Andy Weston's Blog

There is a new starter kit available out on CodePlex called BlogEngine.NET that has some very nice features to it.  Its a lightweight blog application written in ASP.NET that has most of the usual features you would expect from a blog.  The source code is a nice reference implementation of an ASP.NET app that uses themes, etc., for rendering.  There are some good examples of http handlers and http modules in the code (such as a compressor) that are worth taking a look at.

I’ve been using WordPress to write this blog and I’ve been happy with it.  It is also open source, written in php, and has the advantage of being a much more mature project.

Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. — MC Escher

Absurd and impossible … why are all my ideas seeming that way lately?  ;)  –Andy

I’ve been playing around with formatting XAML for Silverlight on the server side and I decided to mash-up some XML from an Amazon web service and get it to display a list of books. Here’s a sample page …

I ran into a few limitations but overall it went pretty well. The plugin doesn’t display .gif’s yet (only .jpgs and .pngs) which is a big disappointment because at least half of the book images coming from Amazon are .gifs. Surely that will be addressed in the final release, whatever the issue is … licensing possibly? I also found that formatting the TextBlocks had to be done very manually, no style sheets or anything so the font changes had to be repeated for each row. If you would like to see the source code, use FireFox, FireBug, hit the Net tab and find the sp1.xaml file.

This is some cool stuff, I need to do some animation with it in my next sample.

ComponentOne is now showing off demos of it’s upcoming Sapphire Silverlight controls.  After installing the plugin, click on the Show Me Sapphire button on the carrousel.  The control gallery includes Flashy versions of buttons and listboxes and docking panels.  These are still alpha versions of the controls (a few things don’t work yet, like the Tab key) but you can really start to see where we are headed with it now.  I’m tempted to write some of my own similar controls here but it looks like in 6 months or so all of the basics should be available.  Lots of people seem to be working on libraries.

I’ve been playing around with creating some XAML snippets and I needed a place to post my code so I created this little framework page to display them … ./silverlight/samples

 I’d like to create a little XAML Sample Manger in ASP.NET … if only I can find the time!!!

If you want to get started with AJAX for .NET and you are looking around for a platform you should give some consideration to a library I found called Anthem.NET.  Its very easy to setup and works by simply changing the namespace of most of the standard asp controls to “anthem” and then telling the control to do a callback instead of a postback.  Check out some samples.  The Microsoft counterpart to this is called ASP.NET AJAX (Atlas) and in comparing the two I found the Anthem derived controls easier to use than the extenders or the UpdatePanel that atlas uses.  Check it out.

“Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler.”  –Einstein

Guess what, you know that complicated subsystem that you want to build on your next project?  You probably don’t need all of that.  Keep it simple, dude, but make sure it does the simple things well.  –Andy

I’ve been working on a project recently that could take me about 6months to complete so I started looking around for some project management software to help me out.  Now I loath Microsoft Project.  Not so much because of its features but more so because of the people that I have worked with who have abused it!  It seems that people can’t help but make a mountain out of a mole hill with that thing.  So I kept looking.

I found an open source solution called www.dotproject.net that looks not too bad.  It has lots of features to it, it is web-based and it seems to have a good user base.  If I were running a project completely online I would consider using this one.

Then I ran into www.Axosoft.com and I think it is just great.  It is billed as a bug tracker but it also has project management features to it.  Here’s what I think is cool …

1. the single-user version is FREE, great for solo guys like me
2. it has both a windows client and VS.Net plugin for it
3. it uses SQL server to store data
4. it has a web interface that lets people outside your project provide feedback
5. the UI is very clean and simple and un-overcomplicated (is that a word?

This is my choice and I’m going with it.  I’ll keep you posted.

Check out the newest June release of the WCSF, http://www.codeplex.com/websf, it saves tons of time generating the architecture for new projects.  I installed the latest and there is a much-improved installer that helps you grab all of the extras for Visual Studio that you need to get going.  A considerable number.  Very nice.

Alright, you need to go and check out this robot chicken star wars episode on www.adultswim.com !!  The funniest bits I’ve seen in a long time!