone 7 gets updated after that, things should get even easier! By the way: the things I’m writing in this paragraph are just assumptions that I make which make a lot of sense IMHO, I don’t have any info all of this will happen, but I really hope so. So are SharePoint developers out of the Windows Phone development game until they get this fixed? Well luckily not, when the HttpWebRequest class is being used instead, you can pass credentials! Using the HttpWebRequest class is slightly more complex than using the WebClient class, but the end result is that you have access to your precious SharePoint 2010 data. The following code snippet is getting all the announcements of an Annoucements list in a SharePoint site: HttpWebRequest webReq =     (HttpWebRequest)HttpWebRequest.Create("http://yoursite/_vti_bin/listdata.svc/Announcements");webReq.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("username", "password"); webReq.BeginGetResponse(    (result) => {        HttpWebRequest asyncReq = (HttpWebRequest)result.AsyncState;         XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Load(            ((HttpWebResponse)asyncReq.EndGetResponse(result)).GetResponseStream());         XNamespace ns = "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom";        var items = from item in xdoc.Root.Elements(ns + "entry")                    select new { Title = item.Element(ns + "title").Value };         this.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(() =>        {            foreach (var item in items)                MessageBox.Show(item.Title);        });    }, webReq); When you try this in a Windows Phone 7 application, make sure you add a reference to the System.Xml.Linq assembly, because the code uses Linq to XML to parse the resulting Atom feed, so the Title of every announcement is being displayed in a MessageBox. Check out my previous post if you’d like to see a more polished sample Windows Phone 7 application that displays SharePoint 2010 data.When you plan to use this technique, it’s of course a good idea to encapsulate the code doing the request, so it becomes really easy to get the data that you need. In the following code snippet you can find the GetAtomFeed method that gets the contents of any Atom feed, even if you need to authenticate to get access to the feed. delegate void GetAtomFeedCallback(Stream responseStream); public MainPage(){    InitializeComponent();     SupportedOrientations = SupportedPageOrientation.Portrait |         SupportedPageOrientation.Landscape;     string url = "http://yoursite/_vti_bin/listdata.svc/Announcements";    string username = "username";    string password = "password";    string domain = "";     GetAtomFeed(url, username, password, domain, (s) =>    {        XNamespace ns = "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom";        XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Load(s);         var items = from item in xdoc.Root.Elements(ns + "entry")                    select new { Title = item.Element(ns + "title").Value };         this.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(() =>        {            foreach (var item in items)            {                MessageBox.Show(item.Title);            }        });    });} private static void GetAtomFeed(string url, string username,     string password, string domain, GetAtomFeedCallback cb){    HttpWebRequest webReq = (HttpWebRequest)HttpWebRequest.Create(url);    webReq.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(username, password, domain);     webReq.BeginGetResponse(        (result) =>        {            HttpWebRequest asyncReq = (HttpWebRequest)result.AsyncState;            HttpWebResponse resp = (HttpWebResponse)asyncReq.EndGetResponse(result);            cb(resp.GetResponseStream());        }, webReq);}

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  • My Code Kata–A Solution Kata

    - by Glav
    There are many developers and coders out there who like to do code Kata’s to keep their coding ability up to scratch and to practice their skills. I think it is a good idea. While I like the concept, I find them dead boring and of minimal purpose. Yes, they serve to hone your skills but that’s about it. They are often quite abstract, in that they usually focus on a small problem set requiring specific solutions. It is fair enough as that is how they are designed but again, I find them quite boring. What I personally like to do is go for something a little larger and a little more fun. It takes a little more time and is not as easily executed as a kata though, but it services the same purposes from a practice perspective and allows me to continue to solve some problems that are not directly part of the initial goal. This means I can cover a broader learning range and have a bit more fun. If I am lucky, sometimes they even end up being useful tools. With that in mind, I thought I’d share my current ‘kata’. It is not really a code kata as it is too big. I prefer to think of it as a ‘solution kata’. The code is on bitbucket here. What I wanted to do was create a kind of simplistic virtual world where I can create a player, or a class, stuff it into the world, and see if it survives, and can navigate its way to the exit. Requirements were pretty simple: Must be able to define a map to describe the world using simple X,Y co-ordinates. Z co-ordinates as well if you feel like getting clever. Should have the concept of entrances, exists, solid blocks, and potentially other materials (again if you want to get clever). A coder should be able to easily write a class which will act as an inhabitant of the world. An inhabitant will receive stimulus from the world in the form of surrounding environment and be able to make a decision on action which it passes back to the ‘world’ for processing. At a minimum, an inhabitant will have sight and speed characteristics which determine how far they can ‘see’ in the world, and how fast they can move. Coders who write a really bad ‘inhabitant’ should not adversely affect the rest of world. Should allow multiple inhabitants in the world. So that was the solution I set out to act as a practice solution and a little bit of fun. It had some interesting problems to solve and I figured, if it turned out ok, I could potentially use this as a ‘developer test’ for interviews. Ask a potential coder to write a class for an inhabitant. Show the coder the map they will navigate, but also mention that we will use their code to navigate a map they have not yet seen and a little more complex. I have been playing with solution for a short time now and have it working in basic concepts. Below is a screen shot using a very basic console visualiser that shows the map, boundaries, blocks, entrance, exit and players/inhabitants. The yellow asterisks ‘*’ are the players, green ‘O’ the entrance, purple ‘^’ the exit, maroon/browny ‘#’ are solid blocks. The players can move around at different speeds, knock into each others, and make directional movement decisions based on what they see and who is around them. It has been quite fun to write and it is also quite fun to develop different players to inject into the world. The code below shows a really simple implementation of an inhabitant that can work out what to do based on stimulus from the world. It is pretty simple and just tries to move in some direction if there is nothing blocking the path. public class TestPlayer:LivingEntity { public TestPlayer() { Name = "Beta Boy"; LifeKey = Guid.NewGuid(); } public override ActionResult DecideActionToPerform(EcoDev.Core.Common.Actions.ActionContext actionContext) { try { var action = new MovementAction(); // move forward if we can if (actionContext.Position.ForwardFacingPositions.Length > 0) { if (CheckAccessibilityOfMapBlock(actionContext.Position.ForwardFacingPositions[0])) { action.DirectionToMove = MovementDirection.Forward; return action; } } if (actionContext.Position.LeftFacingPositions.Length > 0) { if (CheckAccessibilityOfMapBlock(actionContext.Position.LeftFacingPositions[0])) { action.DirectionToMove = MovementDirection.Left; return action; } } if (actionContext.Position.RearFacingPositions.Length > 0) { if (CheckAccessibilityOfMapBlock(actionContext.Position.RearFacingPositions[0])) { action.DirectionToMove = MovementDirection.Back; return action; } } if (actionContext.Position.RightFacingPositions.Length > 0) { if (CheckAccessibilityOfMapBlock(actionContext.Position.RightFacingPositions[0])) { action.DirectionToMove = MovementDirection.Right; return action; } } return action; } catch (Exception ex) { World.WriteDebugInformation("Player: "+ Name, string.Format("Player Generated exception: {0}",ex.Message)); throw ex; } } private bool CheckAccessibilityOfMapBlock(MapBlock block) { if (block == null || block.Accessibility == MapBlockAccessibility.AllowEntry || block.Accessibility == MapBlockAccessibility.AllowExit || block.Accessibility == MapBlockAccessibility.AllowPotentialEntry) { return true; } return false; } } It is simple and it seems to work well. The world implementation itself decides the stimulus context that is passed to he inhabitant to make an action decision. All movement is carried out on separate threads and timed appropriately to be as fair as possible and to cater for additional skills such as speed, and eventually maybe stamina, strength, with actions like fighting. It is pretty fun to make up random maps and see how your inhabitant does. You can download the code from here. Along the way I have played with parallel extensions to make the compute intensive stuff spread across all cores, had to heavily factor in visibility of methods and properties so design of classes was paramount, work out movement algorithms that play fairly in the world and properly favour the players with higher abilities, as well as a host of other issues. So that is my ‘solution kata’. If I keep going with it, I may develop a web interface for it where people can upload assemblies and watch their player within a web browser visualiser and maybe even a map designer. What do you do to keep the fires burning?

