Archive

Azure Identity 301 - ChainedTokenCredential

Azure Identity is an Azure SDK library that abstracts all the authentication complexities so you can get back to building your Azure solutions. In Azure Identity 101, we learned about DefaultAzureCre

Azure Identity 202 - Environment Variables

Azure Identity is a library that abstracts away all of the Azure authentication complexities so you can focus on building your solutions. In Azure Identity 101, I introduced DefaultAzureCredential, w

Create a Golang CLI in Minutes with Cobra

I’m new to Golang and yesterday I attempted to create a Golang CLI. Here’s what I learned while getting it up and running on WSL. This took me a while. Hopefully with this post it only takes you a fe

Azure Identity 101 - DefaultAzureCredential

Azure Identity is a library that simplifies how applications authenticate with Azure services. The following code news up a KeyVault SecretClient and passes it a DefaultAzureCredential object, which

How to Update GitHub Topic Icon and Description

GitHub has Topics. For example, when you search for “Azure” on GitHub it displays the Azure topic: And when you click on “See topic” you can view the details of that topic: Azure recently rebranded

GitHub - Open in Visual Studio Code Insiders

VS Code just released an update that lets you embed an “Open in Visual Studio Code” button in your GitHub readme. It uses the Remote Repositories VS Code extension to directly open the repo without

Using GitHub CLI and Git in GitHub Codespaces

Update - New GitHub CLI Extension GitHub CLI 2.0 introduced CLI Extensions. I took a few minutes and threw all of the fixes below into a new extension called “Setup Git Credential Helper” and can be

Azure REST APIs in VS Code with Thunder Client

Thunder Client is a new REST client VS Code extension. It’s like Postman, but integrated into VS Code. I’d consider it an early preview and far from the feature richness and maturity of Postman, bu

McDonald's No Salt

I don’t eat at McDonald’s often, but when I do it’s sodium overload because me and my kid are use to a very low-sodium diet. While on a recent roadtrip we wanted to make a quick stop at McDonald’s. I

Azure REST APIs with Insomnia

Here’s how to call the Azure REST APIs with Insomnia - a modern lightweight REST API client. Azure SDKs Before we go too far into this Azure REST APIs for Insomnia post, I want to make sure that you

AirportParkingReservations.com Review

I recently and successfully used AirportParkingReservations.com to park my car at Master Park at SeaTac - so I thought I would write a quick note to let my readers know that it’s a good service and wo

Azure REST APIs with Postman (2021)

Every year or so I do an Azure REST APIs with Postman blog and video. It’s 2021 and Postman has changed quite a bit since my last update, so here’s the latest and greatest info. Azure SDKs Before we

Solution for Error validating token IDX10223

Got this error today when trying to set a secret with terraform. Error checking for presence of existing Secret keyvault.BaseClient#GetSecret: Failure responding to request: StatusCode=401 -- Original

WSL: Disable 'ls' folder highlighting

In WSL, when I ran ls I was getting this: The folders were highlighted, not matter what theme I changed Terminal to. I did a bunch of searching and found this: https://stackoverflow.com/a/43147778

How to play Ticket To Ride online with Steam

Ticket to Ride is the “go to” board game for me and my family. We’ve been playing for years and like it a lot because it is easy to learn, has a good amount of both luck and strategy, and it is fun fo

Solution to Power BI Desktop Missing Data Tab

When using Power BI Desktop you will see the “Data” tab on the left. When you create a new DirectQuery connection, the “Data” tab disappears. It wasn’t obvious to me that the “Data” tab disappeared

Introducing the New Azure SDKs

As of 11/4/2019, a few of the New Azure SDKs have hit General Availability! Read more here: Azure SDK Releases Azure has had a tremendous amount of growth in a very short amount of time. With that

I'm Hiring Devs

This is my 20th year as a software engineer and 15th year at Microsoft. I started in 1999 and worked in startups for 5 years. I then spent the next 12 years at Microsoft shipping products and services

Azure REST APIs with Postman (2019)

This content is outdated Please see the most up-to-date Azure REST APIs with Postman video and blog here: Latest Azure REST APIs with Postman Video: https://aka.ms/azurerestvideoLatest Azure REST APIs

Solution to 'The level of the video being input to the display is not correct and the calibration is unable to continue. The video signal appears to be configured for an HDTV and not for a display monitor. Please check the video adapter settings and make sure that they are not configured for an HDTV.'

