Wicks Works

Touchless switch LED lamp

2010-07-05T12:09:00.003-05:00

Make Magazine has a blog posting about a touchless LED lamp. The how-to can be found at instructables.

GoogleCL

2010-06-23T14:39:00.002-05:00

I have downloaded and installed GoogleCL. The idea of a command line utility to work with my calendars, contacts, documents and blog site is appealing. This utility should give me a boost to my personal productivity and more flexibility in how I interact with this tools.

I am interested in seeing where Google takes this tool.

Some helpful links

GoogleCL Project Home

GoogleCL Wiki

Example Scripts

Manual

Portable Applications

2008-08-26T19:39:00.000-05:00

I am always on the look out for small tools that allow me to work more efficiently and effectively. The website Pendriveapps.com has a large number of applications that fit the bill plus some applications for having a little fun.

MojoPac

2008-07-17T08:01:00.000-05:00

MojoPac is a virtualization tool that can be put a various portable devices like an external hard drive, thumb drive or iPod.

Has anybody used the tool? What do you like about? What draw backs have you seen?

From what I have seen and read on the website. It appears you don't need a second license for the OS but you need additional licenses for the in software you install. The MojoPac website does not make it clear if additional licenses are needed.

Origin of Old Familiar Phrases

2007-07-24T08:23:00.000-05:00

This on comes from the 'Hey that's interesting' bucket.

The site Neatorama has a post entitled 'Origin of Familiar Phrases.' The post covers phrases like: 'stump someone', 'put on your thinking cap' and 'slush fund'.

Cheat Sheets for Programmers

2007-07-20T08:05:00.000-05:00

Here are some cheat sheets that I found useful this week.

AJAX

Microsoft AJAX Cheat Sheet

MISC

Quick Reference Cards (Covers multiple topics: Programming, Databases, Administration, Editors, and more)
Progamming Handbooks and Cheatsheets (Covers multiple technologies)
.NET Cheat Sheets (Covers multiple topics: Formatting Strings, ASP.NET 2.0, Visual Studio 2005 Built-in Code Snippets, and links to other cheat sheets)
Developer Cheat Sheet Compilation (Covers multiple topics: Database, Programming Languages, OS, and more)

SUBVERSION

Subversion Cheat Sheet (Open-Source source control)

GOOGLE

Google Cheat Sheet (List of all Google services and tools)

CSS

CSS Cheat Sheet

Regular Expressions

Regular Expression Cheat Sheet (.NET)

Helping Out a Fellow Programmer or How I Learned to Love the Code Again

2007-06-16T21:00:00.000-05:00

This week I found out that a guy I work with is a brand new programmer. He has some experience working with ASP.NET in the VB language. I have had a couple of conversations with the guy to evaluate his technical skills. It is confirmed, he is a new programmer. He is also eager to learn and seems to be fairly bright.

I have started him off with a programming challenge and a reading assignment. For the programming challenge, I went over to the Sphere Online Judge website to grab the problem 'Life, the Universe, and Everything' the classical problems page. The reading assignment is from the MSDN website: System Namespace, Object class, Console class and Introduction to the IDE webpages.

My personal opinion is I should also do the programming and reading assignments I am giving out. I am doing this for two main reasons. The first being, I don't want to over whelm the guy with information. The other reason is to make sure I also understand the material. I have discovered an interesting benefit of working with this new programmer. I am being forced to think about code in different ways. I need to be able to explain the code to someone else and I am also thinking multiple ways that the code could be written.

This is going to be an adventure.

Firefox Tips and Tricks

2007-06-14T09:11:00.000-05:00

On Monday, I learned a few tricks, tips and optimizations for Firefox.

The first item is Widefox (Firefox for the widescreen generation). This optimization works well on my laptop. I am still getting use to the new layout. So far I like it and seems to help me be a little more productive. Setting up Widefox is composed of two major steps, installing the TabMixPlus add-on and configuring userChrome.

Next I applied several tricks and tweaks for Firefox the was posted on Lifehacker. I followed several of the tips listed in the blog post and the comments for the posts. My two favorite posts so far are: Force links to open in the background and Geek to Live: Top Firefox 2 config tweaks.

The last tip I have is to learn some keyboard shortcuts for Firefox. You can get a big list of keyboard shortcuts from the online Firefox help page. My style is to learn a few keyboard shortcuts and use them for a week or two before adding more. The two shortcuts I use the most are ctrl+W to close a tab and ctrl+L to select the location bar.

PowerShell Resources or How I Learned to Love the Command Line Again

2007-06-13T08:50:00.000-05:00

The other day a friend was showing off some tricks he learned about PowerShell. PowerShell is a new command ling shell and scripting language from Microsoft.

When I start learning a new tool I like to create a small reference library of resources. The following list is a mixture of websites, blogs and blog postings that I have found useful or interesting.

Some thougths on paying off the mortgage early

2007-06-12T09:53:00.000-05:00

Over at the website Get Rich Slowly the is a posting entitled 'Ask the Readers: Is It Better to Invest or to Prepay a Mortgage?'. The article has tickled my brain. The posting has multiple quotes from different finical gurus layout support for their view on paying off the mortgage early. Right now in my finical life Dave Ramey's advice makes a lot of sense to me.

There are several finical and tax benefits to a mortgage, most along the lines of the value of the house increases over time. The issue at hand suggests we need to look closely at few basic areas: How soon to retirement? What are your post retirement plans? How fast the value of the house is increase in comparision to the mortgage rate? What opportunities are we lossing out on when paying off the mortgage at an accelrated pace? The answer to these questions should lead a person to an acceptable answer.

I personally feel that it is better to get your finical house in order before you tackle the issue of paying off the house. I also think that paying off the mortgage should be near the end of your personal finical plan.

Free Technical Books

2007-05-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

Update 2007.05.06
Learning Perl the Hard Way
Free On-line Linux Technical Books and Tutorials
Threading in C#
XNA Book
Asterisk: The Future of Telephony

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

General Progamming

C/C++

VB / VB.NET

Programming VB .NET: A Guide For Experienced Programmers

Java

Python

LISP/Scheme

Unix/Linux

General Computing

O'Reilly's CD Bookshelf

Perl

PHP

Ruby

Mr. Neighborly's Humble Little Ruby Book

Mathematics

Squeezing more out of GMail

2007-03-27T20:32:00.000-05:00

The gang over at makeusof.com has a post entitled 'Gmail Craze: 30 + Tools and Hacks for Gmail.' There are some great customization and productivity tools and hacks in the posting. The tool 'GMail Manager' has saved me time. I am able to manage multiple GMail accounts quickly.

