You know what really grinds my gears?

Posted on February 7, 2008 by Matt

ASP.NET AJAX and IE7!

So i’m a Microsoft Student partner. i work at a microsoft gold partner software consulting firm. i’m coding in Microsoft .NET, testing out ASP.NET AJAX code….. but i’m not an IE7 user. I use Firefox. It was testing in IE7 by default from Visual Studio 2005. For an hour it wasn’t running right.  By “right” i mean stuff just was not loading where it should as determined by design view.  I put the test address in Firefox and everything looked just fine and dandy.

After a bit of googling on a hunch, Javascript was turned off.  So I had to be all ninja-ish and remember how to get the file, edit, tools,  panels back up (F10 for those who are wondering).  Then I manage to find my way through the labryinth of options to the Javascript option which I found out is disabled by default!

By enabling Javascript the page worked like a charm.  That whole process to find that one little issue, that really grinds my gears!

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InsaneGB – 5GB Free Web Hosting for Everyone!

Posted on December 11, 2007 by Matt

Finding a reliable, free host is very difficult. Conflicting reviews across the internet and on the web hosting forums always confuse the seeking customer. Today, I just wanted to tell you about a great, new Free Web Hosting site called InsaneGB.

What do you get?

If you sign up (for free) at InsaneGB.com, you will get:

  • 5GB Web Space
  • 20GB Data Transfer
  • UNLIMITED MySQL Databases
  • UNLIMITED Addon Domain Names
  • UNLIMITED FTP Accounts
  • UNLIMITED E-Mail Accounts
  • cPanel

Did you notice it says free cpanel? It’s hard to find free cpanel these days… I pay like $20/mo on my dedicated server just to get it. This size hosting package is perfect for someone running a couple of blogs. You get unlimited databases and addon domains, so the number of sites you put in your account is endless. You can either sign up with your own existing domain, or you can create a free subdomain (such as mydomain.insanegb.com). This is great for those of you on a strict budget and want to create sites without purchasing a ton of $10 domains.

No Ads!

Finding a free webhost that doesn’t litter your site with advertisements is pretty rare. Well, InsaneGB is completely ad free! Another solid reason why you should go sign up.

Sign Up Process

The signup process at InsaneGb is quick and easy. You go through a couple of steps on the form and then your account is created automatically. No waiting around for someone to flip the switch. You can have your website up in 10 minutes.

Support

With InsaneGB, you get 24/7 support. They also have a support forum where members can interact with other to get live help and hosting tips.

All in all, InsaneGB is a great free hosting company. They give you a solid starter package with 5GB disk space absolutely free, and best of all there are no crazy ads or pop ups. If you’re in the market for free hosting, you have to check them out. Even if you have current hosting, why not sign up for an account and use it for test sites and backups?

Posted in Advertising, Blogging | 2 Comments

Question of the Day: Does the Origami Experience interface work for the UMPC?

Posted on October 15, 2007 by Matt

In my view, the OE interface is great.  For some time as of recently, as i like working at a maxed out resolution,  i’ve realized at time it can be hard tapping on precisely the right spot on the screen.  I think the oversized icons  work great as touchable buttons.  Also I don’t use the Q1b as a normal PC.  For as much as i “could” per se, i don’t.  Normally my uses are restricted to OneNote, IE, Outlook, and Trillian.

So given my not so intense needs, and my desire for a better interface would i be crazy in saying maybe that UMPC UI could be improved by moving more toward a Origami Experience-esque interface.  I would say yes.  I think it would simplify things quite a bit.

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Another look at using the Q1

Posted on October 12, 2007 by Matt

So posts have been lacking here as of recently.  I think it goes without saying i’ve been busy.  But in retrospect, the Q1b helps quite a bit.  Over the past summer I worked at a tech summer camp.  I was “on-site” so I stayed with the campers in the college dorm from Monday-Friday, and luckily got to go home on the weekends.  Long story short I can’t help but feel like i was kinda living out of a suitcase for about two months there.  However the Q1b with Organizer Pack was a great computer to have with me there.  Granted there were other computers, it was a computer camp!, but just on downtime to check email or blogs in my room, it worked very well.

Now we get to this school year.  Ok, i’ll qualify my busyness…  So long as I pass all my classes, I’ll be graduating in April.  So yeah, that means i’ve got the upper level CS courses that are left in the Information Systems program, and also a few Management courses also in the mix.  But given my sporatic schedule of classes, I have found particularly on Tuesday and Thursday the Q1b seems to be a life saver.  My first class begins at 10 and goes until 11:15.  Ok, OneNote.  then I’ve got a hour and 45 minute break until my next class at 1pm.  Then usually just lecture/discussion.  I wont lie, i don’t take many notes in that class.  Then another hour and 45 minute break and I’ve got class downtown at 4pm.  Again, OneNote.  But having such a small machine that I can easily throw in my backpack with my books is a life saver.  It also helps being able to pull it out on the bus going between campuses and go over notes or read RSS feeds that i’d pulled during the hour.

So my apologies for allowing the posting frequency to become so lax, but the works getting tough, but the Q1b is helping me keep it all together.

Posted in UMPC | Comments Off on Another look at using the Q1