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March 2007 - Posts

Friday, March 30, 2007 7:02 AM

Brain Teaser: Find a Pattern in This Sequence of Numbers

1 1 0 6 3 2 2 2 8 2 4 8 4 1 7 8 2 2 9 6 1 5 0 2 8 6 6 4 1 6 3 5 8 6 5 2 1 4 3 5 6 2 0 8 3 4 1 9 4 6 The answer is here …
Posted by irenak | 5 Comments
Friday, March 30, 2007 7:01 AM

SYSK 318: Registry Key That Controls Device Driver and System Code Pagination to Disk

Did you know that there is a registry key that specifies whether kernel-mode drivers and kernel-mode system code can be paged to disk when not in use? The key is DisablePagingExecutive (REG_DWORD) located in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Thursday, March 29, 2007 5:21 AM

Words of Wisdom: On the Importance of Self-Confidence and Optimistic Perspective

T. Harv Eker said in his book ‘Secrets of the Millionaire Mind’: Rich people see opportunities. Poor people see obstacles. Rich people see potential growth. Poor people see potential loss. Rich people focus on the rewards. Poor focus on the risks. So,
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Thursday, March 29, 2007 5:13 AM

SYSK 317: Business Event Notifications: SQL Notification Services or BizTalk Messaging?

Yesterday, I gave a presentation suggesting that instead of choosing one or the other technology, consider leveraging the strength of each. For example, you could use SSNS for atomic notifications that don’t require complex business rule processing (examples
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 5:07 AM

:) Which cat can snatch an eagle from the air?

The Caracal , the largest African lesser cat, resembles a cross between a leopard and a lynx. It is an exceptional climber and jumper and hunts birds, antelope, mice and lizards. It can put on a burst of speed to overtake a racing antelope, and can also
Posted by irenak | 2 Comments
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 5:06 AM

SYSK 316: What Are Domain Specific Languages (DSL)?

To quote Martin Danner, domain specific language is a “…small, highly-focused language for solving a clearly identifiable problem. It’s all about abstraction.” One of the main goals of a DSL is to automate mundane parts of the development process. DSLs
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 5:13 AM

:) Why do grasshoppers sit on the edge of a leaf?

Grasshoppers have strong chewing mouthparts which bite from side to side. By sitting along the leaf edge, the grasshopper is out of the way of its chomping jaws. Source: Questions & Answers about the Natural World. ISBN 1-40541-682-3.
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 5:12 AM

SYSK 315: Generic Functions for Object ↔ XML Serialization/Deserialization

There are many reasons for custom serialization of an object into a human readable string (e.g. XML). If you find yourself recreating the serialization/deserialization code every few weeks, perhaps, it’s time to save off the functions below into a class
Posted by irenak | 3 Comments
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Monday, March 26, 2007 6:49 AM

Words of Wisdom on Happiness

“Happiness comes when you least expect it, and rarely when you try to make it happen. All we need to do is notice it…” Source: For women who do too much 2007 calendar
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Monday, March 26, 2007 6:43 AM

SYSK 314: How Secure Is Windows?

Well, judge for yourself… I have charted the data from the article written by Andy Partizio, “Surprise, Microsoft Listed as Most Secure OS” referencing the period of July 1 st and December 31 st : To read the original articles, visit http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3667201
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Friday, March 23, 2007 6:51 AM

Knowledge is Power: Do You or Your Kids Drink Kool-Aid or Consume Other Artificially Colored Foods? Then read this…

Did you know that a Kool-Aid can be used as a fabric or yarn dye? I’m not kidding… Here is a quote from “Nice Tips” category in Stitch ‘N Bitch 2007 calendar: “… you can dye your own animal fibers with Kool-Aid. Mix one packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid
Posted by irenak | 2 Comments
Friday, March 23, 2007 6:50 AM

SYSK 313: Search Engine Ranking Rules

If you’re interested in how search engines rank web pages, read these four articles: · “SSW Rules to Better Google Rankings” -- http://www.ssw.com.au/SSW/Standards/Rules/RulesToBetterGoogleRankings.aspx · “How URLs Can Affect Top Search Engine Rankings”
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Thursday, March 22, 2007 6:04 AM

:) What Arctic animal has two fur coats?

Answer: The stoat is a type of weasel whose camouflage varies with the seasons. In summer, its brown fur blends in with the rocky landscape. In autumn, it sheds its summer fur, and grows a new, thick coat of pure-white hairs. In its winter coat, the stoat
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Thursday, March 22, 2007 6:03 AM

SYSK 312: Why You Should Not Change SQL Server Service Account Using Services Management Console

The SQL Server documentation states that it’s strongly recommended to use SQL Server Configuration Manager and not Control Panel\Administrative Tools\Services (services.msc) when changing SQL Server or SQL Server Agent service account. The question is
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
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Wednesday, March 21, 2007 6:56 AM

:) What Is the First Musical Instrument Played Without Being Touched?

