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Mark Edwards - 25 Jun 2005 21:52 GMT

I finally decided to bite the bullet and moved one of my domains to
Brinkster, where I can build ASP.NET stuff for a minimal fee.
Primarily to showcase some of my work (which is not NEARLY as good as
Lori's, btw - [yet!] big grin).

The first example is a really boring example of some of the work I did
before I got laid off, but the second example is my personal web site,
which pretty much everyone has seen.

I just thought I'd just announce that I am working on a portfolio of
sorts at the new site:

http://professional-geek.com

Hugs and Purrs,
Mark

Reply to this Message

CatNipped - 25 Jun 2005 22:23 GMT

> I finally decided to bite the bullet and moved one of my domains to
> Brinkster, where I can build ASP.NET stuff for a minimal fee.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> http://professional-geek.com

*Very* nice, Mark. Are you using a SQL database for the TMS Report example
one?

I'm glad to know someone who also does ASP.NET - now I know who to call when
I need help! ;> I'm having a hard time trying to learn enough of Visual
Studio .NET in order to pass the MCSD, MCAD, and MCDBA certification tests
(which is a requirement of my new job) - I *HATE* the way MS unnecessarily
complicates things into incomprehensibility. Give me Dreamweaver *ANY* day
of the week. With DW I can throw up a 25 page site in the time it takes me
to do *ONE* page in VS .NET! All those webbots and server controls and
other junk is just that much more that can break a site! </rant>

Hugs,

CatNipped

> Hugs and Purrs,
> Mark

Reply to this Message

Mark Edwards - 25 Jun 2005 23:12 GMT

[snips]

"Mark Edwards" <Mark-Edwards@comcast.net> wrote:

>> I finally decided to bite the bullet and moved one of my domains to
>> Brinkster, where I can build ASP.NET stuff for a minimal fee.
>> Primarily to showcase some of my work (which is not NEARLY as good as
>> Lori's, btw - [yet!] big grin).
>>
>> http://professional-geek.com

No cluons were harmed when "CatNipped" <lcrews@houston.rr.com> said:

>*Very* nice, Mark. Are you using a SQL database for the TMS Report example
>one?

Not yet. I'm still trying to memorize the data connection / dataset /
data adaptor / command stuff. The example on my web site was designed
to use a plain text file, with a pipe-character as a field separator.
I'm going to set up a couple of databases and do something with that
as well. I have the options of MS Access, MySQL and MS SQL Server. I
think I'll start out with SQL Server.

>I'm glad to know someone who also does ASP.NET - now I know who to call when
>I need help! ;>

Anytime. I've been playing with C# and Visual Studio for some time,
and have been specifically getting serious about the 70-315 and 70-316
study materials since I've had all this spare time on my hands (big
grin). Being a perl weenie, I like C# a lot more than VB.

> I'm having a hard time trying to learn enough of Visual
>Studio .NET in order to pass the MCSD, MCAD, and MCDBA certification tests

I've never done anything with Dreamweaver, but I pretty much like
Visual Studio. It did take me awhile to get used to Intellisense
popping up all the time, but I've begun to work with it. The one thing
I really hate is how my carefully formatted ASP.NET code gets its
formatting mangled so that it's practically impossible to use later.

>(which is a requirement of my new job) - I *HATE* the way MS unnecessarily
>complicates things into incomprehensibility.

Amen, sister! One of the job sites I check out is the Microsoft site.
Have you ever looked at the titles? How the hell are you supposed to
guess what those jobs do? I want to find a simple programming job -
not a "Solutions Architect Evangelist" (or whatever)...

The bright side is that I'm a huge fan of Borland compilers, and the
chief architect of the Delphi language, Anders Heilsberg, is the chief
architect of the VS.NET stuff, so it's very familiar for me.

> Give me Dreamweaver *ANY* day of the week. With DW I can throw up
> a 25 page site in the time it takes me to do *ONE* page in VS .NET!
> All those webbots and server controls and other junk is just that
> much more that can break a site! </rant>

Also on the bright side, you *can* just type it in, instead of
dragging and dropping, then setting properties. Of course, that can
take time too. Personally, I often just fire up notepad and hand-code
the HTML, for the static stuff. I started out with vi (grin), way back
when.

