Cyber Height

The reality of EVO 3G Nitro 9.3

2011-06-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

I am software engineer by profession so my life is incomplete without Internet. Generally I use Wateen and Qubee Internet connections (1MBPS) but one day I got an on-line job that required more speed on Internet. So I thought of WorldCall, PTCL broadband and PTCL Nitro 9.3. I thought PTCL Nitro 9.3 would be the best, according to speed and as it is USB device, I could use it with my laptop without external power.

So I decided to buy PTCL Evo Nitro 9.3. As I called the sales person he was at my doorstep in next hour with a bag on his shoulder.

I took him to my drawing room and asked about the service and speed of Evo Nitro 9.3. He told me thousands of advantages and I came to know that PTCL Evo Nitro 9.3 is the best ever Internet service in the world.

He did not give me a demo of the device. Instead he told me that my area is best to use this device, for signals and for speed both. He asked for Rs. 7000/- and I gave him at once and took Evo Nitro 9.3 device. I was thinking I'm the most lucky person of the world at that moment.

He told he will submit the money into account and Internet will be active within 2 hours. And he was true, as he went, I proudly saw 2 hours to my Evo Nitro device and then I plugged in the device and installed it.

I saw only 1,2 signal bars were appearing and disappearing. I thought "No problem, that signals would be enough to run my super fast Internet". and when I opened my hotmail's account, it started loading... and loading... and loading...

Approximately after 1+ minute the page loaded completely, I thanked God and opened Youtube.com, and it again took almost 2 minutes to load Youtube's home page. Then I clicked a video and it started loading....

My heartbeat was so high at that time. I could see my dreams ruined.

I could not run even a single Youtube video smoothly. I checked the speed on Internet download manager software (IDM) and I was near to heartattack when I saw the download speed was 50 KBPS.

In the evening I went to my cousin's house and connected the Evo Nitro 9.3 again. Luckily the signals were 100%. I was again happy to see that I could get best speed here. But as I started browsing and Youtube video, it was the same.

Very next day I went to PTCL's finance office and returned my device. They said "the sales person will return you the money after 15 days".

After 15 days I called the sales person and he told me he will come to me after an hour with amount of Rs. 5000/-, I asked him why only 5000? Why not 7000? He told me this is our policy that PTCL returns only 5000.
I waited for him for an hour but he did not come. I called him again and he cut my call. I thought he maybe near to my home so he cut my call. But after waiting half an hour I called him again, and he said he will come to me in 30 minutes. I started waiting for him. And the day passed, he told me he'll come in the morning...

And today after more than 1 month he came to me and returned me Rs. 5000/-. I'm so happy to have it in my pocket. Someone told me these sales persons keep Rs. 2000/- by themselves, but I'm still happy I got 5000. I thought I gave him Rs. 2000/- as "Sadqa-o-khairaat".

Iqbal teray dais ka kya haal sunaon

2009-11-10T04:15:00.000-08:00

Iqbal teray days ka kya haal sunaon

dehqaan to mer khap gaya, ub kis ko jagaon
milta hai kahaan khosha-e-gandum kay jalaaon
shaheen ka hai gumbad-e-shahi pay basera
kunjishk far-o-maya ko ub kis say laraaon

Iqbal teray days ka kya haal sunaon

makkari-o-aiyari-o-ghaddari-o-hayjaan
ub banta hai in chaar anaasir say musalman
qari isay kehna to bari baat hai yaro
is nay to kabhi khole kay dekha nahi Quran

bay baaki-o-haq goi say ghabrata hai momin
makkari-o-robahi pay itrata hai momin
jis rizq say parwaz mein kotahi ka der ho
wo rizq baray shauq say khata hai momin

shaheen ka jahaan, aaj mamolay ka jahaan hai
milti hui mulla say mujahid key azaan hai
maana kay sitaron say bhi aagay hain jahaan aur
shaheen mein magar taqat-e-parwaz kahaan hai

kirdaar ka, guftaar ka, aamal ka momin
qayel nahi esay kisi janjaal ka momin
sarhad ka hai momin, koi bangaal ka momin
dhoonday say bhi milta nahi Quran ka momin

