I just heard of the Object Test Bench in Visual Studio 2005 (in Kevin Hammond's blog), and hurried to use it, but ran into a small problem, in that the context menu off the class diagram I don't have a "Create Instance" item!  Am I perhaps doing something wrong, or is this OTB tool only available in a higher version of VS2005 (I'm running VS2005 Professional)? 

Here's a picture of what I get, which does NOT include the Create Instance:

Anybody with any clue is invited to comment...

10/20/2006 12:45:55 AM UTC      Comments [2]Trackback

Learning new things is almost always fun, and one must try to check one's assumptions at the door.  However, what if your brain assumes something and doesn't come right out and say so?  That's interesting.

Keeping in mind that I am new to ASP.NET 2.0...

I'm experimenting, and here I have a neat little master page with a hidden field on it that I want all the other pages to use, so one page puts data in the field and then transfers control to the next page.  The next page then checks that hidden field and doesn't find anything.  This had me wondering what the darned problem was, until suddenly it occurred to me how on earth I could expect anything to be there?  The master page is not stateful, and it is generated from scratch each time.  Doh!  Somehow it had gotten into my head that the master page was some sort of repository -- despite the fact that I know there is no state preservation or information passing beyond query strings, forms, and session/application variables.  Amazing what assumptions one can make with no justification whatsoever and contrary information and experience in rich abundance from past encounters.  Makes me feel like I just called up customer support with the complaint that my computer's cup holder had broken. 

Doh!

10/18/2006 9:06:34 PM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback

Rory Blyth.  Neopoleon.  He's a geeky Microsoft guy who was formerly with the Microsoft MSDN Events team, and he was going on about leaving, possibly even leaving Microsoft, and finally the shoe dropped and <whew>, he's not leaving Microsoft, just moving to a different part of Microsoft.  Still part of Developer communications, but in the heart of The Beast, in Redmond itself.  He's joining the Channel 9 team.  Here's his "Exit Interview", so called:

http://channel9.msdn.com/showpost.aspx?postid=237876

9/26/2006 5:13:17 PM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback

On a trip to Mormon Country (Sep. 8, 2006), the head of the National Association of Evangelicals branded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a "cult", but said he might vote for a Mormon presidential candidate in 2008.

Ted Haggard, NAE president and the pastor of a Colorado Springs megachurch, said Mormons and evangelicals don't agree on spiritual matters even though they have similar political agendas.

"The Mormon church aligns with us on pro-life issues and the Mormon church aligns with us on many of the social issues," Haggard said in an interview. "Now where we would take pause is, we believe Mormonism is a Christian cult."

The first thing that jumps out at me is the description of "Mormonism" as a "Christian cult."  Wow!  Check it out!  Up until now I have heard us described as a "cult" frequently enough, but this Haggard fellow has actually allowed the adjective Christian to be applied as a descriptive to the word "cult" when applied to the LDS church! 

So, we might be a "cult" to them, but at least we're a "Christian cult".  Oh, my, how we have come up in the world. 

9/10/2006 3:02:40 PM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback

• current governor of the State of Massachusetts
• a Republican
• Rescued the Salt Lake Olympics from bankruptcy
• a Mormon

9/2/2006 4:38:34 AM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback

After leaving work yesterday afternoon, I drove the usual route down Capitol Blvd to Trosper, from where I took the turn to get on the freeway northbound.  An older Plymouth Fury was in front of me, and the first car in the lane for left-turning onto the freeway.  The light changed and I followed the Fury left and we drove towards the onramp.  On the sidewalk that goes down Trosper and crosses the start of the onramp there was a bicyclist, a middle-aged guy riding slowly towards the crossing.  He's got a cell phone pressed up against his left ear and he's yakking away, apparently oblivious to the world around him.  The Fury proceeds towards the onramp, beginning to accelerate, and just a bit before it gets there, without the slightest glance to his left (self-preservation is so overrated, you know) the cyclist turns into the pedestrian crossing, the cellphone still glued to his ear, still yakking away.  The Fury's driver reacts late to this bit of insanity, but finally slams on the brakes, just as the cyclist is moseying directly into her path.

So here I am, applying the brakes myself as I watch the Fury and the cyclist begin their rendezvous.  The thought rushes through my mind that I am about to witness a bicyclist get creamed by a car.  Front-row seating!  Wow.

Fortunately, with the screech of tires the Fury manages to stop before the bicyclist becomes a hood ornament.  The cyclist continues on with his ear glued to the phone, contentedly motormouthing along, either pretending nothing had just happened or truly oblivious.

The lessons here are obvious.  For cell phone users, WATCH THE HECK WHAT YOU'RE DOING!  For drivers, expect the unexpected when you see a person near your path who has a cell phone glued to his or her ear.

8/5/2006 12:16:32 AM UTC      Comments [0]Trackback