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  • Does Test Driven Development (TDD) improve Quality and Correctness? (Part 1)

    - by David V. Corbin
    Since the dawn of the computer age, various methodologies have been introduced to improve quality and reduce cost. In this posting, I will by sharing my experiences with Test Driven Development; both its benefits and limitations. To start this topic, we need to agree on what TDD is. The first is to define each of the three words as used in this context. Test - An item or action which measures something in some quantifiable form. Driven - The primary motivation or focus of a series of activities (process) Development - All phases of a software project/product from concept through delivery. The above are very simple definitions that result in the following: "TDD is a process where the primary focus is on measuring and quantifying all aspects of the creation of a (software) product." There are many places where TDD is used outside of software development, even though it is not known by this name. Consider the (conventional) education process that most of us grew up on. The focus was to get the best grades as measured by different tests. Many of these tests measured rote memorization and not understanding of the subject matter. The result of this that many people graduated with high scores but without "quality and correctness" in their ability to utilize the subject matter (of course, the flip side is true where certain people DID understand the material but were not very good at taking this type of test). Returning to software development, let us look at some common scenarios. While these items are generally applicable regardless of platform, language and tools; the remainder of this post will utilize Microsoft Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server (TFS) for examples. It should be realized that everyone does at least some aspect of TDD. At the most rudimentary level, getting a program to compile involves a "pass/fail" measurement (is the syntax valid) that drives their ability to proceed further (run the program). Other developers may create "Unit Tests" in the belief that having a test for every method/property of a class and good code coverage is the goal of TDD. These items may be helpful and even important, but really only address a small aspect of the overall effort. To see TDD in a bigger view, lets identify the various activities that are part of the Software Development LifeCycle. These are going to be presented in a Waterfall style for simplicity, but each item also occurs within Iterative methodologies such as Agile/Scrum. the key ones here are: Requirements Gathering Architecture Design Implementation Quality Assurance Can each of these items be subjected to a process which establishes metrics (quantified metrics) that reflect both the quality and correctness of each item? It should be clear that conventional Unit Tests do not apply to all of these items; at best they can verify that a local aspect (e.g. a Class/Method) of implementation matches the (test writers perspective of) the appropriate design document. So what can we do? For each of area, the goal is to create tests that are quantifiable and durable. The ability to quantify the measurements (beyond a simple pass/fail) is critical to tracking progress(eventually measuring the level of success that has been achieved) and for providing clear information on what items need to be addressed (along with the appropriate time to address them - in varying levels of detail) . Durability is important so that the test can be reapplied (ideally in an automated fashion) over the entire cycle. Returning for a moment back to our "education example", one must also be careful of how the tests are organized and how the measurements are taken. If a test is in a multiple choice format, there is a significant statistical probability that a correct answer might be the result of a random guess. Also, in many situations, having the student simply provide a final answer can obscure many important elements. For example, on a math test, having the student simply provide a numeric answer (rather than showing the methodology) may result in a complete mismatch between the process and the result. It is hard to determine which is worse: The student who makes a simple arithmetric error at one step of a long process (resulting in a wrong answer) or The student who (without providing the "workflow") uses a completely invalid approach, yet still comes up with the right number. The "Wrong Process"/"Right Answer" is probably the single biggest problem in software development. Even very simple items can suffer from this. As an example consider the following code for a "straight line" calculation....Is it correct? (for Integral Points)         int Solve(int m, int b, int x) { return m * x + b; }   Most people would respond "Yes". But let's take the question one step further... Is it correct for all possible values of m,b,x??? (no fair if you cheated by being focused on the bolded text!)  Without additional information regarding constrains on "the possible values of m,b,x" the answer must be NO, there is the risk of overflow/wraparound that will produce an incorrect result! To properly answer this question (i.e. Test the Code), one MUST be able to backtrack from the implementation through the design, and architecture all the way back to the requirements. And the requirement itself must be tested against the stakeholder(s). It is only when the bounding conditions are defined that it is possible to determine if the code is "Correct" and has "Quality". Yet, how many of us (myself included) have written such code without even thinking about it. In many canses we (think we) "know" what the bounds are, and that the code will be correct. As we all know, requirements change, "code reuse" causes implementations to be applied to different scenarios, etc. This leads directly to the types of system failures that plague so many projects. This approach to TDD is much more holistic than ones which start by focusing on the details. The fundamental concepts still apply: Each item should be tested. The test should be defined/implemented before (or concurrent with) the definition/implementation of the actual item. We also add concepts that expand the scope and alter the style by recognizing: There are many things beside "lines of code" that benefit from testing (measuring/evaluating in a formal way) Correctness and Quality can not be solely measured by "correct results" In the future parts, we will examine in greater detail some of the techniques that can be applied to each of these areas....

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  • Extract data from specific range of cells in multiple worksheet in multiple files.

    - by Michele
    Extract data from specific range of cells(always the same cells) in multiple worksheet in multiple files. 1 file=1 day. I have 6 technicians each day of the week, Monday thru Friday. So, 5 files with 6 worksheets. I have entered specific info in specific cells of every work sheet. The range is constant(the same address in EVERY worksheet in every file.) So, I need a formula to extract and calculate the data in the given range and dump it into another spreadsheet. I can forward an example a file if it will help anyone to answer my question. Or more explanation if necessary is available upon request. JUST PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!! Thank you all in advance. Regards, Michele

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  • How can I recover [data from] my failing USB key?

    - by moe37x3
    I have a Corsair Flash Voyager USB key, and it's almost completely failed. When I plug it into my [WinXP] computer, the OS mounts it and open up explorer to the drive's root directory. However, if I try to copy any data off, I get an error message saying that the device is not there. If I leave it plugged in, the OS seems to oscillate between seeing it and not seeing it, since the "Safely Remove Hardware" tray icon appears and disappears every few seconds. The damage was probably caused by my abuse, either from plugging it in with my keys hanging off of it or from losing the cap and keeping it in my pocket uncapped. Is there anything I can do to save the data from it or even rehabilitate the drive?

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  • Changing Word mail merge data source locations in bulk?

    - by Daft Viking
    I've just moved a number of Word mail merge files, and a number of Excel spreadsheets that are the data sources for the mail merges, from a Windows XP computer to a Windows 7 computer, and now all the paths for the merge sources are incorrect (used to be c:\documents and settings\user\my documents.... now c:\users\documents....). While I can correct the path of the data source in each file individually, I was hoping that there would be some way of updating the files in bulk, as there are a relatively large number of them. Word 2007 is what is being used, but the documents are all in the previous DOC format (not DOCX).

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  • What tools can be used to monitor a web application? Beyond "doesn't 404"

    - by Freiheit
    I have an internal web application that has recently gone through a major version upgrade. I would like to monitor this application over the weekend and look for 'soft' errors. I will still need to spot check things by hand, but there are some common failure patterns that I think I can automate. Examples include data with bad formatting, blank rows in tables (indicates missing non-critical data), patterns for identifiers ("TEST" means one of my devs left a testing feed on), etc. I think there are applications out there that can be scripted to do things like: 1. log in 2. Go to $URL 3. select 3rd link in $LIST or $PATTERN 4. Check HTML from that link for $PATTERNS 5. Email report Are these goals sane? What applications/tools can help with this?

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  • Does replacing chrome User Data with my own - works without leaving any trace behind? Where else chrome writes data outside of User Data folder?

    - by Selin Peck
    Does replacing chrome User Data with my own - works without leaving any trace behind? Where else chrome writes data outside of User Data folder? I used to start office work by removing chrome User Data, replacing it with my own User Data copied from my external drive, saving the original User Data to other folder. Before leaving in the evening, I will take back my own User Data, and bring back the original User Data where it is originally saved. Is this process advisable? Would I be safe this way or if not, where else does chrome save data outside of User Data folder in AppData? Also, how is the process in Mozilla Firefox?

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  • How do I populate multiple records of data into a PDF form like a mail-merge?

    - by user38801
    I have Acrobat Pro, and I have a PDF with a form on it. Assuming the fields in the form correspond to a data source (like rows in an RDBMS table or xml file), I want to then print multiple copies of the PDF file, with each copy having the values of a different row in the data source. It is preferable to directly interface with an actual database, rather than having to save an XML file every time I do this. If this involves programming that's cool too, I only posted here because the question didn't seem appropriate for StackOverflow. Thanks!

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  • What is the easiest way to apply database functionality into my daily life?

