According to the Platform SDK - Last updated: April 2004

And yet overhere, where we are ahead in time, it is still March 2004. Still, who is complaining, at least it says: "The next scheduled update of the Platform SDK will be for the release of Windows XP SP2".

(1) Yes- you can turn them off and on, and there are some registry keys to control finer points in the algorithm. I will discuss these keys at some point after we RTM, since they are still changing. [via jeffdav]

So all of us who write code against this stuff have to wait until some time after the thing is RTM until we can test whether our stuff works/whether it behaves as you describe.

The api CoInternetSetFeatureEnabled has appeared on MSDN, this seems to be an API to control behaviour on a per process basis (although its not at all clear from the docs) and therefore registry keys are irrelevant? Ahhhh, but registry keys are relevant to the finer points in the algorithm - so the API isn't going to be enough.

I have no idea when this API appeared, it is inconsistent with the documentation currrently/previously available. The (ta da) 'Developer Training' doesn't mention any of this. How are we supposed to track this stuff dribbling out? Where is the SDK, presumably also some time after RTM?

Want to work in one of the best teams at Microsoft? Both the Shell (as in Explorer, not cmd.exe (or Monad)*) and Internet Explorer teams are hiring SDEs and SDETs. Heck, maybe you could be the one who helps implement tabbed browsing, rendering transparent PNG files, or CSS 2.0.   [via Tony Schreiner's WebLog]

 With the implication, since one would help, that tabbed browsing etc are in the pot (see disclaimer in original entry).

.... We then applied the same hack (uhm, i mean design) to the element explar ....  [via simplegeek]

And there we have it - they came across some problems with the initial (very cute) idea and its been one hack after another thereafter. That a hack is 'by design' doesn't make it any less of an inelegant, unsatisfactory hack. This does explain some of the bizarre syntax I have previously complained about. One wonders if the implementation of XAML is becoming like writing Word Processors - you end up putting in kludges/hacks in the code to cope with particular strange cases. That's OK a) the hack works and b) its invisible to the 'user' (they just see the programming formatting correctly as they expect) - hacking implementation of a 'programming' language ain't going to work.

ASP.NET: Issue Tracker Starter Kits Beta Release.  - the ASP.NET Issue Tracker Starter Kit Beta is available. 

Technologies and Design Approaches Demonstrated:

• Best practices for building applications in preparation for ASP.NET 2.0
• Multiple database support (Access (Jet) and SQL Server)
• Mobile web application development

[via Microsoft WebBlogs]

 Another one to look at.

Avalon SDK Team posts Performance Tips.  

In the microsoft.public.windows.developer.winfx.sdk news group the Avalon SDK team has begun posting Performance Tips.  They're great nice short notes that include sample code.  Perfect for a blog entry.  Avalon SDK team, why don't you setup a blog on LonghornBlogs.com?

I believe that they might reach more people and will then also make it into Google's search index.  If you don't want to run a blog, I can syndicate your posts for others to enjoy. :)

 [via LonghornBlogs.com]

So there's a significant chunk of the PMs etc of the Longhorn development teams blogging their hearts out and the SDK team do it in the newsgroups - will any of it ever make it into MSDN - that increasingly wierdo thing we pay $ for.

And while we're at it, perhaps the Avalon SDK team would like to take a few moments off and do an SDK for XP SP2 - something that's just around the next corner rather than over the hill and far away.

But Mr Clarke said he was "irritated that amendments to the Bill have not been thought through".  [via BBC NEWS | Education | Clarke attacks fee rebel plans]

 And some of us over here are irritated that Mr Clarke's Bill has not been thought through.

that party leadership was a "24-7" job [via BBC NEWS | Politics | Kennedy to go for medical advice]

 Somewhat over-valuing themselves again - for goodness sake 24x7 to do 'party leader', gimme a break.

Microsoft have released the first Release Candidate of Windows XP SP2 to wider testing. Existing versions of ScriptX are not fully compatible with this release.

All licensees and evaluators who are testing the RC1 version of XP SP2 should go here for access to a compatible build of ScriptX.