The answer is – theremin. Invented by Russian Léon Theremin in 1919, it consists of two radio frequency oscillators and two metal loop antennas. The electric signals from the theremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker. The theremin is widely associated
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Wednesday, March 21, 2007 6:55 AM

SYSK 311: Free Grid Control for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) From Xceed Software Inc.

Yes, it appears that Xceed Software Inc. is making available for download their WPF grid control free of charge. The “gotcha” is that you have to register with your real name and valid work email address. Check it out at http://xceed.com/Grid_WPF_Intro.html
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Tuesday, March 20, 2007 5:04 AM

:) Wise Reminder for Those of Us Working Long Hours

“The mind can absorb no more than the seat can endure”, -- Janet Trasli. The moral: pushing through may be less productive than taking a break. Source: “For Women Who Do Too Much Calendar 2007” by Workman Publishing.
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Tuesday, March 20, 2007 5:02 AM

SYSK 310: The Difference Between setInterval and setTimeout

In JavaScript, you have two options to execute a specific function in the future, i.e. after a specified time interval: window.setInterval and window.setTimeout Both functions have similar signatures, e.g.: var timeout = window.setTimeout("javascript
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Monday, March 19, 2007 6:32 AM

:) Start Your Day with a Smile

Two women are talking to each other… One asks – “Are you taking a vacation this year?” “I already took one -- last Sunday”, responds the other… Source: “For Women Who Do Too Much Calendar 2007” by Workman Publishing.
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Monday, March 19, 2007 6:31 AM

SYSK 309: How To Cancel a Web Service Request

AJAX makes asynchronous invocation of web service methods very easy. For example, the line below instantiates a web service proxy (MyService) and calls a method (MethodX): var request = new MyService().MethodX(param1, param2, OnRequestComplete, OnError);
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Friday, March 16, 2007 6:57 AM

:) How can you tell a seal from a sea lion?

Answer: Here are some of the differences: - Sea lions have small ear flaps, whereas seals have only ear opening - Sea lions can bring their back flippers under the body to help them move on land; seals cannot do this – they simply drag themselves along.
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Friday, March 16, 2007 6:56 AM

SYSK 308: How to Add a Node at Runtime to XmlDataProvider

XmlDataProvider is great for data binding xml data. But I’m yet to come across an example on how to on-the-fly add a node to a data source represented by an XmlDataProvider instance (e.g. if you use a grid control allowing a user to add a new row). Below
Posted by irenak | 5 Comments
Thursday, March 15, 2007 7:37 AM

Brain Teaser: What does Hijklmno mean?

Answer: H 2 O
Posted by irenak | 2 Comments
Thursday, March 15, 2007 7:18 AM

SYSK 307: What Does X Indicate in MSDN Documentation?

Once upon a time there were icons to indicate a public method , a protected method , a static member … you get the picture. A few years ago we were introduced to the new symbol , which indicates support for .NET compact framework. Relatively recently,
Posted by irenak | 3 Comments
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 5:04 AM

Knowledge is Power: How Much Should You be Making?

Damon Darlin’s article published earlier this month in Union Tribune, a San Diego local newspaper, compared employees entering salary negations as holding “pea shooters while the boss in encased in a Kevlar vest”. Many employers purchase compensation
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 5:02 AM

SYSK 306: Do You Have These Tools in Your Arsenal?

For several years I’ve been a happy user of ‘Search and Replace’ tool by Funduc Software , Inc. The other day I decided to check their web site to see what kind of other goodies they offer, and they have quite a few now -- some are shareware (very reasonably
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 5:11 AM

:) How deep do seals dive?

Answer: The Weddell seal of Antarctic waters is one of the deepest-diving seals. It can dive to depths of more than 1,968 feet (600 meters) in search of food. When it dives, blood flow is cut off to all but essential organs such as the heart. Source:
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 5:04 AM

SYSK 305: What is a MITM attack?