her daardhi mein tinka hai, her aankh mein shehteer
momin key nigahon say ub badalti nahi taqdeer
tawheed key talwaron say khali hain neyamein
ub zauq-e-yaqeen say nahi kat-tee koi zanjeer

dekho to zara mehlon kay pardon ko utha ker
shamsheer-o-sinaan rakhi hain taaqon mein saja ker
aatay hain nazar masnad-e-shahi pay rangeelay
taqdeer-e-umam so gei, taaous pay aa ker

mer mer key silon say koi bay zaar nahi hai
rehnay ko haram mein koi teiyar nahi hai
kehnay ko her shakhs musalman hai lekin
dekho to kahin naam ko kirdar nahi hai

Mehmudon key saff, aaj Ayazon say paray hai
jamhur say sultani-e-jamhur waray hai
thaamay huay daaman hai, yahan per jo khudi ka
mer mer kay jiye hai, kabhi jee jee kay meray hai

payda kabhi hoti thee seher, jis key azaan say
us banda-e-momin ko main ub laaon kahaan say
wo sajda, zameen jis say laraz jaati thee yaro
ek bar hum chhut gaye, is baar-e-garaan say

Setup Paypal pro in asp.net c#

2009-05-18T05:29:00.000-07:00

I used the following function for Paypal pro.

public static string DoDirectPaymentCode(string paymentAction, string amount, string creditCardType, string creditCardNumber, string expdate_month, string cvv2Number, string firstName, string lastName, string address1, string city, string state, string zip, string countryCode, string currencyCode)
{
NVPCallerServices caller = new NVPCallerServices();
IAPIProfile profile = ProfileFactory.createSignatureAPIProfile();
/*
WARNING: Do not embed plaintext credentials in your application code.
Doing so is insecure and against best practices.
Your API credentials must be handled securely. Please consider
encrypting them for use in any production environment, and ensure
that only authorized individuals may view or modify them.
*/

// Set up your API credentials, PayPal end point, API operation and version.
profile.APIUsername = "sdk-three_api1.sdk.com";
profile.APIPassword = "QFZCWN5HZM8VBG7Q";
profile.APISignature = "AVGidzoSQiGWu.lGj3z15HLczXaaAcK6imHawrjefqgclVwBe8imgCHZ";
profile.Environment = "Live";
caller.APIProfile = profile;

NVPCodec encoder = new NVPCodec();
encoder["VERSION"] = "51.0";
encoder["METHOD"] = "DoDirectPayment";

// Add request-specific fields to the request.
encoder["PAYMENTACTION"] = paymentAction;
encoder["AMT"] = amount;
encoder["CREDITCARDTYPE"] = creditCardType;
encoder["ACCT"] = creditCardNumber;
encoder["EXPDATE"] = expdate_month;
encoder["CVV2"] = cvv2Number;
encoder["FIRSTNAME"] = firstName;
encoder["LASTNAME"] = lastName;
encoder["STREET"] = address1;
encoder["CITY"] = city;
encoder["STATE"] = state;
encoder["ZIP"] = zip;
encoder["COUNTRYCODE"] = countryCode;
encoder["CURRENCYCODE"] = currencyCode;

// Execute the API operation and obtain the response.
string pStrrequestforNvp = encoder.Encode();
string pStresponsenvp = caller.Call(pStrrequestforNvp);

NVPCodec decoder = new NVPCodec();
decoder.Decode(pStresponsenvp);
return decoder["ACK"];

}

The following references are required:
using com.paypal.sdk.services;
using com.paypal.sdk.profiles;
using com.paypal.sdk.util;

The follwing dlls are required:
paypal_base.dll and log4net.dll

Setup LAMP (Linux, Apache, Mysql, PHP) server on Linux / CentOS

2008-11-03T01:58:00.000-08:00

To setup LAMP server install a CentOS or Linux server and follow this step by step guide.

