Todd's Blog

I posted at the end of May about a technical article I wrote that was posted at DotNetSlackers.

If you enjoyed the article, please vote for it at that site.  The author with the most votes receives an X-Box core system. 

The Voting page is located at:

http://dotnetslackers.com/articles/voting/vote.aspx?Id=2

In order to vote, you would need to register at the site, which is free.

I would encourage any .NET developer or hobbyist to take a look around the site (DotNetSlackers).  It has a wealth of knowledge and unique ideas, and will be a tremendous long-term asset for you.

Please be respectful of DotNetSlackers.  While I would greatly appreciate votes for my article, please don't do anything that could be construed as unfair (for example, trying to create multiple accounts, etc.).  I value my relationship with them, so just 1 vote by those who are so inclined would be more than fantastic.

I am happy to announce my latest technical article was published this morning:

http://dotnetslackers.com/articles/net/SettingsManagerforWindowsVistaSidebarGadgets.aspx

This particular article represents the end result of a lengthy investigation of Vista Sidebar gadgets.  There is not much solid technical information yet available for this new technology, so it was fun and challenging to be exploring "uncharted territory", so to speak.

Also, I wanted to say thanks to Sonu at DotNetSlackers for once again providing a great outlet to express my technology musings.  For anyone involved in Microsoft .NET development, it is a fantastic resource, and the site has a daily news feed that is not to be missed.

This is a very cool test!

My rating was 43% (Yankee). Barely into the Yankee category.  What was yours?

http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/yankee_dixie_quiz.html

In contemplating future changes, it's always a good idea to look back and see the evolution of how we got here, and most importantly, why change is so important.

I tend to think of Lottery Post's "old format" (just a tree-style single forum) and the "new format" (modern multiple forums), but there have been many other changes to the home page along the way.

So I put together this mini slide show to give a taste of the changes over the years.

All of these changes seems natural and common sense, but those who have been around the whole time may remember how at the time they heard people voicing their dislike of the changes, or maybe even disliked the changes themselves.  Change can be a jarring experience, so it's a natural reaction, and I take the negative comments with a grain of salt.

So without further delay, on with the show!

Original Format

May 2000 - December 2001

The original Lottery Post was created as a kind of side-show to my most important site at the time, BigGameLottery.com.  I started creating both sites in 1999, and they finally both debuted in May 2000.  At the time I was a very good programmer, but Web development was still a little new for me, so it took a while to build the sites.

Also, up to that point I only really had very basic graphics and design skills.  Whatever skills I had came from my experience building Executive Information Systems (EIS), which were business tools created for executives of companies, so that they could browse important reports and information by clicking their mouse.  It was kind of like using a Web browser, but it was really an application running on their PCs.

So some things I created for Lottery Post were "OK" graphically, but compared to what I can put together today, the graphics STUNK.  However, I think I made the right decision to launch the site anyway, with its bad graphics and very basic design, just to get things going.

For many months after the initial launch of Lottery Post there was very little activity, for a couple of reasons.  First, it was hard to find.  The only way someone could find Lottery Post was by clicking a link on BigGameLottery.com.  There was no Google, and getting to the top of Alta Vista's search results was daunting.  Second, the big forum of the time was at a site called Maybell's (which is no longer around).  Lottery Post had very little compared to Maybell's, so there wasn't much of a reason for people to post here.

Format #2

December 2001 - September 2002

In December 2001 Lottery Post got its first face-lift.

Up to that point BigGameLottery.com got most of my development attention, but after a year or so it became apparent that as Lottery Post started to become more popular I would have to de-uglify it.  (i.e., "make it look better".)

For the first time I also started requiring that people register a username in order to post.  Before that, anyone could post anything, so as you can imagine there was a lot of spam I had to delete.  Requiring a membership cut that down a bit, as well as protected people from posting with other people's names.

Apart from smoother graphics, the major design change was moving to a left menu, and away from the button bar across the top.

It's kind of hard to read the text on the small image below, so you might be interested to know whose posts are listed.  Recognize these people?  Lucky, JAP69, Michael J. Smith, emilyg, whish, Ganyo, jd, TheGreenSage, Jona, lootch, GA Girl, billyloco, Pick 3 Fairy, and Sandy K.

Format #3

September 2002 - July 2003

The most radical and controversial change in the history of Lottery Post, people told me "I love it" and "I hate it", but nothing in between. 

