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Showing posts from February, 2005

Eric explains branching

http://software.ericsink.com/scm/scm_branches.html Many devs use Source Off site or, sourcesafe for version control but it is often more for 'checkin/ checkout without learning more useful project management --in his most recent posts. Eric explains how branching can be used in growing projects.

Never forget an attachment again

http://blogs.msdn.com/kclemson/archive/2005/02/24/380110.aspx Always knew it was possible - read kc's post to find out how to avoid this embarassing event by using script in MS outlook. Now this should be a new feature in most mail systems...it has happened to almost everyone at some time

iPod Shuffle or something else?

I'm looking at getting a new USB-based MP3 player and was wondering if anyone knew: does the iPod shuffle use a regular headphone jack or is it completely closed off?   I know it comes with the earbuds but I have a Belkin FM Transmitter that I love to use and was wondering if the two can talk.   Anyone know?

WiFi for making friends

Looks like boys at Jambo are willing to do what conference organizers aren't (but should, if possible). Granted the logistics aren't always possible although I recently stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Winston-Salem and they had Wi-Fi on every floor. Face-to-Face: WiFi for making friends

What's New in 9: VFP Now Available

Henztenwerke has now published What's New in VFP 9. Great authors, great publisher - sure enough to be a must have. While many magazines and articles have gone through many of the key features - one of the best features with Henztenwerke books is the included / available ebook - making all of the content easily available! Hentzenwerke Moving from Windows to Linux

Apple - iPod shuffle - Regular headphone jack?

I'm looking at getting a new USB-based MP3 player and was wondering if anyone knew: does the iPod shuffle use a regular headphone jack or is it completely closed off? It looks normal but want to confirm. I know it comes with the earbuds but I have a Belkin FM Transmitter that I love to use and was wondering if the two can talk. Update: Thanks Ted for the note on the 3.5 mm earplug jack. Go figure that HP would stupidly use a proprietary item with their Ipaqs. Apple - iPod shuffle - Technical Specifications

Ayn Rand would have turned 100 this month

Just heard on radio - Ayn Rand would be turning 100 this month. As an author, certainly influenced me moreso than any other. If you've never read her work or heard of her, Atlas Shrugged was listed as the second most influential book of all time, right after the Bible. (From Anecodtage "Trivia: In 1998, the Modern Library asked readers to cast their votes for the best 20th Century English novels. All four of Rand's works made the top ten: Atlas Shrugged, #1; The Fountainhead, #2; Anthem, #7; and We the Living, #8. (In another Reader's Digest / Library of Congress survey, readers named Atlas Shrugged as the book which, second only to the Bible, had influenced them most.]" Her advocation of objectivism and true laissez-faire capitalism made her a target for many who described her ideas as impractical yet history is full of those who prove otherwise. I noticed that Halley was reading the Fountainhead for the first time. While Fountainhead and Atlas Shru

Curry: ASCAP gets a clue and Podcasts can play regular music!

Big news from podcast land. Adam Curry notes that an ASCAP beta license now permits podcasts to play commercial music provided that: - they don't pre-announce it - they don't list it in their notes (RSS, etc) - the song is less than 60 seconds OR you pay $250/yr for non-revenue generating podcasts (there's a schedule if you DO make money from the podcast) Of course, that and the fact that the word "pod-cast" appeared in the legal wording. And of course, Curry celebrated this by playing ___________ . (can't say who because that WOULD be in violation of the license) dailysourcecode.com

Google Maps

Scoble is right again - all kidding aside, Google Maps Rocks! I find their way of showing directions SUPER clear and I love the balloon over the location. The data seems a bit off though - I don't see any schools listed or that. That information is always useful. But it's definitely cool - now where's the Keyhole version ? (didn't they get bought by Google lately)? Google Maps

On the BlogMap

Scoble noted this yesterday but it's something that's been talked about for a while - a way to have a map that tells you where blogs are coming from. This is likely one of the first in a variety of ways for matching blogs and sites directly with physical locations. Adam Curry was talking about his soundscene tours and thinking how cool it would be to go to a place and be able to find all of the sound scenes for that particular location. Only problem with this? If you did on a place like Fry's or a tech store, it may have 100 blogs on it because of when people did individual posts. What would make Chandu's site even more cool would be if you could link an individual POST to a location. That way, when you're out on the road and make a post about a particular location, then it would show that location. So my link is apparently here: Now I'll have to see how that works. (update: no such luck - wonder what I'm missing) c s t h o t a . c

speed up firefox - What a difference

Originally heard this posted on the Daily Source code but then found the link since I wasn't able to update it while driving - what a difference. Very easy to do: In Firefox, put in about:config into the address bar. Then set Set “network.http.pipelining” to “true” Set “network.http.proxy.pipelining” to “true” and then set network.http.pipelining.maxrequests to a higher number than 4. It also notes that you should put in nglayout.initialpaint.delay and set it to 0. (this value is the amount of time Firefox waits before acting). It's a great performance increase. Try it. speed up firefox - hack a day - www.hackaday.com

Moonwatcher Adoption: RSS: Field Sales Use Case

Fascinating article on how RSS can be used in Field Sales. What's really interesting here is that this is exactly how I'm using RSS with the MTI online tracking system. MTI uses SofFront's Track system in-house but I build a little add-on system to it that makes issues available over the web. I recently added RSS feeds to it so I can get a steady stream of "new calls", "new updates", etc, etc. Charlie Wood hits this right on the spot with this great article. Moonwatcher Adoption: RSS: Field Sales Use Case

Sample code for creating Tasks in Outlook via VFP

As I mentioned in my last email about TaskLine , here's the code I used to create a task in Outlook: crlf = CHR(13)+CHR(10) lo = GETOBJECT(,"Outlook.application") loSpace = lo.GetNameSpace("MAPI") loTasks = loSpace.Folders("Mailbox").Folders("Tasks") loTask = loTasks.Items.add() loTask.subject = TRIM(synopsis) loTask.startdate = entdate loTask.categories = "Automatic Call" && This was done to categorize it faster lcBody = "ID: " +LTRIM(STR(callid))+crlf+"Customer: "+ custcode + crlf lcBody = lcBody + "Status: " +callstat + crlf lcBody = lcBody + "Type: " +calltype+ crlf lcBody = lcBody + "Severity: " +severity+ crlf lcBody = lcBody + "Contact : " +cntname+ crlf lcBody = lcBody + "Application: " +appname+ crlf lcBody = lcBody + TRIM(calldetl) + crlf lcBody = lcBody + TRIM(workdetl) + crlf IF NOT ISNULL(duedate) loTask.Du

TaskLine - Task Scheduling within Outlook

I found this tool on Slipstick and I just have to say "WOW!" Task Line is really awesome. We use an external call tracking system at one of my clients and I loaded them into Outlook as tasks (via Visual FoxPro - code in next post) and then let TaskLine arrange them. Now my entire schedule is all set in my Outlook Calendar for dealing with them! In the past, I've always kept away from using Outlook's tasks because I never scheduled them right - now I'm on top of it all. A real cool feature is that when you need to make changes, you hit it again and it removes their scheduled tasks and re-adjusts them automatically. For $49, well worth it. Taskline Task Management Software for Microsoft� Outlook