I should have known. I was at an important client meeting yesterday, and we got into a discussion over what was there and not there in a two sets of text files.  The first set was given to me perhaps a couple of months ago, and contained way more data than I needed, as well as duplicates.  The other set of files was given to me within...

I have an acquaintance who has done me some favors at a client site who figured I would have some insight into where to get an XBox for Christmas (this is for her brother's son, the brother who was the only one of 6 siblings who helped her when their mother was ill recently).  Sadly, I am really clueless about xbox in particular and games...

I have an acquaintance who has done me some favors at a client site who figured I would have some insight into where to get an XBox for Christmas (this is for her brother's son, the brother who was the only one of 6 siblings who helped her when their mother was ill recently).  Sadly, I am really clueless about xbox in particular and games...

Windows System Programming, 3rd Edition by Johnson M. Hart is the sort of book that you might not need, but if you do need it, you need it bad.  It is a C++ oriented book that goes into the details of all the Win32 details that you might ever need.  It covers things like Thread Synchronization, Memory Mapped Files, Exception Handling,...

Windows System Programming, 3rd Edition by Johnson M. Hart is the sort of book that you might not need, but if you do need it, you need it bad.  It is a C++ oriented book that goes into the details of all the Win32 details that you might ever need.  It covers things like Thread Synchronization, Memory Mapped Files, Exception Handling,...

So, you have heard the expression "Stop and smell the roses" I am sure.  Sometimes there are not roses, as in a recent trip I took to Hawaii.  But the below sufficed:   I have been working pretty much better than full time for the last 5 or 10 years, especially over the last three years, as a consultant and generally billing 40+...

So, you have heard the expression "Stop and smell the roses" I am sure.  Sometimes there are not roses, as in a recent trip I took to Hawaii.  But the below sufficed:   I have been working pretty much better than full time for the last 5 or 10 years, especially over the last three years, as a consultant and generally billing 40+...

So, I have been using a new install of Windows - Windows Arthritis seems to have killed off my last Windows instance - it simply stopped connecting to the LAN, though Internet connectivity worked just fine.  I generally start out with all the defaults when I install stuff, and in general that works well. In this case, when I installed...

So, I have been using a new install of Windows - Windows Arthritis seems to have killed off my last Windows instance - it simply stopped connecting to the LAN, though Internet connectivity worked just fine.  I generally start out with all the defaults when I install stuff, and in general that works well. In this case, when I installed...

Just published online here, my article on how to check out your users reactions to your program. The key is that you, as a developer and likely a little geeky, are not the best one to judge the usability of your program.

I have an application (originally a Windows Service, now testing with a Console mode application). The program works perfectly on my home network.  On the site where it needs to be deployed, the problem is this: The connection works perfectly, yet when I do a DataAdapter.Fill() or Command.ExecuteReader(), it never returns, and...

I have an application (originally a Windows Service, now testing with a Console mode application). The program works perfectly on my home network.  On the site where it needs to be deployed, the problem is this: The connection works perfectly, yet when I do a DataAdapter.Fill() or Command.ExecuteReader(), it never returns, and...

I have 5 GMail invitations...First-come, First-served.  UPDATE: All gone...

I have 5 GMail invitations...First-come, First-served.  UPDATE: All gone...

This really is technology related, even though it is also about the election and politics.  Fox News reports on a video showing a monkey hacking a Diebold vote tabulating machine. OK, so the monkey has to actually get to the vote tabulating machine, but inside the article has somewhat more disturbing news about the GEMS program that...