    - by Daddy Warbox
    let me try to explain it by listing some of the things I want to do: Submit random thoughts, notes, facts, and to-do tasks of any sort and at any time. Tag each of these submissions freely. Manage these tags centrally. Associate meta-data with submissions and tags. Search, filter, and sort submissions. I want lots of power here. Display views of submissions (including within searches) in a hierarchy. Create said hierarchies easily out by ordering relevant tags. I'm thinking towards some kind of desktop program that allows me to quickly do all of these things. A web service could also work, too, but it will need offline capabilities. I don't want to have to pay for this, if that's possible. Also, as I know regex and SQL, I wouldn't mind solutions involving the use of either.

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  • Is there any Application Server Frameworks for other languages/platforms than JavaEE and .NET?

    - by Jonas
    I'm a CS student and has rare experience from the enterprise software industry. When I'm reading about enterprise software platforms, I mostly read about these two: Java Enterprise Edition, JavaEE .NET and Windows Communication Foundation By "enterprise software platforms" I mean frameworks and application servers with support for the same characteristics as J2EE and WCF has: [JavaEE] provide functionality to deploy fault-tolerant, distributed, multi-tier Java software, based largely on modular components running on an application server. WCF is designed in accordance with service oriented architecture principles to support distributed computing where services are consumed by consumers. Clients can consume multiple services and services can be consumed by multiple clients. Services are loosely coupled to each other. Is there any alternatives to these two "enterprise software platforms"? Isn't any other programming languages used in a bigger rate for this problem area? I.e Why isn't there any popular application servers for C++/Qt?

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  • ASP.NET Podcast Show #148 - ASP.NET WebForms to build a Mobile Web Application

