.NET 2005 Bugs

If you're not a software developer please ignore this post because it will mean nothing to you!

If you are a software developer, please click on the links below to vote on three Microsoft .NET 2005 bugs that I've posted to their bug tracking system. That is, if you agree with them of course. If these reports go without getting some votes then Microsoft will problably just ignore them (which they will likely do anyway).

They are:

• Intellisense no longer works consistently in the VS 2005 IDE
• A UserControl should not receive page events if its visible property is false.
• ASP.NET does not ignore commented lines

Thanks!

Scott Adams on Blogging

Here's what Scott Adams, author of the Dilbert cartoon and empire, said when he started the Dilbert Blog:

People who are trying to decide whether to create a blog or not go through a thought process much like this:

1. The world sure needs more of ME.
   
2. Maybe I'll shout more often so that people nearby can experience the joy of knowing my thoughts.
   
3. No, wait, shouting looks too crazy.
   
4. I know - I'll write down my daily thoughts and badger people to read them.
   
5. If only there was a description for this process that doesn't involve the words egomaniac or unnecessary.
   
6. What? It's called a blog? I'm there!
   

The blogger's philosophy goes something like this:

Everything that I think about is more fascinating than the crap in your head.

Music Review: The Road and The Radio by Kenny Chesney

Between Buffett and Mellencamp

I came to Kenny Chesney through his Be As You Are album of Jimmy Buffett-like songs (in subject matter anyway) that he wrote while on his boat in the Caribbean. I'm a huge Buffett fan and loved that album which came out in January of 2005. This album is the follow-up that came out in November of the same year. It still has plenty of "fun in the sun" subject matter with songs like Summertime, Beer In Mexico, and Tequila Loves Me (another song about Mexico), but if anything, this album has everything that the "rock music", and I use that term losely, of today is missing: great song writting, great playing, rocking guitar solos, and SOUL. I call it a mix of Jimmy Buffett and John Mellencamp. Yes, Kenny Chesney is supposed to be Country, but this albulm is as much Rock, in classic Southern style, as it Country.

Buy it on Amazon

Book Review: Wonders of the Reef by Stephen Frink

Exceptional introduction to underwater photography
Stephen Frink is one of the most experienced underwater photographers in the world and certainly the most published. Wonders of the Reef is a must-read for anyone interested in underwater photography. The book is divided into two sections. In part one, Photo Opportunities for the Dive Traveler, Stephen relates his experience and recommendations on dive spots in the Caribbean, Red Sea, Pacific, and elsewhere. Anywhere holding something interesting to photograph underwater, the author has been there, likely several times. This section of the book would be valuable to all divers, particularly those looking for their next travel destination. In part two, The Science of Underwater Photography, Stephen shares decades of experience in shooting underwater, covering technique as well as equipment. Advanced underwater shooters will find the level of instruction introductory but for most readers the content is right-on. Stephen has written hundreds of articles over the years on diving as well as photography, and his writing, as well as his photography of course, is exceptional. This book was published before the digital camera era really took off, so digital equipment is not covered here. However, that is minor and nearly everything he relates about lens selection, when to use a dome port, etc. is still valid. In addition to all of the above, Wonders of the Reef is also a coffee-table book with tremendous photographs. The pictures are wonderful, captioned well, and the book is superbly printed.

Buy it on Amazon

Book Review: Data Mining with SQL Server 2005 by ZhaoHui Tang

Decent Book

At the time I'm writing this review this book is the only one available dedicated solely to the data mining features of SQL Server 2005. The book is good, but I was disappointed in it as well on three fronts. First, there is a chapter dedicated to each of the data mining algorithms. I didn't find the business use case examples for when, why, and how to use each algorithm sufficient. Second, each of the algorithm chapters goes off the deep-end explaining the mathematical basis for the algorithm. There are very, very few developers who are going to remember enough of their college mathematics to follow along. Third, the technical coverage of how to use the APIs and the data mining extension language (DMX) is superficial, particularly with DMX. After reading this book cover to cover I couldn't go off and write a DMX query if I wanted to. On the application I'm working on we are planning to implement our own web visualization viewers for the data mining algorithms. This book didn't give me what I needed in understanding the object model exposed by the APIs in order to handle the back-end coding for this. All in all, if you are planning to do data mining with SQL Server 2005 I would recommend this book only because at the time of this writing there is nothing else available. However, you will learn quite a bit about data mining with it and depending on your prior experience (more is better) it might be an excellent fit for you.

