I've been working on another side project that is sharing this host server so I picked up a different blogging engine that was a little lighter than subversion because I didn't feel like going through all the sql mess so I selected BlogEngine.Net

I'm looking at potentially moving this blog to another blogging platform,   Any  "Free" suggestions are welcome.

I saw today that Adobe has released a Beta version of online Photoshop. 
I haven't tried it out yet but intend to once I get home.

Ok,  So I've been busy for a while with my new job and I kinda forgot about this thing.
Hopefully I can get things going again and try to keep some regularity to some updates here.

I was reading Jim's blog and ran across this post for Sam Gentile's blog and thought I'd repost it myself just because I think this is how I fit into the .Net world as well. 

I was reading Scott Guthries blog today and came across this blog post from last week.   It has enough links in there to keep me busy for a week.

I have decided that I will be moving on to another job.  I just didn't feel that I was getting what I needed/wanted at my current employer so I resigned yesterday and accepted a position with another company in Oconomowoc.  We will be using WCSF and WSF to connect various systems together.  Should be a fun experience and am looking forward to it.

So I can't start at my new job until the 11th but my current employer doesn't have any work so it appears as if I have all of next week off.   Now I need to figure out how to burn a week away with nothing do.   Maybe I'll actually get some fishing done this week.  

So I saw the news about Microsoft Surface today.  Pretty cool indeed but it is certainly not new technology.  I saw this article over a year ago.   Hopefully Microsoft doing this will bring the touchscreen technology to the real user though, there are very cool things to be done with it but it is so expensive to implement.

Use this for those people who just don't get it or this if the other one was just too blunt.

I saw this on Digg, someone grabbed the list and copied it so I'm reposting here,   I was mildly amused by it.

1. Do you proclaim, out loud, your three year old knows more about computers than you do?
2. Are you still looking for the “Any Key”?
3. Do you really think you win something for being the 421,232th visitor?
4. Is your only solution to call the family “computer geek”?
5. Do you call the thing above the 8 a snowflake?
6. Is Netscape 4.7 your default browser?
7. Do you believe that the Firefox people are talking about is the 1982 movie about a really cool jet?
8. Do the blinking ads compel you to click?
9. Are your passwords on a sticky note on your monitor?
10. Do you ignore those messages that tell your anti-virus subscription has expired?
11. Is your home network’s name “linksys”?
12. Do you not believe in a firewall?
13. Have you paid for any Geek Squad services?
14. Do you anxiously open every attachment in your email?
15. When someone is explaining something technical, do you dismiss it as “computer talk”?
16. Do you think you can get a free iPod for filling out your zip code?
17. Do you believe the IT people have magical powers?
18. Do you have a collection of AOL discs?
19. Have you hit your monitor when your computer gave an error?
20. Do you still the think the Internet is a fad?
21. When someone asks what’s wrong with your computer, do you respond with, “It’s running slow”?

Funny play on the Apple commercials.

So today I was looking for the link to the funniest Dilbert strip I had ever seen and it had been removed.  So I searched long and hard and found an archived copy of it and linked it here.    Seriously,  the best ever. If you can't read it all click here.

 

This is an amazing article in the Washington Post that is all about getting Joshua Bell to play in the subway in DC and no one notices him.   Can't say that I would have stopped either,  most of the time I am in a rush to get where I'm going and typically just blow by these people when I am in cities where they perform.   Never the less I thought it was a very interesting article and I am now listening to some of his stuff, needless to say,  he's really good.

So I recently had to write some code that would take some data and stick it in a pre-formatted (complicated) Excel spreadsheet.
I decided to use the XML format so I could easily do this without having to use the Excel COM object.
I had everything going good until I tried to open the file I was sending back through the browser twice in a row. 
I kept getting an Workbook error and looking in the log i saw this
XML ERROR in Workbook Setting
REASON:    Too many tags
FILE:    C:\Documents and Settings\Mike\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\90LEWOHS\Results_3_22_2007[3].xml
GROUP:    Workbook
TAG:    Worksheet
ATTRIB:    Name
VALUE:    MyWorksheetName

Well the problem ended up being because Excel saw the same filename twice in a row it was trying to open the dataset being fed to it within the same open workbook.   Worksheet names must be unique within a Workbook so it was throwing the "Too many tags" error. 

My solution to this was just just add a short unique id to the end of the file name so Excel wouldn't recognize it as the same file and presto!  everything works as expected.

Title says it all,  this guy is nuts.  It just goes to show how little people know that aren't in the business of making software. I don't think most people even remotely have an idea of what it takes to make software.  This guy over at GetACoder.com wants someone to build an operating system that will do everything XP does, run all the programs XP does,  be completely hacker proof for less than $3000.   I should bid for $1000 bucks and put an Ubuntu cd in the mail with instructions on how to setup Wine.

