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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, February 25, 2010

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, February 25, 2010New ProjectsAptusSoftware.Threading: AptusSoftware.Threading is a class library designed primarily to assist in the development of multi-threaded WinForm applications, although there i...AxiomGameDesigner: It is going to be a universal scene editor for Axiom 3D game engine. It is in pure C# and will be kept portable to MONO for compatibility with linu...Badger - Unity Productivity Extensions: A set of Microsoft Unity Extensions. Why Badger? Because I love badgers.Business & System Analysis Templates and Best Practices for Russian: http://saway.codeplex.com/Conectayas: Conectayas is an open source "Connect Four" alike game but transformable to "Tic-Tac-Toe" and to a lot of similar games that uses mouse. Written in...FastCode: .NET 3.5 Extensions set to increase coding speed.Hundiyas: Hundiyas is an open source "Battleship" alike game totally written in DHTML (JavaScript, CSS and HTML) that uses mouse. This cross-platform and cro...Icelandic Online Banking: Icelandic Online Banking is project defining a web service interface for online banking.IE8 AddOns XML Creator: Application that helps on creating the xml files for IE8 Accelerators, Search Providers and the markup for Web Slices.iKnowledge: a asp.net mvc demoLearn ASP.NET MVC: Learn ASP.NET MVC is a project for the members of the Peer Learning group in Silicon Valley. It contains the SportsStore solution from the Pro ASP...Live at Education Meta Web-Service: Live at Education Meta Web-Service is intended to abstract from several technologies that are included in Live@edu set of services. This web-ser...Low level wave sound output for VB.NET: Low level sound output class for VB.NET using platform invocation services to call winmm.dllMailQ: MailQ makes it easier for developers to send mail messages from an application. The system sends mails based on a database queue system (store, se...Managed DXGI: Managed DXGI library is Fully managed wrapper writen on C# for DXGI 1.0 and 1.1 technology. It makes easier to support DXGI in managed application....Multivalue AutoComplete WinForms TextBox in C#: This project is a sample application that demonstrates how to create a multivalue WinForms textbox in C# using .NET Framework 3.5.Nifty CSharp Tools: Nifty CSharp Tools, will contain various tools and snippets. IRCBot, splashscreens, linq, world of warcraft log parsing, screenshot uploaders, twi...PHP MPQ: A port of StormLib to PHP for handling Blizzard MPQ files.RedDevils strategy - Project Hoshimi Programming Battle: Source Code of RedDevils strategy. Imagine Cup 2008 - Project Hoshimi Programming Battle.RNUNIT: rNunit is a distributed Nunit project. Many application these days are client-server application, distributed application and regular unit testing ...Samar Solution: Samar Solutions is a business system for office automation.Silverlight OOMRPG Game Engine: Silverlight OOMRPG Game EngineSimulator: GPSSimulatorSLARToolkit - Silverlight Augmented Reality Toolkit: SLARToolkit is a flexible Augmented Reality library for Silverlight with the aim to make real time Augmented Reality applications with Silverlight ...Spiral Architecture Driven Development (SADD) for Russian: Это русская версия сайта sadd.codeplex.comSQLSnapshotManager: Easily manage SQL Server database snapshots in a easy to use visual interface.Twilio with VB.NET MVC: Twilio with VB.NET MVC is a sample application for developing with Twilio's REST based telephony API. It includes an XML Schema of the TwiML respon...Ultra Speed Dial: UltraSpeedDial.com - Online Speed Dial Page.Visual HTML Editor justHTML: justHTML - is simle windows-application WYSIWYG editor that allow everyone - without any knowledge of HTML - to create and edit web-pages. It supp...WinMTR.NET: .NET Clone of the popular Windows clone of the popular Linux Matt's TracerouteWPF Dialogs: "WPF Dialogs" is a library for different Dialogs in WPF (e.g. FolderBrowseDialog, SaveFileDialog, OpenFileDialog etc.). These Dialogs are written i...WPFLogin: A small Login window in WPF and C#XNA PerformanceTimers: CPU Timers for Windows and Xbox360. Can track multiple threads, and presents output as a log on-screen.New ReleasesAptusSoftware.Threading: 2.0.0: First public release. This release is in production as part of several commercial applications and is stable. The source code download includes a...BizTalk Software Factory: BizTalk Software Factory v2.1: This is a service release for the BizTalk Software Factory for BizTalk Server 2009, containing so far: Fix for x64: the SN.EXE tool is now locate...Business & System Analysis Templates and Best Practices for Russian: R00 The Place reserver: Just to reserve the place Will be filled out soonChronos WPF: Chronos v1.0 Beta 2: Added a new SplashScreen Added a new Login View and implemented Log Off Added a new PasswordBoxHelper (http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/371...dotNetTips: dotNetTips.Utility 3.5 R2: This is a new release (version 3.5.0.3) compatible with .NET 3.5. Lots of new classes/features!! Requires SP1 if using the Entity Framework extensi...fleXdoc: template-based server-side document generator (docx): fleXdoc 1.0 beta 3: The third and final beta of fleXdoc. fleXdoc consists of a webservice and a (test)client for the service. Make sure you also download the testclien...FluentPS: FluentPS v1.0: - FluentPS is moved from ASMX to WCF interface of the Project Server Interface (PSI) - Impersonation changes to work in compliance with WCF interfa...FolderSize: FolderSize.Win32.1.0.4.0: FolderSize.Win32.1.0.3.0 A simple utility intended to be used to scan harddrives for the folders that take most place and display this to the user...iTuner - The iTunes Companion: iTuner 1.1.3707 Beta 3: As promised, the iTuner Automated Librarian is now available. This automatically cleans an entire album of dead tracks and duplicates as tracks ar...Live at Education Meta Web-Service: LAEMWS v 1.0 beta: Release Candidate for LAEMWS.Macaw Reusable Code Library: LanguageConfigurationSolution: This Solution helps developing a multi language publishing web siteManaged DXGI: Initial Release.: Base declaration of interfaces, most of them untested yet.Math.NET Numerics: 2010.2.24.667 Build: Latest alpha buildMiniTwitter: 1.08.1: MiniTwitter 1.08.1 更新内容 変更 インクリメンタル検索時には大文字小文字の区別をしないように変更 クライアント名の表示を本家にあわせて from から via に変更 修正 公式 RT 時にステータスが上に表示されたり二重に表示されるバグを修正 自分が自分へ返信...Multivalue AutoComplete WinForms TextBox in C#: 1.0 First public release: Multivalue autocomplete textbox control and host application in this release are released in a single Visual Studio 2008 projects. See my related b...NMock3: NMock3 - Beta3, .NET 3.5: This release has some exciting new features. Please start providing feedback on the tutorials. The first several are complete and the rest are no...nxAjax - an asp.net ajax library using jQuery: nxAjax v3 codeplex 7: nxAjax v3 codeplex 7 binary and test website. Bug Fixed: ajax:Form control Add: Drag and drop Rewritten: DragnDropManager DragPanel DropPan...Office Apps: 0.8.7: whats new? Document.Editor and Document.Viewer now supports FlowDocument (.xaml) files bug fix'sPDF Rider: PDF Rider 0.3: Application PrerequisitesMicrosoft Windows Operating Systems (XP (tested) - Vista - 7) Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 runtime A PDF rendering sof...ShellLight: ShellLight 0.1.0.1 Src: Codeplex project released. This is only a preview of the product. Until the first final release there will be many improvements.Silverlight OOMRPG Game Engine: SilverlightGameTutorialSolution v1.01: Please visit my blog for Silverlight OOMROG Game Tutorial: http://www.cnblogs.com/Jax/archive/2010/02/24/1673053.html.Simple Savant: Simple Savant v0.4: Added support for full-text indexing (See Full-Text Indexing) Added support for attribute spanning and compression for property values larger tha...Spiral Architecture Driven Development (SADD) for Russian: R00: R00 to reserve site nameTeamReview - TFS Code Review: Release 1.1.3: Release Features New expanded product positioning for capturing any targeted coding work as a trackable, assignable, reportable Work Item for any r...Text Designer Outline Text Library: 10th minor release: Version 0.3.1 (10th minor release)Fixed the gradient brush being too big for the text, resulting in not much gradient shown in the text. Gradient...TFS Workflow Control: TeamExplorer and TSWA control 1.0 for TFS 2010 RC: This is a special version for TFS 2010 RC. Use the RC version of the power tools to modify the layout of your work items (http://visualstudiogaller...thinktecture WSCF.blue: WSCF.blue V1 Update (1.0.7) - VS2010 RC Support: This update adds support for Visual Studio 2010 RC in addition to Visual Studio 2008. Please note that Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 is NOT supported a...Tumblen3: tumblen3 Version 25Feb2010: ready for Twitter's xAuthUMD文本编辑器: UMDEditor文本编辑器V2.1.0: 2.1.0 (2010-02-24) 增加查找章节内指定文本内容的功能 2.0.4 (2010-02-06) 章节内容框增加右键菜单，包含编辑文本的基本操作 ------------------------------------------------------- 执行 reg.bat ...VCC: Latest build, v2.1.30224.0: Automatic drop of latest buildVisual HTML Editor justHTML: Latest binary: Latest buid here. Executable and mshtml.dll included in this archive. Ready to use ;)Visual HTML Editor justHTML: Source code for version 2.5: Visual studio 2008 project with full source code.VOB2MKV: vob2mkv-1.0.2: The release vob2mkv-1.0.2 is a feature update of the VOB2MKV project. It now includes a DirectShow source filter, MKVSOURCE. A source filter allo...WinMTR.NET: V 1.0: V 1.0WPF Dialogs: Version 0.1.0: Version 0.1.0 FolderBrowseDialog is implementet for more information look here Version 0.1.0 (german: Version 0.1.0 - Deutsch).WPF Dialogs: Version 0.1.1: Version 0.1.1 Features FolderBrowseDialog was extended / FolderBrowseDialog - Deutsch wurde erweitertXNA PerformanceTimers: XNA PerformanceTimers 0.1: Initial release.Zeta Resource Editor: Release 2010-02-24: Added HTTP proxy server support.Most Popular ProjectsASP.NET Ajax LibraryManaged Extensibility FrameworkWindows 7 USB/DVD Download ToolDotNetZip LibraryMDownloaderVirtual Router - Wifi Hot Spot for Windows 7 / 2008 R2MFCMAPIDroid ExplorerUseful Sharepoint Designer Custom Workflow ActivitiesOxiteMost Active ProjectsDinnerNow.netBlogEngine.NETRawrInfoServiceSLARToolkit - Silverlight Augmented Reality ToolkitNB_Store - Free DotNetNuke Ecommerce Catalog ModuleSharpMap - Geospatial Application Framework for the CLRjQuery Library for SharePoint Web ServicesRapid Entity Framework. (ORM). CTP 2Common Context Adapters

