June 2005 Entries
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]]
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]
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]]
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!]
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]
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...
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...
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]]