2nd Annual St. Louis Code Camp

2007-03-15T21:47:00.000-05:00

Brain Button announced the '2nd Annual St. Louis Code Camp' on his blog. Please visit www.stlcodecamp.org for more information and to register.

Ways to Reduce Eye Strain at Your Computer

2007-02-25T19:48:00.000-06:00

The "Lighting Blog" has a posting of "22 Ways to Reduce Eye Strain at Your Computer."

After reading the article there are some changes I will be making at home and work. Several of the items I all ready do, like keeping the monitor at arms length. There are some other environmental changes I will need to make, like adding an additional lamp or two and reducing the overhead lights. I think I will also change the font and font size on my computers.

Collection of University Podcasts

2007-02-24T21:14:00.000-06:00

Found this collection of podcasts from several different Universities. I am always looking to increase my knowledge into various areas. Since I play podcasts back at two times normal speed, listening to lectures are fairly painless.

Open Culture: University Podcast Collection

List of .NET Languages and .NET Language Projects

2007-02-23T22:27:00.000-06:00

C# Online.NET has a "list of .NET language and .NET language projects." The post claims to be a complete list but a quick scan tells a different story. If you know of any other .NET languages or .NET projects please add it.

New Line Cinema puts Peter Jackson on the Blacklist

2007-01-14T22:27:00.000-06:00

SCIFI.com is reporting that Robert Shaye, head of New Line Cinema, will not let Peter Jackson direct another film for New Line Cinema.

As I understand it, Shaye is upset with Jackson because Jackson is suing New Line Cinema. The lawsuit is over an accounting issue on the movie "Fellowship of the Ring." It appears that there was some anomalies that surfaced from a partial audit that Jackson would like answered.

After reading reading the posting on SCIFI.com entitled "Shaye: New Line Blacklists Jackson", I am inclined to believe that New Line Cinema is shooting itself in the foot. Peter Jackson has proved he can make money and produce a multiple good movies. Are these not the qualities a movie studio would want in a director?

On a personal note, I am interested in seeing what Peter Jackson can and would do with the "Hobbit". I think New Line is making a big mistake not wanting to work with Jackson. I am hoping Jackson will get the chance to direct more movies and he gets the opportunity to bring the "Hobbit" to us on the big screen.

Starship size comparison chart

2007-01-03T21:49:00.000-06:00

For all the sci-fi geeks, check out this "starship size comparison chart."

What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

2007-01-03T21:28:00.000-06:00

For the last few months, I have been working on improving my eating habits. My basic plan is to reduce the amount of food I eat and to eat less processed food. So far I have lost 15 pounds just working on changing my eating habits. Over at "wiseGEEK" there is a neat post on "What Does 200 Calories Look Like?"

Learning about Smart Client Applications

2006-11-09T21:01:00.000-06:00

My day job is requiring me to do some Smart Client development. Since my knowledge on the topic is rather limited, I am thinking a little research is in order. My research started with the MSDN website and had lead me to putting together this quick little post. I hope others find it useful.

A Smart Client application is the combination of rich and responsive user interface with the ability to work offline. A smart client can be designed to run on a desktop PC, laptop, Tablet PC, Pocket PC and Smartphones.

A well-designed Smart Client can take advantage of a rich user experience while providing the manageability benefits of a thin client. From a developers point of view this allows me to write programs that can take advantage for the client PC, provide a rich user experience, access to wide variety of local and remote services, and application manageability of a website.

Smart Clients applications are broken down into three broad groups: Windows Smart Client applications, Office Smart Client Applications, and Mobile Smart Client applications.

Windows Smart Client Applications are typically Windows Forms. This type of application provides the familiar Windows user interface. A Windows Smart Client would run on a desktop, laptop or Tablet PC.

Office Smart Client Applications are tightly coupled with one or more Microsoft Office application.

Mobile Smart Client Applications are designed to run on smart devices like the Pocket PC and Smartphones. These types of devices has limited screen size, limited memory and limited processing power. The ability is work in a non-connected mode is paramount. Applications are developed for the .NET Compact Framework.

Smart Clients can take advantage of the local machines resources. This means the application will run in a disconnected mode. I will not have control over the data on the user’s machine and the logic in the users’ version of the application could be out of date or using old logic.

Handling data in a Smart Client Application will take considerable thought. Data is broken in two major types: read-only reference data and transient data.

Read-only reference data is data that the client application will not change. This includes static or lookup data, data to support the data validation process, and presentation data. This type of data will be updated infrequently.

Transient data will be created, updated, and deleted by the client application. One of the major challenges is handling data changes from multiple clients.

Caching data is an important component to a Smart Client. An application can get a performance boost from caching data. The caching mechanisms should be able to handle both read-only reference data and transient data. The goal is to update the client’s data at any time regardless of the data of the data. You do not want to lose any changes the transient data the user has made. See the Caching Application Block for more information.

To keep data in synch, there are two main approaches: pessimistic concurrency or optimistic concurrency. Both of the approaches are similar in concept to pessimistic and optimistic locking in the database.

DataSets are one way of helping with the managing and syncing of the data. See the Microsoft documentation on ADO.NET for more information. DataSets offer a few benefits: DataSets can be treated like a database, DataSets can be bound to user controls, and DataSets keeps track of changed data.

There are multiple ways for a Smart Client to communicate with other resources: .NET Enterprise Services, .NET remoting, Message Queuing (MSMQ), and web services.

.NET Enterprise services provide access to COM+ service infrastructure. .NET remoting provides remote procedure call (RPC) mechanism to .NET components. MSMQ provides message-base access. Web services provide an industry standard was of communicating.

There are two major architectural approaches: data-centric and service-oriented. A data-centric approach utilizes a local installed database. The database handles the synchronization process, conflict resolution, and propagating the changes. The service-oriented approach stores data in messages and arranging the messages. Once the connection has been reestablished the messages to the server for processing.

