SQL Server 2005 Packaging and Pricing Announced

Y. Alan Griver (yag) blogs: "I'm a few days late posting this, but I wanted to point y'all to Tom's article on the new set of SKUs for SQL Server - including the new Workgroup Edition which is even available now for SQL Server 2000."

Firefox 1.0.1 Released

From mozillaZine: "Mozilla Firefox 1.0.1 has just been released. A minor update, this version fixes a few security holes and some other bugs. If you're using Firefox 1.0, you want this release." The Firefox 1.0.1 release notes are here.

Sysinternals releases RootkitRevealer

Seen on Slashdot: "Sysinternals releases RootkitRevealer". Yet another form of malware to be concerned about. In the wake of recent news about the threat posed by rootkits, Sysinternals has released a free rootkit detection utility called RootkitRevealer. The download page for this utility includes a description of what rootkits are how and how they work.

Closing the gap between Web apps and desktop apps

First, a little quiz. "Ajax" is:
a) a powdered cleanser
b) the other name for Aspen Mountain
c) a Web technology
d) all of the above

Turns out the answer is (d), all of the above. Okay, in this context it's actually a composite of several Web technologies, as described by Jesse James Garrett in his article Ajax: a New Approach to Web Applications. Citing current development work by Google and others as examples of its use, Garrett introduces Ajax and describes how this fusion of five current Web technologies comprises a new and different model for delivering improved interactive experiences over the Web. It's a quick but challenging read, virtually guaranteed to get you thinking about new possibilities.

Insanely Great Software: FeedDemon

I don't know who coined the term 'insanely great software', but once in a while it really fits and that's the case with FeedDemon from Bradbury Software. It's not an understatement to say FeedDemon has changed the way I use the Web.

In case you haven't heard of it yet, FeedDemon is an RSS reader and aggregator for Windows®. It's written by Nick Bradbury, who is also the author of the TopStyle CSS/XHTML/HTML editor. Anybody who's been slinging HTML for more than just a couple of years probably also recognizes Nick as the author of the HomeSite HTML editor, one of my early favorite tools for Web authoring. FeedDemon is the latest in a line of great stuff by a talented developer.

There are other RSS readers and aggregators on the market, but for my money what makes FeedDemon stand out is its clean design, ease of use, rich feature set, and the fact that it's a stand-alone product. Oh, and let's not forget excellent support via the Bradbury software forum, where Nick often answers questions, offers suggestions, and responds to issues personally.

Did FeedDemon really change the way I use the Web? Yes, and here's how: Instead of spending an hour or more every day visiting a large set of bookmarked Web sites, one by one, to keep up (as if that's possible) with what's going on in content areas of interest to me, I now use FeedDemon to pull in the RSS feeds from all these sites and present them in a single reading pane which I can browse in five or ten minutes. I've been using FeedDemon since it's pre-release days over a year ago so this seems very familiar to me now, but the first time I used it it was a real "Wow!" experience.

FeedDemon has Internet Explorer built in (with a tabbed interface for multiple windows - Microsoft, are you listening?), so in addition to reading RSS feed summaries you can actually use FeedDemon as a browser. You can also open any link in an external browser with a single click, if that's what you prefer. Either way it's easy to jump from an RSS summary to the full article or Web site when you want more information.

FeedDemon uses channel groups to organize feeds of related interest. It comes with several pre-defined channel groups and you can easily create your own, too. Adding a new channel (feed) to a channel group typically takes just a couple of clicks. I've created a single channel group of all the feeds I want to see on a daily basis for a kind of one-stop shopping effect. Using the 'Group Newspaper' feature for a channel group makes it even easier by enabling you to see a filtered sub-set of items (unread items, today's items, last 24 hours, etc.) from all the feeds in that group in a single window. This is a real time-saver and one of my favorite features.

A couple of days ago, Alex Barnett put together a nice screencast (Flash movie) about RSS and FeedDemon. In about ten minutes you get a good idea of the look and feel of FeedDemon, so this is a good place to start.

['Insanely Great Software' is an occasional series about some of my favorite programs and utilities.]

