August 2005 - Posts

• dotNetWookie and the Telligent .Net DCP

  I'm happy to announce that the dotNetWookie community site has been accepted in to the Telligent .Net Developer Community Program. As members of the program we will be given access to the current and future premium add-ons that Telligent offers for Community Server, such as the Enterprise NNTP Server module, the Enterprise FTP server module, and the upcoming File Gallery module. The program is only 1 day old at this point, so I would imagine more details will arise in the coming weeks. Thanks to all the folks at Telligent for your support of the .net development community! Posted Aug 30 2005, 10:18 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Software, Wookie

• Just nuke it

  I spent a good part of the day today configuring DotNetNuke 3.1 on my servers and have been very impressed with this new version. The last time i checked out DNN was before the later 2.x builds but its definitely come long way since then. The clean install was painless and took me all of 5 minutes to get my first portal up. Within another hour or two, I had a half dozen free modules installed and a few extra skins. Also, the developer base for DNN is much broader than I expected, as there was no shortage of addons or documentation in case I hit a road block.  So, basically, the 8 hours I spent configuring and adding content to a new site probably saved me an addition 30 of custom programming...and not the fun programming either, the tedious and relentless interface. And, if there is one thing I loathe in all of coding, its designing a web interface. The only downside of the whole deal was that all of the source is in vb.net, not the end of the world, but I just can't stand reading vb. Luckily, i did not have to customize any of the code. Anyway, if your looking for a solid and free .net CMS, then I would say you need to look no further...I will still, however, be using (and would recommend) CS for my blogging and forum needs. Posted Aug 30 2005, 08:06 AM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Internet, Rants, Software

• A must see Xbox 360 demo

  << GC 2005: Xbox Live Demonstration I knew it would be cool but I was blown away by this demo...and they only scratched the surface. I could say more, but you really just have to see it for yourself. The link above leads to Gamespy but if you have a Fileplanet account get it here instead. Posted Aug 26 2005, 09:55 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Gaming, Hardware

• Beer gooooood

  I haven't written in my Beer category for a while so i figure its due for some content. Some of my favorite beverages as of late have been a variety tastes depending on the occasion. On tap at the house right now is Grolsch. Grolsch IS Dutch beer. It's got a great hoppy flavor and packs a decent punch...oh, and a word of advice on this great beer, it does not go well with large quantities of Jagermeister...the two together can cause memory loss, extreme happiness, and excessive urination...or at least I'm told ;)... In the fridge, i've got a few varieties. I alway keep a decent supply Rock Green Light, which makes for a refreshing beverage that does not aggrevate the post college beer gut, though most beer snobs suggest that light beers like green light are a waste of time but i disagree...Its hard to find a good tasting light beer and I belive green light is just that. I also have some Boddingtons Ale, which is a great nitrogen english pub ale and makes for a good companion to Pizza. Its got a nice creamy head and a good taste (though I've had better). And last but not least, I still have some Bells Oberon, which is a summer pale wheat ale brewed in Kalamazoo Michigan and is my favorite out of the bunch. Its hard to drink a better beer than Oberon, so if you have the means, I highly recommend picking some up. Posted Aug 25 2005, 09:39 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Beer, Personal

• Google talk is cool and all...

  but its got a ways to go if its has a chance at replacing Trillian on my desktop. I definitely like the direction their going though, clean interface, high quality audio chat, and according to their faq, encryption and other security features are coming down the road. For now, I'll just connect through trillian, but I look forward to the final release. Posted Aug 24 2005, 05:57 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Internet, Rants, Software

• Can't find your downloaded porn? GDS 2.0 to the rescue...

  The release of GDS 2.0 is the buzz on all the tech feeds today...and for good reason. With 1.0 they were definitely lacking some major features, the biggest one being the ability to specify specific network folders for indexing. With 2.0, they fixed that and then some. This new release now puts it ahead of both MSN and Yahoo as far as features and performance (at least on my machine). I've been using the MSN desktop search since its release mostly due to its ability to specify specific email and network folders for index as well as buit-in realtime searching and outlook integration (search box). My biggest problem with MSN though, was its performance. When i typed a search in outlook it sometimes took 10-15 seconds on the main thread to complete...now thats just too damn slow for me to get used to.. when I was using Lookout (search company acquired by MS), the search results were instantaneous and extremely accurate. I was hoping the Lookout acquisition would mean faster and more accurate indexing within the MSN search, but that just wasn't the case in my experience. Now, with GDS 2.0, they've added more than some new features, they've added a new application called the Sidebar. The sidebar is more or less a dockable container of plugins which range in functionality and offer solid customization. I especially like the Web Clips (fancy name for feed) plugin which automatically adds rss and atom feeds from the sites you frequent and displays the items from those feeds as they come in. For me, it's the ultimate unobtrusive news ticker that I've always wanted (though it won't replace my full blown rss reader). Some other included plugins are Weather, News (customized to your interests, though i find it overlaps with web clips), Email (which lists messages as they arrive), Scratch Pad (really cool notepad replacement for taking quick notes that auto save), Quick View (displays links of frequently visited sites, like a dynamic favorites list), Photos (just rotates through your my pictures directory), Stocks, and What's Hot which appears to be rather useless. Also, there are a few more plugins available on the plugin site worth mentioning...there is a cool System Monitor plugin, a gdTunes plugin for remote controlling crappy music software and an Adsense Status plugin to view your ad earnings. I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already done so. Posted Aug 22 2005, 11:00 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Internet, Rants, Software