Install Apache

Apache is a the most popular Web HTTP server for a Linux servers.
Use this command on Terminal (Applications->Terminal), it will download and install Apache server

=> yum install httpd httpd-devel

To start Apache server use the following command:

=> /etc/init.d/httpd start

Install MySQL Database Server

MySQL is widely used open source database server on most linux servers and can very well integrated to PHP and Apache server in Centos/RHEL. To download/install mysql type the following command and press enter

=> yum install mysql mysql-server mysql-devel

Changing MySQL Root Password

By default the root password is empty for mysql database. It is a good idea to change mysql root password to a new one from security point of view. Use the following commands on Terminal.

=> /etc/init.d/mysqld start
=> mysql
mysql> USE mysql;
mysql> UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD('newpassword') WHERE user='root';
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Install PHP5 Scripting Language

Installing PHP5 with necessary modules is so easy and can be configured for both Apache and mysql environment. Use the following command to install PHP

=>yum install php php-mysql php-common php-gd php-mbstring php-mcrypt php-devel php-xml

Restart the apache to load php.

=> /etc/init.d/httpd restart

To test PHP Working or not:
Create a file named /var/www/html/test.php with the following phpinfo() function inside php quotes.

// test.php

Then point your browser to http://localhost/test.php

At this point mostly users get the error 403 - Permission denied, to resolve this problem use the following command

=> chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html

Now the owner of the folder is the current user.

Install phpMyAdmin

Since phpMyAdmin is not available by yum by default, you need to get the rpm and then yum it.

=> wget http://packages.sw.be/packages/rpmforge-release/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
=> rpm -ivh rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
=> yum install phpmyadmin

Configure the Apache and MySQL to run during startup in CentOS

=> chkconfig httpd on
=> chkconfig mysqld on

Now pint your browser to localhost/phpmyadmin you will see the permission's error, to resolve this problem
edit the file /usr/share/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php.

=> vi /usr/share/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php

and put a blowfish secret
$cfg['blowfish_secret'] = 'secret';

Now refresh the browser and phpmyadmin will ask for user name and password, type root in user name and your newpassword in password field.

Using / setup webform module in Drupal

2008-10-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

This module adds a webform nodetype to your Drupal site. Typical uses for webform are to create questionnaires, contact or request/register forms, surveys, polls or a front end to issues tracking systems.

Submissions from a webform are saved in a database table and can optionally be mailed to a nominated e-mail address upon submission. Past submissions are viewable for users with the correct permissions.

Webform includes some simple statistical tools to help in form design and evaluation and also allows the whole table to be downloaded as a csv file for detailed statistical analysis.

1. Download the web_form module from http://drupal.org/project/webform.

2. Decompress it to yoursite/sites/all/module's folder.

3. Go to Administer->Site building->Modules, and enable web_form module which is located under "Other" section.

A content type by the name webform is automatically created.

4. To create a web form go to Create content->WebForm and write the Title of your form, e.g. Customer information, User details etc.

5. The form can optionaly be emailed after user submission, so you can specify email addresses under Webform mail settings section, and click Submit button.

6. In the next step you can add custom fields to the form which include text boxe, check box, radio button etc.

7. Save the form and create a menu link to the form.

Using Selenium on Windows platform

2008-09-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

PHPUnit:
PHPUnit helps test the back-end of your web application by running through certain parts (units) and test them, comparing them with the expected output. It is a testing framework to create and run automated unit tests for your web application.

Selenium:
Selenium is a suite of test tools to help test the front-end of your web application. The front -end being the visual aspect, and browser compatibility. Using Selenium you can create automated tests to ensure your product is less prone to errors.

