Sharing the Joy of Software/Delphi in the .NET world

New Home and Podcast -- CloudSocket

2008-04-12T22:32:00.002-04:00

Just a FYI to everyone that comes here... my new home is at CloudSocket and I have a podcast at CloudSocket Podcast. Hope you can come and enjoy the great information.

Goodbye and hello from WWW.TECHQUIK.COM

2005-01-31T20:13:00.000-05:00

Please go to TechQuik and subscribe here to continue to get my blog. I am stopping this edition of my blog but will keep it up with no new entries. Thanks Blogger for getting me into blogging.

MSDN Enterprise Library Released

2005-01-31T10:34:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has relased the new Enterprise Library. Here are the details: The patterns & practices Enterprise Library is a library of application blocks designed to assist developers with common enterprise development challenges. Application blocks are a type of guidance, provided as source code that can be used "as is," extended, or modified by developers to use on enterprise development projects. Enterprise Library features new and updated versions of application blocks that were previously available as stand-alone application blocks. All Enterprise Library application blocks have been updated with a particular focus on consistency, extensibility, ease of use, and integration.

The application blocks that comprise the Enterprise Library are the following:

Caching Application Block. This application block allows developers to incorporate a local cache in their applications.
Configuration Application Block. This application block allows applications to read and write configuration information.
Data Access Application Block. This application block allows developers to incorporate standard database functionality in their applications.
Cryptography Application Block. This application block allows developers to include encryption and hashing functionality in their applications.
Exception Handling Application Block. This application block allows developers and policy makers to create a consistent strategy for processing exceptions that occur throughout the architectural layers of enterprise applications.
Logging and Instrumentation Application Block. This application block allows developers to incorporate standard logging and instrumentation functionality in their applications.
Security Application Block. This application block allows developers to incorporate security functionality in their applications. Applications can use the application block in a variety of situations, such as authenticating and authorizing users against a database, retrieving role and profile information, and caching user profile information.

This blog is moving!! WWW.TECHQUIK.COM

2005-01-29T15:21:00.000-05:00

I am moving my blog to a new domain. The new site is TechQuik. I am getting things setup and ready but wanted to let you all know that probably on Tuesday I will stop blogging on this blog and start the new blog. I will double blog until the final move. I have brought over all the entries to the new blog. I am using MoveableType for the blog engine.

USysWare DPack 2.0 Beta 3 released

2005-01-28T10:29:00.000-05:00

This is a significant step forward for DPack 2.0, which features various new features and improvements. I cannot recommend this enough for developers of Visual Studio .NET 2003 and 2005 (especially Delphi developers moving to VS). The Bookmarks functionality Sergey has implemented should get you all to use it.

Software Accountablity and Health

2005-01-27T15:41:00.000-05:00

I am listening to Kent Beck's talk about Developer Testing. There are 2 good topics: Software Health

How does your software handle stress? How do you handle stress? When you are seated at your desk can someone determine how you handle stress? No since you are not under stress at that time. So how can a developer know how his software will handle stress without putting it under stress. That is one area of developer testing that most people miss.
How does your software handle change: change in the requirements, customer base, load and/or usage patterns? So do we as developers even think about these topics?
Is your relationships that are based on your software healthy? Do you have good relationships with your coworkers, management and/or your customers? That is very important.

Accountability Based on your health and your software health, are you accountable? Do you feel that you can be accountable? Are you confident that your software will not have a rash of bugs and errors? Should you not go to sleep each night knowing that your software meets your level, your group's and finally your organization's accountablity? In the end all this can be helped and improved by using Test-Driven Development. Kent brings up the excuse that some groups have testers and QA groups. But where is the cheapest place to fix the error? Right after the code is written or 6 months down the road after QA or a customer finds it and you as the developer do not remember the code that the error exists in? If you had some units tests that made you accountable and your software healthy you just improved your health because you do not have the stress and fear of unknown errors in your software.

One reason why I do not like to work for a masculine type organization

2005-01-26T13:13:00.000-05:00

This Fast Company column about "When the golden Rule Doesn't Work" is why I do not like to work for male dominated companies. I dislike going into a meeting where I know that people (more than likely the guys) are going to open both barrels just to make some noise and try to look good. The bosses do it so they look to still have the power and the young guys do it to try to get attention. The main point of most meetings is to come together and get to a solution quickly and effectively. Some people use meetings to show how much they know and just be devil's advocate. Now that is fine sometimes when you have a brainstorming meeting but for the most part (in my career), meetings are where the people who have been doing the work, thinking and being creative bring the results to the masses. So how can a person who has seen the solution for 5 minutes thinks that he knows the better path? If I am running a meeting and it is turning into a bodybuilding contest I will try to end it quickly and let the people that are valuable get back to bring value to the organization.

Practice: Incremental Design

2005-01-26T09:51:00.000-05:00

I found this blog entry on ISerializable. It is a quote from Kent Beck from the xpbookdiscussiongroup Yahoo Group about software design. Really is a great read and proves more that Kent knows what he is talking about. Practice: Incremental Design

Strive to make the design of the system an excellent fit for the needs of the system that day. When yourunderstanding of the best possible design leaps forward, work gradually but persistently to bring the design back into alignment with your understanding. I was taught exactly the opposite of this strategy in school: Put in all the design you can before you begin implementation because youll never get another chance. The intellectual justification for this strategy came from a Barry Boehm study of 1960s defense contracts showing that the cost of fixing defects rose exponentially over time. If the same data also hold for adding features to todays software, then the cost of large-scale design changes should rise dramatically over time. In that case, the most economical design strategy is to make big design decisions early and defer all small-scale decisions until later. For an assumption that shaped software development orthodoxy for decades, the increasing cost of change over time received little scrutiny. This assumption may no longer be valid. Do changes also increase in cost, the same way defects do? Even assuming changes do increase in cost sometimes, are there conditions under which the cost of changes does not increase? If changes do not grow increasingly expensive, what does that imply about the best way to develop software? XP teams work hard to create conditions under which the cost of changing the software doesnt rise catastrophically. The automated tests, the continual practice of improving the design, and the explicit social process all contribute to keep the cost of changes low. XP teams are confident in their ability to adapt the design to future requirements. Because of this, XP teams can meet their human need for immediate and frequent success as well as their economic need to defer investment to the last responsible moment. Some of the teams who read and applied the first edition of this book didnt get the part of the message about the last responsible moment. They piled story on story as quickly as possible with the least possible investment in design. Without daily attention to design, the cost of changes does skyrocket. The dire predictions of the critics comes true: poorly designed, brittle, hard-to-change systems. The advice to XP teams is not to minimize design investment over the short run, but to keep the design investment in proportion to the needs of the system so far. The question is not whether or not to design, the question is when to design. Incremental design suggests that the most effective time to design is in the light of experience. If small, safe steps is how to design, the next question is where to design. The simple heuristic I have found helpful is to eliminate duplication. If I have the same logic in two places, I work with the design to understand how I can have only one copy. Designs without duplication tend to be easy to change. You dont find yourself in the situation where you have to change the code in several places to add one feature. As a direction for improvement, incremental design doesnt say that designing in advance of experience is horrible. It says that design done close to when it is used is more efficient. As your expertise grows in making changes to a running system in small, safe steps, you can afford to defer more and more of the design investment. As you do so, the system will get simpler, progress will start sooner, tests will be easier to write, and because the system is smaller there will be less to communicate with the team. As more teams invest in daily design, they notice that the changes they are making are similar regardless of the purpose of the system. Refactoring is a discipline of design that codifies these recurring patterns of changes. These refactorings can occur at any level of scale. Few design decisions are difficult to change once made. The result is systems that can start small and grow as needed without exorbitant cost.

The Apprentice Fantasy Game

2005-01-26T09:14:00.000-05:00

Yahoo has a fantasy game for The Apprentice. You get points each episode for answering correctly a number of questions. If you are a fan of the show and would like to join the group here is the info: Your Group ID#: 16934 Your Group Name: Heather's Group Your Group Password: coolmarketing I started the group after reading all the blog writings of Heather about the show hence the name of the group. Come join us and play along. There will also be a trophy for the winner!

Great Article about .NET CF Development from The Moth

2005-01-25T09:25:00.000-05:00

With the Compact Framework making programming for devices so easy, there is an increasing number of desktop developers making the move to CF development (or at least getting their feet wet). They face the challenges of a .NET Framework that is missing whole areas (e.g. Remoting, COM Interop, ASP.NET) and has every interface trimmed down (e.g. the Thread has only 2 public instance members) - it is not called the *Compact* Framework for nothing. Many of my blog entries focus on exactly that: the differences between the full and compact frameworks and sometimes how to bridge the gap.

However, another difference is the actual operating system or platform. This bites the developer even more if they are not daily users of a Pocket PC (which is the target of 95% of the NETCF developers). The situation described has as a consequence a lot of questions in the CF newsgroup, so I will try to address some of these in this entry and point to it in the future (as an FAQ).

