Deitel books are great learning tools and often used as course text or soup to nuts learning guides. Also the physical quality of the book (printing, paper choice, color, etc) make it a collectors item if your a book lover) I had the pleasure of being a technical reviewer on this one (though the way these guys write there isn't much review to do :) This book includes coverage of the new features in ASP.NET 3.5, Web Services, Silverlight, Winforms, LINQ, WPF and More. Get more info here: http://www.deitel.com/books/vb2008htp/
Not really "new" news but I stumbled across this while trying to figure out why Twitter seems to be down every day these days. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/01/twitter-said-to-be-abandoning-ruby-on-rails/ “We’re hearing this from multiple sources: After nearly two years of high profile scaling problems, Twitter is planning to abandon Ruby on Rails as their web framework and start from scratch with PHP or Java (another solution is to stick with the Ruby language and move away from the Rails framework).” Its hard to know in a scenario like this if it's the architecture, the framework, runtime issues, etc. Anyone know the specifics behind Twitters performance issues ?
 
Version 1.0 of the SQL Server 2005 Driver for PHP is available for download on the MSDN download site. The possibilities are endless !!!
Next week I have a week full of meetings on things like. - The Next Version of Web Forms
- Dynamic Data v.now and v.next
- ASP.NET 4.0
But the BIG part of the week will be spent on strategic planning for www.ASP.net web sites in the coming year. We want to answer questions like .... - What's the NEXT great multi-media experience for developers ?
- What social networking features are missing and wanted on www.asp.net ?
- What improvements do we need to blogs, forums, RSS, etc.?
- What's missing that developers really want?
- What's broken and needs to be fixed?
So, while I'm thinking about it THIS week, why not send me an email (use th elink on this page) and let me know what YOU think of the subject !
The GPL dudes have invented a new Operating System. WINDOWS :) - http://www.reactos.org/ I especially get a kick out of how it's a complete rip-off of Windows, but their web site has a bunch of dialog protecting their Trademark ! I know that a small but ridiculously loud minority in the Open Source community have nothing better to do with their energies than to hate all that is Microsoft, but really, what's the point. If a guy runs Ubuntu on his laptop and Centos on his server, I get it! Working at Microsoft doesn't make me stupid. I have a box I se every day that runs Linux and I have a MacBook Pro that I use every day too. (Though if I had to pick only one OS it would still be Windows) I get why Linux is fun. How does that thing work? Crack the code! I want a good custom phone screening system, no problem, I'll write a custom filter for Asterisk. But if you want / need to run Windows Applications or Windows simply makes the most business sense for you, why would you want to use a "not as good" clone ? If you wanna use Linux use a real Linux - if your gonna use Windows - use a REAL Windows !
Dolores Labs posted recently "Amazon’s S3 Web Service, our #1 cause of failure" [ Click HERE to READ ] 
Amazon.com is a great company and a early innovator in the Web Services Community. (God knows I send them ALOT of money.) So this is not an indictment of Amazon as a technology provider. In fact, it is because a Amazon is a great company with a solid infrastructure that this is significant. As Geeks, we tend to get all jazzed about the latest buzz - and cloud computing is certainly one of them. But, I think it's important to remember, while services in the cloud can be very cost effective. You can't control the cloud. When you build it and own it you always have options when you're not getting the service level you need. In the cloud, you're held hostage by 3rd party service levels.... ad as we all know, stuff happens. When you're using a cloud hosted service, remember to build support for graceful degradation your application. You application need not fail completely because you can't fetch images, ads, etc. Not only is this good design practice, but it mitigates a DOS security threat. If I wanna bring your web application down and you haven't built resilience into your site, all I need to to is successfully attack any one service your application depends on and your application is down !!
Dies UAC give you a rash ? It does me !!! It's not that it isn't a good idea - it is. But I really wish I could train it or over ride it. Maybe in a future Windows version - in the mean time, I'm trying Tweak UAC which provides a "Quiet Mode" for UAC. [ Click HERE to get Tweak UAC ] Note: UAC is a Security feature. Strictly speaking "Quiet Mode" reduces your system's security.
