Your Daily Dose of Geek

It's available to MSDN Subscribers here.

It comes with a Go Live license, so you can start writing production code with this version.

Go forth and code!

Alvin Ashcraft

Alvin Ashcraft

I have to admit, I love spoilers. I just saw that someone posted a photo of the last page of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Click the link if you love spoilers too.

Alvin Ashcraft

InviteShare.com is a new website which lets its users sign up to be invited to beta websites (and other invitation-only membership sites) by other members who have invitations available. It currently has pages for spock.com, grandcentral.com, mint.com, pownce.com, and lots more. I've already gotten invites to six beta sites this week.

Alvin Ashcraft

iRiver's new gen 2 Clix MP3 player looks like a great new alternative to the iPod Nano. Right now, it's only available in a 4gb model for an MSRP of $199, but hopefully by the holidays the prices will drop a little and they'll have an 8gb version.

Check out the stellar review over at EverythingUSB.

Here's the product page on iRiver America.

Alvin Ashcraft

Microsoft has released CTP 1 of codename 'Acropolis'. Acropolis helps developers build modular .NET applications. It's primary focus appears to be WPF, but it supports WinForms UI components as well.

These tools and components will ship as an add-on to Visual Studio 2008, and Brad Abrams says they will become part of Visual Studio and the .NET Framework in a future release beyond that.

You can download the bits here, and there are already several resources to help get you starting in building your own Acropolis-based UIs.

Acropolis page on WindowsForms.net

Getting Started video

Help File on MS Downloads

Brad Abrams' blog has several good Acropolis links

Go forth and build!

Alvin Ashcraft

I requested an received an invitation to test drive the Microsoft Popfly Alpha. Things are really just getting rolling there, but so far it shows a lot of promise, I think. I haven't spent much time with it yet, so I'll keep this brief. More to come as I get to know the tool better...

Alvin Ashcraft

I'd say this Miss USA has no shot at the Miss Universe crown. She should have taken a bow.

Miss USA Rachel Smith Falls Down - Watch more free videos

Alvin Ashcraft

Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing just blogged about a 2006 book - The Case Against Homework. It looks like a very interesting read. These types of books can sometimes be a bit one-sided, so it's good to keep that in mind while reading them. Co-author Sara Bennett also has an anti-homework website.

We are currently looking at a couple of pre-schools for our three-year-old daughter, so education issues are becoming more relevant to us. We live in a fairly good public school district, but are still considering other options such as homeschooling and/or private schools. Public schools seem to be more and more focused on standardized tests. It's certainly clear that no matter what type of schooling your children get, it's imperative that the parents are aware of how and what their children are being taught.

Alvin Ashcraft

Thanks to generics in 2.0, now any value type can be NULL.

    public class DateTimeNullTest
    {
        private Nullable<DateTime> oDate = new Nullable<DateTime>(DateTime.Now);

        public DateTimeNullTest()
        {
            // Yay - It doesn't blow up!
            if (oDate != null)
                oDate = null;
        }
    }

Technorati tags: c#, .net, null, generics, pattern

Alvin Ashcraft

Looks like John Rambo has a few more people to kill.

Alvin Ashcraft

Alvin Ashcraft

From Opie's brother Elmo:

This was posted on O&A Fansites as an Open Letter to Opie and Anthony Pests (aka- their fans)

Many of you know me. Many of you have met me. I want you to listen to me for a moment. These are my own views and I do not claim to speak on behalf of anyone else.

We are at war here and I'm pissed off as all hell. Hyperbole aside, this is very real. Many people are wondering why they should cancel their XM subscriptions. The answer is simple. Opie & Anthony, by their actions towards their fans, have fostered a communal environment among the pests. They sponsor comedy tours and various live events where they stay and meet every single last fan. They show up at F.H. Riley's just to hang out with everyone. They fill the studio up each morning with pests who are able to watch the show as it's created. They take care to treat the PalTalk cameras as an important aspect of the show, so viewers across the country can easily take part. No one, and I mean no one, treats their fans better than O & A!!! And right now they need us--every single one of us--to stand up, be counted and send XM an unequivocal message.

When they were ushered off of the air in 2002 they had a huge backbone of fan support, but it didn't matter. They were thrown under the bus. What's different now is that we all pay for XM Satellite Radio. We will make a difference this time around because we control the purse strings. Every cancellation is future revenue out of XM's pocket. But every single person reading this must RIGHT NOW call XM and outright cancel their subscription. I'm sorry, but nothing else is acceptable!!!! I don't want to hear that someone is "waiting to see if they'll still be on in a month."

XM's actions are obvious business decisions. By offering freebies of 30 or 60 days, they are blatantly trying to keep their subscription numbers up. Why? So when this fades away, as they hope it will, their balance sheets won't reflect the reality of numbers lost! The only way a lost sub will count as a lost sub is to OUTRIGHT CANCEL it now. I'm personally asking you to do this. I am asking you to tell every subscriber you know to do the same. Outright cancellation.