All I knew at the time is that I HAD to do it.  Lottery Post was starting to grow, and things were starting to get unwieldy.

To make the new design (which took me several months) I studied popular forums on the Internet, copied what I liked, and built from scratch what i didn't.  I copied a lot of the graphics, but over the years have rebuilt every single graphic image to something I created myself.  I wanted Lottery Post to have its own unique look & feel.

It's interesting to note that Lottery Post still was just a forum.  The home page is the main forum page, not a real home page.

Format #4

July 2003 - May 2007 (with several tweaks along the way)

In July 2003 two important changes occurred.  First, a real Home page was added, which showed the latest 10 news stories, the latest 15 posts, birthdays, and site statistics.  Later, sections were added to the Home page to show the latest predictions posted and latest blog entries.

The second big change was the addition of real drop-down menus and the blue menu bar at the top.  With the incredible number of features added over the past several years, the drop-down menus have been critical to being able to manage it all in a way that is easy to navigate.  The only real drawback I have seen from the menus is that many newbies do not take the time to explore all the menu options, and thus miss out on many important features.  This is something I will address in the future.

Note in the image below a few interesting tidbits:

• Very small menu bar
• "Forum Jump" combo box is still there, and was eventually removed completely (in favor of the Forums menu)
• 20 members online -- nowadays that number is usually between 600 and 1000 at any given moment
• Record of 123 members online at once at that point (now the record is 9123)
• 2022 total members (now 52392)
• Same basic format is still in use today

 Current Format

May, 2007 - ?

This is the look most of you are well-familiar with.  Will it change in the future?  Only time will tell.  But one thing is certain: if it does change many people will hate the change, other people will love it, and everyone will eventually wonder how they lived without it.

I hope you enjoyed the look back!

-Todd

My new home theater seats arrived today -- wahoo!

After 2 years waiting, saving and planning, the old loveseat gets the heave-ho, and are replaced by three black leather Berkline recliners, with the 2 end seats slightly angled toward the center.

I have to figure out how to hook up these gizmos that are installed under the seats -- called "butt-kickers".  They hook up to the subwoofer (somehow), and are supposed to actually vibrate the seat a little when something big happens on the screen (like an explosion).  I can't wait to try them out with the first 10 minutes of Star Wars Episode III.

Wow, this is going to be so cool; I now have cupholders, and I can recline in comfy leather recliners.  I guess everyone knows what I'll be doing tonight! 

Last year I had blogged about a new web browser called Browzar.

Browzar's claim to fame is its nice security features.  After you finish with your browsing session it completely cleans up all traces of your web surfing activity.

I just happed to be checking, and found that they have upgraded their web browser.  I'd strongly recommend that users of the old version download the latest (version 1.3).

As always there is absolutely no installation process.  You download one file, and you run it.  The program does not install anything else, and doesn't add to your Start menu.  It's the one file, and that's all!

Some of the attractive new features are:

• Windows Vista compatible
• Tabbed browsing, just like Firefox and IE7
• Nice updated look and feel, which duplicates the layout of IE7
• Enhanced secure cleanup mode, which if enabled does not just delete your web browsing activity and temporary files, it securely wipes the files, just like "shredding" programs that are commonly available
• Mouse functions are now fully supported, including back/forward and scroll wheel
• You can now set your own home page, which is significant, because it does store a small file on your PC if you choose to do this -- so that it can rememeber your home page the next time.  This is fine to do on your home PC (is not a security risk), but not something you'd want to do on someone else's PC, unless you don't care if an extra file is stored there.

There are still some things I'd like to see them add.  Namely, I miss my Favorites links when I use it.  I'd like to see them add a feature to either temporarily important the IE7 Favorites, or else display the IE7 Favorites that are available in the IE7 folder on the PC.

Nevertheless, it is a fantastic addition to any PC, as it's just one simple file, and adds some peace of mind when you want a web browser that does not leave tracks.

Here's the Browzar home page (you can find a download link there):

http://www.browzar.com/

I was pleasantly surprised to find that an article I recently wrote received "Article of the Day" status at Microsoft's official ASP.NET home page.

http://asp.net/

I'm upgrading one of my main PCs to Vista right now as I write this.

It appears that anyone upgrading should be prepared for a multi-hour endeavor, but naturally we will see how it goes.  Maybe I'll be surprised.

There's a compatibility checker that seems to go through all of your hardware and software as the first step in the upgrade.  The only thing it detected as "un-runnable" in Vista was Nero Burning ROM, so I had to bail out of the installation, uninstall Nero, and then start again.