1. Input methods
PPCs do not have a mouse or a keyboard (for the few devices that have, keyboard events are supported by some NETCF controls since Service Pack 2). The lack of a mouse is catered by a touch screen and the use of a stylus (mouse events are not supported in most controls and you may need to create your own control; help for custom controls is here and here). Right-click context menus are simulated by tap-and-hold (made possible by the aygshell.dll that is part of the PPC platform). There is a Soft Input Panel (SIP), which is a software keyboard that can pop up on the screen. To interact with it, you must reference Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.dll and drag the InputPanel control onto your form. To show it, you call InputPanel1.Enabled = true, typically in the GotFocus event of a TextBox (and set it to false in the LostFocus). To detect when it is up or down, you can track the InputPanel.EnabledChanged event. Note that hand-in-hand with the InputPanel is the MainMenu control that your form must have - even if it doesn't use it (!)

2. Form/Dialog size
Forms and dialogs on the PPC are always full screen (the only exception to that rule is the built-in MessageBox). There are known workarounds, but it seems that they hurt more than they help, so my advice is to stick with full screen dialogs and design for that approach from day 1. Try to design the UI so the user never gets the impression they are interacting with more than one screen; use multiple hidden panels on one form and swap them in/out as appropriate.

3. App/Form closing
The design guidelines for the PPC are clear: Applications do not exit/close, instead they minimise. This aids in the concept of a device that is always on (and the apps are always available, without waiting for them to load each time). For NETCF apps, setting the Form1.MinimizeBox to true will display the X button in the top right, whereas MinimizeBox=false will instead show a little OK button in the top right. Clicking an X minimizes the form, whereas clicking an OK closes the form and by extension the application if the form is the application's main form. Note that minimising is not identical to the desktop, i.e. all that happens to the window is that it is pushed to the back of the stack of open windows on the PPC. To programmatically know when a smart minimize occurs, you should hook into the Form1.Deactivate event (which is supported even though designer support is missing).

4. Moving between applications
Following from points 2 & 3 above, you might wonder how you switch between applications. There are various ways: By closing (minimising really) windows, you can reach the desired one OR you can use the top-right Start menu (Windows icon) OR open the Start->Settings->System->Memory->Running Programs screen. The "Running Programs List" displays all the open windows (minimised or not) and allows you to switch between them. This presents a problem in a scenario where your app has Form_A opening Form_B and you only expect the user to get back to Form_A after closing Form_B; they can also go to Form_A by using the "Running Programs List"! The workaround is to only show in the list the active form and to do that you must set the caption (Form1.Text) of other forms to String.Empty (""). By the way, if you are having trouble bringing your application to the front programmatically, read that.

In my opinion, these are the top 4 gotchas for desktop devs moving to the PPC platform. Look forward to the next 4 or 5 in part B. [The Moth]

A Blog from the Patterns and Pratices PM at Microsoft

2005-01-25T08:28:00.000-05:00

Tom Hollander from Microsoft has started a blog for giving details on the Patterns and Practices group inside MS. here is the link to his blog.

Free Society by Lawrence Lessig

2005-01-20T10:36:00.000-05:00

I am asking everyone who sees this blog entry to listen and watch this online presentation by Lawrence Lessig. Mr. Lessig does not make a conservative or liberal appeal but a logical appeal to make a free society. We are doomed if we cannot make a difference in the present to allow the past to be built upon for the future.

The Top Six Ways to Stay Motivated

2005-01-20T09:05:00.000-05:00

Saw this link from The Occupational Adventure blog. Most of the 6 ways are common sense but sometimes we all lose common sense and forget the small things that help.

Kentucky is getting some Code Camps

2005-01-19T14:36:00.000-05:00

So last night Tim Landgrave announced that there will be 4 Code Camps in February in Louisville and Lexington. Here are some details: Louisville -- February 18 and 19 (Friday and Saturday) Location: Sullivan University, Louisville Lexington -- February 25 and 26 (Friday and Saturday) Location: Sullivan University, Lexington More details to come including a link to register. Each day will have a limit of 100 registered attendees. There will be many speakers each day. They are also free and there will be lunch and giveaways. If you want to speak please email me and I will get in touch with Tim. My email is cwoodruff[at]terralant.com

Enterprise Library will be released on January 28

2005-01-19T11:36:00.000-05:00

Scott Densmore has announced that the Enterprise Library will be released on January 28, 2005. That is if nothing major happens between now and then. I have been excited for quite a while to see the new versions of all the Application Blocks. Go to the GotDotNET workspace to find out more. The Enterprise Library will be released on MSDN. I will be using the new Enterprise Library as my basis for developing examples on how to use Application Blocks with Delphi 2005.

Personal Reflections

2005-01-19T09:40:00.000-05:00

The last 3 weeks have been interesting around here. We let go the other person on the project and hired a new great developer who starts at the end of the month. Being in Lexington, KY I thought we might have a hard time locating and recruiting a quality developer for the project. We not only found the perfect fit within a week but he was here in town. That was very lucky. The only downside has been that I have been working on reviewing and fixing all the crap that the old developer (and I use that term loosely for him) left behind. All the Visio database schemas he did had to be redone and checked. Also the master schema to generate the new database had to be started from scratch since the bozo did not use the correct relationship shape in Visio to build the foreignkey relationships. That cost me over a week to go through and rebuild the entire schema. But better now than later. I am also writing the project design document by myself and trying to keep on schedule. Ideally the document should be collaboration but we have to make do. Just taking a lot longer to write and get all the supporting materials like UML models and database schema snapshots. I am also in the middle of jury duty so I do not know day to day if I will be in the office. I almost was picked for an 8 day civil medical malpractice trial. Interesting but my client would have freaked! So all this brings up interesting ideas and realities. I have been a person who would push and work extra hours to get things done as close to on-time as possible. But thesedays I have discovered that there needs to be a balance. Also now with kids I am finding that I don't want to do much besides sharing some time with them until they go to bed.Then when I get a chance to sit down and work I am usually tired from the day so I read and go to bed. One way to keep going is to start exercising 3-4 times a week. Need to get that oxygen to the brain. I am writing this on a short break just to let you all know what is going on with me. I know I am slacking on the blog. I have a lot ofstuff to write about but until things settle down and I get this design document handed off I will be holding off on the big blog stuff. I will still pass along cool stuff and links. So be good and if you cannot be good be careful!

Codus is Free

2005-01-17T22:15:00.000-05:00

One of my new apps I have been keeping an eye on lately is Codus. It falls under a .NET code generation category but is very cool. It will interrogatea SQL Server or Access database (other soon) and generate all the code including NUnit tests for CRUD functionality. The cool thing is that the templates used in Codus are NVelocity based. Another feature coming soon will be generation of stored procedures for all data access. That will hook me into this tool 100%. I am a big follower of the rule to use stored procedures for all data access. Thanks Sean for making a great tool.

More on Delphi 2005 .NET Remoting using DataSync and DataHub

2005-01-12T13:10:00.000-05:00

Dr. Bob has a full article on explaining how one way of performing Remoting in your Delphi 2005 applications using DataSync and DataHub. Dr. Bob needs a RSS feed for each of his categories on his site. FYI -- I got this from Nick's blog.

Apple iProduct

2005-01-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

Funny... enough said.

Brain Dump

2005-01-11T10:21:00.000-05:00

I have been so busy with work, jury duty and home that I wanted to do a brain dump of things that have been collecting: Free .NET Sample Book -- presents many technologies on .NET platform like security, cryptography, WMI, networking, IO and others. This is still in draft version and final one will be release on the end of 2004 focusing on Whidbey features. Here are the pdf and doc links for the book. The Lexington .NET Developer Group (LexDotNET) will be having 2 INETA sponsored speakers for our February 8 and April 12 meetings. Here are the details: February 8, 2005 -- Craig Utley will present "Design Patterns and .NET" Craig Utley is the President of CIOBriefings LLC, a consulting company focused on enterprise architecture, development team building and productivity, and business intelligence. Craig has been developing with Microsoft tools since the Visual Basic 1.0 days and has worked with companies of all sizes, helping them architect, design, and implement enterprise-wide applications on Microsoft technologies. His interest in developer productivity has led him into the world of design patterns, test-driven development (TDD), and agile/extreme methodologies. He is a published author of articles, courseware, and books, including the first book on VB .NET beta 2 that Microsoft authorized for release. He has been a frequent conference speaker at such conferences as ASP.NET Connections, SQL Server Magazine Connections, Microsoft's Developer Days, and more. He holds an MCSD and is a Microsoft MVP. April 12, 2005 -- Stephen Walther will present on ASP.NET (details coming soon) Stephen Walther is the author of the best-selling book on ASP.NET, ASP.NET Unleashed . He also wrote ASP.NET Kick Start , and contributed the database chapters to ASP.NET Tips, Tutorials, and Code. He created several ASP.NET best-practice applications for Microsoft. He was the lead developer of the ASP.NET Community Starter Kit and the the Issue Tracker Starter Kit. These applications can be downloaded from the official Microsoft site at www.ASP.net. He is a Microsoft Software Legend and Microsoft ASP.NET MVP. He has spoken at a number of major conferences including Microsoft TechEd, Microsoft DevDays, and ASP.NET Connections. Remoting example in Delphi 2005. Here is a simple demo showing how to remote data in Delphi 2005 using .Net Remoting. There is actually no additional code in the example since the app uses the new components RemoteServer/RemoteConnection and DataHub/DataSync to remote data over HTTP. That is one of the cool things with Delphi 2005... VS.NET 2003 does not allow you to do this as simple. Please note the following: 1. You have to manually fire up the server. This isn't like DataSnap where DCOM/COM will fire up the server for you. 2. The trickiest parts are the fact that you need to have (on the client) a Dataset component (or you could do it in code) to be filled by the DataHub, and that (on the server) you need to hook up the table to the DataSync's Provider. Note that the BDPAdapter's LiveData property has been set to true which creates the table.