Steps to install and configure Selenium:

Install PHP
Install jdk (Java)
Go to PHP folder and make sure there is a file "go-pear.bat"
Go to command prompt and go to the PHP directory.
Run the go-pear.bat. You can do it by typing go-pear on the command prompt and pressing enter. It will start the process to install PEAR in your PHP.
After completing the PEAR isntallation, type these two commands and press enter subsequently:
pear channel-discover pear.phpunit.de
pear install phpunit/PHPUnit
These two commands will install PHPUnit on your system.
After PHPUnit installation, you need to install Testing_Selenium. To do so type the following on command prompt and press enter:
pear install Testing_Selenium-beta
Download Selenium RC (remote control) from http://selenium-rc.openqa.org/download.html.
Unzip the Selenium RC folder and place it to easily accessible place like C:\ drive. (i.e. c:\selenium).
Now run the Selenium server by using the following command on DOS prompt
java -jar selenium/selenium-server.jar
(You must be in the Selenium server directory on the command prompt)
Install Selenium IDE to create test cases. Export the test cases as PHP test cases.
After creating the test cases, you need to run them. For that purpose your current directory should be PHP (there will be a batch file named phpunit.bat). Type and enter the following command and the test will run:
phpunit testname.php

Thats it, enjoy working with Selenium.

What is RSS? Benefits & Reasons for using RSS

2008-09-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

What is RSS?
RSS ("Rich Site Summary" or sometimes called "Really Simple Syndication") is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs, magazines and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.

Why RSS? Benefits and Reasons for using RSS
RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site's email newsletter. The number of sites offering RSS feeds is growing rapidly and includes big names like Yahoo News.

Setup and using AuthorContact module in Drupal

2008-09-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

Shows a contact form that contacts the author of the current node.

Description

When installed, creates a block that shows a contact form that when submitted, sends a simple contact email to the author of the current node. This might be useful for a blog or auction site, for example.

Configuration and usage steps:

Download the module from http://drupal.org/project/authorcontact.
Install the module (unzip and place in sites/all/modules folder).
Go to Administer->Site building->Blocks and enable the AuthorContact module.
Go to configuration of the module and specify the node where you want to show the contact form.

Note: The contact form only appears on node pages

Setup CiviCRM module in Drupal

2008-08-12T04:17:00.001-07:00

CiviCRM is an open source and freely downloadable constituent relationship management solution. CiviCRM is web-based, open source, internationalized, and designed specifically to meet the needs of advocacy, non-profit and non-governmental groups. Integration with both Drupal and Joomla! content management systems gives you the tools to connect, communicate and activate your supporters and constituents.

Download the CiviCRM module from http://civicrm.org/download.
Unzip the file and place CiviCRM module folder into your website’s sites/all/modules folder.
Login with administrator to your Drupal website and point the web browser to the following URL: http://your-sitename/sites/all/modules/civicrm/drupal/install/index.php
CiviCRM installation screen will appear, fill the text boxes with correct Drupal database information.
Click the Install button.
Go to admin->Site building->modules and enable CiviCRM module.
Go to admin->Site building->blocks and assign the appropriate regions to CiviCRM’s blocks (there appear 4 CiviCRM blocks named "CiviCRM Menu", "CiviCRM Quick Add", "CiviCRM Search" and "CiviCRM Shortcuts".
Go to admin->User management->Access control and assign proper permissions to roles for CiviCRM.

Cross browser common CSS issues

2008-08-08T05:41:00.001-07:00

Web developers mostly face cross browser CSS problems. These issues mostly arise while working in Fireforx, IE, Safari, Opera etc. Here I've discussed some common CSS issues:

Firefox requires a clearing element for floats where Opera does not. If you use floating elements in your layout, it often breaks up in Firefox if you don't have an element with CSS "clear" attribute. Opera isn't as strict as Firefox on this one - I don't know which is the correct behavior.
hr tags look different in almost all browsers. Also, hr tag doesn't style in a very crossbrowser-friendly way. If you want a fancier horizontal rule than a 1px line, consider using a div instead.
Internet Explorer does not understand CSS vertical-align properly. When centering things and using line-height+vertical align, it doesn't work properly in IE. Try using relative positioning or margins instead.
Firefox may display CSS margins differently from IE and Opera. I tried moving a block of elements down so an absolutely positioned element would appear properly above them. It worked fine in IE and Opera but Firefox moved down the absolutely positioned element too. Try using padding instead.
Internet Explorer does not support the :hover property in any other element than a. If you want to use :hover styles in other elements than links, create a class with the same styles as the hover and use JavaScript onmouseover and onmouseout instead.
Internet Explorer ignores top margins of elements right after absolutely positioned elements.
Internet Explorer treats img tags in a weird way and seems to add padding/margin to them even if you set them to zero. This can be fixed by wrapping the image in a div, setting the div to have position: relative and then setting the img to have position: absolute. No left or top attributes are needed. Note that this only works if your image has a set width and height because the wrapper div needs to have defined width/height. If the image's width/height may change, try using overflow: hidden on the div.
Internet Explorer does not support CSS attribute selectors (ie. input[type=text]). Use classes instead.
Internet Explorer requires text-align:center to center the content of a page. Usually you'd use margin:0 auto to center an element; This doesn't work in IE. To center in IE, give the parent element of the element you want to center the attribute text-align: center. Remember to give the centered element text-align: left, otherwise its contents will be centered too.

