Geeky Storytelling https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/feed.xml Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:26:41 GMT en-US hourly 1 CES warm and fuzzy https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/ces-warm-and-fuzzy Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:12:18 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rdas/2010/01/07/ces-warm-and-fuzzy/ Finally getting around to watching the CES keynote…

From Gary Shapiro, Microsoft is a “national crown jewel” … makes me feel good about having a blue badge today. Nice pick me-up…

]]> Easy Tag Cloud https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/easy-tag-cloud Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:40:39 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rdas/2010/01/04/easy-tag-cloud/ Happy New Year!

Very busy, but I thought I would share…I needed a Tag Cloud control for some demo work I’m doing so off to my favorite search engine I went. Without disparaging the many results this one in particular was tres-simple (high on my criteria) Tag Cloud Filters with ASP.NET 3.5's LinqDataSource and ListView Controls. I’m not using the LinqDataSource but that was an easy fix.

From looking at the sample/demo to working in my demo ~5 minutes – mostly getting the CSS to look right with my theme.

]]> Back on the grid https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/back-on-the-grid Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:48:22 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rdas/2009/11/30/back-on-the-grid/ The family is moved, not moved in, just moved. So that’s the reason I’ve been way off the grid for so long. I have to say…moving is hard!! Last time I moved was 14 years ago and I’m quite amazed at the amount of “stuff” we’ve accumulated over the years.

Anyway, on the to important stuff:

  1. Visual Studio 2010 is great! I haven’t been using anything .NET 4.0 specific (yet) but I find myself more productive than with VS 2008. The new WPF based editor works great.
  2. The Comcast guys tried to tell me Windows 7 networking doesn’t work right! I handed them my business card and told them to tell that story to someone else…magically it started to work 20 minutes later.
  3. Living in a construction zone – I’m rehab’ing a house – isn’t that bad. The family is adapting nicely.
]]> Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 First Look https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/microsoft-visual-studio-2010-first-look Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:34:36 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rdas/2009/06/02/microsoft-visual-studio-2010-first-look/ If your a developer-type go check out Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 First Look. I just installed a VM with it and I have to say my first impressions are pretty good. Looking forward to trying some actual development with it.

]]> Xbox.com | Project Natal https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/xbox-com-project-natal Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:30:38 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rdas/2009/06/02/xbox-com-project-natal/ Absolutely can’t wait for this to hit the streets Xbox.com | Project Natal. I think this trumps the Wii, but to be honest, I think having something in your hand helps to play the game. Of course, I haven’t tried this yet and I have played the Wii with the nieces and nephews quite a bit.

]]> Live Search = Bing https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/live-search-bing Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:26:40 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rdas/2009/06/02/live-search-bing/ Well it seems the new Live Search is Bing. Internally at Microsoft, we’ve had it for sometime as is common with our “dogfooding” of new stuff. Personally, I haven’t had much interaction with it as I’m not on the corporate network that much. To be honest, I’ve been using Live Search as my default search engine for a couple of years – occasionally I will use that other search company as a sanity check, but I’ve needed less and less of these checks over time.

Still can’t get the family to go with Live Search/Bing, but I’m sure they’ll come around eventually.

]]> Windows 7 Beta Customer Preview Program https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/windows-7-beta-customer-preview-program Fri, 01 May 2009 10:57:53 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rdas/2009/05/01/windows-7-beta-customer-preview-program/ Keep an eye on the Windows 7 Beta Customer Preview Program site to download Windows 7 RC publicly on May 5th. As many tech sites have noted, installing the RC gives you Windows 7 for a year for free. Of course, the Windows team is hoping you’ll like it so much you will go ahead and pay for the upgrade anyway. If you believe the bashing around Vista and have stuck with WIndows XP, or if even if you have been satisfied with Vista … I’m pretty sure Windows 7 will exceed your expectations. Check it out!!

]]> Official Microsoft Team Blogs / Microsoft Blogs https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/official-microsoft-team-blogs-microsoft-blogs Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:25:01 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rdas/2009/04/23/official-microsoft-team-blogs-microsoft-blogs/ Check out BlogMS - Official Microsoft Team Blogs for a list of Microsoft Team Blogs, many of which I had no idea existed. 237 or them…wow!

]]> Internet Explorer 8 is Final https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/internet-explorer-8-is-final Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:58:59 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rdas/2009/03/19/internet-explorer-8-is-final/ Internet Explorer 8 Final Available Now. Here is an important snippet for me:

Anyone running Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server can get 32- and 64-bit versions now from https://www.microsoft.com/ie8. (Windows 7 users will receive an updated IE8 as part of the next Windows 7 milestone.)

I’m running Windows 7 on 2 machines, Vista 32-bit on 1 machine, and Vista 64-bit on 1 machine. I’m not even counting the VMs that I have.

Speaking of browsers…the one feature I really like on Chrome is the ability to “tear” a tab, part of the dynamic tabs feature,  to create a new window. I’ve been looking for this for a while – going back when I was using the Avant Browser before IE had tabbed browsing.

Skipping the browser stats for a while, I’m a little annoyed that I now have 3 browsers installed on one machine. I would never tolerate 3 Word Processors, or 3 spreadsheet apps – but somehow 3 browsers is ok. And to be quite honest…if you ignore the window chrome (pun intended) I really can’t tell the difference between them. For that matter, I have 3 browsers installed on my phone…that’s out of control! But then again…disk space is cheap.

]]> Bill Gates on mosquitoes and teachers https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/rdas/bill-gates-on-mosquitoes-and-teachers Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:37:35 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/rdas/2009/03/17/bill-gates-on-mosquitoes-and-teachers/ Also at TED, Bill Gates unplugged | Video on TED.com talking about the work his foundation is doing to fight malaria and to create great teachers. Next time I have a presentation to give, I’ll have to work out releasing mosquitoes as part of the “interactive” experience. ;)

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