• PDC Just got better

  Microsoft has confirmed that we will be receiving a release candidate of Visual Studio 2005 and another CTP of Sql Server 2005 at the PDC! That's great news for me because I've been unable to move to the June or the upcoming August CTP's of VS 2005 due to having production software in beta 2...i'm assuming that the go live will apply to the PDC release candidate as well, or at least I hope. Posted Aug 22 2005, 08:35 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Microsoft, Coding, Software

• Latest ReSharper build

  I was having problems with the early 2.0 builds of resharper with VS 2005 Beta 2, but I'm happy to say that with the latest build things finally appear to be running smoothly for me. So, if you haven't checked it out yet for 2005, now would be a good time...For now, I'm still sticking with 1.5 for VS 2003, just because I'm a little wary of going with 2.0 on some of my production apps...but, come November, I will be converting everything to 2005. Speaking of project conversion...I've been reading a few blog posts and articles lately discussing the process, which sounds like it will be relatively pain free (it has been for me thus far)...It should be very easy to still compile your apps with 1.1 for as long as needed, though, for most apps the switch to 2.0 should be seamless. The only drawback I see on converting my production desktop apps will be the lack of the 2.0 framework on the destination machines...But, in reality, I probably won't compile with 2.0 until a major revision is required. That would just make deployment a lot cleaner and avoid unnecessary upgrades. Either way, i look forward to the challenge. Posted Aug 19 2005, 09:03 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Rants, Software, VisualStudio

• Quote of the day

  You fuckers like to party!? Cliff O'Malley - Dead Man On Campus Posted Aug 18 2005, 01:44 AM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Movies

• Good luck reaching 1 billion with that price

  << Microsoft Rolling Out Two Xbox Versions - Washington Post $400 bucks for the "premium" version...damn thats expensive! and since when does premium mean a controller and a hard drive, which, last time I checked where required to make the xbox more than a household decoration. I'm not saying I won't fork over the cash ;) I'm just thinking that will hurt the early adoption of the new system...I also remember Sony saying their system will cost some serious cash, so I'm thinking the PS3 cold be closer to $500 bucks. Posted Aug 17 2005, 10:06 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Gaming, Hardware, Microsoft, Xbox

• You will not believe this

  << Most amazing home theater setup I've ever seen. I've dreamed of having my own home theatre but I could have never imagined going all out like this guy did...you really do have to see to believe. Anyone have a million bucks I can borrow? Posted Aug 12 2005, 12:09 AM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Hardware, Movies, Music, Rants

• I'll take one of each!

  << Logitech bets on laser mice and LCD keyboards I've been looking to trump my Microsoft wireless desktop elite setup for a while now but nothing else out there seemed good enough to fit the bill...until now. Between the G15 lcd keyboard and the G7 wireless mouse, it should add a whole 'nother level to desktop input and gaming...I've personally never owned a gaming mouse, mostly because all of the best ones were wired, but now there will finally be a wireless one worth upgrading for. According to the article, this new hardware should be available sometime next moth and retail for a hefty price tag. Posted Aug 11 2005, 11:56 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Gaming, Hardware

• For the last time...

  AJAX is not a technology!! If I hear this sentence one more time I will have to change professions..."I built this in AJAX"... listen, AJAX stands for Asynchronous Javascript and Xml which is just several existing technologies bundled in to one acronym, at best it could be described as a technique but never a technology. Unfortunately this acronym has reached buzzword status with the likes of my previous all time favorite, Wi-Fi, which tends to make me a bit militant. Once some word or acronym has reached that level it gets thrown around constantly without the thought of what it is or how it applies to a particular situation. For example: "I was browsing a site built in AJAX on my Wi-Fi connection"...wtf it that suppose to mean? While I'm at it, Wi-Fi is not a technology either people! it's a certification board called the Wi-Fi Alliance which certifies wireless products. Anyway, I'm off to the nearest Starbucks HotsSpot to hookup my Wi-Fi PDA and write some .Net for Vista which used to be Longhorn which uses WinFX which will be available for XP as well. Posted Aug 11 2005, 06:56 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Rants, Software

• Great DNS service

  If you're in need of a good primary or secondary dns provider and are on a budget, i found a great service. XName.org provides primary and secondary dns hosting via a web control panel on their web site which, once logged in, allows you to add and manage as many domains as you like. And, the best part about the service is that is completely free! You are, however, encouraged to donate if you like the service (which I did, I always like supporting solid free services). I believe the dns servers are located in France, so they may not be as snappy as local dns provider, but for the secondary service I needed it was prefect. If you host your own stuff and run your own dns server then its a good idea to have secondary dns service just in case your primary goes down for any reason. If anyone out there has any experience with this service please let me know your thoughts. I've used a similar free service in the past provided by twisted4life but they limit you to only 10 secondary zones (unless you want to fork over some cash). They might, however, be a good secondary choice if you have less that 10 domains because their updates are much faster than XName and can even be initiate manually on their site. Posted Aug 11 2005, 02:03 AM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Networking, Rants, Software, Wookie

• Feed me

  << Google News Adds RSS Feeds (PC World) Its about time! I've liked their news site since its introduction but I'm so used to getting my fix from within my rss reader now that I haven't visited google news in a while. Its surprising to me that Google is one of the last to hop on the rss bandwagon. Posted Aug 09 2005, 08:53 PM by Chris Kirby with no comments Filed under: Rants, Software