The next time it got through that step, and then mentioned a few software apps that would not run well under Vista.  They are the typical types of software apps that need new device drivers, like WinDVD and some other multi-media software.

The only thing that was slightly bothersome was that Zone Alarm would not work under Vista, but I already knew that.  It is mystifying to me that Zone Labs did not hurry up and create a Vista version.  (At least they haven't since the last time I checked a couple of weeks ago.)

So once I'm finished with the upgrade I'll be installing Windows OneCare, which I have been test-driving on another PC for a couple of weeks.  I don't think it's quite as good (or mature) as Zone Alarm, but I was fairly impressed with it.  It seems that it's built for less-sophisticated users, which is perfect for most people, but probably means I'll need to spend some time learning how to tweak it.

However, Vista is a much more such operating system that Windows XP, so that is a big advantage even if Zone Alarm doesn't work (yet).

I'm looking forward to seeing and using the new Vista Aero user interface.  FINALLY I'll be able to make good use of my nVidia SLI dual-card mainboard and GeForce cards -- in the everyday operating system!

For those who don't know about Vista, there are two different user interfaces that come with Vista -- Aero (the super-duper interface) and the "regular" interface, which is still better than Windows XP, but doesn't have all the special effects.

Aero will only run on computers that are more modern and have good graphics boards with a decent amount of memory.  I don't know the exact specs.  I do know that my system is about as stacked (graphics-wise) as they come, so I'll be happily cruising around in Aero in a few hours (if all goes well!).

Aero includes some REALLY cool effects, which are actually pretty useful.  For example, you know the trick with Windows XP, where you press Ctrl+Tab to cycle through the active windows?  Well, Aero has something similar, except you see miniature versions of all the open windows on the screen, and you can cycle through them like pages being shuffled around.  Not only is it very cool, but very intuitive and useful.

Well, it's hurry up and wait while this thing installs.  I'll try to post a follow-up entry at some point in the future to give my thoughts and feelings after having used it for a while.

I had the pleasure of stumbling on the official web page of Pan's Labyrinth this morning.  Pan's Labyrinth is a new fantasy movie that's getting tremendous reviews all around.

On Rotten Tomatoes it is getting an astounding 96% Fresh rating.  Very few movies achieve that good of a rating.  Checking local listings reveals that the movie is in limited release however, so finding a theater playing it may be difficult for some.

Back to their web site, if you just leave the web page open it plays the entire soundtrack in very high quality stereo sound.  On my PC (which has fantastic THX speakers) it sounds at least as good as a CD.

You can check out the Pan's Labyrinth web site at:

http://www.panslabyrinth.com/

Open it up, and then open a new browser window or tab so the Pan's Labyrinth site stays open in the background.  You can enjoy a great soundtrack while doing other stuff!

In writing some JavaScript code today, I had to write a function that was being called by some other JavaScript function, and I had no idea how many argument (parameters) were being sent by that other function, or what the contents of those argument would be. 

So, I figured out a nice way to determine what was being sent to my function.

First, determining the number of arguments being sent was pretty easy.  In every function, JavaScript automatically creates an array called arguments[].  So to find out how many arguments are being passed to my function, I created the following code:

function myFunction() {
  alert(arguments.length);
};

Then, when I opened the web page and the JavaScript function was called, I saw a "2" displayed in an alert box, so 2 arguments were being passed.  That part was easy!

Next, I changed my function to display what type of arguments were being passed:

function myFunction() {
  alert(typeof arguments[0]);
  alert(typeof arguments[1]);
};

Then when the function executed I saw 2 alert boxes, each with the word "object".  So I knew I was being passed 2 objects as arguments.

The last step was to examine the 2 objects to see what was inside them.  To do that I came up with a way to enumerate the properties of each object.

In JavaScript objects are really nothing more than arrays that are stored in something called "JSON" (JavaScript Object Notation).  JSON represents objects as arrays of name/value pairs.  The name part is a string value and the value part is any valid JavaScript type, such as string, number, or function.

So enumerating the object properties was just a matter of using two for loops to read all the elements of the array.  The function became:

function myFunction(arg1, arg2) {
   var property, properties="";

   for(property in arg1){
      properties += (property + ": " + arg1[property] + "\n");
   }

   alert(properties);
  properties="";

   for(property in arg2){
      properties += (property + ": " + arg2[property] + "\n");
   }

   alert(properties);
};

Then when the function executed I saw two alert boxes, the first one showing full contents of the first argument, and the second alert box showing the contents of the second argument.