    - by Wallym
    Check the podcast site for the original url. This is the video and source code for an ASP.NET WebForms app that I wrote that is optimized for the iPhone and mobile environments.  Subscribe to everything. Subscribe to WMV. Subscribe to M4V for iPhone/iPad. Subscribe to MP3. Download WMV. Download M4V for iPhone/iPad. Download MP3. Link to iWebKit. Source Code: <%@ Page Title="MapSplore" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="iPhoneMaster.master" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="AT_iPhone_Default" %> <asp:Content ID="Content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="head" Runat="Server"></asp:Content><asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="Content" Runat="Server" ClientIDMode="Static">    <asp:ScriptManager ID="sm" runat="server"         EnablePartialRendering="true" EnableHistory="false" EnableCdn="true" />    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?sensor=true"></script>    <script  language="javascript"  type="text/javascript">    <!--    Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance().add_endRequest(endRequestHandle);    function endRequestHandle(sender, Args) {        setupMapDiv();        setupPlaceIveBeen();    }    function setupPlaceIveBeen() {        var mapPlaceIveBeen = document.getElementById('divPlaceIveBeen');        if (mapPlaceIveBeen != null) {            var PlaceLat = document.getElementById('<%=hdPlaceIveBeenLatitude.ClientID %>').value;            var PlaceLon = document.getElementById('<%=hdPlaceIveBeenLongitude.ClientID %>').value;            var PlaceTitle = document.getElementById('<%=lblPlaceIveBeenName.ClientID %>').innerHTML;            var latlng = new google.maps.LatLng(PlaceLat, PlaceLon);            var myOptions = {                zoom: 14,                center: latlng,                mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP            };            var map = new google.maps.Map(mapPlaceIveBeen, myOptions);            var marker = new google.maps.Marker({                position: new google.maps.LatLng(PlaceLat, PlaceLon),                map: map,                title: PlaceTitle,                clickable: false            });        }    }    function setupMapDiv() {        var mapdiv = document.getElementById('divImHere');        if (mapdiv != null) {            var PlaceLat = document.getElementById('<%=hdPlaceLat.ClientID %>').value;            var PlaceLon = document.getElementById('<%=hdPlaceLon.ClientID %>').value;            var PlaceTitle = document.getElementById('<%=hdPlaceTitle.ClientID %>').value;            var latlng = new google.maps.LatLng(PlaceLat, PlaceLon);            var myOptions = {                zoom: 14,                center: latlng,                mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP            };            var map = new google.maps.Map(mapdiv, myOptions);            var marker = new google.maps.Marker({                position: new google.maps.LatLng(PlaceLat, PlaceLon),                map: map,                title: PlaceTitle,                clickable: false            });        }     }    -->    </script>    <asp:HiddenField ID="Latitude" runat="server" />    <asp:HiddenField ID="Longitude" runat="server" />    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1/jquery.min.js%22%3E%3C/script>    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">        $(document).ready(function () {            GetLocation();            setupMapDiv();            setupPlaceIveBeen();        });        function GetLocation() {            if (navigator.geolocation != null) {                navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(getData);            }            else {                var mess = document.getElementById('<%=Message.ClientID %>');                mess.innerHTML = "Sorry, your browser does not support geolocation. " +                    "Try the latest version of Safari on the iPhone, Android browser, or the latest version of FireFox.";            }        }        function UpdateLocation_Click() {            GetLocation();        }        function getData(position) {            var latitude = position.coords.latitude;            var longitude = position.coords.longitude;            var hdLat = document.getElementById('<%=Latitude.ClientID %>');            var hdLon = document.getElementById('<%=Longitude.ClientID %>');            hdLat.value = latitude;            hdLon.value = longitude;        }    </script>    <asp:Label ID="Message" runat="server" />    <asp:UpdatePanel ID="upl" runat="server">        <ContentTemplate>    <asp:Panel ID="pnlStart" runat="server" Visible="true">    <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">MapSplore</div>    </div>    <div id="content">        <ul class="pageitem">            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbLocalDeals" runat="server" onclick="lbLocalDeals_Click">                <asp:Image ID="imLocalDeals" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/ArtFavor_Money_Bag_Icon.png" Height="30" />                <span class="name">Local Deals.</span>                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>                </li>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbLocalPlaces" runat="server" onclick="lbLocalPlaces_Click">                <asp:Image ID="imLocalPlaces" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/Andy_Houses_on_the_horizon_-_Starburst_remix.png" Height="30" />                <span class="name">Local Places.</span>                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>                </li>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbWhereIveBeen" runat="server" onclick="lbWhereIveBeen_Click">                <asp:Image ID="imImHere" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/ryanlerch_flagpole.png" Height="30" />                <span class="name">I've been here.</span>                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>                </li>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbMyStats" runat="server">                <asp:Image ID="imMyStats" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/Anonymous_Spreadsheet.png" Height="30" />                <span class="name">My Stats.</span>                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>                </li>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbAddAPlace" runat="server" onclick="lbAddAPlace_Click">                <asp:Image ID="imAddAPlace" runat="server" ImageUrl="~/Images/jean_victor_balin_add.png" Height="30" />                <span class="name">Add a Place.</span>                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>                </li>            <li class="button">                <input type="button" value="Update Your Current Location" onclick="UpdateLocation_Click()">                </li>        </ul>    </div>    </asp:Panel>    <div>    <asp:Panel ID="pnlCoupons" runat="server" Visible="false">        <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">MapSplore</div>        <div id="leftbutton">            <asp:LinkButton runat="server" Text="Return"                 ID="ReturnFromDeals" OnClick="ReturnFromDeals_Click" /></div></div>    <div class="content">    <asp:ListView ID="lvCoupons" runat="server">        <LayoutTemplate>            <ul class="pageitem" runat="server">                <asp:PlaceHolder ID="itemPlaceholder" runat="server" />            </ul>        </LayoutTemplate>        <ItemTemplate>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbBusiness" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("Place.Name") %>' OnClick="lbBusiness_Click">                    <span class="comment">                    <asp:Label ID="lblAddress" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("Place.Address1") %>' />                    <asp:Label ID="lblDis" runat="server" Text='<%# Convert.ToString(Convert.ToInt32(Eval("Place.Distance"))) + " meters" %>' CssClass="smallText" />                    <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceId" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("PlaceId") %>' />                    <asp:HiddenField ID="hdGeoPromotionId" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("GeoPromotionId") %>' />                    </span>                    <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton></li></ItemTemplate></asp:ListView><asp:GridView ID="gvCoupons" runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="false">            <HeaderStyle BackColor="Silver" />            <AlternatingRowStyle BackColor="Wheat" />            <Columns>                <asp:TemplateField AccessibleHeaderText="Business" HeaderText="Business">                    <ItemTemplate>                        <asp:Image ID="imPlaceType" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("Type") %>' ImageUrl='<%#Eval("Image") %>' />                        <asp:LinkButton ID="lbBusiness" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("Name") %>' OnClick="lbBusiness_Click" />                        <asp:LinkButton ID="lblAddress" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("Address1") %>' CssClass="smallText" />                        <asp:Label ID="lblDis" runat="server" Text='<%# Convert.ToString(Convert.ToInt32(Eval("Distance"))) + " meters" %>' CssClass="smallText" />                        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceId" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("PlaceId") %>' />                        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdGeoPromotionId" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("GeoPromotionId") %>' />                        <asp:Label ID="lblInfo" runat="server" Visible="false" />                    </ItemTemplate>                </asp:TemplateField>            </Columns>        </asp:GridView>    </div>    </asp:Panel>    <asp:Panel ID="pnlPlaces" runat="server" Visible="false">    <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">            MapSplore</div><div id="leftbutton">            <asp:LinkButton runat="server" Text="Return"                 ID="ReturnFromPlaces" OnClick="ReturnFromPlaces_Click" /></div></div>        <div id="content">        <asp:ListView ID="lvPlaces" runat="server">            <LayoutTemplate>                <ul id="ulPlaces" class="pageitem" runat="server">                    <asp:PlaceHolder ID="itemPlaceholder" runat="server" />                    <li class="menu">                        <asp:LinkButton ID="lbNotListed" runat="server" CssClass="name"                            OnClick="lbNotListed_Click">                            Place not listed                            <span class="arrow"></span>                            </asp:LinkButton>                    </li>                </ul>            </LayoutTemplate>            <ItemTemplate>            <li class="menu">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbImHere" runat="server" CssClass="name"                     OnClick="lbImHere_Click">                <%#DisplayName(Eval("Name")) %>&nbsp;                <%# Convert.ToString(Convert.ToInt32(Eval("Distance"))) + " meters" %>                <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceId" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("PlaceId") %>' />                <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton></li></ItemTemplate></asp:ListView>    </div>    </asp:Panel>    <asp:Panel ID="pnlImHereNow" runat="server" Visible="false">        <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">            MapSplore</div><div id="leftbutton">            <asp:LinkButton runat="server" Text="Places"                 ID="lbImHereNowReturn" OnClick="lbImHereNowReturn_Click" /></div></div>            <div id="rightbutton">            <asp:LinkButton runat="server" Text="Beginning"                ID="lbBackToBeginning" OnClick="lbBackToBeginning_Click" />            </div>        <div id="content">        <ul class="pageitem">        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceId" runat="server" />        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceLat" runat="server" />        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceLon" runat="server" />        <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceTitle" runat="server" />        <asp:Button ID="btnImHereNow" runat="server"             Text="I'm here" OnClick="btnImHereNow_Click" />             <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceTitle" runat="server" /><br />        <asp:TextBox ID="txtWhatsHappening" runat="server" TextMode="MultiLine" Rows="2" style="width:300px" /><br />        <div id="divImHere" style="width:300px; height:300px"></div>        </div>        </ul>    </asp:Panel>    <asp:Panel runat="server" ID="pnlIveBeenHere" Visible="false">        <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">            Where I've been</div><div id="leftbutton">            <asp:LinkButton ID="lbIveBeenHereBack" runat="server" Text="Back" OnClick="lbIveBeenHereBack_Click" /></div></div>        <div id="content">        <asp:ListView ID="lvWhereIveBeen" runat="server">            <LayoutTemplate>                <ul id="ulWhereIveBeen" class="pageitem" runat="server">                    <asp:PlaceHolder ID="itemPlaceholder" runat="server" />                </ul>            </LayoutTemplate>            <ItemTemplate>            <li class="menu" runat="server">                <asp:LinkButton