Thursday, June 29, 2006

Sometimes we forget

Pardon, the non-technical post, but I have something important to say.

As developers we sometimes get completely absorbed into our software projects and we pour 110% of ourselves into doing the best job possible. In doing so, we often forget to thank those who make it possible for us to have that type of focus. I'm a driven, enthusiastic software development nut who has had the opportunity to do some amazing projects. But I would not have been able to do it without a very special person taking care of the other 99% of daily life. My wife has been my soul mate, my guide, my companion and often the one I lean on. She’s passionate, tough when she needs to be, thoughtful, considerate and full of life. Without her I would not have had the amazing experiences that I’ve been blessed to have had. And without her unwavering common sense there is no telling where I would have wound up.

She may not read this but to everyone who reads my blog, you need to know that to do amazing things, you cannot do it alone. For all the million things that she does, for all the times she’s left alone while I’m on projects, for all the headaches that I put her through, I give her my utmost thanks and my undying love. She’s my true love, my companion and most of all, my very best friend.

IE7 Beta 3!

Heads up everybody! Beta 3 of IE7 is now out and available. But there are some quirks about the uninstall of the previous bits. If you've been using Beta2, Beta2 Preview or Beta1, then check out the IE teams blog entry on uninstalling the previous versions.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

More, more, more!

I keep thinking that I'll wait to post until I have my big news, but I keep hearing great stuff and I have to share it. The word of the day is CodePlex!
This is Microsoft's new code sharing site. It's new so there will be a few kinks to work out but it's based on MS VS05 Team System! Wow! You can get to it from here. Check it out when you get a chance. I already see Atlas toolkits and IronPython and a whole lot more!

It's the little things...

Sometimes the smallest of things can really make your day. I came across something that I'm sure everyone else knew, but somehow I had missed it. In IE 6x, you can press Control-N and it will open a new window with the same URL. This is something that my wife is always wanting to do and up until now had always had to open a new instance of IE and navigate to where she wants to go. I can't wait to tell her what I found! It was like finding buried treasure!

Almost there.....

It looks like a dream is about to come true. All the pieces are not yet in place, but we've started down the path. Just so I won't jinx it, I'll wait until I have just a couple more pieces of the puzzle before I'll break the news.

Be patient! It's well worth the wait!

Friday, June 23, 2006

Something amazing...

Stay posted, I hope to have some really amazing news. My excitement level is off the charts. I hope it all works out.

Friday, June 16, 2006

The 'Man' himself is leaving the 'building'...

The announcement yesterday came as a surprise, although some had already guessed. When Ozzie came in, I knew then that a direction change was coming. When Sinofsky replaced Allchin, it was again another indicator of the changes on the horizon. So, although a somewhat sad announcement, it is not necessarily bad nor is it unwise.


Bill was the genius behind blending technology with business success. However, Microsoft is not just one man, it is the living entity that he created. And just as a parent's control and influence must ultimately ebb to allow their children to grow, Bill must do the same. He will continue to be the iconic representation of great software. He is without any doubt or argument the single greatest influence in software in history. His withdrawal is necessary for Microsoft to go to the next era. His choice of his next 'life's priority' is a demonstration of who he really is.


So, although this is not really an end, all developers should stand up, thank and salute the Man himself. His demonstration of character, determination, talent and drive has generated unswerving loyalty from legions of developers such as myself. Thank you, Bill, for the computing environment we all now live in. I can't wait to see the upcoming great accomplishments that you will achieve in this new venue.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

VS05 gotcha

When you get more comfortable in the VS05 IDE, you will eventually have a need to move around and rename projects. VSIDE is very good at taking care of renaming your references. However, you may rename or move a subproject and all of a sudden your ‘using’ statement cannot find it. You check and recheck, you delete and re-add your reference but you still cannot get it to resolve. Don’t panic, just close and re-open the solution. There seems to be something that gets hung up inside the IDE that does not get completely resolved.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Something brewing...

I've been heads down pushing very hard to get a medium sized project off the ground so my posts are backing up. But I had to post to let you guys know that something amazing and unbelievably wonderful may be coming in my life. I don't want to jinx it by saying too much, but everyone send me good thoughts and good luck. It would be my life's dream come true.