Trying to Catch On, Finally

In their cover article Try Catch Patterns in the February, 2005 issue of FoxTalk 2.0, Randy Pearson and Lauren Clarke show us a range of uses for structured error handling (TRY...CATCH...FINALLY). Although introduced in VFP 8.0, I would guess (because I am one of them) that many long-time VFP developers haven't fully appreciated the power of structured error handling, much less integrated it comfortably into their daily development work. Randy and Loren's article is a wake-up call to the design improvements possible with the use of this structure. For myself, I think it's going to be one of those things I start using, perhaps awkwardly at first, until I finally grok its real potential and then wonder how on earth I got along without it. Thanks, Randy and Lauren, for the kick in the seat of the pants.

Visual FoxPro 9.0 now in retail channel

Microsoft® Visual FoxPro 9.0 Professional is now available from retail distributors. Spotted it this morning at FoxToolbox.com and at Provantage®. Packaging is new for this version - VFP 9.0 comes in a sleek DVD case instead of a cardboard box. With its host of exciting new features, including the entirely new report engine, the best just keeps getting better.

Eric Sink's Finance for Geeks

Eric Sink, founder of SourceGear, writes a monthly column under The Business of Software on MSDN. In Finance for Geeks, from November 2003, he walks us through the basic concepts of accounting and finance from the perspective of a small ISV. Whether you've had any formal education in small business accounting and finance or not, this should be required reading for independent software developers. [Updated 01/26/2005 - link to article was corrected.]

Wireless Printing

I added a wireless (Wi-Fi enabled) printer to our home network over the holidays. With three of us needing to print from three different computers, one of which is a Mac, this seemed like a good way to go. The appeal of a Wi-Fi printer was not only the ability to use it from any machine, but also the freedom to put it anywhere in the house without having to tether it to a computer or the router. Think kitchen counter, bookshelf, etc.

We decided on the HP 6840 Color Inkjet printer, which has 802.11g capability built-in. It also has an Ethernet port for a wired network connection, plus a USB connector for direct use from a single computer. When used in wireless mode a built-in signal strength indicator on the front panel lets you know you're still within range of your router, and the only thing coming out the back of the printer is the AC power cord. Sweet.

Setup was fairly painless: install the software from the CD-ROM, configure the printer, and go. We chose to give our printer a fixed IP address, and on our Windows® machines it was then necessary to go to the Ports page of the Printer Properties dialog and add a port for that address. If that step was in the instructions from HP I didn't see it, but other than that the instructions were simple and complete.

So far, our experience with this printer has been very positive. My only disappointment is that it has only two ink cartridges - black and color - which of course means you have to replace all the colors when one runs out, but I knew this going in. Our intended use is mainly for everyday printing, but the HP 6840 is also a photo printer with a front slot for feeding photo-quality paper and a PictBridge connector for digital cameras. PC Magazine has a review of this printer here.

Economics 101 for Software Developers

In Camels and Rubber Duckies, Joel Spolsky of Joel on Software answers the question, "How much should I charge for my software?" Remember that micro-economics class you took in college? Neither do I, but here's everything you need to know on one page.

First post

Seymour Cray, founder of Cray Research and a pioneer in the development of some of the world's fastest computers, said "If you do keep trying, you will occasionally do something worthwhile." An understatement is his case, but good advice for the rest of us. That quote, which has hung on my office wall since I first encountered it in 1996, is on my mind this morning as I launch this blog with the sentiment that "If you keep trying, you may occasionally say something worthwhile."

Blogs have exponentially increased our ability to communicate with one another. Whether it's a short post linking to something of interest or a longer one contributing to the body of common knowledge, whether it's a well-reasoned opinion or a rant, it's a pretty good bet that what you say will be of interest to someone. Communication is a good thing.

So from now on I'll be adding my two cents worth to the blogfest. I expect to be posting on an irregular but not infrequent basis. If you're interested, subscribe to the feed and take a look whenever something new comes along. Of course, it's always up to you to decide what's worthwhile. Meanwhile, keep on bloggin'!