There are seven main considerations for security: Authentication, Authorization, Data Validation, Protecting Sensitive Data, Auditing and Logging, Exception Management, and Change and Configuration Management.

Authentication uniquely identified the user of the client application. Authorization determines what resources the user can access. Data validation ensures on valid data is accepted by the application. Protecting sensitive data provides methods for storing and transmitting data. Auditing and logging keeps track of events and user action. Exception management ensures errors are well handled. Change and configuration management assists in tracking configuration changes.

There are multiple options of deploying a Smart Client: no-touch deployment, no-touch deployment with and application update stub, running code from a file share, xcopy and Windows installer packages.

No-touch deployment requires putting the application on a web server and sharing the link. No-touch deployment with an application update stub method follows the no-touch deployment process with the addition downloading the rest of the application to the local disk. Running code from a share requires a file share that all the users can access. Xcopy is to copy the files directly to the client. Windows installer package method is that traditional way most people think of deploying an application.

Deploying Smart Client updates also have multiple options: No-touch deployment, automatic updates, updates form a file share, xcopy updates and Windows installer package deployment.

No-touch deployment updates are simply copying the new files to a web server, when your application starts is checks the web server for updates. Automatic updates involve building the updating infrastructure in the Smart Client application. Updates from a file share involve replacing the old code on the file share with the new code. Xcopy updates are also really simple. Just copy the new files. Windows installer updates are to create an installer package with the new code.

Smart Client applications are part of the wave of the future. Smart Clients give the user a rich experience while give administrators and vendors a way of updating application with fewer headaches. I look forward to learning more.

Book Review: Code Complete 2nd Edition

2006-11-07T21:01:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I finished Steve McConnell's book "Code Complete, Second Edition." As a self taught developer, I am always looking for books, magazine articles and web posts that can help me improve my craft. This book has become an important part of my library.

One of my favorite parts of the book is the checklists at the end of sections. I have used the "Using Conditionals" Checklist multiple times in my work. The checklist has prompted me to refactor my code and to think about the code I write differently. The code looks cleaner, is more readily understood by myself and other developers.

Another benefit I have gotten out of the book was better ways to communicate with non-programmers about technical topics. I have used several of the items in the book with end users. The results have been positive. I was able to more clearly present technical issues to the end users. I have been able to develop a better working relationship with the end user. These same points have also caused me to think about my end users in a different light.

This book has already become a favorite of mine and I have a feeling I will referencing this book frequently in the future.

If you are a programmer, a developer, a coder, an architect or a manager of technical people this book should be in your library.

Book specs:
Paperback: 960 pages
Publisher: Microsoft Press; 2nd edition (June 2004)
Language: English
ISBN: 0735619670

One Reason Why I Don't Read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

2006-11-07T20:14:00.000-06:00

It is just a little past 8:00 PM Central time on Election Day. I have been trying for the last 10 minutes to find election results from the St. Louis area. I made a major mistake, I assumed the website for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (www.stltoday.com) would have the numbers. Just to have a sanity checked, I checked out a couple of news websites. With in a 2 minutes, I was able to find information on the elections are shaping up.

I am so glad that I no longer waste my money on a subscription to a newspaper that can't do its job.

Sudoku

2006-06-22T20:53:00.000-05:00

2005.12.07 - Original
I few weeks back my wife got hooked on solving Sudoku puzzles. Just for fun I am considering writing a program to solve the puzzles. Since I am trying to learn C#, this seems like a reasonable idea.

My first stop is to figure out what a Sudoku puzzle is. My first stop was the Sudoku entry on Wikipedia. Sudoku or Nanpure is a number placing puzzle.

The puzzle is most frequently a 9X9 grid, made up of 3X3 subgrids called "regions" (other terms include "boxes", "blocks", and the like when referring to the standard variation). Some cells already contain numbers, known as "givens" (or sometimes as "clues"). The goal is to fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the numbers 1-9 exactly once. Each number in the solution therefore occurs only once in each of three "directions", hence the "single numbers" implied by the puzzle's name.

This seems simple enough. The wikipedia entry also includes some other interesting information including a method of solving the puzzle, some hints for programmers on how to solve the puzzles, the mathematics of Sudoku and finally some history.

My next stop is to figure out where can I find some puzzles and solutions to check my program against. I have come up with two possible sites. The first is www.sudoku.com and the other is www.websudoku.com.

What other resources can I come up with? I have stumbled across Sudoku Programmers which is a forum. There are mutliple posting that I will have to read soon. I have also come across Robert Burke's Weblog posting Sudoku Solver Web Service. Rob's web service will be good resource to check my solutions against.

This looks like it will be a fun project. My next step is to do a little more reading and to manually work a few puzzles.

2005.12.11 - Update
Today I tried my first Sudoku puzzle. I was able to completed it successfully in just under 22 minutes. The puzzle came from wedsudoku.com and it was rated as easy. I can now see why my wife really likes these puzzles. It takes a couple of different logical processes to solve a puzzle.

2005.12.12 - Update
Over at The Code Project I have found several articles on Sudoku:

Sudoku Solver and Generator By Jörgen Pramberg written in C#.
Sudoku and Smart Client Techniques By arikp
'Another Sudoku Solver and Generator' By Pascal Ganaye

2005.12.17 - Updated
Over at Rambles Weblog at starchamber.com there is a neat Sudoku Solving Assistant tool.

Over at The Code Project there is a new posting 'Sudoku Game in C#.' The posting looks interesting enough to warrant a closer look at the code.

Update - 2005.12.29
Found two more blog postings about Sudoku. The first is from the blog 'The Truth is Out There!' entitled 'Simple Sudoku.' The posting is about 'Simple Sudoku' a freeware puzzle maker and solver for Windows.

The second posting is from 'Business Week Online' entitled 'Sudoku: The Next Tetris?' This posting talks about the popularity of the game, link to Sudokupuzzlesonline.com and a link to Sudoku for smartphone.

2006.01.08 - Update
There is another Sudoku Solver over at Code Project.

2006.01.17 - Update
CodeProject has XSudokuWnd posting, a solver for the popular Sudoku puzzle, based on D.E. Knuth's Dancing Links algorithm.

