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10/11/07--19:32: New ASP.NET MVC Framework (chan 1565489)

I've talked to a few people about this over the past few weeks, I am tremendously excited about where this will be going. Scott Hanselman has posted a link to some presentations on this. Over the past few years I've written 5-6 of this type of framework (MVC / MVP based, URL redirection etc...nowhere near as complete or elegant of course!) and ASP.NET adding this type of functionality is a massive move forward. Of course this is only the beginning!




10/18/07--19:52: Geeky obsession...Pens...no, really! (chan 1565489)

I came across this post where someone discovered that their favorite pen was discontinued and had to find an alternative one...I don't know why but it never occurred to me that other people had this preference. For the last 17 years I've had a favorite pen...only one type which I always end up drifting back to, the Pilot Precise V-5  ; below...apparently the #1 Rolling Ball pen in America, I'm so common!



Stupid post I know but it just never entered my head that:

1. this was quite such a preference for me. I mean, 17 years, the most committed relationship I've ever had is to a pen!

2. other people had similar thoughts.

Oh, and for the record I'm currently using a Muji Black Ink Aluminium Barrelled Rollerball (great, very fine pen and it looks uber-geeky)...because the 12 Pentel Precise Pens I had in my office have been 'relocated'...Oh, and I occasionally veer to a Fisher Bullet Space Pen for a few months; I've lost about 10 of these things...but being able to keep a pen in your pocket which never leaks and is really compact was too compelling when I was on the road.




11/02/07--21:07: You ain't seen me right! (chan 1565489)

Not really back but this was just too great a link to miss, the page is called '25 Photographs Taken at the Exact Right Time' and they're not kidding!
Anyway, I'm on the path I want to be and I'll get back to this blog soon...(cryptic enough for ya? ) 
P.S., the title is a reference to this show...just realized that non brits wouldn't get it...




03/18/08--21:41: End of a long day... (chan 1565489)

Well I've been working (with numerous others...well regularly annoying them throughout the day) for a release in then next short while onto Codeplex. Takes a surprising amount of work, but I'm getting excited to see the reaction of the community (one into which I'm slowly filtering back in to).  Anyway, I'm off to bed as I have to get up early and clean before my new cleaner comes (don't ask...I'm not a tidy person). I also wanted to give a shout out to someone who has worked on this release way before I arrived, Bertrand Le Roy and his blog. Your patience with an insufferable frantic scotsman (namely moi) has realy been appreciated!

Now, I leave you with a song (and inducement for people to actually visit the blog proper!) Oldish song by The Postal Service, Such Great Heights...which I think is truly lovely...

 






03/21/08--07:54: The ASP.NET MVC Framework Source goes live on Codeplex! (chan 1565489)

This is the first big thing I worked on in the ASP.NET team, the release of the ASP.NET MVC Source Code to Codeplex. Scott Guthrie announced this  a few minutes ago and as he says it's the first of a number we have planned over the next while.
What is surprising is how much time and how many people it takes to pull a release like this together...but I really think it's the start of something really amazing and to quote a corny phrase 'you ain't seen nothing yet!'




05/13/08--19:52: The best compression software on the planet - 7-Zip (chan 1565489)

The first bit of software I install, 7-Zip, it's free, supports the majority of the compression formats you'll ever need (including unpacking MSIs which can be handy!). Oh, and it comes with source (which is cool if you're a compression freak like me...)




05/25/08--20:01: Better than Darkroom...Q10 battle of the minimalist text editors (chan 1565489)

There's been a bit of a meme flying around over the past little while about minimalist text editors, starting with the Mac app Writeroom. The concept of these applications is that when you're writing you need as little distraction as possible...I've totally hooked into this concept as I find myself spending more time fighting with Word than actually writing anything (paragraph formatting, fonts, text colors, margins...all distractions). The most popular of this genere of programs for PC is Darkroom, written in .NET 2.0 and well, it does the job. Personally I found it a bit slow and it just felt klunky to me...so I've been on a hunt for an alternative. For a while the most promising challenger was jDarkroom which, as the name suggests, is a port of Darkroom in Java...it's pretty nice...but it requires an install of Java and for me it occasionally 'forgets' settings.

Anyway, long story short I came across Q10, no idea what technology it uses, but it's fast, low footprint and works flawlessly (it also has a spellchecker version and the  option of a small infobar at the bottom of the screen). It's perfect...and is now my editor of choice.




05/26/08--12:24: The best URL Shortener...is.gd (chan 1565489)

Another in an endless series of posts; as I'm reengaging with the developer world I'm starting to find more and more great software.
I've been Twittering a fair bit (both in the literal and figurative senses, you can follow me here) and needed to find a good URL shortening service (as Twitter posts are limited to 140 characters) and have been using the Twhirl client to do this. Twhirl includes some URL Shortening functionality within the client and by virtue of being the shortest and fastest to respond my favorite is is.gd.




