I was looking through the code of the new BlogEngine.NET project last week, and noticed that it implements the ASP.NET Provider Model. Cool an example I can study! I've been trying to spend some time lately to learn more about design patterns, so this was an interesting find for me.

If you look at the code for BlogEngine.NET you'll see that it is a rather simple application that demonstrates a working implementation of the ASP.NET Provider Model that you can learn from.

Go check out the code and learn how to implement the ASP.NET Provider Model by example!

Related Links:
Introduction to the Provider Model
BlogEngine.NET - full featured blog engine targeted at .NET developers. It is light weight and very simple to modify and extend.
.NET Slave - Mads Kristensen's Blog (don't forget to thank him for BlogEngine.NET!)

Thanks Mads!

I've had Google Analytics set up on my site since the middle of January so I can get an idea on what content gets the most traffic. The goal has been satisfied; I know which pages get the most hits. Now, if there were a way to integrate it within my RSS feed... but that is another topic to discuss elsewhere.

I was looking at some of my referral keywords from search engines, and I thought I'd share some of them. I was actually a little surprise that some of my posts ranked as high as they did with some of these keywords.

TOP 10 Keywords:
web messenger
vista ultimate key
vista ultimate product key
msn web messenger
webmessenger
msn webmessenger
webmessenger.msn.com
vista ultimate cd key
system.drawing.color
asp.net 2.0 javascript

Keywords where I'm the First Result in the list:
sql parse
javascript loop document

Strange (this actually kind of scares me):
i love web messenger

Before the MSDN Article (it wasn't my goal, but what can I do?):
vbscript error '800a03e9'

On First Page of Search Results:
wisconsin .net users group
easiest version of linux
build cheap media pc
app.config .net 1.1
asp.net multiline
.net nested forms
flash vista 64
virtual earth v5
virtual earth asp.net control
like ms paint
hex color C#
.net extension methods
indexer property c#
64 bit internet explorer
asp.net parse url
receiveserverdata
how to build a successful blog
belkin driver
urlmapping
vb.net regex
control dell laptop fan
.net syntax highlighting
vista dvd backup
asp.net boundfield
event log C#
asp.net javascript include
asp.net 2.0 javascript
virtualization x64

As you can see my site comes up alot when searching for both MSN Web Messenger and Vista Ultimate Product Keys. I would prefer some of my more technical content come up instead, but I guess there are lot of people searching those two things. I have even had alot of people email and comment asking me to send them my Vista CD Key; as if I'm going to share it.

Hopefully next time I look through my referral keywords I'll find some more interesting and/or funny ones.

When GMail for My Domain was first available I set it up for SlapDev.com to test it out. It was really simple to setup and you get the benefit of the regular GMail web client for reading your emails. It's pretty neat.

I'm thinking about moving my email hosting for PietschSoft.com over to GMail for My Domain. Have any of you been using it? Could you give me some feedback on your experiences?

Is PietschSoft.VE Dead?

I've had a couple people ask me lately if the PietschSoft.VE project is dead since there hasn't been a release in about 2 months. The answer is: No, it isn't dead, I just haven't had alot of time the last few weeks to work on it.

Ajax

I am actually still working on adding full Ajax support, using UpdatePanels as the enablers. It is turning out to be pretty cool.

Virtual Earth v5

Also, since Microsoft recently released Virtual Earth v5, I have my work cut out rewriting the pushpin, polygon and polyline code to use the new Shape layers.

So, don't worry, the project is very much still alive.

Update 11/7/2007: There is a new version of PietschSoft.VE, and it has been renamed to Web.Maps.VE! Web.Maps.VE has a much richer Ajax feature set than PietschSoft.VE. It is located here: http://simplovation.com/Page/WebMapsVE.aspx

What to eliminate DRM? And, give the rights back to the consumer? People have been complaining about it for how long; but the solution is rather simple. Don't buy it! If you don't buy DRM protected content, the producers of such content will be forced to release DRM-less content. As simple as that.

If you set the visible property of TabPanels within your TabContainer to false, it still shows the Header Text in the page when rendered. What should happen is any TabPanels with Visible set to False should be hidden. A fix for this has been posted to the AJAX Control Toolkits Issue Tracker, but we have to wait for the next release to get the fix in place.

Is there a work around?

Below is an Inherited class I created using the fix described to allow me to fix this issue myself until the next release.

public class FixedTabContainer : AjaxControlToolkit.TabContainer
{
   protected override void RenderHeader(HtmlTextWriter writer)
   {
      foreach (TabPanel panel in Tabs)
      {
         if (panel.Visible) //added this line
            panel.RenderHeader(writer);
      }
   }
}

Well, actually, the above code doesn't work!

