Firstly, Season’s Greeting to all.

I know I have been absent since the 1st of December of last year, I apologise but let me explain…

Firstly, I was retrenched by mutual consent with my company, I had not done much in a while and did not feel I was adding any value, so it was decided that since I did not fit anywhere else I would take a volunteery retrenchment and go on my marry way, all this before Christmas. For a while there, I got a little depressed but I have been trough worst and picked myself up and continued actively looking for a new job. That did not go well either, it felt more like I was being tested like a kid out of school then anything else and to be honest most of my prospective employers were looking for code monkeys, I am a Senior Developer / Architect, note the “developer” part. A developer is a solution provider not what I call a code monkey or a programmer whom just types away and hopes that the BRS is correct. So my job hunting efforts came to an abrupt end. I’d still like to thank Kirstin Garland and Jason Pretorius for all their effort, guys I know you did your best. I got depressed again…

So where from here?

Well, that was the hard choice, become a code monkey and be on antidepressants all my life or take a leap of faith?

I took a leap of faith, I have a fair severance package so why not open my own Web Development House? One that focuses on SOHO to small businesses I could bring a lot to the table, more than web sites I have learned so much about how to make use of the web to enhance businesses why not merge both skills into one and create a company that offers not websites but rather a way to improve businesses using the web as a medium, after all I have been doing it for more that 10 years for small businesses to large corporate. So, an old dream of mine was born, Panache Web and Business Development. We will start operating mid January and oddly enough my first client is my old company, which in many ways is great.

Unfortunately, my woes did not stop at being retrenched…

My camera, a Canon EOS 400D, attempted a dare devil swim in the dog bath along with my flying laptop. My dog, an Alaskan Malamute, decided that whilst I was outside with him it would be a great time to give me a big hug, the results were less 1 SLR and less 1 laptop. Thanks to Outsurance that was sorted rather fast and efficiently.

I replaced my Canon EOS 400D with, dare I say it, the mighty Canon EOS 7D, if you have been following me on Twitter you would know what I initially thought of the 7D, it’s like going from a bicycle with training wheels (the 400D) to a superbike (the 7D). My head is still trying to adjust, I’ll talk more about the mighty 7D in another post, hopefully with some image samples. to tell the truth, I have read the manual cover to cover twice and I am about to do it again but enough about the incredible 7D… I have also decided to take some photography courses starting at the end of the month trough to March, I would like to open a small studio and my skill set though not bad for a junior amateur is nothing compared to what I will need to have a studio, but there will be more about that in the coming month too.

Lastly, I have replaced my laptop, an HP Pavilion dv6000 series with, no not an Apple Notebook as I originally thought since the Apple did not have my requirement for my development work (in .NET) so I did some research and voila I am the proud owner of a Dell Studio XPS 16 and all I’ll say is, wow. It sorted out both my development and photographic requirements in one go (not to mention it’s gaming abilities). The only two issues with it are it’s weight, it’s really heavy, and the HD screen, yep you read right it has a 1920 by 1080 native resolution on a 16.1 inch screen, you need a magnifying glass to read the screen. OK it’s also an advantage most of the time, pair it with a 24 inch HD screen and problem solved, yes it can handle it and so much more…

So there is the story so far… More to come soon…

[Cross-posted for www.onlyinsouthafrica.com]

No I have not suddenly stopped blogging, I am rather busy with some matters at work that need my dedicated attention and caused me to have a few migraines and nightmares. But I have a plan! In the next 2 weeks things should settle a bit and I have a few unfinished entries in the pipeline.

Here is what you can look for in the months to come:

• ADO.NET Entity Framework and Linq to Entities, this will most probably be a multi-part series of entries.
• More on Project Banana.
• More on optimising ASP.NET generated HTML and maybe a bit on ASP.NET MVC, this will also most probably be a multi-part series of entries.
• In April, May or June some travel and photos, I will try for a daily “live” post now that I have a 3G Modem.
• A couple of movie reviews, I want to make this a weekly feature in the future.
• A guide to making Site Management System, if I have the time.
• Some photography entries, if I have the time.
• More rants and complains and maybe politics and economics in South Africa.