ID="lbPlaceIveBeen" runat="server" OnClick="lbPlaceIveBeen_Click" CssClass="name">                    <asp:Label ID="lblPlace" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("PlaceName") %>' /> at                    <asp:Label ID="lblTime" runat="server" Text='<%#Eval("ATTime") %>' CssClass="content" />                    <asp:HiddenField ID="hdATID" runat="server" Value='<%#Eval("ATID") %>' />                    <span class="arrow"></span>                </asp:LinkButton>            </li>            </ItemTemplate>        </asp:ListView>        </div>        </asp:Panel>    <asp:Panel runat="server" ID="pnlPlaceIveBeen" Visible="false">        <div id="topbar">        <div id="title">            I've been here        </div>        <div id="leftbutton">            <asp:LinkButton ID="lbPlaceIveBeenBack" runat="server" Text="Back" OnClick="lbPlaceIveBeenBack_Click" />        </div>        <div id="rightbutton">            <asp:LinkButton ID="lbPlaceIveBeenBeginning" runat="server" Text="Beginning" OnClick="lbPlaceIveBeenBeginning_Click" />        </div>        </div>        <div id="content">            <ul class="pageitem">            <li>            <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceIveBeenPlaceId" runat="server" />            <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceIveBeenLatitude" runat="server" />            <asp:HiddenField ID="hdPlaceIveBeenLongitude" runat="server" />            <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenName" runat="server" /><br />            <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenAddress" runat="server" /><br />            <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenCity" runat="server" />,             <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenState" runat="server" />            <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenZipCode" runat="server" /><br />            <asp:Label ID="lblPlaceIveBeenCountry" runat="server" /><br />            <div id="divPlaceIveBeen" style="width:300px; height:300px"></div>            </li>            </ul>        </div>                </asp:Panel>         <asp:Panel ID="pnlAddPlace" runat="server" Visible="false">                <div id="topbar"><div id="title">MapSplore</div><div id="leftbutton"><asp:LinkButton ID="lbAddPlaceReturn" runat="server" Text="Back" OnClick="lbAddPlaceReturn_Click" /></div><div id="rightnav"></div></div><div id="content">    <ul class="pageitem">        <li id="liPlaceAddMessage" runat="server" visible="false">        <asp:Label ID="PlaceAddMessage" runat="server" />        </li>        <li class="bigfield">        <asp:TextBox ID="txtPlaceName" runat="server" placeholder="Name of Establishment" />        </li>        <li class="bigfield">        <asp:TextBox ID="txtAddress1" runat="server" placeholder="Address 1" />        </li>        <li class="bigfield">        <asp:TextBox ID="txtCity" runat="server" placeholder="City" />        </li>        <li class="select">        <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlProvince" runat="server" placeholder="Select State" />          <span class="arrow"></span>              </li>        <li class="bigfield">        <asp:TextBox ID="txtZipCode" runat="server" placeholder="Zip Code" />        </li>        <li class="select">        <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlCountry" runat="server"             onselectedindexchanged="ddlCountry_SelectedIndexChanged" />        <span class="arrow"></span>        </li>        <li class="bigfield">        <asp:TextBox ID="txtPhoneNumber" runat="server" placeholder="Phone Number" />        </li>        <li class="checkbox">            <span class="name">You Here Now:</span> <asp:CheckBox ID="cbYouHereNow" runat="server" Checked="true" />        </li>        <li class="button">        <asp:Button ID="btnAdd" runat="server" Text="Add Place"             onclick="btnAdd_Click" />        </li>    </ul></div>        </asp:Panel>        <asp:Panel ID="pnlImHere" runat="server" Visible="false">            <asp:TextBox ID="txtImHere" runat="server"                 TextMode="MultiLine" Rows="3" Columns="40" /><br />            <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlPlace" runat="server" /><br />            <asp:Button ID="btnHere" runat="server" Text="Tell Everyone I'm Here"                 onclick="btnHere_Click" /><br />        </asp:Panel>     </div>    </ContentTemplate>    </asp:UpdatePanel> </asp:Content> Code Behind .cs file: using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Linq;using System.Web;using System.Web.Security;using System.Web.UI;using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;using System.Web.UI.WebControls;using LocationDataModel; public partial class AT_iPhone_Default : ViewStatePage{    private iPhoneDevice ipd;     protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        LocationDataEntities lde = new LocationDataEntities();        if (!Page.IsPostBack)        {            var Countries = from c in lde.Countries select c;            foreach (Country co in Countries)            {                ddlCountry.Items.Add(new ListItem(co.Name, co.CountryId.ToString()));            }            ddlCountry_SelectedIndexChanged(ddlCountry, null);            if (AppleIPhone.IsIPad())                ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPad;            if (AppleIPhone.IsIPhone())                ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPhone;            if (AppleIPhone.IsIPodTouch())                ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPodTouch;        }    }    protected void btnPlaces_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {    }    protected void btnAdd_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        bool blImHere = cbYouHereNow.Checked;        string Place = txtPlaceName.Text,            Address1 = txtAddress1.Text,            City = txtCity.Text,            ZipCode = txtZipCode.Text,            PhoneNumber = txtPhoneNumber.Text,            ProvinceId = ddlProvince.SelectedItem.Value,            CountryId = ddlCountry.SelectedItem.Value;        int iProvinceId, iCountryId;        double dLatitude, dLongitude;        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        if ((!String.IsNullOrEmpty(ProvinceId)) &&            (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(CountryId)))        {            iProvinceId = Convert.ToInt32(ProvinceId);            iCountryId = Convert.ToInt32(CountryId);            if (blImHere)            {                dLatitude = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);                dLongitude = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);                da.StorePlace(Place, Address1, String.Empty, City,                    iProvinceId, ZipCode, iCountryId, PhoneNumber,                    dLatitude, dLongitude);            }            else            {                da.StorePlace(Place, Address1, String.Empty, City,                    iProvinceId, ZipCode, iCountryId, PhoneNumber);            }            liPlaceAddMessage.Visible = true;            PlaceAddMessage.Text = "Awesome, your place has been added. Add Another!";            txtPlaceName.Text = String.Empty;            txtAddress1.Text = String.Empty;            txtCity.Text = String.Empty;            ddlProvince.SelectedIndex = -1;            txtZipCode.Text = String.Empty;            txtPhoneNumber.Text = String.Empty;        }        else        {            liPlaceAddMessage.Visible = true;            PlaceAddMessage.Text = "Please select a State and a Country.";        }    }    protected void ddlCountry_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        string CountryId = ddlCountry.SelectedItem.Value;        if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(CountryId))        {            int iCountryId = Convert.ToInt32(CountryId);            LocationDataModel.LocationDataEntities lde = new LocationDataModel.LocationDataEntities();            var prov = from p in lde.Provinces where p.CountryId == iCountryId                        orderby p.ProvinceName select p;                        ddlProvince.Items.Add(String.Empty);            foreach (Province pr in prov)            {                ddlProvince.Items.Add(new ListItem(pr.ProvinceName, pr.ProvinceId.ToString()));            }        }        else        {            ddlProvince.Items.Clear();        }    }    protected void btnImHere_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        int i = 0;        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        double Lat = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value),            Lon = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        List<Place> lp = da.NearByLocations(Lat, Lon);        foreach (Place p in lp)        {            ListItem li = new ListItem(p.Name, p.PlaceId.ToString());            if (i == 0)            {                li.Selected = true;            }            ddlPlace.Items.Add(li);            i++;        }        pnlAddPlace.Visible = false;        pnlImHere.Visible = true;    }    protected void lbImHere_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        string UserName = Membership.GetUser().UserName;        ListViewItem lvi = (ListViewItem)(((LinkButton)sender).Parent);        HiddenField hd = (HiddenField)lvi.FindControl("hdPlaceId");        long PlaceId = Convert.ToInt64(hd.Value);        double dLatitude = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double dLongitude = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        Place pl = da.GetPlace(PlaceId);        pnlImHereNow.Visible = true;        pnlPlaces.Visible = false;        hdPlaceId.Value = PlaceId.ToString();        hdPlaceLat.Value = pl.Latitude.ToString();        hdPlaceLon.Value = pl.Longitude.ToString();        hdPlaceTitle.Value = pl.Name;        lblPlaceTitle.Text = pl.Name;    }    protected void btnHere_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        string UserName = Membership.GetUser().UserName;        string WhatsH = txtImHere.Text;        long PlaceId = Convert.ToInt64(ddlPlace.SelectedValue);        double dLatitude = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double dLongitude = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        da.StoreUserAT(UserName, PlaceId, WhatsH,            dLatitude, dLongitude);    }    protected void btnLocalCoupons_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        double dLatitude = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double dLongitude = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();     }    protected void lbBusiness_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        string UserName = Membership.GetUser().UserName;        GridViewRow gvr = (GridViewRow)(((LinkButton)sender).Parent.Parent);        HiddenField hd = (HiddenField)gvr.FindControl("hdPlaceId");        string sPlaceId = hd.Value;        Int64 PlaceId;        if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(sPlaceId))        {            PlaceId = Convert.ToInt64(sPlaceId);        }    }    protected void lbLocalDeals_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        double dLatitude = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double dLongitude = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        pnlCoupons.Visible = true;        pnlStart.Visible = false;        List<GeoPromotion> lgp = da.NearByDeals(dLatitude, dLongitude);        lvCoupons.DataSource = lgp;        lvCoupons.DataBind();    }    protected void lbLocalPlaces_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        double Lat = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double Lon = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        List<LocationDataModel.Place> places = da.NearByLocations(Lat, Lon);        lvPlaces.DataSource = places;        lvPlaces.SelectedIndex = -1;        lvPlaces.DataBind();        pnlPlaces.Visible = true;        pnlStart.Visible = false;    }    protected void ReturnFromPlaces_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlPlaces.Visible = false;        pnlStart.Visible = true;    }    protected void ReturnFromDeals_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlCoupons.Visible = false;        pnlStart.Visible = true;    }    protected void btnImHereNow_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        long PlaceId = Convert.ToInt32(hdPlaceId.Value);        string UserName = Membership.GetUser().UserName;        string WhatsHappening = txtWhatsHappening.Text;        double UserLat = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double UserLon = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        da.StoreUserAT(UserName, PlaceId, WhatsHappening,             UserLat, UserLon);    }    protected void lbImHereNowReturn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlImHereNow.Visible = false;        pnlPlaces.Visible = true;    }    protected void lbBackToBeginning_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlStart.Visible = true;        pnlImHereNow.Visible = false;    }    protected void lbWhereIveBeen_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        string UserName = Membership.GetUser().UserName;        pnlStart.Visible = false;        pnlIveBeenHere.Visible = true;        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        lvWhereIveBeen.DataSource = da.UserATs(UserName, 0, 15);        lvWhereIveBeen.DataBind();    }    protected void lbIveBeenHereBack_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlIveBeenHere.Visible = false;        pnlStart.Visible = true;    }     protected void lbPlaceIveBeen_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        LinkButton lb = (LinkButton)sender;        ListViewItem lvi = (ListViewItem)lb.Parent.Parent;        HiddenField hdATID = (HiddenField)lvi.FindControl("hdATID");        Int64 ATID = Convert.ToInt64(hdATID.