XAML's benefit is to bring the web page design culture into the richer world of native UI...Good-looking native user interfaces are key, along with integration with the rest of the operating environment.

 [via Edd Dumbill's Weblog: Behind the Times]

Been reading around a bit - XAML/.NET/Longhorn certainly seem to have caused some pause for thought in at least certain areas of the Java and Linux communities. It also seems to be catching on that non-native look just doesn't cut it, your code may be 'write-once-use-anywhere' cross-platform but the compromises that involves in terms of appearance seem to mean that you loose out.

DotNetNuke Version 2.0 Final Release - Tuesday, March 23, 2004. The long anticipated DotNetNuke 2.0 release is ready for official download. This marks the end of a 6 month development cycle and 5 week Beta Test cycle. Thanks to the Core Team for their extreme dedication.   read more...  [via DotNetNuke - The Web of the Future > Home ( DNN 2.0.3 )]

 Hmmm, gotta be worth a look.

"More generally, the Commission is concerned that Microsoft's tying of WMP is an example of a more general business model which, given Microsoft's virtual monopoly in PC operating systems, deters innovation and reduces consumer choice in any technologies which Microsoft could conceivably take interest in and tie with Windows in the future." [via The Register]

Possibly a very big ouch.... in any technologies which Microsoft could conceivably take interest in and tie with Windows. So, virtual machines are a technology, it is being tied in with Windows in the future, at the expense of other vendors VM technologies? It won't happen, but...

The NHS is clearly in a crisis over croutons and we've set up CroutonAid to raise public awareness and call on the practical help of the great British Public!

Please visit www.croutonaid.org.uk now! [via Ecademy: user blogs]

 It seems harmless to visit, but doesn't really say much more than the above (which is what made me larf)

Pete Cole: The XP SP2 RC1 SDK Beta is not available yet, but should be very soon. Stay posted, I will post a link to the SDK as soon as it ships.
 [via XP SP2 RC1]

 Well, at least its not me whose mad - I thought there must be one of these but I was too stoopid to find it......

Dave: I can get you a pretty good discount on Visual Studio if you'd like to go down that route.

Robert Scoble • 3/22/04; 6:27:45 PM

 [via comments]

 I'm a small company, how do I get a discount on MSDN?

A good one-page resume for a technical candidate.  

 

 

                                                                       Name

 

Street Address                                                                                                              E-mail Address
City, St ZIP                                                                                                                   Phone number

 

 

EDUCATION

XXXX – XXXX      University                                                                                             Location

Degree, Grad date

GPA                                                    

 

.....

 

PATENTS

·         Patent 1

·         Patent 2

 [via Microsoft WebBlogs]

 I wonder how many resumes come in with a list of patents! (Best I can do is a Microsoft patent references work I've been involved in).

IE in XP SP2 (Part 2): Information Bar - Stopping the modal dialog madness.  

...

Local Machine Zone Lockdown

Local Machine Zone Lockdown is one of the most impactful security mitigations in IE for XP SP2. It deserves an entire blog entry (or several), but, briefly, LMZ Lockdown affects the explorer.exe and iexplore.exe processes, and places severe restrictions on on things such as executing script and running ActiveX controls in the local machine zone (i.e. a local .html file). When the lockdown is in effect you will see the Information Bar with a menu item that lets you temporarily disable the lockdown by reverting to the old Local Machine Zone settings for that instance of the browser. [via Microsoft WebBlogs]

 Interesting - not seen this, nor seen it documented anywhere. Hmm, I wonder how it works (disable lockdown for that instance of the browser....).

Hacking IE Security Zones [via Mr P Torr]

A most wonderful article about messing about with zones, including the most valuable set flags=1 to make a zone appear in the Security Settings panel. This will probably also work in XP SP2, though whether all the new features of SP2 are exposed, dunno.

...here report any bugs. (Requires .NET passport)

This entry created, after some effort, by hand writing on a tablet PC. If you want to improve the neatness of your writing this may be the device for you!

What is truly bizarre is that this is written into iMunch by using remote desktop connection from the tablet pc to my desktop PC.

