Eric Hartwell: Tips and Tricks

Wed, 04 May 2005 17:53:17 GMT

Utilize MySQL's features through .NET [TechRepublic 5/3/2005] MySQL continues to gain market share due to its ease of use and price. The open source community has extended its reach by developing a connector to be used with the .NET Framework. Learn more about using MySQL in .NET applications and get extended examples of how to work with MySQL data via .NET.

Sat, 23 Apr 2005 18:21:18 GMT

Bypass SETLOCAL/ENDLOCAL

Sometimes it would be nice if we could use SETLOCAL and ENDLOCAL to preserve the initial environment but still change one variable "permanently", in the SORTDATE and SORTTIME examples, for example. I recently saw a posting at the alt.msdos.batch.nt newsgroup where Phil Robyn solved this problem in an ingenious way:

SET TEST=
SETLOCAL
:: Variable test is set within local environment, which means
:: its changes are flushed by the next ENDLOCAL command
SET TEST=Some new value
:: By using the ampersand and the following SET command on the
:: same line as the ENDLOCAL command, %TEST% is resolved before
:: the ENDLOCAL command "restores" its value
ENDLOCAL & SET TEST=%TEST%
SET TEST

This way the environment variable TEST and its value are preserved in spite of the ENDLOCAL command.
See my Conditional Execution page for an explanation of the ampersand's usage

Mon, 14 Mar 2005 23:03:28 GMT

With Synergy, all the computers on your desktop form a single virtual screen. You use the mouse and keyboard of only one of the computers while you use all of the monitors on all of the computers. You tell synergy how many screens you have and their positions relative to one another. Synergy then detects when the mouse moves off the edge of a screen and jumps it instantly to the neighboring screen. The keyboard works normally on each screen; input goes to whichever screen has the cursor. GNU GPL

Sat, 12 Mar 2005 14:57:44 GMT

Halo 2 Legendary: Beat the boarders, Cairo Station, first landing bay
This tactic can make getting past this section quicker on legendary. Run up to the doorway and simply hose down the Covenant with continuous fire from dual plasma rifles. This kills most of the grunts (especially when they're still in the boarding tube) and knocks out the elites' shields so your marines can finish them off. Duck back through the doorway whenever your shields get too low or a grenade comes your way. After the last wave, you'll probably have a few elites left, but you can deal with them the normal way. As a bonus, you have ALL the grenades at your disposal. [by Eric Hartwell]
Also, see Cairo Station Legendary Walkthrough for other hints for this level, and Halo 2 Legendary Tactics & Walkthrough for general Legendary hints.

Sun, 27 Feb 2005 12:22:10 GMT

Halo 2 Legendary: Beat the boarders, Cairo Station, second landing bay
This tactic can make getting past this section a lot easier on legendary. When you walk into the room, go to the right, into the room and up the stairs. K[ill] the Grunts on the turrets, then look for a crate next to one of the guns. Choose the gun you want to man (preferably facing the enemies), and melee the box directly behind it. Try to position the gun in the center of the box. Now, press X to man the turret. You should go into the box, and be sticking partially out, but still able to aim and shoot. In this position, so long as you positioned the box well, the Covenant won't see you, even as you fire the turret at them. [Halo 2 Trick FAQ by Kyle Barr].
Also, see Cairo Station Legendary Walkthrough for other hints for this level, and Halo 2 Legendary Tactics & Walkthrough for general Legendary hints.

Sun, 10 Oct 2004 15:53:00 GMT

How do I create one Formula URL (link) field that deals with both UPS and FedEx tracking numbers?
[QuickBase Support Center KnowledgeBase Article #74]

UPS: http://wwwapps.ups.com/etracking/tracking.cgi?tracknum=[Tracking #]&accept_UPS_license_agreement=yes&nonUPS_title=QuickBase%20Package%20Tracking%20System
FedEx: http://www.fedex.com/cgi-bin/tracking?action=track&language=english&cntry_code=us&initial=x&mps=y&tracknumbers=[Tracking #]
FedEx Ground: http://www.fedex.com/cgi-bin/tracking?action=track&language=english&cntry_code=us&initial=x&mps=y&tracknumbers=[Tracking #]
Fedex Freight: http://www.fedexfreight.fedex.com/protrace.jsp?as_type=PRO&emailfax=&as_entryPage=Pro%20Number&as_pro= [Tracking #]

Wed, 22 Sep 2004 20:31:09 GMT

Dynamic HTML Lab: Pop-up Calendar 1.1. The first maintenance release of our new, but already popular, Popup Calendar includes better navigation bar styling, the ability to clear read-only input fields and fixes a couple of minor problems missed the first time around. By Peter Belesis. 0916 [WebReference News 9/16/2004]

Sun, 12 Sep 2004 01:20:57 GMT

Dynamic HTML Lab: Pop-up Calendar 1.0. In a much anticipated article, Peter Belesis returns with this piece on a DHTML Lab Popup Calendar. Among its many features: No knowledge of JavaScript is necessary; only a beginner's aquaintance with HTML and CSS syntax is all that's needed. 0809 [WebReference News 8/30/2004]

Fri, 18 Jun 2004 12:44:02 GMT

Export HTML Data into Excel Files
Nowadays, many reports are generated as HTML documents for access on the Web. This tip shows you how to export that HTML data as it is (including all the CSS styles, tables borders, etc.) into an .xls file which can be saved and used as you need it. Include the following code in the .jsp page that generates the report/HTML page:

 String mimeType = "application/vnd.ms-excel";
 response.setContentType(mimeType);

The output is transferred to an .xls document.
Please Note: Microsoft Excel must be installed on the client's computer for this to work.
By MS Sridhar SridharMSmail@yahoo.com

Sat, 08 May 2004 15:42:05 GMT

Constraints and unit testing.

One thing that I would like to enforce in my unit tests are constraints. Examples of constraints are things like read-only properties and sealed classes. If a developer comes along and removes one of those constraints by making the property read-write, or by unsealing the class, those changes are not detectable by simply recompiling the code.

One way to enforce constraints is to write unit tests that assert their existence. To help folks out, I've written the beginnings of a utility class that can be used with NUnit tests. Here's the source code for that class for folks who are interested. Feedback about these ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 Public Class AssertEx : Inherits Assertion Public Shared Sub AssertReadOnlyProperty(ByVal t As Type, ByVal propertyName As String) Dim pi As PropertyInfo = t.GetProperty(propertyName) Assert(String.Format("Read-only property {0} in class {1} cannot be read from", propertyName, t.FullName), pi.CanRead) Assert(String.Format("Read-only property {0} in class {1} can be written to", propertyName, t.FullName), Not pi.CanWrite) End Sub Public Shared Sub AssertWriteOnlyProperty(ByVal t As Type, ByVal propertyName As String) Dim pi As PropertyInfo = t.GetProperty(propertyName) Assert(String.Format("Write-only property {0} in class {1} can be read from", propertyName, t.FullName), Not pi.CanRead) Assert(String.Format("Write-only property {0} in class {1} cannot be written to", propertyName, t.FullName), pi.CanWrite) End Sub ' TODO: Implement a visibility property assert - must be internal for example. need to use GetAccessors() ' and assert visibility based on property get/set method visibility Public Shared Sub AssertNotInheritableClass(ByVal t As Type) Assert(String.Format("Class {0} cannot be derived from", t.FullName), t.IsSealed) End Sub Public Shared Sub AssertNonSerializable(ByVal t As Type) Assert(String.Format("Class {0} cannot be serializable", t.FullName), Not t.IsSerializable) End Sub ' TODO: Assert that a class must be abstract Public Shared Sub AssertNotCreatable(ByVal t As Type) Dim cis() As ConstructorInfo = t.GetConstructors() Dim ci As ConstructorInfo For Each ci In cis Assert(String.Format("Non-private constructor found in a class {0} that must not be creatable", t.FullName), ci.IsPrivate) Next End Sub End Class

[iunknown.com]

Thu, 08 Jan 2004 00:39:19 GMT

Windowpaper XP FREE Wallpaper customizer: lets you customize the background of your folders with wallpapers in the same way you can customize your desktop. It allows you to select a custom background image for any folder you want, specify the font color (to make it stick out), and instantly preview the results. Very neat, easy to use tool for those that like to customize their workspace.[Lockergnome Windows Fanatics]

Thu, 16 Oct 2003 11:56:47 GMT

TrayDevil v1.04 [56k] W98/2k/XP FREE TrayDevil can minimize any window to the system tray, and also acts as a quick reboot and shutdown tool. It enables you to simply Shift + left-click on any window (program, folder, website, etc.) and it will be minimized to the system tray, using its standard windows icon. In addition, you can use the middle mouse key to quickly close windows, hide the system clock, and reboot your PC by double-clicking the TrayDevil icon. Small and easy to use. [MWA] [Lockergnome Windows Daily]

Thu, 09 Oct 2003 13:24:54 GMT

Automatically generate CSS [Lockergnome Windows Daily]

Sun, 21 Sep 2003 00:23:12 GMT

Step-by-Step Guide for Setting Up a PPTP-based Site-to-Site VPN Connection in a Test Lab. This step-by-step guide describes the configuration of a PPTP-based site-to-site virtual private network (VPN) connection using five computers in a test lab. This guide assumes you know TCP/IP, IP routing, and the capabilities of the Windows Server 2003 Routing and Remote Access service. [Microsoft Download Center]

Mon, 08 Sep 2003 12:34:22 GMT

Expat is a library, written in C, for parsing XML documents. It's the underlying XML parser for the open source Mozilla project, perl's XML::Parser, and other open-source XML parsers. As demonstrated in my benchmark article, it's very fast. It also sets a high standard for reliability, robustness and correctness.

