The Daily Grind 857 by Mike Gunderloy Monday, April 10, 2006

Thanks to the spring rains, the weeds at least are doing very well in my garden.

• BusyBoxDotNet - Open source ASP.NET control library to show customizable messages during time-consuming activities.
• Enhanced QuickWatch - VS2003 debugging add-in to view XML, DataSets, and Exceptions.
• TypeMock 3.1 - This mocking software now supports nAnt and MSBuild scripts and integrates with various code coverage tools. Download the free Community Edition here, Professional Edition pricing from $124. (via TestDriven.com)
• DbVisualizer 5.0 - This cross-database DBA management and query tool now supports SQL Server 2005, exports to Excel XML, automatically formats SQL, has explain plan functionality for Oracle, DB2, and SQL Server, and sports numerous other new features. Free version and trial download here, pricing from $99.
• Fractal:Intelligence 2.1 - Tool for nifty visual analysis of large data sets by drawing colored circles of descending size. Try out their online examples to get a sense of how it works, download a free trial, or contact them for pricing.
• Krypton Toolkit 1.0.0 - Free WinForms user interface tools for VS2005, including split container, palette, header group, manager, and more. Looks spiffy.
• MagicAjax.NET - Open source AJAX framework that uses standard ASP.NET controls. Check out their online ASP.NET 2.0 demos here.
• RetroActive - Journal application for PocketPC that synchronizes with Outlook Journal and Blogger. 30-day trial is here, registration $29.80.
• EasyBarcode 1.2 - Generate EAN/ISBN barcodes in a variety of graphics formats. The trial version generates but doesn't export the barcodes; licensed version is $39.99.
• Stored Procedure Object Interface Layer - I dunno, somehow I don't really want to use a stored proc to .NET wrapper with the acronym SPOIL, even if it does come from Microsoft. (via wicwil)

• Olymars Refresh (v1.5) beta plan is starting - If you're interested in this "SQL Server centric .NET code generator", you'll be happy to know that a SQL Server 2005/.NET 2.0 version is in the works.
• C# Trivia Quiz Part 1 - Answers - To questions you probably never had.
• ACE Team Performance Checklist - Good list of things to look at when working on performance for Web applications.
• Information about SQL Server Everywhere (SQL Everywhere) - It turns out that SQL Everywhere is the SQL Mobile codebase with the "mobile" limitation removed.

• The DonationCoder.com C++ Builder Programming Contest - $15,000 worth of programmer tools are up for grabs in this contest for code written with any version of C++ Builder (including the trial version).
• Clipmarks - Community-based site that lets you put together clippings from multiple Web pages, add tags, share them, search them, and discuss them. More elaborate and better looking than the other social bookmarking stuff I've looked at.
• kristab - I don't know what the point is, but I think this is my favorite new MSDN blog of the year.

Rants

• I have to backpedal on my previous rant. It appears that the major source of my grumpiness with FeedBurner was caused by a bad beta version of the aggregator I was using. I still see some timeouts, but it's not the rampant problem that I thought it was. So go forth and burn with confidence.

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Mike Gunderloy is the lead developer for Larkware and author of numerous books and articles on programming topics.