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        pnlIveBeenHere.Visible = false;        pnlPlaceIveBeen.Visible = true;        var plac = da.GetPlaceViaATID(ATID);        hdPlaceIveBeenPlaceId.Value = plac.PlaceId.ToString();        hdPlaceIveBeenLatitude.Value = plac.Latitude.ToString();        hdPlaceIveBeenLongitude.Value = plac.Longitude.ToString();        lblPlaceIveBeenName.Text = plac.Name;        lblPlaceIveBeenAddress.Text = plac.Address1;        lblPlaceIveBeenCity.Text = plac.City;        lblPlaceIveBeenState.Text = plac.Province.ProvinceName;        lblPlaceIveBeenZipCode.Text = plac.ZipCode;        lblPlaceIveBeenCountry.Text = plac.Country.Name;    }     protected void lbNotListed_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        SetupAddPoint();        pnlPlaces.Visible = false;    }     protected void lbAddAPlace_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        SetupAddPoint();    }     private void SetupAddPoint()    {        double lat = Convert.ToDouble(Latitude.Value);        double lon = Convert.ToDouble(Longitude.Value);        DataAccess da = new DataAccess();        var zip = da.WhereAmIAt(lat, lon);        if (zip.Count > 0)        {            var z0 = zip[0];            txtCity.Text = z0.City;            txtZipCode.Text = z0.ZipCode;            ddlProvince.ClearSelection();            if (z0.ProvinceId.HasValue == true)            {                foreach (ListItem li in ddlProvince.Items)                {                    if (li.Value == z0.ProvinceId.Value.ToString())                    {                        li.Selected = true;                        break;                    }                }            }        }        pnlAddPlace.Visible = true;        pnlStart.Visible = false;    }    protected void lbAddPlaceReturn_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlAddPlace.Visible = false;        pnlStart.Visible = true;        liPlaceAddMessage.Visible = false;        PlaceAddMessage.Text = String.Empty;    }    protected void lbPlaceIveBeenBack_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlIveBeenHere.Visible = true;        pnlPlaceIveBeen.Visible = false;            }    protected void lbPlaceIveBeenBeginning_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)    {        pnlPlaceIveBeen.Visible = false;        pnlStart.Visible = true;    }    protected string DisplayName(object val)    {        string strVal = Convert.ToString(val);         if (AppleIPhone.IsIPad())        {            ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPad;        }        if (AppleIPhone.IsIPhone())        {            ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPhone;        }        if (AppleIPhone.IsIPodTouch())        {            ipd = iPhoneDevice.iPodTouch;        }        return (iPhoneHelper.DisplayContentOnMenu(strVal, ipd));    }} iPhoneHelper.cs file: using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Linq;using System.Web; public enum iPhoneDevice{    iPhone, iPodTouch, iPad}/// <summary>/// Summary description for iPhoneHelper/// </summary>/// public class iPhoneHelper{ public iPhoneHelper() {  //  // TODO: Add constructor logic here  // } // This code is stupid in retrospect. Use css to solve this problem      public static string DisplayContentOnMenu(string val, iPhoneDevice ipd)    {        string Return = val;        string Elipsis = "...";        int iPadMaxLength = 30;        int iPhoneMaxLength = 15;        if (ipd == iPhoneDevice.iPad)        {            if (Return.Length > iPadMaxLength)            {                Return = Return.Substring(0, iPadMaxLength - Elipsis.Length) + Elipsis;            }        }        else        {            if (Return.Length > iPhoneMaxLength)            {                Return = Return.Substring(0, iPhoneMaxLength - Elipsis.Length) + Elipsis;            }        }        return (Return);    }}  Source code for the ViewStatePage: using System;using System.Data;using System.Data.SqlClient;using System.Configuration;using System.Web;using System.Web.Security;using System.Web.UI;using System.Web.UI.WebControls;using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls; /// <summary>/// Summary description for BasePage/// </summary>#region Base class for a page.public class ViewStatePage : System.Web.UI.Page{     PageStatePersisterToDatabase myPageStatePersister;        public ViewStatePage()        : base()    {        myPageStatePersister = new PageStatePersisterToDatabase(this);    }     protected override PageStatePersister PageStatePersister    {        get        {            return myPageStatePersister;        }    } }#endregion #region This class will override the page persistence to store page state in a database.public class PageStatePersisterToDatabase : PageStatePersister{    private string ViewStateKeyField = "__VIEWSTATE_KEY";    private string _exNoConnectionStringFound = "No Database Configuration information is in the web.config.";     public PageStatePersisterToDatabase(Page page)        : base(page)    {    }     public override void Load()    {         // Get the cache key from the web form data        System.Int64 key = Convert.ToInt64(Page.Request.Params[ViewStateKeyField]);         Pair state = this.LoadState(key);         // Abort if cache object is not of type Pair        if (state == null)            throw new ApplicationException("Missing valid " + ViewStateKeyField);         // Set view state and control state        ViewState = state.First;        ControlState = state.Second;    }     public override void Save()    {         // No processing needed if no states available        if (ViewState == null && ControlState != null)            return;         System.Int64 key;        IStateFormatter formatter = this.StateFormatter;        Pair statePair = new Pair(ViewState, ControlState);         // Serialize the statePair object to a string.        string serializedState = formatter.Serialize(statePair);         // Save the ViewState and get a unique identifier back.        key = SaveState(serializedState);         // Register hidden field to store cache key in        // Page.ClientScript does not work properly with Atlas.        //Page.ClientScript.RegisterHiddenField(ViewStateKeyField, key.ToString());        ScriptManager.RegisterHiddenField(this.Page, ViewStateKeyField, key.ToString());    }     private System.Int64 SaveState(string PageState)    {        System.Int64 i64Key = 0;        string strConn = String.Empty,            strProvider = String.Empty;         string strSql = "insert into tblPageState ( SerializedState ) values ( '" + SqlEscape(PageState) + "');select scope_identity();";        SqlConnection sqlCn;        SqlCommand sqlCm;        try        {            GetDBConnectionString(ref strConn, ref strProvider);            sqlCn = new SqlConnection(strConn);            sqlCm = new SqlCommand(strSql, sqlCn);            sqlCn.Open();            i64Key = Convert.ToInt64(sqlCm.ExecuteScalar());            if (sqlCn.State != ConnectionState.Closed)            {                sqlCn.Close();            }            sqlCn.Dispose();            sqlCm.Dispose();        }        finally        {            sqlCn = null;            sqlCm = null;        }        return i64Key;    }     private Pair LoadState(System.Int64 iKey)    {        string strConn = String.Empty,            strProvider = String.Empty,            SerializedState = String.Empty,            strMinutesInPast = GetMinutesInPastToDelete();        Pair PageState;        string strSql = "select SerializedState from tblPageState where tblPageStateID=" + iKey.ToString() + ";" +            "delete from tblPageState where DateUpdated<DateAdd(mi, " + strMinutesInPast + ", getdate());";        SqlConnection sqlCn;        SqlCommand sqlCm;        try        {            GetDBConnectionString(ref strConn, ref strProvider);            sqlCn = new SqlConnection(strConn);            sqlCm = new SqlCommand(strSql, sqlCn);             sqlCn.Open();            SerializedState = Convert.ToString(sqlCm.ExecuteScalar());            IStateFormatter formatter = this.StateFormatter;             if ((null == SerializedState) ||                (String.Empty == SerializedState))            {                throw (new ApplicationException("No ViewState records were returned."));            }             // Deserilize returns the Pair object that is serialized in            // the Save method.            PageState = (Pair)formatter.Deserialize(SerializedState);             if (sqlCn.State != ConnectionState.Closed)            {                sqlCn.Close();            }            sqlCn.Dispose();            sqlCm.Dispose();        }        finally        {            sqlCn = null;            sqlCm = null;        }        return PageState;    }     private string SqlEscape(string Val)    {        string ReturnVal = String.Empty;        if (null != Val)        {            ReturnVal = Val.Replace("'", "''");        }        return (ReturnVal);    }    private void GetDBConnectionString(ref string ConnectionStringValue, ref string ProviderNameValue)    {        if (System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings.Count > 0)        {            ConnectionStringValue = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["ApplicationServices"].ConnectionString;            ProviderNameValue = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["ApplicationServices"].ProviderName;        }        else        {            throw new ConfigurationErrorsException(_exNoConnectionStringFound);        }    }    private string GetMinutesInPastToDelete()    {        string strReturn = "-60";        if (null != System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["MinutesInPastToDeletePageState"])        {            strReturn = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["MinutesInPastToDeletePageState"].ToString();        }        return (strReturn);    }}#endregion AppleiPhone.cs file: using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Linq;using System.Web; /// <summary>/// Summary description for AppleIPhone/// </summary>public class AppleIPhone{ public AppleIPhone() {  //  // TODO: Add constructor logic here  // }     static public bool IsIPhoneOS()    {        return (IsIPad() || IsIPhone() || IsIPodTouch());    }     static public bool IsIPhone()    {        return IsTest("iPhone");    }     static public bool IsIPodTouch()    {        return IsTest("iPod");    }     static public bool IsIPad()    {        return IsTest("iPad");    }     static private bool IsTest(string Agent)    {        bool bl = false;        string ua = HttpContext.Current.Request.UserAgent.ToLower();        try        {            bl = ua.Contains(Agent.ToLower());        }        catch { }        return (bl);        }} Master page .cs: using System;using System.Collections.Generic;using System.Linq;using System.Web;using System.Web.UI;using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;using System.Web.UI.WebControls; public partial class MasterPages_iPhoneMaster : System.Web.UI.MasterPage{    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)    {            HtmlHead head = Page.Header;            HtmlMeta meta = new HtmlMeta();            if (AppleIPhone.IsIPad() == true)            {                meta.Content = "width=400,user-scalable=no";                head.Controls.Add(meta);             }            else            {                meta.Content = "width=device-width, user-scalable=no";                meta.Attributes.Add("name", "viewport");            }            meta.Attributes.Add("name", "viewport");            head.Controls.Add(meta);            HtmlLink cssLink = new HtmlLink();            HtmlGenericControl script = new HtmlGenericControl("script");            script.Attributes.Add("type", "text/javascript");            script.Attributes.Add("src", ResolveUrl("~/Scripts/iWebKit/javascript/functions.js"));            head.Controls.Add(script);            cssLink.Attributes.Add("rel", "stylesheet");            cssLink.Attributes.Add("href", ResolveUrl("~/Scripts/iWebKit/css/style.css") );            cssLink.Attributes.Add("type", "text/css");            head.Controls.Add(cssLink);            HtmlGenericControl jsLink = new HtmlGenericControl("script");            //jsLink.Attributes.Add("type", "text/javascript");            //jsLink.Attributes.Add("src", ResolveUrl("~/Scripts/jquery-1.4.1.min.js") );            //head.Controls.Add(jsLink);            HtmlLink appleIcon = new HtmlLink();            appleIcon.Attributes.Add("rel", "apple-touch-icon");            appleIcon.Attributes.Add("href", ResolveUrl("~/apple-touch-icon.png"));            HtmlMeta appleMobileWebAppStatusBarStyle = new HtmlMeta();            appleMobileWebAppStatusBarStyle.Attributes.Add("name", "apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style");            appleMobileWebAppStatusBarStyle.Attributes.Add("content", "black");            head.Controls.Add(appleMobileWebAppStatusBarStyle);    }     internal string FindPath(string Location)    {        string Url = Server.MapPath(Location);        return (Url);    }}