Mon, 08 Sep 2003 12:22:27 GMT

Ingenious email-harvester honeypot. Merlin Mann outlines an ingenious procedure for identifying spammers' email-harvesters' IP addresses and user-agents: In each page I serve, I include a bogus email address, encoded with the date of access as well as the host IP address and embedded in a comment. [Apache's server-side includes are great!] This has allowed me to trace spam back to specific hosts and/or robots. One of the first I caught with this technique was the robot with the user agent "Mozilla/4.0 efp@gmx.net", which always seems to come from argon.oxeo.com - it's identified it above as simply rude.

Sun, 07 Sep 2003 18:51:28 GMT

Using Stylesheets to Create a Print This Page View ( 06/11/03 ) [4GuysFromRolla.com 6/25/2003]

Sat, 06 Sep 2003 22:51:53 GMT

List of free ASP.NET and .NET tools. A new site up with a list of ASP.NET and .NET tools. Also supports an RSS feed.[Sean Early' Campbell & Scott 'Adopter' Swigart's Radio Weblog] 8/12/2003

Sun, 06 Jul 2003 11:53:42 GMT

Prevent unauthorized software on your network with software restriction policies Windows Server 2003 gives you more power than ever before, including the power to control installed software on workstations. Here's a look at how you can use software restriction policies to keep unauthorized software off your network.

Thu, 05 Jun 2003 00:39:00 GMT

Lost Windows Product Key?. One of our guys had to reload one of his boxes, and he couldn't remember which key he used on which machine. Then he used one of these tools to find out.

Thu, 05 Jun 2003 00:29:04 GMT

Changing the product key on Windows XP Changing a Windows XP product key doesn't always require a complete reinstallation of the OS. We'll show you how to get the job done by editing the registry or using a Microsoft WMI script.

Thu, 05 Jun 2003 00:23:13 GMT

free XML SOAP Monitor
free Authentic 5 XML document editor

Fri, 30 May 2003 20:21:49 GMT

Troubleshoot bad RAM with DocMemory from CST Your RAM could be the culprit if you're experiencing random Windows errors or Windows installation problems. Get the details on why you should use DocMemory, a freeware program from CST, to speed your diagnosis.

Fri, 30 May 2003 20:19:06 GMT

iCarbon v2.1.3 {free personal copier} Combine the printer and scanner into a photo copier using iCarbon, which works with TWAIN-compatible scanners. The utility makes the scan/print operation work with one click. After installing, the program immediately and accurately recognized my printer and scanner. The preferences offer inverted image printing. The simple interface displays options for the number of copies, zoom percentage, quality, contrast, and type of copy (RGB, for example). The printer prints the image from the scanner or the Webcam. If you're in a hurry to get a printout of a picture, this takes a two-step process and combines it into one.

Thu, 29 May 2003 22:30:36 GMT

DIAGNOSING LOGON DELAYS In this column, I discuss diagnosing and solving logon delays caused by three specific problems. I use the term "logon delay" to include the time it takes for the logon screen to disappear after you enter valid credentials, plus the time it takes for a Windows XP or Windows 2000 system to display the desktop after the logon box disappears. Logon delays can occur in three situations: when you log on interactively at a workstation or server, when you connect to a VPN server, and when you connect to resources on a standalone server that requires local credentials, rather than domain credentials. Profile problems are also a common source of logon delays, but they're complicated and outside the scope of this discussion--a large profile or an inaccessible or corrupt profile can appear to hang a system or result in an empty desktop after a delay of 10 minutes or more.

Mon, 26 May 2003 00:55:35 GMT

Build a floppy-based router/firewall with Freesco
Freesco is an open source router/firewall solution with small hardware requirements and minimal administrative overhead. It's perfect for your small IT budget. Find out how to get it up and running.

Thu, 15 May 2003 15:42:45 GMT

wshwizard - HTML Application Template to be used as a VBScript Interface Have you ever needed a rich interface for a WSH script? Most available options require the deployment of at least one custom control - not this one.

Thu, 15 May 2003 15:35:34 GMT

MSDN Licenses are Perpetual
The licenses for the tools inside your MSDN Subscription are licensed to you for development and test purposes in perpetuity . This means that even if your subscription were to expire, you can still use the tools for development and test purposes, for ever. To learn more about how to become an MSDN Subscriber visit the MSDN Subscriptions Centre.

Thu, 15 May 2003 15:33:00 GMT

Panicware's Pop-Up Stopper Free Edition

Wed, 14 May 2003 14:50:45 GMT

4t Tray Minimizer v3.2 [564k] W9x/2k/XP FREE {Minimizing apps to system tray}
Free up taskbar space with 4t Tray Minimizer, which minimizes applications as system tray icons instead of buttons on the taskbar. Minimize any open application to the system tray instead of the task bar by right-clicking the minimize button (in the upper right hand corner of applications, there are three buttons: minimize, reduce, and close). Hide any application without displaying its icon in the system tray and restore it by using a list of hidden applications in the Main Window of the program. The program also has the ability to create a Quick Launch style menu for your favorite (or more often-used) applications. Although you can use Quick Launch elsewhere, this may be easier for some to use as opposed to the built-in Windows Quick Launch. It does come with customized keyboard shortcuts. When you start using the program for the first time, it starts with an optional step-by-step tutorial. The free version doesn't store customized settings or come with technical support, however. [Lockergnome Windows Daily]

Mon, 12 May 2003 13:40:58 GMT

Distribute prebuilt system configurations with VMware
Admins often need to copy and rebuild exact replicas of system configurations--especially in a testing network. VMware makes it quite simple to transport complete system configurations of virtual machines.

Sun, 11 May 2003 13:58:47 GMT

You can simplify your life considerably - at least as far as registry settings are concerned - by investing in a tool called WinGuides Tweak Manager from WinGuides Network. WinGuides Tweak Manager covers some 1,100 registry tweaks for Windows, Internet Explorer and Office. The list of tweaks is regularly updated and downloaded to your copy of Tweak Manager on demand. At $30, this product is a steal.

Sun, 11 May 2003 00:20:44 GMT

Q. How can I change the product key when I activate my Windows XP installation?
When you install XP, you must enter a product key to register the software with Microsoft. However, if you want to use a different key to activate the software after installation (e.g., maybe you originally used an existing key during installation and have since purchased a new license), perform the following steps:

Start the activation process as usual (go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, then select Activate Windows).
Click "Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to active Windows", then click Next.
Click the "Change Product Key" button.
Enter the new key, then click Update.
Click Telephone, then continue with the activation.

Thu, 08 May 2003 02:05:26 GMT

Access Hotmail From a POP3 Mail Client with Hotmail Popper Many people want to get their Hotmail using Outlook 2000/2002, Eudora or some other POP3 client. They don't want to have to use the web browser to get their Hotmail messages. It makes sense to use a POP3 client, since it's much easier to save and organize your mail when it's downloaded to your email program. Hotmail Popper is a free program that allows you to download messages from your Hotmail account.

Wed, 07 May 2003 11:13:15 GMT

Hekko Virtual CD v1.02 [1.2M] W2k/XP FREE Hekko Virtual CD enables you to create a virtual CD-ROM drive on your PC, which allows you to play CDs without having to insert the actual disk. This not only eliminates the need to switch disks frequently, but also increases the performance of games, since the hard drive can usually be accessed much faster than the CD. Hekko Virtual CD works with most games, music or software programs. You can image as many CDs as you need and the load the virtual image into the drive by using the tray icon. The program uses HekkoScan(tm); nearly any CD can be imaged and played. [MWA] [Lockergnome Windows Daily]

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 23:34:40 GMT

Code That Debugs Itself - (C++) A set of simple, flexible, and powerful debug macros that allow you to catch most of the programming errors in early stages of development. These macros stimulate writing the "code that debugs itself."