2006.03.31 - Update
Seedmagazine.com has an article entitled 'MICROSCOPY AND THE ART OF SUDOKU.' It appears that Sudoku is having a larger impact on the world other then a fun time consuming mental puzzle.

2006.04.04 - Update
Not even Microsoft can resist the power of Sudoku. I found the article 'Microsoft Sudoku: Optimizing UMPC Applications for Touch and Ink' out on the MSDN site.

2006.04.21 - Update
Today I came across another site where you can play Sudoku for free call Sudoku Craving. If you like you can register with the site. By becoming a memeber the site will keep track of your stats for you.

2006.06.16 - Update
Over at the site Scanraid Ltd, I found several Sudoku related webpages.

Sahil Malik has posted his Sudoku Solver and the source code.

2006.06.22 - Update
Sudoku Combat allows two people to play Sudoku at the same time to see who can solve the puzzle first. You can challenge your friends or strangers.

10 Blooming U.S. Cities for Tech

2006-06-17T21:29:00.000-05:00

Site: eWeek.com
Post: Beyond the Valley: 10 Blooming U.S. Cities for Tech

Where will the next big tech city be? The editorial staff try to answer this question. They came up with a list of ten cities that are seeing a lot of tech growth.

USB Drives

2006-06-16T13:00:00.000-05:00

This week I found several posting on USB Pen Drives, USB Jump Drive, USB Key Drive or USB Thumb Drive.

David Findley's Blog: My portable thumb drive toolbox as of May 2006

I never know that there are so many applications for your thumb drive.

TeleRead: 'BookFob: eBook on a keychainÂ: Thumbs down!

Another example of how the DRM is destroying a good idea

oklol: Track Your Stolen USB Pen

This seems like a cool idea. The comments are the most interesting part of the post.

The Furrygoat Experience: USB Key Drive Boot (and Ghost)

A bootable USB thumb drive. Sounds useful.

Build the best paper airplane in the world!

2006-06-16T11:15:00.000-05:00

Site: Build the best paper airplane in the world!

I just the wonderful things you can discover on the internet. I have yet to build this paper airplane and I think my son will enjoy flying it.

More On Budgeting

2006-06-16T10:45:00.000-05:00

Update: 2006.06.11
Over at D*I*Y Planner there is a 'Financial' thread, which includes a Budget template for the 'Hipster PDA.'

Original Post: 2006.06.11
For the last few days, we have been refining the family budget. So far we found a few regular expenses we forgot about. We missed the annual renewal fee for the memebership to the Zoo and Costco.

I have also done a little additiuonal research into budgets and budgetting. Here are a fewsites and posting that I found helpful.

12 Reasons Budgeting Can Improve Your Life

I printed a copy of this posting for the fridge. It helps me to remember why I am budgeting.

How to budget effectively and also, how to stick to it from Sally's Kitchen & Stuff.

I like her six tips for sticking to a budget. You can learn a lot about living on a budget from a grandmother.

MoneyBlogNetwork

I find this blog to be helpful in thinking about money and better ways to use, manage and spend money.

Bill Gates Is Stepping Down

2006-06-15T20:13:00.000-05:00

Microsoft will be going through some big changes soon.

The right way to run a Wi-Fi cafe

2006-06-09T17:16:00.000-05:00

Site: NewsForge
Post: The right way to run a Wi-Fi cafe

Nathan gives four tips to the coffee shop owners who are providing an internet connection along with the coffee.

Guide lines to becoming a solid developer.

2006-06-09T16:42:00.000-05:00

Site: Dr. Java's tips for Tricks
Post: Guide lines to becoming a solid developer.

Dr. Java present six guide lines a developer should keep in mind while they are working. You should also take the time to read the comments others have left.

Home-Based Business Bonanza

2006-06-03T17:56:00.000-05:00

Site: The Entrepreneurial Mind
Post: Home-Based Business Bonanza

I did not realize how many sole proprietors there are in America or how well they are doing. The posting is well worth a read and at least a quick glance at the study the posting references is in order.

DIY Planner

2006-06-02T20:17:00.000-05:00

Site: D*I*Y Planner

A few years back I was sent to a time management seminar using the Franklin TimeQuest method and binder. This was one of the most important skills I have ever learned. In the years that have followed I have used various pieces of the system almost everyday. Now I am using a PDA which I find to be very limiting and hardly use it as a planner. I am also not happy with the features that Outlook provides. Today I came across the website D*I*Y Planner. I have taken a quick glance a few of the planner templates they offer. This site appears to be promising. I still need to take a closer look at the templates.

Update: D*I*Y Planner Hipster PDA Edition 3.0 was released at the begining of May.

Top 10 Strangest Watches

2006-06-01T21:50:00.000-05:00

Site: Tech E Blog
Post: Top 10 Strangest Watches

The title says it all. You should just check the posting out.

Reference and Outline Maps of the United States

2006-05-31T21:28:00.000-05:00

Site: NationalAtlas.gov
Post: Reference and Outline Maps of the United States

The site contains a list of printable U.S. maps that you can preview or download. They even have several maps for each state.

Changing My Financial Future

2006-05-30T23:02:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago my wife and I made a major decision. We are going to change our financial situation.

We are feed up with living paycheck to paycheck, paying back loans, not have money in the bank for vacations, new computers or activities we can do as a family.

The first step was to figure out what we are bring in and what we are spending. Since we are using Quicken, figuring out what we are bring in was quick and easy. This told exactly how much we have to work with.

The second step was to figure out what we are spending. At first we though this was also going to be easy with Quicken. It turns out that we did not do as good of a job categorizing the expenses plus we did not categorize that ATM withdrawals very well. So we start a spending notebook, at the end of each day we recorded the date, what we spent money on and how much we spent.

The third step was to setup some starting goals. We needed a starting point to shoot for. This was a very fuzzy area for us so we needed to do a little research. We turned the research into the following initial goals. First, a small emergency fund of double the house payment. Based the past expenses this should cover most of the emergencies that come up. Second, stop using the credit cards, stop using the debit card and stop taking on new debt. We have found that we spend less and think about the purchase more when we have to use cash. Third, pay off the debts we have now. We are exempting the house from this goal because we have read some conflicting information about paying off the house. There seems to be two main methods for paying down the debt. The first is to list all the debts by interest rate from highest to lowest. This method saves the most amount of money in the long run but may take a while before we see any results. The other method is to list the debts from smallest to largest amount owed. This method offers us the opportunity to see some results right away. We opted for the second method. Fourth, increase the amount of money in the emergency fund to six months worth of expenses plus insurance deductibles. This should give us a strong base to work from for what every new goals we come up with.