I have a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 graphics card, which has one DisplayPort and one HDMI port. My NEC PA322UHD is connected via DisplayPort and my NEC EA275UHD is connected via HDMI. I got this error wh

Proactive Mentorship

The concept of proactive mentorship is all about encouraging both mentees and mentors to be assertive in asking for and offering help. I’m a big believer in mentorship because I’m a byproduct of many

Azure CLI: How to Supress Command Output

Update As of Azure CLI version 2.0.55 that was released on 01/15/2019, the --output param now supports none. So you can just use: az [command] --output none to suppress CLI output. You can review the

Azure REST APIs with Postman (Dec 2017)

This content is outdated Please see the most up-to-date Azure REST APIs with Postman video and blog here: Latest Azure REST APIs with Postman Video: https://aka.ms/azurerestvideoLatest Azure REST APIs

Azure IoT Edge with Azure Container Registry

You will likely want to run the Azure IoT Edge Runtime from your own Azure Container Registry (ACR). While this will be officially supported eventually, right now it is not, but there is a workaround.

Solution to Slow iPhone 6 with iOS 11

My iPhone 6 Plus was so slow it was unusable. Each tap would take 2-3 seconds and everything was sluggish. I deleted all apps I wasn’t using and turned off Background App Refresh but nothing helped.

Azure IoT Edge on Raspberry Pi

Azure IoT Edge Public Preview was just announced at Microsoft Connect. Here’s how to get it running on Raspberry Pi with Raspbian Stretch or Stretch Lite. Raspbian Jessie should work as well, but I h

How to Install Raspbian on Raspberry Pi

The very first thing you are going to want to do when you get your Raspberry Pi is install an OS. You have a few options, including Raspbian, a Debian based OS. Here’s how to get it installed. Purch

How to Change Raspberry Pi (Raspbian) Hostname

One of the first things you’ll want to do on a Raspberry Pi is change the hostname to something unique on your network. The default name is raspberrypi. You can change it via editing text files or th

.NET Core SDK Not Supported on ARM

The .NET Core SDK is not supported on ARM based devices such as the Raspberry Pi and the .NET Core team is not currently working on supporting it. As mentioned in the announcement, the SDK doesn’t fit

Why I Switched from Tile to Trackr

Update: 1/8/18: TrackR will now replace your first battery for FREE! I’ve been using TrackR for a couple of months now without issue. But I am surprised that the initial battery only lasted 2 months.

How to Change Your Raspberry Pi Password

You’ll want to make sure you don’t leave the default ‘pi’ user’s password to the default ‘raspberry’ setting. Here’s how to change it. Login to Pi Login to your Pi via Remote Desktop, SSH or via moni

How to SSH into a Raspberry Pi

You will often want to execute commands over SSH instead of having to Remote Desktop or access your Pi via a monitor and keyboard. Here’s how to get SSH setup on your Pi. Enable SSH Via Pi Terminal su

How to Run Docker on Raspberry Pi

It is very easy to get Docker running on a Raspberry Pi. Here’s a barebones post to get you started. You can execute the following commands over SSH or Remote Desktop. Install Docker curl -sSL https:

Solution to Unreachable Azure IoT Hub Endpoint

Azure IoT allows you to define “Endpoints” and send messages to them via “Routes”. Learn more about Endpoints and Routes here. I setup a Service Bus Queue Endpoint, but it was showing as “Unreachable”

How to Host Jenkins on Azure

6/29/17 Update: There’s a new Azure Solution Template for Jenkins here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-solution-template-for-jenkins-on-azure/ Here’s how to get Jenkins on Azu

Azure REST APIs with Postman (March 2017)

This content is outdated Please see the most up-to-date Azure REST APIs with Postman video and blog here: Latest Azure REST APIs with Postman Video: https://aka.ms/azurerestvideoLatest Azure REST APIs

How to Install git-ftp on Windows

I use git-ftp to deploy my hexo blog from a git repo to an FTP site. Getting it setup on Windows was non-trivial. Here’s how I got it working. 1. Install Chocolatey https://chocolatey.org/install 2.