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 13:27:37 GMT

The Matrix Codebreaker. Remember The Matrix, when they do the phone trace and the numbers keep scrolling until the correct number is found? This script randomly chooses the numbers until the correct one is chosen. A cool way to display your messages. [WebDeveloper.com]

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 13:25:29 GMT

MyIE2 Online v0.7.829 beta [657k] W9x/2k/XP FREE {Internet Explorer multi-page browser} Netscape has it. Mozilla has it. Opera has it. Internet Explorer does not have it. What is it? Tabbed browsing. The nice thing about tabbed browsing is that you have only one window open for multiple Web pages instead of one Window per Web page. The MyIE2 interface is similar to the Internet Explorer interface and adds the opened Web sites just beneath the address box. It also comes with its own options separate from IE's where you can select options for filtering popups, windows, favorites, tab appearance, and plug-ins. It also adds a few more system icons such as auto-scrolling, undo, and utility manager. There are two "x" icons, one for closing the current window and the other for closing all windows. Microsoft should adopt this feature; with all other browsers doing it, the company is bound to copy it and add some of its own proprietary stuff to it. If the download or Web site is slow, go to WebAttack for a faster download. [Meryl] [Lockergnome Windows Daily]

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 13:24:35 GMT

EIF Releases With absolutely no fanfare, Enterprise Instrumentation Framework has released. EIF lets you instrument your applications with tracing information that's meant to be left in while the application is in production. Tracing can be turned on and off, and directed to various sinks, simply by modifying a configuration file at run time. You can trace user operations, class operations, requests as they travel through a distributed application, or just about anything else you can imagine. Check it out. MSDN Subscriber Downloads | Content | Developer Tools | Enterprise Instrumentation Framework.[Sean 'Early' Campbell & Scott 'Adopter' Swigart's Radio Weblog]

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 12:40:05 GMT

FREE: Hard-link Creator for Windows UNIX fans have been familiar with hard-links for quite some time. A hard-link makes it appear as though a file is located in more than one place at a time, when in reality, only one copy exists. [Eric Hartwell: Ping]

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 01:00:07 GMT

DrawSWF v1.2.7 [633k] W9x/2k/XP FREE {Drawing program} It's a simple interface with basic tools for drawing lines, entering text, selecting line thickness, drawing a shape, or selecting a pen for free drawing. Every move you make is the order in which the animation will be presented unless you rearrange it in the drawing objects dialog box. Click on the Play button to preview your work in progress. When you complete your work of art, export it as a Flash file and select the speed of the animation. The file is saved as a SWF file, which is a Flash file. [Eric Hartwell: Ping]

Sat, 19 Apr 2003 22:49:37 GMT

Speed-up Windows XP Startups

Allan Kelly wrote in and reminded us of a great tip on how to speed up your Windows XP start up times. Just clean out your prefetch folder. Windows XP keeps track of your frequently used programs and sets them up so that they start up faster. However, sometimes a lot of junk gets into the prefetch folder and can slow things down. Try this:

Open the Windows Explorer and go to c:/WINDOWS/Prefetch folder.
Click the View menu and then click the Select All command. This should highlight all the files in the folder. Once all the files in the Prefetch folder are selected, press the DELETE key on the keyboard to delete these files. Click Yes to send the files to the Recycle Bin.
Restart your computer. You should find that Windows XP starts a lot faster!

Do this once a week and your Windows XP startups will always be snappy.
WinXPnews™ E-Zine Tue, Apr 15, 2003 (Vol. 3, 15 - Issue 71)

Sat, 19 Apr 2003 22:32:11 GMT

Client Statistics Version1.0. This script shows a user his/her statistics, including IP, autoexec.bat, the C: Drive on Windows, the User Agent, Browser Statistics and more. [WebDeveloper.com]

Sat, 19 Apr 2003 22:31:07 GMT

Quick Mail. This applet allows you to add email forms directly on your web pages. The applet connects to the SMTP daemon on your server and sends e-mails without of any CGI on the server. This feature makes it ideal for all kind of users. [WebDeveloper.com]

Sat, 19 Apr 2003 22:29:35 GMT

Sparky. Sparky displays the shape of an image using animated, glittering stars. Both the image and the shape of the star can be modified. Because of the complexity of the visual effect, the applet precalculates the images of the animation into the memory. [WebDeveloper.com]

Mon, 14 Apr 2003 23:45:37 GMT

Configuring Access Points. Most wireless LAN access point default configurations enable plug-and-play operation; however, these out-of-the-box configurations can limit performance and security. Learn how to get the most out of your wireless LANs by effectively tuning access points. [WebDeveloper.com]

Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:08:16 GMT

InternetWeek.com: Review: Open-Source Software Accurately Sorts Your Mail. "POPfile is a proxy that functions as an intermediary between any POP3 mail client, such as Eudora or Outlook Express, and your POP3 mail server..." [Linux Today]

Mon, 14 Apr 2003 02:15:50 GMT

Cool Mac and Windows utilities.

There are a number of really cool utilities that I really can't live without, and I thought I'd gather them here to generate a bit of discussion. In the Windows corner:

Dave's Quick Search Deskbar. This is by far the coolest utility that I have ever used. I haven't used anywhere near all of its features, but here's a list of the ones that I use often:

Typing in arbitrary text will search for that text using Google
amaz search terms /books will search for the search terms in the books section of Amazon
fedex tracking number will check the status of a fedex shipment
radix number will display that number in octal, hex, and binary
0xhex= will convert a hex number to decimal
num1 op num2= will act as an inline calculator

There's tons of other features that I haven't used yet. Best of all, it's free!

Popup Stopper. I can't surf without this free utility that effectively blocks popup ads from appearing. However, there are times when it blocks legitimate applications, so you need to remember to turn it on and off as well.

Windows command completion. This lets you complete directory paths / filenames by pressing the tab key in a command shell. For example you can type "c:\Pro" and then hit the tab key to get "c:\Program Files" in the command prompt. This feature is enabled by default in fresh installs of Windows XP. For those of you who don't have this feature turned on, use regedit to set HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftCommand ProcessorCompletionChar=0x9.

In the Mac corner:

LaunchBar: This utility lets you use the keyboard to launch applications and open Finder windows. For example, you can type "CMD-Space itu ENTER" to launch iTunes or "CMD-Space /L ENTER" to navigate to open a Finder window for the /Library directory. This saves me a lot of time every day.

MenuMeters: This utility places icons in your Menu bar that shows network activity, disk I/O, memory usage and cpu usage. It's great to be able to see what your computer is up to at all times in a nice and compact UI.

Since I'm new to the Mac world, I'd love to hear about more utilities that you can't live without in the Mac world.

[IUnknown.com: John Lam's Weblog on Software Development]

Tue, 08 Apr 2003 02:07:38 GMT

Code generation links.
I spent some time this evening googling to see who else is talking about code generation.
This first article by Matt Stephens is a very good overview of the problem space. He motivates the problem well, and motivates why code generation is a good fit. In particular, he spends tie talking about generating the data access layer of an application, an area that I often see as being some of the "low hanging fruit" for code generation. Unfortunately, Matt doesn't provide any concrete examples of code generation in action, which makes his paper feels a bit too abstract.
Next, I found an article that talks about generating code using XSLT. Jeff Ryan walks through a fairly complete sample where he builds a JavaBean component using XML and XSLT. Christian Georgescu wrote a similar article in the C/C++ Users Journal where he talks about generating C++ code from XML and XSLT. I like Christian's motivation part of his article.
Based on my experience, writing a code generator in XSLT is difficult since the syntax of XSLT tends to obscure what the generated code looks like. Maintaining an XSLT-based code generator would be difficult for non-trivial applications. The thing that I really like about gslgen is that the syntax of the code generator is very clean and simplistic. Over the next week or so, I'll publish a few sample code generation scripts using gslgen to illustrate the utility of the technique.[IUnknown.com: John Lam's Weblog on Software Development]

Tue, 08 Apr 2003 02:05:22 GMT

Rechargable battery ur-reference. An amazing reference guide to rechargable batteries, exhaustive and deep without being incomprehensible to non-engineers. Link Discuss (via Gizmodo) [Boing Boing Blog]

Tue, 08 Apr 2003 01:58:54 GMT

The big list.. This is a great list of .NET tools and resources... http://dotnetweblogs.com/FMARGUERIE/Story/4139.aspx [via ShowUsYour-Blog!] This is good enough to parrot, as-is. A lot of these tools are also listed here.[Sean 'Early' Campbell & Scott 'Adopter' Swigart's Radio Weblog]

Tue, 08 Apr 2003 01:57:47 GMT

.NET Tools Links. I just stumbled across a great list of .NET Tools that Fabrice put together.[ScottGu's Blog]

Fri, 04 Apr 2003 23:12:11 GMT

Webcam for MSN Messenger [552k] W98/2k/XP FREE
{Video instant messenging} It's your chance to smile for the world using this download, which works with most any Web camera. The trick is that both sides of the conversation need to have MSN Messenger v5.0, a compatible Web cam, and this free software to use it. Luckily, we still had the old, cheap Web cam and we plugged it in. In minutes, Paul and I were having a videoconference / Web chat. [Lockergnome Windows Daily]

Thu, 03 Apr 2003 11:52:33 GMT

Working with C#: Unit Testing and Test-First Development. Eric Gunnerson explains test-first development and provides a working example that shows you how to apply this concept when writing your own applications. [MSDN: .NET Framework and CLR]

Tue, 01 Apr 2003 16:23:16 GMT

Keith Brown on non-admin development. I want this book now! [Don Box's Spoutlet]