Microsoft folks are very enthusiastic ! We love to dig in to new technology and show off the cool work that we do and this has been VERY true of ASP.NET MVC.
Unfortunately, sometimes our zeal get's misinterpreted.
I'm getting lots of questions about the future of ASP.NET development as it pertains to MVC and WebForms - and folks are concerned and worried.
Today I got an email from a former Microsoftie asking these common questions so I thought I would answer them here.
1.) Will ASP.NET MVC will be the main web platform for ASP.NET?
NO !
MVC is an option. It will NOT replace WebForms. WebForms will continue to evolve and be the PRIMARY UI developers mechanism for ASP.NET. MVC will be great for a subset of ASP.NET applications and developers.The point is, ASP.NET developers will have a great available CHOICE.
Personally - I will continue to use WebForms and will likely not use MVC much if at all.
2.) Will WebForms continue to be expanded/supported ?
YES! YES! YES !
In fact, this fall I'll be focusing on publishing videos and such on NEW WebForms Features and usage scenarios.
3.) Which JavaScript framework is recommended to be used with ASP.NET MVC (ASP.NET AJAX, jQuery, etc.)?
Microsoft supports our own AJAX Client Libraries, but I regularly use jQuery and other independent libraries. The Microsoft libraries are integration friendly with any JavaScript library that uses some king of Name-Spacing mechanism to avoid naming collisions.
4.) How well ASP.NET AJAX will be supported with ASP.NET MVC?
Who knows? ASP.NET AJAX is built around the page postback model so the server side stuff is decidedly WebForms but the client stuff is happy anywhere.
Check outthis post by Nikhil where he adds some basic AJAX stuff to an MVC application.
http://www.nikhilk.net/Ajax-MVC.aspx
5.) Will ASP.NET AJAX and Ajax Control Toolkit will be expanded/supported?
YES !
Simply - YES !
LONG LIVE WEB FORMS !
For many years I've had an interest in and a focus on Application Security. Now, I'll be ramping up and doing a bunch of security related work in my role here at Microsoft. I hope you will add www.SecureDeveloper.com to your blog reader. I expect to include coverage of topics of interest to Web Developers, Server Admins, Rich Client Developers and RIA Devs. As always, please feel free to send your requests and suggestions !!
Spring is ugly in my job. From early March until late June I'm on the road. Conferences, Meetings, etc.
Then when I finally get done my spring traveling.... There is "make up" work to do.
I have to "make it up" to my two little princess and my wife. Work my way through a whole spring filled "Honey Do List".
And then, there is the repair work. Winter is hard on everything. There is lots to do on the house, my office building, the yard, etc. after the winter weather (and my pack of German Shepherds) does its winter damage.
And then of course there is the work I have to do on my body. After nearly four months on the road I'm left feeling old, fat, ad out of shape. At 47 by body brings me new challenges and as someone who spent his whole life in a kickboxing gym, my metabolism refuses to adjust to a sedentary lifestyle.
Well, I'm caught up !
For the rest of the summer and fall I'm going to be primarily focused on developing developer training and guidance in the form of Videos and Webcasts on the following topics.
- Web Security - The first of these videos will be up later this week and the series will continue. The topics will be of interest to ASP.NET developers as well as Slveright developers, IIS users, and Rich Client Developers using REST and SOAP services.
- Data Access - BOTH ADO.NET and LINQ (and not JUST to Microsoft SQL Server).
- Dynamic Data - The cool new technology for ASP.NET Developers.
- Web Forms - With all the hype around ASP.NET MVC, I think it's important to focus on the Web UI technology that MOST of us will continue to be using :)
Comments, Suggestions ?