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• Parallelism in .NET – Part 4, Imperative Data Parallelism: Aggregation

  - by Reed

  In the article on simple data parallelism, I described how to perform an operation on an entire collection of elements in parallel.  Often, this is not adequate, as the parallel operation is going to be performing some form of aggregation. Simple examples of this might include taking the sum of the results of processing a function on each element in the collection, or finding the minimum of the collection given some criteria.  This can be done using the techniques described in simple data parallelism, however, special care needs to be taken into account to synchronize the shared data appropriately.  The Task Parallel Library has tools to assist in this synchronization. The main issue with aggregation when parallelizing a routine is that you need to handle synchronization of data.  Since multiple threads will need to write to a shared portion of data.  Suppose, for example, that we wanted to parallelize a simple loop that looked for the minimum value within a dataset: double min = double.MaxValue; foreach(var item in collection) { double value = item.PerformComputation(); min = System.Math.Min(min, value); } .csharpcode, .csharpcode pre { font-size: small; color: black; font-family: consolas, "Courier New", courier, monospace; background-color: #ffffff; /*white-space: pre;*/ } .csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; } .csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; } .csharpcode .str { color: #006080; } .csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; } .csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; } .csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; } .csharpcode .html { color: #800000; } .csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; } .csharpcode .alt { background-color: #f4f4f4; width: 100%; margin: 0em; } .csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; } This seems like a good candidate for parallelization, but there is a problem here.  If we just wrap this into a call to Parallel.ForEach, we’ll introduce a critical race condition, and get the wrong answer.  Let’s look at what happens here: // Buggy code! Do not use! double min = double.MaxValue; Parallel.ForEach(collection, item => { double value = item.PerformComputation(); min = System.Math.Min(min, value); }); This code has a fatal flaw: min will be checked, then set, by multiple threads simultaneously.  Two threads may perform the check at the same time, and set the wrong value for min.  Say we get a value of 1 in thread 1, and a value of 2 in thread 2, and these two elements are the first two to run.  If both hit the min check line at the same time, both will determine that min should change, to 1 and 2 respectively.  If element 1 happens to set the variable first, then element 2 sets the min variable, we’ll detect a min value of 2 instead of 1.  This can lead to wrong answers. Unfortunately, fixing this, with the Parallel.ForEach call we’re using, would require adding locking.  We would need to rewrite this like: // Safe, but slow double min = double.MaxValue; // Make a "lock" object object syncObject = new object(); Parallel.ForEach(collection, item => { double value = item.PerformComputation(); lock(syncObject) min = System.Math.Min(min, value); }); This will potentially add a huge amount of overhead to our calculation.  Since we can potentially block while waiting on the lock for every single iteration, we will most likely slow this down to where it is actually quite a bit slower than our serial implementation.  The problem is the lock statement – any time you use lock(object), you’re almost assuring reduced performance in a parallel situation.  This leads to two observations I’ll make: When parallelizing a routine, try to avoid locks. That being said: Always add any and all required synchronization to avoid race conditions. These two observations tend to be opposing forces – we often need to synchronize our algorithms, but we also want to avoid the synchronization when possible.  Looking at our routine, there is no way to directly avoid this lock, since each element is potentially being run on a separate thread, and this lock is necessary in order for our routine to function correctly every time. However, this isn’t the only way to design this routine to implement this algorithm.  Realize that, although our collection may have thousands or even millions of elements, we have a limited number of Processing Elements (PE).  Processing Element is the standard term for a hardware element which can process and execute instructions.  This typically is a core in your processor, but many modern systems have multiple hardware execution threads per core.  The Task Parallel Library will not execute the work for each item in the collection as a separate work item. Instead, when Parallel.ForEach executes, it will partition the collection into larger “chunks” which get processed on different threads via the ThreadPool.  This helps reduce the threading overhead, and help the overall speed.  In general, the Parallel class will only use one thread per PE in the system. Given the fact that there are typically fewer threads than work items, we can rethink our algorithm design.  We can parallelize our algorithm more effectively by approaching it differently.  Because the basic aggregation we are doing here (Min) is communitive, we do not need to perform this in a given order.  We knew this to be true already – otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to parallelize this routine in the first place.  With this in mind, we can treat each thread’s work independently, allowing each thread to serially process many elements with no locking, then, after all the threads are complete, “merge” together the results. This can be accomplished via a different set of overloads in the Parallel class: Parallel.ForEach<TSource,TLocal>.  The idea behind these overloads is to allow each thread to begin by initializing some local state (TLocal).  The thread will then process an entire set of items in the source collection, providing that state to the delegate which processes an individual item.  Finally, at the end, a separate delegate is run which allows you to handle merging that local state into your final results. To rewriting our routine using Parallel.ForEach<TSource,TLocal>, we need to provide three delegates instead of one.  The most basic version of this function is declared as: public static ParallelLoopResult ForEach<TSource, TLocal>( IEnumerable<TSource> source, Func<TLocal> localInit, Func<TSource, ParallelLoopState, TLocal, TLocal> body, Action<TLocal> localFinally ) The first delegate (the localInit argument) is defined as Func<TLocal>.  This delegate initializes our local state.  It should return some object we can use to track the results of a single thread’s operations. The second delegate (the body argument) is where our main processing occurs, although now, instead of being an Action<T>, we actually provide a Func<TSource, ParallelLoopState, TLocal, TLocal> delegate.  This delegate will receive three arguments: our original element from the collection (TSource), a ParallelLoopState which we can use for early termination, and the instance of our local state we created (TLocal).  It should do whatever processing you wish to occur per element, then return the value of the local state after processing is completed. The third delegate (the localFinally argument) is defined as Action<TLocal>.  This delegate is passed our local state after it’s been processed by all of the elements this thread will handle.  This is where you can merge your final results together.  This may require synchronization, but now, instead of synchronizing once per element (potentially millions of times), you’ll only have to synchronize once per thread, which is an ideal situation. Now that I’ve explained how this works, lets look at the code: // Safe, and fast! double min = double.MaxValue; // Make a "lock" object object syncObject = new object(); Parallel.ForEach( collection, // First, we provide a local state initialization delegate. () => double.MaxValue, // Next, we supply the body, which takes the original item, loop state, // and local state, and returns a new local state (item, loopState, localState) => { double value = item.PerformComputation(); return System.Math.Min(localState, value); }, // Finally, we provide an Action<TLocal>, to "merge" results together localState => { // This requires locking, but it's only once per used thread lock(syncObj) min = System.Math.Min(min, localState); } ); Although this is a bit more complicated than the previous version, it is now both thread-safe, and has minimal locking.  This same approach can be used by Parallel.For, although now, it’s Parallel.For<TLocal>.  When working with Parallel.For<TLocal>, you use the same triplet of delegates, with the same purpose and results. Also, many times, you can completely avoid locking by using a method of the Interlocked class to perform the final aggregation in an atomic operation.  The MSDN example demonstrating this same technique using Parallel.For uses the Interlocked class instead of a lock, since they are doing a sum operation on a long variable, which is possible via Interlocked.Add. By taking advantage of local state, we can use the Parallel class methods to parallelize algorithms such as aggregation, which, at first, may seem like poor candidates for parallelization.  Doing so requires careful consideration, and often requires a slight redesign of the algorithm, but the performance gains can be significant if handled in a way to avoid excessive synchronization.

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• Windows Keys Extender – tool for XP/Vista users to using hotkeys Win+[Left|Right|Up|Down]

  - by outcoldman

  In Windows 7, I really liked an opportunity to change the position of the windows by pressing hotkeys Win + (Left | Right | Up | Bottom): Win + Left - window attached to the left side Win + Right - window attached to the right side Win + Up - window is maximized Win + Bottom - window in the normal state I’m talking about this: This is really useful hotkeys and really comfortable work with windows. But not all can use Windows 7 right now. When Windows7 was in beta and RC states I really wanted to use this features right now in current Windows version (I had Vista). So I spent my time and wrote this tool. In addition, the tool has functional which can change position of windows (It is useful for laptops, you can move windows with hotkeys). And of course this tool can move windows between monitors. Hot keys can be customized. Interface in English. Now I don’t want to add new functionality, because now I’m using Windows 7 with all functions that this tool have. I wrote this tool on C# with .NET 3.5. You can use this source code for knowing how to work with hotkeys with C#. At first I placed source code on Google Code and then placed it on CodePlex too. So you can download it from one of them. I would be glad if someone will use it. :)

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• Upgrading log shipping from 2005 to 2008 or 2008R2

  - by DavidWimbush

  If you're using log shipping you need to be aware of some small print. The general idea is to upgrade the secondary server first and then the primary server because you can continue to log ship from 2005 to 2008R2. But this won't work if you're keeping your secondary databases in STANDBY mode rather than IN RECOVERY. If you're using native log shipping you'll have some work to do. If you've rolled your own log shipping (ahem) you can convert a STANDBY database to IN RECOVERY like this:   restore database [dw]   with norecovery; and then change your restore code to use WITH NORECOVERY instead of WITH STANDBY. (Finally all that aggravation pays off!) You can either upgrade the secondary server in place or rebuild it. A secondary database doesn't actually get upgraded until you recover it so the log sequence chain is not broken and you can continue shipping from the primary. Just remember that it can take quite some time to upgrade a database so you need to factor that into the expectations you give people about how long it will take to fail over. For more details, check this out: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645954(SQL.105).aspx

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• Envista: Coordinating Utilities with Oracle Spatial 11g

