This is nothing new but I created a bookmark for this a while back and was going through my .NET bookmarks (200+ of them) and came across this one.  This is actually pretty cool and I forgot all about it.  It lets you query a live database using LINQ, the implication of course that you are better at writing code than writing SQL queries, and most developers are much better at writing code than SQL queries.  Plus not all SQL is simple, so this will let you write those complex queries in a manner of seconds.

http://www.linqpad.net/

Oh did I forget to mention it has a killer interface?

So I have been exploring DI Frameworks lately (Dependency Injection), and there are a couple of solutions.  While I kind of like the metadata approach vs. the XML Configuration one there really isn't anything available yet.  You have ObjectBuilder, but its only a DI Framework, it doesn't include a DI Container so you are left to build your own container, which includes setting up all of your strategies, context, etc.  The CodePlex guys are apparently working on an ObjectBuilder v2 which they are trying to get vetted by the P&P team at Microsoft.

So the choices are:
Spring.NET
StructureMap
Castle Windsor Container

I have been evaluating these mostly because of a hobby project I am working on called VistaTune, I would like to use a DI Framework and the current changeset that is checked in is using Spring.NET but I am not happy with Spring.NET for a couple of reasons.  First there is no real way to control your dependency injection dynamically, its all configuration based.  Secondly there is no way to inject an instance into your container, for example during unit testing I would like to inject a mock to override the real instance that is mapped in the configuration.  Thirdly there is no DSL (Domain Specific Language), and appears to be no DSL planned for the future release.

Note: After posting this Jeremy D. Miller the developer of StructureMap updated me, the current version of StructureMap v2.0 already has DSL but the next version is being extended with even more.  See the comments section below, also visit his blog here for more information.

For those reasons, I am leaning towards using StuctureMap, which in current release has no DSL but next release will which is already in testing so its pretty much done.  It supports container injection, and it allows you to reset your injection so you can revert back to the original container before injection which is really cool.  It also supports interception, among other things that are out of the scope of my assessment.

So which DI Framework?  It is a difficult question to answer, and I really think it will be interesting to see what comes about from the current top runners at the moment.  I expect to see big things from Microsoft on ObjectBuilder, especially since they just released their PIAB (Policy Injection Application Block) which is their solution to an AOP (Aspect Oriented Programming) Framework.  I would personally rather see PIAB stay isolated by itself, I prefer small isolated Frameworks rather than huge bloated ones that you only want to use for a single thing. 

Well since I have started getting involved with writing gadgets I have been looking for a nice free javascript ide to use, and I finally found one.  It's called Aptana and while it has it's issues with Vista it is a great IDE, in fact I can't believe its free its so great.  I would highly recommend checking it out, however if you plan to use it with Vista there are a couple of things worth mentioning.

You can download it here: http://www.aptana.com

Installing

---

1. Right click the installer executable "Aptana_IDE_Setup.exe" and go to the compatibility tab.
2. Check "Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
3. Check "Disable desktop composition"
4. Check "Run this program as an administrator"

-OR-

1. Double click the installer but cancel the install.
2. Vista 'should' prompt you and ask if the program installed correctly, choose no and Vista will do the above for you but it doesn't always ask so this is kinda flaky.

Running

---

1. Right click the "Aptana" shortcut and select properties and go to the compatibility tab.
2. Check "Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
3. Check "Disable desktop composition"
4. Check "Run this program as an administrator"

Everything should work perfectly fine after you perform those actions and I have not noticed anything that has not worked properly.  It does use Java which it will install for you so just beware that it will be a tad bit slower than a native application, but its not very noticeable.

Been a while since I have updated this thing, still not sure why I even maintain it but I guess someone will use the information some day thats on this blog.  So anyways the old version of dasBlog I was using kept hanging so I had to upgrade to the new version.  It seems to be working again so everything fixed.