Wouldn't it be great if people just realized that this stuff doesn't just magically appear.  I can say that I've spoken to a person or two that believes that everything is easy because even they know how to "code",  in HTML.
Below the description is an animated gif.  If you didn't catch it from the start just wait a second,  it will restart for you.

Budget: $ 1000-3000
Description
Hi,

So I'm posting for a rather large project. I need someone to program me a new OS (Operasting System) that looks different than Ms Windows XP etc. but has the same style. It does not need to run on a mac but all the other PCs. It's supposed to have a stylish look with clear edges etc. And ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE JUST A REDESIGNED WINDOWS as I'm going to sell that operating system later on. It's going to be called BlueOrb.

These are some important points :

It should have ALL THE FEATURES that Windows Xp Professional has.
ALL the files that run on Windows XP ust also run on the BlueOrb OS.
It must have a very user-friendly interface (like MS WINDOWS XP)
When it gets Installed, the user needs to insert a serial number.
It HAS to be HACKER SAFE!
It must be quick and good looking.

Animated GIF below.

This is awesome,   I ran across a blog that has several youtube videos about how to get free drinks at a bar.

My favorite is the whiskey and water trick that is linked below,  go to the WiseBread blog to see more.

So I am typing this from my new desk,  I've got to figure out how to exactly adjust my chair yet for it.   I also still need to build a wooden riser for it to match the desk and get rid of this lousy laptop monitor stand. 
Unfornately I don't have the money for a kvm switch this month so I'll have to deal with this monitor to my left for a while, but oh well,  Its just nice to have this big desk. 
A couple of the finished pictures are here

So I currently have a hand me down desk that I'm not even sure where I got it from.   For a long time I have wanted a nice large desk so that I have room to do everything I want.   Two weeks ago I decided enough was enough, I was going to get a nice desk.   After a bunch of research,  to get a decent sized corner desk was going to cost me over a thousand dollars.  I couldn't believe this,  and wasn't going to pay it.   Well, I'm not exactly a finish carpenter by any means but I can handle a saw so I decided to set out on my own and figure this out,  how hard could it be.  I decided on some rough demensions and worked out a cutting plan for the plywood.  A friend came over and sawing away we went,   a short 3 hours later everything was cut and ready to go.   We ended up making it 8 ft long in one direction and 6 feet in the other.   I went and bought some trim this weekend and trimmed and sanded everything down,  I just need to get the poly coats on this week.
I'm quite impressed, it turned out well,  and for less than $150.  I do need to spend some more and make some cabinet fronts for it but that can be next months project.  I plan on putting my printer on a shelf in the section to the left and putting my two cpus in the same cabinet with a door on the front.  I want to buy a Belkin OmniView KVM switch to switch between my two cpus.  I plan on wiring the desk for electric so that I'll have one set of wires running places and not just have them running all over the place. I'll see if I can get my design drawn up in QCad and uploaded here.

Pics are here

2 - 4 ft X 8ft 3/4" Oak Panels 37.99 * 2 = $75.98
2 - 8 ft Pine select boards $7 * 2 = $15.00
20 - Corner Melding supports $0.43 * 20 = $8.60
2 - 8 ft Oak rounded edge moulding - $4.83 * 2 = $9.66
2 - 8ft Oak flat trim - $ 4.83 * 2 = $9.66
1 can Minwax Wood Finish - Colonial Maple - $5.99
1 can Minwax Fast drying Polyurethane - $5.99
1 box 3/4" screws  350 ct   - $3.00
                                              TOTAL : 133.88

I'll get some more pictures and I'll get my design done in QCad and put up here later this week.

The difficulties that I had posted about before have been picked up by some larger blogs and gotten quite a bit of notice.  I'm glad that I wasn't the only one that was frustrated by this

Microsoft takes email design back 5 years at CampaignMonitor.com

Microsoft breaks HTML email rendering in Outlook 2007 at SitePoint.com

Over at Coding Horror I found this post that describes a proposed programmer's bill of rights.  This is right on,  at a previous work place my team was afforded nearly none of this.   They put us in the most disruptive place in the building, right next to the manufacturing area with a wide open door.  They had the most uncomfortable chairs and asked us to use $2 KeyTronic keyboards, and a crappy mouse.  Now that I work at home these were the first things I fixed since I was able to create my own work environment.

Summary:
Every programmer shall have two monitors
Every programmer shall have a fast PC
Every programmer shall have their choice of mouse and keyboard
Every programmer shall have a comfortable chair
Every programmer shall have a fast internet connection
Every programmer shall have quiet working conditions