  - by stephen.garth

  It's annoying when the same streets seem to be perpetually dug up for utility construction or maintenance by your water or sewer department, electric utility, gas company or telephone company. Can't they do a better job of coordinating these activities? In this podcast, Marc Fagan, Executive VP of Product Management from Envista describes a Software-as-a-Service solution that Envista provides for utilities and public works departments to coordinate upcoming construction work, using Oracle Database 11g with Oracle Spatial. Each participating utility enters key data into the Web-based application, including when and where their work is to take place, and who to contact for more information. The data is then available on a common base map, enabling all participants to coordinate their activities, save money, and minimize inconvenience to their customers. Listen to the podcast Find out more about Oracle Spatial 11g var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-13185312-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

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• Database version control resources

  - by Wes McClure

  In the process of creating my own DB VCS tool tsqlmigrations.codeplex.com I ran into several good resources to help guide me along the way in reviewing existing offerings and in concepts that would be needed in a good DB VCS.  This is my list of helpful links that others can use to understand some of the concepts and some of the tools in existence.  In the next few posts I will try to explain how I used these to create TSqlMigrations.   Blogs entries Three rules for database work - K. Scott Allen http://odetocode.com/blogs/scott/archive/2008/01/30/three-rules-for-database-work.aspx Versioning databases - the baseline http://odetocode.com/blogs/scott/archive/2008/01/31/versioning-databases-the-baseline.aspx Versioning databases - change scripts http://odetocode.com/blogs/scott/archive/2008/02/02/versioning-databases-change-scripts.aspx Versioning databases - views, stored procedures and the like http://odetocode.com/blogs/scott/archive/2008/02/02/versioning-databases-views-stored-procedures-and-the-like.aspx Versioning databases - branching and merging http://odetocode.com/blogs/scott/archive/2008/02/03/versioning-databases-branching-and-merging.aspx Evolutionary Database Design - Martin Fowler http://martinfowler.com/articles/evodb.html Are database migration frameworks worth the effort? - Good challenges http://www.ridgway.co.za/archive/2009/01/03/are-database-migration-frameworks-worth-the-effort.aspx Continuous Integration (in general) http://martinfowler.com/articles/continuousIntegration.html http://martinfowler.com/articles/originalContinuousIntegration.html Is Your Database Under Version Control? http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000743.html 11 Tools for Database Versioning http://secretgeek.net/dbcontrol.asp How to do database source control and builds http://mikehadlow.blogspot.com/2006/09/how-to-do-database-source-control-and.html .Net Database Migration Tool Roundup http://flux88.com/blog/net-database-migration-tool-roundup/ Books Book Description Refactoring Databases: Evolutionary Database Design Martin Fowler signature series on refactoring databases. Book site: http://databaserefactoring.com/ Recipes for Continuous Database Integration: Evolutionary Database Development (Digital Short Cut) A good question/answer layout of common problems and solutions with database version control. http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=032150206X

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• Letter to Ballmer: Making Better Consumer Devices

  - by andrewbrust

  Last year, I wrote Steve Ballmer an email, and he was kind enough to write me back.  The email contained a scan of a column I wrote praising Microsoft’s BI strategy.  His reply contained three simple words: “Super nice  thanks.” Well, now I’d like to write to Steve again, in an open letter format, and this time the love may be a bit tougher.  But I’m still super earnest. The past two days have been eventful ones for Microsoft: The company announced the departure of company veterans Robbie Bach and J Allard and the market announced Apple is now besting Microsoft in market capitalization. Plus, announcements were made that make it plain that Ballmer will, in effect, be running Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices division himself. With that in mind, I’d like to offer my list of a dozen things I think Microsoft’s CEO should do to improve that division’s offerings and, hopefully, its bottom line. So here goes:   1. On Windows Phone 7, Stay the Course The press is teeming with headlines and reader comments proclaiming the death-before-arrival of Windows Phone 7.  That’s plain silly.  You’ve got the makings of a great and unique SmartPhone platform, and you’re the only company (even considering RIM) that can offer full fidelity Exchange integration, not to mention implementing Office on the device.  Let the existing team finish this puppy and ship it. And then have them pump out a few updates, over-the-air, quickly.  Show them that Google Android’s not the only product that can do good, rapid dot releases. And another thing: make sure your OEMs’ devices have flawless touch screens.  If they don’t, then you shouldn’t certify them for delivery to customers.  Period. Oh, and kill the Kin, quietly.  It was DOA, and you know it.   2. Move Media Center to the Xbox Platform Media Center is, at its core, a good product.  But delivering a media distribution and DVR platform on a sophisticated PC operating system like Windows 7 just creates too many moving parts.  Xbox already functions as the best Media Center extender device – it should actually be the hub as well. Media Center is mostly based on .NET code – and XNA is a .NET environment for Xbox – find a way to bridge that small gap and make Media Center a joy to work with instead of a frustration.  Beating Apple TV out of this sub-market is the lowest hanging fruit on the tree (goofy pun, but it’s true).   3. Integrate Media Center with Mediaroom, or Kill the Latter You have two media products with almost identical names.  One is for standalone DVRs and the other is for IPTV cable set tops with DVR capabilities.  Can we merge these please?  My previous request of putting Media Center on Xbox would seem to tie into this nicely, since you’ve announced plans to do that with Mediaroom already.   4. Fix the Red Ring of Death People love the Xbox, but they really don’t love sending their consoles back every 18-24 months, when they get a bunch of red lights flashing on power up.  You’ve handled this defect about as gracefully as possible, but it’s been around for a long time now and it doesn’t seem to be fixed yet.  You can do better.  In fact, you must do better, or you insult your customers.   5. Add Blu Ray to Xbox I know, streaming movies are the future; physical media is legacy technology.  So if that’s true, why did you back HD DVD so hard?  You know why: for now, the film studios won’t allow a large selection of new release, HD, surround sound content be distributed on any medium other than Blu Ray or cable pay per view/on-demand.  Don’t you want home theater buffs to see the Xbox as a fantastic device for their rigs?  Don’t you want to put PlayStation 3 out of its misery?  And if you follow my suggestions above (move Media Center to the Xbox and fix the Red Ring problem), you’d have it all sewn up.  Do I think Blu Ray functionality will move a lot of units?  No.  Do I think that it would move more units with desperately needed influential home theater consumers?  You bet.  And you might sell more ZunePass subscriptions in the process. But while you’re at it, make the fan quieter, please.   6. Make More of Windows Home Server Home Server is a fantastic product.  And for reasons unknown to me, it seems like you’re letting it languish.  Development of the add-in ecosystem seems underfunded.  WHS’ unparalleled ease of use and reliability for home PC backup (and emergency restores) goes unsung.  Product cycles are slow.  Support for your OEMs, who are doing great work, especially in the green space with Atom CPUs, seems lacking.  You’ve married a trophy girl and you keep her cloistered at home!  That’s cruel, unusual and, um, incredibly ill-advised.  Make use of this ace card, and while you’re at it, give it real integration with Media Center.  The integration thus far proof-of-concept quality.  You should go way past that – both products will benefit immeasurably.   7. Set Up a Partner Platform for Custom Installers There’s a whole sub-industry of companies that install, integrate and configure home theater, security and connected home products.  They have an industry group. They are influential in the high-end of the consumer electronics industry, and so are their customers.  They love Media Center and they love Windows Home Server.  But I have talked to several of them at the Consumer Electronics Show and they tell me you don’t love them.  They find it very difficult to do business with Microsoft, even though they want nothing more than to sell and evangelize your platform.  This is a travesty.  Please fix it.  Get Allison Watson and the Microsoft Partner Network on board and have her hire someone who knows how to run a channel program for consumer electronics companies.  Problem solved.  Markets expanded.   8. Make Your Own Hardware In other areas, I know you love your partners.  I help run one, so I appreciate that.  But when it came to Xbox and Zune you built them it yourself (albeit on a contract basis, which is fine).  Windows Phone 7 has a chance to work as an OEM play, but it would work better if you produced the devices.  At least consider building a reference device that sells alongside your OEMs’ offerings.  That’s what Google did with the Nexxus One.  And while that phone was not itself a big seller, it catalyzed two wonderful things : (1) a quality bar was set and (2) partners exceeded it.  Before the Nexxus One, the best Android handset out there was the Motorola Droid. The Nexxus One was better, and the HTC Droid Incredible and Evo 4G are now even better than Google’s phone, which is why Verizon and Sprint decided not to carry it.  Imagine if all Windows Phone 6.x devices were on par with the HTC HD2.  I tend to believe you’d have a lot bigger market share than you do now.   9. Continue with Your Retail Initiative From what I hear, it sounds like it’s going well.  And this goes right along with making your own hardware.  When you build it, they will come.  And then it makes the likes of Best Buy and Staples do better.   10. Make an Acquisition (or Two) TiVo and/or Moxi look ripe for the picking.  With their ability to build stuff people love and your ability to run a business, you might just have something.  But do a better job than you did when you bought Danger.  Buy the ideas, not just the customers, eh?   11. Make Beautiful Stuff You’ve heard this one before, I know.  But I have some head-shrinking advice on this one.  You know that Apple obsesses over its industrial design.  You know that appeals to consumers.  But it seems you think doing so is Apple’s game exclusively and so you shouldn’t even try.  Bull dinky.  Come to New York and visit the Museum of Modern Art’s Architecture and Design gallery.  You’ll see that lots of companies and product categories have had very high design value well before Apple existed.  You can do this, and the Zune HD was a great start.  Now run with that.  Find those negative voices in your head that are telling you that you can’t and shut them up.  For good.   12. Burst the Bubble Some of the products you’ve built seem like they were conceived in a bizarro world.  That would appear to be the result of groupthink.  You must do better.  And there’s lots of people willing to advise you.  This includes just about everyone in the Regional Director program, and probably a bunch of MVPs.  Heck, I bet the guys at Engadget could help out too.  Imagine if you let them see the Kin before it shipped.  Talk to high-end gear consumers.  Talk to Best Buy and CostCo customers too.   Signing Off I hope this was of value to you.  As I wrote this I kept telling myself how obvious, even trite, some of these pieces of advice were and then, because of that, doubting they’d really help.  But I decided that they must not be obvious to Microsoft.  Sometimes when you get wrapped up in stuff, it’s hard to clear your head.  I think my head’s pretty clear here though (I’m wrapped up in other stuff), so maybe my perspective can help.  If not, well, then, I guess they all can’t be super nice.

