Chris May

Microsoft really does a terrible job explaining all the variations of Visual Studio .Net 2008 (and there are many):

• Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition
• Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition
• Visual C# 2008 Express Edition
• Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition
• Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition
• Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
• Visual Studio Team System 2008 Architecture Edition
• Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition
• Visual Studio Team System 2008 Development Edition
• Visual Studio Team System 2008 Test Edition
• Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite
  

After a lot of searching, I finally found this data sheet that explains most of it.

Why this was so hard to find is anyones guess.

One one of my dasBlog sites that was built before Akismet was supported, I accientally allowed for pingbacks to be tracked.

Ping backs are supposed to happen between blogs whenver you link to another blog article.

It's really a great idea!  If you are reading a blog post, you might see a list of 4 ping backs at the end.  These URLs are the locations of other blog articles that reference the article you are reading, so you might want to check some of those out to get those authors poing of view on whatever topic is being discussed.

But, of course, spammers ruin it for everyone.

Yesterday I got 18,000 pingbacks from sites selling prescription drugs in a matter of a hour or 2.

So I turned off ping backs, but that left me with a ton of spam to clean up.

Lucky for me, someone else has already run into this, and built a tool for stripping it out!

Really nice!  The only problem I found was that it didn't report issues with my config file (I had a bad character in there).  Actually, it WOULD report them, but would immediately begin processing the files (with no patterns to match against) so you couldn't tell that it was reporting it.

So if you run into a problem with this tool, try putting in a bad content path.  This was throw an exception and you will have time to read any debug info in the command terminal indicating if there was a problem with your config file earlier in the process.

After I fixed this issue, it worked great!

Thanks!

I recently wrote about some issues I was running into with Lenovo computers losing drive space.

I detailed it in this article:

What happened to my drive space (on my Lenovo laptop)?

Well, I think I found the solution.   My Lenovo came with built in Rescue and Recovery software (Under Thinkvantage).

This software tries to make local backups so you can rollback if you get a virus or something.

The problem is, it is very tricky, and doesn’t let you know that it is eating up your hard drive. 

The files never show up on your C:.  So, right now your C drive might show 80 GB total, 500 MB free… but if you show all files on the C drive, and select the properties of them, they all only add up to 45 GB (where is the rest?).

Well IBM hides these backup files somewhere.  I just noticed now that mine, even though I have never knowingly clicked “OK” when prompted to do a Rescue and Recovery backup, is saving 30GB of backup data.

So if you want to delete these, you can do the following:

1. Run Rescue and Recovery
2. Click on Advanced in the lower left hand corner
3. Click on Advanced (again) in the title bar
4. Select "Delete backups"
5. Select some backups to delete.

Thats it!
 

When Google Desktop first came out, I loved it.

It gave quick search results searching across multiple categories on my machine, and it was fast.

But the more I used it, the more I noticed things I didn't like.  Links to files that didn't exist.  Missing search results.  Incomplete results.

So even though I had a bad experience when I first tried Windows Desktop Search when it was in beta, I decided to try it again.

There is no quesiton, this is a clear cut total win for Microsoft.

Windows Desktop is fast, gives much more complete results (espically from my email), and has a much nicer user interface when compared with Google Desktop.

I have to say, I am suprised, but happy that it works as well as it does.

Give it a shot, cross your eyes just right and see the words that pop out.

This is some useful stuff from 4guysfromrolla.com. 

BEGIN TRY
   BEGIN TRANSACTION    -- Start the transaction

   -- Your code here

   -- If we reach here, success!
   COMMIT
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
  -- Whoops, there was an error
  IF @@TRANCOUNT > 0
     ROLLBACK

  -- Raise an error with the details of the exception
  DECLARE @ErrMsg nvarchar(4000), @ErrSeverity int
  SELECT @ErrMsg = ERROR_MESSAGE(),
         @ErrSeverity = ERROR_SEVERITY()

  RAISERROR(@ErrMsg, @ErrSeverity, 1)
END CATCH

We recently ran into a problem with SSRS where our email subscriptions were processing, but no emails were going out.

SSRS doesn't really give you any info in the web interface to give you any clue that something isn't work right, let alone help you figure out what the problem is.

I was able to solve the problem by looking at the various log files that SSRS creates:  ReportServerWebApp__X, ReportServerService__X, and ReportServer__X.

In these config files I was able to find some errors coming back from our mail server. 

This lead me to discover that the problem was with how the email addresses were formatted. 

The issue was that we recently changed which mail server we used for sending out these emails, and we have moved from an Exchange 2003 server to an Exchange 2007 server.

Exchange 2003 would accept domain accounts as destinations for emails, so you could send an email to "cmay" and it would be delivered.  It seems that Exchange 2007 requires that you provide the full email address: cmay@company.com. 

After changing some of the SPs that served up the data, all worked once again.

Do you need to come up with some Use Cases?  Maybe you need to create a Software Requirements Specification document.  Or, how about something as simple as writing up some test cases.

ReadySET provides (for free) a set of software engineering document templates to help you come up with these articles.

Just select the type of document you are interested in and customize as needed.

Chances are I will never get time to do this, but still it would be nice.

Very funny:

http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/

"Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?

Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb."

Just a few of them:

Sometimes you might need/want to know what ports on your machine are being used.

If you try to start up a process listening on some port and it reports that the port is alread in use, what do you do?

The answer is to use this command:

netstat -a -n -o

This will show you all port activity including the PID so you can open up task manager and find which process is using which port.

Craigslist is good for laugh every now and then.