Updated -- Another Side of Software Development

2005-01-06T16:03:00.000-05:00

Back in November I wrote about how the other developer on my project and I were not really meshing and working well together. I will not go into details since you can read that for yourself and get up to speed. Well the story is about to come to an end. Tomorrow Bill will be terminated from the consulting company I and Bill work. The last 2 months have been interesting and very educating. The bottom line is that Bill oversold himself and had a very bad attitude towards most things including any technology he had to deal with. He showed most people around him just what an unstable person can be like and affect by his actions. Now Bill did the work he had experience with fine. He was in charge of the physical and logical data models for the system we are building. We have been in design mode for almost 2 months and he did a decent job on the data models. So here is a list of things that I hope people will learn from and always keep in mind when dealing with customers and clients: 1. Make a point of really listening to people around you and especially the people that you are trying to help in some way. This means the people you are selling to or performing a service for. When you are in a meeting please listen and take notes. This gives the impression that you are valuing the conversations you are involved with and making sure that you are "listening well". Listening means also keeping track of all the information you have. I write down as much as possible when I am listening to a client since I know I would forget a lot. Most people do. Bill never took notes or listened well. That was because he was too busy talking and trying to either impress people or make himself look good. 2. Do not bite the hand that feeds you. What I mean is do not undermine your employer in front of the customer or client. Very bad for business and personal career paths. By bad mouthing your boss or the company you work for in front of the people you are serving does no good. When someone is paying you to do a job just do the job and make sure that you give a good impression of them. Even if you do not like where and who you work for, always give a great impression to the customers and clients. That is a sure fire way to burn bridges. I write this because Bill never hesitated in telling the client every little thing that our company annoyed him about or caused him so called grief (usually it was his impatience or ignorance). 3. Deal with issues in a manner where they are challenges and look at them as learning experiences. Too many people see a problem and give a sigh and start complaining. I have never seen where complaining about something fixed it. I have found that if I have something that needs to get done I break it down into smaller issues and fix them each. Having a good view and taking some time to evaluate the situation gives you so much help. With Bill every time he came to a problem or issue I would hear a sigh or a swear coming from his office. I would also hear over and over how something was not working right or something was not correct to him. 4. If you are working in a team be a team player. Do not say that something is not your job or responsibility and walk away. Even if you do not have experience with something the team is doing, you might have some good insight or can learn something. Also make a point of at least attempting to help with the aspects of the teamwork that is not fun or glamorous like for example all the documentation that need to be done for clients. Could help later in your career. I was recently promoted to Team Lead of the project so that gave Bill the excuse not to have to do any documentation. He also would not offer help when little things came up but told that he was the database person and that was all he was responsible for. So be a team player. 5. Just be a good caring person who people enjoy being around. Do not be the person that people walk away from when you go down a hall or go into a break room. Being friendly and respectful goes a long way in life not just at work. 6. Do more than what is expected of you. I live by this rule everyday even of my wife does not think I do. :) Do more than what the customer or client expects will give you and also your employer a better reputation. In any business, we live by our reputations. Also by giving more you will be rewarding with more -- more praise, more responsibilities and hopefully more money. So am I happy that Bill is leaving? Yes but I am also disappointed since he does have a family. He would have been terminated sooner if not for the Holiday Season. Our boss did not want to ruin his kids Christmas so she gave him a few weeks. Bill was not entirely a smuck. He had a few good moments. I just do not understand how people can go through life with such a warped view of things and believe they are going to succeed. Being an asshole will only take you so far. Some people do go far being rude and disrespectful but they always seem to end up not achieving as much as they could have. Now I am not saying I do not have faults. I do. But what I try to do is minimize my faults by learning from others, from my past mistakes and using my strengths in the best ways. In the end all will work out. I think Bill will find another position that fits him well and where he can do a good job. My opinion was that he was not a good fit in a small team. Bill I feel works well when he is part of a large team and given tasks to perform.

.NET Compact Framework 1.0 SP3 Available

2005-01-05T14:56:00.000-05:00

Microsoft just published Service Pack 3 for the .NET Compact Framework 1.0. Here's the link to the download page Fixed Issues: - Transitions between managed and native code can cause memory leaks on ARM platforms. - A NullReferenceException is thrown when a Web Method returns an empty array using the xsi:Nil attribute. - Modifying the SoapClientMessage.ContentType property does not modify the Http requests ContentType header. - Stack corruption can occur on SH, MIPS and x86 platforms when local variables are created but never used. - Invoking a multicase delegate from a catch handler throws a MissingMethodException on SH, MIPS and x86 platforms. - Command line arguments containing double byte characters are truncated to a single byte. - An ObjectDisposedException is thrown when a asynchronous web request is aborted before the response is received. - Invoke on a disposed control hangs the application. - Any array containing one or more elements is not sent to the Web Service correctly. - An application may hang when invoking a Web Method that uses multiple XmlElementAttributes on a single argument, member or property. - Memory corruption can occur on devices that have the native security model enabled and both .NET CF V1 SP3 and a pre-release version of .NET CF V2 installed. - Deadlocks can occur when running under severe resource constraints. - Tool Bar's on Windows Mobile 2003 SE no longer lose their images when removed from the form. - An uncatchable ObjectDisposedException is thrown when the server closes the socket connection. - Setting the Minimum and Maximum properties of a progressbar no longer crashes the application. - Unexpected exception while adding an image to an imagelist on an Hx4700 and hx4705. - Data Misalignment occurs on Decimal fields in MIPSIV devices.

Scott Hanselman's Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tools List

2005-01-05T10:28:00.000-05:00

Read it!! There are a lot of good stuff in there.

Best of Articles :: Microsoft Smartphone Programming

2005-01-04T14:49:00.000-05:00

I found this list of great smartphone development articles. I have not had a chance to do any smartphone development yet but I do want to see if there is a market for developing a version of the blog writing tool for the smartphone.

Jury Duty

2005-01-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

So I was selected to fulfill a duty as an American called Jury Duty. For all the non-Americans reading this blog, jury duty is a process set up by the Bill of Rights Amendment VI where all citizens accused of a crime are afforded to a trial with a jury of their peers. So the end result is that I will be in the jury pool until January 28. Today I had my first day of sitting in the court room. All the selected jurors waited until 10:30AM and we were excused due to the litigators not be able to agree on some items unknown to us. So I will be back in the same court room on Thursday. I am looking forward to seeing the trial system process at work but it does affect the project I am leading. I guess we all have to make sacrifices for the freedom we have. I can give around 5 days this month. There are a lot of others that are giving their lives.

Looking for a MAC guru to help with Tsunami Disaster Relief

2005-01-03T10:36:00.000-05:00

If you know of a MAC guru that can help Julia with some volunteer help please contact her on her blog. She and IDEP Foundation need technical help immediately.

New role for me -- Recruiter (also a job opp)

2005-01-03T08:09:00.000-05:00

Since I am the manager for the project I started back in October and we are letting the other developer on the project go this week (that will be a new topic later today), I have now added a new role to my job as recruiter. We are looking for a Database/Web Developer that is located within driving of Lexington, KY. what I am really looking for is a person that is very knowledgeable in MSSQL 2000 and that has some experience with C# and .NET but wants to get more. Actually this job has some good perks. If you know someone around this region that needs a new gig for the next 9-14 months let me know. I am excited about doing some recruiting responsibilities. I like talking to people and discovering what makes them tick. So in this month of "Be Nice to a Recruiter", please be nice to me.

On your mark... get set... be nice to a recruiter month

2004-12-31T16:12:00.000-05:00

The ladies over at JobsBlob would like to remind you that January 2005 will be "Be Nice to a Recruiter Month". I have already written about it but wanted all to remember it. Lets make our network and relationship stronger by helping the good recruiters of the world find good candidates for the opportunities they are filling. We all are sales people... some sell jobs and some sell themselves. Be the best salesperson you can be this month and all of 2005. Thanks "Moon Gals"!!

Give to Tsunamis Relief Funds

2004-12-29T11:17:00.000-05:00

There are many organizations that are in need of funding during this time to help and assist the disaster victims. If you can help here is the CNN web page that lists a number of organizations that are accepting money to go directly to the Tsunamis relief funds.

Preparing for the next Economic Upbeat

2004-12-28T23:54:00.000-05:00

Heather had a good discussion on how to prepare for the next upswing for the economy. I just found it again today. I forgot that I had commented about it on her site. The points that she makes are even more valuable today then June 14 when she wrote it. You should spend some time during the next week preparing for how to build your network and how you can spark conversations within your network that will enlighten, enhance and uplift it. You should also do her first point and get your resume up to date. You never know when you might need it. We all spend time and energy on exercising, our family life and our fun time, but how much time do we spend on really preaparing ourselves for our career paths? Most of us let others control the path.

