Webremixed Articles for tags: dotnet

Book Review: Sams Teach Yourself ASP.NET 4

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:05:00 GMT

There are certain authors whose books I look forward to reading because they don't just repackage a manual but offer practical real-work examples and advice. One such author is Scott Mitchell. He has revised his previous version of this book to encompass ASP.NET 4 . This book is well written and directed at beginners. If, however, you have the 3.5 version of this book, I would not recommend this version as there is very little new being offered. On the other hand, if you are new to ASP.NET, this book is a great starting-off point to learning the basics of ASP.NET 4.

Open-Xchange Releases Free Migration Tool for Microsoft Outlook Users

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:46:43 GMT

Open-Xchange, a provider of business-class open source collaboration software, announced the availability of data migration tools for users of Microsoft Outlook to easily move e-mails, contacts, appointments and tasks to Open-Xchange Server. The cost savings can be substantial by migrating to Open-Xchange. As one example, for a 50-person company the difference between Microsoft Exchange and Open-Xchange is estimated to be $1,200 lower per year. More examples for various size enterprises are shown here, www.open-xchange.com/en/node/952 .

New JetBrains Releases: ReSharper 5.1.1; dotCover and dotTrace RCs

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:42:31 GMT

As of September 1st, ReSharper 5.1.1 is available for download, as well as release candidates for dotCover 1.0 and dotTrace 4 Performance. Important! Initially a wrong ReSharper build was published (5.1.1751.10). If you have downloaded this version, please download it again as we changed the link to point to 5.1.1751.8. ReSharper 5.1.1. This minor release is pure bug and performance fixing here and there, including (but not limited to) the following areas.

SmartBear Software Broadens Runtime Analysis and Performance Profiling

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:38:00 GMT

SmartBear Software announces the new major release of its application runtime analysis and performance profiling tool, AQtime™ 7.0. Thousands of users rely on AQtime to isolate and eliminate performance bottlenecks, memory leaks and other runtime problems. Version 7.0 brings its powerful capabilities to the latest development frameworks, including the newly released Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and Embarcadero® RAD Studio XE, and adds support for Java and Microsoft .NET 4 Framework.

The Three-Minute Mile – Why Is My Project Team Killing Itself?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:25:00 GMT

Back in my younger days, I could run a sub seven-minute mile. When I heard about somebody running a five-minute mile, I thought “now that’s really fast.” Today, the world record for the mile run is 3:43:13, set in 1999 by Hicham El Guerrouj from Morocco. In the ’80s, IT projects felt like they moved at the pace of an eight-minute mile. We took the time to write detailed requirements, detailed design documents, thorough project plans, test plans, you name it. If someone had a new idea or a new process on how to “do it right,” it was implemented. I recall hour-long meetings on ways to improve processes on projects and conversations around what wasn’t being documented that needed to be documented in case somebody asked the question “where’s that documented?” We even took the time to write detailed communication plans, which is something that I haven’t seen in a while. At some point during my career, upper management started asking the question “can you move the project along faster by adding more people?” So we would add a few more developers, cut the QA testing cycle and shaved off a few weeks on the project schedule. It began to feel like a six-minute mile run. Fast-forward to today and it feels like projects are clipping at the pace of a three-minute mile. Fast just wasn’t fast enough! At times, I’ve left work with a splitting headache, a plethora of emails to read when I got home, and pondering if this truly is the current state of IT projects?

Skyline Software Switches from Homegrown to SafeNet Sentinel HASP

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:30:00 GMT

In this white paper read how Skyline Software Systems, Inc. needed a “more comprehensive solution that could work across multiple media formats,” and switched from homegrown to SafeNet Sentinel HASP.

Software Common Hacks and Counterattacks

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:52:00 GMT

To ensure payment for use of their application, ISVs must implement some type of software protection, aiming to restrict the use of software to specific license conditions. SafeNet reviews top seven piracy threats and how you can protect your software against them.

Best Practices of Software Licensing

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:00:00 GMT

SafeNet discusses IDC's findings on the best practices for the deployment of software licensing and entitlement management technologies. Learn how software publishers can benefit from faster time-to-market, increased ability to capture and optimize revenue, and reduced operational inefficiencies.

Microsoft Brings in New MSN Boss

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:30:00 GMT

Microsoft has hired former AOL CTO Ted Cahall to run MSN. He was at AOL for three-and-a-half years after leaving United Online’s Classmates.com where he was COO. At Microsoft he replaced Erik Jorgensen, who will now run the mapping and mobile side of the company’s Bing search engine.