Fri, 28 Mar 2003 11:31:30 GMT

SF-200 Slide Feeder. A previous entry reported on the acquisition of a Nikon CoolScan 4000 ED 35mm slide scanner; this is on the addition of an SF-200 slide feeder.... [ongoing]

Fri, 28 Mar 2003 11:26:38 GMT

They just released a version 3.40 of AIDA32.
By far, it's the best system inventory tool I've ever had the pleasure of using. From hardware to software, it'll tell you everything you never wanted to know about that PC of yours. There's a version small enough to fit on a floppy disk, but even the "big" version weighs in just shy of two megabytes. Forget the rest, folks. This is it. The UI is not without its fair share of quirks, but the utility is quite usable. There's even an integrated SMART tool to help you monitor the health of your hard drives (should they support the protocol). I don't wanna dive into a full-fledged software review, but I thought that this update would be of interest to you. For troubleshooters, it's a godsend. Oh, and it's free for individuals like you and me - did I mention that? Not that it wouldn't be worth paying for, of course. [Lockergnome Windows Daily]

Fri, 28 Mar 2003 11:23:57 GMT

Query Strings for Windows Media Player v6.4 through v9
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315959
{Troubleshooting Windows Media Player} There are switches for using with Windows Media Player to assist in troubleshooting. These switches are added in the form of a query string to the end of a requested URL. For example, the command line starts with: mms://server/content.wmv? After the ?, add the switch with its value. Switches include WMThinning, WMBitrate, WMContentBitrate, WMReconnect, WMCache, WMFecSpan, and WMFecPktsPerSpan. If you want to change the number of times that Windows Media Player will automatically try to reconnect to the content, enter: mms://server/content.wmv?WMReconnect=5. In this case, I am telling it I want it to try five times before giving up. If you don't like your PC to be a quitter, up the number. [Meryl] [Lockergnome Windows Daily]

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 20:22:06 GMT

Add Crash Reporting to Your Applications - (C++)
How to generate a crash report for your application that can be debugged by using WinDbg or VS.NET. (The article and source code were updated.) http://www.codeguru.com/debug/CrashReport.html

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 20:21:06 GMT

Hotmail Using C# -- A HTTPMail Client Under .NET - (.NET/C#)
Learn how to connect to a Hotmail mailbox, enumerate inbox mail items, and send and retrieve e-mail, using C# and the XMLHTTP component. Sample code accompanying this article contains a .NET assembly, demonstrating that connecting to Hotmail via HTTPMail can be as simple as working with any other mail protocol such as POP3, IMAP4, or SMTP. http://www.codeguru.com/cs_internet/HttpMail.html

Sat, 22 Mar 2003 00:57:14 GMT

How can I use Group Policy to restrict access to the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) configuration tabs?

IE includes seven configuration tabs that you can access either from the Tools, Internet Options menu or from the Internet Options Control Panel applet; The tabs are

General--Basic options for configuring the home page, temporary Internet file settings, and history
Security--Settings for configuring Internet security options (e.g., ActiveX options)
Privacy--Privacy settings for Internet connections
Content--Settings for Internet connection ratings and personal profile information
Connections--Settings for configuring dial-up and firewall options
Programs--Executables used for various Internet programs
Advanced--Advanced options

You can use Group Policy to disable any of these tabs. First, start Group Policy Editor (GPE) for a specific policy (e.g., from the Microsoft Management Console--MMC--Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, right-click a container, select Properties from the context menu, select the Group Policy tab, then select Edit). Navigate to User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Internet Explorer, Internet Control Panel. There, you'll see an option for disabling each of the seven tabs.

Fri, 21 Mar 2003 12:25:02 GMT

Automatically Delay Delivery of Messages in Outlook 2000

Do you often find yourself wishing that you could retrieve or change the message you just sent? Well, here's a way that you can delay delivering messages by having them stay in your Outbox for a specified time, so that you can easily change or delete them. If you use Microsoft Exchange Server you can use the Recall Message feature to recall individual messages.

On the Tools menu, click Rules Wizard, and then click the New button.
In the Which type of rule do you want to create list, click Check messages after sending, and then click the Next button.
Click the Next button to have this rule apply to all messages, or, if you want to limit the messages that the rule applies to, in the Which condition(s) do you want to check list, select any options you want.
In the What do you want to do with the message list, select defer delivery by a number of minutes. (Delivery can be delayed up to two hours.)
In the Rule Description box, click the underlined phrase, a number of, and in the Defer delivery by box, enter the number of minutes you want messages held before sending.
Click the OK button, and then click the Next button.
Select any exceptions, and then click the Next button.
In the Please specify a name for this rule box, type a name for the rule, and then click the Finish button.

That's it. Now, all your messages will be held in your Outbox for a specified time after you click the Send button.

Fri, 21 Mar 2003 12:20:28 GMT

SysInternals has had some significant updates to the industry renouned free tools! Visit Site
NewSid allows you to assign a specific SID to a computer - perfect for rebuilding a server or workstation right down to its security id. Version 4.0 introduces support for Windows XP and .NET Server, a wizard-style interface, allows you to specify the SID that you want applied, Registry compaction and also the option to rename a computer (which results in a change of both NetBIOS and DNS names).

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 11:29:48 GMT

Olymars.

Some pretty cool stuff here.

We've all had to write the same repetitive code over and over again such as the following in order to connect to a db.

Write SQL code and create at least 4 stored procedures per table in the database (Insert, Update, Delete and Select SQL statement)
Write SQL code and create custom stored procedures that will reflect the complexity of their database diagram (Example: write a SQL statement that can update several tables in one call, write SQL statement that can bring back data from several tables using inner join statement…)
Write ADO.Net code (using VB .NET, C# .NET or whatever language supported by the .NET platform) that is responsible for calling those stored procedures. Developers have to take special care with the parameters type to be declared as long as the parameters direction (input, output…)
Write abstract classes that map exactly to their database tables for easy data retrieving
Write Windows or/and Web forms that can manage (Add, Update, Delete) their database tables content

Well supposedly the tool Olymars does this all for us. Very, very interesting.

So far after an intial appraisal it looks very cool.

[Sean 'Early' Campbell & Scott 'Adopter' Swigart's Radio Weblog]

Sun, 16 Mar 2003 22:00:47 GMT

Altova Offers Free Software License for Authentic 5 Browser Enabled XML Document Editor. Altova Inc. has announced the public availability of Altova's XML document editor product Authentic 5 under a free software license. Authentic 5 is a customizable, light-weight, and easy-to-use XML document editor. It allows business users to create and edit content through a web-enabled interface that resembles a word processor. Authentic 5 supports WebDAV and HTTP, with real-time document validation and multilingual spell checking. [The XML Cover Pages]

Tue, 04 Mar 2003 01:52:39 GMT

Ad-aware 6 Released. After a long wait, Ad-aware 6 has finally been released! For those who don't know, Ad-aware is a program that will scan and remove nasty spyware from your computer. Unfamiliar with spyware? Well it's software that is installed on your computer by file sharing programs and various webpages that can monitor your shopping habits, launch pop-up windows at will, and worse. Best of all Ad-aware is free! You'll be shocked to see what it finds on your computer. [RedFlagDeals.com]

Mon, 03 Mar 2003 11:12:03 GMT

XML Web Services are kewl......

And Darren is pointing everyone to Dan Wahlin's wonderful XML videos (and site):

Dan Wahlin's done it again... he's posted 4 excellent Windows Media movies that show a simple example for getting started with WSE

http://www.xmlforasp.net/codeSection.aspx?csID=81

In it learn how to:

Wire-up WSE in your project
Implement IPasswordProvider
Check a web request for security tokens
Make a web request with added security tokens

Dan is the man when it comes to XML and Web Services! If you haven't checked out the other samples on his site then I highly recommend it!

[Alex Lowe's .NET Blog]

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 23:28:34 GMT

Update on dual monitors.

Scott Hanselman commented on my dual monitor migration. He pointed me to a really cool utility called Ultramon. [1] So far I really love the task-bar feature which gives me per-desktop task bars. Unfortunately, the taskbar feature doesn't seem to coexist well with ATI's Hydravision utility which gives me additional hardware accelerated virtual desktops, so I only have the per-desktop task bars on my first virtual desktop.

Werner Vogels chimes in with geek one-upmanship ... he has THREE flat panels on his desktop. And they're not just any flat panels, these are big huge honking expensive flat panels. Damn, I'm jealous :)

Don "luddite" Box comments about how much he likes the larger 1024 x 768 pixels on his Thinkpad x30. Hey - how many pixels do you need to run emacs and type all those angle brackets anyways? :)

[1] This brings back memories of my old Commodore PET days where there were a lot of machine-language monitor (think 6502 debugger) utilities. The original machine language monitor on the PET (remember sys 4?) was woefully limited - it could only do hex dumps and display the register stack. This spawned a whole cottage industry of utilities; first there was SuperMon, ExtraMon and eventually ... UltraMon.

[IUnknown.com: John Lam's Weblog on Software Development]

Thu, 13 Feb 2003 13:49:53 GMT

I really wish more devs would make the switch.