Petasus project is born!

2004-12-28T11:06:00.000-05:00

I am starting to develop a new blog writing tool for the Pocket PC platform using .NET CF. I have started a new Yahoo Group for the Petasus project. Any suggestions on what you would like to have in the application would be helpful. Besides the normal stuff, I want to be able to post recorded sounds (through the mic) or saved sound files from the PPC to the blog. Let me know what you would like.

New Book: Essential Skills for Agile Development

2004-12-27T09:47:00.000-05:00

Jim pointed me to this new book covering Agile development skills and habits. I will read the bit version soon. If you want an atom based version of the book here is the link.

If someone wrote a book about you...

2004-12-24T09:41:00.000-05:00

would anyone read it? Especially your children, friends and family? I heard a corny radio ad for the Army ask this question and thought that the ad was corny but the message was true. I know I wish someone had written a book on each one of my grandparents. I have lost 2 and the remaining 2 are not going to be with us forever. My grandfathers each lived through the Depression and fought in WWII and could tell stories. So do you think your life would interest anyone to sit down with their valuable time and spend reading about it. Might be a good thing to remember when you make plans for your life (of when you do not think it is important to dream your goals for your life).

Great Izzo Quote

2004-12-23T15:20:00.000-05:00

Tom Izzo is the Men's Head Basketball Coach of the Michigan State Spartans. He is as great of a person as a coach and always gives credit where it is deserved and accepts most of the blame himself. Here is a quote I found in an interview from last season. "If people take ownership in something, you have a better chance to be successful. If players think they are simply doing something for you or the school they will do it, but it is not ownership. I take the same approach with coaches. You cannot ask a guy to work 18 hours a day if it just benefits you. I believe if they trust in themselves and have ownership, they feel better about themselves and they do a better job." Players == Employees Coaches == Managers

Allen Holub's UML Quick Reference

2004-12-23T14:48:00.000-05:00

I am learning UML to do a 2 month design for a project. I did a Google search for examples of the UML Static Structure Model (aka Class Diagram in the old days) and found a great resource. Here is Allen Holub's UML Quick Reference that has a lot of good examples and explanations. I am finding this a great insight.

I have the Home Cafe coffee maker

2004-12-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

I received a new appliance for work yesterday. It is the Home Cafe coffee maker and I really enjoy it. It is a new single serve coffee maker that uses pressure to force the water through a coffee pod like what is used in cafe coffee makers. The pods are not that expensive and the machine makes a good hot cup of coffee. Makes a great Christmas present if you need some last minute ideas. Now I can keep the caffeine flowing any part of the day and I don't even have to get up from my desk. This is a great geek toy to have!! Great since I do not usually want to make a whole pot of coffee in the afternoon but still would like to get a perk up.

Move Fast and Get Omea Reader for Free

2004-12-23T12:28:00.000-05:00

JetBrain has one of the best RSS readers in the Omea Reader application. I have been using it for a few months now and really enjoy it. It is user friendly and very stable. To get a free license for Omea Reader, you need to register by the New Year. They also have a new Pro version of Omea that will also allow you to read email. The free (for now) version will allow you to read RSS feeds and newsgroups.

Lessons From Maya

2004-12-21T16:33:00.000-05:00

I got some smiles reading these from Worthwhile. Enjoy! Thanks Kevin.

In this holiday season, I love to hear the voices of bright, feeling people. I might not always agree but I enjoy the thinking. These "learnings" from Maya Angelou struck a chord:

-- I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
-- I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.
-- I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.
-- I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life."
-- I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
-- I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.
-- I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.
-- I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.
-- I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
-- I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.
-- I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

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New Channel9 Theme for Pocket PC

2004-12-19T07:05:00.000-05:00

I had a few minutes and thought I would make a new theme for my iPAQ rx3115. I like the channel9 guy so much I thought it would look great on a PPC. Here is the link to the file. If anyone has suggestions for improvements let me know.

My Goals for 2005

2004-12-17T15:59:00.000-05:00

So I am thinking about the next year. I have done quite a bit this past year. Here is the list: 1. Found a job that allows me to grow technical and management skills. 2. Received a promotion to lead the team that I am working with. 3. Seen my son Spencer grow up from a toddler to a young boy of 4. He has taught me to never stop asking questions and never slow down. 4. I have watched my youngest son Nolan learn to walk and start talking. He has taught me how to always look deep at things and not to jump without thinking. 5. Found more things that I love about my wife. I could not even think of where I would be without her. 6. Discovered that it is very important to have a full meaningful spiritual life. Just having faith makes a big difference. I am now trying to think of my goals for 2005. here is my initial list: 1. Develop my technical skills to be a Microsoft MVP. 2. Help make Delphi 2005 a top .NET development tool. NEW 3. Develop better business skills to build my consulting firm. 4. Attend Toastmasters to become more comfortable in public speaking and gain more self confidence. 5. Write 5 technical/business articles to publish 6. Most importantly... become a better father, husband and friend to the people around me.

The Technical Side of the Holiday Season

2004-12-17T14:18:00.000-05:00

Why is it when most departments get into the Holiday Season they wind down and go into cruise control while the IT/development department goes into overdrive to get all the work that they are behind finished? I guess it may be due to the fact that most IT departments are building supporting technologies for the departments that have the holidays to settle down. Now this is not the case (in most instances) for companies that produce technology for customers. Would it not be nice to allow the entire company to have some down time during the Holidays? Let me know if my thinking is wrong. I have worked at IT shops that viewed the Holidays as a time to work harder to get all the stuff that was delayed from the current year. Makes for a unpleasant time for the development staff. I can say that I will have a wind down period for the next 2 weeks to really have the quiet time to think about the design I am working on.

Color it effective: How color influences the user

2004-12-17T08:24:00.000-05:00

I am on a team designing a web application for a US Department of Interior (DOI) office. I came across this page on the Frontpage 2002 site about color schemes. We will be designing the "look and feel" for the site in a few weeks so this will be very valuable to hand out to the people that will influence the look of the site. I do think that what colors you gives an impression to people. I would say that since we are a DOI office we may go with a green based scheme. Seems fitting but I will let the people who will be using the system everyday choose.

January 2005 -- Be Nice to a Recruiter Month

2004-12-16T13:29:00.000-05:00

Gretchen wants January 2005 to be “Be Nice to a Recruiter Month”. Makes sense and also gives a boring month something to do with! Please post a blog entry to show your support for making January a happy month for recruiters.

Networking in Today's Work Climate

2004-12-16T13:25:00.000-05:00

Bill Canning has a great take on why we should all keep our resumes up and current where ever it lives on the Internet. I need to update mine and added a new task to Outlook to do it tonight. The truth is I have been doing what Bill recommends doing when a recruiter contacts you. If I am not interested in the opportunity I will offer to forward an email describing the job and the recruiter's contact info to the few mailing lists I am involved with. I will also pass the information along to individuals that I think may be interested. The reason I do this is simple: to help my friends and to also gain a good reputation with recruiters. If you help a recruiter then they remember you and keep you in a tighter circle of contacts because of the favor. I have never received a cash reward but it would not hurt to get some cash for helping match a job to a worthy worker. Keep in mind that business in just a constant creation of relationships and through strengthening these ties we gain a stronger and wealthier network. I found Bill's entry and blog from Gretchen.

Delphi / C# Builder Setting Manager

2004-12-16T07:20:00.000-05:00

via Erwien Saputra's blog:

After I read Corbin's blog post, I used that information to help me with my day to day programming. I like to have my IDE fast, and my favorite tip was the barebone IDE.

It is also great to have different configurations with different set of components. Now I have Delphi IDE that loads with Crystal 10 VCL, and Delphi that loads with Crystal 6 VCL. Finally I am able to supports different applications without having to reinstall the components all the time. :)

After creating a bunch of desktop shortcuts, each with specific settings, finally I decided to manage it. I created a small utility to create and to manage the custom settings for all of my Delphi and C#Builder IDEs.

This utility supports Delphi 6, Delphi 7, Delphi 8, Delphi 2005, and C#Builder 1. You can create new setting, delete or rename an existing setting. You can also create shortcuts (.lnk file). This utility is able to create a shortcut that already assigned with the â€“r parameter.

I developed this utility using Delphi 7 professional and it was recompiled with Delphi 20005. This is still a Win32 application.

You can download the utility here, complete with source. If you try it please let me know what you think.
[Delphi Community]

Delphi .NET Basics

2004-12-12T18:20:00.000-05:00

For anyone that needs to learn the finer points of Delphi for .NET and the difference in calling the .NET framework should take a look at this site. I have found some good information such as how to do array manipulation using the System.Array class that is different from the native Delphi Array type.

Dissecting a C# Application: Inside SharpDevelop - Free eBook!

