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Essays on thinking clearly, working for yourself, and doing real work while AI rewrites the rules. Two decades of them.
The .NET Developer Search Engine
Dan Appleman's SearchDotNet.com is a custom Google search scoped to expert .NET sites, cutting through generic noise when Google fails you.
2007.04.13Read →Codeplex is down?
This morning, I went to log into Codeplex and I got the dreaded YSOD
2007.04.12Read →
Keyboard Shortcuts for TestDriven.NET
How to bind a keyboard shortcut in Visual Studio for TestDriven.NET's Run Tests command, so you can stop right-clicking to run your tests.
2007.04.06Read →Handling unexpected exceptions and tracing
How to catch unhandled ASP.NET errors globally with Application_Error, log them via trace listeners, and stop leaking YSOD details to users.
2007.04.01Read →ASP.NET HOWTO: Enable Default Enter Button in ASP.NET 2.0
How to make the Enter key submit an ASP.NET 2.0 form: set the HtmlForm's DefaultButton property instead of writing custom JavaScript.
2007.03.29Read →Overcomplicating simple things – ASP.NET AJAX Confirmation Button Extender
The ASP.NET AJAX ConfirmButtonExtender does the same job as a one-line OnClientClick confirm() call, just with a lot more overhead.
2007.03.28Read →error CS0030: Cannot convert type (Login.master)
CS0030 'cannot convert type' error after precompiling? Don't name your master page code-behind class Login - it collides with ASP.NET's own class.
2007.03.27Read →IIS 7 – This configuration section cannot be used at this path.
Fixing IIS 7's 500.19 configuration lock error by changing overrideModeDefault to Allow in applicationHost.config, or unlocking it via appcmd.
2007.03.26Read →Using Excel to help with Data formatting (SQL Scripts)
How to use Excel's LEFT, MID, RIGHT, and SEARCH functions to turn messy copy-pasted address data into ready-to-run SQL INSERT scripts.
2007.03.23Read →HOWTO: Build a Store Locator in ASP.NET
A full ASP.NET store locator: geocoding addresses with the Google Maps API, a SQL distance calculation, and downloadable source code.
2007.03.17Read →
HOWTO: Debugging JavaScript using “debugger;”
How to debug JavaScript inside Visual Studio using the debugger keyword, plus the Internet Explorer settings you need to flip to enable it.
2007.03.15Read →Notepad++ Shortcuts – Vista 64bit Update
My old XP registry trick for launching Notepad++ by typing n broke on Vista x64, so here's the updated reg file plus shell integration.
2007.03.14Read →