How to Find Azure Regions with Lowest Latency

I recently gave a few presentations at Ignite New Zealand and used a couple of applications to help me find the lowest latency Azure Region from Auckland. You’ll want to know the top two regions, bec

Fiddler Extension Development Tips

I recently created a custom Fiddler extension called PowerBIFiddler. Here are a few tricks that I learned along the way. Re-use Default Fiddler Inspectors For PowerBI-Fiddler, I wanted to re-use the J

How to Monitor Azure IoT Hub Traffic

You have a couple different options to monitor your incoming and outgoing Azure IoT Hub traffic. Azure CLI IoT Extension See this ref for more info: https://aka.ms/iotcli https://docs.microsoft.com/e

Solution: Internal Error. The database platform service with type Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.Sql.SqlAzureV12DatabaseSchemaProvider is not valid. You must make sure the service is loaded, or you must provide the full type name of a valid database platform service. (Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.Sql)

If you get the following error, then you need to install BOTH x86 and x64 versions of the DAC Framework. I have only verified that this works with SQL Express 2014. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dow

Brother Printer Troubleshooting Tips

I have a Brother MFC-7840W printer and usually have issues with it. Here’s what has helped: Drivers 1. Install the full driver package from here: http://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadtop.aspx?c=us&a

Dremel Idea Builder 3D Priting Tips

Here are some tips for using the Dremel Idea Builder 3D Printer. I will keep this post updated with new tips as I learn more about the machine. A lot of these tips apply to any 3D printer, so it’s wor

How to Quickly Install Fusion 360

I’ve been installing Fusion 360 on a bunch of machines lately and am posting the direct link here so I can save some clicks. Here’s the direct link to install Fusion 360: http://www.appstreaming.autod

Autodesk Print Studio Download Link

[ Autodesk has a 3D printing prep product called Print Studio: A showcase of the Spark Print Preparation API’s power and utility. Print Studio quickly heals, prepares and prints 3D models optimized f

Announcing Open Live Writer

[ We were all disappointed when Windows Live Writer went into sustainment mode in 2012ish. Shortly after that, Scott and I talked about options. One option was to write a new tool and another was to s

REST API SDK Generators

I’m investigating automatic REST API SDK generation options and I’d like your help narrowing things down. We, at Power BI, have a REST/JSON API and our documentation is up on apiary, which supports “A

How to Change an Amazon.com Wish List Name

I found a usability bug in Amazon’s Wish List functionality…there’s no obvious way to change a Wish List name. After some searching I discovered that the “Edit list name” feature is in the “List Actio

Windows 10 Coming to Raspberry Pi 2!!

[I joined the Windows IoT team back in October and was thrilled to hear that we were working on getting Windows 10 on Raspberry Pi 2 – now I’m excited to share that news with you all. Like many other

[object Object]

I was getting this error when trying to install the UPWare software for my UP Plus 2 printer. “The setup files are corrupted. Please obtain a new copy of the program.” Solution: Download the file usi

How to run .NET on RaspberryPi with Mono

I’ve spent a good part of the last 15 years doing .NET development. When I joined IoT and started getting ramped up, I quickly discovered that it is largely an unmanaged non-.net non-Microsoft world.

[object Object]

I was running the following post-build scripts in VS2013… $(FrameworkDir)\installutil.exe /u "$(TargetPath)" $(FrameworkDir)\installutil.exe "$(TargetPath)" and was getting this error… "System.Securi

On Developer Productivity

The best developers optimize every aspect of their lives. Optimization is built into their DNA. We are always looking for ways to not repeat ourselves and strive to make everything we do faster. Ever

Goodbye Microsoft, Hello Starbucks

I have a ton of interests and not enough time to give them all enough attention to be an expert at anything. All of my interests have one thing in common - they all take lots of time and energy to pe

