A little history about me. In March 1994 I launched Xtras, Inc. as VBxtras, Inc. VBxtras was a catalog/mail-order reseller of 3rd party components and tools for developers using Visual Basic versions 3.0 through 6.0. I later changed our brand’s name to "Xtras.Net" as an Internet reseller of 3rd party components and tools for .NET …
Conventional Wisdom, Assumptions, and Pot Roast
Conventional wisdom is filled with assumptions. One of the things that makes conventional wisdom right most of the time is that those assumptions are usually valid. But sometimes they are not. One of my favorite little anecdotes that illustrates this is the tale of the pot roast: A newly-wed husband noticed that every time his …
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But Microsoft Can’t Scale!
One of the more interesting conversations I had during my tenure while President and CEO at Xtras, Inc. was in October 1997 when Network+Interop came to Atlanta for it’s annual visit. One of the Microsoft Windows NT Server Product Managers Luis Bonifaz decided stopped by my office for a visit and gave me an education …
Starting a New Chapter in Life…
Those of you who follow my blog are aware it has been a long time since I’ve last posted. Some of you already know what has been going on in my life, but most of you don’t. For those of you who do not as well as the rest of you it’s time for me …
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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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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An honest history of Xtras, plus a glimpse of what’s to come
This past March my company Xtras, Inc. had its ten (10) year birthday. We’ve come to a crossroads of sorts and I thought it would be a good time to document those past ten years, and provide a glimpse of our future. I’ll do my best to describe things as I remember them, but I’ll …
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FREE XDN Professional for .NET Bloggers, Redux
We’re halfway through the month so its time for me to re-post the offer to get a FREE XDN Professional if you are a .NET Bloggers, in case you missed it the first time. You can click here to learn how to get your FREE XDN Professional membership. For those who don’t know about XDN it stands for …
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What information do you need when you consider purchasing a component?
UPDATE (2006-May-18): I am no longer running Xtras.Net As many of you know, my company produces a printed catalog called Xtras.Net which we subtitle Your Source for Quality .NET Tools. However, we are revising the design for the next printing, and also adding features to our website to coordinate with some of the changes. For …
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Cool Component: LaMarvin Dynamic AutoComplete Tool
For the month of May I’ve signed up a vendor new to Xtras.Net named LaMarvin, and we are offering their Dynamic AutoComplete Tool for FREE this month to XDN Professional members ($99/year.) This component adds auto-complete functionality to WinForm Text Boxes and Combo Boxes just like the auto-complete you get in Internet Explorer’s Address (URL) …
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