As I mentioned, I'm willing to share any insights I might have with
you. I'm using the MCAD/MCSD cert books from QUE, by Kalani and
Gunderloy, and some training CDs from Transcender. I've got this huge
library of .NET books as well...

Hugs and Purrs,
Mark

Reply to this Message

CatNipped - 25 Jun 2005 23:26 GMT

> [snips]
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> as well. I have the options of MS Access, MySQL and MS SQL Server. I
> think I'll start out with SQL Server.

SQL is easiest IMHO. Access will drive you nuts because it will stay "open"
if you don't close the connection correctly and then break at the next
request (and sometimes does that even when you *DO* close the connection
correctly), and MySQL is primarily for use with UNIX or Apache servers. If
you need help with SQL queries, let me know - I've done that for so long now
I can do it in my sleep. And there are a few tips that can make your code
run faster and smoother (like linking tables *before* your "select" command
and specifiying fields instead of using the "*").

> >I'm glad to know someone who also does ASP.NET - now I know who to call when
> >I need help! ;>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> study materials since I've had all this spare time on my hands (big
> grin). Being a perl weenie, I like C# a lot more than VB.

My son learned VB first and is finding out that c# is *very* similar (I've
only been telling him that for forever). He's also intimidated by ASP .NET
and I keep trying to tell him it's the same as VB (except, to me, VBScript
is *easier*).

> > I'm having a hard time trying to learn enough of Visual
> >Studio .NET in order to pass the MCSD, MCAD, and MCDBA certification tests
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> I really hate is how my carefully formatted ASP.NET code gets its
> formatting mangled so that it's practically impossible to use later.

Yep. What tickles me pink is that Dreamweaver has a special command built
in expressly to *CLEAN UP* MS code - LOL!

> >(which is a requirement of my new job) - I *HATE* the way MS unnecessarily
> >complicates things into incomprehensibility.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> guess what those jobs do? I want to find a simple programming job -
> not a "Solutions Architect Evangelist" (or whatever)...

LOL!

> The bright side is that I'm a huge fan of Borland compilers, and the
> chief architect of the Delphi language, Anders Heilsberg, is the chief
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> the HTML, for the static stuff. I started out with vi (grin), way back
> when.

Yeah, whichever program I use I use it in "code" mode rather than "designer"
mode - which is using an expensive software package basically like a
glorified "Notepad".

> As I mentioned, I'm willing to share any insights I might have with
> you. I'm using the MCAD/MCSD cert books from QUE, by Kalani and
> Gunderloy, and some training CDs from Transcender. I've got this huge
> library of .NET books as well...

If you're studying for any MS certifications you might want to check out
http://www.staffkey.com/ they have *very* reasonably priced training. You
can get a year's access to all their courses for $149.

Hugs,

CatNipped

> Hugs and Purrs,
> Mark

Reply to this Message

Mark Edwards - 25 Jun 2005 23:58 GMT

No cluons were harmed when "CatNipped" <lcrews@houston.rr.com> said:

>SQL is easiest IMHO.

Yep. I've been working with SQL Server for the last four years, so I'm
very comfortable with it. Access is good in a pinch, but I never liked
being pinched (grin). I've spent time just playing with MySQL - it's
not too bad, and is usable with Windows.

>And there are a few tips that can make your code run faster and
>smoother (like linking tables *before* your "select" command
>and specifiying fields instead of using the "*").

Yes - it always irritated me at work when someone complained about a
sloooow query involving millions of rows, with two levels of
sub-selects, where they only needed specific fields, but selected them
all. I refer to that as the "Select * from * where * = *" syndrome
(evil grin). By "linking tables before the select statement", do you
mean defining primary-key / foreign-key relations? If not, this sounds
like a tip I could use.

>My son learned VB first and is finding out that c# is *very* similar (I've
>only been telling him that for forever). He's also intimidated by ASP .NET
>and I keep trying to tell him it's the same as VB (except, to me, VBScript
>is *easier*).

