Archive for 'General' Category
ExcelPackage
19 October 2007I've been reviewing the ExcelPackage project on CodePlex. It is a useful project but one thing I was wondering is why does it directly interact with the XML?
I think it is a performance and a code maintenance hit to work directly with the XML for the workbook and worksheets. In my oh so [...]
Crappy Apps
10 October 2007Why is it that so many crappy apps are out there in the wild?
Is it because of the visual tools available in the .Net realm that generate so much crap that the average programmer just does not have time to clean it up? Or are the developers just too lazy to clean up the [...]
EntLib Data Access Block and Excel
10 October 2007I need to be able to open an Excel workbook and grab the data from one of the worksheets. I don't want to use any Office InterOperability (as that sucks) and I know I can do it using ADO.Net. But since 1.) I hate writing all of that DataAdapter / Connection code because [...]
Nerd Test: Cool High Nerd
10 October 2007
CueCat vs the USB Keyboard
16 June 2007Ages ago I picked up one of the RadioShacks CueCats but I never used it. Up until today it sat in a box of computer junk having survived several purges. You know Purges: You have so much junk you have to get ride of the old.
I never got ride of the CueCat because barcode scanners [...]
Scratch Programming
28 February 2007I have started doing more scratch programming, one off little bits of code that I use and throw away. I found that I am not coding as much at work as I need to be, or want to be for that matter. I am loosing my touch.
Like any thing else, if you [...]
The Pruitt’s
24 January 2007
Worm Hole to the Universe
20 January 2007So I downloaded Google Earth and was playing around with it when I found the Worm Hole to the Universe. Its amazing what can be found out there.
Top four reasons Windows wins and Linux loses
5 January 2007
Top four reasons Windows wins and Linux loses
1. The Installed Base
2. PC Vendor Support
3. Hardware Vendor Support
4. Software Support
Source: Top four reasons Windows wins and Linux loses
To this list I would like to add:
5. Consistent Package Installation
In windows you have MSI files to install stuff with. They are simple to use and pretty [...]
Windows XP running in KVM on Fedora Core 6
28 December 2006This is pretty impressive. The KVM is a hardware virtualization that should have better performance than software VM's. Check out the video to see how responsive it is.
Windows XP Virtual Machine On Linux (KVM) - video powered by Metacafe
VMWare Workstation 6.0 Beta - Holy Vitalization!
23 December 2006Just got an email about the 6.0 version of the VMWare Workstation and all I can say is "Wow!" These are the features I am mainly interested in:
Multiple monitor display - You can configure a VM to span multiple monitors, or multiple VMs to each display on separate monitors.
Integrated Virtual Debugger - Workstation [...]
MythTV Demo Project
22 December 2006 I actually got a MythTV machine up and running yesterday! Man I was so excited, I have tried several times in the past but with no luck. However after finding a good How-To on the Ubuntu web site I was up and running in (almost) no time.
I have tried using MythDora but I could [...]
The Un-Deleteable Windows File
21 December 2006I have several Open Source projects I am following and to facilitate downloading the code I created a simple NAnt script. The script worked great until the other day one of the projects started failing to update.
Most of the projects I'm tracking are in Subversion. All I'm doing is checking out the trunk then about [...]
Comments for a Code Review
14 December 2006
Ok, what kind of ass-hat idiotic thing is this?
Source: [GIT PATCH] more Driver core patches for 2.6.19
That has got to be one of the funniest things I've read in a long time. Well, at least in the last 24 hrs.
A Call to Distros: Give Users What They Want - OSNews.com
12 December 2006
And that easy solution must work in a similar way to this:
1. Via a GUI app found on the /Administration menu that lists the 10 most wanted proprietary applications and asks the user to check the boxes of the apps he wants to install. Show a license agreement that waives the distro off any [...]
The Virtual Domain
7 December 2006I've been playing around with VMWare and vitalization for a while now and I have to say I really like it. I have a virtual Ubuntu image that I am using to learn Ruby on Rails with. I installed VMWare's server on my file server so I can run VM's from any PC in my house.
So [...]
FxCop and NAnt
6 December 2006I am working on automating our build process and one of the things I am trying to do now is to add FxCop to the mix. There are a couple of ways to run the process, one using an exec task to call the executable directly, the other is through a Contrib task <fxcop>.
I tried [...]
Mad World
5 November 2006I keep seeing the commercial for Gears of War, I don't know anything about the game but the background music is one that I know and like. It is called "Mad World" and I recognize it from the movie Donny Darko. Part of it goes like this:
I find it kind of funny,
I find [...]
Say What?
1 November 2006There are a lot more airplanes at the bottom of the ocean than there are submarines in the sky.
What does that mean? Who knows but it sounds good.
Coding Horror: Properties vs. Public Variables
31 October 2006Why waste everyone's time with a bunch of meaningless just-in-case wrapper code? Start with the simplest thing that works-- a public variable. You can always refactor this later into a property if it turns out additional work needs to be done when the name value is set. If you truly need a property, then use [...]