Microsoft Brings in New MSN Boss

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:30:00 GMT

SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Search

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:19:00 GMT

One request I have seen a lot from people since MOSS 2007 is the desire to add a link to the subfolder of a document on the search results page. This is useful when the user wants to see what else is in that folder or if they want to perform other operations on that document (such as viewing properties or compliance details). In SharePoint 2007, I wrote the Document Link Handler to help with this. It simply looked up the details on the item and redirected the user to the appropriate page. In SharePoint 2010, this is not necessary any more since they added the new sitename column in the search results XML document. Today we will customize the look of the search results page. All we have to do is use the new sitename column in the XSL that displays the results.

SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Search

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:19:00 GMT

Microsoft Puts Age of Empires in the Cloud

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:30:00 GMT

Microsoft announced the return of Age of Empires, one of the biggest PC franchises in the world, having sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and essentially defined real-time strategy (RTS) games for the PC, says Dave Luehmann, general manager of Microsoft Games Studios. “This next version will really change the rulebook of how those games are played”.

Microsoft Puts Age of Empires in the Cloud

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:30:00 GMT

Build vs. Buy: The Hidden Costs of License Management

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:15:00 GMT

In this white paper, SafeNet examines the real costs involved in the decision to develop a homegrown licensing and protection solution, providing a detailed review of the actual costs involved, the business considerations that apply and the ongoing total cost of ownership during the solution lifetime.

Easy Desktop Access to SkyDrive

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:28:00 GMT

Windows Live SkyDrive is an online storage with 25G free storage. It also integrates web version of the Office applications so you can edit documents directly from inside a browser and save to SkyDrive. However, people are still more used to Windows Desktop than browser when it comes to copying files. Windows Desktop still has more Office applications such as the wordpad, Microsoft Works and Microsoft Office. With Office 2010, you can save directly to SkyDrive. It is a good improvement. It will be even better if there is a direct native Windows Desktop integration to enhance the productivity of copying files back and forth between local hard drive and online SkyDrive account.

Easy Desktop Access to SkyDrive

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:28:00 GMT

Extend IT Infrastructure with Azure Storage

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:29:00 GMT

If you just started reading about Azure, the first step is to read more about “Azure Blob Storage”, which is the official term of the storage part of the Windows Azure offering. After you are done enough with the “Windows Azure” and “Azure Blob Storage” terms, next step is to create a Windows Azure account. This article covers windows azure subscription, creating azure account, getting access ids and keys and eventually using Windows Azure from Windows Explorer. If you are a developer, you may be interested in seeing some sample code about Azure Storage too. In this stage you are getting familiar with the Azure storage and doing some proof of concepts.

Extend IT Infrastructure with Azure Storage

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:29:00 GMT

Build vs. Buy: The Hidden Costs of License Management

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:32:00 GMT

DevPartner – Helping You Get Code Right the First Time

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:45:00 GMT

DevPartner makes sure your code is right the first time, saving you time and effort locating software defects, memory leaks, performance bottlenecks and configuration issues. Find out how to identify these problems before they go into production, so you spend your time more effectively on real development progress.

DevPartner – Helping You Get Code Right the First Time

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:45:00 GMT

Background Backup to Windows Azure Storage

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 02:21:00 GMT

You have important files on your computer, sometimes they are in-use, sometimes not. What if there is a Windows Service running in the background, continue to monitor the folders and files and back them up offsite to Windows Azure Storage? A month later, you may find yourself looking for old snapshots and happily found it on Windows Azure Blob Storage. The file could be outlook pst file, could be an open project file or could be a running SQL server data files. It could also be Windows System State, registry or other key system files.

Background Backup to Windows Azure Storage

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 02:21:00 GMT

Google Wave Crashes on Empty Shore

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Google has pulled the plug on Google Wave, the real-time browser-based collaborative messaging service nobody knew what to do with so they pretty much just ignored it.

Is Microsoft to Admit Analysis Services Is not Fit for the Mid-Market?