Over the past few days, I've installed a couple of client applications that were clearly written by devs who run as local administrator on their computers. In both cases, these applications wrote to Program FilesApp Name directory. In both cases, they mistakenly thought that "they" owned that directory. And by "they", I mean the guy who wrote the app thinks that they owned that directory, but that's incorrect. In reality, the administrator who installed their application onto a user's computer owns that directory. And once the user tries to run that application, bam! It blows up in their face.

There's a whole bunch of areas on the computer that are off-limits to regular users, and for good reason. Among them are HKLM, Windows, and Program Files. Remember that keys like HKCR really map to HKLMSoftwareClasses. It is really difficult for devs to build software that runs correctly under restricted accounts (like any account that belongs only to the MachineUsers group) unless they themselves run under such an account. So, please ... make the switch!

There's really nothing that I regularly do during development that I cannot accomplish by running under a regular user account. When I occasionally need to do some administrator-like things, I either temporarily create a new administrator command shell via the runas command, or I log out and log back in as admin to perform those tasks (setting ACL's using Explorer is one of those tasks).

[IUnknown.com: John Lam's Weblog on Software Development]

Thu, 13 Feb 2003 13:43:29 GMT

Sequential I/O performance.

This morning, I was doing some research on sequential I/O performance, and re-read this excellent research paper published by Leonard Chung and Jim Gray at MSR. One of the interesting security-related performance issue raised in this paper can be found in Section 4.4, concerning file pre-allocation:

"When growing a file, it is important to write it in sequential order. Otherwise Windows writes each block twice: once to zero the "gap" and once to write the actual data when the need write finally is issued".

It is necessary to "zero the gap" to prevent reading data that has not been previously written. Otherwise an attacker would be able to extend a file, and attempt to read the data that was there before. Windows prevents this by zeroing out the bytes in the file to guarantee that 0 is returned when reading data that has not been previously written.

The performance gap is quite severe - write throughput drops by 50% due to the need to write the data twice to disk. Writing to the end of a file does not incur this penalty.

[IUnknown.com: John Lam's Weblog on Software Development]

Thu, 13 Feb 2003 13:43:15 GMT

Living the dual monitor lifestyle.

I loved the SyncMaster 172T so much that I bought another. And once I got my motherboard problems out of the way, I'm happily running a 32MB ATI AIW RADEON and a 64MB ATI RADEON 7000 PCI dual-monitor setup.

One of the really cool features that ATI provides with their drivers is Hydravision support. It lets me run multiple hardware accelerated virtual desktops (up to 9) and I can switch between desktops using their tray icon utility (in theory I can do this using a keystroke but I can't get it to work). The switch is lightning-fast - much faster than the Virtual Desktop Manager utility found in Windows PowerToys. I find that I now use one desktop for email / news stuff, and another desktop for dev stuff (running full VS.NET full screen and debugging a GUI app on another monitor was the main reason I switched to this setup). I suspect I'll use a third desktop for blogging-related stuff.

Since the 172T is a DVI panel, I can report that there isn't much difference between a DVI and a VGA signal input (the RADEON 7000 only has VGA output), but there is a difference. The text is a tiny bit sharper using DVI, and the whites are whiter - I'm having a hard time trying to make the whites match exactly between the two monitors.

[IUnknown.com: John Lam's Weblog on Software Development]

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:32:05 GMT

Holy RegWorm Batman! Windows Product Activation Attacks Gotham City
You bought and paid for your version of Windows XP Home or Professional. You have the proof - your wallet feels much lighter! Like many people, you put things off and ignore what appear to be the plaintive pleas of the RegWorm emanating from your system tray. But then the day of reckoning arrives and the dreaded worm says your "grace period" has expired. You click "Yes" and POW! You're logged off. To give that ole RegWorm a shot of vitamin B12 and get back in action check out: http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030107CO-RegWorm

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:29:01 GMT

Web Site Reports That You Must Enable Cookies
You've probably run into cookie problems if you use Internet Explorer to get your Hotmail messages. There's a link in the message and you click on it. You then get an error that says you must have cookies enabled. The problem is that you do have cookies enabled. This article describes the problem and gives you a fix: http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030114CO-Cookies

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:28:41 GMT

Hard Disk May Become Corrupted When Entering Standby or Hibernation
Those giant hard disks that are larger than 137 GB are a lot of fun. You feel as if you can "save" the world - on a single disk. But here's some scary news: Your hard disk might become corrupt when it enters Standby or Hibernation in Windows XP. What's up with that? A small problem with atapi.sys causes the problem. Better head on over and get the fix before you lose your masterpieces! http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030114CO-Atapi_Fix

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:26:35 GMT

Connecting to Multiple Remote Desktops on Your Private Network

Many of you have multiple Windows XP computers running Remote Desktop on your home or SOHO networks. It would be great to be able to connect to all of these computers over the Internet, but that usually requires multiple IP addresses bound to the Internet interface of your cable or DSL router. John Canning wrote to us with a great trick that allows you to make all of your Remote Desktops available from the Internet using just a single Internet IP address:

Click Start, click the Run command and type in "regedit" (without the quotes) to open the Registry Editor.
Browse to the following location in the left pane
HKEY LOCAL MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlTerminalServerWinStationsRDP-Tcp
In the right pane, right click on PortNumber and click the Modify command.
In the Edit DWORD dialog box, click the decimal option and change the port number to whatever you want. Click OK and restart your computer.
Log into your router and use port forwarding to forward the port you chose to your IP address on the network.
Now when connecting to your computer from another computer, you have to type the following in the connection box for remote desktop
YourIPaddress:YourNewPort (that is a colon in the middle). For example: 66.245.178.25:3388

Great tip! Thanks, John.

WinXPnews™ E-Zine Tue, Jan 14, 2003 (Vol. 3, 2 - Issue 58)

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:23:34 GMT

Free Wireless Lockdown Tool!

SecureWave just released a free security solution that, I dare to say, is of interest to many of you.

In two words, they have released a Windows 2000/XP solution that allows you to prevent the use of Wireless cards --unless you actually want your users to use them of course. Many companies spent lots of money on their firewalls and, those that make use of it, even WLANs. However, today the focus has been on securing the communication between the WLAN endpoints and the base stations -- but what about if you do not want them in the first place?

Under Windows 2000/XP you (as an end-user) just need to plug one of these wireless cards in that machine and bingo -- security polices are out of the window. If you want to make sure that WLAN cards cannot be used your will love WaveLock. I know the developers myself, these are reliable people. Wavelock is free, not supported but definitely interesting. check it out at:
http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030120TP-Wavelock

Sunbelt W2Knews™ Mon, Jan 20, 2003 (Vol. 8, #3 - Issue #409)

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:19:36 GMT

Certain Programs Do Not Work Correctly If You Log On Using a Limited User Account

Have your limited users experienced the following kinds of problems when running certain programs on their Windows XP computers?

Program does not run.
Program stops responding (hangs).
Receive notification of run-time error 7 or run-time error 3446.
Program does not recognize that a CD-ROM is in the CD-ROM drive.
Program does not allow you to save files.
Program does not allow you to open files.
Program does not allow you to edit files.
Program displays a blank error message.
You cannot remove the program.
You cannot open the Help file

The problem is that some programs just don't work correctly when using a limited user account. For a BIG list of programs that don't work, and workarounds for the problem check out:
http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030121UP-Limited_Accounts

WinXPnews™ E-Zine Tue, Jan 21, 2003 (Vol. 3, 3 - Issue 59)

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:18:24 GMT

Anatomy of a RegWorm (Windows Product Activation/WPA)

Do you live in fear of the day when Windows XP's built-in timebomb will explode on you? That timebomb (WPA or RegWorm) can render your computer useless and require you to get on the phone and beg Microsoft to let you use the computer and software for which you paid big money. What triggers the bomb to explode? Whenever you start your Windows XP computer, the bomb checks on the status of the following hardware devices:

Video adapter
SCSI disk adapter
IDE disk adapter
Network Interface Card (NIC) MAC Address
Amount of RAM
Processor
Processor Serial Number
Hard drives
Hard Drive volume serial number
CD-ROM/CD-RW/ DVD-ROM

The worm calculates a number associated with the devices and compares it to previous values. You can change up to 6 components in this list during the first 120 days. The bomb is triggered when you change the 7th (at that point you may wish for Linux). The counter is reset every 120 days. At least, that's how it's suppose to work. But keep in mind that software makes errors all the time, so the timebomb might go off even if you haven't changed anything! For a detailed discussion of WPA, check out: http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030121SE-WPA

WinXPnews™ E-Zine Tue, Jan 21, 2003 (Vol. 3, 3 - Issue 59)

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:17:19 GMT

How to Put an Entire Drive into a Folder

Frank Lund wrote with a great tip on something you can do with Windows XP that you could never do with those old Windows 9x/ME operating systems. This feature, called "Volume Mount Points" (also supported in Windows 2000) allows you to associate an entire partition with a single folder on your hard disk. Frank recommends using the Volume Mount Points feature to free up disk space on a C: drive that's getting too full. If your C: drive is getting too full, you'll love this trick:

Create an empty folder on your C: drive called "NewDrive".
Install your new hard disk and open the Disk Management console. You can access Disk Management from the Run command. Type diskmgmt.msc in the Run command and click OK.
In the Disk Management console, right click on the new disk and click New Volume. Click Next when the Welcome to the New Volume Wizard dialog box appears.
On the Select Volume Type page, select the Simple option. Click Next.
On the Select Disks page, make sure the correct disk (the new one) is selected and then type in the size of the partition you want to create. The default is to use the entire disk. Type in the size in the Select the amount of space in MB text box and click Next.
On the Assign Drive Letter or Path page, select the Mount in the following empty NTFS folder option and then type in the path to the NewDrive folder. Click Next.
On the Format Volume page, accept the default settings and click Next. Click Finish and the volume will be created and formatted.
Find some folders that are taking up a lot of space. Right click on those folders and click the Cut command. Then click on the NewDrive folder and use the Paste command. Note that you shouldn't do this with Program Folders and System Folders, as there are many files in use in those folders so you won't be able to reliably copy them to the new location. The Cut and Paste operation moves the files from their old folders into the new one.
Notice that all the files still appear to be on the C: drive. This makes it easy for you to save all your stuff to the C: drive, but actually use the space on the new disk.