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• Oracle Fusion Applications: Changing the Game

  - by kellsey.ruppel(at)oracle.com

  Originally posted in the Oracle Profit Magazine, November 2010 Edition. When the order processing system red-flags a customer's credit status, the IT department doesn't get the customer's call. When a supplier misses a delivery date for a key automotive assembly, it's not the CIO who has to answer for the error. Knowledge workers (known in IT circles as "users") are on the front lines when an exception occurs in an established business process. They're also the ones who study sales trends to decide when to open a new store in an up-and-coming neighborhood, which products are most profitable, how employee skill sets are evolving, and which suppliers are most efficient. In short, knowledge workers are masters of business as unusual. Traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and other familiar enterprise applications excel at automating, managing, and executing standard business processes. These programs shine when everything goes as planned. Life gets even trickier when a traditional application needs to be extended with a new service or an extra step is added to a business process when new products are brought to market, divisions are merged, or companies are acquired. Monolithic applications often need the IT department to step in and make the necessary adjustments--incurring additional costs and delays. Until now. When Oracle unveiled the much-anticipated family of Oracle Fusion Applications at Oracle OpenWorld in September 2010, knowledge workers in particular had a lot to cheer about. Business users will soon have ready access to analytical information and collaboration tools in the context of what they are working on, so they can make better decisions when problems or opportunities arise. Additionally, the Oracle Fusion Applications platform will make it easy for business users to tweak processes, create new capabilities, and find information, often without the need for IT department assistance and while still following company guidelines. And IT leaders will be happy to hear about new deployment options, guided implementation and setup tools, and cost-saving management capabilities. Just as important, the underlying technologies in Oracle Fusion Applications will allow organizations to choose among their existing investments and next-generation enterprise applications so they can introduce innovations at a pace that makes the most business and financial sense. "Oracle Fusion Applications are architected so you don't have to do rip and replace," says Jim Hayes, managing director of the consulting firm Accenture. "That's very important for creating a business case that will get through the steering committee and be approved by the board. It shows you can drive value and make a difference in the near term." For these and other reasons, analysts and early adopters are calling Oracle Fusion Applications a game changer for enterprise customers. The differences become apparent in three key areas: the way we innovate, work, and adopt technology. Game Changer #1: New Standard for InnovationChange is a constant challenge for most businesses, whether the catalysts are market dynamics, new competition, or the ever-expanding regulatory environment. And, in an ongoing effort to differentiate, business leaders are constantly looking for new ways to do business, serve constituents, and bring new products and services to market. In addition, companies face significant costs to keep their applications up-to-date. For example, when a company adds new suppliers to a procurement system, the IT shop typically has to invest time, effort, and even consulting fees for custom integrations that allow various ERP systems to communicate with each other. Oracle Fusion Applications were built on Web services and a modular SOA foundation to ease customizations and integration activities among all applications--whether from Oracle or another vendor. Interfaces and updates written in ubiquitous Java, rather than a proprietary coding language, allow organizations to tap into existing in-house technical skills rather than seek expensive outside specialists. And with SOA, organizations can extend a feature set or integrate with other SOA environments by combining Web services such as "look up customer" into a new business process managed by the BPEL orchestration engine. Flexibility like this has long-term implications. "Because users capture these changes at a higher metadata layer, not in the application's code, changes and additions are protected even as new versions of Oracle Fusion Applications are released," says Steve Miranda, senior vice president of applications development at Oracle. "This is a much more sustainable approach because you don't incur costly customizations that prevent upgrades and other innovations." And changes are easier to make: if one change is made in the metadata, that change is automatically reflected throughout the application interface, business intelligence, business process, and business logic. Game Changer #2: New Standard for WorkBoosting productivity comes down to doing the basics right: running business processes more efficiently and managing exceptions more effectively, so users can accomplish more in the course of a day or spend more quality time with the most profitable customers. The fastest way to improve process efficiency is to reduce the number of steps it takes to execute common tasks, such as ordering office equipment from an internal procurement system. Oracle Fusion Applications will deliver a complete role-based user experience with business intelligence and collaboration capabilities provided in the context of the work at hand. "We created every Oracle Fusion Applications screen by asking 'What does the user need to know?' 'What does he or she need to do?' and 'Who do they need to work with to get the job done?'" Miranda explains. So when the sales department heads need new laptops, the self-service procurement screen will not only display a list of approved vendors and configurations, but also a running list of reviews by coworkers who recently purchased the various models. Embedded intelligence may also display prevailing delivery lead times based on actual order histories, not the generic shipping dates vendors may quote. The pervasive business intelligence serves many other business activities across all areas of the enterprise. For example, a manager considering whether to promote a direct report can see the person's employee profile, with a salary history, appraisal summaries, and a rundown of skills and training. This approach to business intelligence also has implications for supply chain management. "One of the challenges at Ingersoll Rand is lack of visibility in our supply chain," says Mike Macrie, global director of enterprise applications for global industrial firm Ingersoll Rand. "Oracle Fusion Applications are going to provide the embedded intelligence to give us that visibility and give us the ability to analyze those orders at any point in our supply chain." Oracle Fusion Applications will also create a "role-based user experience" that displays a work list of events that need attention, based on user job function. Role awareness guides users with daily lists of action items and exceptions. So a credit manager may see seven invoices with discounts that are about to expire or 12 suppliers that have been put on hold because credit memos are awaiting approval. Individualization extends to the search capabilities of Oracle Fusion Applications. The platform uses Web-style search screens powered by an Oracle enterprise search engine, with a security framework that filters search results so individuals will only see the internal information they're authorized to access. A further aid to productivity is Oracle Fusion Applications' integration with Web 2.0 collaboration and social networking resources for business environments. Hover-over text will reveal relevant contact information whenever the name of a person appears in an Oracle Fusion Application. Users can connect via an online chat, phone call, or instant message without leaving the main application, reducing the time required for an accounts payable staffer to resolve a mismatch between an invoiced charge and the service record, for example. Addresses of suppliers, customers, or partners will also initiate hover-over text to show contact details and Web-based maps. Finally, Oracle Fusion Applications will promote a new way of working with purpose-driven communities that can bring new efficiencies to everything from cultivating sales leads to managing new projects. As soon as a lead or project materializes, the applications will automatically gather relevant participants into an online community that shares member contact information, schedules, discussion forums, and Wiki pages. "Oracle Fusion Applications will allow us to take it to the next level with embedded Web 2.0 tools and the embedded analytics," says Steve Printz, CIO and vice president, supply chain management, at window-and-door manufacturer Pella. "[This] allows those employees today who are processing transactions to really contribute to the success of the company and become decision-makers." Game Changer #3: New Standard for Technology AdoptionAs IT becomes a dominant component of how businesses run and compete, organizations need to lower the cost of implementing applications and introducing new application features. In the past, rolling out new code often required creating a test bed system, moving beta code to a separate system for user feedback, and--once all the revisions were made--moving version one of the software onto production systems, where business users could finally get the needed new features. Oracle Fusion Applications will use a dedicated setup manager application to streamline this process. First, the setup manager will help scope out the project, querying users about their requirements. "From those questions and answers we determine the steps and the order of those steps that will enable that task," Miranda says. Next, system utilities will assign tasks to owners, track completion status, and monitor the overall status of a programming effort. Oracle Fusion Applications can then recommend Web services that allow users to migrate setup choices and steps across all the various deployments of the application. Those setup capabilities automate the migration from test systems to production systems, as well as between different business units that may be using the same application. "The self-service ability of the setup manager helps business users change setups with very little intervention from the IT team," says Ravi Kumar, vice president at IT services company Infosys. "That to me is a big difference from how we've viewed enterprise applications before." For additional flexibility, organizations will be able to adopt Oracle Fusion Applications modules in either of two modes: a single-instance alternative uses one database for all Oracle Fusion Applications, while a "pillar mode" creates separate databases to underpin each application. This means IT departments running any one of Oracle's applications or even third-party applications can plug Oracle Fusion Applications modules into their environment and see additional business value created on top of their existing systems. And Oracle Fusion Applications offer a hybrid approach to deployment. The applications are all software-as-a-service-ready, so customers can choose on-premises, public or private cloud, or a combination of these to suit their business needs. It's that combination of flexibility and a roadmap for the future that may be the biggest game changer of all. "The Oracle Fusion Applications architecture allows us to migrate our company at a pace that's consistent with our business strategy, whereas before we might have had to do it with a massive upgrade," says Macrie of Ingersoll Rand. "We're looking forward to that architecture to really give us more flexibility in how we migrate over time." For More InformationUser Input Key to the Success of Oracle Fusion ApplicationsTransforming Coexistence into Strategic ValueUnder the HoodOracle Fusion ApplicationsOracle Service-Oriented Architecture  

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• Transactional Messaging in the Windows Azure Service Bus