The fourth step was to create a budget. This has proved to be a difficult a task to complete and keep up with but it is the most powerful tool we have to managing the expenses. There are several important ideas we needed to keep in mind when creating a budget. First, it may take between 3 and 6 months is start getting the budget right. It takes a few months to figure out all the expenses you have. We are working on the third monthly budget and we are still finding items we forgot about. Second, we created a 'free spend' category. This is money we are allowed to spend for no reason at all. This is important mental health item. Creating and sticking to a budget is hard work we need the mental relief that this category provides. Third, we need to talk about and review the budget frequently. We use this time to figure out how we are doing financially and to help encourage each other.

We have been working on this for about three months now and have seen some results and some unexpected benefits. It is a great feeling to see the amount of debt we have decreasing at a steady rate. We now sleep better. We don't worry about how to make ends meet. We have more control over the money. We are now starting talk about additional financial goals like a solid retirement plan, a college fund, investing and vacations.

DIY Dry Erase Board

2006-05-30T14:12:00.000-05:00

Site: Elephant StairCase
Post: DIYDryEraseBoard

They walk you through building a Dry Erase Board using acrylic plastic. If you follow the the steps they listed you can have a your own Dry Erase Board up in less than an hour. I built my Dry Erase Board a couple of years back using shower board and I wrapped the board with 1X3 pine frame. It looks nice and works rather well.

Look, no hard drive: flash only

2006-05-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

Site: Digital World Tokyo
Post: Look, no hard drive: flash only

I have been waiting for over a year now to hear this news. Finally a proto-type of a hard drive replacement that is 100% solid state. The good news is a solid state drive should be faster, more durable, consumes less power and is quite. I want one bad for my laptop. Now for the bad news the disk is not yet in production mode and it is a expected to be a bit pricey.

Boot up Windows before you even log in

2006-05-17T22:00:00.000-05:00

Site: BrainFuel
Post: Boot up Windows before you even log in

When Windows XP boots up it goes through two major steps the first is loading of non-graphical system then after you enter your user name and password the system then loads the graphical part of the OS. Wouldn't it be great if you could load the graphical part of Windows without having to login? With the use of TweakUI and a simple registry entry you can do just that. You can get the exact steps from the guys at BrainFuel.

Ten Programming Commandments

2006-05-12T22:57:00.000-05:00

Site: Code: Impossible
Post: Ten Programming Commandments

The list speaks for itself. I try to apply several of the commandments while I am programming but sometimes you just have to break the commandment. I would change commandment 10 to 'Thou shall Refactor'.

Portable Tools

2006-05-05T15:49:00.000-05:00

Site: T.W.A.T Radio
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Episode: 107 - Portable Tools
Host: Kynan Dent

Today is my day for applications that can be run from an USB device. In this podcast Kynan talk about the what tools he keeps on his USB device and how to set the applicaitons up.

Security/Hacking applications that run on a USB flash drive

2006-05-05T15:41:00.000-05:00

Site: Watch Your End
Posting: Security/Hacking applications that run on a USB flash drive

Here is an interesting posting about security tools you can run from an USB device. I also find this article to be a little scary. Any tool can be used for good or evil it all depends on the person using the tool.

Handy programs to put on a USB stick.

2006-05-05T13:27:00.000-05:00

Site: SnapFiles
Post: Handy programs to put on a USB stick.

I am also looking for neat tools to make my life a little easier. Free tools are always great and I like the idea of having some great tools that I can carry around everywhere.

I am already a Foxit PDF Reader user. This tool is great. I will have to check out a few more of the tools from the page.

The 25 Firefox Extensions You Didn’t Know You Needed

2006-05-05T09:42:00.000-05:00

Site: desideratum
Post: The 25 Firefox Extensions You Didn’t Know You Needed

I don't really understand why I find Top X list so interesting. I found this list the other day. A couple of the extensions look interesting and I am thinking I should check them out. CoolIris Preview, Copy Plain Text, Greasemonkey and Menu Editor look promising. Does anyone have any experience with these extensions?

Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.3 Released

2006-05-05T09:21:00.000-05:00

Site: Mozillazine
Post: Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.3 Released

This release of Firefox contains a security fix for denial of service vulnerability. I got my update and no problems so far.

Programmatically Rotating the Screen using the .NET Compact Framework

2006-04-30T14:42:00.000-05:00

Site: David Kline
Post: Programmatically Rotating the Screen using the .NET Compact Framework

One of the biggest complaints I have about my PDA is I can not rotate the screen 90 degrees when I want to take notes. With this bit of code I should be able write a quick notetaking application that has a screen rotation feature.

Proxy List : 250+ working proxies for safe access from work/school

2006-04-18T22:38:00.000-05:00

Site: eConsultant
Post: Proxy List : 250+ working proxies for safe access from work/school

eConsultant has put together this list of free proxies. Using one of these proxies you can anonymous surf the web by hiding information such as your IP address from web servers.

Create, Study, Print and Download Flashcards

2006-04-14T22:56:00.000-05:00

Site: Flashcard Exchange

I remember using flashcards to study basic math back in grade school. Over the years I have created a few flashcards myself to study subjects I needed to know in a hurry. I have even written a couple of flashcard programs. If you can't tell by now I think flash cards are vary useful study tool.

Flashcard Exchange has a library of almost 4 million cards covering a wide range of topics: Early education, Elementary School, High School, Higher Education, Science, Sign Language, Medicine, Trades and Occupations, Information Technology and Foreign Languages. Not only can you get access to the card library you can create your own flashcards and share them others. You need to become a member to download and print the flashcards.

Fun and Easy How to Guide to Binding Your Own Paperback Books At Home...FAST

2006-04-04T21:31:00.000-05:00

Site: Achieve-IT!
Post: Fun and Easy How to Guide to Binding Your Own Paperback Books At Home...FAST

Brad has found an effective way of dealing with all the pages he prints. He binds them together like a paperback. There have been a couple of times where this idea would have come in handy. I may just have to give this a try.