How I Manage a Zero Inbox at Microsoft

Many years ago, I resolved to get a handle on managing the plethora of email that is part of the Microsoft culture. Email is a very important communication mechanism – it’s just a messaging system -

Solution to: [A]System.Web.WebPages.Razor.Configuration.HostSection cannot be cast to [B]System.Web.WebPages.Razor.Configuration.HostSection. Type A originates from 'System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' in the context 'Default' at location 'C:\windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Web.WebPages.Razor\v4.0_2.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35\System.Web.WebPages.Razor.dll'. Type B originates from 'System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' in the context 'Default' at location 'C:\Users\jong\AppData\Local\Temp\Temporary ASP.NET Files\root\6f8c444d\f737f6f4\assembly\dl3\dde55404\3dbcbf4e_cab0ce01\System.Web.WebPages.Razor.dll'.

[A]System.Web.WebPages.Razor.Configuration.HostSection cannot be cast to [B]System.Web.WebPages.Razor.Configuration.HostSection. Type A originates from ‘System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=2.0.0.0, Cul

Use OWA when Outlook 2013 doesn't let you delete folders from Deleted Items. "Cannot delete this folder. Right-click the folder, and then click Properties to check your permissions for this folder. See the folder owner or your administrator to change your permissions." & "Outlook is synchronizing local changes made to items in this folder. You cannot remove this folder until the synchronization with the server is complete."

I just tried to clean up my Deleted Items folder in Outlook 2013 and got the two following errors: Cannot delete this folder. Right-click the folder, and then click Properties to check your permissi

YouTube is Advertising 480p Movies as HD

I purchased Argo (“HD”)from YouTube.com last night. I was expecting at least 720p since it was advertised as HD, but the highest resolution available was 480p. Here’s the definition of HD video from W

Solution: The Sony QuickTime plug-in was not able to initialize the QuickTime components on your system. It appears that QuickTime for Windows is not properly installed. QuickTime files cannot be read or written without a full installation of the QuickTime version 7.1.6 or greater components, including the authoring components.

I got this error today when I tried to drag a video file that was created with my iPhone 5 to Sony Movie Studio (Vegas) The Sony QuickTime plug-in was not able to initialize the QuickTime components

Netflix vs Redbox Instant - Netflix Wins

I’ve been an avid Netflix user for the last few months. I use it watch TV shows like White Collar and Lie to Me and my kid watches Thomas & Friends, Curious George, Go Diego Go, etc. I don’t usual

First look at the Intel IvyBridge Ultrabook

Intel just sent me an IvyBridge Ultrabook to try out and review as a development machine. It’s not a final machine and won’t ever be sold by Intel. The main purpose of the machine is to show what can

Microsoftie Perk #10 – Free Hardware

The is a post in a new blog series I’m writing called Microsoftie Perks Yes it is true. Earlier this week at the company meeting Ballmer gave all Microsofties new Windows 8 machines, a Surface RT and

Problem Microsoft ASP.NET Web API (RTM) references Newtonsoft.Json (>= 4.5.6) (AKA Json.net) Twitterizer 2 references Newtonsoft.Json (=4.5.5) You can’t have both Newtonsoft.Json (>= 4.5.6) AND

Microsoftie Perk #7 - Internal Library

The is a post in a blog series I’m writing called "Microsoftie Perks" Microsoft has an amazing technical library and an internal website to go with it. There’s also a very slick logistical s

Solution to the exception: "Updating 'Newtonsoft.Json 4.5.8' to 'Newtonsoft.Json 4.5.5' failed. Unable to find a version of 'Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client' that is compatible with 'Newtonsoft.Json 4.5.5'." when trying to install the twitterizer NuGet package in Visual Studio 2012

I have the RTM of Visual Studio installed, but the WebApi NuGet RTM build isn’t available yet. WebApi depends on Newtonsoft.Json and so does Twitterizer, but there is a version conflict. Unfortunatel

Microsoftie Perk #6 - Free Drinks

Free drinks is the one perk that most people will already know about, but since it is one of my favorites I couldn’t not include it in my Microsoftie perk list. I have heard that since day one Micro

Microsoftie Perk #2 - Exec Access

The is a post in a new blog series I’m writing called "Microsoftie Perks" Over the years I have sent many emails to Microsoft Execs and I always get a response. Whether I’m looking for money

Microsoftie Perk #1 - Dogfood

The is a post in a new blog series I’m writing called "Microsoftie Perks" It only took about 3 seconds for me to be introduced to the term “dogfood” when I started at Microsoft back in 2003.

