I have been toying with the idea of purchasing a 30" display for my Mac Pro. I even went so far as to do some bidding on eBay. I then got the bright idea to purchase a second 20" display. I was after all, primarily interested in increasing my viewing real-estate. As a developer you just can’t have to much screen. So I purchased a second 20" Apple display on eBay. The price was definitely right. My rational is, I can always sell both and get a 30" display. The second monitor arrived today and it is in perfect condition. The packaging was like original. The seller will definitely get a very positive comment from me.

The two monitors look great, and the added real-estate is very nice. My first impression is this is a great decision. However, I need a few days for the newness to ware off. Perhaps after one or two development projects I’ll know if two 20" are better then one 30".  Wonder how two 30" displays… that would definitely be over the top.

Looks like Writely, but now its Google Docs. It’s been some time since I checked my Google mail box and poked around their site. To my surprise I found Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Looks like I can delete Microsoft office from my Laptop. Well perhaps not. Without an internet connection I would be out of luck for a word processor or spreadsheet. But then again… not having to purchase upgrades is appealing.

This entry was posted via Google Docs… how cool is that.

I just completed reading two book. Only one was on my reading list of October 21, 2006. From my list, I completed  "Understanding AJAX: Using JavaScript to Create Rich Internet Applications" by Joshua Eichorn. Overall I thought this was a really good book. I only wish that it was not so PHP orientated. Now don’t get me wrong, I like and use PHP. However, my principle focus in reading this book was AJAX.

The second book was "The .NET Developer’s Guide to Directory Services Programming" by Joe Kaplan, Ryan Dunn. Now this was a tough read. Many a day I wanted to just chuck the book and move on to a more interesting topic. But I resisted temptation and made an end of it. It’s really a great book and most definetly a definitive text on the subject. Persevering through was a great learning experience. However, I must admit I now  seriously question the sanity of Microsoft developers who created the Directory Services monstrosity. On my to-do list is the read ing of at least one more book on the subject.

I am currently reading "Head First Object-Oriented Analysis & Design" by Brett D. McLaughlin, Gary Pollice, and David West. It’s not on my reading list. However, after the Services Programming book I need something light and quirky. The Head First series from O’Reilly definitely qualifies as quirky. Of course I mean that in only the most flattering terms.

Instead of placing controls on an .aspx page, I tend to create them in a C# class. For me, this architecture not only facilitates code reuse, but makes complex web applications easy to manage. One aspect of this architecture that is always problematic is event handling. My latest project was no exception. Its really a memory issue. That is my memory. Like I can’t remember from project to project the correct C# syntax.

The answer is really simple. Lets say you have a control with an ID of "ConcelNewRecord". When clicked, you want to cancel a pending action. Just code the control "Click" property as follows;

CancelNewRecord.Click +=  new EventHandler(this.CancelNewRecord_Click);

You will also need to code the event actions, e.g.;

protected void CancelNewRecord_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        LinkButton lb = (LinkButton)sender;
        Panel Panel1 = (Panel)    lb.Parent.Parent.Parent.Parent;
        Panel1.Visible = false;
        lb = (LinkButton)Panel1.FindControl("NewRecord");
        if(lb != null)
            lb.Visible = true;
    }

The above code is encapsulated in a class that is instantiated from an aspx.cs page.

https://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-3168733759916419298&hl=en

Commercial for a new cell phone from Apple by award winning filmmaker Christopher DeSantis with design by Gregory DeSantis.

I started having problems with my Mac Pro Superdrive. While attempting to burn CD’s it would reject the media. It started out rejecting every 4th CD. Then it rejected all media both blank and recorded. I called Apple expecting they would send me a replacement drive. No luck. Instead they had me power off the system disconnect all devices and restart, delete the preference file, restart from the OS X DVD and reset drive permissions and test the system. As impressive as these actions sound, they had no effect. I just wanted a replacement drive. The last straw was a request to reinstall the operating system.

I have spent to much time getting this system set up just like I want it and did not want to face a reinstall. So I purchased two Pioneer DVR-111D drives from newegg.com for a little less then $80 including shipping. Installed both tonight, and problem solved. Have noticed that the new drives significantly outperform the original. Perhaps that because it was faulty … or the Pioneer is a better performer.

The original drive was a Sony DW-150A. Its one of those you can reportedly hack for better performance. From my experience, don’t bother with the hack just replace it with the Pioneer for $32 plus shipping.

Its November already. Where did the year go?

Changing banks is such a pain… For the past few years I have been a Bank of America customer. There on line banking was, in my opinion the best. What made it so good was its timeliness. It made money management easy. However, all that has changed. Now, when there system is not down, the data is old and incomplete. My multiple attempts to resolve instances of missing data were met with uncaring and inept responses. It seemed like a Turing test, and Bank of America failed … they lack even nominal human intelligence.   

Its my observation, that Bank of America’s customer service deteriorated as they acquired other banks. They just got to big to care … so they can eat my dust as I move on.

• Pro C# 2005 and the .NET 2.0 Platform, Third Edition by Andrew Troelsen (954/954) FINISHED
• Programming C# : Building .NET Applications with C# by Jesse Liberty (612/612) FINISHED
• Pro ASP.NET 2.0 in C# 2005 by Matthew MacDonald and Mario Szpuszta (605/1210
• Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 Core Reference by Dino Esposito (100/703)
• Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 Applications: Advanced Topics by Dino Esposito (50/629)
• Head First Design Patterns by Elisabeth Freeman, Eric Freeman, Bert Bates, and Kathy Sierra (206/629)
• CLR via C#, Second Edition by Jeffrey Richter (648/648) FINISHED
• Design Patterns in C# by Steven John Metsker (12/430)
• Head Rush Ajax by Brett McLaughlin, (405/405) FINISHED
• Beginning Ajax with ASP.NET by Wallace B. McClure, Scott Cate, Paul Glavich, Craig Shoemaker (160/362)
• Understanding Ajax by Joshua Eichorn (59/330)
• Ajax, Creating Web Pages with Asynchronous JavaScript and XML by Edmond Woychowsky (0/359)

So much to read and so little time…

I successfully installed Windows XP in Parallels on my Mac Pro. All seems well. I installed NOD32 anti-virus software, Microsoft Office 2003, and Visual Studio 2005. The performance of Widows XP in Parallels is spectacular. Its significantly better then what I experience on my Compaq at work. I created a new database in SQL Express and ran script to create a series to tables and associated stored procedures. The process was so fast, I thought it failed. No sooner had I taken my finger of the mouse button and it was done. My first thought was "What went wrong?". I opened the database and to my surprise all the tables and stored procedures where in place. Visual Studio 2005 performance is nothing short of spectacular.

I just received a 3.2G workstation at work. I wonder how Visual Studio 2005 will perform on this new box compared to the Mac Pro.