Forms, threading and Frustration

In Visual Studio 2005, if you have a windows form and have a fair amount of threading going then that things can get pretty frustrating. As you know, because of the way that Windows handles its user interface, you should only be updating the user interface from the main thread. If you try to do it on other threads, bad things happen, and they can be pretty hard to track down....

July 27, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Google is Down!

I guess it had to happen one day, but as of this morning Google’s search engine is not working - atleast not here in Bay Area, USA which is also where Google is Headquatered. CNN has also picked up on <strong>this story</strong> and mention that in addition to the US, France and UK are also having issues. When I try and search on something I get the error an Error -27 as shown below....

July 26, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Developer's Perspective on WinFS

If you don’t know what Wings is, then read the <strong>earlier part</strong> of this series. There have been a number of changes since Part 1 and this part, namely the release of a new Longhorn build. For the Assemblies you will usually need the System.Storage.WinFS.dll assembly in most of your projects. It represents the basic interfaces and classes (for example, Item and ItemContext). In addition, System.Storage.Core.dll is required for most Wings work....

July 25, 2004 · Amit Bahree

New Skin

Well as you can see I uploaded a new build of the blog that incorporates a new skin called <strong>LuxInterior</strong> by Gosatango. I have made some minor tweaks to this and there is still one bug that I need to resolve, though there is a workaround uploaded for it, so hopefully you would not see any issues. I would like to know if you want me to change anything in this e....

July 24, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Virtual Server 2005 (Enterprise Edition), RC available

Microsoft has the RC now available for <strong>download</strong> (its free) their new Virtual Server 2005. Virtual Server 2005 guest virtual machine environments are optimised for Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Server, and Windows NT 4.0 Server, yet enables users to run a broad range of x86-based operating systems. Although this Virtual Server 2005 download is in the release candidate phase of its development, it includes all the features of the final version, such as SCSI support, 2-node clustering, and an enhanced COM API for improved control....

July 24, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Old Post getting a lot of heat!

I don’t know how this happened, but one of my old <strong>posts</strong> now shows up in the top 10 when you google on “ <strong>Bangalored</strong> ”. This has generated not only a lot of traffic to the weblog but also some people just not getting my original intent of the post - which was a Joke. Oh Well, you can brood over it and let me know your feelings too.

July 23, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Class Designer in Visual Studio 2005 will not support UML

As Ramesh writes in an old <strong>post</strong> , the Class Designer is not a UML tool but uses the notation. He goes on to say the prime audience for this tool is the Developer then what do the Architects use? Is there a different version? I personally am a bit cheesed off by this. I love UML and have used it extensively and know the value (and pains) it can bring, like with everything else there are pros and cons....

July 22, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Do we need Hotmail tips?

Anatoly has a pretty funny <strong>post</strong> to which I can totally relate. I login to my MSN account because of the various passport accounts and also messenger. If it was not for those service I would totally ditch Hotmail. Yahoo and GMail have so much user experience, though I gotta admit I love Outlook 2003 if you have not seen the new interface its worth a spin.

July 22, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Inside Look at Birth of the iPod

Wired is running a <strong>story</strong> that interview’s a former senior manager who shares his firsthand knowledge of the device’s development, the glitches that almost killed it, and the extraordinary steps Apple took to keep the iPod a secret. You can check it out <strong>here</strong> .

July 22, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Visual Studio 2005 Team Systems for Architects

Microsoft has a site <strong>dedicated</strong> towards Architects geared towards VSTS where if you are an Architect (or an aspiring one) then you can learn more on this and also provide feedback back to Microsoft. Of interest on the same lines would be the following blogs too: <strong>Keith Short</strong> <strong>R Ramesh</strong> <strong>Stuart Kent</strong> Here is an excerpt from the site: Building complex service-oriented solutions requires several architectural considerations including services and contract design, communications security, operations manageability and provisioning, and so on....

July 22, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Want Lookout then get it today!

As <strong>theofficeweblog</strong> writes Lookout ver. 1.2 is available for <strong>download</strong> until 1200 hrs PST today after which you would need to find a friend or wait till Microsoft decides how they want to release it. Sure, I would love to download it but what is Lookout? Well, that is the exact same reaction I had when I first read this in the papers yesterday. Basically, Lookout is an extension to Outlook written in ....

July 22, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Visual Source Safe 8.0 any better?

Unfortunately it is not. The UI is better - but that is just the new resource files used with cooler icons (compared to the previous version), but VSS itself is as limiting a product as it has been till now. I remember asking one of the product managers of VSTS on VSS when I was in Redmond, and they had said that it will be a completely revamped product - something which Microsoft internally will (or can - I forget now) use in the product development teams and should be able to compete with ClearCase, CVS, etc....

July 21, 2004 · Amit Bahree

What is SecureString?

Since a String class, is immutable and when it is not needed, it cannot be programmatically scheduled for GC or in other words, it is not possible to predict when it will be deleted from the memory that can be a security risk especially if the string contains sensitive information such has credit card numbers, passwords, etc. This is where a new class in .NET 2.0 which ships with Visual Studio 2005 called SecureString comes in....