Over in comments Phil Ringnalda notes that Google now seems to be indexing this stuff after I made the dasBlog config change.

Certainly seems to have. It's not actually that G doesn't index pages with query strings, so much as that it doesn't like to risk long query string values when the variable name includes "id", because that smells like a session id. If rather than ?guid= dasBlog used ?whatever=bunchacrap then Google would be fine with it.

This explains why google was indexing permalink.aspx?guid=250 (the old radio content imported into dasBlog) but not the new content put into dasBlog. Phil doesn't like the stupidly long GUIDs - nor do I. Since dasBlog keeps a post count, I can't see why they didn't go for a much simpler id - other than the risk of duplicates when the software fails!

I'm tempted to change the web site to use permalink.aspx?article=ssssssss rather than ?guid= to see if Phil is right - but it is most likely that he will be so I can't be bothered

"The very process of education is dependent on technology and not having equal access to laptops is like some pupils using pen and paper while others use slate and chalk," said Gail Bradbrook, author of the Digital Equality report from Citizens Online. [via BBC NEWS | Technology | Call for laptops for all pupils]

The very process of education is dependent on technology? Eh, what? What technology - computers - so I have no-education since computers didn't become widespread till after I left school? Even today, the process is not dependent on technology - both my kids schools have loads of computers (some of them were mine), they hardly use 'em.

I did a little "weekend hack" and did an RSS feed reader that goes by the rather goofy name of JNN, the "Juicy News Network". [via James Gosling: on the Java road...]

 Nice "logo" graphic though (and if Java on Windows goes via WinInet the claim that all feeds fetch in parallel is not quite as it seems - I think WinInet throttles to 4 concurrent connections).

Migrating machine.config settings to IIS 6.0.   .... The short story is that ASP.NET 1.1 on IIS 6.0 ignores most (all?) of the <processModel/> settings.

Ouch, didn't know this - a trick these days is assume nothing with any release; anything could have changed and you have to read the hole damn lot to find out if anything relevant has changed. I wonder why this change was made.

However, there is missing documentation on at least two settings: comAuthenticationLevel and comImpersonationLevel. After scratching my head and firing off a few emails in the general direction of folks at MS, I decided to do some Googling. I discovered that my old colleague, Keith Brown had already finished exploring this area in his book-in-progress: A .NET Developer's Guide to Windows Security In particular, Item 55 describes how to configure these settings in IIS 6 via some, um, undocumented registry key entries. Thanks, Keith! [via iunknown.com]

Server side ScriptX users using .NET should take note of this, especially the default behaviour of IIS 6.

The Windows XP SP2 RC1 technical preview program is expected to be online on Friday at http://www.microsoft.com/sp2preview/. [via InfoWorld: Windows XP update to block pop-ups by default: March 17, 2004: By : Application Development]

Anyone not using wet string (or wet sky) for Internet connection?

But, what I would really, really like to know is where are the SDK bits for this stuff (i.e. updated header files)?

It will also be interesting to see see if the IUrlHistoryStg bug is fixed in this release.

ASP.Net Security Series (Part 1 of 3).  

ASP.Net Security Fundamental There are two components to a secure Web application: an administrative component and a programmatic component... [via Microsoft WebBlogs]

A really good overview covering IIS 5 and IIS 6 - well worth reading if you are dealing with ASP.NET

A new, cool looking, RSS Aggregator.  

Ian Hanschen: "Presenting BlogNavigator. The ultimate in RSS experience." Very cool looking. Anyone try this yet? Ian's stuff always looks so cool.

 [via Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]

Looks cool? Looks like all the other three pane aggregators. It proably has all sorts of wacky things like commenting and trackbacks and all that stuff but for actually quickly reading a large number of feeds (anything over 50 feeds - I must tot up how many articles I get to see a day) and sorting the wheat from the chaff (when a lot of people don't title their articles) I am just not convinced this is a really usable experience - though 100s, 1000s of three pane aggregator users perhaps prove me wrong .

spin2cool writes "Dean Edwards has taken it upon himself to make Internet Explorer W3C compliant. How? Well, it isn't by patching the application, as you might suspect. He's created a stylesheet, dubbed 'IE7' that uses DHTML to load and parse style sheets into a form that IE can understand. Just include the style sheet in your HTML pages, and things should render correctly. The complexity of the CSS transformations is really amazing and shows off the power of this stuff."  [via Slashdot | Making IE Standards Compliant]

 The site appears to have been /.ed out of existance - but in a day or two might well be worth a look.