Now that I know the contents of the arguments, I can go on and finish my JavaScript function!

This is a nice little snippet to keep in reserve in case something like this happens again.

Here's an excellent video pointing out the dangers of identity theft.  Pass this link on to family/friends.

http://video.sheriff.org/psa_cartheft.shtml

I read an amusing but cautionary blog entry from someone who had purchased an Alienware laptop, and then was told it was essentially "dead" after just 22 months.

You really need to read it to understand. 

http://aspadvice.com/blogs/ssmith/archive/2007/01/09/Alienware-End-Of-Life-_2D00_-What_3F00_-So-Soon_3F00_.aspx

Speaking of laptops, if you are looking for an inexpensive laptop that is perfect for a non-techno whiz, and has plenty of "good stuff" inside and out (so that it won't be "End of Life" in 22 months), I'd recommend checking out the HP Compaq v5000 series.  It's a sliver-colored laptop with a medium-gray colored keyboard.

The keyboard is particularly good for people who aren't used to typing on a laptop, as the keys are nice and big and spaced apart from each other.  (Although nothing can match the keyboard of a Lenovo ThinkPad, but those are much more expensive.)

It also has a great little screen - a widescreen 15.4" LCD. The touchpad is very good, and I typically hate touchpads.  Performance is excellent for an inexpensive laptop.

The software bundle is *OK* - nothing special - unless you get one with a nice bundle.  But I never buy a PC for the software that's included, because I like to install my own.  (And I usually uninstall all the junk that comes on a new PC.)

Always get at least 1GB of memory (RAM) when buying a new PC these days.

This could be one of the coolest devices ever invented!

Apple just introduced the iPhone, which finally combines a phone, iPod, and  computer into one device.  I'm actually glad they took their time, because the end result is the latest must-have piece of technology, if it works like the demo.

One of my favorite parts of it is the new interface, in which you control it by touching the screen with your fingertips.  Unlike all the normal touch-screens, this new screen can be manipulated my touching the screen in multiple places at once.  So if you want to zoom out while showing a picture, you just touch your fingers close together on the screen and then pull them apart!

Also, the new way to scroll a page is incredible.  If you've used Adobe Acrobat you get the idea -- you "grab" the page by clicking and holding the button, and drag the page up and down.  The difference with the new iPhone is that you can "spin" the page in any direction by touching it and "flicking" it in the direction you like and then letting go.  Kind of like you would spin a Roulette wheel or shove a piece of paper across the table.  Genius!

Apple has a complete demo online that shows tons of details.  Check it out!

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

For the first time in school history, Rutgers won a bowl game last night!

To put that in perspective, it's the first time in 137 years.

For a school that has wallowed at the bottom of the rankings for what seems like eternity, this has been one of the most amazing football seasons ever -- in college sports for that matter.  Nobody in the world would have predicted Rutgers would finish 11-2, let alone having a shot at finishing in the top 10.

Rutgers' season-ending game last night in the Texas Bowl put an exclamation point on their Cinderella story with a resounding 37-10 victory over Kansas State.

A big congratulations to Rutgers and its die-hard fans!

I saw a blog entry I could really identify with today:

Did I miss a meeting of the "inappropriate computer terminology usage club" or something? Someone at work keeps referring to software as "bits" as in "the bits are on the server."

I thought it was strange, but now other people at work are also saying it. According to these folks, my archives, disk images, or Tarballs are no longer meaningful descriptors...

They are now BITS.

And the really funny thing about this is these people consider "bits" to be software, NOT data (which leads me to wonder what they believe those little 1's and 0's that make up our corporate data are called?)

Who started this? Was it some vendor sales rep or something? WHO, in the name of Dennis Ritchie, Alan Kay, Marc Blank came up with such a misuse of the term? I haven't seen such a mangling of computer terminology since the first day of my CS 101 class, many many years ago, where the instructor stated that data was a "raw collection of information".

Check out the full blog entry here

I too have noticed this stupid terminology.  The first time I saw it was when someone was posting an updated version of software, something like this:

Replace all of your May, 2006 bits with the latest bits.

How stupid is that?

I don't care if the person is talking about a snippet of code, or something small.  If it's a snippet, then call it a snippet.

I will never, ever call software "bits".  That terminology would work best in a gender-neutral kind of society, if you catch my drift.