How to use Outlook to backup your Gmail account

2006-03-31T16:53:00.000-06:00

Site: betapundit
Post: How to use Outlook to backup your Gmail account

Google really needs to provide us with a better way of backing up our email. This article I linked to here is using MS Outlook to backup your Gmail account. You should also be about to use any pop3 enable email program to get the emails from Google. The article is good and detailed enough most people should be able to follow it. Google's lack of a backup methology is lame.

Free Tools to Recover lost data

2006-03-31T15:50:00.000-06:00

Site: Ricky's Web Review
Post: Free Tools to Recover lost data

I like the word 'Free'. Does anyone have any experience with any of these tools?

Regular Expression Site

2006-03-31T15:09:00.000-06:00

Site: www.regularexpressions.info

A couple of years ago I was introduced to the power and time saving ability of Regular Expression. Since then I have preached the value of Regular Expression to other people. It always peaks my interest when I come across others preaching Regular Expressions. Jan Goyvaerts has put together a site on Regualr Expressions. I have found some information that I did not know before.

.NET Languages

2006-03-29T21:01:00.000-06:00

Site: dotnetpowered.com
Post: .NET Languages

Brian Ritchie has put together a large list of programming languages that use the .NET framework. I don't if this a list of all the .NET languages or not.

How to Create a Bonsai Tree

2006-03-27T22:09:00.000-06:00

Site: WikiHow
Post: How to Create a Bonsai Tree

wikiHow has a little posting about creating your own Bonsai tree. The steps seem simple enough. Has anybody tried this? What were the results?

Mono and its many facets screencast

2006-03-27T22:02:00.000-06:00

Site: ComputerZen.com
Post: Mono and its many facets screencast

Scott Hanselman has an interesting demo of Mono and .NET. Scott writes a bit of demo code then he runs it through the .NET and Mono compilers. Scott finishs by comparing the IL code from programs.

I think I will have to start taking a closer look at Mono now.

Service Orientation

2006-03-20T19:50:00.000-06:00

Site: ServiceOrientation.org

For the last few days I have been doing some light reading on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). One of the greatest resources I have found so far is the site ServiceOrientation.org.

Doane Paper

2006-03-15T21:48:00.000-06:00

Site: Doane Paper

Doane paper is a combination of grid paper with legal pad ruled paper. This looks like it can be a really useful way to take notes, to plan projects or to brain storm.

St. Louis Code Camp!

2006-03-15T21:20:00.000-06:00

Site: Brian Button - One Agile Coder
Post: Announcing the St. Louis Code Camp!

Brian Button is putting together a Code Camp in Saint Louis. Details are still light but the process is underway. There is a call for volunteers and speakers. Mark your calendars and sign up to help or attend early. I think seats will go fast.

DevX: Install and Run Your ASP.NET Applications on Systems Without IIS

2006-03-06T22:51:00.000-06:00

Site: DevX
Posting: Install and Run Your ASP.NET Applications on Systems Without IIS

This vary short posting is about using the Cassini Web server in your Visual Studio .NET projects. The article has only three steps.

How To Do Stuff: How To Make a Secret Hollow Book

2006-03-05T21:06:00.000-06:00

Site: How To Do Stuff
Post: How To Make a Secret Hollow Book

I just could not help myself. Have fun and happy cutting.

Scupedia: Scuba Encylopedia

2006-03-03T20:36:00.000-06:00

Using the same technology that brought us Wikipedia, a new ambitious site Scupedia.com now brings us the Scuba Encylopedia.

Scupedia is a new project just getting off the ground. It will take some time for the site to get up to speed. The information that I have seen so far looks good. If you have the time please help them out.

Wall Street Journal: Blog Epitaphs? Get Me Rewrite!

2006-03-02T21:23:00.000-06:00

Site: Wall Street Journal
Post: Blog Epitaphs? Get Me Rewrite!

I would really like to know what you think about Jason's posting. My first thought was outrage. How could he be saying that blogs are dying? I then realized that I miss read his opening. Jason starts off with some of the rumors. Many of which I have never heard because I am just not plugged into the main stream media. Of the 470 feeds I track only about 30 of them are main steam news organizations. I really hope that blogs are not dying. I love being my own editor and reading posting on topics I find interesting and not being force feed that the editors at some large news organization thinks I would like.

Taunton Press: Set Up A Miter Saw To Cut Crown Molding

2006-03-02T21:05:00.000-06:00

Site: Taunton Press
Posting: Set Up a Miter Saw to Cut Crown Molding

This video clip walks you through the process of setting up a miter saw to cut crown molding. Gary Katz also gives a couple of quick tips to make the whole process a little easier. On Ask this Old House, Tom Silva demonstrated many of the same steps Gary used.

Kuro5hin: Something Every Java Programmer Should Know

2006-03-02T20:51:00.000-06:00

Site: Kuro5hin
Post: Something Every Java Programmer Should Know

According to the posting every Java programmer should know about Java Modelling Language (JML). JML uses annotations to provide concise descriptions of behavior in your code. After reading the article, I am going to have to spend some time researching annotations and JML. This could realy help out with documeting my code.

Lifehacker: Benjamin Franklin's 13 personal goals

2006-03-01T21:55:00.000-06:00

Site: Lifehacker
Post: Benjamin FranklinÂs 13 personal goals

I always look foward to reading the postings on lifehacker. The posting on the Feb. 25 about Benjamin Franklins 13 personal goals struck a cord with me. Since the 25th I have re-read the posting three times and everytime I read it I am struck by three main ideas. The first is what a great way to start a personal improvement program. The goals can be anything I want. The second idea is to combine this goal tracking with a personal journal. I am thinking this combination would really help me focus on my goals. The last idea is goal tracking chart like this would be fairly easy to create for my PDA.

Harding University: Java (J2SE 5.0) and C# Comparison

2006-03-01T21:33:00.000-06:00

Site: Harding University
Post: Java (J2SE 5.0) and C# Comparison

Back in April of 2005 I posted about VB.NET to C# comparison chart. It turns out the chart was originally by Frank McCown. ASP Alliance posted the chart under the GPL. Well Frank has another posting that compares Java and C#. I found the VB.NET/C# chart to be useful. I am also expecting the same out of this chat.