og (Organic group) module setup / usage in Drupal

2008-08-08T03:40:00.000-07:00

Organic group module enables users to create and manage their own 'groups'. Each group can have subscribers, and maintains a group home page where subscribers communicate amongst themselves. They do so by posting the usual node types: blog, story, page, etc. A block is shown on the group home page which facilitates these posts. The block also provides summary information about the group.

Download and extract the Views module into your /sites/all/modules directory, and enabled Views and Veiws_RSS under Admin->Site Building->Modules.
Download and extract the Organic Groups Module into your sites->all->modules directory.
Go to Admin->Site Building->Modules and enable the OG module.
Go to Admin->Content Management->Content Types and create a new content type. I entered the following:

Name = Group
Type=groups
Description=A collection of people with a common goal
Title field label=Group Name
Body field label=blank
Minimum number of words = 0
Explanation or submission guidelines = blank for now
Default Options= Published, Not Promoted, Not Sticky, Don't create new revisions
Default comment settings = Disabled
Save Content Type

Go to Admin>>Organic Groups>>Organic Groups Config and:
- Access Control: Enable/Disabled your choice (I need to read up on this some more. I've used Taxonomy_Access in the past).
- Group Details: Pretty self explanitory.
- Node authoring form: Whatever seems right to you. Under Omitted Content Types, you'll probably want to select the "Group" content type you created above, but that might happen automatically after the next step.
- Group home page: Under Group home page node types, pick your Group Content type you created above.
- Email settings: as desired.
- Member pictures: as desired.
Go to Admin>>User Management>>Access Control and set certain roles to create and edit and edit own Groups.
Now you can go to Create Content>>Group and create your first group.

Visual studio 2008 new features

2008-08-07T22:25:00.000-07:00

Visual Studio 2008 offers an improved developer experience through a number of new features, including an improved Designer, more modern CSS editing options, and enhanced JavaScript debugging and development support. Visual Studio 2008 can target web applications to the .NET 2.0, .NET 3.0, or .NET 3.5 environments, meaning you can start using Visual Studio 2008 today to work on your ASP.NET 2.0 websites.

Let’s look at each of these new features individually.

In previous versions of Visual Studio, developers can choose to use the Designer or the Source view when editing the visual component of an ASP.NET page. The Designer provides a WYSIWYG display of the page, whereas the Source view displays the actual markup of the controls. Visual Studio 2008 offers a new Split screen feature, which shows the markup in one pane and the WYSIWYG display in another. When in Split mode, adding content to the Designer automatically updates the markup in the Source view. Unfortunately, the inverse is not true. If you enter new markup manually into the Source view, you either have to save the page or click a button to refresh the Designer view.

With Microsoft’s increasing commitment to AJAX, it comes as no surprise that Visual Studio 2008 offers much better JavaScript support. The design- and debug-time experiences have been greatly improved. When writing JavaScript through the Source view, developers are provided with the same level and functionality of IntelliSense support as they are accustomed to when writing server-side code. This includes IntelliSense support for both in-line JavaScript and for script referenced through external JavaScript files (i.e., script files referenced via syntax like ). You can even add IntelliSense “hints” to your JavaScript functions using XML comments, just like you can with C# and VB code.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Microsoft recently announced that they would be releasing the .NET Framework code the public. What’s especially cool is that you can point Visual Studio 2008 to a URL that contains the debugging symbols for the .NET Framework, at which point you can step into the .NET Framework code through the debugger. This should provide developers with a deeper understanding of what’s happening underneath the covers of the framework.