Frustration over Whidbey Slip.  

Martin Spedding: All these product delays are making it harder to sell .NET to businesses.

... [via Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]

In a round about way, the slip appears to be confirmed.

iMunch is a bit different because it isn't written in .NET, but does rely on IE 6.0 or later. It is written in XHTML+JScript which wires the OS components you already have installed on your machine (XML reading, database read/write) together with the UI facilities of the Zeepe framework to create something that looks and behaves like a windows app.

Features:

• Import/export OPML
• Supports RSS 0.91 onwards (including RSS 1.0)
• Performs if-modified-since news reading.
• Automatically scales back reads on in-frequently updated feeds.
• 'Newspaper' style news listings (this isn't a three paned aggregator).
• Tabbed browser.
• 'Blog this' feature for news articles and browsed to web pages.
• Blogger, metaWeblog and Moveable Type APIs for blogging.

In other words, this is an all-in-one seamless environment for browsing news feeds, the web and blogging what you find interesting.

It is free, with full source available.

Zeepe 7.1 has been released over at MeadCo. This has a bunch of new things that enable building of complex UIs.

Although you can write "windows applications" with Zeepe, that really do look like windows applications, the applications can be delivered to the local disk, or run over the internet/intranet (that Whidbey thing that is now a year off).

Even more useful, you can provide a clean UI around web based applications - and Zeepe 7.1 includes MaxiPT for fine control of printed output. If you use ScriptX, Zeepe should be of interest.

XML: Getting dirty with BMX.  

...  If I could invent a format that was easier to parse than XML, it would be a big win.  ... So I revived BMX and went to work making a prototype that I could put to the test.  What I came up with was very different than the original.  It is actually just a tokenized stream, because decoding tokens is extremely fast and why mess with the text itself?  The big news is BMX encoded files read faster than XML text, approximately 10 times faster! ...Take a look at the code.  It's here all crammed into a single file for your downloading pleasure.  All the comments with foul language have been removed. Matt [via Microsoft WebBlogs]

If I'm understanding this right, it seems like a really good idea (I think I'm understanding this right). Lots of people are now compressing (e.g gzip) their html/xml streams delivered from a web server - so why not a specific 'compression' scheme for XML, it may not be as great a compression ratio but that wouldn't matter so much (?) if the parser win was big enough.

But, I think the really big win here would be that the xml wouldn't compress/encode unless it was valid and so the need for liberal parsers could disappear. By definition, a parser of the encoded stream would know it was valid.

From Microsoft Watch: Yukon and Whidbey have slipped to 2005, Microsoft is confirming. This is more than just another date slip, folks. This is a big one, with big ramifications for Microsoft's suite of current and future product lines. Check out our take on the domino effect of Microsoft's date slips here. [via The Domino Effect (Microsoft Watch)]

Ouch, from all the blogging activity around Whidbey one would have expected it to make it this year - its beginning to make all that blogging and MSDN articles about you can do this that and the other look really pointless. And Whidbey is surely an important release for many reasons, that it has slipped to one years time has a big impact (no .NET 2 and no click-once etc for at least another year).

Worse still is the analysed knock on effects (the domino effect of Microsoft's date slips here.) on Longhorn etc - if Longhorn is now 2007 what the flippin' heck are those guys bloggin' about - some of us have work to do.

Some time ago Mr Scoble recommended I develop a business model to write compelling Longhorn Apps (sorry I've lost the ref) - as usual, never follow the advice of MS that are dependent on release dates. There may have been a PDC, there may have been bits shipped, but this is getting precious close to vapourware.

