Entries for Rossj

Yet another Microsoft video site. [Yet another Microsoft video site.]

Rossj — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:34:24 GMT

Irascian put me onto this site (through the DailyDotNetShow) which appears to be Soapbox but re-branded.

Is Soapbox doing so badly that there is an attempt to re-brand it? Why is the branding not 'Live'? If it is an educational resource, why is it not in one of the (far too many) marketing sites such as C8/9/10?

in reply to Yet another Microsoft video site.

Feedback for the ASP.Net MVC guys [Feedback for the ASP.Net MVC guys]

Rossj — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:40:55 GMT

I've just been reading this, and although I haven't had time to play with the MVC stuff yet it has me a little worried - can anyone who has played with it comment on their thoughts with it so far?

From the article wrote:
Building models with LINQ is death by a thousand cuts. PAINFUL.
...
If your app doesn’t fit the square peg, you get to chisel it out with a spork.

Wonder if there is anything about MVC at HHH?

in reply to Feedback for the ASP.Net MVC guys

Microsoft licenses Flash for WM [Microsoft licenses Flash for WM]

Rossj — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:19:57 GMT

Well.

I never saw this coming, I guess Silverlight mobile is still a way off yet. Either that or they are waiting until WM has a decent browser - we'll see.

in reply to Microsoft licenses Flash for WM

Hobby projects? [Hobby projects?]

Rossj — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:10:48 GMT

Anybody working on any interesting* hobby projects at the moment? I am betting everybody has something going on outside of work hours ... come on spill the beans .. whatcha working on?

Learning UIKit for iPhone
Building RossBot with Python
Yet another recommendation engine in C#

* Qualifier to exclude Blowdart.

in reply to Hobby projects?

Nine guy icon? [Nine guy icon?]

Rossj — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:47:49 GMT

Anyone got a nice version of a 9guy icon? Pref in PNG with transparency, vector would be better yet. Anyone?

in reply to Nine guy icon?

Where is XP SP3? [Where is XP SP3?]

Rossj — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:39:01 GMT

It's all gone quiet - anyone have any more information on release dates etc?

in reply to Where is XP SP3?

Twitter as a message bus. [Twitter as a message bus.]

Rossj — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:09:10 GMT

Yes, yes, reliability, I know, I know. Hence the use of the word bus and not queue, everyone knows you wait ages for a bus and then they turn up three at a time.

But, inspired by this (london bridge twitters when it opens, and includes the name of the boat) I thought it would be pretty cool to build a little app that sits on my home PC (I mean Mac) and looks out for tweets from me. That way I can find out, by sending a quick tweet, how many mails I have waiting, I could tell it to download something for me (in case I am on my iPhone) and could get notifications back based on the success or failure.

I've only just started but I've got the basics in place, and it should be pretty flexibuble, but ...

..to get to the point, twitter is pretty flaky, and I don't want to set up my own server so apart from Twitter and Pownce, any other services of a similar natures that have a little more uptime?

Oh, and any more ideas for what I could automate at home through twitter would be welcome ;)

Oh. Jodrell bank twitters too...

in reply to Twitter as a message bus.

Processing. [Processing.]

Rossj — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:56:16 GMT

I know we've all seen graphics synced with audio before, but for some reason this seemed a little special. I love the way the lyrics are integrated.

There is a bit more info here.

Anybody used Processing before? had any good results?

in reply to Processing.

Do you have an Amazon wishlist? [Do you have an Amazon wishlist?]

Rossj — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:12:52 GMT

Anyone got a wishlist?

I had one, but it just got emptied ;) but I just thought I'd check and see if anyone else has one and actually keeps it up to date.

One of my friends had all the adobe books in his wishlist bought for him (by Adobe) and shipped - which is pretty cool.

in reply to Do you have an Amazon wishlist?

Twitter borked? [Twitter borked?]

Rossj — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:08:42 GMT

Is twitter borked for anyone else? I see only my last post and none of the people I am following .... is it dead (at last)?

in reply to Twitter borked?

For Blowdart [For Blowdart]

Rossj — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:15:34 GMT

You'll be wanting this (visited in FF and couldn't install unknown plugin) -

Server Error in '/' Application.

Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: s

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: s

Source Error:


An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the
current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of
the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:

[ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: s]
   System.IO.StringReader..ctor(String s) +2762331
   Cardspace_Introduction.Reading.signin2.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\Documents and Settings\barryd\My Documents\Conference Presentations\An Introduction to Windows CardSpace\Cardspace Introduction\Cardspace Introduction\Reading\signin2.aspx.cs:27
   System.Web.Util.CalliHelper.EventArgFunctionCaller(IntPtr fp, Object o, Object t, EventArgs e) +15
   System.Web.Util.CalliEventHandlerDelegateProxy.Callback(Object sender, EventArgs e) +33
   System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e) +99
   System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive() +47
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +1436

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:2.0.50727.1433; ASP.NET Version:2.0.50727.1433

in reply to For Blowdart

Microsoft announcement [Microsoft announcement]

Rossj — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:10:09 GMT

Apparently we're waiting on a Microsoft announcement - I wonder what it'll be. Anyone have any idea what it is?

The article wrote:

will make a "significant company announcement" within hours, the firm announced today. Without providing details, the software developer notes that it will hold a mid-day conference and makes clear that the news is unrelated to its attempted acquisition of Yahoo

If they're buying Apple I am going to cry :|

in reply to Microsoft announcement

Funny XML thing I saw today.... [Funny XML thing I saw today....]