MSU: American Sign Language Browser

2006-03-01T21:12:00.000-06:00

Site: Michigan State University Comm Tech Lab
Post: American Sign Language Browser

Michigan State University (MSU) offers a great tool for learning American Sign Language (ASL). The site requires either Navigator or Internet Explorer plus the Quicktime plug-in. I had no problem playing the quick time video in Firefox. This site runs a quicktime video showing you the proper hand movements for a word. You will need more then just this site to learn ASL.

Whatever: Writing Tips for Non-Writers Who Don't Want to Work at Writing

2006-02-24T14:19:00.000-06:00

Site: Whatever
Post: Writing Tips for Non-Writers Who Don't Want to Work at Writing

John Scalzi gives several writing tips that are simple and straight forward. I think I will try out a few of these tips.

Motley Fool: I Turned $3,000 Into $210,000

2006-02-23T22:15:00.000-06:00

Site: Motley Fool
Post: I Turned $3,000 Into $210,000

It is the story of one investor who held on some stock a little to long and the lessons she learning. I think I will need to educate myself a little bit more before jumping into the market.

dmh2000: C++ vs Java vs Python vs Ruby : a first impression

2006-02-23T21:59:00.000-06:00

Site: dmh2000
Post: C++ vs Java vs Python vs Ruby : a first impression

I found the posting to be a semi interesting. Since I don't have a lot of experience with any of these languages, I was hoping for a bit more of a comparison and little direction on which language I should be learning.

Poynter Online: Fifty Writing Tools

2006-02-23T21:49:00.000-06:00

Site: Poynter Online
Post: Fifty Writing Tools

The posting has more then 50 writting tools. This posting reminds me of the book 'Elements of Style.'

Free Software For Windows

2006-02-21T21:56:00.000-06:00

Update 2006.02.21
Still looking for more freeware? Checkout 'Neowin's Freeware Alternative List.'

Update - 2006.01.25
Today I found another list of Freeware software. The list has several categories:

3D Graphics
Anti-Virus
Anti Spyware
Audio Creation
Audio Players
Audio Tools
CD/DVD Burning
Compression / Decompression
Defrag Software
Desktop Enhancements
Download managers
Encryption and data security
File Managers
File repair and recovery
Firewalls
FTP Clients
FTP Servers
HTML Editors
Image viewers
Instant Messenger
Internet Explorer Front-Ends
IRC Clients
Mail programs
Anti-spam programs
Network Tools
Office Suite
Partition Managers
PDF Utilities
Photo manipulation and image design
Programming
Pop-up Blockers
RSS Readers
System Information and monitoring
Video codecs
Video players
Video tools
Web browsers
Web servers
Webcam Software
Checksum Utilities
General Utilities And Other Applications

Original - 2005.10.06
Absolutely Free Software is a list of software that is available for Windows. The list is broken down into several major headings including:

Free Office Applications
Free Anti Virus Software / Security Software
Free Internet / Network Software
Free Graphic Software
Free Mutlimedia Software
Free Utilities-Essential
Free Utilities-Useful
Free Informational-Educational Software

I already use several of these tools.

Free education On The Internet

2006-02-20T21:35:00.000-06:00

Free-ed.net has set a mission for itself "to deliver quality distance education at not cost to the user." There are no fees, no books to buy, no grades and no deadlines. I think I will have to give a couple of the courses a try in the near future. This may be a nice way to expand my knowledge into other disciplines without a large investment in books.

Near The Speed Of Light By The End Of The Century?!?

2006-02-20T21:21:00.000-06:00

Physorg.com has an interesting article entitled 'Physicist to Present New Exact Solution of Einstein's Gravitational Field Equation.' I wish the article had more details into Dr. Felber's theory. It will be interesting to see how this story develops over the next few years.

Webcasts/Podcasts From Berkeley

2006-02-20T20:51:00.000-06:00

UC Berkeley has made a few of their classes available on-line as a webcast or as a podcast. I have added a few of the classes to my podcatching client.

Java Training

2006-02-16T07:36:00.000-06:00

Since Monday I have been in a 5 day Java class. The class has covered a lot of material and I hope I can remember some of it on Monday next week. I still have another day worth of training to go. I am hoping to get back to a regular schedule this weekend.

Web Developer's Handbook

2006-02-12T21:56:00.000-06:00

Wow. I came across the website the 'Web Developer's Handbook' which is a huge list of resources covering CSS, Color Tools, Web Tools, AJAX, DOM, Typography, Blogging, usability, Accessibility and SEO.

Amazing Tech Facts

2006-02-11T23:31:00.000-06:00

The blog 'Amazing Tech facts' Trivia that gives you the Edge so has only one posting 'Amazing Tech-facts.' There are some interesting tidbits here. I am not sure how many are true and how many are urban legends.

Increase Your Reading Speed

2006-02-07T12:23:00.000-06:00

For the last few months I have been looking into speed reading and starting to increase my reading speed. There are just too many books I want to read. Keith Drury's posting 'Speed-Reading Techniques' is a good summary of all the how to speed read material I have looked at.

Free Online Graph Paper / Grid Paper PDFs

2006-02-03T19:03:00.000-06:00

From Incompetech.com you can get 'Free Online Graph Paper / Grid Paper PDFs.' There are several different PDFs to choose from.

Free Management Library

2006-02-02T21:42:00.000-06:00

I just love free. Check out the 'Free Management Library.' This on-line library has 675 topics to choose from. This looks like a great resource for learning about a management topic.

How To Win Friends And Influence People

2006-02-02T21:35:00.000-06:00

Over at 'Notes of intelligence' there is a great summary of Dale Carnegie's book 'How to Win Friends & Influence People.' It takes about 5 minutes to read the summary. I am going to have to read the book now.

Print Your Own Ruler

2006-02-01T22:20:00.000-06:00

For those times when you can't find your ruler, just print one out.

Some printable paper rulers [vendian.org]

Learn Python In 10 Minutes

2006-01-31T11:28:00.000-06:00

Original - 2006.01.30
The blog Poromenos' Stuff has the posting 'Learn Python in 10 minutes.' This is half tutorial and half cheatsheet. You will need to find additional resources to really learn Python but it does give you a good start.