Microsoftie Perks

This is the index post for my “Microsoftie Perks” posts. I will continue to update this post as I discover new perks. You can subscribe to my blog via RSS here or you can subscribe via email here to b

[object Object]

Could not find an implementation of the query pattern for source type ‘[type]’. ‘Where’ not found. Consider explicitly specifying the type of the range variable ‘[variableName]’ You get this error if

How to set HtmlAgilityPack Timeout

HtmlAgilityPack is a great HTML parser library that I often use for scraping. It does web requests on your behalf via the HtmlWeb().Load methods, but doesn’t expose the HttpWebRequest.Timeout property

[object Object]

There are many reasons why this error will appear. One of the less obvious reasons has to do with the “Target framework” project level setting. In my referenced project the “Target framework” was set

How to get a job at Microsoft

I’m a Principal Development Lead on MSN’s content management system called Bedrock. I’ve been at Microsoft for 9 years, 1 year as a contractor and 8 years as an FTE. But I’ve wanted to work for Micros

AT&T might be double billing you for data

AT&T might be doubling billing you for data. I was getting close to my 2GB limit this month, so turned off my 3G and Cellular Data. [![photo (1) (yes, my SSID is Willie, affectionately named after

[object Object]

I was migrating one field to another today and I got this exception when trying to delete the old field from the Fields tab: “Cannot delete this field because it is referenced by other objects”. Not

Blogger: How to create SEO friendly URLs

If you aren’t careful Blogger will automatically create SEO UNfriendly urls based on the post title. Read on to learn how to overcome this and create SEO friendly urls with Blogger. Fact #1: Search en

Kindle vs Nook

The is a post for anyone who is trying to decide between the Kindle Touch and the Nook Simple Touch eInk eReaders. I bought them both with my own money and spent a lot of time reading with both of the

How to quickly open a TFS New Query form

It’s pretty cumbersome to create a New Query in TFS. You have to open Team Explorer, Expand your Server node, Right click on Works Items and select New Query. Here’s how to quickly do all that with a

Solution to Visio 2010 crash on Windows 7

Don’t know why but the Bluetooth plugin that is installed by default is causing Visio to crash all the time. I disabled the plugin and haven’t had a crash since. UPDATE: If disabling doesn’t fix the p

Solution to the Dell Monitor Buzz

Not sure this will work for everyone, but it worked on my Dell P2411H I was getting this really loud buzzing sound from my monitor today…and only when I was viewing Excel docs fully maximized. I just

How to turn off a Sony IC Recorder

It took me forever to figure out how to turn off my Sony IC Recorder (ICD-SX46) 1. Slide the Hold slider to the hold position. 2. Hold down the “Stop” button. That’s it. Really simple. Really undiscov

TFS 2010: "Branch by Label" is back in the UI

TFS 2010 was released without “Branch by Label” in the UI (you had to do using TF.exe /branch /version:Lxxx). A hotfix was released on Aug 3 that fixes that problem. (details http://support.microsoft.

GEMPLUS GPR400 Driver

Had a tough time finding the right driver for my old GEMPLUS GPR400 Smart Card reader. This is what I found. It is for Windows 2000 and for the GemPC400, but it seems to work. http://support.gemalto.c

How to Un "Ignore" a thread in Outlook 2010

Sometimes you click “Ignore” by mistake. “Ignore” is just a rule that auto sends the thread to Deleted Items. So, just find the item in deleted items, select it and click the “Ignore” button again.

