Why do Visual Studio Express version suck?

I tell you exactly why do they suck so bad.

Okay, i take it back, it is good effor on MS' part to actually give out anything free like that. So lets give the credit where it's due.

Now as to why do i find the C# express verison lame? simply because darn thing doesn't even have support for:

1) Extensibility. Lack of support for Add-ins and Macros. One must wonder, how can you get more users to use a system for which you aren't even providing a way to improve upon. Take example of Firefox. How simple and elegant is it to create extensions for it and as a result not only you have developers and like-minded folks developing extensions for it, but others are enjoying the ever lasting extensions for it as well. Imagine now, what if same could be true for C# express version.

2) No VSS or Unit testing integration. One must wonder, are express editions really for students and hobbiests type persons? If so, they why don't they get the opportunity to learn what should be the first thing to learn? You know of any Software development company that doesn't user Source Control or Unit Testing for their products?

3) Cannot connect to remote databases. Thats right, support is limited to only local databases. Oh and the worst part is that, there is no obvious way to read data from Excel type datasource either. It only supports SQL and Access. On the other side, you can find support for Excel in Web dev. editions. Pathetic at best, i must say!

I would rather spend time and energy in getting used to SharpDevelop's IDE. Thanks, but no thanks Mr. Bill Gates.

Msnspaces sucks so bad!

Can't even use my lovely firefox to blog anything there. Thats pretty pathetic for Microsoft to:

1) Not support firefox users
2) Add stuff that is supported by only the lamest browser on planet, i.e. Internet Explorer
3) Not even have a msn toolbar for firefox.

I don't see how MS wants to take lead in this competition when they don't even have the very fundamental stuff developed to begin with.

Run Escape Jump Video on Metacafe

Run Escape Jump Video on Metacafe

Dizzy Kid Video on Metacafe

Dizzy Kid Video on Metacafe

Where Blogs Meet Maps

feedmap .net (BETA) : Where Blogs Meet Maps

msn plug-ins for firefox

Need to create dynamic Web Reference from XML Web Service consumer application

You can configure the web service to pull the URL based on a setting in a
configuration file, rather than a hardcoded value. To change the location,
simply change the config file with no recompile.

Here’s how to do it:
Add your web reference. Go to "Solution Explorer", right click on the web
reference name (eg. "localhost") and choose properties. In the property
window change "Url Behavior" from "Static" to "Dynamic".

If the web service client is a non-web application, this will automatically
create a file name app.config with the URL to the web service.


value="http://localhost/mywebservice/service1.asmx"


After you comiple your client app, the configuration file of it (such as
something.exe.config) will have the same content as the app.config.
Now, you can deploy the configuration along with the client executable. If
you ever need to change the web service location, you can open the
something.exe.config file in notepad and change the value attribute.

If the web service client is a web application such as asp.net web form,
changing "Url Behavior" from "Static" to "Dynamic" will automatically add
the same appsettings to web.config. Now, if you ever need to change the web
service location, you can open web.config file in notepad and change the
value attribute.

For Service URLs that change more often or at runtime, you can write custom
code to change the URL property off of the proxy class.

e.g.

ws.GetCustomers()
ws.Url = CompatibleCustomerServices(2) //bind to a the next compatible
service in the list
ws.GetCustomers()

Note:
Outside VS.NET, you can use "wsdl.exe /urlkey:
to generatea proxy which
automatically checks in the for the given key.

When using "wsdl.exe /urlkey:myapplication.mywebservice.service1
for example, you should be
able to use the following configuration file to read the URL without any
further manual changes needed:



value=" />


Virtual Disk in CD-size slices

Sanbarrow.com: "Virtual Disk in CD-size slices"

vmx file builder for free vmplayer

Sanbarrow.com

How-to create a VM(ware) image, such as vdotlrn, suitable for VMware Player WITHOUT an image authoring tool?

vdotlrn: "How-to create a VM(ware) image, such as vdotlrn, suitable for VMware Player WITHOUT an image authoring tool?"

BuildBot: build/test automation

Abstract

The BuildBot is a system to automate the compile/test cycle required by most software projects to validate code changes. By automatically rebuilding and testing the tree each time something has changed, build problems are pinpointed quickly, before other developers are inconvenienced by the failure. The guilty developer can be identified and harassed without human intervention. By running the builds on a variety of platforms, developers who do not have the facilities to test their changes everywhere before checkin will at least know shortly afterwards whether they have broken the build or not. Warning counts, lint checks, image size, compile time, and other build parameters can be tracked over time, are more visible, and are therefore easier to improve.

The overall goal is to reduce tree breakage and provide a platform to run tests or code-quality checks that are too annoying or pedantic for any human to waste their time with. Developers get immediate (and potentially public) feedback about their changes, encouraging them to be more careful about testing before checkin.

VMware Player

How can I use VMware Player?