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:51:00 GMT

I recently read an article posted on the SQL Server team's blog (Technet) written by Shimon Shlevich, a product manager at Panorama Software, focusing on Microsoft's recently launched PowerPivot in-memory offering. According to the author, Microsoft has two main goals with PowerPivot - to "introduce a new in-memory engine for data processing" and to "promote the self-service BI concept extending the usage of BI systems to a wider audience". There are of course other reasons which the author did not mention, such as Microsoft trying to get a fighting chance against QlikView who have been constantly beating Microsoft at mid-sized or departmental deals. In addition, Microsoft is trying to motivate their customers to upgrade to Excel 2010, in which PowerPivot is provided for free in the form of an add-in. Microsoft is not a natural BI company and their cash cows are still Windows and Office, so it only makes sense. Will it work? Who knows. Will it change the BI space? Probably not.

A Secure Network Drive for Windows Azure Blob Storage

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:49:00 GMT

Windows Azure Platform has been released since Feb 2010. Azure Blob Storage is part of the offering and it provides good online storage service. So how to easily copy data in and out of Azure Blob Storage? How to do it securely with SSL and AES encryptions for your files? This article talks about how to setup a AES encrypted network drive to Windows Azure Blob Storage. First you will need to install the Gladinet Cloud Desktop and map a network drive to Windows Azure Blob Storage.

A Secure Network Drive for Windows Azure Blob Storage

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:49:00 GMT

Rackspace Hosting Named “Gold Sponsor” of Cloud Expo Silicon Valley

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:45:00 GMT

SYS-CON Events announced today that Rackspace Hosting, the world’s leader in hosting and cloud computing, has been named “Gold Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 7th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–4, 2010, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Rackspace Hosting is the world’s leading specialist in the hosting and cloud computing industry. The San Antonio-based company delivers enterprise-level hosting services to businesses of all sizes and kinds around the world. Rackspace integrates the industry’s best technologies for each customer’s specific need and delivers it as a service via the company’s commitment to Fanatical Support.

Salesforce Blowhard Eats its Words

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:30:00 GMT

Gee, and it seems like it was just the other day that Salesforce.com was calling Microsoft names like “patent troll” and “alley thug” after Microsoft, in a rare move, sued Salesforce in May for infringing nine of its patents. Despite hiring Microsoft nemesis David Boies, the lawyer who pressed the Justice Department’s antitrust case against Microsoft, to defend it, Salesforce has thought the better of its countersuit and caved into Microsoft’s demands.

Salesforce Blowhard Eats its Words

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:30:00 GMT

It's All About Cloud UC

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:30:00 GMT

"Cloud Locking" - Securing the unstructured content that flows through UC tools is the ideal Cloud value add service for the Unified Comms sector. A key application area for Cloud providers to consider is the UC suite (Unified Communications), referring to technologies for VoIP, 'Presence' and Instant Messaging, and a single inbox for email, fax and voicemail. Not only can it improve staff collaboration but it can provide quick solutions for e-workflow needs and help meet record-keeping compliance needs through new 'Cloud Archiving' features that can plug in to popular tools like the Microsoft UC suite.

It's All About Cloud UC

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:30:00 GMT

Desktop Sync/Backup to SkyDrive

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:25:00 GMT

Windows Live SkyDrive is part of Microsoft’s Windows Live range of online services. SkyDrive is an online storage and sharing service that allows users to upload files to the online storage, then access them from a web browser. The service currently offers 25GB of free personal storage. However, to fill up the 25GB is not an easy task. There are several browser based ways to upload files.

Desktop Sync/Backup to SkyDrive

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:25:00 GMT

IETF-78 Update and Discussion Towards IP Addressable Smart Objects

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:13:00 GMT

Just returning from a very busy week at the IETF-78 in Maastricht, Netherlands. One of the greatest IETF milestones celebrated at IETF-78 Maastricht, was DNSSEC signing of the root zone.

I had participated at a Bar Birds of a Feather session [Bar BoF] on cloud computing. With over 110 individuals interested in the discussion it would be difficult at best to classify the meeting as a Bar BoF. The discussions focused on problem framing; potential applicability of IETF-based protocols, and development of IETF-based protocols therein.

I would expect more discussion on the related IETF mailer at clouds.ietf.org, as we prepare for IETF-79 to be held in Beijing.

By the way, the ITU-T Focus Group Cloud Computing meeting will be held September 2-6.

Switching gears a bit, to the Internet of Things (IoT), my colleague JP Vasseur along with Adam Dunkels have just published a book on the topic entitled, Interconnecting Smart Objects with IP: The Next Internet. IoT traverses several key adjacencies such as Smart and Connected Community, Smart Grid, Smart Automobile and so on.