You can, of course, name the folder whatever you wish instead of NewDrive.

WinXPnews™ E-Zine Tue, Jan 21, 2003 (Vol. 3, 3 - Issue 59)

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 21:38:49 GMT

Automatically Defrag Your Hard Disks with the Built-in Defragger
The official Microsoft documentation says you can only defrag one disk at a time and that you can't schedule the defrag run (at least, using the Task Scheduler). http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030128TI-Defrag But that's not completely true. If you're an adventurous type you might want to check out these scripts that allow you to schedule and defrag multiple disks at once. You can find the scripts and instructions at:
http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030128TI-W2KDfrag Make sure you download and use the XP scripts when scheduling defrags for your XP systems. You can also schedule defrags using the new command line defrag included with XP. For instructions on using see:
http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030128TI-XP_Defrag

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 16:44:50 GMT

SET A DEFAULT E-MAIL FORMAT FOR SPECIFIC RECIPIENTS

Outlook lets you configure the default format for new e-mail messages and gives you three options: HTML, rich text, or plain text. If you've configured Outlook to use HTML as the default, each new message will start with HTML as the format, enabling you to add graphics, formatting, and other rich media. However, some users prefer to receive text-only e-mail messages. You can configure the default mail format to be different from Outlook's overall default format for specific users. This means that new messages you send to these users will be created using the format specified for the recipient, not those you set as the default for Outlook.

Follow these steps to set the default message format for a contact in Outlook 2002:

1. Open Outlook's Contacts folder and double-click the contact to open it.

2. In the E-mail field, double-click the recipient's address to open the E-mail Properties dialog box.

3. From the Internet Format drop-down list, choose the format option you want to use for this contact. For example, choose Send Plain Text Only if you want Outlook to use only plain text for this recipient.

You can repeat this process for any other contacts for which you want to set a specific message format. But keep in mind that the setting is address-specific, not recipient-specific. You can send messages to a particular contact using different mail formats, depending on which e-mail address you use.

If the contact has more than one e-mail address, open the contact form and click the down arrow beside the e-mail address field. Select a different address, then double-click the address to set its default format.

If you're running Outlook 2000 in Internet Mail Only mode, on the Contact form, just below the e-mail address you'll see an option named Send As Plain Text. Select this option to send to the recipient using plain text. If you're using Corporate/Workgroup mode, you can only change a recipient's send options if the address is stored in the Personal Address
Book (PAB). Open the PAB, double-click the contact, and click Send Options
to specify the message format for the recipient.
[TechRepublic - 2 Jan 03]

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 16:42:35 GMT

Electric Xml Toolkit: Free And Easy To Use. Working with XML is often tedious and time consuming. But the free toolkit Electric XML simplifies many of these tasks so you can better utilize your time. [Builder.com - 17 Dec 02] [Eric's incoming newsletters]

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 13:08:06 GMT

MOVE A USER'S CERTIFICATE TO ANOTHER COMPUTER
Outlook has several functions that require a security certificate. If you don't have a backup of the certificate and the system crashes, the user will have to obtain a new certificate. You can back up and restore certificates using several different methods, including Outlook.
To use Outlook to back up and restore certificates, you first need to export the certificate to make a backup. Follow these steps:
1. In Outlook, choose Tools | Options and click the Security tab.
2. Click Import/Export and select Export Your Digital ID To A File from the Import/Export Digital ID dialog box.
3. Click Select, choose the certificate to export, and specify a path and name for the file (use a .pfx file extension). As an option, you
can also enter and confirm a password to protect the file.
4. If the user has Internet Explorer 4, select the Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 Compatible option. Then click OK.
Next, follow these steps to import the certificate into the new system:
1. In Outlook, choose Tools | Options and click the Security tab.
2. Click Import/Export, click Browse, and browse for the certificate file.
3. Enter the password for the file.
4. In the Digital ID Name text box, type the name by which you want the certificate to be shown. You'll typically enter the user's name or
e-mail address or mailbox name.
5. Click OK to import the certificate.
Backing up user certificates is particularly important if your users purchase certificates from a commercial certificate authority. You can mitigate that cost by installing and using Windows 2000 Server or .NET Server's Certificate Services to generate your own certificates. [TechRepublic - 19 Dec 02]

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 13:06:51 GMT

News: Microsoft Releases Mbsa 1.1. Microsoft recently released a new version of Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA), which Shavlik Technologies developed for Microsoft. New features in MBSA 1.1 include Exchange and Windows Media Player (WMP) security update detection, full HFNetChk 3.81 support in the MBSA command-line interface, support for Microsoft Software Update Services (SUS) during security update scans, compatibility with Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0 Software Update Services Feature Pack, and detection for multiple Microsoft SQL Server instances. [Security UPDATE - 18 Dec 02] [Eric's incoming newsletters]

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 13:06:31 GMT

Identify Trends With The Microsoft Data Analyzer. VISUALIZE DATA USING MICROSOFT DATA ANALYZER
Do your clients' eyes glaze over when you present them with a spreadsheet full of data? Microsoft Data Analyzer allows you to give your clients an easily understandable picture of their organizations' data so they can identify trends. Bob Watkins explains. [TechRepublic - 18 Dec 02] [Eric's incoming newsletters]

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 13:05:38 GMT

Six Tips For Employing Closed Wireless Networking. Wireless networks must be closed off to outsiders--a difficult task considering that wireless networks are initially available to anyone within their range. Find out how to protect your wireless network from unwanted users. [TechRepublic - 9 Dec 02] [Eric's incoming newsletters]

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 13:05:25 GMT

Get A Snapshot Of Your Server's Performance With Net Statistics. The Windows Performance Monitor gives detailed information about your server's performance, but it takes time to configure and use. Learn how to use the Net Statistics command to get a quicker view of how your servers are performing. [TechRepublic - 9 Dec 02] [Eric's incoming newsletters]

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 13:03:24 GMT

The System File Checker And Wfp. Windows File Protection (WFP) provides a built-in mechanism that in most cases prevents a hotfix, service pack, or application from replacing crucial system files with earlier versions of those files. Read more about this tool and learn a few caveats for using it at the following URL: [Windows & .NET Magazine UPDATE - 3 Dec 02] [Eric's incoming newsletters]

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 13:01:21 GMT

The Year At A Glance
Outlook 2000+ Year View, from Planet Software Australia displays an entire year's calendar. It turns Outlook into a year planner, letting you block out days at a time for vacations, conferences, and other daylong and weeklong events. You don't need to be a developer to use this custom control, though, because the download includes an installer that sets up an Outlook folder home page that shows the year planner for any calendar folder you select. The Year View control isn't just for viewing events--you can also create new events. Right-click anywhere in the calendar, then choose New Appointment and pick a color category. The cursor turns into a pencil. Drag it across the days for which you want to create the event. A new Outlook appointment will appear with the category and start and end dates already filled in. All you need to add are the subject and any other details. You can create as many copies of the Year View.htm file as you need to create folder home pages for different calendar folders. Just edit the copy to change the Folder parameter that determines which Outlook folder the control displays. For public folders, you'll probably want to put the .htm files in a folder on your intranet Web server. You could also place the outlookyearview.cab file in a network location and edit the Year View.htm file to point to that file instead of the local drive. [Exchange and Outlook UPDATE - 7 Jan 03]

