Cutting Edge: Windows Workflow Foundation, Part 2

Cutting Edge: Windows Workflow Foundation, Part 2

Article on Windows Workflow Foundation (v1) by Dino Esposito. It is a bit timed by still relevant if trying to understand the concepts behind the workflow infrastructure. The article shows how to run workflows in an ASP.NET (web) application.

Slide2Unlock2 Skin

Slide2Unlock2 Skin

Homepage for tPRO theme for S2U2 (Slide to unlock). This theme (skin) makes S2U2 fit into the overall look and feel of HTC Sense UI on Touch Diamond 2.

SlideIT - Auto Corrections

SlideIT is my new favorite text input method for PocketPC. It is so addictive that I started sliding my mouse over the screen on my PC after only a few minutes of using SlideIT on my phone.

There are additional languages available for download so it is easy to write in different languages.

It also allows one to store words into a language dictionary file so you can add your own words if you wish.

The only drawback I found is that the local characters are missing from the Croatian keyboard but are available in other soft keyboards I've tried.

However, now it is incredibly easy to write text. I don't have to type each character any more. Just sliding the finger over the keyboard does the work. The text prediction is so good that, according to my initial feeling, it gets over 90% hit rate. Only rarely I have to repeat or correct a word. If some word does not exist in the dictionary (although a lot of them do) it is easy to add it.

There is also a special-characters keyboard as well as keys for cursor movement and Cut/Copy/Paste.

So far, the idea and the implementation are impressive.

A Developer's Introduction to Windows Workflow Foundation (WF4) in .NET 4 Beta 2

A Developer's Introduction to Windows Workflow Foundation (WF4) in .NET 4 Beta 2

And now onto the Workflow Foundation...

Datapipe - BovineNet

Datapipe - BovineNet

Datapipe is a simple utility that maps ports. With this thing you can expose Google Desktop Search or ASP.NET Web Server, which only listen on localhost (127.0.0.1) interface, to a wider audience, having the DataPipe listen on the external interface and translates the calls to the localhost one. It is basically a pipe between the two interfaces.

Ef Poco And Unit Testing

Article on Ef Poco And Unit Testing, explaining how to approach unit testing with Entity Framework when using POCOs and persistence ignorance.

SandStorm by Darude - Grooveshark - Listen to Free Music Online

SandStorm by Darude - Grooveshark - Listen to Free Music Online

Interesting service for listening music online. The interface is in Flash and serves like a multimedia/audio player with a playlist and a large database of media available.

Better than recharging and carrying around a music player while at work.

SSMS Tools Pack

SSMS Tools Pack: "SSMS Tools Pack is an Add-In for Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (Express).
It contains a few upgrades to the IDE that I thought were missing from it."

How Do I Enable Windows Installer Logging?

AppDeploy > FAQs > How Do I Enable Windows Installer Logging?

The instructions at the link above describe how to enable Windows Installer logging in case you have problems. The key point is to create the registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer

and add a Reg_SZ (string) value of "voicewarmup". The letters in the value have different meanings and can be used to make logging more or less granular.

Best Free Disk Health Monitoring Program | Freeware Mission

Best Free Disk Health Monitoring Program | Freeware Mission

I just came across a review for a great disk monitoring utility. While I don't really need one now I know I'm going to need it again sooner or later. So, here is the link.

At the same time, the site above does reviews of other free software and is a decent source of information about freeware.

Microwave Cooking Part 2 - Cooking Vegetables - Home Cooking

More goodies about microwave cooking...

Microwave Cooking Part 2 - Cooking Vegetables - Home Cooking: "Microwave cooking preserves the color and texture of most vegetables better than conventional cooking. Because cooking vegetables in a microwave oven requires little or no water, more nutrients are retained. Microwave cooking also preserves and enhances natural flavors, which makes it less likely that you'll add extra salt."

ActiveSync error: support code 1 on a non-existent item - xda-developers

ActiveSync error: support code 1 on a non-existent item - xda-developers

While synchronizing my PocketPC (Windows Mobile 6.5) with Google and Outlook, I started getting an error "the following appointment failed to synchronize from the device". The issue at hand was a birthday that was probably deleted but left a ghost appointment somewhere.

Fortunately, after reading a while and searching for the right solution I came across the thread above that worked.

Using SKTools to view Recurring Appointments, in the PIM section, instead of Outlook, helped to find the one that was causing the problem. Issue was deleted and the sync continued without problems.

Google Desktop Search Hints

Files : I can't find: - Desktop for Windows Help

The page at the link above contains a few very interesting and important hints for cases when you can not find a desired file in the search results.

Limitations like 100,000 files being indexed initially, or not scanning files without extensions, or only indexing files that have an application that registers their extension, etc. are very good ones to have in mind about how GDS works.

How to establish trusts with a Windows NT-based domain in Windows Server 2003

How to establish trusts with a Windows NT-based domain in Windows Server 2003

Disable Password Requirements in Windows Server 2003 Domains

Disable Password Requirements in Windows Server 2003 Domains

Article on how to change the Password policy for domains.

ThumbApps.com - Overview

ThumbApps.com - Overview

ThumbCal is the best calendar/tasks application for touch-screen mobile devices (Windows Mobile) I have seen so far. Leaves the competition in the dust.

High amount of detail, convenience of use, finger-friendly, combines calendar with tasks and anniversaries and birthdays... This is definitely my favorite mobile application yet.

Split PDF Files

PDFill is a free PDF printer tool that comes equipped with a whole set of free tools for PDF file manipulation. If you need to split a PDF file or use any of the options below, grab yourself a copy if you don't already have one. It is also my PDF printer of choice or a tool to convert various documents to PDF format.

Using registry shortcuts to disable and enable screen savers in Windows XP

Using registry shortcuts to disable and enable screen savers in Windows XP

If you need to change screen saver settings using registry in Windows XP, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.

The keys containing screen saver related items start with ScreenSaver.

[APP] Manila Today Page (MTP) v0.4.0.0 (Updated 26 July 2009) - xda-developers

[APP] Manila Today Page (MTP) v0.4.0.0 (Updated 26 July 2009) - xda-developers

Manila Today Page is a program that will add a new tab to TouchFLO 3D (Manila), which will contain your Windows' Today screen. This is perfect if you have Today plugins that are now not displayed because of TouchFlo 3D interface on HTC smartphones.

Great plugins like SPB Diary, Pocket Quicken, and many others are now available again alongside the goodies that come with TouchFlo in the first place.

TeamCity :: Distributed Build Management and Continuous Integration Server - Download

TeamCity :: Distributed Build Management and Continuous Integration Server - Download

Here is one (more) free option for continuous integration. JetBrains allows Professional Edition of TeamCity to be used free of charge.

And here is a nice article describing how to set up TeamCity with Mercurial as a CI server.

mybrowserbar.com in Firefox

I just sorted an annoyance where any unsuccessful access to a web site in Firefox would result in being redirected to www.mybrowserbar.com. There I'd be presented with a bunch of links and other stuff I don't really want to see. Doing web development this is really annoying since I want to stay at the requested URL location, whether the server responds properly or not.
As it turns out, this annoyance comes with PDFForge. It installs PDFForge Toolbar. The solution to the above situation was to uninstall the Pdfforge Toolbar from Windows.
Also make sure you remove the Firefox addon.