Manage SkyDrive from Windows Explorer

Gladient has a Free Starter Edition of their product that allows you to do things like bulk move files and other things we take for granted in Windows Explorer http://www.gladinet.com/p/download_start

[object Object]

[ You likely get the exception "Connections to SQL Server files (*.mdf) require SQL Server Express 2005 to function properly.��� when you are trying to add a Database file to a project and don’t

[object Object]

[ This exception: “This server version is not supported. Only servers up to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 are supported” Probably means that you have SQL Server 2008 installed and don’t have Visual Studio

Solution to an Unresponsive Zune Pad

The Zune Pad on my 80GB Zune was unresponsive for a day or so and a normal reset or restore didn’t work because they require the Zune pad to be working. This worked for me, give it a try: Plug Zune

How to Send a Text Message from ATT.com

I spent about 20 mins with ATT technical support today trying to figure out how to send a Text from their website. Apparently they did some website updates and the “Send Text Message” option is buried

Zoom H4n Review

I picked up the Zoom H4n not too long ago for my concert and rehearsal recordings. While I’m really happy with the quality of the recordings there are some significant design flaws that prevent it fr

How to Create a New Category in Outlook

Creating a new category in Outlook isn’t very intuitive. Right click on the item you want to categorize Select “Categorize” Select “All Categories” Click the “New…” button Enter the Name of

Mobile Browser Detection in ASP.NET

Before last week the only two viable Mobile Browser Detection options were: WURFL – Great for non-.NET solutions. .NET APIs lack support2. DeviceAtlas – Great for .NET solutions, but it’s starts at

Mobile Web Design Book References

I just finished Cameron Moll’s “Mobile Web Design” book. Not only is it a great book…short, sweet and comprehensive, but it has a lot of great references. I figured I’d help others find the references

Hidden Facebook Status Codes

I installed win7 today and had to post about it… Facebook converts <3 to a heart…how cute. What other hidden Facebook codes are out there?

Delete All Outlook RSS Feeds

My Outlook RSS Feeds were in a really funky state this morning. I had to create a new profile and I had RSS Sync enabled. When that is the case Outlook re-adds all Feeds that you have ever added to th

[object Object]

Got this error when logging into a machine that I hadn’t touched in months: “the security database on the server does not have a computer account for this workstation trust relationship” Not exactly s

PDC Wrapup - My fav sessions

PDC was great this year! Here’s a quick list of my favorite sessions of technologies and products that Social Bookmarking will use soon… Stuff we’ll use this year: Velocity ADO.NET Data Services Vis

New MSDN & TechNet Search URLs

Along with all the other new features of our recent MSDN & TechNet search release we also created “search” sub-domains for both of the sites. The new URLs are: http://search.msdn.com and http://se

Backslash key on Blackjack II

The backslash key isn’t on the default key layout on the Blackjack. Just hold down the “sym” button and a list of symbols (special characters) will appear. Jon

LINQ TO SQL Designer not updating Codefile Fix

I’m not sure exactly what leads to this issue, but in 2008 SP1 the designer doesn’t always update the codefile after dragging from Server Explorer. Hit F7 from the designer and move (or add) the “usin

Web Unit Tests Without HttpContext

Phil Haack created a very useful HttpSimulator to assist in unit testing code that accesses the HttpContext. I was up an running in a few minutes. Here’s a sample that worked for me. [TestMethod] publ

SilverLight for Linux

SilverLight 1.0 was released today and Microsoft confirmed that they are working with Novell to produce a version of it for Linux. Great news!

Binding Complex Properties to GridView

Binding simple (int/string, etc) type properties to a TemplateColumn in a GridView is easy, but when you need to bind the Grid to an object that has properties that aren’t simple types it gets a bit m

ATOM 1.0 Schema

I just spent a while searching for the ATOM 1.0 schema definition. This looks like the most human readable form out there. http://www.atomenabled.org/developers/syndication/ HTH, Jon

Solution to jagged images in IE at 1600x1200

I just got a new laptop and am running it at 1600x1200.  With IE I was getting jagged images, so I pinged the internal IE discussions group and got this response from Tony Schriener. It sounds like t

Page Cannot Be Displayed error in IIS

The “page cannot be displayed” issue in IE could be many things. First turn off the Show Friendly Error Message option in IE. Then check event viewer. And if all else fails recreate the website in IIS

AJAX Control Extender Project Template Install

If you are wondering where the “Atlas Control Project” template disappeared to with the latest beta, you can find install instructions for the template here: http://ajax.asp.net/ajaxtoolkit/Walkthroug

Slow Jerky Cursor on Virtual Machine?