Fri, 10 Jan 2003 12:30:28 GMT

Tip: Displaying Multiple Folders Within A View
Q: Can I show more than one folder within a view--such as the Day/Week/Month view that combines Calendar and Tasks, only with different folders?
A: Aside from the built-in Calendar + Tasks view and the Outlook Today page, Outlook out of the box provides no views that combine data from multiple folders. The solution is to use the Outlook View Control (OVC) in a folder home page. The OVC is an ActiveX control that displays a specific Outlook page. Folder home pages are simply Web pages displayed within Outlook, and they can host multiple copies of the OVC, with each instance of the control showing a different folder. You can add the OVC to a Web page, just as you would any other control, and set the necessary properties.
The original version of the OVC for Outlook 2002 had a serious security vulnerability, described in Outlook View Control Exposes Unsafe Functionality. Any Outlook 2002 update or Office XP service pack after August 16, 2001, has a more secure OVC. A new version is also available for Outlook 2000, either as a separate download (as described in the security
bulletin) or in Office 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3).
After you use the OVC to create a Web page, make it the home page for an Outlook folder by bringing up the folder's Properties dialog box and entering the path to the Web page on the Home Page tab.
For more information about the OVC, including sample code, see the Microsoft article "OL2002: General Information about the Outlook View Control".
[Exchange and Outlook UPDATE - 3 Dec 02]

Thu, 09 Jan 2003 18:17:25 GMT

It's A Great Time To Check Your Security. It's 2003, and you might want to start the new year by checking the security of all your systems. Toward that effort, I've located several security checklists to assist you. The checklists cover Windows XP; Windows 2000; Windows NT; Microsoft IIS, SQL Server, Exchange Server, and Internet Explorer (IE); various UNIX systems; and Apache. Keep in mind that these are just a few of the many checklists available. To find more, use your favorite search engine.
- Windows XP
LabMice.net hosts a "Windows XP Security Checklist." The checklist is divided into three categories: basic, intermediate, and advanced. The items covered include user accounts, groups, passwords, hardware, ports, shares, risky subsystems, and risky features.
http://www.labmice.net/articles/winxpsecuritychecklist.htm
Microsoft also provides a security checklist for XP Home Edition and XP Professional. According to the related TechNet Web page, the checklists "outline the steps you should take to reach a baseline of security with Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional computers, either on their own or as part of a Windows NT or Windows 2000 domain." The checklists cover such matters as shares, policies, and accounts and passwords.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/chklist/xpcl.asp
- Win2K
LabMice.net also hosts the "Windows 2000 Security Checklist," which provides the same thorough coverage provided in the LabMice.net XP security checklist.
http://www.labmice.net/articles/securingwin2000.htm
Microsoft also provides checklists for Win2K Professional and Win2K Server. The comprehensive lists are on the TechNet Web site.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/chklist/w2kprocl.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/chklist/w2ksvrcl.asp
- NT
If you have NT systems on your network, check out the NT security checklist that Windows IT Library hosts. Originally compiled by Rob Davis with the help of several others, the checklist includes information from Microsoft's Web site. The list addresses such concerns as protecting files and directories, NetBIOS, dangerous services, passwords and hashes, registry entries, resource sharing, auditing, caching, and memory paging.
http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/content/121/18/toc.html
- IIS
Microsoft offers the Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 Baseline Security Checklist, which helps you better secure the popular Web server. The list discusses installing the minimum Internet services required, setting appropriate authentication methods, setting appropriate virtual directory permissions and partitioning Web application space, setting appropriate IIS log file ACLs, enabling logging, setting up Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), disabling or removing all sample applications, removing the IISADMPWD virtual directory, removing unused script mappings, and disabling Remote Data Services
(RDS) support (see the first URL below). Microsoft also provides a Web-based checklist form that helps you keep track of which configuration actions you've taken on a Web server. You'll find the form, which contains hotlinks that describe each item listed, at the second URL below. The company also provides a lockdown tool for IIS, which you'll find at the third URL below. Finally, you'll find a useful checklist for Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 at the fourth URL below.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/chklist/iis4cl.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/secur
ity/tools/chklist/iischk.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/tools/locktool.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/chklist/iis5cl.asp
- SQL Server
SQLSecurity.com provides the "SQL Server Security Checklist" to help you secure SQL Server installations. The extensive list covers such matters as service packs, protocols, user accounts, dropping dangerous procedures, deleting stored procedures, logging, alerts, groups and roles, and user logins.
http://www.sqlsecurity.com/checklist.asp
- Exchange Server
The IMIBO Web site discusses Exchange Server security and offers sample code that shows you how Microsoft handles security inside the server. The site's information addresses subjects such as logons, directory objects, security descriptors, modifying access, and public folder access control.
http://www.imidev.galaxite.net/exc/security/contents.htm
DevX provides "Eight Tips to Secure Exchange." The tips cover areas such as ports, underlying OS services, server location, passwords, using communities, dial-up access, and administrative rights. http://archive.devx.com/upload/free/features/exchange/2000/10oct00/jh001
0/jh0010.asp
You can find additional information about Exchange Server and Outlook security at Slipstick Systems. At the Slipstick Web site, search on the term "security."
http://www.slipstick.com
- Microsoft IE
Microsoft provides a rudimentary Web page that explains IE security. The page includes settings for SSL and security zones. The most important thing to remember about IE security is to load the many available patches.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/chklist/iecl.asp
- More Microsoft Security Tools and Checklists
For more complete access to Microsoft security checklists and tools, visit the company's TechNet Web site. The site includes items for most of Microsoft's enterprise products (although not for SQL Server).
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/tools.asp
- UNIX OSs
CERT offers a "UNIX Security Checklist v2.0." The checklist covers the basic OS, major services, patches, and details about specific UNIX OSs. The checklist appendix lists security tools, commands, and five "essential" steps to secure your UNIX systems before you put them into operation.
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/usc20_full.html
- Apache HTTP Server
If you're among the many people who run Apache HTTP server, you'll be happy to know that the Apache Server Project hosts a Web page, "Security Tips for Server Configuration." The content includes permissions on server root directories, server-side includes, Common Gateway Interface
(CGI) in general, aliased CGI, dynamic content, system settings, and protecting server files.
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/misc/security_tips.html
Finally, Windows & .NET Magazine has published many in-depth articles that discuss how to better secure your systems. Be sure to use the Web site search engine to find material about the security topics most important to you. [Security UPDATE - 1 Jan 03] [Eric's incoming newsletters]

Tue, 31 Dec 2002 12:16:44 GMT

Nano-review: The IBM Model M "clicky" keyboard [Street Tech]

Tue, 17 Dec 2002 11:35:08 GMT

Generate XSD Schemas by Inference Microsoft's new XSD Inference Tool generates schemas from multiple XML source documents and solves most of Xsd.exe's problems

Mon, 09 Dec 2002 15:14:10 GMT

Quick Launch of Multiple Browser Windows. This script allows you to open multiple browser windows for your favorite websites with one click from your desktop. [WebDeveloper.com]

Wed, 04 Dec 2002 01:25:04 GMT

.NET kills CAPSLOCK (and Insert too). Steve Lucco's .REG file becomes a WinForms app thanks to the Minister of WinForms himself. [Don Box's Spoutlet] 2002-10-21 - .NET kills CAPSLOCK (and Insert too) I recently showed Chris Sells the registry magic to kill the CAPSLOCK key once and for all. Chris noted that killing that useless Insert key would be a good idea as well. Moments later, through the miracle of .NET, the world has Scancode Mapper which does the grungy stuff for you. My insert key is now as dead as the CAPSLOCK key.

Fri, 29 Nov 2002 01:59:33 GMT

January 2002;| Sue Mosher | Outlook Tips and Techniques | InstantDoc #23147

Outlook Tips--Displaying Multiple Folders Within a View

Can I show more than one folder within a view—such as the Day/Week/Month view that combines Calendar and Tasks, only with different folders? —Brud Rossmann

Aside from the built-in Calendar + Tasks view and the Outlook Today page, Outlook out of the box provides no views that combine data from multiple folders. The solution is to use the Outlook View Control (OVC) in a folder home page. The OVC is an ActiveX control that displays a specific Outlook page. Folder home pages are simply Web pages, and they can host multiple copies of the OVC, each displaying a different folder. You can add the OVC to a Web page, just as you would any other control, and set the necessary properties.

The original version of the OVC had a security vulnerability. For Outlook 2002, visit the Microsoft Office Download Center and download and install the latest update for Outlook 2002. Any update after August 16, 2001, has the more secure OVC.

After you use the OVC to create a Web page, make it the home page for an Outlook folder by bringing up the folder's Properties dialog box and entering the path to the Web page on the Home Page tab.