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  • Smithsonian Showcases Video Game History with The Art of Video Games [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    The Art of Video Games is the Smithsonian’s look at the history of video games; check out this video trailer to see what the exhibition is all about and hear from some notable folks. From the Smithsonian listing for the exhibition: The Art of Video Games is one of the first exhibitions to explore the forty-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies. It features some of the most influential artists and designers during five eras of game technology, from early pioneers to contemporary designers. The exhibition focuses on the interplay of graphics, technology and storytelling through some of the best games for twenty gaming systems ranging from the Atari VCS to the PlayStation 3. The exhibit will be at the Smithsonian until the end of September and will then begin touring the country. Hit up the link below for more information. The Art of Video Games Tour [via Neatorama] How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image) The HTG Guide to Hiding Your Data in a TrueCrypt Hidden Volume Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage

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  • Using Microsoft's Chart Controls In An ASP.NET Application: Serializing Chart Data

    In most usage scenarios, the data displayed in a Microsoft Chart control comes from some dynamic source, such as from a database query. The appearance of the chart can be modified dynamically, as well; past installments in this article series showed how to programmatically customize the axes, labels, and other appearance-related settings. However, it is possible to statically define the chart's data and appearance strictly through the control's declarative markup. One of the demos examined in the Getting Started article rendered a column chart with seven columns whose labels and values were defined statically in the <asp:Series> tag's <Points> collection. Given this functionality, it should come as no surprise that the Microsoft Chart Controls also support serialization. Serialization is the process of persisting the state of a control or an object to some other medium, such as to disk. Deserialization is the inverse process, and involves taking the persisted data and recreating the control or object. With just a few lines of code you can persist the appearance settings, the data, or both to a file on disk or to any stream. Likewise, it takes just a few lines of codes to reconstitute a chart from the persisted information. This article shows how to use the Microsoft Chart Control's serialization functionality by examining a demo application that allows users to create custom charts, specifying the data to plot and some appearance-related settings. The user can then save a "snapshot" of this chart, which persists its appearance and data to a record in a database. From another page, users can view these saved chart snapshots. Read on to learn more! Read More >

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  • Awareness Makes Sure You’re Not Tuned Out While Listening to Music

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    iOS: You want to listen to your music but you don’t want to be totally unaware of your surroundings. What do you do? Install Awareness, a simple app that will alert you if your device mic picks up loud noises. Whether you want to fall asleep listening to some relaxing music while still hearing bumbs in the night or you want to listen to music when you’re out and about without being completely started by events your earbuds are filtering out. To use the app just run it in tandem with your music, adjust the sensitivity to account for the ambient sound, and you’re in business. If any sounds exceed that level, they’ll be piped in through your headphones to alert you. Awareness is currently free in the App Store (down from a high of $6.99) so if you’d like to play around with it, now’s the time to grab a copy. Awareness [via Addictive Tips] How To Be Your Own Personal Clone Army (With a Little Photoshop) How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image) The HTG Guide to Hiding Your Data in a TrueCrypt Hidden Volume

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  • Building a Windows Phone 7 Twitter Application using Silverlight

    - by ScottGu
    On Monday I had the opportunity to present the MIX 2010 Day 1 Keynote in Las Vegas (you can watch a video of it here).  In the keynote I announced the release of the Silverlight 4 Release Candidate (we’ll ship the final release of it next month) and the VS 2010 RC tools for Silverlight 4.  I also had the chance to talk for the first time about how Silverlight and XNA can now be used to build Windows Phone 7 applications. During my talk I did two quick Windows Phone 7 coding demos using Silverlight – a quick “Hello World” application and a “Twitter” data-snacking application.  Both applications were easy to build and only took a few minutes to create on stage.  Below are the steps you can follow yourself to build them on your own machines as well. [Note: In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at: twitter.com/scottgu] Building a “Hello World” Windows Phone 7 Application First make sure you’ve installed the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP – this includes the Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone development tool (which will be free forever and is the only thing you need to develop and build Windows Phone 7 applications) as well as an add-on to the VS 2010 RC that enables phone development within the full VS 2010 as well. After you’ve downloaded and installed the Windows Phone Developer Tools CTP, launch the Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone that it installs or launch the VS 2010 RC (if you have it already installed), and then choose “File”->”New Project.”  Here, you’ll find the usual list of project template types along with a new category: “Silverlight for Windows Phone”. The first CTP offers two application project templates. The first is the “Windows Phone Application” template - this is what we’ll use for this example. The second is the “Windows Phone List Application” template - which provides the basic layout for a master-details phone application: After creating a new project, you’ll get a view of the design surface and markup. Notice that the design surface shows the phone UI, letting you easily see how your application will look while you develop. For those familiar with Visual Studio, you’ll also find the familiar ToolBox, Solution Explorer and Properties pane. For our HelloWorld application, we’ll start out by adding a TextBox and a Button from the Toolbox. Notice that you get the same design experience as you do for Silverlight on the web or desktop. You can easily resize, position and align your controls on the design surface. Changing properties is easy with the Properties pane. We’ll change the name of the TextBox that we added to username and change the page title text to “Hello world.” We’ll then write some code by double-clicking on the button and create an event handler in the code-behind file (MainPage.xaml.cs). We’ll start out by changing the title text of the application. The project template included this title as a TextBlock with the name textBlockListTitle (note that the current name incorrectly includes the word “list”; that will be fixed for the final release.)  As we write code against it we get intellisense showing the members available.  Below we’ll set the Text property of the title TextBlock to “Hello “ + the Text property of the TextBox username: We now have all the code necessary for a Hello World application.  We have two choices when it comes to deploying and running the application. We can either deploy to an actual device itself or use the built-in phone emulator: Because the phone emulator is actually the phone operating system running in a virtual machine, we’ll get the same experience developing in the emulator as on the device. For this sample, we’ll just press F5 to start the application with debugging using the emulator.  Once the phone operating system loads, the emulator will run the new “Hello world” application exactly as it would on the device: Notice that we can change several settings of the emulator experience with the emulator toolbar – which is a floating toolbar on the top right.  This includes the ability to re-size/zoom the emulator and two rotate buttons.  Zoom lets us zoom into even the smallest detail of the application: The orientation buttons allow us easily see what the application looks like in landscape mode (orientation change support is just built into the default template): Note that the emulator can be reused across F5 debug sessions - that means that we don’t have to start the emulator for every deployment. We’ve added a dialog that will help you from accidentally shutting down the emulator if you want to reuse it.  Launching an application on an already running emulator should only take ~3 seconds to deploy and run. Within our Hello World application we’ll click the “username” textbox to give it focus.  This will cause the software input panel (SIP) to open up automatically.  We can either type a message or – since we are using the emulator – just type in text.  Note that the emulator works with Windows 7 multi-touch so, if you have a touchscreen, you can see how interaction will feel on a device just by pressing the screen. We’ll enter “MIX 10” in the textbox and then click the button – this will cause the title to update to be “Hello MIX 10”: We provide the same Visual Studio experience when developing for the phone as other .NET applications. This means that we can set a breakpoint within the button event handler, press the button again and have it break within the debugger: Building a “Twitter” Windows Phone 7 Application using Silverlight Rather than just stop with “Hello World” let’s keep going and evolve it to be a basic Twitter client application. We’ll return to the design surface and add a ListBox, using the snaplines within the designer to fit it to the device screen and make the best use of phone screen real estate.  We’ll also rename the Button “Lookup”: We’ll then return to the Button event handler in Main.xaml.cs, and remove the original “Hello World” line of code and take advantage of the WebClient networking class to asynchronously download a Twitter feed. This takes three lines of code in total: (1) declaring and creating the WebClient, (2) attaching an event handler and then (3) calling the asynchronous DownloadStringAsync method. In the DownloadStringAsync call, we’ll pass a Twitter Uri plus a query string which pulls the text from the “username” TextBox. This feed will pull down the respective user’s most frequent posts in an XML format. When the call completes, the DownloadStringCompleted event is fired and our generated event handler twitter_DownloadStringCompleted will be called: The result returned from the Twitter call will come back in an XML based format.  To parse this we’ll use LINQ to XML. LINQ to XML lets us create simple queries for accessing data in an xml feed. To use this library, we’ll first need to add a reference to the assembly (right click on the References folder in the solution explorer and choose “Add Reference): We’ll then add a “using System.Xml.Linq” namespace reference at the top of the code-behind file at the top of Main.xaml.cs file: We’ll then add a simple helper class called TwitterItem to our project. TwitterItem has three string members – UserName, Message and ImageSource: We’ll then implement the twitter_DownloadStringCompleted event handler and use LINQ to XML to parse the returned XML string from Twitter.  What the query is doing is pulling out the three key pieces of information for each Twitter post from the username we passed as the query string. These are the ImageSource for their profile image, the Message of their tweet and their UserName. For each Tweet in the XML, we are creating a new TwitterItem in the IEnumerable<XElement> returned by the Linq query.  We then assign the generated TwitterItem sequence to the ListBox’s ItemsSource property: We’ll then do one more step to complete the application. In the Main.xaml file, we’ll add an ItemTemplate to the ListBox. For the demo, I used a simple template that uses databinding to show the user’s profile image, their tweet and their username. <ListBox Height="521" HorizonalAlignment="Left" Margin="0,131,0,0" Name="listBox1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="476"> <ListBox.ItemTemplate> <DataTemplate> <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Height="132"> <Image Source="{Binding ImageSource}" Height="73" Width="73" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="0,10,8,0"/> <StackPanel Width="370"> <TextBlock Text="{Binding UserName}" Foreground="#FFC8AB14" FontSize="28" /> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Message}" TextWrapping="Wrap" FontSize="24" /> </StackPanel> </StackPanel> </DataTemplate> </ListBox.ItemTemplate> </ListBox> Now, pressing F5 again, we are able to reuse the emulator and re-run the application. Once the application has launched, we can type in a Twitter username and press the  Button to see the results. Try my Twitter user name (scottgu) and you’ll get back a result of TwitterItems in the Listbox: Try using the mouse (or if you have a touchscreen device your finger) to scroll the items in the Listbox – you should find that they move very fast within the emulator.  This is because the emulator is hardware accelerated – and so gives you the same fast performance that you get on the actual phone hardware. Summary Silverlight and the VS 2010 Tools for Windows Phone (and the corresponding Expression Blend Tools for Windows Phone) make building Windows Phone applications both really easy and fun.  At MIX this week a number of great partners (including Netflix, FourSquare, Seesmic, Shazaam, Major League Soccer, Graphic.ly, Associated Press, Jackson Fish and more) showed off some killer application prototypes they’ve built over the last few weeks.  You can watch my full day 1 keynote to see them in action. I think they start to show some of the promise and potential of using Silverlight with Windows Phone 7.  I’ll be doing more blog posts in the weeks and months ahead that cover that more. Hope this helps, Scott

