Coordinating the Congregation of Co-Equal Cognoscenti for Consorting and Consumption of Comestibles; otherwise known as: www.geekdinner.com :-)
Announcing my Latest Project! (Well almost…I need some help first)
I’m a categorization junkie. I have always been that way. If I’m interested in something I go out and research ad-nauseum, and then create exhaustive categorized and cross-referenced lists. I think that’s why I like databases and XML and data-driven websites. There’s something fundamentally satisfying about having data in a format that it can be …
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Mea Culpa, Dell
Last Wednesday I blogged about how bigger companies, like Dell and Sony, do a poor job of providing a rapid response to online orders and customer concerns. However, I was hasty in my blogging and need to (partially) apologize to Dell (but not Sony in this case.) The computer arrived on Monday, one day after I …
Mort, the “Hobbyist”, and the “Occupational” Programmer get their due
Several months ago I blogged about the need for a much simpler way to get into .NET, and I named my proposed solution VBScript.NET (in hindsight the name was a poor choice because people assumed I was proposing porting VBScript to .NET instead of providing a simplified VB.NET, but highsight often is 20/20…) And I …
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It’s Always Something (#1): Wrestling with System.Xml.Xsl.XslTransform and the Document() function
It’s always something! At Xtras, we have a rather sophisticated email broadcast system that we developed internally. Our system uses a set of tables in our SQL Server database that models the type of email, who it should go to, the mailing lists, etc. It loads each newsletter subscriber’s name and email address using a FOR XML …
Trying to help them, and they snub you!
Via Scoble, Mike of HackingNetflix.com blogs about Bloggers & Corporate Public Relations Departments. Seems Mike’s site is a(n oddly naming) tribute site to NetFlix, yet when Mike asked to be on their press list they declined, and when he asked them to support an "Ask Netflix" column on his website they wouldn’t return his calls …
Often, Big Companies Suck when compared to Smaller Ones
I have a new employee starting on Friday and needed a new computer. Generally I like to buy from Dell because they keep all system info online for future retrieval. So yesterday (Monday, June 21st, 2004) I went online to Dell’s Outlet and selected a pre-built system and requested it to be shipped Fedex Saver …
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Good XSLT Tutorial
I did a web search for an XSLT tutorial a few minutes ago and came across a really nice one I want to remember at topxml.com.
Where do you buy your .NET Components and other Programming Tools?
Disclaimer: I run a company (Xtras.Net) that sells .NET components and other programming tools so this topic significantly affects my own livelihood as well as that of my company. Over the past 10 years, since we launched our first printed VBxtras catalog, the state of Windows-based programming has changed. In those days most Windows programmers wrote …
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Features I REALLY want in TSQL, Part #3
Refactoring. Yes, I want refactoring in TSQL/SQL Server. What do I mean by Refactoring in SQL? Specifically, I want to be able to evolve my database schema without breaking the application. For me at least, I frequently evolve the naming of my database schema as I’m adding features to deployed apps, but it is really …