For more information about the OVC, including sample code, see the Microsoft article "OL2000: General Information About the Outlook View Control"

Fri, 29 Nov 2002 01:52:08 GMT

Windows Video Editing Pulls Ahead Of The Mac, Part 2. Greetings,
In "Windows Video Editing Pulls Ahead of the Mac, Part 1" (available at the URL below), I compared Windows Movie Maker 2 and Apple Computer's iMovie. But the article caused an interesting backlash from the Macintosh community after various Mac-advocacy sites linked to the story. I think Apple's more virulent fans are missing the point. In the article, I compared two consumer-oriented products, not Adobe Systems' Adobe Premiere and Apple's Final Cut Pro, the professional-level tools that were inexplicably most-often cited as an argument against my apparent pro-Microsoft stance. But I've used Mac-oriented video-editing tools for more than a year and a half, and until Windows Movie Maker 2 arrived, I was firmly in the Apple camp when it came to digital video.
http://connectedhomemag.com/visual/articles/index.cfm?articleid=27312
As I noted in Part 1, however, I've changed my mind. Thanks to technology such as Windows Media 9 Series and excellent products such as Windows Movie Maker 2 and Sonic Solutions' Sonic MyDVD 4 (which I discuss below), Windows digital-video technology has pulled ahead of the Mac. I don't believe that Apple will sit still while Microsoft usurps its lead--indeed, an Apple rep recently told me that the company is working to make iMovie even simpler and more powerful than it already is--but Windows Movie Maker 2's superiority should be alarming to Mac fans. Windows Movie Maker 2 is so much better than iMovie, and its underlying Windows Media Video (WMV) 9 technology is so infinitely superior to MPEG-4 that I'm not sure what Apple can do at this point.
More Windows Movie Maker 2
In Part 1, I discussed the Windows Movie Maker 2 UI and how you can use the software to capture and edit movies. I glossed over the technical aspects of editing because Windows Movie Maker 2 includes an amazing AutoMovie feature that will satisfy most consumers' editing needs. But running AutoMovie doesn't necessarily mean you're finished with your
project: If you want, you can go back and manually edit an AutoMovie-edited movie--including changing titles and transitions--as you would any other movie. This capability makes Windows Movie Maker 2 a compelling solution for beginners and advanced users alike.
Whether you use AutoMovie or manually edit the movie, Windows Movie Maker 2 offers several options for saving the final product, many of which address limitations with the previous Windows Movie Maker version. After you select File, Save Movie File, up pops the stunningly simple Save Movie Wizard, which offers choices such as My Computer, Recordable CD, E-mail, The Web, and DV camera. For the highest quality, you might choose My Computer, which automatically selects "Best quality for playback on my computer" or lets you choose from various parameters, including fit to file size or a list of quality ratings from 48KBps to 2.1MBps. If you choose the latter option, the wizard displays important information such as bit rate and display size, which lets technical users understand how long the process will take and how many resources it will consume. The other Save Movie choices are similar. If you select The Web, you get choices such as Dial-up Modem, ISDN, and DSL/Cable Modem, or you can select from more technical, bit rate-oriented choices.
Windows Movie Maker 2 doesn't let you write to a DVD from within the application; Microsoft will incorporate integrated DVD writing in the next Windows version (code-named Longhorn). Microsoft tells me, however, that all recordable DVDs come with DVD moviemaking software, and that WMV 9 is compatible with virtually all these products. But until recently, most of these products weren't very exciting. Here's the product that changes all that.
MyDVD 4
At the PC EXPO trade show in June 2002, I got my first look at MyDVD 4, a consumer-oriented package for creating DVD (and CD-based) movies. Previous versions of MyDVD were decent but not exceptional. The new version, however, is best of breed. It features a Windows XP-style UI that looks like something Microsoft would have built; almost overly simple tools for adding movies, photo slideshows, and submenus to a disc-based movie; and a set of decent-looking and extensible themes that even include motion menus, similar to Apple's iDVD.
For people who want to use MyDVD 4 as a complete solution, Sonic includes basic capture tools and a bundled copy of ArcSoft ShowBiz in a high-end version; ShowBiz was previously my favorite PC-based video-editing tool. But when you combine MyDVD 4 with Windows Movie Maker 2 and the underlying Windows Media 9 Series technologies, these tools become a one-two knockout punch to consumer-oriented video editing and creation. MyDVD 4 couldn't be simpler: You can drag and drop your Windows Movie Maker 2-created movies directly onto a menu in MyDVD 4 or simply select the Get Movies button. Each movie has its own button along with a still frame from the underlying movie, and you can even select which frame in the movie you want to display on the button.
Creating photo slideshows is just as easy (although you might arguably better use Windows Movie Maker 2 for that task): Select the Add Slideshow button, select your photos, choose which photo to use as the button image, add an optional musical background, and you're done. Or you can also select the slide duration, the types of transition to use between each photo, and which background color to use; the aspect ration of most photos will leave blank space on the top and bottom (or left and
right) of the screen.
As you add content to the disc, a small graphic in the lower left of the application window displays the available space, so you always know where you stand. You can preview your creation in the application before burning the movie to disk and change themes on the fly. You can even create your own themes. MyDVD 4 has one small limitation: You can't edit the graphical links to submenus in the sense that you can't apply an image to these buttons. That's a shame, and the product's one glaring omission.
One final note about MyDVD 4: The product includes an intriguing technology called OpenDVD that lets you store special information about the DVDs and CDs you create that you can use later to reedit--and reburn--your creations. So you can create a disc and later choose to change it, even if you lose your MyDVD project on the hard disk.
MyDVD 4 costs about $50 ($70 for the version that includes ShowBiz). I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a simple and elegant way to create DVD movies on the PC.
Sonic MyDVD 4 [Connected Home EXPRESS - 27 Nov 02] [Eric's incoming newsletters]

Fri, 29 Nov 2002 01:46:20 GMT

Increase Efficiencies With Kerzner's Project Management Maturity Model

A growing number of organizations involved with application software development and integration are adopting structured project management methodologies. Unfortunately, this adoption of practices is often incomplete or piecemeal at the enterprise level.
Sometimes a single organization will implement structured project management practices at the departmental level rather than across the enterprise. This practice often undermines the potential benefits championed by structured project management, ultimately discouraging further adoption.

In order to address project management methodology adoption issues such as this, several strategic enterprise-level processes have been proposed. One approach is the Project Management Maturity Model, which was first offered by project manager expert Harold Kerzner. This model consists of a series of five adoption levels that indicate an organization's project management maturity status.

Conceptually in this model, you can determine an organization's maturity status by measuring the extent an organization exhibits or adheres to the requirements of project management effectiveness as described within Kerzner's model tiers.

Once an organization's level is determined, the maturity model provides a strategic plan or process to lead the organization to the next tier. This cycle continues as the organization exhibits increasing capability and adoption tier by tier, ultimately leading to the organization's full adoption of the model.

Here are the key elements of Kerzner's Project Management Maturity Model:

LEVEL 1: COMMON LANGUAGE
This level is typified by an organization's conceptual understanding of the importance of project management practices and of their potential benefits. The organization also understands the need for a common language to describe associated terminology.

LEVEL 2: COMMON PROCESSES
An organization recognizes that it needs to develop and install common processes so that it replicates one project's successes on subsequent projects. Organizations at this level also recognize the benefits and applicability of incorporating project management processes in other enterprise methodologies.

LEVEL 3: SINGULAR METHODOLOGY
At this level, organizations understand the synergistic effect of combining all corporate methodologies into a singular approach centered
around project management. The organization further recognizes that the singular approach simplifies process control.

LEVEL 4: BENCHMARKING
Organizations realize they need to monitor and benchmark processes to affect continuous improvement. The organization must analyze its own practices and processes to identify target elements for improvement metrics.

LEVEL 5: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
The organization is fully incorporating project management principles and is continually monitoring the information obtained from benchmarking to determine if improvements should be implemented into the singular methodology.

By definition, once the enterprise achieves full compliance with the model, it's rewarded by the potential benefits associated with structured project management methodologies, including cost savings, improved productivity, increased customer satisfaction, best practices development, increased project efficiency, and so on.

Scott Withrow has more than 18 years of IT experience, including IT management, Web development management, and internal consulting application analysis.
[Builder.com - 27 Nov 02]

Sun, 24 Nov 2002 19:28:03 GMT

Oops! True IT blooper #77: Pain in the password

By Matthew A. DeBellis
12 Nov 2002, SearchWindowsManageability.com

While still funny, password bloopers are more like daggers. They hurt IT pros more than the average misstep.

After all, one of the most important duties of IT pros is to secure the networks of their organizations. It's a serious responsibility, and IT pros must walk a fine line: they must secure networks without angering end users with over-the-top security measures. Users must buy in to the password system -- or else it fails.

IT pro Charles Rummings recently set up a new password scheme at his organization, a university. He felt the scheme was a good one. It was secure yet simple enough to not upset users. So he thought.

At the end of one Friday, Rummings strolled through the enrollment services department. He noticed a user, clearly ready to leave for the weekend, typing something into her PC. Then she grabbed her coat and made for the door.

Rummings asked what she had typed. The user, irked, snapped at him.

"The lady informed me that because I had yelled at her for writing her password on a Post-it and leaving it on her PC, she was going to type her username and password in the logon boxes," Rummings said. "That way she would just have to hit 'Enter' in the morning and not have to remember the info so early in the morning.

"I give up!" Rummings said.

Fri, 22 Nov 2002 20:20:59 GMT

3 Downloads I Absolutely Couldn't Work Without. [AnchorDesk - 8 Nov 02] Textpad (32-bit) is a no-nonsense text and HTML editor that offers all the features you need for fine-tuning Web pages and content, including color syntax highlighting, macros, and great formatting tools. For us, being able to format text at 80 characters per line is indispensable. This download also offers advanced features for more hard-core Web programmers. (Shareware/Windows)