Some want to hold onto their subscriptions to avoid a reactivation fee in the future. Let me hit you with some harsh reality. No one in radio history has ever been 'suspended' without being fired. It doesn't happen and it's only XM's way of trying to spread out the story to avoid mass cancellations. Unfortunately, the ONLY thing XM will understand is a mass cancellation. Can I guarantee that O&A are fired? No, I cannot, but I think we all know where this is going. If we are able to win this war, then XM would be incredibly stupid not to waive the reactivation fees. Clearly by their recent moves they are making horrendous business decisions, but you do hope that logic would return at some point.

What bothers me most is XM's complete cowardice in this matter. Using various despicable excuses for the 'suspension.' It's as if the brave knight faced a tiny little mouse and decided to turn tail and run!! With the absurdity of the recent spate of radio firings, XM needed to not only SUPPORT Opie & Anthony, but to VIGOROUSLY DEFEND them!! Boy, did they let every one of us subscribers down!! How many times can we say it? XM Channel 202 is an uncensored XL SATELLITE radio station. The absolute last bastion of free speech. The press and the pundits that XM bowed to seem to ignore this fact. We, the PAYING fans, will not forget this fact. We pay for uncensored radio. We know it's uncensored radio. We want our uncensored radio back!!

Cancel now!!!!!!!

Thank you for supporting the boys.

--Brother Elmo

www.peopleagainstcensorship.com
http://www.myspace.com/brotherelmo

Alvin Ashcraft

Patrice is a funny, funny guy.

Alvin Ashcraft

Nice Photoshop work by someone on MySpace.

Alvin Ashcraft

Many Opie and Anthony listeners (including myself) are boycotting XM partners and sponsors until O&A return to the air uncensored. You can find a comprehensive list of sponsors here. Their partners include MLB, NASCAR, NHL and General Motors. Be sure you copy eric.logan@xmradio.com on all of your boycott emails to these companies.

Alvin Ashcraft

I've heard rumors that O&A are actually fired, not suspended. Opie's brother Elmo is telling all O&A fans to cancel their XM to hit them in their pockets. I guess we'll see in 30 days what's really going on.

Alvin Ashcraft

"XM Radio has announced the suspension of the "Opie & Anthony Show" effective immediately. XM will not broadcast the show for the next 30 days. The suspension follows comments aired on the Opie and Anthony Show last week by Homeless Charlie.

The decision to suspend Opie and Anthony was a response by the management of XM Radio to comments made by Opie & Anthony on yesterday's broadcast which "put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter." The decision was an effort "to make clear that our on-air talent must take seriously the responsibility that creative freedom requires of them."

The Opie & Anthony Show appears on one of XM's explicit language channels. These channels are noted with an "XL" on the display, and regular warnings as to the explicit language as well as how to block those channels."

Written by S.M. Reid; Tuesday, 15 May 2007; Full story available on People Against Censorship.

Support O&A. Write XM and tell them you support free speech and will boycott their sponsors until O&A are back on the air. If you are an XM subscriber, be sure to ask for a refund for the time that O&A are suspended.

*EMAIL ADDRESSES

-XM
eric.logan@xmradio.com, jon.zellner@xmradio.com, lee.abrams@xmradio.com, dion.summers@xmradio.com, gary.parsons@xmradio.com, steve.cook@xmradio.com, joseph.euteneuer@xmradio.com, stell.patsiokas@xmradio.com, joseph.titlebaum@xmradio.com, chance.patterson@xmradio.com, carolyn.turner@xmradio.com, dan.turner@xmradio.com, jon.zellner@xmradio.com, kevin.straley@xmradio.com, tony.masiello@xmradio.com, marie.farrar@xmradio.com, david.butler@xmradio.com

*Phone Numbers

XM Radio

Call XMDirectly at: 1-800-XM-RADIO (1-800-967-2346) Or 202-380-4000

Eric Logan
Executive Vice President Programming
202-380-4365
aolaim: Radiorodeoboy

Jon Zellner Senior Vice President/Music Programming
(202) 380-4040 (office)

Alvin Ashcraft

Anna is 3 today. Big girl! Here are some semi-recent pics of the two girls.

Starred Photos

Alvin Ashcraft

A takeoff of the Mac v. Windows commercials for Apple. Funny stuff guys...

Alvin Ashcraft

Debbie Wolf, co-founder of People Against Censorship, appears on The Glenn Beck Program to discuss the state of censorship in radio.

Alvin Ashcraft

Video courtesy of FoundryMusic.

