I have implemented some cool page transition effects. These tags eliminate the flashing when the page loads (when you click on a link etc). Thanks to Nikhil for giving this excellent piece of code.

<meta http-equiv="Page-Exit"
    content="progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Fade(duration=.5)" />

10/10/2006 2:06:40 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

Yahoo is warming up to .Net programmers. Now any one can access yahoo resources through their API's upon authetication through a browser. This is an awesome move in so many ways. this would help the users in accessing all their resources at yahoo,etc(standalone or through API's)  through a common single application. Talking about single point access, Netvibes and pageflakes are creating a lot of buzz these days.

10/9/2006 5:10:12 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

Often times as a developer we all need to insert new records into a table in a database and also retrieve the identity id of the most recently added row. The most common solution to this situation is use @@Identity. Simple eh? No, because @@Identity returns the most recently created identity for your connection.  So if there is any other operation going on like a trigger, the identity created by the trigger would be returned instead of yours.

So it is better to use scope_identity() always.

Naming stored procedure with a prefix of sp_ is pretty common, i should say that is the current norm. But Apparently this is a bad habbit because the system databases are the only ones that should be named with prefix sp_.
Long story short, SQL server starts looking for any stored procedure with a prefix sp_ in the Master database.

For more on the above feature,  go here . Pretty cool dont's info on SQL practices

10/5/2006 5:01:33 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

Microsoft is offering free E-learning courses This should be a pretty cool deal for all the newbies.

10/5/2006 2:29:42 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

there is so much ignorance among the so called "tech savvy" guys. I was at an electronic retail shop recently and came across this interesting conversation between the sales guy and a middle aged customer. The sales guys basically told his customer that he needs the best(expensive) IPOD to be able to listen to Podcasts. Normally, I would not venture into some private conversation but this time I had to barge in..

Is there a moral in this story?

10/4/2006 5:29:15 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

QA testing of software application is always a boring task for programmers. what is fun in it, when you know how to make it work correctly. The real fun begins when the tester or worse the client lets you know about a bug. no matter how much you test it, if you are the developer of what you are testing you are bound to miss it. 

Take a look at this long list of "Did i Remember to?" from Michael Hunter.   

It is an extensive list of things to check before shipping/deploying something to production.

9/29/2006 4:31:53 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

work has been pretty busy lately. so couldn't find time to do any pet projects. hence no bloggin.  this is one of unintentional/unavoidable breaks i had to take. i hope to be back soon..

9/29/2006 3:56:36 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

Scott Guthrie has posted in his blog that a full featured RC of Atlas would be coming by the end of this year. Also, the naming game for code name "ATLAS" seems to be over.

Some of the popular names were:-
Rich Web Programming Foundation - RWPF
Web Technology Framework - WTF (!)
AJAXX (aka let's just add an 'X' to the existing name to make it sound cooler)
Rich Language ASP Framework
Big ASP Rich Foundation - BARF
Active Client Pages - ACP

The client-side “Atlas” javascript library is going to be called the Microsoft AJAX Library.   
The server-side “Atlas” functionality that nicely integrates with ASP.NET will be called the ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions.
The toolkit has become ASP.Net Ajax Control Toolkit.

Lots of promises are being made by the "Atlas" team, hopefully they walk the talk.

9/12/2006 4:45:17 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

[Pic Src= Tim Knight]

I took a trip to Seattle during the past labor day long weekend. Meeting friends is always a good thing, but seeing new places, doing new things is always fun. Above all, we had the perfect weather. No rains at all. Though hailing from the midwest, I was still awed by the "evergreen" state. We also spent some time on the pacific coasts of Portland. The whole place was pretty scenic. I think Seattle has a lot of options if you are the person who wants to try different things, and that doesnt stop with the cuisines. Kudos to Guru for making plans for this trip.

9/11/2006 2:54:59 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

In a land dominated by NASCAR news like this goes unnoticed.Michael Schumacher has announced his decision to retire from Formula-1 racing. He is a legend. I would rate him more than Tiger Woods. Nascar is so popular in U.S that F-1 has only limited fan following in US.

In another realated news Martina Navaratilova retires after winning her 59th grand slam. Martina was the one of the first female atheletes I watched growing up. I still remember those days of watching tennis rooting for Steffi Graf, Gabriala Sabatini.
Years later, I have seen tennis pros' come and go, but Martina just played year after year winning games. Salute' to her passion.

What a way to announce the retirement, after winning the championships. I wish Agassi could have done this.

9/11/2006 2:40:49 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

Federer beats Roddick, became the US Open champion.He also became the first person in history to win 3 consecutive Wimbledon and U.S open titles. Roddick to everyone's surprise has risen his game to a good next level, but still came short.
It is a pity that there is no one in sight, to challenge Roger. I still cherish those days when Sampras, Agassi, Ivanisevic, Stich, Courier played their best and were contemporaries. The only man in sight to challenge this guy is injured.

9/11/2006 2:24:46 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

google has just launched its free word processor- Writley. it is pretty cool, allows collaborative editing, assists in blogging, saves documents in PDF even as RSS feeds.

8/25/2006 3:32:07 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]