  - by Alan Smith

  Introduction I’m currently working on broadening the content in the Windows Azure Service Bus Developer Guide. One of the features I have been looking at over the past week is the support for transactional messaging. When using the direct programming model and the WCF interface some, but not all, messaging operations can participate in transactions. This allows developers to improve the reliability of messaging systems. There are some limitations in the transactional model, transactions can only include one top level messaging entity (such as a queue or topic, subscriptions are no top level entities), and transactions cannot include other systems, such as databases. As the transaction model is currently not well documented I have had to figure out how things work through experimentation, with some help from the development team to confirm any questions I had. Hopefully I’ve got the content mostly correct, I will update the content in the e-book if I find any errors or improvements that can be made (any feedback would be very welcome). I’ve not had a chance to look into the code for transactions and asynchronous operations, maybe that would make a nice challenge lab for my Windows Azure Service Bus course. Transactional Messaging Messaging entities in the Windows Azure Service Bus provide support for participation in transactions. This allows developers to perform several messaging operations within a transactional scope, and ensure that all the actions are committed or, if there is a failure, none of the actions are committed. There are a number of scenarios where the use of transactions can increase the reliability of messaging systems. Using TransactionScope In .NET the TransactionScope class can be used to perform a series of actions in a transaction. The using declaration is typically used de define the scope of the transaction. Any transactional operations that are contained within the scope can be committed by calling the Complete method. If the Complete method is not called, any transactional methods in the scope will not commit.   // Create a transactional scope. using (TransactionScope scope = new TransactionScope()) {     // Do something.       // Do something else.       // Commit the transaction.     scope.Complete(); }     In order for methods to participate in the transaction, they must provide support for transactional operations. Database and message queue operations typically provide support for transactions. Transactions in Brokered Messaging Transaction support in Service Bus Brokered Messaging allows message operations to be performed within a transactional scope; however there are some limitations around what operations can be performed within the transaction. In the current release, only one top level messaging entity, such as a queue or topic can participate in a transaction, and the transaction cannot include any other transaction resource managers, making transactions spanning a messaging entity and a database not possible. When sending messages, the send operations can participate in a transaction allowing multiple messages to be sent within a transactional scope. This allows for “all or nothing” delivery of a series of messages to a single queue or topic. When receiving messages, messages that are received in the peek-lock receive mode can be completed, deadlettered or deferred within a transactional scope. In the current release the Abandon method will not participate in a transaction. The same restrictions of only one top level messaging entity applies here, so the Complete method can be called transitionally on messages received from the same queue, or messages received from one or more subscriptions in the same topic. Sending Multiple Messages in a Transaction A transactional scope can be used to send multiple messages to a queue or topic. This will ensure that all the messages will be enqueued or, if the transaction fails to commit, no messages will be enqueued.     An example of the code used to send 10 messages to a queue as a single transaction from a console application is shown below.   QueueClient queueClient = messagingFactory.CreateQueueClient(Queue1);   Console.Write("Sending");   // Create a transaction scope. using (TransactionScope scope = new TransactionScope()) {     for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)     {         // Send a message         BrokeredMessage msg = new BrokeredMessage("Message: " + i);         queueClient.Send(msg);         Console.Write(".");     }     Console.WriteLine("Done!");     Console.WriteLine();       // Should we commit the transaction?     Console.WriteLine("Commit send 10 messages? (yes or no)");     string reply = Console.ReadLine();     if (reply.ToLower().Equals("yes"))     {         // Commit the transaction.         scope.Complete();     } } Console.WriteLine(); messagingFactory.Close();     The transaction scope is used to wrap the sending of 10 messages. Once the messages have been sent the user has the option to either commit the transaction or abandon the transaction. If the user enters “yes”, the Complete method is called on the scope, which will commit the transaction and result in the messages being enqueued. If the user enters anything other than “yes”, the transaction will not commit, and the messages will not be enqueued. Receiving Multiple Messages in a Transaction The receiving of multiple messages is another scenario where the use of transactions can improve reliability. When receiving a group of messages that are related together, maybe in the same message session, it is possible to receive the messages in the peek-lock receive mode, and then complete, defer, or deadletter the messages in one transaction. (In the current version of Service Bus, abandon is not transactional.)   The following code shows how this can be achieved. using (TransactionScope scope = new TransactionScope()) {       while (true)     {         // Receive a message.         BrokeredMessage msg = q1Client.Receive(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));         if (msg != null)         {             // Wrote message body and complete message.             string text = msg.GetBody<string>();             Console.WriteLine("Received: " + text);             msg.Complete();         }         else         {             break;         }     }     Console.WriteLine();       // Should we commit?     Console.WriteLine("Commit receive? (yes or no)");     string reply = Console.ReadLine();     if (reply.ToLower().Equals("yes"))     {         // Commit the transaction.         scope.Complete();     }     Console.WriteLine(); }     Note that if there are a large number of messages to be received, there will be a chance that the transaction may time out before it can be committed. It is possible to specify a longer timeout when the transaction is created, but It may be better to receive and commit smaller amounts of messages within the transaction. It is also possible to complete, defer, or deadletter messages received from more than one subscription, as long as all the subscriptions are contained in the same topic. As subscriptions are not top level messaging entities this scenarios will work. The following code shows how this can be achieved. try {     using (TransactionScope scope = new TransactionScope())     {         // Receive one message from each subscription.         BrokeredMessage msg1 = subscriptionClient1.Receive();         BrokeredMessage msg2 = subscriptionClient2.Receive();           // Complete the message receives.         msg1.Complete();         msg2.Complete();           Console.WriteLine("Msg1: " + msg1.GetBody<string>());         Console.WriteLine("Msg2: " + msg2.GetBody<string>());           // Commit the transaction.         scope.Complete();     } } catch (Exception ex) {     Console.WriteLine(ex.Message); }     Unsupported Scenarios The restriction of only one top level messaging entity being able to participate in a transaction makes some useful scenarios unsupported. As the Windows Azure Service Bus is under continuous development and new releases are expected to be frequent it is possible that this restriction may not be present in future releases. The first is the scenario where messages are to be routed to two different systems. The following code attempts to do this.   try {     // Create a transaction scope.     using (TransactionScope scope = new TransactionScope())     {         BrokeredMessage msg1 = new BrokeredMessage("Message1");         BrokeredMessage msg2 = new BrokeredMessage("Message2");           // Send a message to Queue1         Console.WriteLine("Sending Message1");         queue1Client.Send(msg1);           // Send a message to Queue2         Console.WriteLine("Sending Message2");         queue2Client.Send(msg2);           // Commit the transaction.         Console.WriteLine("Committing transaction...");         scope.Complete();     } } catch (Exception ex) {     Console.WriteLine(ex.Message); }     The results of running the code are shown below. When attempting to send a message to the second queue the following exception is thrown: No active Transaction was found for ID '35ad2495-ee8a-4956-bbad-eb4fedf4a96e:1'. The Transaction may have timed out or attempted to span multiple top-level entities such as Queue or Topic. The server Transaction timeout is: 00:01:00..TrackingId:947b8c4b-7754-4044-b91b-4a959c3f9192_3_3,TimeStamp:3/29/2012 7:47:32 AM.   Another scenario where transactional support could be useful is when forwarding messages from one queue to another queue. This would also involve more than one top level messaging entity, and is therefore not supported.   Another scenario that developers may wish to implement is performing transactions across messaging entities and other transactional systems, such as an on-premise database. In the current release this is not supported.   Workarounds for Unsupported Scenarios There are some techniques that developers can use to work around the one top level entity limitation of transactions. When sending two messages to two systems, topics and subscriptions can be used. If the same message is to be sent to two destinations then the subscriptions would have the default subscriptions, and the client would only send one message. If two different messages are to be sent, then filters on the subscriptions can route the messages to the appropriate destination. The client can then send the two messages to the topic in the same transaction.   In scenarios where a message needs to be received and then forwarded to another system within the same transaction topics and subscriptions can also be used. A message can be received from a subscription, and then sent to a topic within the same transaction. As a topic is a top level messaging entity, and a subscription is not, this scenario will work.

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• May 2011 Release of the Ajax Control Toolkit