If you have a slow jerky cursor (mouse) on a Virtual Machine it probably means that you need to install Virtual Machine Additions. How to install Virtual Machine Additions on a virtual machine http://

JavaScript Lint

My team uses many static analysis tools to check for common coding mistakes and coding standards. I recently stubbled upon JavaScriptLint which we’ll start using to analize our JavaScript code base, w

What is your dream dev portal?

What features would your dream dev portal have? Blogs, technologies, products, reviews, articles? Does the customizable experience at Live.com give you what you need or would you use a site that pushe

What's your homepage?

I’m a dev lead in a group that is part of MSDN and TechNet. I’m curious what you (the IT Pro/Dev community) think of the MSDN/TechNet homepages and how we could make them better. It’d be cool if you c

ASP.NET Videos

Lots of great ASP.NET videos up on www.ASP.net http://www.asp.net/learn/videos/default.aspx?tabid=63

Learning Platform v3 is live!

The project I’ve been working on since I joined IDEO last October has finally shipped! Learning Platform v3 can be found at http://learning.microsoft.com/ The Learning Platform allows you to Purchas

Cons of Response.Redirect(url, false)

The second parameter overload of Response.Redirect is nice because it doesn’t call Response.End, which is responsible for throwing the ThreadAbortException. BUT… The drawback to using this is that the

VSTS Performance Tools

Check out Ian Huff’s intro video about VSTS Performance Tools. It’s a great overview and covers just about everything you need to know about them.

Convert.ChangeType for Nullable types

Convert.ChangeType doesn’t support nullable types. Peter Johnson has a post which shows how to test and cast from object to Nullable types. The can obviously be extended with generics. http://aspallia

Amazon's Mechanical Turk

Let’s say an algorithm does what we need it to do really well 90% of the time. We have a choice to build the app to handle the other 10% which could come at substantial cost, or introduce a human work

Mix Day 1 Part 2

**Overview of Expression - Brad Becker **Splitview and XamlPad are included in the WinFx SDK. You can use them to create the Xaml by hand, but I would stay away if you can and go with Expression! It

Mix Day 1 - Part 1

My day started off by having a quick bite with Doug Seven of DotNetJunkies and SqlJunkies fame. Amazingly enough we work in the same building @ ms, but have never met - it’s cool b/c we both started c

Office 12 - What do you think?

Just installed Office12 yesterday…I know a bit late, but I’ve been working like crazy lately and just starting to get caught back up on what else is happening in this world ;) Wow - it is slick. I’m l

Mix it up!

Just found out that I’ll be hanging in LV for a few days next week at Mix06. For those of you that can’t go - what sessions would you like me to attend on your behalf? Here’s a link to the sessions: h

WirDirStat - Disk Usage Utility

I ran out of disk space today and did a quick search for disk usage analysis tools. With WirDirStat I was able to find out quickly that my tempdb ldf file was 27 GB. http://windirstat.sourceforge.net/

VSS File Paths

Here’s how to get the full path to a file in VSS. Right click on file and select Properties from context menu.2. Click Report Button3. Click Preview Button4. The “Preview File Properties Report” d

Outlook 2003 Add-in for XP Events

In the process of building a COM Add-in for Outlook I ran into the issue of events not being fired with XP. I needed to capture the ItemAdd, ItemSend and SelectionChange events, which his was working

VSS Cloaking

I finally learned what the cloaking feature of VSS does and wanted to share. If you cloak a folder, you are marking it as a folder that you do not want to include in a recursive get. For example, lets

Name That Control

What do naming convention do you prefer when naming controls and why? Hungarian: lblUsername Pascal: UsernameLabel or Username Camel: username Other?

Beyond Compare

I am amazed at how many developers are still using windiff or VSS diff tool. Beyond Compare is great tool that I use almost daily. It allows you to diff files and folders using the context menu of Win