Site Sections
Posts
295
Comments
27
Trackbacks
206
June 2005 Entries
Writing Tools
I meant to mention this ages ago, but completely forgot. A useful set of tips for writers of all sorts. I'm about half way through and while I can't say I'll remember them all, maybe a few will stick.
[Listening to: Election Night - Bic Runga - Beautiful Collision [UK]]
posted @ Wednesday, June 22, 2005 4:45 PM | Feedback (3)
MirrorMask
The new MirrorMask trailer is available and I have to say it looks fine. Neil Gaiman's imaginative and thought provoking storytelling with Dave Mackean's artwork. A great combination and a real visual treat. Neil has also just finished a script for Beouwulf, a saga of which I'm rather fond, so I'm hoping the film will do the script justice.
[Listening to: Hillbilly Vamp - Steve Hawkins - RMMGA 2000 Disc 4]
posted @ Wednesday, June 15, 2005 9:00 AM | Feedback (3)
Taking to the skies

Woo hoo. WeFly is shipping. Well, I've got my copies, but then I was part of the team so I'm probably slightly ahead of the game. Keep an eye on Learn247 for how to get hold of a DVD with a great .NET 2.0 sample application and presentations.There is some exceedingly cool stuff to see.
[Listening to: Far Away - Chantal Kreviazuk - Colour Moving and Still [US]]
posted @ Monday, June 13, 2005 3:15 PM | Feedback (1)
Do You Dare?
Despite the fact that I spend most of my time in the disconnected world of Web sites, I'm a strong believer in connected systems and wish I had more time to develop with them. Microsoft have a new competition for connected systems that has some exceedingly good prizes. Well worth entering.
[Listening to: Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) - Janis Joplin - I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!]
posted @ Friday, June 10, 2005 1:01 PM | Feedback (1)
Fast?
This is astonishing. 50.2 seconds was my record, in the late 70s. I still have my cube from back then, although I'm not sure where it is. And one handled, while juggling in the other, no way.
[Listening to: T. L. C. (Tender Lovin' Care) - MFSB - Love Is the Message: The Best of MFSB]
posted @ Tuesday, June 07, 2005 11:50 AM | Feedback (2)
ASP.NET and Styling
James replies to my post about CSS and ASP.NET server controls. If course this is a dichotomy, and maybe there isn't really a solution. If you want a fully CSS based site (or a majority of the styling through CSS) then you have to know what you are rendering. The adaptive controls are great, but they abstract you away from the rendered content, which is for many people perfectly acceptable. Does theming address this issue? I don't think it does. Themes define properties for server controls, either using attributes or using CssClass - and then we're back in the same situation. Using properties is probably the simplest way, but I find it makes the pages hard to read, and leaves little room for advanced styling. I think the real problem is the issue of whether you want to use CSS styling or not. I do, but there are also problems with that approach, the chief one being data entry forms. for example, how do you produce a liquid data entry form, with labels to the left and entry fields to the right, in CSS? I want the labels to line up and the text entry fields to line up, as if they were in columns. You can put the labels in a div and float it left, but that doesn't sit right with me somehow. You can try using the table styling, although this also has problems, as well as producing interesting cross-browser issues. At the moment I'm using the label control for the actual labels, and styling that with a width fixed in ems. It provides support for user text sizes, but again isn't a perfect solution. The best solution is still tables, which I'm trying to move away from for styling. I'm not sure there is a good solution to this and I think if you want advanced styling features you might have to compromise on the flexibility of the server controls.
[Listening to: Lullabye - Po' Girl - Po' Girl]
posted @ Thursday, June 02, 2005 12:55 PM | Feedback (2)
CSS Woes
There are still too many CSS issues with ASP.NET 2.0; the designer goes loopy occasionally when you have a completely CSS based layout,and the controls also exhibit weirdness. For example, why, when I add a CssClass to an asp:CheckBox, does it wrap the checkbox within a span? Maybe there's some esoteric reason for this, but when pondering why my CSS isn't being applied I have to View Source to find out what the heck is going on. It's a task I should have to do. Becuse of this I've started using server based HTML controls in certain cases, just so I can guarantee what the HTML will be. One thing that needs to happen is for this sort of thing to be documented. I'm going to raise a bug about this as it just annoys me. It's not the fact it does it (well, it is partly), but that fact that there seems to be no sense as to why and certainly no explanation.
[Listening to: In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning - Ed Thigpen - The Trio [Verve]]
posted @ Wednesday, June 01, 2005 8:12 PM | Feedback (3)
Installation Insanity
Since I'm just about to hop into a LiveMeeting I updated the windows based console, and the installation dialog is, well, let's just say lame. The progress bar has no real information and cycled through 5 times. In heavens name how is that good UI? I have no idea of how many stages there are, or what it's doing through each stage. Dumb, really dumb.
[Listening to: In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning - Ed Thigpen - The Trio [Verve]]
posted @ Wednesday, June 01, 2005 7:37 PM | Feedback (2)
Article Categories
Archives
Post Categories
Image Galleries
blogroll