  - by Stephen Walther

  I’m happy to announce that the Superexpert team has published the May 2011 release of the Ajax Control Toolkit at CodePlex. You can download the new release at the following URL: http://ajaxcontroltoolkit.codeplex.com/releases/view/65800 This release focused on improving the ModalPopup and AsyncFileUpload controls. Our team closed a total of 34 bugs related to the ModalPopup and AsyncFileUpload controls. Enhanced ModalPopup Control You can take advantage of the Ajax Control Toolkit ModalPopup control to easily create popup dialogs in your ASP.NET Web Forms applications. When the dialog appears, you cannot interact with any page content which appears behind the modal dialog. For example, the following page contains a standard ASP.NET Button and Panel. When you click the Button, the Panel appears as a popup dialog: <%@ Page Language="vb" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeBehind="Simple.aspx.vb" Inherits="ACTSamples.Simple" %> <%@ Register TagPrefix="act" Namespace="AjaxControlToolkit" Assembly="AjaxControlToolkit" %> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head runat="server"> <title>Simple Modal Popup Sample</title> <style type="text/css"> html { background-color: blue; } #dialog { border: 2px solid black; width: 500px; background-color: White; } #dialogContents { padding: 10px; } .modalBackground { background-color:Gray; filter:alpha(opacity=70); opacity:0.7; } </style> </head> <body> <form id="form1" runat="server"> <div> <act:ToolkitScriptManager ID="tsm" runat="server" /> <asp:Panel ID="dialog" runat="server"> <div id="dialogContents"> Here are the contents of the dialog. <br /> <asp:Button ID="btnOK" Text="OK" runat="server" /> </div> </asp:Panel> <asp:Button ID="btnShow" Text="Open Dialog" runat="server" /> <act:ModalPopupExtender TargetControlID="btnShow" PopupControlID="dialog" OkControlID="btnOK" DropShadow="true" BackgroundCssClass="modalBackground" runat="server" /> </div> </form> </body> </html>     Notice that the page includes two controls from the Ajax Control Toolkit: the ToolkitScriptManager and the ModalPopupExtender control. Any page which uses any of the controls from the Ajax Control Toolkit must include a ToolkitScriptManager. The ModalPopupExtender is used to create the popup. The following properties are set: · TargetControlID – This is the ID of the Button or LinkButton control which causes the modal popup to be displayed. · PopupControlID – This is the ID of the Panel control which contains the content displayed in the modal popup. · OKControlID – This is the ID of a Button or LinkButton which causes the modal popup to close. · DropShadow – Displays a drop shadow behind the modal popup. · BackgroundCSSClass – The name of a Cascading Style Sheet class which is used to gray out the background of the page when the modal popup is displayed. The ModalPopup is completely cross-browser compatible. For example, the following screenshots show the same page displayed in Firefox 4, Internet Explorer 9, and Chrome 11: The ModalPopup control has lots of nice properties. For example, you can make the ModalPopup draggable. You also can programmatically hide and show a modal popup from either server-side or client-side code. To learn more about the properties of the ModalPopup control, see the following website: http://www.asp.net/ajax/ajaxcontroltoolkit/Samples/ModalPopup/ModalPopup.aspx Animated ModalPopup Control In the May 2011 release of the Ajax Control Toolkit, we enhanced the Modal Popup control so that it supports animations. We made this modification in response to a feature request posted at CodePlex which got 65 votes (plenty of people wanted this feature): http://ajaxcontroltoolkit.codeplex.com/workitem/6944 I want to thank Dani Kenan for posting a patch to this issue which we used as the basis for adding animation support for the modal popup. Thanks Dani! The enhanced ModalPopup in the May 2011 release of the Ajax Control Toolkit supports the following animations: OnShowing – Called before the modal popup is shown. OnShown – Called after the modal popup is shown. OnHiding – Called before the modal popup is hidden. OnHidden – Called after the modal popup is hidden. You can use these animations, for example, to fade-in a modal popup when it is displayed and fade-out the popup when it is hidden. Here’s the code: <act:ModalPopupExtender ID="ModalPopupExtender1" TargetControlID="btnShow" PopupControlID="dialog" OkControlID="btnOK" DropShadow="true" BackgroundCssClass="modalBackground" runat="server"> <Animations> <OnShown> <Fadein /> </OnShown> <OnHiding> <Fadeout /> </OnHiding> </Animations> </act:ModalPopupExtender>     So that you can experience the full joy of this animated modal popup, I recorded the following video: Of course, you can use any of the animations supported by the Ajax Control Toolkit with the modal popup. The animation reference is located here: http://www.asp.net/ajax/ajaxcontroltoolkit/Samples/Walkthrough/AnimationReference.aspx Fixes to the AsyncFileUpload In the May 2011 release, we also focused our energies on performing bug fixes for the AsyncFileUpload control. We fixed several major issues with the AsyncFileUpload including: It did not work in master pages It did not work when ClientIDMode=”Static” It did not work with Firefox 4 It did not work when multiple AsyncFileUploads were included in the same page It generated markup which was not HTML5 compatible The AsyncFileUpload control is a super useful control. It enables you to upload files in a form without performing a postback. Here’s some sample code which demonstrates how you can use the AsyncFileUpload: <%@ Page Language="vb" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeBehind="Simple.aspx.vb" Inherits="ACTSamples.Simple1" %> <%@ Register TagPrefix="act" Namespace="AjaxControlToolkit" Assembly="AjaxControlToolkit" %> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head id="Head1" runat="server"> <title>Simple AsyncFileUpload</title> </head> <body> <form id="form1" runat="server"> <div> <act:ToolkitScriptManager ID="tsm" runat="server" /> User Name: <br /> <asp:TextBox ID="txtUserName" runat="server" /> <asp:RequiredFieldValidator EnableClientScript="false" ErrorMessage="Required" ControlToValidate="txtUserName" runat="server" /> <br /><br /> Avatar: <act:AsyncFileUpload ID="async1" ThrobberID="throbber" UploadingBackColor="yellow" ErrorBackColor="red" CompleteBackColor="green" UploaderStyle="Modern" PersistFile="true" runat="server" /> <asp:Image ID="throbber" ImageUrl="uploading.gif" style="display:none" runat="server" /> <br /><br /> <asp:Button ID="btnSubmit" Text="Submit" runat="server" /> </div> </form> </body> </html> And here’s the code-behind for the page above: Public Class Simple1 Inherits System.Web.UI.Page Private Sub btnSubmit_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSubmit.Click If Page.IsValid Then ' Get Form Fields Dim userName As String Dim file As Byte() userName = txtUserName.Text If async1.HasFile Then file = async1.FileBytes End If ' Save userName, file to database ' Redirect to success page Response.Redirect("SimpleDone.aspx") End If End Sub End Class   The form above contains an AsyncFileUpload which has values for the following properties: ThrobberID – The ID of an element in the page to display while a file is being uploaded. UploadingBackColor – The color to display in the upload field while a file is being uploaded. ErrorBackColor – The color to display in the upload field when there is an error uploading a file. CompleteBackColor – The color to display in the upload field when the upload is complete. UploaderStyle – The user interface style: Traditional or Modern. PersistFile – When true, the uploaded file is persisted in Session state. The last property PersistFile, causes the uploaded file to be stored in Session state. That way, if completing a form requires multiple postbacks, then the user needs to upload the file only once. For example, if there is a server validation error, then the user is not required to re-upload the file after fixing the validation issue. In the sample code above, this condition is simulated by disabling client-side validation for the RequiredFieldValidator control. The RequiredFieldValidator EnableClientScript property has the value false. The following video demonstrates how the AsyncFileUpload control works: You can learn more about the properties and methods of the AsyncFileUpload control by visiting the following page: http://www.asp.net/ajax/ajaxcontroltoolkit/Samples/AsyncFileUpload/AsyncFileUpload.aspx Conclusion In the May 2011 release of the Ajax Control Toolkit, we addressed over 30 bugs related to the ModalPopup and AsyncFileUpload controls. Furthermore, by building on code submitted by the community, we enhanced the ModalPopup control so that it supports animation (Thanks Dani). In our next sprint for the June release of the Ajax Control Toolkit, we plan to focus on the HTML Editor control. Subscribe to this blog to keep updated.

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• Who benefits from the use of Design Patterns?

  Who benefits from the use of design patterns is like asking who benefits from clean air or a good education. All of the stakeholders of a project benefit from the use of design patterns. Project Sponsor Project sponsors benefit from the use of design patterns because they promote reduced development time which translates in to shorter project timelines and greater return on investment compared to other projects that do not make use of design patterns. Project Manager Project managers benefit from the use of design patterns because they reduce the amount of time needed to design a system, and typically the sub components of the system already have a proven track record. System Architect/Engineer System architects/engineers benefit from the use of design patterns because reduce the amount of time needed to design the core a system. The additional time is used to alter the design pattern through the use of innovative design and common design principles to adhere to the project’s requirements. Programmer Programmers benefit from the use of design patterns because they can reuse existing code already established by the design pattern and only have to integrate the changes outlined by the system architects/engineers. Tester Testers benefit from the use of design patterns because they can alter the existing test established for the design pattern to take in to account the changes made by the system architects/engineers. User Users benefit from the use of design patterns because the software is typically delivered sooner than projects that do not incorporate the use of design patterns, and they are assumed that the system will work as designed because it was based on a system that was already proven to work properly.

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• push email / email server tutorial

  - by David A

  Does anyone happen to know the current status of push email in the linux world? From my searching at the moment I have seen Z-push http://www.ifusio.com/blog/setup-your-own-push-mail-server-with-z-push-on-debian-linux and https://peterkieser.com/2011/03/25/androids-k-9-mail-battery-life-and-dovecots-push-imap/ Are there other solutions? Does anyone have any experiences with these? They're somewhat different in that Z-push seems to work in conjunction with an existing imap server? Some time ago I did manage to compile and build Dovecot 2 (since only Dovecot 1 was available in the Ubuntu repos at the time), it would have been a real fluke because I had no idea what I was doing but it seemed to work well with my mobile phone, that said, I can't say for sure that it was pushing, but it seemed like it. Anyway, I'm here again and looking to set up a mail server. I'm hoping to do a better of a job this time around with virtual users and such. Without installing ispconfig3 (or something similar), does anyone have any recent email server tutorials (that cover all aspects MTA, MDA...) that can supply push email on a Ubuntu 12.04 server? (I'm probably of slightly above newb status, but not far) Thanks a bunch

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• Apache2 on Raspbian: Multiviews is enabled but not working

  - by Christian L

  I recently moved webserver, from a ubuntuserver set up by my brother (I have sudo) to a rasbianserver set up by my self. On the other server multiviews worked out of the box, but on the raspbian it does not seem to work althoug it seems to be enabled out of the box there as well. What I am trying to do is to get it to find my.doma.in/mobile.php when I enter my.doma.in/mobile in the adress field. I am using the same available-site-file as I did before, the file looks as this: <VirtualHost *:80> ServerName my.doma.in ServerAdmin [email protected] DocumentRoot /home/christian/www/do <Directory /> Options FollowSymLinks AllowOverride All </Directory> <Directory /home/christian/www/do> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews AllowOverride All Order allow,deny allow from all </Directory> ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/ <Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin"> AllowOverride None Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch Order allow,deny Allow from all </Directory> ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log # Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit, # alert, emerg. LogLevel warn CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined Alias /doc/ "/usr/share/doc/" <Directory "/usr/share/doc/"> Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymLinks AllowOverride None Order deny,allow Deny from all Allow from 127.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 ::1/128 </Directory> From what I have read various places while googling this issue I found that the negotiation module had to be enabled so I tried to enable it. sudo a2enmod negotiation Giving me this result Module negotiation already enabled I have read through the /etc/apache2/apache2.conf and I did not find anything in particular that seemed to be helping me there, but please do ask if you think I should post it. Any ideas on how to solve this through getting Multiviews to work?

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• Back to Basics: When does a .NET Assembly Dependency get loaded

