Monday, March 08, 2010
Do you live in the South? Are you a developer or do you generally consider yourself a geek? Then you should consider joining this group: http://southerndevs.groups.live.com.
The group was started by Keith Elder as a way to connect developers across the south. The group is a way to share event information, share knowledge and stay connected.
Call to Action:
1) Please join this group after reading this post.
2) Please spread word of this group.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
I recently purchased an ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA-PU17-BU 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook - 10.5 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter)
. In the default configuration the system only comes with one gigabyte of ram. So naturally, I wanted to crank this up some. I found a memory expansion kit that included a two gigabyte memory stick and an eight gigabyte SD Card. After installing the two gigabytes of ram Windows 7 still reported only 1 gigabyte of ram. To resolve this situation I needed to enter the bios. To do so on the EeePC hold down the F2 keep after the system is turned on. Just pressing it once took me to an Windows 7 boot menu. All I had to do was enter the BIOS, Save and Exit. This cause the system to recognize the additional memory. I then added the eight gigabyte SD card and enabled ready boost. After these changes I did notice improved performance and less lag.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Issue:
It is widely now that Windows 7 supports a feature know as XP Mode. This feature leverage Virtual PC to load an XP Virtual machine allowing Windows 7 users to continue supporting legacy applications. However, what may not be as commonly known or at least quite as obvious is how to configure Virtual PC to host another Virtual Machine beside the XP Mode VM.
Solution:
The secret is locating the VPCWizzard.exe Executable within the system32 directory. As shown in the screen shot below, you must find the VPCWizzard.exe and run this executable to configure a new virtual machine within Virtual PC on Windows 7.
The VPCWizzard.exe will allow a new virtual machine to be created that uses an existing virtual disk.
Once a new Virtual Machine has been configured using the VPCWizzard.exe the virtual machine can be started and managed just like the XP Mode VM.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
I used Windows 7 Beta, Windows 7 RC, and now the RTM. All three have been quite impressive. Today, I get an email from a friend in LA that I thought was surely too good to be true. But sure enough it freaking works. My jaw hit the floor!
From Email:
As nice as Windows 7 is to use let’s face it — we always want total control over the computing environment. What we really want is to have total control in an easy-to-use form that puts everything at our fingertips. Enter the super secret Windows 7 God Mode.
God Mode is a simple folder that brings all aspects of Windows 7 control in a single place. It collects all of the Control Panel functions, interface customization, accessibility options, just about every aspect of controlling Windows 7 into a single place.
God Mode is easy to set up too, just do this:
Create a new folder anywhere.
Rename the folder by pasting this name exactly as it appears (copy it first):
GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Issues:
SharePoint 2010 Foundation and Server require the Cumulative Update Package 2 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 to use SQL Server 2008 as the backend Database.
Solution:
SQL Server 2008 will not install properly on Windows 2008 Server without SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1. Download Download SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1.
To use SQL Server 2008 for the backend database for SharePoint Foundation or Server download Download and Install Cumulative Update Package 2 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1.
Note: Installing the Cumulative Update Package 2 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 will update SQL Server’s build number to 10.00.2714.
Additional Information:
Fixes Contained in the Cumulative Update
For most of my life I’ve been a fan of goal settings. Furthermore, I usually like writing goals down. However, I must admit that although a fan, I have not remained consistently faithful to the practice year after year. I can tell you though that the practice does work. Sure it may sometimes take a little longer than planned. But the process of setting a goal, writing down, and then periodically checking progress is a good thing.
Last year I set a goal to read six books. The logic was simple. Surely, I could read at least one book every two months. At the end of 2009 here were the results:
- Million Dollar Consulting: The Professional's Guide to Growing a Practice
- Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time
- Secrets from a Creativity Coach
- Eric Sink on the Business of Software (Expert's Voice)
- Little Red Book of Sales Answers: 99.5 Real World Answers That Make Sense, Make Sales, and Make Money (Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Books)
- Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
- One Minute Sales Person, The: The Quickest Way to Sell People on Yourself, Your Services, Products, or Ideas--at Work and in Life
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
- Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction
- Carolyn 101: Business Lessons from The Apprentice's Straight Shooter
- Inside Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (Pro Developer)
- Professional SharePoint 2007 Web Content Management Development: Building Publishing Sites with Office SharePoint Server 2007 (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
- The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff
- The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Library Edition)
- The Change Makers: From Carnegie to Gates, How the Great Entrepreneurs Transformed Ideas into Industries
Why is this Important?
To some a reading list of fifteen books may seem like a lot. To others laughable. I believe Teddy Roosevelt read a book per day. This blog post and list is not intend to gloat but to simply share a few key believes.
- Software Development is a career where our skills become obsolete rapidly. So how do we stay valuable? We read about the latest technologies and never stop learning.
- Wisdom beyond ones own experiences can be gained, to some degree, through the shared experiences of others. Remember, success leaves clues for us to follow.
- It’s important to have an understanding of business environment, because many of, dare I say most of us, don’t design and build operating systems or development environments. Most of us develop software solutions for business users and they don’t speak GEEK!
Unexpected Find:
Secrets from a Creativity Coach – This book was a birthday present from my mother. The book was a quick read and a book I couldn’t put down. Any Geek that believes development is an expression on his/her creativity will find value in this book.