Rossj — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:02:32 GMT

<Element xmlns="value">value</Element>

I don't know why it was done like this (to stop XmlDocument/Xpath)? But it made me smile none the less.

in reply to Funny XML thing I saw today....

WDS - Doesn't really behave like this - does it? [WDS - Doesn't really behave like this - does it?]

Rossj — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:03:02 GMT

Yes, I know it is Slashdot, and I know it sounds a little out there - but this isn't how Vista search behaves is it? http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=446922&cid=22350458 -- any feedback from Paolo?

in reply to WDS - Doesn't really behave like this - does it?

Jamie - Comic life for Windows.. [Jamie - Comic life for Windows..]

Rossj — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:56:32 GMT

.. did I forget to tell you about it? http://plasq.com/comiclife-win

in reply to Jamie - Comic life for Windows..

RSS Feed is broken. [RSS Feed is broken.]

Rossj — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:52:15 GMT

in reply to RSS Feed is broken.

Diplomacy from Uncle Bill [Diplomacy from Uncle Bill]

Rossj — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:23:19 GMT

Sometimes, it doesn't hurt to be honest, but this took my surprise - maybe we can stop all arguing about it now.

Do you think he minds being called Uncle Bill?

in reply to Diplomacy from Uncle Bill

C9 email bug [C9 email bug]

Rossj — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:14:10 GMT

Anyone?

When I send an email, it shows me (on C9) my current address as per my profile.

When the email is actually received the reply-to is an old email address that was changed 4 years ago and is no longer active.

Any chance of a fix?

in reply to C9 email bug

Rails is a ghetto... [Rails is a ghetto...]

Rossj — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 17:18:05 GMT

A lot of this guys rant doesn't read too well - not being a big fan of foul language - although I got his point, but one thing I noticed that sort of stood out below..

The article wrote:
I believe, if I could point at one thing it’s the following statement on 2007-01-20 to me by David H. creator of Rails:
(15:11:12) DHH: before fastthread we had ~400 restarts/day (15:11:22) DHH: now we have perhaps 10 (15:11:29) Zed S.: oh nice (15:11:33) Zed S.: and that's still fastcgi right?
Notice how it took me a few seconds to reply. This one single statement basically means that we all got duped. The main Rails application that DHH created required restarting ~400 times/day. That’s a production application that can’t stay up for more than 4 minutes on average.

Every 4 minutes? WTF?!?!

I know people complain that Rails can't scale, but that is pretty painful. Mind you, at least now they only have to restart 10 times a day.

in reply to Rails is a ghetto...

Don't do drugs.. [Don't do drugs..]

Rossj — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:03:47 GMT

.. just use this instead.

Glad to see my tax money going to something that most kids who drive and take drugs probably won't see - not that I know a better way of stopping them :(

in reply to Don't do drugs..

The really cool thing about iTunes.. [The really cool thing about iTunes..]

Rossj — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 13:12:11 GMT

.. is that the music/movies are pretty much irrelevant in terms of what it provides, now that you can buy iTunes stuff via a Touch or iPhone, Forbes thinks Apple will be going for cardless/cashless payments at Starbucks (my worst nightmare, I'll be broke before the end of the year). I guess they could stretch this ever further, public transport would be my personal fave - no more arguing with the bus driver ..

So that makes, movies, music, games, iPhone apps, and coffee. I wonder if they do take this approach, how far they could take it given that several use cases for Bluetooth always seem to be focussed on cardless/cashless payment and 'preference' info. Whilst BT is obviously capable the device that is prevalent enough always seems to be missing.

Of course it isn't without its downside

The article wrote:
U.S. Patent Application #20070291710 describes a device that also would keep tabs on where a user shops and what he or she likes to buy.

in reply to The really cool thing about iTunes..

Call centres [Call centres]

Rossj — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:58:02 GMT

No really. what's the deal?

I can't think of anything more frustrating that "Sorry, we're very busy - please try later" followed by a hang-up. Worse because I was expecting an engineer at my hour 4 hours ago and I'd quite like to go outside ... grrrr.

Now I am just waiting for the 5pm call that he can't make it can I re-arrange for January. Sigh.

in reply to Call centres

Hangover cures.... [Hangover cures....]

Rossj — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:45:32 GMT

.. anyone? Anything considered right now.

in reply to Hangover cures....

Me and Chuck Norris... [Me and Chuck Norris...]

Rossj — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:35:33 GMT

.. have nothing in common.

Just got back from Costco where I was unlucky enough to be within spitting distance of an armed robbery. With my 8 year old daughter in tow.

I'd love to tell you that I took one of the guys out with a chuck norris style flying roundhouse and the other fled - but in reality I picked up my daughter and ran - which is without doubt the most sensible thing I could have done. Fortunately my daughter didn't really get a chance to see what happened except for hearing the money case drop to the ground.

Still shaky and waiting for the police to call.

in reply to Me and Chuck Norris...

0x80131506 [0x80131506]

Rossj — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 10:30:33 GMT

0x80131506 (Fatal Execution Error) is the new bane of my life. We downloaded the hotfix and it wouldn't install on .Net 2.0 SP1.

It'd be great if we could replicate this everywhere, unfortunately the software runs without problem on 50% of the machines we try it on.

Not expecting a response I just felt the need to rant.

in reply to 0x80131506