  - by Rick Strahl

  When we work on typical day to day applications, it's easy to forget some of the core features of the .NET framework. For me personally it's been a long time since I've learned about some of the underlying CLR system level services even though I rely on them on a daily basis. I often think only about high level application constructs and/or high level framework functionality, but the low level stuff is often just taken for granted. Over the last week at DevConnections I had all sorts of low level discussions with other developers about the inner workings of this or that technology (especially in light of my Low Level ASP.NET Architecture talk and the Razor Hosting talk). One topic that came up a couple of times and ended up a point of confusion even amongst some seasoned developers (including some folks from Microsoft <snicker>) is when assemblies actually load into a .NET process. There are a number of different ways that assemblies are loaded in .NET. When you create a typical project assemblies usually come from: The Assembly reference list of the top level 'executable' project The Assembly references of referenced projects Dynamically loaded at runtime via AppDomain/Reflection loading In addition .NET automatically loads mscorlib (most of the System namespace) the boot process that hosts the .NET runtime in EXE apps, or some other kind of runtime hosting environment (runtime hosting in servers like IIS, SQL Server or COM Interop). In hosting environments the runtime host may also pre-load a bunch of assemblies on its own (for example the ASP.NET host requires all sorts of assemblies just to run itself, before ever routing into your user specific code). Assembly Loading The most obvious source of loaded assemblies is the top level application's assembly reference list. You can add assembly references to a top level application and those assembly references are then available to the application. In a nutshell, referenced assemblies are not immediately loaded - they are loaded on the fly as needed. So regardless of whether you have an assembly reference in a top level project, or a dependent assembly assemblies typically load on an as needed basis, unless explicitly loaded by user code. The same is true of dependent assemblies. To check this out I ran a simple test: I have a utility assembly Westwind.Utilities which is a general purpose library that can work in any type of project. Due to a couple of small requirements for encoding and a logging piece that allows logging Web content (dependency on HttpContext.Current) this utility library has a dependency on System.Web. Now System.Web is a pretty large assembly and generally you'd want to avoid adding it to a non-Web project if it can be helped. So I created a Console Application that loads my utility library: You can see that the top level Console app a reference to Westwind.Utilities and System.Data (beyond the core .NET libs). The Westwind.Utilities project on the other hand has quite a few dependencies including System.Web. I then add a main program that accesses only a simple utillity method in the Westwind.Utilities library that doesn't require any of the classes that access System.Web: static void Main(string[] args) { Console.WriteLine(StringUtils.NewStringId()); Console.ReadLine(); } StringUtils.NewStringId() calls into Westwind.Utilities, but it doesn't rely on System.Web. Any guesses what the assembly list looks like when I stop the code on the ReadLine() command? I'll wait here while you think about it… … … So, when I stop on ReadLine() and then fire up Process Explorer and check the assembly list I get: We can see here that .NET has not actually loaded any of the dependencies of the Westwind.Utilities assembly. Also not loaded is the top level System.Data reference even though it's in the dependent assembly list of the top level project. Since this particular function I called only uses core System functionality (contained in mscorlib) there's in fact nothing else loaded beyond the main application and my Westwind.Utilities assembly that contains the method accessed. None of the dependencies of Westwind.Utilities loaded. If you were to open the assembly in a disassembler like Reflector or ILSpy, you would however see all the compiled in dependencies. The referenced assemblies are in the dependency list and they are loadable, but they are not immediately loaded by the application. In other words the C# compiler and .NET linker are smart enough to figure out the dependencies based on the code that actually is referenced from your application and any dependencies cascading down into the dependencies from your top level application into the referenced assemblies. In the example above the usage requirement is pretty obvious since I'm only calling a single static method and then exiting the app, but in more complex applications these dependency relationships become very complicated - however it's all taken care of by the compiler and linker figuring out what types and members are actually referenced and including only those assemblies that are in fact referenced in your code or required by any of your dependencies. The good news here is: That if you are referencing an assembly that has a dependency on something like System.Web in a few places that are not actually accessed by any of your code or any dependent assembly code that you are calling, that assembly is never loaded into memory! Some Hosting Environments pre-load Assemblies The load behavior can vary however. In Console and desktop applications we have full control over assembly loading so we see the core CLR behavior. However other environments like ASP.NET for example will preload referenced assemblies explicitly as part of the startup process - primarily to minimize load conflicts. Specifically ASP.NET pre-loads all assemblies referenced in the assembly list and the /bin folder. So in Web applications it definitely pays to minimize your top level assemblies if they are not used. Understanding when Assemblies Load To clarify and see it actually happen what I described in the first example , let's look at a couple of other scenarios. To see assemblies loading at runtime in real time lets create a utility function to print out loaded assemblies to the console: public static void PrintAssemblies() { var assemblies = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies(); foreach (var assembly in assemblies) { Console.WriteLine(assembly.GetName()); } } Now let's look at the first scenario where I have class method that references internally uses System.Web. In the first scenario lets add a method to my main program like this: static void Main(string[] args) { Console.WriteLine(StringUtils.NewStringId()); Console.ReadLine(); PrintAssemblies(); } public static void WebLogEntry() { var entry = new WebLogEntry(); entry.UpdateFromRequest(); Console.WriteLine(entry.QueryString); } UpdateFromWebRequest() internally accesses HttpContext.Current to read some information of the ASP.NET Request object so it clearly needs a reference System.Web to work. In this first example, the method that holds the calling code is never called, but exists as a static method that can potentially be called externally at some point. What do you think will happen here with the assembly loading? Will System.Web load in this example? No - it doesn't. Because the WebLogEntry() method is never called by the mainline application (or anywhere else) System.Web is not loaded. .NET dynamically loads assemblies as code that needs it is called. No code references the WebLogEntry() method and so System.Web is never loaded. Next, let's add the call to this method, which should trigger System.Web to be loaded because a dependency exists. Let's change the code to: static void Main(string[] args) { Console.WriteLine(StringUtils.NewStringId()); Console.WriteLine("--- Before:"); PrintAssemblies(); WebLogEntry(); Console.WriteLine("--- After:"); PrintAssemblies(); Console.ReadLine(); } public static void WebLogEntry() { var entry = new WebLogEntry(); entry.UpdateFromRequest(); Console.WriteLine(entry.QueryString); } Looking at the code now, when do you think System.Web will be loaded? Will the before list include it? Yup System.Web gets loaded, but only after it's actually referenced. In fact, just until before the call to UpdateFromRequest() System.Web is not loaded - it only loads when the method is actually called and requires the reference in the executing code. Moral of the Story So what have we learned - or maybe remembered again? Dependent Assembly References are not pre-loaded when an application starts (by default) Dependent Assemblies that are not referenced by executing code are never loaded Dependent Assemblies are just in time loaded when first referenced in code All of this is nothing new - .NET has always worked like this. But it's good to have a refresher now and then and go through the exercise of seeing it work in action. It's not one of those things we think about everyday, and as I found out last week, I couldn't remember exactly how it worked since it's been so long since I've learned about this. And apparently I'm not the only one as several other people I had discussions with in relation to loaded assemblies also didn't recall exactly what should happen or assumed incorrectly that just having a reference automatically loads the assembly. The moral of the story for me is: Trying at all costs to eliminate an assembly reference from a component is not quite as important as it's often made out to be. For example, the Westwind.Utilities module described above has a logging component, including a Web specific logging entry that supports pulling information from the active HTTP Context. Adding that feature requires a reference to System.Web. Should I worry about this in the scope of this library? Probably not, because if I don't use that one class of nearly a hundred, System.Web never gets pulled into the parent process. IOW, System.Web only loads when I use that specific feature and if I am, well I clearly have to be running in a Web environment anyway to use it realistically. The alternative would be considerably uglier: Pulling out the WebLogEntry class and sticking it into another assembly and breaking up the logging code. In this case - definitely not worth it. So, .NET definitely goes through some pretty nifty optimizations to ensure that it loads only what it needs and in most cases you can just rely on .NET to do the right thing. Sometimes though assembly loading can go wrong (especially when signed and versioned local assemblies are involved), but that's subject for a whole other post…© Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2012Posted in .NET  CSharp   Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();

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• You guys are harsh.

  - by Ratman21

  Tough crowd around here it seems.   Let’s get down to the issues. First: spelling…I do not understand how there can be miss-spelled words, as I use spell check (MS Word) and cut and paste my post in to the blog. As to being defensive or complaining. Hmm as I said this is a vent for my frustrations as well letting others know they are not a lone, in Job less land. Warning, warning, warning, complaint coming. I have been out of work for 18 months now. I have gone in person to sites, emailed and phoned places for work (I am thinking of getting a sign with my resume and walking up and down the main drag until, I get a job). So forgive me if I seem a little frustrated in my post. Now one thing some one pointed out really bugs me. The person called me a Holy Roller and made a comment that this is keeping me from a job.  What! I am born again Christian and not a Holy Roller. What I have put on my web sites about my faith is staying!   Oh my web site is http://beingscottnewman.webs.com/ and my resume is on the home page (and has been since I started the site).

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• Thread Synchronization and Synchronization Primitives

  When considering synchronization in an application, the decision truly depends on what the application and its worker threads are going to do. I would use synchronization if two or more threads could possibly manipulate the same instance of an object at the same time. An example of this in C# can be demonstrated through the use of storing data in a static object. A static object is initialized once per application and the data within the object can be accessed by all threads. I would use the synchronization primitives to prevent any data from being manipulated by multiple threads simultaneously. This would reduce any data corruption from occurring within the object. On the other hand if all the threads used non static objects and were independent of the other tasks there would be no need to use synchronization. Synchronization Primitives in C#: Basic Blocking Locking Signaling Non-Blocking Synchronization Constructs The Basic Blocking methods include Sleep, Join, and Task.Wait.  These methods force threads to wait until other threads have completed. In addition, these methods can also force a thread to wait a set amount of time before continuing to work.   The Locking primitive prevents a thread from entering a critical section of code while another thread is in the same critical section.  If another thread attempts to enter a locked code, it will wait, until the code block is released. The Signaling primitive allows a thread to temporarily pause work until receiving a notification from another thread that it is ok to continue working. The Signaling primitive removes the need for polling.The Non-Blocking Synchronization Constructs protect access to a common field by calling upon processor primitives.

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• Bridged network between Ubuntu Desktop 10.10 host and Ubuntu Server 10.10 Guest

  - by Jon Cram

  I run Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop on my machine and have installed Ubuntu Server 10.10 in a Virtualbox VM. I'm running Virtualbox 4.0.2. It is not virtualbox-ose. I'd like the guest OS to have an IP address on my local network so that I can run server software and access this from the host OS. My intention is to run a Hudson CI server in the guest OS. I understand I need to set up a network bridge for this to work, however I don't understand what I need to do for this to happen. I have tried following the instructions at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VirtualBox/Networking, however I run into two issues towards the end: "To take the modifications into account, restart the VirtualBox host networking script". I don't have Virtualbox-ose installed and guide suggests sudo /etc/init.d/vboxnet restart, however /etc/init.d/vboxnet does not exist for me. The end of the guide refers to the vboxusers group. I don't have such a group and am not sure why I need this or how it should be created. I'm simply looking to allow the guest OS to have an IP on my local network so that I can access servers on the guest OS from the host OS. What changes do I need to make to both the host and guest OSs for this to work?

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• It&rsquo;s All About Expectation Management

  - by D'Arcy Lussier

  I saw this tweet from Gerald Weinberg today: I’d expand on this – its not just managers, its our clients as well. With so much focus on “agile” and reducing the amount of wasteful documentation created, those that typically consume traditional deliverables haven’t caught up. For many, there still is a correlation between seeing a mountain of paper, or a 30 page Word document, or a 40 slide PowerPoint, and feeling like some “work” was done. The “Value Driven Development” movement is still in its infancy, even with the adoption and success stories. So, we have two options – we can complain about it, or we can learn how to live with it while continuing to evangelize about the benefits of value over bloat. The reality is that perceived value is still value, so what’s important – especially in a situation as Gerald mentions where management or clients don’t understand the work – is to find out what the manager/client values and deliver to that. That doesn’t mean you don’t discuss it. That doesn’t mean that if you see risks being represented in what a manager/client is asking you don’t question it and provide alternatives. But it does mean that you don’t slam the door on it – you don’t just toss it aside and ignore what their perceived value is. The world isn’t perfect, primarily because its filled with imperfect people. The only way to get better is to engage and not dismiss each other, even if we disagree on value.