The Book Every SharePoint Developer Should Own!
Inside Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (Pro Developer)
Favorite Business Book:
The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Library Edition) - One of the core messages of this book is not work for work sake. Think of Office Space and the TPS Reports. How many employees are involved in creating, reviewing, approving, etc. those TPS reports. This book has value to the employee that wants streamline his / her workday and to the self-employed.
Should have read long, long, ago:
Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction – I’ve read bits and pieces of this book over the years but kept failing to read it cover-to-cover. This book is a cornerstone in good development fundamentals. I plan to review it again this year.
Share Your Recommendations:
If you are reading this and have any goal setting tips or experiences to share, please leave a comment.
Also, I am looking for some new reading material for 2010 so recommendations are welcome. :)
Saturday, January 02, 2010
I was watching Dr. Who and The Doctor was stuck in 1969. He communicated with the future by embedding Easter Eggs within DVD’s that a friend from the future would own. This episode made me wonder if any of the DVD’s we owned contained Easter Eggs. A quick search revealed that several movies we owned had Easter Eggs. One particular funny one is on the 3rd Titanic Disk. It is an animated rabbit version of Titanic.
Titanic Animated Rabbit Easter Egg
Insert Disk 3
Select the “Special Features Gallery.”
Next, choose the “STILL GALLERIES.”
Next, choose the “PRODUCTION ARTWORK.” But, don’t click “OK.”
Highlight, “view entire gallery” and press the up arrow on your remote control.
A downward pointing blue arrow should appear.
Click on the arrow and a spoof of rabbits acting out scenes from the movie will play.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Reference: Putting the Brakes on SharePoint with JQuery
Thoughts:
I remember the dinner conversation and follow-up emails quite well. Eric was kind enough to share his opinions and experiences further explaining some points I was confused on. Once we dropped the thread, it seemed more more a lesson in communication and properly articulating a point then a technical debate for me. Thinking back to the original dinner conversation I wish I had articulated my point more clearly. For after an email or two it became clear that we were saying many of the same things just slightly different.
Recommendation:
JQuery is just a tool that can be used to solve a problem. It is not always the right tool. In the example Eric uses he demonstrates a solution where the want to use JQuery outweighs the benefit provided. As a result performance was impacted.
Solution:
It would seem obvious not to use JQuery for such a style modification and accomplish it via CSS. Unfortunately, too often this is not what happens. Basically, we fall into the situation where to a hammer everything looks like a nail. The core of the issue is developing on autopilot and not thinking about what is being developed.
I guess I reminded of a statement my friend Roy often makes “…there’s no patch for stupid.”
Long Story Short:
- I agree 100% with everything Eric states.
- There is a HUGE potential for overuse and abuse with JQuery. I would even add-in FLASH, Sliverlight, etc.
- As Covey’s 7 Habits suggest “Know your outcome.”
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- How many concurrent users do you need to support?
- Think (Design) before you do.
- Test, Test, Test (Visual Studio Stress Test, Yahoo YSlow)
Just some additional thoughts. Hope they added some value. If you have anything to add to the conversation please leave a comment.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Last Saturday (12/12/2009) was the 2nd Annual Kansas City SharePoint Saturday. Unfortunately, this event was bitter sweet in that Becky Isserman is moving to New Jersey. We wish her well. SPSKC was a great event with over 200 people in attendance. I presented after lunch and the session was well attended. Thank you to all those in attendance and as promised you can download the slides used for the presentation below.
SharePoint 2010 Developer Overview Presentation (Download)
Note: The slide deck is a culmination of slides from a variety of sources including the SPC 2009.
This presentation is similar to the presentation I gave a few days earlier at the T.D. Williamson SharePoint Lunch and Learn.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of events such as SharePoint Saturdays are seeing old friends and making new friends. To name a few it was good catching up with:
Becky Isserman @mosslover
Joel Oleson
Kevin Hughes
JD Wade
Joy Earles
Mark Rackley
Corey Roth
Michael Lotter
Cathy Dew
Thanks for a great event and I hope to see you all again next year!
Related Posts:
SharePoint 2010 Foundation Where is the Developer Dashboard?
SharePoint 2010 Foundation Development / Demonstration Installation Guide
SharePoint Team Announces SharePoint 2010 System Requirements
Monday, December 07, 2009
Overview:
SharePoint 2010 has a greatly improved development story. Part of that story is the addition of the Developer Dashboard. When activated a dashboard is added to the bottom each page that surfaces important debugging and performance tuning information.
For example, the developer dashboard will show how long a page took to load and all database (stored procedure) calls associated with the page processing.
To Enable the SharePoint 2010 Developer Dashboard:
Execute the following stsadm command from the command prompt.
stsadm -o setproperty -pn developer-dashboard -pv ondemand
Note: Remember to run the command prompt as administrator :)
Options:
On – The developer dashboard is created every time a page is rendered. It is displayed at the bottom of the page follow all page content.
Off – The developer developer dashboard is not added to pages.
OnDemand – An icon is added to the top right corner of the menu bar that toggles the displaying of the Developer Dashboard
“Top Right Corner of Menu Bar”
“Click the SharePoint 2010 Developer Dashboard Icon” to show or hide the dashboard at the bottom of the page.
Note: The developer dashboard is currently available as part of SharePoint 2010 Foundation and SharePoint 2010 Server.