MITM stands for man-in-the-middle… A MITM attack is where an attacker is able to read, insert and modify messages between two parties without either party knowing that the link between them has been compromised. For following picture from http://www.arcot.com/mitm/index.html
Posted by irenak | 3 Comments
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Monday, March 12, 2007 5:04 AM

:) The origin of word “sweater”

Did you know that before they were “sweaters” they were “ganseys”, “pullovers”, “jumpers” and “jerseys”? The term “sweater” became part of our language after this clothing item became part of athletes’ wear. Working out in wool was bound to bring in a
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Monday, March 12, 2007 5:03 AM

SYSK 304: How to detect and handle form-based authentication timeout during ASP.NET script callback

First thing first – if you’re not familiar with ASP.NET script callbacks, make sure to check out http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms178208.aspx . Now, what happens if the authentication token times out right before the client makes an asynchronous
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
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Friday, March 09, 2007 6:01 AM

Knowledge Is Power: Hospital infections are the 8th leading cause of death

Did you know that about 5% of people who go into a U.S. hospital pick up something extra -- an infection. That results in about 2 million patients who get a hospital-acquired infection every year. And about 90,000 Americans die every year from infections.
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Friday, March 09, 2007 6:00 AM

SYSK 303: Troubleshooting Connectivity Issues

Did you know that you can use a utility called pathping to get information network latency and network loss at intermediate hops between a source and destination? Pathping works by sending multiple ‘echo request’ messages to each router between a source
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Thursday, March 08, 2007 5:48 AM

Knowledge Is Power: Extreme Probate Fees You Should Know About

Did you know that in many states, attorney’s probate fees could be whatever a court approves as “reasonable”? And in 1997 U.S. Tax Court in New York allowed an attorney’s probate fee of $1,600 per hour for a total of $368,100, declaring that the fee “was
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Thursday, March 08, 2007 5:30 AM

SYSK 302: Code Sample for Bringing Detailed Data Row into View and “Blinking” To Get User’s Attention

Visualize this: you have a scrollable window with lots of data in a table or list format (say, a year worth of data) and you have another control that gives a 1000-foot level view of data (e.g. a yearly calendar control that uses color to indicate whether
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
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Wednesday, March 07, 2007 7:13 AM

:) What is an autodidact?

Answer: Autodidact (pronounced ô'tō-dī'dākt') is usually referred to someone who is self-taught. The Greek for self-taught is autodidaktos , which is derived from didaktos (taught). Sources: The 365 amazing trivia facts calendar for 2007 and http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/autodidac
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Wednesday, March 07, 2007 7:11 AM

SYSK 301: Sets a color at a given indexed location as transparent using Microsoft Office

The other day I needed to change a background of a .gif image from white to transparent. Since I didn’t have any image creation software that would do the job installed on my computer, I had to be creative… Recalling from my C++ days the SetTransparentColor
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Tuesday, March 06, 2007 5:12 AM

SYSK 1 – 300

For those of you who would like to revisit certain topics, and for those of you who started reading this blog recently, below are the links for posts 1 through 300: Welcome to the "AppDev: Something You Should Know" blog SYSK (Something You Should Know)
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Monday, March 05, 2007 5:04 AM

SYSK 300: Why TABLESAMPLE Is Not Returning Specified Number of Rows

One of the new features in SQL 2005 is the clause that allows you to get a random set of rows. The syntax supports specifying either a percentage or a number of rows to return: TABLESAMPLE [SYSTEM] (sample_number [ PERCENT | ROWS ] ) [ REPEATABLE (repeat_seed)
Posted by irenak | 2 Comments
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Monday, March 05, 2007 5:04 AM

:) Which U.S. state was the first to impose a sales tax?

Answer: West Virginia, in July 1921. Source: The 365 amazing trivia facts calendar for 2007
Posted by irenak | 1 Comments
Friday, March 02, 2007 5:14 AM

:) How many bones are in a giraffe’s neck?

Answer: A giraffe has only seven bones in its neck, just like other mammals, including humans. But the giraffe’s next bones are much longer than those of other animals, and have more flexible joints between them. Source: Biggest Ever Book of Questions
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Friday, March 02, 2007 5:12 AM

SYSK 299: WinForms controls and COM support – an interesting fact…

Did you know that a large number of WinForms (.NET managed) controls are marked with ClassInterface(ClassInterfaceType.AutoDispatch) attribute and are COM visible? Examples include CheckBox, ComboBox, DataGrid, Button, CheckedListBox, ContextMenuStrip,
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Thursday, March 01, 2007 5:17 AM

:) Why is the Sun red at sunrise and sunset?

Answer: Because at sunrise and sunset, the Sun’s rays have to travel a long distance through dense lower layers of the atmosphere to reach us; the particles in the air absorb and reflect away from use bluer wavelengths, leaving only the red ones for us
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
Thursday, March 01, 2007 5:16 AM

SYSK 298: WPF: Control Whether a Grid’s Cell Is Editable in XAML

Say, you’re using a grid control to display some data, and you’re allowing users to modify data under certain circumstances. Based on a business rule, you’d like to “lock” a certain record (i.e. make it read-only). If you’re using data binding it’s quite
Posted by irenak | 0 Comments
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