[ Use the "Email Me" Link HERE them to me. ]
 T
Check out this 2 day security brain fest. It happens to be right after Black Hat in Vegas. See you there ? The LifeCycleSecurity conference was started to provide a venue where professionals in the Application Security industry can learn from each other's experiences. We will be addressing security from the server to the browser. Application Security : We will have topics that address how professionals are creating systems that are resistant to attacks against the web application layer and the systems that support these web applications. Browser security: With the increase in attacks against browsers such as malware and other attack vectors, protecting your users is more important than ever. This is increasingly being done with content filtering devices. The Lifecyclesecurity conference will include several tracks that address techniques that are being used to protect against these browser / content based attacks. http://www.lifecyclesecurity.com/
From - http://www.vistanews.com/ According to the Broadband Report, as of last March 57% of U.S. households had broadband Internet. These high speed connections make it possible to enjoy multi-media applications, something that doesn't work well - if at all - over slow dialup connections. And Internet users are taking advantage of that capability. By March 2008, more than 78 million videos had been uploaded to YouTube, the popular video sharing web site that was created in 2005 by three former employees of PayPal and was acquired by Google a year later. This means more than 150,000 videos are uploaded every day. http://www.vistanews.com/IB5SB2/080710-YouTube-Statistics Many of these are relatively short, homemade video clips that people take of themselves, their kids, their pets or whatever else they find interesting. The proliferation of cell phone cameras that can record short videos has made it very easy for just about anyone to become a "roving reporter." Your YouTube account includes a feature that lets you create a mobile profile on the site and then get a special email address to which you can send your videos as MMS messages from your cell phone. You just enter your mobile phone number and provider name. You can also watch videos on your browser-equipped cell phone. Just go to http://m.youtube.com. In a society where everyone longs for his or her fifteen minutes of fame, YouTube gives us what we want. Aspiring stand-up comedians can get an instant audience, or you can share the video of your wedding with thousands of strangers around the world. Your creative efforts don't exist in a vacuum, either. Those who view the videos can assign ratings to them so you know exactly where you stand (or don't). Not all the videos that are uploaded to YouTube are originals, though. Looking for that Macbook Air commercial with the "New Soul" song? A quick search on YouTube will bring it up for you in all its glory. Or you might prefer this parody: http://www.vistanews.com/IB5SB2/080710-Parody Or you can click on the News and Politics category for news clips of everything from President Bush's last State of the Union address to Associated Press footage of the recent Colombia hostage rescue. You might be wondering whether some of these videos might be copyrighted, and in fact many of them are, and are posted on YouTube without the permission of the copyright owner. And that brings us to our latest controversy. Although some companies don't seem to mind having their material reposted to YouTube - and may even encourage it, for the publicity - others aren't so happy.
In 2007, Viacom (the media conglomerate that owns MTV, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks movie studio, among others) invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) against YouTube, demanding that they take down more than 100,000 videos that Viacom claimed had been posted in violation of copyright laws. Viacom also filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Google/YouTube.
As part of that lawsuit, Viacom asked for the log-in names and IP addresses of YouTube users and records of who watched what videos. And last week, U.S. District Court judge Louis Stanton granted that request, ordering YouTube to turn over their database logs to Viacom. Despite many protests from organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the judge dismissed concerns about user privacy. http://www.vistanews.com/IB5SB2/080710-YouTube-User-History Viacom's allegations of copyright infringement seem particularly egregious in light of the accusation from one film maker that Viacom tried to sue him for posting his own video on YouTube, which Viacom had used on their TV commercial without his permission. You can read his blog post about that here: http://www.vistanews.com/IB5SB2/080710-Viacom-Copyright The lawsuit against YouTube is important because it could set a precedent regarding the responsibility of a web site for content that's posted by others, as well as defining what is and isn't "fair use" when it comes to capturing snippets of a TV program or other copyrighted video. The DMCA includes a "safe harbor" provision that exempts hosting companies from liability for copyright infringement - if the hosting company removes the material when notified that it's in violation of the copyright laws. YouTube contends that they comply with this requirement and also have other measures, such as the 10 minute limit on videos, that discourage copyright