Update - 2006.01.31
Here is a quick reference for Python 2.4.

The Ascent - A Wooden Clock Kit

2006-01-30T15:37:00.000-06:00

The blog KrazyDad has an interesting posting 'The Ascent - A Wooden Clock Kit.' It sounds like Jim had a great time putting the kit together. The kit is from Wooden-Gear-Clocks.com.

Hello World In Over 150 Languages

2006-01-30T15:15:00.000-06:00

Wikipedia entry 'Hello World Program' shows you how to write the famous Hello World program in over a 150 different languages.

Create Your Own 12 Sided Calendar

2006-01-30T11:42:00.000-06:00

Ole Arntzen has an interesting site that shows you how to make your own dodecahedron calendar.

Convert Your Pocket PC Into An iPod

2006-01-30T08:52:00.000-06:00

Lance Robinson posting 'Convert your Pocket PC into an iPod in seven easy steps' is a fun read. Step 1 just had me rolling on the floor.

St. Louis Weather Control Device - The Arch

2006-01-30T08:36:00.000-06:00

I think this totally explains the weird weather the St. Louis area experiences each year.

http://www.failedsuccess.com/index.php?/weblog/more/arch_weather_story/

Sorry. I just can not help myself. :)

Western Digital Has 500 GB Hard Drives For The Desktop

2006-01-27T21:52:00.000-06:00

WOW! You can now pre-order the new Western Digital Caviar SE16 SATA Hard Drive for $349.99.

Tech Info:
7200 RPM
16 MB cache
300 MB/s transfer rate

New Blog On Linux

2006-01-27T21:47:00.000-06:00

I must be crazy. Today I started a new blog 'Wicks Linux.' I have moved all the linux posting to the new site.

Lisp Is Sin

2006-01-27T10:25:00.000-06:00

I came across Sriram Krishnan's post 'Lisp is sin.' the other day. One of the elements of this posting is a rebuttal to Joel Spolsky's article 'The Perils of Java Schools.' I have read both articles and would like to throw out my two cents. The major conflict as I see it is, Sriram is making the point that Visual Studio is for all types of programmers from the super genius to the novice to the hobbyist programmer while Joel is for the super genius programmers and criticizing how Java hides the difficult tasks making it hard to tell the great programmers from the bad programmers.

In my current job I like software and programs that are easy to work with and provide a simple easy to use API. This allows me to focus on completing the task at hand increase the likely hood of hanging the program off to someone else to support. When I am at home I enjoy struggling with software and programs. I use these struggles to increase my knowledge. I want to figure out how to make hard tasks easy.

One of my issues with Sriram's posting is how he is cramming the solution to every problem into the C# view of the world. I like learning new programming languages because it changes how I view the world and how I approach problems. I have a fundamental view that there is always more then one way to solve a problem. What I have found is by learning different programming languages I have more ways of solving a problem. My work has a policy what we develop must develop in one specific language. So one day I was fighting with a piece of code written by another developer who left the company last year. I took a step back from the code and said if I was working in language X how would I solve this problem. In one of those light bulb moments the solution to my problem jumped into my head. I was able to fix the code in a few hours instead the three weeks everyone else around me was thinking it would take to rewrite the code.

Now for something slightly different. Dave Roberts' posting 'Commentary on "Lisp is Sin"' brings up some interesting counter points to Sriram's article.

List Of Search Engines

2006-01-23T11:21:00.000-06:00

I missed this the first time around. Lifehacker.com has post 'Seek and Ye Shall Find: Top Ten Alternative Search Engines.' I am tried a couple the search engines. I am impressed at how well each of the search engines stayed in its area of focus.

Flying Car Captured On Google Earth????

2006-01-23T10:56:00.000-06:00

I want my flying car now.

The Register has a picture of what could be a flying car. Let me know what you think?

Google Reader

2006-01-20T21:02:00.000-06:00

Original - 2005.10.09
Google has released its Reader program. Google Reader is a web based feed reader. I am not sure yet if I am going to try it out.

Update - 2006.01.20
Over are Niall Kennedy's Weblog there is a posting entitled 'Google Reader API'. One could use the information in this posting to extend or build their oen feed reader. I think I will have to look a little closer at Google Reader now.

Games For The Brain

2006-01-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

Exercising your mind has never been so fun. Games for the Brain offers more than 30 games that gives you a mental workout.

Technical Reference Cards

2006-01-19T22:13:00.000-06:00

Here are few refernce cards coving programming, database, administration, text editors and server admin for Windows and *nix.

Grafpup LiveCD

2006-01-19T21:50:00.000-06:00

Grafpup is a Live CD for digital imaging professionals and graphic artists. This distro includes: Gimp-2.2.9,Inkscape-0.42, Scribus-1.2.3, Cinepaint-0.20-1, Bluefish-1.40, Icewm-1.2.23, Opera-8.5, Gxine media player and Ted word processor.

Tweak Your PC

2006-01-13T10:43:00.000-06:00

Original - 2006.01.11
Diabolikal has an interesting article 'Tweak your PC and make it run faster.' I have applied a few of the tweaks. My computer does seem faster. I did not establish any base-line measurements so I can not quantify the improvements.

Update - 2006.01.13
The site Connected Internet has 'More Ways To Speed Up Windows XP.'

.NET Developers Blog

2006-01-13T09:54:00.000-06:00

Today I came across .NET Developers Blog. This blog is an aggregation of .NET developers who are not employed by Microsoft.

Tips To Becoming A Better Developer

2006-01-13T09:35:00.000-06:00

Steve Eichert has a posting entitled '7 Tips for becoming a better Software Developer.' I have been following many of these tips for years and found them to be vary effective.

I have just a couple of minor tweaks and enhancements. In Tip 1, Read, I would add trade magazines to the list. I have found an understanding of both the programming world and the specific industry you are currently working in to be critical to my career growth. In Tip 4, Blog It up, blogging about the things you don't know about from Tip 3. This provides you with content for your blog and a blog is a great place to collect knowledge that you can look up again.

I would like to also propose the addition of another tip. Get involved in your local user groups. User Groups provide you a great place to network with other professionals in the programming world. I also encourage you to give a presentation for the user group. This gives you a safe place to develop public speaking and presentation skills.