Using or setup QuickTabs module in Drupal

2008-08-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

QuickTabs module creates javascript based tabs of blocks.
Here is the step by step guide to setup QuickTabs module.

Install quicktabs module.
Go to Administer->Site configuration->Quick Tabs.
Select the tabs style.
Go to Administer->Site building->Quick Tabs
Click New QT block
Write block title and choose no. of tabs you want.
Click Next button
In the next page, write the Tab title and select the blocks you want to assign.
Click Sumbit.
Go to Administer->Site building->Blocks.
Assign the newly created block to a region.
The output is javascript based tabs.

Using / setup Frequently Asked Questions (faq) module in Drupal

2008-08-06T05:38:00.000-07:00

The Frequently Asked Questions (faq) module allows users with the 'administer faq' permission to create question and answer pairs which they want displayed on the 'faq' page. The 'faq' page is automatically generated from the FAQ nodes configured. There are a number of features available in the 5.x and 6.x branches which are not available in 4.7.x..

You can download the FAQ module from http://drupal.org/project/faq

After downloading the FAQ module, unzip it into website/sites/all/modules folder.
Go to Site building/modules and enable the Frequently asked questions module.
Go to create content or go to node/add/faq and type the question and answer.
Go to Site building/blocks and enable the "Recent FAQs" block.

The FAQ will appear on specified pages. You can configure the pages at block level.

Asynchronous command execution in ASP.Net & ADO.Net

2008-08-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

It is not possible to execute a command against a database asynchronously in previous versions of .NET, but it was possible to simulate it using the ThreadPool class. To be more clear on the previous line, the execution of the following lines of code will be synchronous,

SqlDataReader dr1 = com.ExecuteReader();
SqlDataReader dr2 = com.ExecuteReader();

i.e. the thread that is executing line1 will wait until the database operations is complete and proceeds the line2 execution. With the arrival ADO.Net 2.0 it is possible to execute asynchronously by proceeding with the execution of other lines of code after start executing a database operations.

Making Async to work:
This is achieved by the BeginExecuteReader()and EndExecuteReader() method that is packed with Command Object. The BeginExecuteReader() method will return a IAsyncResult object,which is a reference that helps to detect the end of the execution of the database operation.So it is given as a parameter to EndExecuteReader() method which in turn will return the DataReader object.

IAsyncResult ar1 = com1.BeginExecuteReader(null, null);
IAsyncResult ar2 = com2.BeginExecuteReader(null, null);

//Proceed with the other execution

dr1 = com1.EndExecuteReader(ar1);
dr2 = com2.EndExecuteReader(ar2);

The thread that is executing the line1 continues executing the other lines of code(line2 and etc..)without waiting for the database operations to complete.This is called Asynchronous behavior.But the line3 and line4 will be executed synchronously ie, the thread will wait for the line3 to complete execution and proceed with the line4.Note that the callback will be called on a thread which will be in the thread pool, will be different from the one which initiated the asynchronous operation so proper synchronisation should be done.It is done using ar1.AsyncWaitHandle property. This we will see in the next article.

Prerequesties:

For the Asynchronous operation to work we have to set “Asynchronous Processing=true” in the connection string. If in a same application you are using Asysnchronous and synchronous operation, it is better to use separate connection string for both one with “Asynchronous Processing=true” and other with “Asynchronous Processing=false”. Because using the connection string with Async enabled for synchronous operation will hit the performance some what.

What is new in ASP.NET 3.5

2008-08-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

Microsoft released ASP.NET 3.5 on November 19, 2007. Along with it, was released Visual Studio 2008. This evolution from ASP.NET 2.0 to ASP.NET 3.5 is quiet gradual. ASP.NET 3.5 uses the same engine as that of ASP.NET 2.0, with some extra features added on top of it. In this article, we will explore the new features added to ASP.NET 3.5. This article assumes that you have been working on ASP.NET 2.0.