I always tell VB people "The semicolon is important" (grin).

>Yep. What tickles me pink is that Dreamweaver has a special command built
>in expressly to *CLEAN UP* MS code - LOL!

Oh, that is so cool. Burn on Microsoft (grin).

>Yeah, whichever program I use I use it in "code" mode rather than "designer"
>mode - which is using an expensive software package basically like a
>glorified "Notepad".

I had an interview a week or two ago, and I was talking about when I
first starting working with C# and .NET. When I first started out, I
didn't have Visual Studio, but I had some books, and the compilers are
free.

I mentioned to one of the interviewers that I started coding .NET with
vi, and he paused, got real quiet for about thirty seconds, and asked
"How in the world did you program .NET in vi?!?"

To which I replied, "Very slowly" (big grin). But I LIKE vi...

>If you're studying for any MS certifications you might want to check out
>http://www.staffkey.com/ they have *very* reasonably priced training. You
>can get a year's access to all their courses for $149.

I will certainly check *that* out. Thanks!

Hugs and Purrs,
Mark

Reply to this Message

CatNipped - 26 Jun 2005 00:28 GMT

> No cluons were harmed when "CatNipped" <lcrews@houston.rr.com> said:
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> mean defining primary-key / foreign-key relations? If not, this sounds
> like a tip I could use.

Yeah. Most people use a relational database without taking advantage of
foreign key relations. Although, before SQL 7.0 it didn't always work the
way it was supposed to.

> >My son learned VB first and is finding out that c# is *very* similar (I've
> >only been telling him that for forever). He's also intimidated by ASP .NET
> >and I keep trying to tell him it's the same as VB (except, to me, VBScript
> >is *easier*).
>
> I always tell VB people "The semicolon is important" (grin).

LOL - yeah, don't forget that semi-colon!

> >Yep. What tickles me pink is that Dreamweaver has a special command built
> >in expressly to *CLEAN UP* MS code - LOL!
>
> Oh, that is so cool. Burn on Microsoft (grin).

Yep. I operate on the KISS principle whenever I can. Why clutter up your
page with .vb includes and thousands of lines of code when you can do the
same thing in less than a hundred lines of code?!

> >Yeah, whichever program I use I use it in "code" mode rather than "designer"
> >mode - which is using an expensive software package basically like a
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> To which I replied, "Very slowly" (big grin). But I LIKE vi...

Oh gawd, that takes me back. vi is like the T-Rex of text editors! I
*used* to be a UNIX geek and used vi like a million years ago (that almost
dates me as badly as when I mention that I started out in IT as a key-punch
operator! LOL

> >If you're studying for any MS certifications you might want to check out
> >http://www.staffkey.com/ they have *very* reasonably priced training. You
> >can get a year's access to all their courses for $149.
>
> I will certainly check *that* out. Thanks!

It doesn't made remembering whether CLS stands for Common Language Software,
Common Language Systems, or Common Language Sh*t any easier, but at least
it's cheap! ;>

Hugs,

CatNipped

> Hugs and Purrs,
> Mark

Reply to this Message

Mark Edwards - 26 Jun 2005 00:46 GMT

[snips]

No cluons were harmed when "CatNipped" <lcrews@houston.rr.com> said:

>Oh gawd, that takes me back. vi is like the T-Rex of text editors! I
>*used* to be a UNIX geek and used vi like a million years ago (that almost
>dates me as badly as when I mention that I started out in IT as a key-punch
>operator! LOL

Aaaaaaaagggghhhhhh! Run away! Run away! I started out key-punching
Fortran, a million years ago, when batch-processing was still all the
rage, paper tape was a viable storage medium, and "interactive
terminals" were a gleam in a computer scientist's eyes.

>If you're studying for any MS certifications you might want to check out
>http://www.staffkey.com/ they have *very* reasonably priced training.

I can't get a connection to this web site (well, it "could not be
found". And it sounds VERY tempting. Is that the correct URL?

