Jeff Julian's Blog

KC .NET | Overview of the ASP.NET MVC Framework

I want to first off thank the 45 members of the Kansas City .NET User Group who attended the presentation held last night.  Myself, John, and Doug appreciate the dialog and questions about the topic of ASP.NET MVC Framework and hope to see more interest in the topic as it furthers in development at Microsoft.

For those of you who couldn't make it or just want to see what the MVC Framework is all about, check out the samples and presentation located at the end of this post. 

Recap of A Model View Controller Story:

Once Upon A Time there was a pizza parlor ran by Jeff, Doug, and John.  Jeff was the manager, Doug was the cook, and John was the delivery guy.  One day a customer called up the pizza parlor and placed an order with Jeff (the Controller).  Jeff is really a "people person" and hands off the information needed to create the pizza to Doug.  As the cook, Doug (the Model) uses the ingredients he needs to create pizza and when it is finished he gives it back to Jeff.  Jeff then determines who would be the best delivery guy for this pizza based on the request and he picks John.  John (the View) then places the pizza in a store branded box, decorates it with coupons, and gets on his motor bike and gives the pizza to the customer.

The next day, the owner of the pizza parlor wants to ensure the quality control of the pizza parlor is up to par so he fakes and order with Jeff and Jeff then asks Doug to create the pizza based on the order.  Jeff and Doug have no idea this quality control test is going on so performance does not change in their actions to make the boss happy.  After Doug gives the pizza back to Jeff, Jeff tries to find the best delivery guy and notices the owner's name is on the ticket so he hands the pizza to the owner where the owner dissects the pizza to ensure all the ingredients were properly assembled.  At a later time the owner may want to ensure the entire process work by allowing John to delivery the pizza to ensure it was presented correctly and nothing was lost in the transportation process, but now he was to ensure their product at its core is correct.

The End.

Materials from the presentation:

• Slide Deck - Office PowerPoint 2007 File
• Sample Code - Requires the ASP.NET 3.5 Extension Preview and Visual Studio 2008

posted @ Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:07 AM | Feedback (0) | Filed Under [ ASP.NET .NET 3.0 ]

GWB | We need your input - Death of the "Green Monster"

Tonight, the minds will gather at AJI Software HQ and discuss the death of the "Green Monster".  We have found someone we like that might work on the graphics side of the site, but tonight we are mapping out the layouts and features that will be in Geekswithblogs.net 3.0, the Wrath of Khan.  If you have any pressing thoughts or needs for the Geekswithblogs.net Community Portal, please voice them here or forever hold your peace.

Also, congrats to Chris Williams on 900 posts.

posted @ Thursday, February 21, 2008 7:36 AM | Feedback (5) |

GWB | Servers Are Online Again

When is Microsoft going to fix the loneliness bug in Windows Server?

If you haven't heard of this bug, it is when you leave town on vacation and your server gets lonely and starts acting up.  Then in uncontrollable emotion the server goes crazy the first minute you log into it. 

Anyway, the servers should be back up again and sorry for any issues that it may have caused.

posted @ Monday, February 18, 2008 9:05 AM | Feedback (1) |

California | Julian family goes to Disneyland and California Adventures

This is the first vacation we have had in 3 years and 9 months.  Our last vacation was our honeymoon.  Brandon just celebrated his 3rd birthday on Monday, so you can do the  math on why we haven't had a vacation.  Not only the math, but after Brandon turned one, John and I started working for AJI Software full-time and once you are your own boss, it is hard to give yourself time off.

This week, we traveled to Newport Beach, CA with my parents where we are taking a break.  My dad had a conference out here so he doesn't really have too much time off, but it was a perfect opportunity to take Brandon to Disneyland and give him our 100% attention before the baby girl comes this June.  (Think this is my first announcement)

Yesterday, we attended the Disneyland theme park and had a blast.  Today we visited the Disney's California Adventure theme park (I suggest you purchase the Hopper passes as you can go between parks) and it was a lot of fun too. Disneyland is definitely dated, but still fun.  The small world ride was down for repair which sucked, but we found plenty of other rides that Brandon could enjoy.  California Adventure is definitely designed for the older kid, but the Bugs Life area is amazing.  All the rides were for Brandon and other kids his age.  I want to thank Hiep (developer from KC) who told me to go straight to the Bug's Life part right when it opens because there were just a handful of little kids there and Brandon could get on the rides with Michelle (I don't do rides) just by walking up, no real waiting.  Even the theatre was empty at 10am with the 3D show. 

Tonight we are going back to check out the Electric Parade and tomorrow is up in the air on what we do, but so far Disney is awesome. 

One thing that totally sucked.  DO NOT PARK IN PUMBAA PARKING.  It is such a con.  They turn on these huge signs and block two of the three lanes of traffic to get you to park in this lot.  The problem is that this lot is not attached to the park, you have to walk along the side of the road for a mile with small children, and there is no shuttle.  I felt duped.  I can't believe they charge you the same price and the lot next to the park with shuttle access.

Check out our photos here.

posted @ Friday, February 15, 2008 6:22 PM | Feedback (2) |

Happy Birthday Brandon!