Rob Relyea commented here that:

Next they are discussing ways to make accesskey simpler as well - still in design discussions. Thanks for bringing this up.

So from this strength, I've outlined a plan to merge RSS and Atom [via Scripting News]

Relatively peaceful discussion so far, but will it last? Now having written an aggregator (Zeepe iMunch) I suppose I ought to be interested. Atom doesn't particularly thrill me, its another format to support. RssAtom doesn't particularly thrill me, its another format to support. Will such support be easier if peace breaks out? Not particularly, I've still got to write some new code, still got to do the testing and mostly the problems are the garbage you get in feeds (in violation of whatever spec they are supposed to be based on) not with the feed format itself. I'm not sure the discussion is of much relevance to a lot of feed generators or (user) consumers - the BBC is generating RSS .91 (I think), will they change? Not unless it gives them something more. Dave's point is RSS is on a roll, Atom's point is Atom will get on the roll when people see the benefit - my point? Dunno

Still, if peace breaks out, they will have to find something else to fight about and lets face it, it would be nice for them to fight about something else for a change.

I had noted that the search hits on this site from Google seemed to be decreasing since the move to dasBlog. Since I had done some code edits I presumed it was just me, but I've just done a search of this site Google has clearly not indexed anything recent. Found this:

I was reading Steve's blog with my browser earlier today when I noticed his odd permalink url's. Instead of a url like "http://devhawk.net/PermaLink.aspx?guid=9abbd5ea-3a10-44d8-8872-877033b7349c", his look like "http://hyperthink.net/blog/PermaLink,guid,fc99ce5e-b748-44f0-853d-0a261632b885.aspx". Turns out it's a standard feature of dasBlog! Just check "Enable URL rewriting" in the config page and you're set. Now my permalink url's look like Steve's.

Since Google doesn't index pages based on query string, this feature should make my site more easily crawled and googled.

 [via dasBlog">DevHawk - Passion * Technology * Ruthless Competence]

I don't particularly care whether Google indexes these pages (since the latest version of dasBlog does search - hooray), I'm just interested as to whether the above change does make a difference.

Want to be alerted when MSDN Magazine's latest issue is available online?  Subscribe to our RSS feed at http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/rss/recent.xml.  This feed contains information on and links to all of the articles and columns in the most recent issue available online (currently March 2004). [via Microsoft WebBlogs]

The articles might be available on the other MSDN feeds, dunno, but this will likely be a useful feed (especially as I am now out of the habit of reading the back-issues when I get the MSDN Library).

On Software Patents.  

I've seen a number of calls for patent reform for software but not any that have any feasible or concrete proposals behind them. ... There have been a number of provocative writings about patent reform, the most prominent in my memory being ... and An Open Letter From Jeff Bezos On The Subject Of Patents. [via Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life]

Unusually poor argumement construction by Dare - not any that have any feasible or concrete proposals  and then you look at An Open Letter From Jeff Bezos On The Subject Of Patents - looks pretty concrete set of proposals to me.

Dare also seems to ignore the possibility, indeed obvious solution, of just not allowing software patents and business model patents as in the UK (the change allowing them hasn't got through Europe yet has it?). If you want to protect your property a) don't give the source away and b) use the copyright law.

IE Team.  

I don't suppose anybody is keeping score, but I'm now working on the Internet Explorer team full time.  More specifically, I'm on the browser UI team along with Jeremy, Jeff, Aaron, and a bunch of others who either don't blog, or who's blogs I don't know about yet.    [via Tony Schreiner's WebLog]

Another one appears

SQL Server Web Data Administrator.  

At http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c039a798-c57a-419e-acbc-2a332cb7f959&DisplayLang=en

Whether you are doing Microsoft Windows or Web development, or just need remote access to data for yourself or your clients, the Web Data Administrator is the perfect complement to your toolbox. [via Microsoft WebBlogs]

 The fact that this, apparently works as an administrator for MSDE makes it worth a look.