 

The Windows Live Messenger 8.1 Beta client has been released for download.  You can read more about it here, all I hope is that it doesnt freeze up anymore when you first launch it.  I always found that annoying with the Live Messenger, and it happens on every machine I have, heres a brief summary of the new features:

• Redesigned, smarter contact cards give you more data about and easier access to your friends
• Your display name, status and personalization roam with you to any computer
• Try PC-to-phone calling with two free calls to virtually any phone in the world*
• Better server performance
• Automatic updates
• Improved sign-in performance

So based on the last bullet I believe they fixed the sign in issue.  I am currently at work and havent downloaded it yet to test it but go give it a try.

I have been running Vista build 5600 for about 2 1/2 weeks now and while the performance is relatively good the reliability is not all that great.  While this is to be expected since most of the third party drivers are still in beta and the OS itself is a release candidate I wonder how Microsoft is going to pull off their release in about 2 months.

So far my gaming experience has been great, was able to play Half Life 2 and Episode 1 without a single hitch, well an occasional blue screen but that was after about 4 hours of gameplay usually.  In some instances my screen will get all corrupt and I will have to reboot but this is all really to be expected with all this new code they have written.

After reading Scott Hanslemans blog about this issue I decided to post my own thoughts and my own reliability screenshot.  Its interesting the downward trend that I have and scott has on his, quit interesting.  The tool itself is so cool it almost makes up for the unreliability graph it shows!

View Graph

Windows PowerShell RC1 (Previously Monad) has been released! I must admit I sorta like PowerShell better than Monad.  This however is more than a name update, this is RC1. Which is a step up from the previous version.  Hopefully this fixed a bunch of the issues I was having with the previous version, I was trying to convert all of my scripts I use at work to CmdLets and I kept getting an error and the documentation provided to fix the error was incorrect.  Ill check it out and see if its fixed, then I can get converting all my VBScripts to CmdLets - that's gonna be freaking awesome!  Plus the geek factor will make me cry and curl up in a ball! :)

You can download it here!

So Microsoft has delayed vista again?  That really does suck but if you read into the entire ordeal it really doesnt mean much to us the cosumers.  Why? Because we probably wouldnt be able to get ahold of it anyways, it goes to OEM sales first right?  After all they sale the most copies through OEM so us geeks wouldnt get to buy a standalone version of Vista Ultimate until sometime into 2007, probably say around February! We will see, I just cant wait to give it a try! Of course I am also one of the ones that said "Wait til they can put everything they want in Vista, dont cut ANYTHING out!  I want WinFS, Monad, EFI Support, etc." which I wish they did!

I feel like I am getting a "Ghetto" version if Windows Vista now, but I am still happy since it looks like one nice ass piece of technological wonder that are creating, some people dont realize that it alot of the features may "look" like OS X (Apple) but thats where it stops, it only looks like OS X.  What they are missing is that WinPF the new Graphics foundation layer is revolutionary, using Vector graphics so anything can scale to any size without ever pixelating or looking blurry!  In fact the new Alt-Tab where the windows are cascaded so you can browse through them has been said to be a copy of OS X, well if you notice OS X uses static images to do it, while Vista does it with the "Real" window so the video is still playing as you do it!

But anyways off of my rant!  Its a shame they are delaying! Darn! or SH#@!!!

 

Scott Hansleman is one of my favorite bloggers to read on a daily basis with great computer, technology, and programming info. He is supporting this cause and as an avid reader and having several family members lost to it I feel the need to support.  You can read more about this at his blog here.  I personally donated, donate now its worth the cause!

Link: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/teamhanselmananddiabeteswalk2006.aspx

 

With some more research I found a BitTorrent client which David Smith has been developing for a couple of months now in .NET 2.0 C# and using all of .NET's features, which is basically what I was doing but he is way ahead of me on this whole ordeal!

So in case you have stumbled on this page and are interesting in a working implementation of the BitTorrent client in .NET his is the way to go, and there is a snapshot of his subversion repository here.  I cant understand why this was so hard to find on the web, one would think this would be a huge project just like Azureus is wouldn't you?