Mark Richman

My Cats Stalking a Bird

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Generating Random Names as Test Data

Ever need to generate thousands of names to use as test data?

I just created an Excel sheet that uses the 1990 US census data to generate random male and female names.

Columns:
A: Male First Name
B: Female First Name
C: Last Name
E: Male Full Name (Proper Case)
F: Female Full (Proper Case)

Columns A,B,C are ordered by descending popularity. It’s limited to 65,536 names (an Excel limitation), but this should work for seeding names in just about any database you’ll need.

I’ve also verified this to work in OpenOffice.org Spreadsheet 2.4.

DOWNLOAD HERE

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Adding ASP.NET AJAX to Existing Websites

If you want to add Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions 1.0 to an existing website…

Click here for the video! 

First, install the ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 Extensions: ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions 1.0

Next, add some stuff to the web.config file:

In the system.web section add the following line:

    <pages>
      <controls>
        <add tagPrefix="asp" namespace="System.Web.UI" assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
      </controls>
    </pages>

This will save you having to have the following directive at the top of each page:

<%@ Register Assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"
    Namespace="System.Web.UI" TagPrefix="asp" %>

If you find you are getting the nasty "'Sys' is undefined error on your pages, putting the following into the System.Web section will fix this:

    <httpHandlers>
      <remove verb="*" path="*.asmx"/>
      <add verb="*" path="*.asmx" validate="false" type="System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptHandlerFactory, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
      <add verb="*" path="*_AppService.axd" validate="false" type="System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptHandlerFactory, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
      <add verb="GET,HEAD" path="ScriptResource.axd" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptResourceHandler, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" validate="false"/>
    </httpHandlers>

    <httpModules>
      <add name="ScriptModule" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
    </httpModules>

Thats it!  All you should need to do now is just drop a script manager and update panel on the page and throw the controls you want to AJAX-enable in them and you are locked and loaded.

Thanks to Darryl Burling for the tip!

Posted in AJAX, ASP.NET | No Comments »

New Home Theater

The new home theater is on its way! I will be taking pics during install, but here are the goods:

• Samsung FP-T6374 63” High Definition 1080p Plasma TV

• DirecTV Plus HD DVR (HR20)

• DirecTV Slimline 5 LNB HD Satellite Dish (AU9-S)

• BDI Avion Noir A/V
  Cabinet

• Marantz SR7001 Receiver

• B&W 683 Floor Standing
  Speakers

• B&W HTM62 Center Channel
  Speaker

• B&W ASW-610 Powered
  Subwoofer

• B&W CCM 65 Round
  In-Ceiling Surround Sound Speakers

• Home Theater Master MX-900 RF
  Universal Remote

• Home Theater Master MRF-300 RF
  Addressable RF Base Station

• Monster Home Theater
  PowerCenter HTS-800

• Pioneer DV-563A DVD Player
  (until the whole Blu-Ray/HD-DVD war is over)

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Dream Theater on PBS

DREAM THEATER were recently the
subjects of PBS TV's Fast Focus documentary series, and they've been
kind enough to post the episode on Youtube for all those who missed the
TV broadcast.

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My Music Gear

ESP M-207 Grey Satin finish (lots of great reviews over at Harmony Central)

Kramer AeroStar ZX30 modified with Seymour Duncan HotRails pickups and custom FleckStone paint

Nylon string classical guitar that fell off the back of a
truck in Brooklyn

D’Addario EXL-120
Super Light 7String set .009-.054

Dunlop Jazz
III Picks

ADA MP-1
MIDI Tube Preamp

Mesa/Boogie
20/20 Stereo Tube Power Amp

Mesa/Boogie
2×12 Rectifier Horizontal Speaker Cabinet (Two Celestion
Vintage 30 speakers)

BOSS
GT-6 Guitar Effects Processor

Furman
RP-8L Power Conditioner and Lighting Module

SKB
8U Rack Case

Morley Steve Vai Bad Horsie Wah Pedal (Model VAI-1)

Various Tuners and Metronomes

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If Microsoft Designed the IPod

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What tools do you use?

I get this question a lot. The short answer, of course, is “it
depends”. That is, I’m a right-tool-for-the-right-job kinda guy. However, since
I make my living in the Microsoft ecosystem, I’m naturally biased. Generally
speaking, I use mostly open source tools, unless there is a compelling reason
to use a commercial one. Here’s my list (subject to frequent change, of
course):

Microsoft Visual Studio

Visual Studio
is the best IDE hands down. Yeah, I’ve
tried notepad and cmd.exe, but it’s just not the same. If you’re poor (or
cheap), the FREE Express Editions
are pretty good too. My language preference is C#. I was a Java guy for a long time, so this was just a
natural progression for me. No VB, please.

JetBrains ReSharper

ReSharper
is a phenomenal productivity add-in
for Visual Studio. “Version 3.0 brings unrivalled code analysis, a superior
unit testing solution, Go to Symbol navigation, a handy To-do Explorer with
multiple unit test sessions, and many other features - to boost individual and
team productivity in the world of .NET development”.  No, it’s not free, but it’s well worth the
small price tag.

Subversion

For years I suffered with Visual SourceSafe.
It’s junk, and just plain dangerous. Don’t use it. Ever! Subversion is my tool of choice for my
personal projects, and my recommendation to clients who can’t afford Visual Studio Team
Foundation Server’s price tag.

TortoiseSVN

If you use Windows and Subversion, then you need TortoiseSVN.

Aqua Data Studio

Aqua Data Studio is a
commercial tool that I use on occasion to script data out of large tables,
since I’m a dummy and can’t figure out how to get SQL Server Management Studio
to spit out INSERT statements for all my data. It also works with just about
every DBMS there is, just in case you’re thrown onto a MySQL or Oracle project…gasp!

GhostDoc

http://www.roland-weigelt.de/ghostdoc/

Reflector

http://www.aisto.com/roeder/dotnet/

Web Service Software Factory

http://www.codeplex.com/servicefactory

SubSonic

http://subsonicproject.com/default.aspx

Log4net

http://logging.apache.org/log4net/

URLRewriter.NET

http://urlrewriter.net/

TextPad

http://textpad.com/

Gaim Pidgin

http://pidgin.im/pidgin/home/

NUnit

http://www.nunit.org/

CruiseControl.NET

http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/CCNET

FxCop

http://www.gotdotnet.com/team/fxcop/

Tail for Win32

http://tailforwin32.sourceforge.net/

I'm sure there are more that I can't think of off the top of my head, so I'll keep this list up to date as I discover some new and cool tools. 

Posted in General, Tools | No Comments »

Now using BlogEngine.NET!

BlogEngine.NET is an open source .NET
blogging project that was born out of desire for a better blog
platform. A blog platform with less complexity, easy customization, and
one that takes advantage of the latest .NET features.

BlogEngine.NET was designed using the current .NET framework and focused on simplicity, ease of extendibility, and innovative features. With BlogEngine.NET, we hope to create the natural blog of choice for all .NET developers world wide.

Posted in ASP.NET, General | No Comments »

Windows Live Writer Beta

Testing Windows Live Writer Beta with Blogger…stay tuned!

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