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• /usr/lib/cups/backend/hp has failed with an HP LaserJet p3005

  - by edtechdev

  Ever since 10.04, I can't print to an HP laserjet p3005. I'm even using an entirely different computer now with a fresh install of 10.10. I've tried with and without the latest hplip. Recently, sometimes I can get it to print a few things, but eventually it always fails (usually when printing a pdf from the document viewer (also doesn't work with adobe pdf reader)). Sometimes it fails so bad the printer gives an error saying it needs to be turned off and on again. I can't seem to find a fix anywhere, I've googled all over the past year and tried every fix I could find. It does say that the /usr/lib/cups/backend/hp has failed. It also doesn't make a difference if I create the printer using hp-setup or ubuntu's own printing control panel. I delete and re-create the printer, no difference eventually. I use the default printer settings or custom settings, no difference. I can print perfectly find to a networked printer at home - an HP officejet 6310. It seems to be networked HP printers at work that I can't print to anymore (except occasionally right after re-installing the printer driver). What's the recommended way to install HP printer drivers and reset or clean out everything from before. Or where are the right logs to read or debug commands to do to find out what may be the real cause of the printing problems?

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• Freelancing - Share the source code?

  - by Tec

  I have developed a couple of form based windows application in vb.net for a client and they all work well and he paid me through a freelance site. I have handed over the executable and the setup to the client and all was well. Now the client wants the source code for the application. Is there a general practice on sharing the source code with the client? Please note - the client never mentioned he needs the source code and he is now asking for it after a week after the app was completed and he made the payment. I don't mind sharing the source code, but I am not sure if I should. This probably means the client would not hire me again and the bigger question is the source code really his property? This question may have been asked a few times, but I cannot still draw a conclusion on what is right. update To answer some of the questions: The source code was not mentioned at all. There was no exclusive contract signed except for the usual agreement of the freelance site. I am not sure if software development comes under work for hire and is it valid for users outside of the US? The reason for not sharing the source code was this was a very small project and I got paid for a mere few hours. So if I have an option then definitely I would want to keep the source code to myself as that gives a possibility of the client coming back. The application works flawlessly and the code is solid. Also, the task that the client wanted to achieve was very challenging and I would not like other programmers (competitors) to know how I achieved it. So unless I get the confirmation that the source code is purely the property of the client, I would not be willing to share it.

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• How to call Office365 web service in a Console application using WCF

  - by ybbest

  In my previous post, I showed you how to call the SharePoint web service using a console application. In this post, I’d like to show you how to call the same web service in the cloud, aka Office365.In office365, it uses claims authentication as opposed to windows authentication for normal in-house SharePoint Deployment. For Details of the explanation you can see Wictor’s post on this here. The key to make it work is to understand when you authenticate from Office365, you get your authentication token. You then need to pass this token to your HTTP request as cookie to make the web service call. Here is the code sample to make it work.I have modified Wictor’s by removing the client object references. static void Main(string[] args) { MsOnlineClaimsHelper claimsHelper = new MsOnlineClaimsHelper( "[email protected]", "YourPassword","https://ybbest.sharepoint.com/"); HttpRequestMessageProperty p = new HttpRequestMessageProperty(); var cookie = claimsHelper.CookieContainer; string cookieHeader = cookie.GetCookieHeader(new Uri("https://ybbest.sharepoint.com/")); p.Headers.Add("Cookie", cookieHeader); using (ListsSoapClient proxy = new ListsSoapClient()) { proxy.Endpoint.Address = new EndpointAddress("https://ybbest.sharepoint.com/_vti_bin/Lists.asmx"); using (new OperationContextScope(proxy.InnerChannel)) { OperationContext.Current.OutgoingMessageProperties[HttpRequestMessageProperty.Name] = p; XElement spLists = proxy.GetListCollection(); foreach (var el in spLists.Descendants()) { //System.Console.WriteLine(el.Name); foreach (var attrib in el.Attributes()) { if (attrib.Name.LocalName.ToLower() == "title") { System.Console.WriteLine("> " + attrib.Name + " = " + attrib.Value); } } } } System.Console.ReadKey(); } } You can download the complete code from here. Reference: Managing shared cookies in WCF How to do active authentication to Office 365 and SharePoint Online

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• The 50 Best Ways to Disable Built-in Windows Features You Don’t Want

  - by The Geek

  Over the years, we’ve written about loads of ways to disable features, tweak things that don’t work the way you want, and remove other things entirely. Here’s the list of the 50 best ways to do just that. Just in case you missed some of our recent roundup articles, here’s a couple of roundups of our very best articles for you to check out: The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better The 20 Best How-To Geek Explainer Topics for 2010 The 20 Best Windows Tweaks that Still Work in Windows 7 The 50 Best How-To Geek Windows Articles of 2010 The 10 Cleverest Ways to Use Linux to Fix Your Windows PC If you’ve already been through those, keep reading for how to disable loads of Windows features you might not want Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How to Upgrade Windows 7 Easily (And Understand Whether You Should) The How-To Geek Guide to Audio Editing: Basic Noise Removal Install a Wii Game Loader for Easy Backups and Fast Load Times The Best of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in 2011 The Worst of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in 2011 HTG Projects: How to Create Your Own Custom Papercraft Toy Calvin and Hobbes Mix It Up in this Fight Club Parody [Video] Choose from 124 Awesome HTML5 Games to Play at Mozilla Labs Game On Gallery Google Translate for Android Updates to Include Conversation Mode and More Move Your Photoshop Scratch Disk for Improved Performance Winter Storm Clouds on the Horizon Wallpaper Existential Angry Birds [Video]

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• New Walkthrough Capability in AutoVue 20

  - by warren.baird

  New in AutoVue 20 is the capability to view a 3D model of a building from the inside - this is a very powerful tool for anyone who needs to work with models of plants, refineries, or other buildings. All of the standard AutoVue functionality is available, so you can click on any part of the building to get attribute data, manipulate the view, do measurement, etc. For example, in the image below we've made the Architectural model (Walls, Floors, etc.) transparent, but left the electrical and mechanical models opaque, so it's easy to see where the wires and piping run behind the walls. Additionally you can bring together different files and different types of files, using our digital mockup capability - in the image below the heating and air conditioning sytem on the left came from one file, and the electrical box on the right came from another wile, and the model of the room came from yet a third file, but with everything brought together into AutoVue you can do things like use our measurement capability to ensure there's enough space to get maintenance equipment down the hallway, before the building is even built. For more information about Walkthrough, you can view a video demo at http://download.oracle.com/autovue/3D_walkthrough_movie.wmv We're very excited about this new capability - do you think this will be useful for you in your work with AutoVue? Let us know!

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• Tile Engine - Procedural generation, Data structures, Rendering methods - A lot of effort question!

  - by Trixmix

  Isometric Tile and GameObject rendering. To achive the desired looking game I need to take into consideration which tiles need to be drawn first and which last. What I used is a Object that is TileRenderQueue that you would give it a tile list and it will give you a queue on which ones to draw based on their Z coordinate, so that if the Z is higher then it needs to be drawn last. Now if you read above you would know that I want the location data to instead of being stored in the tile instance i want it to be that the index in the array is the location. and then maybe based on the array i could draw the tiles instead of taking a long time in for looping and ordering them by Z. This is the hardest part for me. It's hard for me to find a simple solution to the which one to draw when problem. Also there is the fact that if the X is larger than the gameobject where the X is larger needs to be drawn over the rest of the tiles and so on. Here is an example: All the parts work together to create an efficient engine so its important to me that you would answer all of the parts. I hope you will work on the answers hard just as much that I worked on this question! If there is any unclear part tell me so in the comments! Thanks for the help!

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• Slides and links for Looking at the Clouds through Dirty Windows :-)

  - by Eric Nelson

  Tomorrow (Friday 23/4/2010) I am delivering a session at the Cloud Grid Exchange in London at SkillsMatter (A top training company and superb supporter of development communities). To be perfectly honest – I’m more interested in attending than presenting as the sessions and speaker line up look great. But in the middle of all that I will be doing the following (rather cheekily named) session: Looking at the Clouds through dirty Windows Many developers assume that the Microsoft Windows Azure Platform for Cloud Computing is only relevant if you develop solutions using Microsoft Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. The reality is somewhat different. In the same way that developers can build great applications on Windows Server using a variety of programming languages, developers can do the same for Azure. Java, Tomcat, PHP, Ruby, Python, MySQL and more all work great on Azure. In this session we will take a lap around the services offered by the Azure PaaS and demonstrate just how easy it is to build and deploy applications built in .NET and other technologies. The session will be a mix of slides and demos – currently I plan to demo .NET and Ruby on Rails running on Azure – but I may flex that depending on how the morning sessions go and who turns up. Looking at the clouds through dirty windows View more presentations from Eric Nelson. Links: Getting started: Details on how to sign up for FREE to try out Windows Azure http://bit.ly/azure25  Getting started with Windows Azure UK Site http://bit.ly/startazure UK Azure Site http://bit.ly/landazure UK Community http://ukazure.ning.com Examples of Azure and none .NET technologies: http://ukinterop.cloudapp.net Restlet based, using Windows Azure Storage http://rubyukinterop.cloudapp.net Rails based clone using Windows Azure Storage (down at time of posting) http://rubysqlazure.cloudapp.net Simple rails using SQL Azure http://bookingbug.com Real world “Ruby on Rails on Azure” (Work in progress for conversion to Azure) Domino’s Pizza migration of Java/Tomcat on Solaris to Java/Tomcat on Windows Azure Main Azure Interop site http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsAzure/interop/: Eclipse Tooling http://windowsazure4e.org Java support http://www.windowsazure4j.org/ Rails on Azure skeleton project for Visual Studio http://code.msdn.com/railsonazure Azure Runme utility for spawning processes http://azurerunme.codeplex.com Feedback www.mygreatwindowsazureidea.com

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