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Archive | October, 2003

Microsoft Announces Changes to IE for Developers

By on October 7, 2003 in Home Page

In a move likely to break some existing applications, Microsoft announced changes
to the Internet Explorer programming model, scheduled to be released
with Service Pack 1b for Internet Explorer 6, updating the version
number to 6.01. I suspect this change is in response to losing a lawsuit
from Eolas over their object embedding technologies. There has been a
lot of speculation that Microsoft did not seek other solutions short of
limiting their own products by, for example, buying the company and
their patent, because the change might be more damaging to Microsoft
competitors than to Microsoft themselves. That would be evil.

There
could be many implications of this decision, and each developer will
need to evaluate their own code. Microsoft provides a beta of the
“bits” to test. I’ll need to wait until I have a sacrificial machine
from the TR&A labs to test them out. Applications I’m concerned
about right away include those with embedded HTML Help, embedded IE
browsers, and those I’ve written to spider web sites, including those
with RSS feeds.

Ken Levy, now Visual FoxPro Product Manager,
distributed code to use an embedded IE control as WebExplorerX, when he
was an independent developer and posting his samples to
http://www.classx.com (no longer available but you can find archive
echos at
http://web.archive.org/web/20000511064829/http://www.classx.com/). If
you used some of the WebExplorerX technology, you’ll want to retest
with Microsoft’s patches. Good luck!

Visual FoxPro and Citrix

By on October 6, 2003 in Home Page

Andrew MacNeill posts a great piece here on
the use of Citrix and VFP. I have several clients doing this, to great
success. “Microsoft’s ” (not sure who this is) claim that this isn’t a
good or popular solution is just plain wrong. Here’s Andrew’s post:

MS Response to Why Not Promote VFP and Citrix.

David
Dee (see post from 9/22) asked MS about promoting VFP by discussing
items with Citrix…As noted in his comments, the response from MS was:
We
do not test VFP with Citrix and it is not something we are focused on
as a solution, mainly due to lack of demand. For web (or thin client)
applications with VFP, we are promoting VFP with ASP.NET using VFP 8.0
with Visual Studio .NET 2003 and that is working well, and most
companies we talk to who need web front ends to VFP applications are
using or considering ASP.NET with VFP combined. Thanks for your
feedback.

Huh?!?! – Until such
time as Desktop apps are killed off completely (don’t see that
happening anytime soon), I actually prefer to recommend Citrix or
Terminal Server based solutions than purely Web-based.

Maybe
David’s problem was actually using the term “Citrix” instead of the
more “MS-friendly” Terminal Server. VFP continually gets updated in
service releases to better support Terminal Server applications(recall
the NOBITMAP setting in SP3 for VFP 6). In fact, in one newsgroup, one
of the fastest suggested ways to build a “mobile” app for the PocketPC
was NOT to use SQL Server for PocketPC, etc but rather to build a
Terminal Server (read: CITRIX-like) application and connect to it using
the PocketPC’s Terminal Server client. The only caution was “keep your
screens really small”.

It’s
the “MS response” that really hurts the community. Promoting VFP with
ASP.Net is great for all those bleeding edge developers (and yes, I
know it hurts to say it but for most people ASP.Net is still a little
too bleeding edge for many companies – note that not even MS bCentral
allows SOAP access on their .Net services – wonder why not?).

The
fact is that EVERY developer needs to be told of workable solutions.
Citrix and Terminal Servers represent GREAT Solutions for companies who
have remote needs and WORKING desktop applications. VFP is not only
ideally suited in these environments – it kicks serious butt when it
comes to performance! Why? Because the application actually runs
LOCALLY instead of being on a network.

Other reasons to consider Citrix/Terminal Server solutions:
1. It’s easier to support – you can shadow other users, and easily disconnect users when connected.
2. Single point of access – easier to track errors, provide updates and more.
3. Single type of workstation – easier to manage. Hell, even better than trying to deal with multiple browsers
4.
You can FIND many companies willing to HOST TS servers for you – yes,
they may charge for it but will provide 24/7/365 uptime with various
guarantees (check out http://www.meganetserve.com)

If
you have never considered using Terminal Server as a remote solution
for your apps, I strongly recommend it. AND it’s getting easier and
better. Don’t be fooled by Microsoft’s response – VFP does work well
under Citrix and is always being improved to work better because of it.
(just don’t mention Citrix in the same breath )

Andrew MacNeill [Andrew MacNeill – AKSEL Solutions]

Police Subdue a Tiger in Harlem Apartment

By on October 5, 2003 in Home Page

Police Subdue a Tiger in Harlem Apartment.
“A police sniper rappelled down the side of a Harlem apartment building
on Saturday and fired tranquilizer darts through a fifth-floor window
to subdue a 350-pound Bengal tiger.” By Alan Feuer and Jason George. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Only in New York. Unquestionably the best line in the article:
“If he had escaped it would have been a very bad thing,” [Dr. Robert A. Cook, head veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo]… said.

Well, yeah.

Charybdis: A surfer’s greatest fear: the website with no escape

By on October 5, 2003 in Home Page

According to Mythography, “in Greek mythology, Charybdis was a deadly whirlpool personified as a female monster.”

A great fear for web surfers is that site you start surfing, and you can’t get out. Just one more picture. Just one more link. Just one more
entry.

So went my Sunday, at a site that Laura found, describing the joys of moving into and rehabbing a Chicago bungalow, filled with the treasures and… interesting items of earlier residents. Very entertaining reading. Don’t start reading unless you have some time to spare.

NYT: Where Nobody Knows You’re a Music Thief

By on October 5, 2003 in Home Page

An interesting argument about music sharing, or stealing, depending on
your viewpoint. For the record, I buy the music I enjoy. But I listen
to music I haven’t bought. On the radio. Live. On a loaned CD. Or on
MP3s. Many artists find success by giving away their music, or some of
it, on the internet, and making money from concerts and selling CDs
themselves. The system for promotion of “pop” music is missing huge
opportunities.

As a copyright owner, I don’t like to think that people gain benefit
from my hard work without me receiving compensation. On the other hand,
those who never see my work don’t know it’s there. And it seems that,
at least for some, letting your works be found out there leads to
profits. It’s worked for Janis Ian, and for Baen Books. It’s surely not
a black and white issue.

“Where Nobody Knows You’re a Music Thief.
What’s remarkable about the controversy over music sharing is not how
many people are involved, but rather their fervent rationalizing. By
Daniel Akst. [New York Times: Technology]”

Scoble: Why does Microsoft need to do everything?

By on October 5, 2003 in Home Page

Scoble: “Why does Microsoft need to do everything?” [Scripting News]

Well, Robert, I think it’s about money. Microsoft does everything in
hopes that some of those things will make money. Games, MSN, digital
photos, mice, PocketPCs, music, digitial photos and more. What is it
that Microsoft won’t do for money?

Looking at the question from another angle, perhaps I’d suggest that
Microsoft is obsessive and compulsive about doing everything.

But that’s not really the jist of his post. He seems to be implying
that Microsoft won’t have a blogging tool, at least not yet. With
Google and AOL already out there with blogging tools, I’m skeptical
that there won’t be a response from Microsoft. Time will tell.

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