Buy it on Amazon

Book Review: Pro SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Pro) by Rodney Landrum

You should probably look elsewhere

I found this book to be weird quiet frankly. Chapter 2 goes off the deep-end of designing efficient queries before you've even built a report yet. That material should have been put at the end of the book. Creating a report with the report wizard is covered in Chapter 4 but probably would have been best if it was before Chapter 3 which covers creating a report manually. I didn't find anything "Pro", as the name implies, or advanced with the book. It's a broad introductory text only. Also, it only covers using the ReportViewer control for Win Forms and not the one Web Forms. The two are similar enough but coverage of both would have been better.

Buy it on Amazon

Book Review: Applied Microsoft Analysis Services 2005 : And Microsoft Business Intelligence Platform by Teo Lachev

Could Be Better

This was the first book published on Analysis Services 2005. It was obviously rushed to press. At first I started making notes of all the grammatical errors, but then found so many I gave up and quit.

The technical content if very good. If you are doing a lot of Analysis Services work then you will definitely want this book. At the same time, you will want to pick up some of the other texts as they're released over the coming months. For one, the coverage of MDX syntax in this book is quite poor. You are also not going to find the "whys" of dimension modeling covered here or a set of recommended best practices.

Also, the book starts with a sample database and data warehouse and builds upon those samples throughout the book. If you are not looking for the kind of book where you type in the examples in each section, then this one may not be for you.

Buy it on Amazon

Book Review: Fast Track to MDX by Mark Whitehorn

You Don't Have Much Choice

This is one of only two books on MDX available. Since I purchased this book, which is certainly dated, the new version of MDX Solutions by George Spofford et. al. has shipped (which I haven't read yet). This one was not written for Analysis Services 2005; however, the basic syntax of MDX has remained the same. If you are completely new to MDX and need a book to walk you through the basics of MDX then this book is decent. Nothing spectacular, but decent. It's easy to read and pretty fast to go through as well. Then again, you don't have much choice! If you are going to be doing a lot of MDX then like me you probably want to buy both books. One note, my copy of this book has several pages in the back that are almost completely white. It wasn't printed properly. As far as I know a new edition of this book is not coming anytime soon.

Buy it on Amazon

Book Review: Professional ASP.NET 2.0 by Bill Evjen

 Excellent Coverage of ASP.NET 2.0

In the classical Wrox Press approach this 1,000+ page volume covers a LOT of stuff. I approached this book as someone very familiar with 1.0 who just needed to get up-to-speed with 2.0. For that I whole-heartedly recommend it. I used this book for just-in-time learning I was architecting a new enterprise application and wanted to implement the ASP.NET 2.0 approach to master pages, themes and skins, roles and membership, site navigation, AJAX, and more. I found it easy to read each chapter on the particular technology and then put it in place in your own app. If you are completely new to ASP.NET, I probably wouldn't recommend this book to you. You will probably find that one of Jesse Liberty's books covers the learning curve at a better pace.

Buy it on Amazon

Book Review: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 New Features by Michael Otey

Great Overview of New Functionality

This book came out when SQL Server 2005 was still in Beta. Even though the product has already shipped, I would still recommend this book to anyone wanting a broad overview of the product suite. It covers what's new in the development and administration tools, T-SQL enhancements, and overviews of Notification Services, SQL Server Service Broker, XML Integration, Reporting Services, Integration Services, and Analysis Services. Even though it's a high-level perspective there are enough code snippets and technical details to keep it interesting. The author is Senior Technical Editor of SQL Server Magazine, and the book is excellently written.

Buy it on Amazon

tbs ROCKS!!!!

I just got back from the West End pub in West Little Rock. I caught the last hour or so of a band called tbs out of Russellville, Arkansas. tbs is the greatest, most kick-ass local band I've ever seen in the Little Rock area!!! They are really awesome. They were cranking out hits from Eric Clapton, AC/DC, U2, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, and more classic rock. I've found that most local bands can't sing and play at the same time, and generally, although they can usually play to some level of abstraction, certainly can't sing. tbs has it all covered. The bass guitarist covers the rock tunes and their lead guitarist does a great job on blues and Hendrix tunes. These guys can really rock. I felt bad for them though because their audience was very, very tiny. Apparently the West End crowd cleared out immediately after the Razorback basketball game earlier in the evening. Those people missed out though. If you ever get a chance to see these guys play don't pass it up. If anyone knows their show schedule please pass it along.