infringement. If Viacom wins this one, it could open up a much bigger can of worms. A new interpretation of the DMCA safe harbor provision could affect more than just video hosting sites. Web sites that host discussion forums might be held liable for what users post there; this would probably cause many of the online forums to simply disappear. But regardless of the outcome of the suit, YouTube's users have already lost. The twelve terabytes of log data that Google must now turn over to Viacom contains viewers' log-in IDs and IP addresses, the time each viewer began watching and the video that he watched. The judge seems to think this information can't be used to identify individual users, but how many people do you know who use their names or some variation thereof as their log-in names on web sites like YouTube? And even if you don't, an IP address can be tracked back through the ISP to the user account to which it was assigned at a particular time unless that user goes to the effort of using anonymizer services, something that the vast majority of casual users don't do. There has been no indication at this time that Viacom or anyone else intends to go after the users who watched copyrighted video clips, but who knows? Who would have thought the RIAA would sue grandmothers and 9 year old kids for illegal sharing of music? And even if that doesn't happen, does it make you a little nervous that someone is going over the records of what you watched and when? Tell us what you think. Does Viacom, as a copyright owner, have the right to demand not only that YouTube take down the videos that belong to them (a reasonable request) but also that YouTube provide them with information about the viewers who watched those videos? Should YouTube or any other web site hosting content that's uploaded by its visitors bear the responsibility for that content if it violates laws? Would it bother you to have the records of your viewing habits made part of a court proceeding, or do you subscribe to the "if you aren't doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about" philosophy? Should video sharing sites such as YouTube be restricted to homemade videos only? Or should the "fair use" provisions of the copyright law allow you to post small portions of a TV show, news program, etc.?
 It's finally hitting the street - "Advanced ASP.NET Ajax Server Controls"
I had the pleasure to be a technical reviewer on this book during the writing process and am really excited about it's release. This book if one of the few that dive deep into the framework, its architecture and extensibility, and address the power-user/developer scenarios and it does it from a controls perspective. It's a big undertaking but Adam and Joel have done a great job. As Nikhil said "If you're building applications in Ajax today, and want to take that to the next level, you'll want to look into the platform deeper beyond the out-of-the-box features i.e. its extensibility. You'll specifically want to build reusable components and controls, on both the server and on the client. Check out this book on more details like "the client script framework", "the script application object", "localization" and "the control toolkit" amongst many other relevant topics". [ Get a copy HERE ]
Check out the New features in BlogEngine.NET 1.4 New database provider
BlogEngine.NET now works with most commercial and open source databases such as MySQL, SQL Server, VistaDB and many others. This allow you to use practically any database supported by your hosting provider. You can still use XML files if you don't want to use a database. Drag 'n drop widgets
Widgets are the pieces of content most often located at the sidebar. It could be a list of recent posts, latest tweets from Twitter or anything else. You can drag and drop the widgets around in your sidebar and modify the content of them directly on the front-page. The widget works independently of the theme you are using as long as it is implemented in the theme. In BlogEngine.NET it is implemented in the Standard and Indigo themes and many more themes with widgets will be available for download very soon at the BlogEngine.NET website. Extension settings
The new settings model for extensions have been upgraded to give you a much better experience using third-party extensions. For extension developers, it has never been easier to store your settings and let the user change them from the admin section. The same settings model is used by the widgets as well. Web 3.0 improvements
BlogEngine.NET 1.4 makes full use of many semantic formats and technologies such as FOAF, SIOC and APML. It means that the content stored in your BlogEngine.NET installation will be fully portable and auto-discoverable. It is possible to filter the RSS feeds based on the visitor's interest defined in her APML file or do a site search with it as well. Read more the APML filtering in BlogEngine.NET. Author profiles
By utilizing the ASP.NET profile provider it is now possible to let all authors maintain their own profile. This is used in the FOAF document and widget/extension developers can take full advantage of the profiles to provide new exciting visualizations and functionality. Other new features - Tag selector when adding new posts
- Subcategories
- Password encryption
- Improved live comment preview
- Hierarchical pages in the control panel
- Smarter comment spam protection
- Link collection widget
- Various performance improvements
- and much more...