New Features in ASP.NET 3.5

ASP.NET AJAX

In ASP.NET 2.0, ASP.NET AJAX was used as an extension to it. You had to download the extensions and install it. However in ASP.NET 3.5, ASP.NET AJAX is integrated into the .NET Framework, thereby making the process of building cool user interfaces easier and intuitive.
The integration between webparts and the update panel is much smoother. Another noticeable feature is that you can now add ASP.NET AJAX Control Extenders to the toolbox in VS2008. Even though this is an IDE specific feature, however I feel it deserves a mention over here for developers, who had to add extenders using source view earlier. It is also worth noting that Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) now supports JSON along with other standard protocols like SOAP, RSS and POX.

New Controls

The ListView and DataPager are new controls added along with a new datasource control called the LinqDataSource.

ListView

The ListView control is quiet flexible and contains features of the Gridview, Datagrid, Repeater and similar list controls available in ASP.NET 2.0. It provides the ability to insert, delete, page (using Data Pager), sort and edit data. However one feature of the ListView control that stands apart, is that it gives you a great amount of flexibility over the markup generated. So you have a complete control on how the data is to be displayed. You can now render your data without using thetag. You also get a rich set of templates with the ListView control.

DataPager

DataPager provides paging support to the ListView control. The best advantage is that you need not have to keep it ‘tied’ with the control on which the paging is being done. You can keep it anywhere on the page.
DataPager gives you a consistent way of paging with the controls that support it. Currently only ListView supports it as it implements the IPageableItemContainer. However support is likely to be added to other List controls as well.

LINQ

LINQ (Language Integrated Query) adds native data querying capability to C# and VB.NET along with the compiler and Intellisense support. LINQ is a component of .NET 3.5. LINQ defines operators that allow you to code your query in a consistent manner over databases, objects and XML. The ASP.NET LinqDataSource control allows you to use LINQ to filter, order and group data before binding to the List controls.
You can learn more about LINQ over here.

ASP.NET Merge Tool

ASP.NET 3.5 includes a new merge tool (aspnet_merge.exe). This tool lets you combine and manage assemblies created by aspnet_compiler.exe. This tool was available earlier as an add-on.

New Assemblies

The new assemblies that would be of use to ASP.NET 3.5 developers are as follows:

System.Core.dll - Includes the implementation for LINQ to Objects
System.Data.Linq.dll - Includes the implementation for LINQ to SQL
System.Xml.Linq.dll - Includes the implementation for LINQ to XML
System.Data.DataSetExtensions.dll - Includes the implementation for LINQ to DataSet
System.Web.Extensions.dll: Includes the implementation for ASP.NET AJAX (new enhancements added) and new web controls as explained earlier.

Some Other Important Points

ASP.NET 3.5 provides better support to IIS7. IIS7 and ASP.NET 3.5 modules and handlers support unified configuration.
You can have multiple versions of ASP.NET on the same machine.
For those who are wondering what happened to ASP.NET 3.0, well there isn’t anything called ASP.NET 3.0.
VS 2002 worked with ASP.NET 1.0, VS 2003 worked with ASP.NET 1.1, and VS 2005 worked with ASP.NET 2.0. However VS 2008 supports multi-targeting, i.e it works with ASP.NET 2.0, and ASP.NET 3.5.

Using or setup FCKeditor in Drupal

2008-08-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

FCKeditor is HTML based rich textbox. It is used mostly in web applications and it works like MS Word. FCKeditor is also called WYSIWYG editor. It requires no installation on client’s computer.

Drupal supports FCKeditor on its websites. The process of using FCKeditor in Drupal is as follows:

1. Install the FCKeditor module. You can find it here http://drupal.org/project/fckeditor

2. Download latest version of FCKeditor from http://www.fckeditor.net/download. Keep in mind that you have to download FCKeditor (not FCKeditor.Net, it’s for ASP.Net, nor FCKeditor Java, it’s for Java developers).