2004-12-11T21:16:00.000-05:00

Per Sean's and Klaus' blog: Christoph Wille, the technical lead of SharpDevelop released today the book "Dissecting a C# Application: Inside SharpDevelop" as an free ebook!!!: Learn advanced .NET programming techniques by getting an insiders' look at a complete application! The developers who created SharpDevelop give you an inside track on application development with a guided tour of the source code for SharpDevelop. They will show you the most important code features and explain how you can use these techniques in your own projects. You will gain valuable experience of building an application on this scale, learning from the decisions, mistakes, problems and solutions that lead to the current version on SharpDevelop. The SharpDevelop team will show you how to:

Build a highly modular application
Provide a flexible, extendable, customizable user interface
Manage the efforts of translators for efficient internationalization
Represent and manipulate text efficiently
Code search and replace functionality
Construct reusable controls
Implement a parser to provide syntax highlighting and auto-completion as users type
Use reflection to access information about .NET classes
Create a Windows Forms designer
Generate code programmatically

As Wrox press is no more, publishing rights to the book 'Dissecting a C# Application: Inside SharpDevelop' have been bought by Apress. Together with Apress, we have made the book available in digital form for free. The PDF file and the accompanying source code are available for download here: Download@Apress

DPack: My favorite VS.NET 2003 Add-in is now version 1.3.3

2004-12-08T07:53:00.000-05:00

Here's what's new in this release:

Framework Browser add-in - added new "Show Help" button. This is a very cool feature IMHO. It allows one to open VS.NET help for the selected type. Alternatively, F1 key could be used in the dialog in place of the new button. I highly recommend that you give this add-in a try.
Framework Browser add-in - modified to cache delegate types.
Bookmarks add-in - added Ctrl-Shift-Alt-C shortcut for Clear All Bookmarks command.
File Browser and Code Browser add-ins - fixed a problem with add-ins not being able to open linked files on certain projects (dialogs loading times have improved due to this fix).
Bookmarks and Code Navigation add-ins - disabled VS.NET startup warning dialog regarding keyboard mapping scheme for.
Miscellaneous minor UI tweaks.
Added J# support for all add-ins.
Introduced preliminary Chrome support for all add-ins (see www.chromesville.com for more information).

The new is available at www.usysware.com/dpack/

Hiring is the most important thing for a business...

2004-12-07T15:25:00.000-05:00

besides not running out of cash! :) I have read the most single important blog entry today!!! If you are in business or work for a business and involved in the hiring process, this blog entry should be on the wall!! Forget all the inspirational posters or network/technical diagrams pinned up. Read Bnoopy's manifesto on hiring with no false positives. I am so much in agreement that I am now guilt free in the events that will be taking form shortly in my consulting team. I do believe that a group should be over zealous in regards to hiring. I always try to throw in 2 questions (besides the techical/business normal questions) that will show me what type of technical person we have in front of us that may soon be working side by side with us: 1. What magazines do you read on a consistent basis? 2. What book are you reading now? You will not believe what the responses are to these 2 questions. I have had "senior" developers tell me that they only read EWeek and/or PCWorld (or some similar tech trade free magazine). Not bad magazines but if you do not read some developer based magazines like MSDN, Code, or any of the other developer targeted zines then do not even step in front of me. In regards to books, I am really interested in knowing more about the person. You can find out so much about a person just by finding out what they read and what they have read in the past year. But they have to read books!!! I can go for anything but reading shows the mentality that I look for in people and who I want to work with and for me.

What makes a good consultant?

2004-12-07T10:31:00.000-05:00

I have been doing consulting since 1997 and have found that there are certain characteristics that make up a good consulting mind. I have also found that many people do not have these skills. I write this due to working with someone who does not have the skills to be successful in this business. The number one reason some people cannot be consultants is that they do not know how to listen. Listening is a lost art today. We always want to be listened to but most people have a hard time really listening. Now my definition of listening is not just from a one-to-one conversation. I also mean listening to people body language, facial expressions and storing away what you are hearing. I have a hard time remembering certain things so I always carry a writing tablet. I cannot live without it. I have to have it. That is how I really listen. I like to write down as much as I can and then go back and "relisten" to what I wrote. I have also bought a PocketPC with a microphone so I can also record thoughts, meetings and other discussions. Why rely on a single listen when you can have multiple listens?

Project04: Snapshots of Excellence in Unstable Times

2004-12-07T10:18:00.000-05:00

If you have ever read much in the topic of business and business creativity/innovation you will come to Tom Peters. He is very fun read and will make you look at things differently. I have a good motto that says - "A person is different from who they were five years ago due to only two things; the books they read and the people they met." Tom's new sample "book" is a book quick read that will deliver many inspirational and creativity business tips to anyone needing it.

Testing doing entries with Pocket Blog

2004-12-06T20:17:00.000-05:00

This is an entry using Pocket Blogger. UPDATE -- I did the line above with Pocket Blog. Simple little app but very cool. I am also trying to help the guys at FeederReader to get their PPC application bug fixed.

Good Review of Delphi 2005

2004-12-02T15:59:00.000-05:00

Blake Watson at DevSource has a good review of Delphi 2005. I have been using Delphi 2005 since it was released and I like it. I have some issues with it sucking all my virtual memory but I think Borland will fix that soon. I am excited to get into ECO model driven development and learn about Delphi 2005's Refactoring capabilities. Will keep you all posted about what I learn.

How does Visual Studio .NET load so fast?

2004-12-02T14:38:00.000-05:00

I have always wondered how Microsoft's Visual Studio .NET could load so fast compared to Borland's Delphi 8 and now Delphi 2005. Sergey has some interesting insights into the workings of VS.NET and how add-in packages are loaded dynamically when needed. Very good read from a good developer.

Why?

2004-12-01T14:09:00.000-05:00

Why not?

Rediscovering Kevin Kelly

2004-12-01T12:03:00.000-05:00

One of the most thought provoking books I have read is from Kevin Kelly. The book is Out of Control and after I read it I was never the same. Mr. Kelly has a great way of explaining things and some interesting thoughts on the world, society, business and technology. I was reading a blog and there was a link to his site which brought back all my memories when I read his books. I will have to explore his site to find out what he is doing now.

Why spend 50% development for something that is used for 5%?

2004-12-01T10:59:00.000-05:00

This topic comes up for every project I have worked on. What I am talking about is the dreaded Options/Preferences functionality. I have no scientific analysis to back this up, but I always spend more time working and getting the functionality of the Options/Preferences portion of a piece of software working correctly than any other section. Why is that? Why spend 50% of your time developing something that the average user will spend less than 5% of the time looking at? I think we as developers are made to develop the Options/Preferences functionality so flexible that the complexity is increased. I have found that a good indicator of how well your database is designed may be how complex your Options/Preferences functionality is. That would be a good topic of discussion for a group of software architects IMHO. How to keep in mind when developing a good database and architecture framework to allow the user preferences to just drop out of the design may be a difficult thing to handle. Well that is my thoughts for this morning. If you have anything to add please do.

What is happening with DPack as it moves to VS.NET 2005?

2004-11-30T15:01:00.000-05:00

Sergey has a new blog post explaining how the transition of DPack is going as he moves the Visual Studio add-in to VS.NET 2005. He gives the good, the bad and the ugly of the work. DPack is a great add-in for VS.NET and I tell everyone to try it.

.NET Web Service Modelling in UML with Visio

2004-11-30T14:53:00.000-05:00

I am trying and slowly getting up to speed on how to model ASP.NET web services in UML with Visio. I am using Visio for Enterprise Architects to do this. I have gained some insight from doing a reverse engineering of TaskVision but modelling web services is not as simple as it should be. But I am getting there. If there are any good examples out on the Net let me know. I am thinking of maybe doing my own tech article on this. But I do think that Visio is not the best tool today to model .NET software. I wonder what Microsoft or some third party are innovating today to make modelling easier for .NET. UPDATE -- Danny says that using ECO model drive architecture for building ASP.NET apps in Delphi 2005 Enterprise is much better than Visio. I have looked at ECO and I can say that Borland has a big hit on their hands. I really like the way ECO assists the developer to be more productive. If I could use Delphi 2005 for the ASP.NET development I might but we are using C# and VS.NET for this project and so I am using Visio since it came with VS.NET 2003 Architect and we do not have funds for another tool. Sometimes we all have to use tools that might not meet the expectations of the job.

Announcement: Data Access V2 and Exception Management Application Blocks Quick Sample Delphi 2005 Ports

2004-11-28T23:01:00.001-05:00

I wanted to give the readers of my blog some (hopefully) big news. I have wanted to port the Quick Samples of the Application Blocks that Microsoft has released in the Patterns and Practices section of MSDN for about 6 months to Delphi for .NET. I have had some time the last week to get started on them. The Patterns and Practices Community is very active and has a number of Application Blocks that are used to promote good guidance with an emphasis on consistency, extensibility, ease of use and integration. I am in my spare time porting all the Application Blocks' Quick Samples. These give real world examples on how to use the Application Blocks in Delphi 2005 and many of the Examples also use other Application Blocks so that they use the best practices. I have ported the Exception Management Application Block for .NET and the Data Access Application Block V2 for .NET using Delphi 2005 Architect. I did not use VCL for .NET in porting the Blocks. Here are the links to the zip files that contain the source: 1. DelphiExceptionHandlingQuickSample.zip 2. DelphiDataAccessv2QuickSample.zip I am going to write a short article for each and post them on my website but wanted to get them out. If you find any errors in the source please let me know. I checked and tested the applications but more testing will make them better. Thanks. UPDATE -- The links to the zip files are fixed. No more 404 errors.

