...Windows Explorer hanging (seriously, is there anything Mark can't solve?) Check out his post on how to debug "hangs" with Windows Explorer using FileMon. Good work Mark!

Well done Mitch and Greg for starting to organise the next Code Camp Oz, also known as "Return To Wagga"...I couldn't resist the temptation with my alternate title, though ;-) Now that we've read about Code Camps with lots of swag (e.g. this one), I reckon the Down Under version could have more give-aways! Apart from that, if it's even half as good as the last one, it will still be highly worth going.

Last week I checked out a promising tool (still in beta) called Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP. My reason for using it was to create a login for my nearly-4-year-old son. Using the toolkit, I got it to the point where he has a start menu which lists only shortcuts I put there ("All User" programs aren't listed), and he doesn't have the ability to delete anything or access any system stuff. Of course he's not going to do any damage (unless inadvertantly), but I wanted to be sure the PC is safe, so he can actually use it. The...

I've posted a lot about User Interface (UI) as I am very interested in having a great UI, one which my end-users are able to take advantage of without reading piles of printed documentation and which looks good as well. I thought I'd briefly show the standard UI for Windows Forms applications that I have settled on for my last 3 or 4 projects. Remember, I'm the only "programmer" (my co-workers use mostly Access and Excel along with a little SQL Server, but no "programming" as such) in a department that writes and maintains business intelligence-type applications for a hospital, and I use SQL Server 2000,...

In the not-so-far future for me and the department I work in, there is a (potential) web-based project coming up that, if I am to develop it, will be written in ASP.NET/VB.NET. I mentioned to my boss that apart from a very simple 5-page ASP.NET application I wrote 3 years ago, I didn't really have much experience with the programming side of ASP.NET, although I'm pretty familiar with HTML/JavaScript (most of my development is done in Windows Forms). He suggested I look for some training resources, and I found these couple of courses (I live near Melbourne, Australia, so the links...

Thanks to Bloglines getting a backlog of posts from Will's blog, I checked out this old post of his that pointed to Web Design Patterns at http://www.welie.com/patterns/. An interesting collection of web UI patterns e.g. when to use "breadcrumb" navigation and why, the purpose and function of a "testimonial" page, the use of alternating row colors in lists, and lots more, most with real-world examples (and some counter-examples). Worth a look to get ideas and perhaps add that real polish to your website (now someone, please, examples of all the patterns in ASP.NET?)