Now the company promotes Flash as a full-fledged development platform for creating what Macromedia calls "rich Internet applications." Nearly every commercial Web site uses Flash, as do many of the Web's most effective ads. [via PCWorld.com - Looking Into Flash's Future]

Nearly every commercial web site? Perhaps I don't use a lot (any!) of commercial web sites (what is a commercial web site?); this seems a bit of an over the top claim.

MSDE Web Resource Kit - C# and .NET SDK Version.  This code sample illustrates how to use MSDE as the back end for an ASP.NET Web application. [via Microsoft Download Center]

 Someone was asking about this. I would have thought it was easy 'cos its just a cut down SQL server isn't it - just shows I haven't read the article!

Sixth Reinvention of Neil Young.  The folk-country-grunge dinosaur is reborn (again) as an Internet-friendly, biodiesel-driven, multimedia machine. By Ted Greenwald from Wired magazine. [via Wired News: Top Stories]

Well worth a read (That Super 8 grain looks like my music sounds - ahhh). [Sorry, the above links were wrong due to copying from one (local test) blog to another - also testing iMunch, the Aggregator/blog tool this lot is maintained with]

Chancellor 'may quit to head IMF'.  Reports Chancellor Gordon Brown may quit Britain for an IMF post are described as 'speculation' by the Treasury. [via BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

 Ah 'speculation' - not denial "Gordon loves his job and will be staying.... blah blah", but "too early to comment". Could be fun if he goes (he might also be quite good at it; if he really means it about 3rd world debt).

Asked if there was also a plan afoot to change the name of 'Her Majesty's Prisons' to 'People's Prisons', the PMOS said he believed that a consultation exercise was currently underway about this matter. He referred journalists to the Prisons Service for the detail of it.....Asked if it was the case that the Prime Minister, who had obviously been very busy recently, had only just noticed the proposal to rename the CPS, thought it was a very stupid idea and had sent his Official Spokesman out today to 'execute a swift u-turn', the PMOS said no. He repeated that a consultation process was taking place. That would continue.

 [via PMOS morning briefing - 3 March]

 These things are very funny.

TSS Article: Testing ASP.NET Applications with NUnitASP & NUnit.  In ASP.NET web applications, it is vital to be able to test the user interface as well as the business logic. NUnitASP is an extension to the NUnit framework that allows just that. This article introduces NUnitASP and shows you how to unit test a sample ASP.NET app. It shows you how to write test cases, load server-side controls, refactor your test code, test page behaviour, and more. [via TheServerSide.NET: Your .NET Community Forum]

 When I have time, worth looking into.

Tivo-like 'thumbs-up' for my aggregator?.  

I build my blogroll while reading blogs – that is, when I follow a link to an interesting blog entry, and it appears that the owner talks about stuff I’m interested in, I’ll subscribe to that blog.

Now, sometimes I’m right, and I find the future entries very interesting.  Sometimes I’m wrong, and they are less so.  Since I have hundreds of subscriptions, I can’t really remember which ones are the ‘good’ ones and which ones are the, um, ‘less good’ ones.  (Of course, I have a few favorites that I recognize.)

What I’d like to be able to do is tell my aggregator (currently NewsGator), that “I like this entry – thumbs up on the feed”; or “this entry doesn’t interest me – thumbs down”.  The aggregator could keep a running tally of thumbs for each subscription, (and here is the best part) it could then sort the feeds by ranking.  Subscriptions that have historically been the most interesting to me would be at the top, and the others at the bottom.

This would also make it easier to trim my blogroll; I could just start at the bottom of the list and ask myself if I really want to continue each of those subscriptions.

 [via Microsoft WebBlogs]

 Fairly trivial to do in iMunch - comments?

What the PM's spokesman said next.  Lobby briefings for all [via The Register]

It has an rss feed too - which is automatically found by iMunch when you follow the above link. Before quoting the briefings, note:

Original PMOS briefings are © Crown Copyright. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. Click-use licence number C02W0004089.

He said (The e-Envoy, Andrew Pinder) research with users of the UK Online site showed that people preferred to see all the information in one place rather than have to look for it themselves. [via BBC NEWS | Technology | Big changes for government site]

 It took research with users to find this out - various people have been telling them that for years; including me.