Outlook, Contacts and Categories

2004-11-27T08:43:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy using Outlook for most things. The mail, calendar, journal portions of Outlook are developed quite well. What I find annoying and maybe I do not see how to do it, is how to group contacts, notes and tasks into categories easily and efficiently. I know the "functionality" is there but it does not work well. And now that I have a new PocketPC, I would enjoy being able to drilldown into my contacts, tasks and notes and only see certain categories. I also would like to place my old list of contacts into categories quickly and not have to go into the edit form of the contact to perform the category assignments. If anyone knows how to do this and/or has a 3rd party tool that can help, please let me know. UPDATE -- Michael has replied to give me some knowledge. I am not a Outlook expert so I guess I need to get a Outlook 2003 book and learn some stuff. "would enjoy being able to drilldown into my contacts, tasks and notes and only see certain categories." This is certainly possible. I can't give you exact directions, as I use a german version of Outlook, but if you right click on an empty position somewhere on the pane where the tasks, notes, etc.. are displayed, you should find an item called something like "Customize current view". This allows you to create filters. Also, you should be able to store your filters as "views", somewhere in the main menu "View Arrange By Current View Define Views". "I also would like to place my old list of contacts into categories quickly and not have to go into the edit form of the contact to perform the category assignments." Just select multiple items, right click on them, and choose "Categories...".

Why so hard to find others?

2004-11-26T13:45:00.000-05:00

I have attempted a few times in the past to start and grow a company that can give some personal freedom and enthusiasm while giving a good living. I never thought of having a billion dollar company and still do not. What I would like is to have a company that can allow a team of people to really do something that would change the world or at least change the market the company participates in. Does not sound hard does it? I know people who have started companies and made a go of them. Some went well and some after a while did not. I believe that unless you have a sole proprietorship, the hardest thing you will do with a new company is find a group of people that are all willing to grow and make the company a success. The 2 other times I started a new company I thought I had a team of people that had a vision. But some very important things can out while we discussed things. First most of the people do not care about doing the hard work. I mean the finding clients or customers, developing the working structure and/or putting in the sweat equity needed. They just want to be a Donald Trump and parade around being the big shot. Most after a while find that a new startup is too much work and interferes with their social life and sleep. That is where I am right now. I have a great idea to build a new company on and I have the technical knowledge to pull it off. If only that was it. There are so many things that I do not well and I am searching for people that fill in the gaps. That would involve financial and sales. I am pretty good with marketing. I have also found that highly technical people have a hard time finding and networking with the other highly effective people in other industries. I can use the social networking tools that exist in the world and internet today. The issue is that I want to find a team where I am at and not all over the place. These tools will be a good place to try to see how many people live around the Lexington, KY area and would be interested in starting a new company up. There needs to be entrepreneurial groups in cities that people can find each other. Too many times, when people network they do not go outside their own kind. I am guilty of it myself. I attend many technical user groups but not many generic business meetings. I actually do not think that there is a group like that here in Lexington outside of the University of Kentucky. So what do people think are good ways find good teammates to build a great team? I bet a lot of people ask themselves that questions each day.

BlogShares

2004-11-25T11:02:00.000-05:00

I was told about BlogShares by Heather and I am amazed of the community. I never thought of doing a stock market type of venture for blogs. What a great idea. I registered and looked at my own blog... all the shares are bought. I think someone put my blog into the market back in the summer. So who is the person that owns the most of the shares for my blog? None other than Borland's Chief Scientist Danny Thorpe!! What a compliment! Thanks Danny.

Giving Thanks

2004-11-25T08:49:00.000-05:00

We Americans are celebrating Thanksgiving today. I know I have a few non-American visitors to my blog and wanted to say thanks for visiting and sharing my thoughts. I also wanted to give thanks to all the people that have influenced and enlightened me to reach this point in my career. Without those people and teams, I would not be here today. I hope we can all remember the people that helped us become who we are and give them thank you's.

Google Deskbar Plug-in Development Kit

2004-11-24T15:02:00.000-05:00

Google has released a Google Deskbar Plug-in Development Kit for developers to add plug ins to the Google Bar we all seem to have in IE. Part of the API is a .NET assembly. Users need to install the latest version of the Google Deskbar and version 1.0 or higher of the Microsoft .NET Framework to use plug-ins. Looks like fun.

Now this is an great Blog!!!

2004-11-24T10:59:00.000-05:00

David Hayden's blog is one of the best I have found in terms of content and also in presentation. I just found it this morning but I have discovered a great gem already: ASP.NET Security: Hashing User Passwords. David has a great blog motto - Not so much about me, but the countless other developers who help me perfect my craft by sharing their knowledge and skills... I think we can give an amen to that view.

Bought a HP iPAQ rx3115 Mobile Media Companion

2004-11-23T14:57:00.000-05:00

So I finally broke down and purchased the HP iPAQ rx3115 Mobile Media Companion. Nice little device. I have only charged it up here in the office. Will connect it to my home office machine after installing ActiveSync. I think I will try EBay for the first time to sell my very good condition Sony Clie SJ22 (with lots of extras included). Now I can have the hardware to run some of the little apps I have developed with the .NET Compact Framework. I have a few ideas to use the wireless aspects of the iPAQ and now can play. Also gives me more reason to work with the OpenNETCF Smart Device Framework.

IUIs and Web-Style Navigation in Windows Forms

2004-11-23T09:57:00.000-05:00

Matt Hamilton has a good blog entry that he discusses good reference materials for .NET and software development. Inductive user interface is a very interesting concept and one that I want to look at this week. Here is the article for Part 1 and Part 2 of "IUIs and Web-Style Navigation in Windows Forms". My mind hurts each night when I get home from the office due to all the reading and materials I am trying to digest. I am just amazed as how much new content I am discovering. There will be so many links coming soon that I hope I do not overwhelm you all. :) UPDATE -- It is not Mark but Matt. I am sorry Matt! :)

List of Microsoft patterns and practices for Application Architecture and Design

2004-11-23T09:41:00.000-05:00

I think if you are going to develop software in today's market and culture you need to develop the sofwtare using proven practices. Here is a link to get you started on the road to Microsoft's patterns and practices. I have learned so much in the last 6 months working with P&P. Enjoy.

My connection with Marvin Minsky

2004-11-22T15:28:00.000-05:00

I do not know why I am writing about this but I started a great book last night..... No I do not really know him but I have exchanged a few emails in the past with him about the book he coauthored with Harry Harrison named Turing Option. I was on a newsgroup and was in a thread discussing SciFi books that would make great movies. I had read Turing Option a few years before and wrote that I thought the book would lend itself quite well as a movie. Did not think too much of it until a couple of days later I found an email from a Marvin Minsky telling me about how the book was at one time being planned for a movie. The rights had been bought and the movie had gone into pre-production when funds had dried up. From what Dr. Minsky wrote, it was on hold. I also discussed if the book was going to be re-released since it was out of print (still is). He is a very likable person that I felt cared about what I thought. This from one of the great minds of our time. I have found a used copy of the book from a friend and am wondering if Dr. Minsky would sign it and send it back to me? The book really made an impression on me concerning technology and how it could/would be used in the future. Most of it will be wonderful but some will be downright frightening. I may email him and see what he says. If you get some time to read a fun book find it at a local used book stored. I recommend it.

Using InnerExceptions and the Exception handling App Block in .NET

2004-11-22T15:02:00.000-05:00

I am reading the Exception Management Architecture Guide and I have learned an interesting development idea. When working with exceptions you should always keep the exception relevant to the level it is on. Here is what the guide says, "When an exception is initially thrown, it provides information about the exact cause of the exception. As an exception propagates up the call stack, the exception type becomes less relevant. Wrapping an exception can provide a more relevant exception to the caller." I am kicking myself for not seeing that gem on my own. I love finding knowledge like this that makes my perception of software development clearer. InnerExcpetions and using them in your architecture will make the applications smarter and more flexible. I am not finished reading the guide but I know today I will learn a lot. Thanks to Kenny Jones, Edward Jezierski, Jason Hogg, Roberta Leibovitz (Modeled Computation) and Colin Campbell (Modeled Computation) for writing a great article.

What are our Personal Brands these days and how do we find them?

2004-11-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

Heather has another great blog entry that leads more into personal brands. I believe that we all play many roles that sum up to our personal brands. I think Heather is a great marketer, recruiter, entertainer and salesperson. We all have to be entertainers and salespeople in the blogsphere. If not who would want to read our blogs? Maybe that is why I only get 20-40 hits on my blog? :) 6 months ago, I did a big exercise. I went to each person I knew and felt very comfortable with and asked them what they saw as my strengths and weaknesses. It was hard since I got a lot of truth to face. I found that I am the type of person who needs to be acknowledged for my work and if I do not I lose enthusiasm for what and who I am working for. I kinda knew it but I had several people tell me that. I am also a procrastinator. I have known that since I was a kid and have worked very hard fixing that weakness/habit. I also learned that I am unique in the fact that I can find quickly anything that I need to know. I have always had that ability since I was a kid. People would ask about something and if we did not know it I would have the information back so to share it with everyone. I also remember abstract things well. I cannot remember names but I remember a piece of code from a magazine 3 years ago that I need now and know how to find it. But I do think that we all need to have the people we respect the most and who care and respect us to give us feedback about ourselves. I know I am a better person because of it. I have a great new gig because I know what makes me tick and motivates me. I need to be a upfront person from my personality. Take the plunge and be better!