July 21, 2004 · Amit Bahree

DVD Hacks

Found this <strong>interesting link</strong> which has all kinds of DVD Hacks for most DVD Players (including my cheap-no-brand-one). You can also enter codes to make your DVD Players region free - neat! Update: This link was broken its been fixed now. Thanks to my lovely wife - Meenakshi for finding that. She does need to read my blog every now and then especially when I am quizzing her. *grin*

July 20, 2004 · Amit Bahree

This Land

My friend Wai pointed me to <strong>this</strong> and you will knock you socks off listening to it. Make sure your speakers are turned on and all the way up. :)

July 19, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Bush Speech

Found this of Karan’s <strong>post</strong> . Max Min (with way too much time on his/her hand) created IMHO an awesome <strong>Flash Application</strong> that can make George W Bush deliver a speech you always wanted to hear. Just type in an alphabet and pick one of the suggested words which later you can move around or delete. You can also save your creations and let others vote on it! PS - Don’t try this at work, otherwise you would have spend a better part of your work-day goofing time off … err....

July 18, 2004 · Amit Bahree

What is System Definition Model?

The System Definition Model (SDM) provides the basis for the underlying metamodel used by <strong>DSD</strong> . The SDM describes distributed systems as four layers: Applications Application hosts Network Topology OS and physical hardware or devices. For each layer, the model describes the connections between systems and their configurations. By adopting a common model for all these layers, the model makes it possible for you to define and express requirements and policies across these layers....

July 16, 2004 · Amit Bahree

What are Distributed System Designers?

Distributed System Designers (DSD’s) are an integrated set of graphical designers which are part of the new Visual Studio 2005. With these designers which you can use to visualise and define applications, compose systems, design classes, model logical representations of datacenters, and bind systems to logical servers in the logical layout of the target datacenter. Their high-level goals are: Support designing and implementing applications Composing applications into deployable systems Modelling logical representations of the target datacenter Defining and validating deployments of the systems you compose against the logical datacenter models....

July 15, 2004 · Amit Bahree

What do you think of this skin?

I thought of changing the skin to see if there is another one that is better. What do you guys think of this one? I would probably be uploading a couple more this weekend and trying out those also sometime next week. Let me know your feedback.

July 14, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Visual Studio 2005 a creative departure for Microsoft?

As Jim Fawcette who had had this interesting entry writes, we’re starting to see Microsoft’s strategy for serving different market sectors with the preview of <strong>Visual Studio Team System</strong> (VSTS), the enterprise version of VS 2005 and the various <strong>Visual Studio Express</strong> (VSE) Editions. What hasn’t been discussed widely yet is that Microsoft’s approach is fundamentally different from what we’ve seen for development tools. Historically, design focuses on the high-end tool, then all other versions are essentially crippled versions of the “real” release, with levels of features simply turned off with little or no attention being paid to the unique needs of each market sector....

July 13, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Data Access overview (with Screenshots) in ASP.NET 2.0 using Visual Studio 2005

I wanted to walk you through a quick demo on some of the enhancements for data access in Visual Studio 2005. Please note that though I have a bunch of screen shots, the application here is pretty simple. My goal is not to show you the power of the new stuff that makes the developer more productive and a lot of it is the small stuff - which all adds up to a fair amount of FTE’s....

July 12, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Google trying to be smart?

Now, not sure if this <strong>error</strong> is supposed to be smart or cheesy, or did a programmer at Google just have too much sugar, but I got this error a few times tonight and the first time I have seen it.

July 12, 2004 · Amit Bahree

SQL Server Express Guide

I got a bit of time this weekend to play with SQL Server Express (SQE) and here are some more details on it. I installed this part of Whidbey 2005. By default the setup installs this under the SQLEXPRESS instance name, so to connect to it you would use something like “machinename\SQLEXPRESS”. The API set for SQL Server Express is the same as SQL Server so upgrading from one to the other would not be a problem....

July 12, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Bloggers burning out

Wired news has a <strong>story</strong> which talks about about bloggers are burning out because of their blogs. For example one blog owner (who is a bartender), whose blog was something more like a jam-packed nightclub than the cosy neighbourhood watering hole that he had originally envisioned. His postings often generated hundreds of comments, each of which he moderated. While they enjoy what they’re doing, many find that keeping up with the pressures to post regularly and to be sharp, witty and incisive is often too much....

July 8, 2004 · Amit Bahree

Googles sues Google

As Techdirt points out It’s funny how all the lawsuits against Google just so happen to appear right before their IPO. The website Googles.com just shot up their traffic numbers by a ridiculous amount for their stories and games for young children about an alien named Googles, by <strong>suing Google for trademark infringement</strong> . It turns out that Googles (the alien/children folks) got a trademark for the name related to children’s books and toys in 1997, pre-dating Google by about a year....

July 7, 2004 · Amit Bahree