>It doesn't made remembering whether CLS stands for Common Language Software,
>Common Language Systems, or Common Language Sh*t any easier, but at least
>it's cheap! ;>

Common Language Runtime (grin). Or was it Cholera, Listeria and
Rubella (evil grin)?

Hugs and Purrs,
Mark

Reply to this Message

CatNipped - 26 Jun 2005 00:54 GMT

> [snips]
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> I can't get a connection to this web site (well, it "could not be
> found". And it sounds VERY tempting. Is that the correct URL?

Sorry, that should have been StaffKIT, not staffkey. Here, I went there and
copied the URL: http://www.staffkit.com/

> >It doesn't made remembering whether CLS stands for Common Language Software,
> >Common Language Systems, or Common Language Sh*t any easier, but at least
> >it's cheap! ;>
>
> Common Language Runtime (grin). Or was it Cholera, Listeria and
> Rubella (evil grin)?

It's questions like that that terrifies me about taking the certification
tests. I never did well with "rote" learning, I alsys did best when given a
problem that I could use logic to solve. Unfortunately, MS feels it's more
important to learn TLAs than it is to learn how to write a code that works
100% of the time!

Hugs,

CatNipped

> Hugs and Purrs,
> Mark

Reply to this Message

Mark Edwards - 26 Jun 2005 01:20 GMT

[snips]

No cluons were harmed when "CatNipped" <lcrews@houston.rr.com> said:

>Sorry, that should have been StaffKIT, not staffkey. Here, I went there and
>copied the URL: http://www.staffkit.com/

Ah. That works. Now I have something to read while eating my fajitas
(YUM!).

>It's questions like that that terrifies me about taking the certification
>tests. I never did well with "rote" learning, I alsys did best when given a
>problem that I could use logic to solve. Unfortunately, MS feels it's more
>important to learn TLAs than it is to learn how to write a code that works
>100% of the time!

Not to mention, the XTLA's - the Extended Three Letter Acronyms (big,
evil grin).

Hugs and Purrs,
Mark

Reply to this Message

Howard C. Berkowitz - 28 Jun 2005 22:55 GMT

> [snips]
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> >key-punch
> >operator! LOL

vi? not TECO? DDT? SUPERZAP?

> Aaaaaaaagggghhhhhh! Run away! Run away! I started out key-punching
> Fortran, a million years ago, when batch-processing was still all the
> rage, paper tape was a viable storage medium, and "interactive
> terminals" were a gleam in a computer scientist's eyes.

But, speaking of cluons, let me share one of the favorite curses among
the North American Network Operators' Group, the Internet engineering
community:

"You don't have a clue. Further, you couldn't get a clue if you
smeared your naked body with clue musk, flung yourself into a
field of horny clues, and did the clue mating dance."

Reply to this Message

CatNipped - 28 Jun 2005 22:57 GMT

> > [snips]
> >
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> smeared your naked body with clue musk, flung yourself into a
> field of horny clues, and did the clue mating dance."

ROTFLMAO! I love it, may I use it on some people I know who really don't
have a clue???!

Hugs,

CatNipped

Reply to this Message

Adrian - 28 Jun 2005 23:08 GMT

>> [snips]
>>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> smeared your naked body with clue musk, flung yourself into a
> field of horny clues, and did the clue mating dance."

ROTFL

Signature

Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
A house is not a home, without a cat.

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yepp - 28 Jun 2005 23:23 GMT

> I finally decided to bite the bullet and moved one of my domains to
> Brinkster, where I can build ASP.NET stuff for a minimal fee.
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> Hugs and Purrs,
> Mark

Be careful of Brinkster. I had a "free" website with tons of graphics,
animations, etc. and I got a message from the staff that I had too much
traffic and they shut it down in 2 hours. Totally wiped out
everything. No notice, prior warning or anything.

You are paying, so hope you have better luck. You may be on the better
server too.

Reply to this Message

Mark Edwards - 29 Jun 2005 16:26 GMT

[snips]

>Be careful of Brinkster. I had a "free" website with tons of
>graphics,
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>better
>server too.

Yep, you get significantly better bandwidth allowances with a paid
account.

Hugs and Purrs,
Mark

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