Finally doing the Application Block Quick Start Ports to Delphi 2005

2004-11-22T11:10:00.000-05:00

I was planning on porting all the Microsoft Application Blocks to Delphi 8 for .NET earlier this year but work got in the way and I could not find any time. Well this last weekend I finally found some time and started doing the ports. I am not going to try to port the actual Blocks but only the Quick Start applications to Delphi 2005. Why recreate the wheel right? So the first block I finished was the Exception handling block since it is used with all the other blocks. I will post that and the link to the project code soon. Just need to add some code documentation and write an article for it. I will submit it to the Borland Developer Network this week. Here is the list of what blocks I am looking at doing for now. I will do them all but I am starting with this to help with a project I am working on. 1. Exception Management Application Block 2. Logging Application Block 3. Data Access Application Block 4. Aggregation Application Block 5. Caching Application Block Will keep the blog updated in the status for the ports.

Roadmap for DPack 2.0

2004-11-21T22:04:00.000-05:00

My friend Sergey has released a glimp into what he has planned for the version 2 release fo his Visual Studio add-in DPack. Take a look.

Need Reviews of Pocket PC Devices

2004-11-19T10:45:00.000-05:00

I am looking at replacing my Sony Clie SJ22 with a PocketPC device. The old Clie is a fine device but I need to get online more and more during the work day while I travel. Also would like to get more media savy at home and use Skype to call friends. What I need is one with a good screen, good CPU and WiFi. Off the bat I see that the HP iPAQ rx3115 looks attractive. I am also going to look at the Dell Handhelds but they look good but the prices are a bit high. The rx3115 looks to be the best device for the price and it has good reviews on Amazon. If you or someone you know has other ideas on a WiFi PPC device for under ~~$300~~$400 let me know.

EDRA v1.1 Final Release (codenamed Shadowfax)

2004-11-18T13:51:00.000-05:00

Hernan de Lahitte reports that the Shadowfax project has released v1.1 RTM. You can download it form the Gotdotnet workspace (membership required). Read more from Hernan's blog entry -- EDRA v1.1 Final Release

98% of the Information Infrastructure Will be Gone?

2004-11-18T09:24:00.000-05:00

I have been listening to an old DotNETRocks episode with Keith Pleas and Harry Pierson. The topic of most of the discussion covers architecture and specifically SOA. Keith and Harry both hit on topics that I have been thinking about lately. First is the notion that we are not even in the BIG Push of the Informational Revolution. They made a comment that in the Industrial Revolution 98% of the infrastructure that existed before the revolution was retrofitted or replaced by new technologies. There are many correlations between that Revolution and the one that we are experiencing today. If you think that computers and technology is slowing down and we are seeing the end of innovation you are either trying to keep your job from changing or you do not see the big picture. You can carry a handheld computer that has the processing power of a supercomputer 20 years ago. And we are just tapping into the mobile and "always connected" possibilities today. The world will be very different when my 4 and 2 year old sons are going to college and starting their careers. So what I am writing about is that we need to see that how we process and deal with data and information needs to change from how we think today. We need to see that we do not have good ways to pass information around so that every system can understand and utilize it effectively. When that happens it will be like when electricity was standardized and things will really get interesting.

I have figured it out

2004-11-17T16:15:00.000-05:00

I am addicted to coffee. Man I know the days when I only get 1 cup of java. I had a Log Cabin Latte from Coffee Times Coffee House this morning which is a latte with a glug of maple syrup. Very good and gives a sugar rush also. What I need to get back into the Penguin Peppermints!! The pmints (that is what I call them) have the equivalent of 1 can of Coke of caffiene for every 3 mints. Maybe I need to get the caffiene soap from ThinkGeek.

FYI -- What is the first 100% .NET product from Microsoft?

2004-11-17T14:37:00.000-05:00

If you did not know it is the Microsoft Business Solutions CRM product. Mark Meadows presented the CRM product and the technology behind it to the Lexington .NET Developer Association last night. Mark is a team member on the MS CRM team. I did not know that was all 100% managed code. They are even building the new 2005 version in Whidbey. The current system is customized through a set of SOAP struts but the next version will be architected entirely in SOA and web services. They built it entirely in C# and some managed C++. Work started 2 years ago. What I like best is the incredible ASP.NET front end that they designed for the product. It can be customized easily though.

EPA CDX - Central Data Exchange

2004-11-15T13:51:00.000-05:00

Working on a government project has really been an eye opener in regards to seeing how a public organization thinks and behaves. The truth is that government is slow compared to the private sector (duh!!). I have found that there are some interesting things going on in the US government to use new technology for the better of the public. The project I am looking at right now is called EPA CDX - Central Data Exchange. The Central Data Exchange (CDX) enables fast, efficient and more accurate environmental data submissions from state and local governments, industry and tribes to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and participating program offices. Here is a link to find out about the EPA CDX project. Here is the page where we techheads can find out about the technology used for the project. I applaud the EPA to actually allow some of the technology ideas and details to be given to the public. I think all government projects should have tech details so that we the stakeholders can see for ourselves.

Passed the 200 visitor mark for a day!!

2004-11-14T20:03:00.000-05:00

Wanted to say thank you for all the visits today. I had my mind blown when I saw the hits on my blog this morning. And it just kept going higher and higher. This is the sort of thing that keeps people motivated for blogging. I am excited that I hit a nerve about a topic people are interested in. There is a lot more than fingers on the keyboard when developing software. I want to keep writing about code but also on the "harder" aspects of development. Stay tuned and enjoy the ride with me.

USysWare Blog - DPack version 1.3.2 released for VS.NET 2003

2004-11-14T13:32:00.000-05:00

If you develop with Visual Studio and you miss the great IDE features of Delphi then DPack might be a great add-in for you. It will make you more productive and enjoying your self more while developing. I promise. My favorite feature is the Delphi like bookmarks that allow you to jump around your inline bookmarks. USysWare Blog - DPack version 1.3.2 released

Favor Needed

2004-11-14T11:14:00.000-05:00

My blog hits have gone through the roof!!! And it is a Sunday? I do not have a log to catch referrers so if someone knows where I am getting all the hits from or who is linking to me please let me know. I would love to say thanks and link back to them. Thank you.

Another Side of Software Development

2004-11-12T12:16:00.000-05:00

On my new job I work with another person. We will call him Bill. I was told about Bill on the initial interview by the company's Midwest manager. I was told he was talkative and was asked of that was an issue for me. I can deal with talkative people using many slight of hand moves or just being honest and asking for us to get back to work. Now I met Bill face to face on the second interview when we met with the government client. He had already accepted the position and I was still considering it. He seemed OK but I could tell he enjoyed to hear himself talk. So I accepted the position and working with Bill. I started the new job and have been very happy with the opportunity. I was honest with Bill about what I saw as a soft division of responsibilities; he taking the role of lead for the database and I developing the ASP.NET SOA architecture. We both agreed that our past warranted this split and that we both could learn from the other and assist in the development. Since then I have had more and more glimpses into the unstable mind of Bill. Besides being a know-it-all on everything from politics, biblical prophesies, conspiracy theories and office organization, he is a not much of a developer. I have discovered that he developed a few HRIS and Portals using Oracle technologies and I think he has done a bit with VB and Delphi. When we discussed OO concepts I was less than happy. I think he talked himself into the job. And so in addition to being the major developer on the project I also have been trying to help him get up to speed on ASP.NET, .NET and C#. Not easy for someone who is a know-it-all to allow himself to be seen as not knowing it all. But I am trying. I understand that Bill has a family out of state to feed and support and so I do not want to jeopardize his employment but I want to make sure that this project is successful. I write about this since this is a topic that you are not taught in college or school. How to deal with people that are difficult. I can deal with difficult people that are smart. I can work with people that might be difficult to lead. But I have to really use all my skills working with Bill who not only is difficult but not as experienced as anyone thought. How does this relate to my new blog title? Well it might in the end. We all learn from experiences. I have found that difficult ones teach more than easy experiences. I hope and pray that I learn a lot from this one. Just have to enjoy the difficult times I guess. UPDATE -- I have read all the comments that my comments have generated. What I did was discuss with Bill what our jobs are and what we each want to learn and experience. What I have learned is that he is very excited about getting into ASP.NET and will work very hard to get up to speed. He has also demostrated a lot of insight into the database architecture that has given me time to think about the system architecture including the security, exception handling and logging. I think we understand each other now. Thanks for the help.

The name changed but the content is still same!

2004-11-10T14:17:00.000-05:00

So I am changing the name of the blog. Since I am no longer using Delphi for work and not much for personal development, I am changing the name to "Sharing the Joy of Software". I think this fits better with what I want to accomplish with this blog -- just tell about how I see making great software for people that need to use it. Now I am not making a statement about Delphi by changing the name of the blog but I am trying to get make myself reenergized about doing the blog right. That means getting to some generic balance of my blogging and I could not do that with the old name. So today is a new day and tomorrow will come!

