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MSDN has an article on using .NET to connect to blogs, either to read or to post articles. The example shows how to create an Outlook add-in to read RSS feeds. This is for the next version of .NET, so it requires Visual Studio 2005.

My.Blogs is a collection of sample code that will show you how you can easily provide programmatic access to weblogs in the applications you build. Full source code is provided along with Windows Forms, ASP.NET 2.0 and a Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Outlook Add-In.

Read the getting started article for more ideas on using My.Blogs.

I got a chance to attend the SQL Server 2005 Roadshow when it visited Cincinnati this week. They had 9 presentations, 3 each for administration, programming, and business intelligence. In case you missed it, the presentation slides are available for download.

SQLServerBible.com has links to SQL Server 2005 webcasts, presentations, and What’s New in T-SQL.

Microsoft has free (for now) E-Learning for SQL Server 2005.

What is Tasktime?  It is software that will allow you to track time spent on a given task.  It sits idlely in the taskbar.  The data is stored in XML format so you can import it into any data source or use the existing XSLT file to get a basic report on it.

I updated Tasktime because I was working on a project in .NET that required XML processing (I was experimenting with different solutions) and because it was long over due. Yes this is a very simple app, in fact I made it even simplier. One thing I didn’t like about Tasktime 2.0 is that it stored data in the registry. Tasktime 3.0 uses only it’s own XML document. Another thing I did with 3.0 is embed all the resource files into the Tasktime.exe. So now Tasktime is USB key safe.

Tasktime 3.0 was part of my experiment with working with XML files in a Dataset. Now I prefer to use the XML data objects built into .NET that I used in my next project. Which I will post later.

Tastime 3.0 also makes use of resource files. If you want to see examples of embedding XML, XSLT or Icon files check out the source code.

#Region ” Resource File Functions ”

Public Shared Function GetEmbeddedIcon(ByVal strName As String) As Icon
‘The following is one line, broken down for formating reasons.
Return New Icon( _
System.Reflection.Assembly.GetManifestResourceStream( _
strName))
End Function

Public Shared Function GetEmbeddedXSL(ByVal strName As String) As Xml.XmlTextReader
‘The following is one line, broken down for formating reasons.
Return New Xml.XmlTextReader( _
System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly._
GetManifestResourceStream( _
strName))
End Function

#End Region

Potential Updates:
• Write back to a database, possibly through a web service.
• Included report is plain, would like to allow users to use their own XSLT file.

You can download Tasktime 3.0 at sourceforge.net or get the files here.

Tasktime Binaries
Tasktime Source

Notepad++ - Notepad++ is a free source code editor which supports several programming languages running under the MS Windows environment.

Paint.NET 2.0 - image and photo manipulation software designed to be used on computers that run Windows 2000, XP, or Server 2003.

eMule - one of the biggest and most reliable peer-to-peer file sharing clients around the world.

BitTorrent - peer-to-peer cooperative file distribution.

jHymn - Removes DRM from iTunes music files. This is not a method of pirating music. It allows you to play iTunes files on devices not supported by Apple.

Audacity - Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds.

iPodder - iPodder is the premier Podcasting application, allowing users to capture and listen to Internet audio programs anytime, anywhere.

Thunderbird - Thunderbird makes emailing safer, faster, and easier than ever before with the industry’s best implementations of features such as intelligent spam filters, built-in RSS reader, quick search, and much more.

jDoom - The Doomsday Engine is an enhanced Doom source port for the Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux platforms.

Duke Nukem 3-D - Duke3d_w32 is a port of Duke3d to the Win32 platform.

I have been promising for a while to podcast some of the other OTR dramas that I have. Now that I got the Superman podcast automated I am ready to do another. As some of you may have seen I didn’t always keep up with the uploading of the Superman OTR podcast. Well I was editing the XML file by hand, literally typing it in then uploading the MP3 manuallly. Well I am not good at repetitive tasks, which is why I picked the occupation of computer programmer. I created an applcation in Microsoft .NET called Autocast. This console app will automatically edit the XML file and then upload both the new XML file and Mp3 to the server. There will be more on that later.

Any rate, the point of this post is that I am now ready to podcast the Nero Wolfe radio drama. There are not many of these, only 23 in fact. And unlike the Superman OTR, which are 10 minutes, the Nero Wolfe episodes are 30 minutes. So I am going to do one per week. A new episode will be released every Sunday.

You can subscribe to Nero Wolfe through feedburner.