Today is Brandon's 3rd birthday and one of the gifts he received was the Leap Frog ClickStart My First Computer.  Now I have to figure out how to get this thing online so he can blog from it.

posted @ Monday, February 11, 2008 3:37 PM | Feedback (3) |

Community-Credit | Hall of Fame Member

I would like to thank David Silverlight for inducting me into the Community-Credit Hall of Fame.  I love this site and I think what David is doing is awesome for the community. 

Also, want to give a shout out to Lou Vega for being a inducted as well!

posted @ Thursday, February 07, 2008 12:53 PM | Feedback (0) |

GWB | Custom Domains Have Been Released!

I feel like Mater from Cars yelling, "It's done!"  The first time I attempted this task, I was completely unsuccessful and undid all the code changes I made.  I gave it a few weeks and tried again using a different approach, this time it was successful!  Adding additional logic for host records to SubText is not an easy feat.  Not only do you have to worry about the virtualization aspects of the site and ensureing the domains requested will still load the data, but with many open-source projects, everyone does something differently than the next guy.  This hit me when it came to hyperlinking.  Each control used a different URL property from the next so finding all those places and making them support the new domain as well as continuing to support the other domain was interesting. 

So, you may be asking yourself, Jeff, how can I get started.  Well my friend, if your don't have a blog with us, get one.  If you do, follow the steps below.

Login in to the Admin portal for your blog Click the Options tab on the top

Click the Custom Domain link

Follow the instructions on this page to get your domain setup to point at Geekswithblogs.net Enter the Subdomain/Domain name and press Save

Test your new domain!

If you are just setting up the DNS for the first time, this make take time for your nameservers to get the information and other DNS servers to release the cache set with the original IP information. 

I hope you enjoy this feature.  We will be fixing any issues that arise, but our next steps will be focused on the community redesign with the "Main Feed".

posted @ Thursday, February 07, 2008 7:59 AM | Feedback (4) |

Internet | Xterra Windshield Wiper Issues

I must say, I love the Internet.  It is snowing outside so I do as I do on all cold morning, go out and start my car when I take the dog out.  This time I forgot to check to see if the windshield wipers were turned on, and they were.  After breakfast I went outside to work my way into the office, but only one windshield wiper worked and it wasn't the driver's side.  So I am lost as this point and I see if I can take back roads to get into the office.  Nope, the windshield still filled up with grime from the road and I turned around to go home and see what I could work on from there. 

My first goal was to see if I could fix it before I started working and low and behold I found this forum.  It seems by these guys understanding of the design that if the wiper gets stuck, the motor will force the bolt that attaches the arm to the motor will loosen on its own, causing the motor to not wear, but just spin. 

To fix the problem, use the following steps:

1. Remove the plastic cover at the base of the arm.  I has to use pliers to make this happen as it was icy outside
2. Tighten the bolt underneath the cover with a 12mm socket.  I would strong arm the bolt, because if it is truly design that causes it to loosen, I dont want to mess with that.
3. Turn on wipers and head off.

Thanks again to the guy on this forum for saving me a trip to AutoZone or my Nissan dealer.

posted @ Wednesday, February 06, 2008 9:09 AM | Feedback (1) |

GWB | Custom Domain Beta Users

If you are a member of Geekswithblogs.net and have a domain you are currently redirecting to your blog, or just want to participate in this beta, please contact me via this blog and I will get you setup in the system.  I want to ensure I do not have any bugs as this took a decent sized overhaul to the page handling model of SubText to make this happen. 

Review this post if you are not sure what I mean by custom domains and join in on the fun.

posted @ Wednesday, February 06, 2008 8:40 AM | Feedback (0) |

ODUG | Office/SharePoint Service Pack 1 Discussion

Speaker:  Jeff Julian

Date: Thursday, February 7th (Each meeting will be on the 1st Thursday of the month)

Time: 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Location: Centriq Foss, 87th & State Line Road

Sponsor: AJI Software

Description:  Want to know about what is offered in Service Pack 1 for Office, SharePoint Designer, or SharePoint?  Join us this month where we will dive through this topic and discuss how developers can use the advantages offered in the latest bits of SharePoint and Office. 

Register For The Event

posted @ Monday, February 04, 2008 12:25 PM | Feedback (0) |

GWB | I am moving my blog ...

... due to all the other moves I am going to ... I can't write that and keep a straight face.  No I do not want to have a Microsoft domain attached to my blog or give up my copyright. 

Instead, I am in the process of implementing the "Custom Domain" portion to Geekswithblogs.net.  To test the implementation thus far, I have pointed JeffJulian.net at the site and registered the domain to my blog (portion that isn't finished or you could do the same).  Notice it isn't http://www.jeffjulian.net/jjulian/contact.aspx but http://www.jeffjulian.net/contact.aspx.  This makes the domain a first class citizen and dedicated to your blog. 

I am sure there will be bugs, so if you can dig around on this new domain and see if you can find issues, I would be extremely pleased.  Hopefully bloggers will like their own domain better then the Microsoft domain that bloggers are moving to. 

Post 32,000 on GWB!!!!!

posted @ Monday, February 04, 2008 9:22 AM | Feedback (5) |