If you're involved in developing web sites or Web Applications in any way, then it's a good idea to get the IE Developer Toolbar. You get quite a lot of information on a page you browse. Here's a screen-shot. There are a lot of great tools & features hidden in those menu items, like the ruler under the Tools menu (see image below). This allows you to actually see measurements of stuff on your screen, like this: This is definitely a good tool to use. I'll be exploring it more as time goes on....

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Nikhil Kothari makes some good observations regarding the spectrum of technologies available to developers in his blog "Ajax vs. Silverlight and .NET". He places the different technologies (& their popular combinations) on an axis that has Broader Reach on one end (meaning that they target browsers without much demand for specific client-side software other than what the browser itself has) and Greater Capabilities on the other (where these capabilities are supported by more client-side software beyond &/or integrated into the browser). Overall, it's a great intro to where the technologies fit on the spectrum. Thanks Nikhil!

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[DRAFT - I'll update this to a more complete list later; I just wanted to get it started for now...] If you're just starting out with Windows Live Writer (also known as WLW), you might want to check out these articles/blogs: Five Things to do After Starting Windows Live Writer - The name says it all! Automatic Server Pinging - While mentioned in the "Five things..." article above, this blog gives a bit more info on what the Server Pinging is all about.

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Wonderful article as to why patterns are so important to know for software developers. The analogy to carpentry is perfect, and has now become my best argument for teaching this stuff in our 2-year diploma at CST. Here's the analogy: Imagine two carpenters talking; they are discussing the type of joint to use for a set of drawers they are making. One asks: “What sort of joint are you going to make for the drawer?” And the other replies: “I’ll take the wood, cut down about 2 centimetres; cut back up at a forty-five degree angle; cut down 4 centimetres then back up at forty-five degrees; then down again and up at forty-five degrees; then...” What the second carpenter is discussing is how to cut a dovetail joint, a standard type of joint in woodworking. Describing the joint in this way does not aid communication; in fact it hinders communication. If the second carpenter said “I’m going to use a dovetail joint” or “I’m going to use a mortise and tenon joint” that communicates far more information in far fewer words. In the second case the carpenters are describing common joints and can make a decision based on their understanding of the joints, such as the cost versus complexity of each joint; the strength of each joint; and the suitability of each joint to the job. This is where patterns come into play in software development. If a developer can say “I’m using the Strategy pattern” or “I’m using the Factory Method pattern”, this conveys lots of meaning to another developer who understands the patterns and how they are used. Take the time to read the full article (see link below). And while you're at it, check out the book Head First Design Patterns by O'Reilly. Head First Design Patterns (Head First) by Elisabeth Freeman, Eric Freeman, Bert Bates, Kathy Sierra Read more about this book... Why Patterns - Developer Fusion - Visual Basic, C# Programming, ASP.NET, .NET Framework and Java Tutorials Technorati Tags: Design Patterns

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I've been working on a provider for metaPost, which is a DotNetNuke module that allows publishing content to a DNN portal via tools like Windows Live Writer. With metaPost, you can publish to the Blog module, Ventrian's News Articles, regular text/html modules, and the FAQ module. The provider I'm working on is for the Announcements module, and I hope to have that done in a few weeks. You can read more about my progress in the blog for the Announcements module. Technorati Tags: DotNetNuke

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