Compiler Error Message: CS0122: 'AjaxControlToolkit.TabPanel.RenderHeader(System.Web.UI.HtmlTextWriter)' is inaccessible due to its protection level

I then tried to Inherit from the AjaxControlToolkit.TabPanel class within my namespace, but that doesn't get around the protection level of the RenderHeader method.

Conclusion

Basically, the only way to fix this before the next release comes (that is assuming they put the fix in the next release) is to implement this fix in the toolkit's source code yourself and then compiling it in. This is actually something I don't like to do just in case I make some change to the toolkit manually and then forget to carry that over when upgrading to the latest version when it comes out, but it is nice you have the ability to do is since the AJAX Control Toolkit is Open Source.

UPDATE:
Here's a rather easy workaround that I found to this issue... You just set Visible to False and set the HeaderText to a blank string if you don't want the TabPanel to be shown. This worked perfectly in the instance I needed it to work. Below is a simplified version of what I did.

<ajaxToolkit:TabPanel runat="server" ID="tabPeople" Visible='<%# ShouldBeShow() %>' HeaderText='<%# ShouldBeShow() ? "People" : "" %>'>

A couple days ago, Microsoft released Virtual Earth v5.0. So, what's new?

Improved Support for Feature Cusomization

• Virtual Earth Shapes - Easily customize and modify pusphins, polylines and polygons with the new Virtual Earth Shape class. Customize line colors, widths and transparencies of shapes, as well as add custom icons.
• Info Boxes - Shapes now have associated info boxes which can be shown and hidden as a response to user actions (e.g. clicking on the shape). The info box text and text style are completely customizable.
• Find Method - More customizable find method integrates the new Shape class to find locations and businesses easier than before.
• Keyboard and Mouse Events - Override almost any keyboard or mouse event, and use it to execute any Virtual Earth map action.

Rich End-User Experience

• Bird's Eye Panning - Pan continuously across the map in bird's eye view.
• Tile Over-fetching - Programmatically enable tile downloading to either increase panning performance or optimize page load time.
• Small Navigation Controls - New options for end users to customize the interface by utilizing two new options for smaller navigation controls.
• Mini Map - The mini map provides a small map legend, giving the user better bearings as they navigate.
• Compressed Map Control - The map control code base is now compressed, reducing the initial download size to around 25% of the original download.
• Programmatic Market Selection - Localized market support, beginning with Japan, which is now supported in the Virtual Earth API

New Level of Control and Flexibility

• Pushpins, Polylines and Polygons - Once seperately-coded objects, the new Virtual Earth shapes are now richer and easier to customize. Move shapes on the fly, show and hide them programmatically, and give them custom icons using your own image or your own HTML.
• GeoRSS Imports - Import pushpins, polylines and polygons using the GeoRSS feed, which is becoming the de facto standard.
• Info Boxes - Shapes can now store HTML and CSS content for custom info boxes, which can be shown or hidden programmatically.
• Shape Layers - New and improved shape management capabilities allow grouping of pushpins, polylines and polygons. Show or hide a group of shapes, or make changes to the individual shapes within them.
• Find Method - Easily customize search results with the updated find method which sends the resulting pushpins directly to a shape layer.
• Tile Layers - The tile layer interface, used for adding, deleting, showing, and hiding tile layers, is now more straightforward and easier to use.

So much to do, oh my!

As you can see from the fairly decent list of changes made from v4 to v5, I have a bit of work to do on my PietschSoft.VE ASP.NET AJAX Virtual Earth Mapping Server Control. I wasn't even finished with fully implementing v4 yet, and now they've blind sighted me with v5.

I just have to keep on coding...

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Apparently displaying the secret key hidden on all HD-DVD disks is a violation of the DMCA. Hmm...

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Move Inc. has just hired Lorna Borenstein to be the new President of Move Inc.

How does this relate to Google?

Lorna Borenstein is married to David Lawee (Vice President, Marketing at Google).

Even though Lorna Borenstein has a large list of really impressive qualifications (and am in no way trying to belittle that, I do find them quite impressive), I can't help but speculate that the Move Inc. Board of Directors may have took the fact of who she's married to into consideration when deciding to hire her.

Move Inc. has been making changes over the last year and are continuing to make changes to revitalize the company, and I am wondering what new "ties" (completely speculating) to Google this new hire may bring for Move Inc.

I base this on the fact that I know I can't keep my work completely secret from my spouse, and I'm sure they are no different.

Disclaimer: The opinions and viewpoints expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of its sponsors, or of my employer, its partners, or employees. This blog is written by me and therefore I am solely responsible for its content.