I have been using the Griffin iTrip to listen to my iPod in the car since February. I never did like the fact you had to program the iTrip with the frequency using the iPod interface. On several occasions the iTrip would “forget” what frequency to use and me not liking to keep the frequency programmers on the iPod (more on that later) would be in for a very dull commute. if I did have the iTrip frequency “tunes” (They are actually mp3 files that program the iTrip.) on the iPod they would advertently get played and screw up the iTrip. Which was easy to do if you used the iPod’s shuffle feature. And resetting the iTrip was an ordeal that only following the step by step instructions could fix. In other words, can’t do while driving.

Anyway, on my commute home Friday the iTrip got screwed up for the last time. It was the final straw. I recalled Griffin had announced an iTrip with a built-in tuner. So I went straight away to the Apple store in the Kenwood Towne Centre and purchased one.

The new iTrip allows you to adjust the frequency with the roll of a dial. Oddly though the frequency I actually used in not available in this model. For anyone using 87.9 you will have to find another channel. The iTrip begins on 88.1. I eventually settled on 90.1 90.5, although I will have to see if it works on my 35 mile commute. I swear there is a radio station for just about every .1 of the dial. My logic dictates that there should be a small sprectrum of radio frequency left untouched for portable consumer devices. Say 80.1 - 89.9 or something. I mean if 192.168.1.x can be used for every router why didn’t we think to do this with radio frequencies?

My intial findings are; unless $40 is too steep for you or if 87.9 is the only free frequency in your area, there is no reason not to upgrade. Now it’s time to remove these annoying iTrip MP3 files.

I think Derek and I are in competition on our August spending spree. I have been wanting to buy an SLR camera for quite sometime. So I was pleased when Dell had a sale on the Canon Rebel XT 350D for just $739.

I snapped a few photos (view the original size to get the full effect), which are an amazing 3456 x 2304 resolution. Of course this comes with a price, each photo is 4MB. I think this will do nicely for our trip to CES this year.

Features:

* Fast start-up time–.2 seconds
* Powered by rechargeable Lithium-ion battery (included, with charger)
* 8.0-megapixel CMOS sensor captures enough detail for photo-quality 16 x 22-inch prints
* Includes Canon’s EF-S 18-55mm, f3.5-5.6 zoom lens
* DIGIC II Image Processor provides fast, accurate image processing; captures images at a rate of up to 3 frames per second

Today Google released Google Talk or GTalk for short. On the surface it would appear the it is another “me too” IM service without any significant features. In fact there are no interesting features to speak of, every one of it’s functions is already emulated better in another application. And a instant messenger client is only as good as the number of people using it. Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger beat Google Talk hands down on that.

What really is new about Google Talk is the fact that system is built on non-proprietary technology. While MSN, Yahoo, and AIM have been promising interoperability for years, they have been fighting to keep others off their network. And while the other messengers are clogged with ads and bloatware of features, GTalk is very simple and ad free. Also Google is inviting people to create clients for their Google Talk network. At the heart Google is running Jabber, an open source messaging server. And a number of IM clients already work with Jabber (and thus Google Talk). The Voice feature only works with the Google Talk client however.

This is seen as a way for Google to eventually move into full Voice over IP. Perhaps eventually even rivaling Skype.

Another good reason to welcome Google Talk is because when Google released GMail just over a year ago, it caused competitors to scramble to offer new features and services. Gone are the days of 10MB or 25MB of storage space for your email. You can thank Google for that. I can’t wait to see what Yahoo, MSN, and AIM will do to try to keep their users from fleeing to Google Talk. Perhaps they will take Google up on their offer and design their clients to work directly with Google Talk. Then we will finally have the interoperability among networks they have been promising for years.

EBGames is taking preorders for the Xbox360, in stores only. They have confirmed an November 14th arrival date for the first batch. My local EB had only 7 left for preorder, and it was 5 by the time I left the store. I stopped in to pick up Dungeon Siege 2 and decided to put $50 down on an Xbox360. Which is required for preorder.

You can preorder only the $399 Xbox360, the core system is not available yet. Actually EB now lets you pre-order the core system and the premium system as part of a bundle.

After working with Microsoft .NET technologies for the past 4+ years I finally decided to get certified. I passed my first exam, of many, for my MCSD. I plan on getting both my MCSD and my MCDBA by early next year.

I passed the 70-305 - Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. Along with working with the technology everyday I also used Self Test Software as a study aid. I like this company since you don’t have to install software, it’s all web-based, so you can use it at home and work. It also helped me pass the exam with a 943 out of 1000.

My next exam, 70-320 - Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Microsoft Visual C# and the Microsoft .NET Framework, is scheduled for early next month.