Research continues to develop in wearable computing and in skinput technology.

IETF-78 Update and Discussion Towards IP Addressable Smart Objects

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:13:00 GMT

Just returning from a very busy week at the IETF-78 in Maastricht, Netherlands. One of the greatest IETF milestones celebrated at IETF-78 Maastricht, was DNSSEC signing of the root zone.

I would expect more discussion on the related IETF mailer at clouds.ietf.org, as we prepare for IETF-79 to be held in Beijing.

By the way, the ITU-T Focus Group Cloud Computing meeting will be held September 2-6.

Research continues to develop in wearable computing and in skinput technology.

Cloud Fears

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:45:00 GMT

Cloud computing has entered the mainstream vocabulary in Information Technology. Every day the decibel level keeps going up. Yesterday’s SaaS vendors like Salesforce.com have become the cheer-leaders of the Cloud mantra. Then the arguably godfather role of cloud goes to Jeff Bezos of Amazon. His huge investment in Amazon data center with 30% utilization prompted him to seek new avenues of monetization. Thus came AWS (Amazon Web Services) and its component pieces such as S3, EC2, etc. In the new cloud lexicon, this can be termed as IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) or PaaS (Platform as a Service). The cloud model makes sense from an economic and convenience point of view. But fears remain, specially in areas like security, data and control. Dan Woods of Evolved Technologies wrote this piece on such fears. He explains how such fears of losing control or data security are not meaningful, since the providers of cloud infrastructure have a bigger stake in not guaranteeing such functions. Their survival depends on securing customer’s data and users, and providing uninterrupted service.

Turn on the LightSwitch - Easy Access to Microsoft Data

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:59:00 GMT

This tool makes it very easy to access Microsoft SQL Server Data be it on ground or floating in the clouds. It is officially called Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch. It is a product purported to make your life easy to develop line-of-business apps. Why are you waiting then? Well You need to wait anyway, it will be available on Aug 13, 2010

Turn on the LightSwitch - Easy Access to Microsoft Data

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:59:00 GMT

SharePoint 2010 Migration

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:45:00 GMT

On a recent SharePoint 2010 migration I completed, this was one of the first questions I was asked. After seeing versions of SharePoint all these months, it never occurred to me that the dropdown list wasn’t there any more until someone pointed it out. Luckily, it’s easy enough to change this and I found some new settings along the way. This box uses the built-in (not supposed to be customized) OSSSearchResults.aspx. However, to use scopes, we need to create a Search Center. To do this, we can go to Site Settings –> Search Settings to make some configuration changes. This page was here in 2007, but I was pleased to see some new settings here in 2010 that I had not noticed yet. We set the path to our search center just as we did before by specifying the Pages library of the search center.

SharePoint 2010 Migration

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:45:00 GMT

SOA + Cloud Computing: Next-Generation Enterprise Computing Blueprint

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Today's IT organizations face a dual challenge of "keeping the lights on" while providing "new services" at unprecedented rates with reduced investment support from the business. At the same time, the very business model of IT is changing – how applications, content, information, and infrastructure are delivered. One of the biggest barriers to business execution and innovation today is managing complexity. This barrier forces the largest IT investment spend to be focused on keeping lights on while containing infrastructure sprawl. IT's inability to focus a majority of its time and investment dollars on innovating and differentiating business through IT leads to missed expectations and disappointment within the business user community.

Google Spiffs Up for Uncle Sam

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:15:00 GMT

Google’s got a special new version of its standard Premier Edition Google Apps that’s supposed to meet basic toe-in-the-door government security requirements. Well, at least the data generated by the government’s use of Gmail and calendaring will be segregated from everybody else’s cloud-borne data on servers located in the continental U.S. Other apps will eventually be segregated too. In this Google’s aping Microsoft’s BPOS Federal (BPOS-F), its Business Productivity Online Suite for the government.

Google Spiffs Up for Uncle Sam

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:15:00 GMT

Microsoft Brings ARM In-House

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:30:00 GMT

Microsoft has taken a relatively rare architecture license to the ARM chip and that’s pretty much all the pair are saying about it. The details of the deal are “confidential” although ARM broadly hints that Microsoft means to straddle the chip in “multiple application areas.” Speculation has turned to tablets as well as new and improved mobile phones, e-readers, new versions of its Xbox games console, even an ARM-based PC. Microsoft has had Windows Embedded and Windows Phone on ARM chips for years. Presumably Windows 7 is next.