The thoughtstuff Blog

Why iOS4 was the most exciting Service Pack ever

Posted by Tom on Jun 22, 2010 in Everything Else

Yesterday was a bit of an IT first for me. Along with, I'm sure, many others, I got excited by an Operating System upgrade.

MicrosoftÂ® SQL ServerÂ® 2008 R2 Feature Pack

Posted by Tom on Jun 8, 2010 in Development

Available from today, a collection of useful bits and bobs for use with SQL Server 2008. Amoung the included features is a new version of Report Builder, which includes...

Development Manifesto

Posted by Tom on Jun 7, 2010 in Development

I was going through some old files the other day, and came across a poster I created about 4-5 years ago. I was working – actually I wasn’t working on a...

CheckedListBox Woes

Posted by Tom on Jun 3, 2010 in Development

Recently, I had a problem to solve involving displaying lists of checkable items. I found out, the hard way, the limitations of the CheckedListBox and why you may not want to try using it. My woeful tale ended with me using a third-party control to achieve what I was looking for.

Stoney Cove 1963

Posted by Tom on Jun 3, 2010 in Everything Else

British Pathe have short video clip from 1693’s Stoney Cove. The short, titled “Diving for Treasure” shows divers at Stoney Cove taking part in an...

The Mythical Man Month – Frederick P. Brooks Jr.

Posted by Tom on May 24, 2010 in Development

I bought this book the other day. I was slightly ashamed that, as a developer, I didn’t have it in my collection. I’ve seen it referenced and quoted so many...

nANT get command

Posted by Tom on May 19, 2010 in Development

Just a quick aide-memoir about this useful command. It's primary purpose is to get data from a URL, such as data from an HTTP source or from a UNC share.

BBC Internal Server Error

Posted by Tom on May 18, 2010 in Development

I should have expected the BBC to have a great Internal Server Error page, and they didn’t disappoint. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before, and I...

Using multi-select drop-down boxes as parameters in reports

Posted by Tom on May 18, 2010 in Everything Else

One of the options for a parameter is for it to be multi-selection. This is very useful for some report scenarios, and transforms the normal combo-box into something much more like the Excel filter drop down (why isn't this a native .NET control yet!) However, the format of the data returned by this drop-down can cause problems if you're trying to run SQL from it.

Microsoft Code Contracts

Posted by Tom on May 18, 2010 in Development

Since discovering Unit Tests and other checking code, such as Debug.Assert, I'm convinced this is the path to enlighenment in software development. These tools hold up a strong light in what can be a dark mad world of bug-hunting.

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