3. Unzip the FCKeditor module and place it into drupal/sites/all/modules folder.

4. Unzip the FCKeditor and place it in FCKeditor module’s folder, i.e. drupal/sites/all/modules/fckeditor/fckeditor

5. Set the access rights to authenticated and anonymous users by going to Administor->Users->Roles

That’s it, enjoy using FCKeditor in your Drupal website. All of your website’s textfield will be replaced by FCKeditor’s rich textbox. You have the option at runtime to use either FCKeditor or Drupal’s core textfield.

Bad web design features

2008-08-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

Below are features that can make a web design look dorky. These are not just my personal opinions, but are ideas I have collected from speaking to groups around the country.

Backgrounds: Default gray color; Color combinations of text and background that make the text hard to read; Busy, distracting backgrounds that make the text hard to read
Text: Text that is too small to read; Text crowding against the left edge; Text that stretches all the way across the page; Centered type over flush left body copy; Paragraphs of type in all caps; Paragraphs of type in bold; Paragraphs of type in italic; Paragraphs of type in all caps, bold, and italic all at once; Underlined text that is not a link
Links: Default blue links; Blue link borders around graphics; Links that are not clear about where they will take you; Links in body copy that distract readers and lead them off to remote, useless pages; Text links that are not underlined so you don’t know they are links; Dead links (links that don’t work anymore)
Graphics: Large graphic files that take forever to load; Meaningless or useless graphics; Thumbnail images that are nearly as large as the full-sized images they link to; Graphics with no alt labels; Missing graphics, especially missing graphics with no alt labels; Graphics that don’t fit on the screen (assuming a screen of 640×460 pixels)
Tables: Borders turned on in tables; Tables used as design elements, especially with extra large (dorky) borders
Blinking and animations: Anything that blinks, especially text; Multiple things that blink; Rainbow rules (lines); Rainbow rules that blink or animate; “Under construction” signs, especially of little men working; Animated “under construction” signs; Animated pictures for e-mail; Animations that never stop; Multiple animations that never stop
Junk: Counters on pages–who cares; Junky advertising; Having to scroll sideways (800×600 pixels); Too many little pictures of meaningless awards on the first page; Frame scroll bars in the middle of a page; Multiple frame scroll bars in the middle of a page
Navigation: Unclear navigation; over complex navigation; Complicated frames, too many frames, unnecessary scroll bars in frames; Orphan pages (no links back to where they came from, no identification); Useless page titles that don’t explain what the page is about
General Design: Entry page or home page that does not fit within standard browser window (640 x 460 pixels); Frames that make you scroll sideways; No focal point on the page; Too many focal points on the page; Navigation buttons as the only visual interest, especially when they’re large (and dorky); Cluttered, not enough alignment of elements; Lack of contrast (in color, text, to create hierarchy of information, etc.); Pages that look okay in one browser but not in another

Good web design features

2008-08-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

One of the elements of good web design is a lack of the elements that make bad web design. If you stay away from everything listed on the page about dorky web pages, you’ve probably got a pretty nice web site. In addition, keep these concepts in mind:

Text: Background does not interrupt the text; Text is big enough to read, but not too big; The hierarchy of information is perfectly clear; Columns of text are narrower than in a book to make reading easier on the screen
Navigation: Navigation buttons and bars are easy to understand and use; Navigation is consistent throughout web site; Navigation buttons and bars provide the visitor with a clue as to where they are, what page of the site they are currently on; Frames, if used, are not obtrusive; A large site has an index or site map
Links: Link colors coordinate with page colors; Links are underlined so they are instantly clear to the visitor
Graphics: Buttons are not big and dorky; Every graphic has an alt label; Every graphic link has a matching text link; Graphics and backgrounds use browser-safe colors; Animated graphics turn off by themselves
General Design: Pages download quickly; First page and home page fit into 800×600 pixel space; All of the other pages have the immediate visual impact within 800×600 pixels; Good use of graphic elements (photos, subheads, pull quotes) to break up large areas of text; Every web page in the site looks like it belongs to the same site; there are repetitive elements that carry throughout the pages