Check it out at http://dotnetblogengine.net/
Well, Dave Ward tagged me in Michael Eaton’s software development meme that’s been going around. As far as blog-chain-letters go, this is a great one. It’s interesting to see how many diverse backgrounds lead us in the same direction. How old were you when you started programming? 13 (33 years ago as of this writing.) How did you get started in programming? In 1974, there were no personal computers. My school got a very basic "programmable" calculator. It was about 8 times this size of today's laptop computers, had the equivalent of 8 16Bit registers and a collection of math operations. This was my introduction to programming and I was hooked. Shortly after a business that my father was involved in purchased a NC programmable lathe that folks were having some trouble figuring out how to "program" and it because my summer job. Programs were stored on punched tape. Then in 1979 I got my hands on a MITS Altair 8800 CP/M Computer. Then I bought a used Osborne 1, follow by a Televideo TS-802 (a real work horse for it's day) and then a Kaypro II "Portable". Just after turning 18 I was off to Grumman Data Systems institute to learn business programming. What was your first language? My REAL first programming languages were proprietary machine dialects, but I started programming on the CP/M machines in Basic and Assembly at the same time. (Both of which I hated.) I quickly switched. I got my hands on a copy of dBase II and did lots of application programming in that. Also, back in those days the "programming community" was largely underground, and a buddy hooked me up with a bootleg copy of PL/1 for CP/M. Once I was able to get it converted from the 8" floppy that it arrived on to a 5 1/4" inch floppy that my TS-802 could read I was off and running and hooked on PL/1. I used PL/1 for many years and even did some IBM Mainframe PL/1 after my adult software career progressed. What was the first real program you wrote? I suppose it depends on what you call a "real program". The NC algorithms were "real". The first "application" that I wrote was a Customer Management application written in dBase II for a local Travel Agency. The cool part was that, in addition to keeping a database and including a reporting module, it drove a model and did synchronization with the airlines "Sabre" system by modem (at 300 baud)! What languages have you used since? Wow, lets see if I can make a list. Assembly, Basic, PL/1, Cobol, Fortran, Algol, APL, JCL, "B""C", Pascal, Gorlan (Gordon's Language) , LISP, ADA, Modula-2, Modula-3, Oberon, Logo, Forth, Rebol, RPG, Smalltalk, Haskel, Snobol, Java, Perl, Prolog, Postscript, JavaScript, TCL, J++, "C++", Delphi, Objective-C, PHP, Python, C#, Visual Basic, Ruby Oh my ! My favorites ??? PL/1, Pascal, ADA, Delphi, Visual Basic, C# What was your first professional programming gig? I did a bunch of little summer stuff before my first FULL TIME job. My first full time gig was with Honeywell Information Systems on their international logistics systems. Big GCOS Mainframes, working in many different programming languages but mostly COBOL and huge IDB hierarchical databases (relational databases hadn't caught on yet.) If you knew then what you know now? Duh ! I would have gone to Cambridge MA and hung around Harvard until I convinced Bill Gates to drop out and start a company with me :) !!!!!! What is the one thing you would tell new developers? Technical details are just technical details. If you want to build a great career, use technology to solve big BUSINESS problems. What’s the most fun you’ve ever had … programming? I spent a year or two working on investigative systems for federal law enforcement agencies. It's STILL the most interesting stuff I ever saw. (And it was mostly written in Clipper ! - But I was rewriting it in VB and Delphi) Whew. Is that over yet? Well, that’s how I got started. Thanks for tagging me, Dave. Now I gotta go write some code !!
That's there motto anyway.
It's actually a very interesting product from my friends at ArtinSoft.
- Add Alternate Text To Image
- Assign Tab Index
- Convert Text To XHTML List
- Convert Text To XHTML Paragraphs
- Extract And Merge Inline Style
- Fix Deprecated Elements For XHTML Compliance
- Replace CENTER Tag By Inline CSS
- Replace FONT Tag By Inline CSS
- Update Deprecated Attributes
- Update Other Deprecated Tags
- Fix Syntax Errors For XHTML Compliance
- Fixed Malformed Entities
- Replace Characters With Entities
- Make Tags Lowercase
- Make Attributes Values Quoted
- Use Default Attribute Values
- Fix Tag Structure For XHTML Compliance
Aggiorno is an extension to Visual Studio 2005 and 2008. Find out more about Aggiorno here
|