Additionally, I hope being able to post about Gizmo (currently in version 11b) seen here below.

I you would like to see something specific, leave me a comment.

There are a few articles around the “ideal” toolbox to develop ASP.NET applications, however each developer has his or her own preferred tools and I thought that I would share with you my favourite tools. Here they are in no particular order:

• Microsoft Windows Vista x64, is there another operating system out there for ASP.NET developers? Yes, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 x64, but not on my laptop.
  
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Professional, though any flavour will do Express (the free version) has amazed me recently particularly the fact that it runs well on a 1.6gz Atom processor with a Gig of RAM. However, Professional now comes with an array of standard tools that should not be dismissed, starting with Unit Testing. SP1 adds better JavaScript debugging and integration as well as a UI for many of the new tools but more importantly a faster HTML designer. And then there are the add-ons I could not live without:
  • SQL Server 2005 or 2008 Express, though technically not an add-on I feel that VS2008 is not useful without it, it allows me to forget about the database issues I have when moving the project to another machine or making backups.
  • Axialis IconWorkshop Lite  just help to make icons fast and as a WEB developer it’s something that I do once per project.
  • Clarius T4 Editor Community Edition, T4 (Text Templating Transformation Toolkit)  is a powerful Visual Studio code generation engine and the editor adds Previews and IntelliSence to T4 development.
  • Clone Detective, I hate code smell this tool just help to find it and deal with it.
  • CodeRush Express, though not without it’s issues, once I started using it I could not do without it. It includes features from Coderush and Refactor! Pro, 2 product I wish I had the money to buy.
    • Code Style Enforcer is a DXCore add-on that allows me to ensure naming conventions in my code.
  • Guidance Automation Extension and Toolkit is essential to run guidance packages here bellow:
    • Enterprise Library, though I use it less the Caching, Cryptography, Exception Handling, Logging, Policy Injection and Validation Application blocks are invaluable.
    • Web Client Software Library
    • Web Service Security Guidance Package
    • Web Service Software Factory: Modeling Edition
  • GhostDoc makes it easy to document my code and create XML documentation.
  • Microsoft Chart Controls finally the ASP.NET missing controls are available!
  • Microsoft Silverlight 2 though I have yet to find a good reason to use it I am sure I will sooner or later.
  • MSBuild Shell Extension for when I want to rebuild my project without opening VS or a command line.
  • Power Toys for Visual Studio 2008
    • Resource Refactoring moving to a resource based application is but a click away.
    • Source Code Outliner seeing the project from a code perspective
    • VS.NET 2008 Command Prompt Here loads the VS environment variable command prompt from the Windows Explorer
    • ASP.NET 2.0 Web Server Here allows me to select a folder and load it into Cassini in 1 click.
  • RockScroll is a Visual Studio scrollbar extension that allow me to see the location of my changes quickly.
  • Snipper a VS snippet file editor.
  • Subversion version control system is the best I found in the open source community for Visual Studio, you will also need  TortoiseSVN or AnkhSVN to integrate into VS. WinMerge will also be integrated for Diffs, I recommend it with or without TortoiseSVN, it made my life easier more than once.
  • Spell Checker well we all know I can’t spell, can you?
  • Visual Linq Builder teaches me Linq
  • Visual Local History allows me to go back to older code without having to use a Version Control Server
    