05/28/08--22:00: Sysinternals kickin' it old skool! (chan 1565489)

I am so tragically unhip...I know! Anyway I thought this was remarkably useful, a simple way to download the Sysinternals tools without having to trudge through a webpage...a retweet from Jon (no relation) Galloway.  Zoomit is worth the price of admission alone for presenters!

UPDATE: What I didn't know is that in Win2008 / Vista you can do this:

\\live.sysinternals.com\tools\procexp.exe and run the tool directly from the web...now that's useful!




05/31/08--22:49: Visual Studio 2008 PowerCommands (chan 1565489)

I keep losing these, the Visual Studio 2008 PowerCommands, these are one of my essential installs for VS 2008, from the site:

Below is a list of the included in PowerCommands for Visual Studio 2008 version 1.1. Refer to the Readme document for additional command details and screenshots.
Enable/Disable PowerCommands in Options dialog
This feature allows you to select which commands to enable in the Visual Studio IDE. Point to the Tools menu, then click Options. Expand the PowerCommands options, then click Commands. Check the commands you would like to enable.
Note: All power commands are initially defaulted Enabled.
Format document on save / Remove and Sort Usings on save
The Format document on save option formats the tabs, spaces, and so on of the document being saved. It is equivalent to pointing to the Edit menu, clicking Advanced, and then clicking Format Document. The Remove and sort usings option removes unused using statements and sorts the remaining using statements in the document being saved.
Note: The Remove and sort usings option is only available for C# documents.
Note: Format document on save and Remove and sort usings both are initially defaulted OFF.
Clear All Panes
This command clears all output panes. It can be executed from the button on the toolbar of the Output window.
Copy Path
This command copies the full path of the currently selected item to the clipboard. It can be executed by right-clicking one of these nodes in the Solution Explorer:
The solution node; A project node; Any project item node; Any folder.
Email CodeSnippet
To email the lines of text you select in the code editor, right-click anywhere in the editor and then click Email CodeSnippet.
Insert Guid Attribute
This command adds a Guid attribute to a selected class. From the code editor, right-click anywhere within the class definition, then click Insert Guid Attribute.
Show All Files
This command shows the hidden files in all projects displayed in the Solution Explorer when the solution node is selected. It enhances the Show All Files button, which normally shows only the hidden files in the selected project node.
Undo Close
This command reopens a closed document , returning the cursor to its last position. To reopen the most recently closed document, point to the Edit menu, then click Undo Close. Alternately, you can use the CtrlShiftZ shortcut.
To reopen any other recently closed document, point to the View menu, click Other Windows, and then click Undo Close Window. The Undo Close window appears, typically next to the Output window. Double-click any document in the list to reopen it.
Collapse Projects
This command collapses a project or projects in the Solution Explorer starting from the root selected node. Collapsing a project can increase the readability of the solution. This command can be executed from three different places: solution, solution folders and project nodes respectively.
Copy Class
This command copies a selected class entire content to the clipboard, renaming the class. This command is normally followed by a Paste Class command, which renames the class to avoid a compilation error. It can be executed from a single project item or a project item with dependent sub items.
Paste Class
This command pastes a class entire content from the clipboard, renaming the class to avoid a compilation error. This command is normally preceded by a Copy Class command. It can be executed from a project or folder node.
Copy References
This command copies a reference or set of references to the clipboard. It can be executed from the references node, a single reference node or set of reference nodes.
Paste References
This command pastes a reference or set of references from the clipboard. It can be executed from different places depending on the type of project. For CSharp projects it can be executed from the references node. For Visual Basic and Website projects it can be executed from the project node.
Copy As Project Reference
This command copies a project as a project reference to the clipboard. It can be executed from a project node.
Edit Project File
This command opens the MSBuild project file for a selected project inside Visual Studio. It combines the existing Unload Project and Edit Project commands.
Open Containing Folder
This command opens a Windows Explorer window pointing to the physical path of a selected item. It can be executed from a project item node
Open Command Prompt
This command opens a Visual Studio command prompt pointing to the physical path of a selected item. It can be executed from four different places: solution, project, folder and project item nodes respectively.
Unload Projects
This command unloads all projects in a solution. This can be useful in MSBuild scenarios when multiple projects are being edited. This command can be executed from the solution node.
Reload Projects
This command reloads all unloaded projects in a solution. It can be executed from the solution node.
Remove and Sort Usings
This command removes and sort using statements for all classes given a project. It is useful, for example, in removing or organizing the using statements generated by a wizard. This command can be executed from a solution node or a single project node.
Extract Constant
This command creates a constant definition statement for a selected text. Extracting a constant effectively names a literal value, which can improve readability. This command can be executed from the code editor by right-clicking selected text.
Clear Recent File List
This command clears the Visual Studio recent file list. The Clear Recent File List command brings up a Clear File dialog which allows any or all recent files to be selected.
Clear Recent Project List
This command clears the Visual Studio recent project list. The Clear Recent Project List command brings up a Clear File dialog which allows any or all recent projects to be selected.
Transform Templates
This command executes a custom tool with associated text templates items. It can be executed from a DSL project node or a DSL folder node.
Close All
This command closes all documents. It can be executed from a document tab.