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  • Update on ASP.NET MVC 3 RC2 (and a workaround for a bug in it)

    - by ScottGu
    Last week we published the RC2 build of ASP.NET MVC 3.  I blogged a bunch of details about it here. One of the reasons we publish release candidates is to help find those last “hard to find” bugs. So far we haven’t seen many issues reported with the RC2 release (which is good) - although we have seen a few reports of a metadata caching bug that manifests itself in at least two scenarios: Nullable parameters in action methods have problems: When you have a controller action method with a nullable parameter (like int? – or a complex type that has a nullable sub-property), the nullable parameter might always end up being null - even when the request contains a valid value for the parameter. [AllowHtml] doesn’t allow HTML in model binding: When you decorate a model property with an [AllowHtml] attribute (to turn off HTML injection protection), the model binding still fails when HTML content is posted to it. Both of these issues are caused by an over-eager caching optimization we introduced very late in the RC2 milestone.  This issue will be fixed for the final ASP.NET MVC 3 release.  Below is a workaround step you can implement to fix it today. Workaround You Can Use Today You can fix the above issues with the current ASP.NT MVC 3 RC2 release by adding one line of code to the Application_Start() event handler within the Global.asax class of your application: The above code sets the ModelMetaDataProviders.Current property to use the DataAnnotationsModelMetadataProvider.  This causes ASP.NET MVC 3 to use a meta-data provider implementation that doesn’t have the more aggressive caching logic we introduced late in the RC2 release, and prevents the caching issues that cause the above issues to occur.  You don’t need to change any other code within your application.  Once you make this change the above issues are fixed.  You won’t need to have this line of code within your applications once the final ASP.NET MVC 3 release ships (although keeping it in also won’t cause any problems). Hope this helps – and please keep any reports of issues coming our way, Scott P.S. In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at: twitter.com/scottgu

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  • Join our webcast: Discover What’s New in Oracle Data Integrator and Oracle GoldenGate

    - by Irem Radzik
    Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} Data integration team has organized a series of webcasts for this summer. We are kicking it off this Thursday June 30th at 10am PT with a product update webcast: Discover What’s New in Oracle Data Integrator and Oracle GoldenGate. In this webcast you will hear from product management about the new patch updates to both GoldenGate 11g R1 and ODI 11gR1. Jeff Pollock, Sr. Director of Product Management for ODI will talk about the new features in Oracle Data Integrator 11.1.1.5, including the data lineage integration with OBI EE, enhanced web services to support flexible architectures as well as capabilities for efficient object execution such as Load Plans. Jeff will discuss support for complex files and performance enhancements. Chris McAllister, Sr. Director of Product Management for Oracle GoldenGate will cover the new features of Oracle GoldenGate 11.1.1.1 such as increased data security by supporting Oracle Database Advanced Security option, deeper integration with Oracle Database, and the expanded list of heterogeneous databases GoldenGate supports . Chris will also talk about the new Oracle GoldenGate 11gR1 release for HP NonStop platform and will provide information on our strategic direction for product development. Join us this Thursday at 10am PT/ 1pm ET to hear directly from Data Integration Product Management . You can register here for the June 30th webcast as well as for the upcoming ones in our summer webcast series.

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  • Develop an iPad app with MonoTouch, C#, and .NET.

    - by Wallym
    Article url: http://www.devproconnections.com/article/mobile-development/ipad-ios-app-monotouch-143636 Since its release in March 2010, the iPad has taken the world by storm. Each new iPad release has launched the device further and further into our lives. Here are some interesting facts that we have seen over the past few years along with some market share analysis:The school that my teenagers attend here in Knoxville, Tennessee, was the first school in the United States to integrate the iPad into its teaching program and its curriculum. Many schools have since followed suit.There are a healthy number of applications in a variety of market segments. In fact, there is a market for iPad point-of-sale systems.The iPad is a popular device and growing more so each day. comScore states that one in four smartphone owners also owns a tablet. We also know that the iPad comprises 68 percent of the tablet market.eMarketer recently issued a report stating that the number of iPad users is expected to grow by 90 percent in the US in 2012.No matter how you slice the data, tablet usage is growing, and the iPad is currently leading the pack. The question for .NET developers is "How can I get me some of that?" Xamarin's MonoTouch offers help, by providing the means for .NET developers to leverage their C# and .NET coding skills to develop iPad applications. MonoTouch has supported the iPad since the initial release of the iOS 3.2 beta SDK all the way up to the most recent iOS SDK, which supports the iPad. In this article, we'll look at targeting the iPad and how we can take advantage of iPad-specific features in our iOS applications written with MonoTouch.I hope you enjoy the article and you find it helpful.

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