Usually it comes in the form of someone looking to hire someone to develop a site "Just like MySpace" with a budget of $500.  Or "I have a great way to run auctions online, a real Ebay killer.  Need you to implement my ideas.  Budget $1000 plus equity in the new company."  LOL.

But you can get a good laugh too by posting your own listing and reading the responses.  For example, I posted recently looking for someone with experience integrating business systems with quickbooks.  I wrote that, initially, I just wanted to sit with the person for a few hours to point me in the right direction, and to talk about some of the best practices for doing tihs type of work, but I might have them do some of the development work.

Here is one of the responses I got:

** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY --- AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping
** More Info: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

That is a hard program to automate, but I do have some experience with it when I worked for a large union construction company. You are better off not using it, I have some better methods of keeping your affairs in order using Excel. Call me if you want at XXX-XXX-XXXX for any questions. Marty

LOL

I was working on my father-in-laws laptop the other day and noticed that he was using up a lot of drive space.

I started poking around, but things were not adding up.  Of his 80 GB drive, about 30GB was unaccounted for.  I called a buddy of mine who was also running Vista to see if he had the same problem, and as it turned out, he was.

After some more investigation, it looks like this might not be a Vista issue, but is instead caused by IBM/Lenovo's Rescue and Recovery software.

I will have to confirm this later by actually fixing his computer, but I wanted to get this out there in case anyone else has a Lenovo laptop that is missing drive space.

Keywords:

Missing drive space, Missing disk space, Where is my drive space, Lenovo hard drive missing space.

I just noticed this while working on a windows forms .net application.

I made some changes to the underlying business objects that I had bound to a datagridview.  Things looked like they should at runtime, but when I opened up the designer, several of my columns were missing!

After some testing around, I realized that any column that was bound to a property on the object, where I had changed the name of the property, was no longer showing.

I figured it would fail the databind or something, but at least let me change the column details to get things working right!

So I added in fake empty property definitions to the business objects and presto: back come the columns.

After that, I was able to update the databinding field and remove my bogus properties.

What happens if you lose the RDL source file for your SQL Reporting report?  Or more accurately, what if your coworkers never check them into source control?

Well, you can get them out of the web interface of SSRS.

To do this:

1. Login into the /Reports of SSRS
2. Navigate to the report you want
3. Click the Properties tab
4. Then under Report Definition, click "Edit"
5. Save the RDL file to your local machine.

Ran into this again today.

<asp:BoundField
  DataField="FollowUpDate"   
  DataFormatString="{0:MMM-dd-yy}"   
  HtmlEncode="false"  
  HeaderText="Follow Up Date" />

If you are doing a boundfield in an asp.net gridview, and you play on using the DataFormatString, you have to set HtmlEncode to false.

Kinda stupid, but that's life.

I have been toying with the idea of trying to learn spanish... the class I most hated in school.

I have no idea where this desire came from, and more than I can explain my rather sudden interest in traveling and soccer (lots of EPL games on my DVR).

So I have been working with some Rosetta Stone CDs as well as listening to some podcasts ( www.coffeebreakspanish.com and www.notesinspanish.com ).  I have improved a little, but I think there is only so much you can do with reading/listening and not really having to interact with people who are speaking the native language.

I found this page that talks about the COE Language Proficiency Scale.  I think on this scale I would be only an A2:

A2 - Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need. 

And I think I would like to be at the B2 level:

B2 - Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

So while the ipods and Rosetta Stone are good, I think if I want to take it to the next level I need to take lessons.  I found 2 places that offer lessons online from native speakers over Skype. 

Nulengua (http://www.nulengua.com/) charges $10/hour and WebSpanish (http://www.webspanish.com/) charges $15 / hour.  Both are very cheap as the tutors are based in South America, so I guess I need to decide if I am going to bit the bullet and sign up for some of these.

The only thing holding me back at this point is the fact that I don't have any free time as it is, and also I am trying to factor in my tendency for being really interested in something only to lose interest over time, get burnt out, whatever. 

I think the term my mom used to use was that I was "very intense" when it came to things I was interested in.  So right now, I would love to spend a lot of time learning these things, but 6 months from now will I still have the same interest, and therefore be glad that I spent as much time as I did on learning spanish.  Or, will I be on to something else with my limited free time?

Sometimes I feel like simply being aware of my tendency to overly invest time in things like this has the opposite effect, causing me to over compensate and avoid moving forward.

Anyway, I am lucky enough to have a wonderful wife who puts up with my ebb and flow, and is willing to do the lessons with me.  Just need to find some time to get started.

I am having a very hard time using my iphone headphones outside these days in Chicago.  It gets pretty cold, and the plastic that they wrap the wires in freezes up almost instantly, making the cable stiff like a piece of solder.

So when you turn your head, the headphone wires don't move and the ear buds pop out of your head.  Pretty poor design.

I guess it doesn't get this cold in Silicon Valley, where Apple has it's headquaters.

Have you ever come across this error message?

403.6
Forbidden IP address of the client has been rejected

If you are using Small Business Server you might come into this quite fast as by default it will lock down IIS to keep machines who are not on the same subnet from accessing the web server.

This means if you VPN in you can't browse the intranet site.  Oops, that's not good.

To fix this problem, you need to edit the website and iis application properties in IIS.  On the Directory Security tab edi the IP address and domain name restrictions.  Change the settings on there from "Deny" to "Grant" and you will be all set.

So it looks like youtube.com is down.

I can't imagine how much money they are losing with each passing second.