Alvin Ashcraft

Here's a quick little code snippet which will convert a job ID into the correct format when you're using the MS faxcomexlib.dll. This is needed because you'll get different formats back from a ConnectedSubmit depending on whether your application is running on Windows XP or Windows 2003 Server. However, the format does not vary when you get status change events.

        private string ConvertJobID(string jobID)
       {
           string hexJobId = string.Empty;

           try
           {
               Int64 i = Convert.ToInt64(jobID);
               //Match event handler format:
                //        hex number; lowercase;
                //        no leading zeroes;
                //        no "0x" or other prefix
                hexJobId = i.ToString("x");
           }
           catch // If there's an exception,
                  // then the Job ID is already correct
            {
               hexJobId = jobID;
           }

           return hexJobId;
       }

Technorati tags: c#, code, fax, api

Alvin Ashcraft

Here's a site with a map showing the most popular name for a carbonated beverage by region of the U.S. Being from the Philadelphia area, I say 'soda', and really I'm surprised how many people use the term 'coke'. I'm guessing that's the popular term in the south because Coca Cola is out of Atlanta.

Map

Technorati tags: pop, soda, coke, beverage, debate

Alvin Ashcraft

JOIN HERE

Free speech includes unpopular and offensive speech. Please show your support.

"Free speech is intended to protect the controversial and even outrageous word; and not just comforting platitudes too mundane to need protection." - Colin Powell

Alvin Ashcraft

We all knew this day would come. The Opie and Anthony Show is threatened by people who want to control what should be heard on the radio. Don Imus was fired for making a bad joke about a woman's basketball team, JV & Elvis were suspended indefinitely from FreeFM for satire on Asian accents, and now some special interest groups will say they are offended (in order to gain publicity for their cause) because a homeless person commented on what he would like to do to Condoleezza Rice on The Opie & Anthony Show on XM Satellite Radio.

Preemptively, we should contact Opie and Anthony’s bosses and explain why they should stand with them. People usually only write letters when they are told things are offensive. The silent majority loses when they remain silent. These special interest groups who claim to know what should be heard/seen think everything should be nice and not be made fun of. But offensive humor can be refreshing and is protected by the 1st Amendment.

So to prevent the minority from ruling the majority please write, email and call these people. Remind them it is important that a corporation stands up for the users of their product and not succumb to the demands of people who do not. We have enjoyed The Opie and Anthony show for years, and now they need our help.

----------Email Template/Suggestion:
To Whom It May Concern,

My name is _________________, I am an XM Subscriber and currently have ___ subscriptions under my account. My account number is ____________ .

I am a fan of XM general, Opie and Anthony in specific and more importantly, I am a strong supporter of Freedom of Speech.
I realize you will get grief from protesters and those that want Opie and Anthony removed for your airwaves. Please stay strong and do not give in to these special interest groups.

Remember, most of them are not subscribers, I however am. I pay for your service and support your sponsors. Buy caving in to the demands of the few, you lose the support of those of us who are actually using your service.

While you MAY lose a few sponsors, by bowing down to the demands of these groups, you WILL lose customers.
Sponsors will come back, dissatisfied customers will not.

Thank you for your time.

----------------------------------

*EMAIL ADDRESSES

-XM
eric.logan@xmradio.com, jon.zellner@xmradio.com, lee.abrams@xmradio.com, dion.summers@xmradio.com, gary.parsons@xmradio.com, steve.cook@xmradio.com, joseph.euteneuer@xmradio.com, stell.patsiokas@xmradio.com, joseph.titlebaum@xmradio.com, chance.patterson@xmradio.com, carolyn.turner@xmradio.com, dan.turner@xmradio.com, jon.zellner@xmradio.com, kevin.straley@xmradio.com, tony.masiello@xmradio.com, marie.farrar@xmradio.com, david.butler@xmradio.com

*Phone Numbers

XM Radio

Call XMDirectly at: 1-800-XM-RADIO (1-800-967-2346) Or 202-380-4000

Eric Logan
Executive Vice President Programming
202-380-4365
aolaim: Radiorodeoboy

Jon Zellner Senior Vice President/Music Programming
(202) 380-4040 (office)

Technorati tags: opie and anthony, freedom of Speech, fcc

Alvin Ashcraft

I've started posting pictures of the girls on PicasaWeb. There are only a few up there right now, but I'll get all the best ones up there over the next few weeks.

I like the site so far. It's simple and integrates well with their Windows application.

Alvin Ashcraft

If you're reading this, you've found the new home of my blog. Live Spaces had too many limits to what could be posted on my page. I'll get my first real post up here soon. You can browse my archives here and here.

14 November 2007

13 November 2007

12 November 2007

Some Bonus Links - Not Directly Programming-Related

10 November 2007

09 November 2007

08 November 2007

06 November 2007

05 November 2007

02 November 2007

12 October 2007

20 September 2007

21 August 2007

11 August 2007

27 July 2007

19 July 2007

17 July 2007

13 July 2007

13 June 2007

05 June 2007

01 June 2007

29 May 2007

27 May 2007

24 May 2007

22 May 2007

21 May 2007

17 May 2007

16 May 2007

15 May 2007

14 May 2007

12 May 2007

11 May 2007

10 May 2007

07 May 2007

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