• The browsers:
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer, being one of the 2 “exceptions” when it comes to browsers is essential to have the big 5 to test but more importantly to have the 2 exceptions Internet Explorer and the dreaded Safari. With Internet Explorer comes a few useful tools:
    • IE Developer Toolbar, the array of html related tools it has makes a difference in my life.
    • Fiddler 2 will tells me what is happening over http.
    • Web Development Helper tells me about the ASP.NET Viewstate and Tracing as well JavaScript issues.
  • Mozilla Firefox, during development I exclusively use Firefox (and IE to check if something is broken), Firefox also has a few really good add-ons:
    • FireBug, my life would end without it! From JavaScript debugging to Network monitor and so much more!
      • YSlow will tell me why the site is slow, the reports are great.
      • FireUnit a new kid on the block Unit Testing for JavaScript.
    • ColorZilla click, point and voila the RGB colour of the HTML element.
    • Dummy Lipsum creates dummy text using Lorem Ipsum
    • FireShot allows me to capture entire web pages as graphic files (PNG, GIF, JPEG, BMP) for future reference.
    • Html Validator to check how badly I break the HTML rules
    • IE Tab allows me to open an Internet Explorer tab in Firefox
    • JSView opens external files (JS, CSS, …) in a code view window.
    • MesureIt a pixel ruler.
    • Quick Locale Switcher for when I work on localizable web applications.
    • Web developer is a set of tools for developers, too many to mention.
      
  • Google Chrome, the general rule is: “If it works in Firefox it will be fine in Chrome and Opera”, however it does not hurt to check, the same applies to Opera.
  • Apple Safari, need I add more, I hate this browser but it exists and I can not ignore it.
    
• Paint.NET, I do not have the need CorelDraw Graphic Suite or Adobe Creative Suite so Paint.NET does the trick just fine.
  
• Internet Information Services 7 is an essential tool for .NET development.
  • Microsoft URL Rewrite Module, URL rewriting made easy.
  • Bit Rate Throttling for when simulations are part of the deal, I also use Charles for this type of situation.
  • FTP Publishing Service 7, the update to FTP Publishing Service 6.
    
• Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1 for when I want to try something fancy without the risks.
  

This list is not exhaustive but it’s a good beginning. Next in this series “The database dilemma”

Honestly, you have heard it, I have heard it, it's out there and it's called the paperless office.

The truth? I think it might be an unachievable dream. Mind you I am all for saving the forests, in fact I preach about recycling everything. But, lets face it, humanity is not about to let go off paper for a while to come. Why, you may ask...

Well, paper was invented, in the form of papyrus, by the Egyptians more then 2.000 years ago. And we have been using it for most of that time, even if it only arrived in Europe much later, the damage was already done. It's been in our daily life for millennia's. You can not get rid of an imprint like that in a decade or two, it's in the genes.

Furthermore, paper is generally lighter and far cheaper than, say, a laptop or similar device. What about a palmtop (PDA)? The same applies, besides have you ever tried to read a book (e-book or PDF) on a PDA? Well it's not easy. I should know I read Orson Well's "The time machine" on my iPaq, I kid you not. Also PC's, laptops, PDA's require energy, paper on the other hand does not. It also does not emit light, only reflects it, thus making reading a more pleasant and satisfying experience.

The bottom line is simple: How many time have you printed an email, a contract or other documents to read it, or file it? Reading on paper still makes sense to us, until it does not, we will carry on and the paperless office, as technically possible as it is, it is only a dream.

We are only human after all.

But maybe with the adoption of the PDA, Mobile Phone, laptop, ... Maybe it may yet happen. But they will have to get lighter and more portable.

In the meanwhile how about putting a little extra note on the footer of each email you send? Something that read likes this: Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail and/or attachment/s. It will raise awareness if nothing else.

I received this in a mail a couple of days ago, I found it relevant for this day and age, to my greater despair.
Though I laughed uncontrollably the first time I read it. The author, though so correct, also had a very good sense of humour.

So to you all out there:

I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to my friends and colleagues, but it is so difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my attorney yesterday, and on his advice I wish to say the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the summer solstice holiday, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that South Africa is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:

This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her / himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Regards and all the best to you and your family for the festive season.

Quote of the Day:
If it doesn't matter who wins, then how come they keep score?
--Vincent Lombardi