DotNetSurfers

I migrated this blog from dasBlog to WordPress a couple of weeks ago, to take advantage of the large number of WordPress plug-ins and themes available. Here are the steps I had to follow:
1. Created Local backup of my dasBlog site.
2. Used this tool to create BlogML file from dasBlog.
3. Installed WordPress on a test directory on my host (GoDaddy), since it provided a 1-click install.
4. Configured the permalink structure in WordPress.
5. Used BlogML to WordPress Import Module mentioned here to import all my old data.
6. Installed Redirection plug-in for WordPress. Under Redirection->Options->Import, I used the CSV file containing the mapped URLS to set up URL redirection so that all the old links remained intact.
7. Renamed the test directory to my desired blog directory name in the host.

In case you are subscribed to the old RSS feed URL, please be sure to update it to the new one.

I am working on a project right now that has a smart device component, and we use the Pocket PC 2003 SE Emulator to test and debug the application locally. It took me a while to get the environment setup for the first time; hopefully this post can save some time for other people. This post helped me in getting the emulator connected to the internet. Accessing a web service on my local computer from inside the emulator was a little harder to figure out. It turns out that:

1. You cannot use ‘localhost’ from inside the emulator to refer to your local PC. You have to use either the computer name or the IP address. However, even after I use the computer name, I get this when trying to access a local resource.
   
2. The Windows firewall blocks the emulator from accessing anything on port 80 by default. I had to pull up the Windows Firewall settings and create a new Inbound Rule (I am using 64-bit Windows 7 here). The screenshots below should be self-explanatory.
   
   

And Voila! The emulator is now able to access local resources.

 Trying to decide whether to design a fixed,relative or fluid layout, and what resolution to target can drive you nuts. There are too many factors to consider – popular opinions, statistics, what others are doing…
 So how to decide what to target? Simple. Look at what similar successful sites are doing; If we look at facebook and orkut, it turns out that both are using fixed width layouts. That actually makes sense, because you would want more control over the presentation in a social networking site, it’s a major factor in drawing the users. Facebook is conservative and keeps the width to 799px at all times, therefore ensuring most of its users do not end up with the annoying horizontal scrollbar (unless they resize the browser window). Orkut targets higher resolutions and has a minimun width of 920px and maximum width of 1003 px.
 According to W3Schools Browser display statistics, 14% of the users still use a resolution of 800×600, with the rest using bigger screen sizes. The application size should depend on your perceived audience, of course, and I would like 100% of my audience to be comfortable with the site. So, right now, targetting 800×600 screen size seems sensible or not a bad idea at least. Also, most of my colleagues with insanely large monitors and resolutions always resize their browsers and open multiple applications in parallel. So, targetting a smaller resolution should not lead to a lot of squinting.
This is the first post in a series on “Building My Own Social Networking site”, i hope to write many more as i progress with my site, which i work on in my spare time.

Note: You can measure window sizes using JRScreen Ruler, or alternatively you can examine the css of a site using the excellent Firebug AddOn
for Firefox.

This blog is hosted on a GoDaddy Economy Hosting account, and I had some trouble in getting all the features to work initially.
I got some help from Aakash’s article on the setup.
To get the “Contact Author” and “Comment Notification” to work, i had to set up an email account with GoDaddy ( I had some free email forwarding accounts as part of my plan). After that, updating the Configuration tab in DasBlog with the correct smtp server setting (relay-hosting.secureserver.net) did the trick and the email features are working as expected.

    I have been in blog silence for some time, i was busy starting my quest to be a better developer. It all started with Scott Hanselman’s podcast on “Be a Better Developer in six months”, and a series of related blogs i read on the same topic. Since then, i have been busy with :-

• Reading blogs, lots of them. I am subscribed to about 64 blogs (mostly technical) right now, giving me more to read than i can handle everyday.  Here’s my google reader subscription list.
• Coding more – That’s an obvious one, i guess . More on this below.
• Podcasts – I currently listen to Hanselminutes, DotNetRocks, Channel9, and the Asp.Net podcast.
• Reading books – I guess this is more on being a better person than being a better developer. I try to read the books that other bloggers recommend. I do this 1 hour before sleeping and it really helps in relaxing and sleeping better. So far, i have covered
• Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek. Highly recommend it.
• Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese .  Very short, but useful book.
• Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat . Currently reading this, but very informative.
• Waking at 5 a.m – This gives me 2-3 hours everyday to focus on my own stuff, and coding on my project.  I do not check email till i reach office.

    I want to elaborate a little on the “Coding more” part. I work as a dot net consultant for a nice Fortune 500 company, but the work i do for them is well, repetitive. It does not cover all technical concepts that i would like to learn or play with. So, i have decided to work during my free time on my own project, its kind of like a social networking site. It doesn’t sound very innovative, but i think it has the potential to mature in a real world app. I’ll implement everything myself, from the UI to the DB layer to security and logging.  I’ll blog about the whole thing in a series i’ll call  Building My Own Social Networking site. I’ll talk about all the dilemnas i face, and the choices i make and why i make them.
    I guess i could be a little more organized with my efforts, and should be able to bring in more structure in my routine as time passes. I have not, however, set up a timeline for my goals, but i already feel that i know much more than i used to, and that the initiative is working. I have too much to learn and do not see this ending any time soon.
Till next time!
Latish

Hi there!!
Welcome to the DotNetSurfers Blog. I am the brains (or lack of it) behind DotNetSurfers.
I am going to try to post dot net concepts and best practices here as regularly as i can.
I hope you enjoy it.
Have a nice day.

Latish Sehgal