software Fixing Error: Invalid File Name When Generating Entity Classes for SharePoint with SPMetal Don't look at me like that - the long title was for SEO. If you're developing in SharePoint and at one point included a list in your solution that you later removed from the solution, but didn't first delete from the site, you'
technology Renaming a SharePoint Server Preface: I've only done this in a development environment, but I've done it twice and it worked pretty well. Rename the Server I did this the default Windows method, through PC info, as if it was any other machine rename. Rename the SharePoint Server Googling for
technology Staying Relevant In My Field Staying relevant in your field is ridiculously hard. It's even harder when your field is broad, and even harder when you're not quite sure where in the broad spectrum of your field you want to land. I read an example of a financial success story recently.
technology Reusing SharePoint ListView and ListForm Web Parts When creating custom pages in SharePoint, you may, at some point, simply want to display a ListView web part (XsltListViewWebPart) to display a whole view of a list on your custom page, or you might want to display only a list form. A list form might be the default Display,
athletics Slab Climbing The last few times I've been to my climbing gym, I've worked problems on the slab wall. Slab climbing is (usually) a climbing on a pretty flat wall with a positive slope (leaning back, not forward - so it's not overhung or vertical), and
technology Setting up Wordpress URL Structures for Ghost This is a pretty hacky solution, but since dynamic routing and custom URL structures are on the roadmap for Ghost, I just wanted a quick and dirty solution to getting my old WordPress links to work in my new Ghost blog. The permalink options for WordPress allow you to choose
technology Do Yourself a Favor and Unsubscribe from Everything The other day my wife's phone died early in the day and was off for almost 8 hours. When she charged it back up and turned it on, she had 30 some emails waiting for her. She was instantly stressed, not because they were work emails - she
self-awareness Am I Making the World a Better Place? Today I went to sign up for GitTip [http://gittip.com], just to be able to explore the site, and have an account ready should I decide to tip someone. If you're not familiar, GitTip is a "tipping" site where you can give money to people
technology GitHub Gist As a blogger about software, I often want to actually post code in my blog posts. There are multiple ways to do this, and each one has it's merits. The things I wanted were: * Basic syntax highlighting * Easy to type and read the code in the editor * Easy
technology Creating Application Pages in SharePoint I'm currently working on a SharePoint project which requires deploying multiple custom pre-configured pages. These are pages that have web parts, but aren't the standard "configure this page however you want" pages in SharePoint. I've found that the best way to achieve
Status Quo Sometimes, there are bad days. Days when I can't ignore the painfully wrong parts of our society and humanity. There are so many dumb societal "rules" that make sense when you look back and identify the motives and historical reasons, but don't make sense
design Ghost Themes: Designing for Simplicity Ghost [http://ghost.org] is a brand new blog engine, built on Node.js [http://nodejs.org], and designed for simplicty [http://blog.ghost.org/launch/]. The great thing about both hosted and host-your-own blogs is the ability to theme it, give it your own style. Ghost is a whole
athletics Fitbit Flex: Review The Device When I opened up the Fitbit Flex, the tracker was already inside a wristband (it comes with two wristbands – a large and a small). I was mildly disappointed to find I’d need to charge it before being able to use it, but was glad I’d be
technology Hesitating Before Buying Apps Lots of people comment about how ridiculous it is that we hesitate before or even completely refuse to spend a few bucks on an app, especially when compared to spending the same amount daily for coffee, or hundreds of times more for the smartphone, tablet, or PC that the app
self-awareness Modes One of the most important things that I’ve learned about myself is how to deal with the Good, the Bad, and the Meh. I’ve learned to recognize when I’m in certain modes, or at some point in some kind of cycle. Preference cycles are what I call
This Is [Unfortunately Not] the End [of Rape Jokes] Today, my wife and I went to see This Is the End, a movie where a number of movie stars play themselves during the apocalypse. I did laugh at a few scenes, but for the most part, the humor felt tired and stale, just like one of the first lines
technology Tablets: A Disambiguation (Part 2) Arguably the most important factor for people buying a first tablet is price. A common theme among them is to go for a “budget” tablet. I put budget in quotes because I prefer the term cheap. Using cheap more accurately conveys both the price and the quality of the device,
technology Tablets: A Disambiguation (Part 1) In the first quarter of this year, 2013, Apple shipped 19.5 million iPads1 [http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24093213]. Samsung shipped 8.8 million, Asus 2.7 million, and Microsoft 0.9 million. With others, this means in just 3 months, almost 50 million tablets were shipped
project-management Alarming This past weekend I got an email from a team member saying that there was an event that occurred at a customer facility which should have triggered an alarm in a system that we wrote, but didn't. Shortly after, I got an email from our project manager informing
technology Asynchronous Data Calls in Windows Store Apps Below is the way that I’ve written my (MVVM, C#, XAML) Windows store app to make asynchronous data calls. This is necessary so that the UI doesn’t lock up while some network action or request is being performed. Make a function that gets your data synchronously. This makes
technology Uploading a Photo as Multipart Form Data in C# I recently posted about adding a feature to a Windows 8 app I’m working on wherein the user can select a photo from their pictures library. After they select the photo, I need to upload it to the API I’m using in order to post the picture. The
technology Choosing a photo from the Photos library in Windows 8 I’m working on a Windows 8/RT app, and one of the pieces of functionality I needed was the ability for users to select a photo from their library and upload it (more on the uploading [http://xdumaine.com/2013/03/24/uploading-a-photo-as-multipart-form-data-in-c/] ). I wanted to use the built
technology Authenticating an HTTP Request with Client Certificates in iOS I'm writing an app that uses a client-certificate to authenticate while performing a SOAP request. Unfortunately, I'm writing this app in PhoneGap, and the iOS WebView does not support Client Certificates for AJAX requests. I found some various sources of code and examples for doing this,
review Product Review: Nook Simple Touch I recently got a Nook Simple Touch (sans glow light), and, in short: I love it. Prior to the Simple Touch, I had a Nook color, the first all-color, touch screen Nook. It was nice for a while, but it had some major flaws. First and foremost, the battery was
technology Creating an Enterprise App Catalog Motive One of the challenges faced with developing in-house (or “enterprise”) mobile applications is deployment. For public applications, deployment is handled almost exclusively through platform app stores, like the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store. Deploying apps to employees of a single company, without making use of those