Run virtual machines created by VMware Workstation, GSX Server or ESX Server. VMware Player also supports Microsoft virtual machines and Symantec LiveState Recovery disk formats.Easily and safely evaluate pre-built application environments, beta software, or other software that is distributed in virtual machines, without any installation or configuration hassles. Share a virtual machine with a colleague or friend.

Active Directory Cookbook > Source Code

Active Directory Cookbook > Source Code

ONLamp.com: Accessing a Cisco Router

If you're setting up a Cisco router for the first time, find the long, flat, light blue rollover cable that came with the router. This cable is easy to recognize if you compare both ends of the cable. You'll also see why it's called a rollover cable as the pinouts are opposite to each other; in effect, the cable was rolled over when the second connection was crimped on.

Guy Davis: Outreach Project Tool

OPT Max is a branch of the current Outreach Project Tool originally created by CSO Lanifex. This version's goal is to add a number of new features that integrate well with the rest of the application. It is currently the only actively developed version of OPT available.

This enhanced version of OPT is in use by 80+ users in the hardware/software development group at Pason Systems as well as the 20+ users at a theatre production company among many other users. Please visit the Sourceforge project site for more details and downloads.

Demystifying Microsoft Intermediate Language. Part 1 - Introduction

In these series of articles, I will sheen the complexity of surrounding IL by representing complex concepts in a simple and comprehensive manner. These concepts have been supplemented with detailed examples. We will compare the source code of the program in C# or VB.NET language and the same code written in IL to better understand the limitation of our compilers and will learn to write better and faster code. The aim of this series is to explain the complexity surrounding IL and to make you adept at understanding IL code. I also want to alleviate your fear of lower languages.

Design Appropriate Test Cases

sqpv8i1griffin.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Nightly Tester Tools

StickyMinds.com : Article info : Twelve Tips for Realistic Scheduling

Summary: Whether you're managing a software development project, or coordinating your children's soccer and dance lessons, schedules are helpful tools for orchestrating a sequence of events. Most schedules involve a start and end-date, and include tasks, task duration, and dependencies between tasks. But no matter how well you plan for a series of events, unexpected events will compete for time and threaten deadlines. People you hadn't anticipated will step into your plans, and begin to influence, control, and often complicate things. When we do not handle unexpected events and the interpersonal elements well, our schedules fall apart. Good scheduling is very difficult, a combination of art and science. In this article, I will discuss realistic scheduling, which seeks to cover all the above types of events--the planned, the possible, and the unimagined. There are some techniques that can help you keep your sanity, which go beyond the notes, checklists, milestones dates, and appointment books. My twelve tips stress prioritization, clarifying values, and comparing the relative worth of each activity. They combine the conventional checklists with preserving and enhancing relationships to accomplish the desired results.

News and views on IM, Presence and RTC Technologies : Interesting use of Bots

Phalanger - the PHP Language Compiler for .NET Framework

Main Features

The aim of the Phalanger project is to create a module enabling execution of PHP scripts on the Microsoft .NET platform. This module is cooperating with the ASP.NET technology enabling it to generate web-pages written in PHP the same way ASP.NET pages are.

In contrast to the original PHP interpreter, our module is compiling the scripts into the MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language). While the first page access is delayed due to compilation, all following accesses benefit of the fast execution of the native code which is always far more effective than script interpretation. This gain is most important in case of common PHP-script libraries (for example PHPLIB, PEAR, Nuke etc.) which are complex yet immutable and thus their script files are compiled only once. On the other hand there may be some code in the PHP scripts which is not known in the time of compilation and has to be compiled at run-time. The .NET platform fully supports run-time code generation. Although this procedure handicaps script compilation a little, it is known that PHP constructs imposing run-time compilation are used rather rarely and if, there is not much code to deal with.

The principal goal of our project is to enable full functionality of existing PHP scripts without any modification. The only condition is that these scripts do rely neither on special functionality provided by the UNIX platform or the Apache server nor on undocumented, obsoleted or even faulty functionality of the PHP interpreter. The built-in PHP functions provided to programmer by the PHP interpreter (for example string and array manipulation etc.) have to be reimplemented to reach this goal. They are rewritten in the managed .NET environment, namely in C#, and thus many of these functions will be reusable by other .NET application programmers.

In addition to the built-in ones, there are external functions which are dynamically linked to PHP. These provide additional functionality to PHP programmers such as database access, image manipulation or data compression etc. Since there is a huge amount of such libraries and there will be even more of them in future, it is impossible to reimplement them all in C#. That's why there is a component in our project enabling the external functions to be called from the .NET platform and thus used not only from the PHP scripts but also other .NET languages such are C# or VB.NET.

In addition to the PHP compiler, our project contains a component integrating PHP script editing into the Visual Studio .NET environment, version 2003.

Ramadan - What is it?

  Ramadan is one of the most important and holy months in the Islamic calendar. It is a time of fasting, prayer, and spiritual reflection fo...