LexDotNET November Meeting Update

2004-11-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

So we have confirmed that we will have a special guest presentation for the November 16 meeting of LexDotNET. Mark Meadows of Microsoft will give a talk on the product he works on for Microsoft. The product is Microsoft CRM and he works within the Business Solutions group. We will also have another talk by myself or another LexDotNET founder after Mark's talk. To start the meeting we will have pizza and networking. The meeting will start at 6:00 PM. Directions: In the boardroom of Bluegrass Regional Mental Health Mental Retardation Board, Inc.1351 Newtown PikeLexington, KY 40511 The campus is on Newtown Pike bewtween Nandino Blvd and Citation Blvd on the left if you are outbound. White buildings behind a stone fence. Drive all the way around the buildings until you are in a large parking lot. Building D and Building B are adjacent to each other. The meeting is in Building B. Walk around Building B to reach the entrance.

SOA and Distributed Applications

2004-11-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

So I am investigating SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) and distributed Applications involving Web Services. I am so excited to get into this government project to start designing it. Just need to get through 2 more weeks of analysis. What excites me is that the people here at the Office of Surface Mining (part of the Dept of the Interior) want us to build it so it can be as flexible as possible. We get 2 months for design which is unheard of in the private sector. But this system will have to operate for 10+ years so we need to have time to make sure it can adapt and substances for a long period of time. I have to say that the government does do the preparation aspect of building technology correctly. But they don't have quarterly profits and Wall St. Hammering them to make revenue so that may be why. So back to SOA. The more I read about it the more I agree with the general thinking. We are going to wrap all business objects as web service projects in VS.NET and then not worry about who or what calls them. OSM (Office of Surface Mining) would like within a few years to use the system from wireless devices in the field when an investigator is at a coal mine. The system I envision could have that ready quickly using SOA. I am more excited about technology today than I have been in 10 years when I discovered Delphi 1. I see .NET as the new productivity engine for making great software. That is the bottom line.

The backlash on SOA

2004-10-30T06:25:00.000-04:00

I received my November 15, 2004 issue of Software Development Times yesterday. The trade magazine is OK in general and I usually quickly browse through it with the thought of maybe finding a hidden gem about a product released or new idea. What caught my eye this time was an editorial that tried to paint a slightly negative picture of SOA (Service Oriented Architecture). Now SOA will not solve all architectural issues and should not be applied for all solutions. The reason I view it as a truly unique way to architect and develop software is for Presentation Layer independence. The project I am currently working on initially will be a ASP.NET web application. But the government office would like to be able to interface to the data from wireless handhelds. There is also a need to allow state and other federal agencies to interface to the data. SOA allows us to build a flexible non-proprietary method to allow these outside entities to get data and use it. We knew that we would have to build some web services for the system so why not just build the system with SOA? I base my view on the demo application from Microsoft called TaskVision (which I use to track tasks at home) and from read and discussing extensively about SOA for the last year. I know that web services are not the fastest way to get/put data into a database but our system is being built to be highly flexible now and in the future. I see SOA filling in a gap that has always been an issue when building a system that will have to be accessed from a known foreign system now and in the future. I will link to the editorial when it becomes available.

Ramping Up on ASP.NET

2004-10-29T05:23:00.000-04:00

So I am in an initial Analysis phase for the government project I started 3 weeks ago. One thing that is different with Government from the Public sector is the speed of deliverables. We have until November 17 to have the Analysis of the project finished and then have until January 15 to be finished with the Design phase. In most normal business projects I would have been given at most 4-6 weeks to do both. The government PM is a very good thinker and really wants us to think about and plan well. This system could be live for at least 10 years so there will be no budget for a replacement. On the tech side, I am trying to gather materials, articles, books and examples for some key areas that need to be addressed during the Design phase of the project. If any of the 2 or 3 readers of my blog have any suggestions for the following topics please give me them in comments: 1. Form Authorization in ASP.NET 2. Exception handling in ASP.NET 3. Reporting for viewing and downloading in PDF format The first 2 will be built into the new architecture. If you know of some good blogs or mailing lists that can help comment on them also. Trying to do it correct.

Non-Tech News

2004-10-29T05:02:00.000-04:00

So for the last few months a group of men at my parish have been planning a men's retreat at our church. The process is CRHP (Christ Renews His Parish). CRHP was started to help men form bonds of fellowship and also encourage involvement in local parishes. The weekend is for a giving team to hold the retreat for a receiving team. I am the Lay Director for the Giving Team. I guess I am the MC for the weekend. I never knew how are it was to plan a weekend event. Our weekend is only 28 men so not very hard. I have a new respect for people that plan events on the thousands of attendees scale. I am looking forward to this weekend. I do not try to very in-your-face type of Christian. I try to lead by example. These weekends allow me to be more vocal in a controlled manner to show my faith and devotion. I am finding that being spiritual and having a faith only enhances ones life.

I have a new desk pal... the Channel9 Guy!

2004-10-23T13:52:00.000-04:00

In the mail yesterday I had a package from Microsoft. I opened it and found a little Channel9 foam guy. Made my day. I am trying to keep him away from my boys so that he may live a long life. I really appreciate that the Channel9 folks sent me one. I got hooked on C9 pretty early and even sent a horse postcard to them. Thanks.

Guy Kawasaki on the upstart art

2004-10-20T22:08:00.000-04:00

Here is one of my heros in a CNN interview for his new book "The Art of the Start". If you even have once had a short thought about starting a new company or even a new corporate group, you must read this book. Like he says in the interview; you can read an entire book for each of his book's chapters but DOING is what you need to do... not reading books. Here is the link to Guy's company Garage.com.

Will Code for Device -- The .NET To Go Mobility Roadshow Contest

2004-10-20T11:20:00.000-04:00

The .NET To Go Mobility Roadshow has a new contest that will award mobile devices for innovative and creative mobile applications. Read about it on Thom Robbins blog. Have to dig through my notes to find some of the ideas I have had for mobile apps. I keep a notebook for tech ideas so I do not forget things. Comes in handy.

Want a Microsoft Recruiter to see your resume?... for real!

2004-10-20T09:23:00.000-04:00

Then post a link to your resume in Heather's blog entry comment!! She will look at it and that is something. For all you people out there that want to get a foot in the door with MS this is your chance.

Back to Blogging

2004-10-20T07:44:00.000-04:00

Now that I am settling into the new contract gig and have set up blogging software on the machine here, I will be back into blogging. I am also starting to use ASP.NET 100% so I should have lots of stories soon on everything I am learning about .NET and web development. Should be very fun. I bought a great book and wanted to pass along the recommendation. After hearing DotNET Rocks with guest Fritz Onion I bought his book "Essential ASP.NET with Examples in C#" from bookpool.com. Bookpool is the cheapest place I found it. But the book is great and I have found gems on every page I have read. Not done with it but it has helped and expanded my view of ASP.NET quite a bit. Thanks Fritz for the book.

LexDotNET Kickoff Meeting Last Night

2004-10-20T07:35:00.000-04:00

So in the last week I have changed jobs and have been part of a new .NET User Group. LexDotNET was a good time last night. We had 9 attendees with a balance of non .NET people and some with experience. I gave a talk about Application Blocks and demo'ed the Data Access App Block which I find very interesting. We also have a great facility to have our meetings. Bluegrass Regional Mental Health is a non-profit and they offer their boardroom to groups to use. It also helps when the other founder of LexDotNET works there but hey we are lucky. I have tried to start user groups in the past and the hardest thing to manage is having a good meeting place with a projector and an internet connection. We are trying to find a speaker for next month. Topic is open and if someone is driving distance from Lexington, KY we can always offer some good bourbon and horses. If some Microsoft people read this and can send a speaker we would appreciate the help.

Delphi 2005 in November

2004-10-13T06:32:00.000-04:00

Delphi will now be slapped with the year version. Not '9' but 2005! Here is the link to the normal PR stuff. I do think that Delphi 2005 will be a great version of Delphi and that it will make people develop better and be more productive.

LexDotNET starting and I am the first presenter

2004-10-07T06:47:00.000-04:00

A few developers in and around Lexington, KY are starting a new .NET group as a SIG under LexMUG called LexDotNET. Very early right now but we had our first org meeting last night. We have some good plans and are trying to round up speakers. If anyone out there lives in the region and wants to speak let me know. We meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month and this month the topics will be a short planning discussion and Application Blocks. The presenter is me and I have some work getting a slide show and examples together for the meeting. But I am having fun and that is what is important. So if anyone is out there and wants to attend please do. The meeting will be held at 6:00PM at the Bluegrass Health HQ on New Town Pike in Lexington.

There will be a delay... new job and passion!!

2004-10-06T22:55:00.000-04:00

I am in the process of ending my current job and starting a new opportunity. I am starting on the 13th a new job working for BTAS. My mission and passion for the next 18+ months will be to take a 12 year old UNIX and Ingres system for the Office of Surface Mining (Dept of Interior) and move it to an ASP.NET application. Very exciting and I am psyched to getting starting. I am finishing up some assignments at my current job and have had no time to blog. Please bear with me for a few days. Thanks

Free Technical Books Online

2004-09-29T07:55:00.000-04:00

Larry O'Brien found a link to a list of free technical books online. Good veriety and content.