I've released a new version of Unleash It that fixes multiple problems that people were having. Most notably, exclusion of folders when a VS.NET project was the source was not possible. After re-working the code, this is now possible along with being able to view the files / folders to be deployed dialogs.

Changelog:

• Added support for displaying folders / files to include for VS.NET Project Files as the source.
• Added ability to name your FTP profiles.
• Added checking to see if Unleash It is currently running during installation / uninstallation.
• Fixed error when parsing a file mask with an underscore.
• Fixed the logfile button being enabled after a deployment when that profile isn't using logging.
• Fixed mis-spelling of "changed" in the logfile for FTP deployment.
• Fixed directories not being excluded during a VS.NET Project deployment.

So, head on over to http://www.eworldui.net/unleashit to get your latest copy!

I just signed up to attend HDC '04 located in Des Moines, IA this coming December. Its going to be a long 4-5 hour trip, but I think it'll all work out since I'll be able to network with all you other geeks out there. If you're heading out too, make sure you attend the party Thursday night...maybe we could meet up and chat!

BTW, how can you pass up the registration fee, its 18 fricking bucks! I figure between hotel costs and gas, I'll spend (err, my company) about $300 bucks. Not too shabby.

In the most bizarre article, engineers of the Good Housekeeping Institute tested both TiVo and ReplayTV. What did they find? Well, they found both work great, but the engineers (who do this for a living, I might add) had to call ReplayTV twice for technical support.

On an unrelated matter...

Oh, wait...this isn't the article...

I'm currently sitting in a SQL Server 2005 technical overview webcast, and I just coined a new term.

VS.NET Head

What it basically means, is those that spend most of their day in Visual Studio .NET, no matter what version. I decided this was a good name due to the "tight integration" of SQL Server 2005 within future versions of Visual Studio .NET and the fact that our SQL Developer will be spending more time in VS.NET, like the rest of us, next year.

Are you a VS.NET Head?

I just noticed that the main pages have been updated with links to listings of bloggers. For instance, weblogs.asp.net has 3 links, "Microsoft Bloggers", "Non-Microsoft Bloggers", and "All Bloggers" whereas blogs.msdn.com has a link called "Blog Lists". What these are, are actually the non-truncated listing of blogs on each community site. This (I assume) is to replace the HUUUGE listing of bloggers down the side of the main feed site. It even comes with a nice listing of the descriptions too :)

I tell ya what else would be nice:

• Display # of posts along with Last Updated
• Change "LastUpdated" to be actually "Last Updated" in the listing <-- Picky aren't I
• Be able to sort this listing by (asc / desc for all):
• Blog name
• Username
• Last updated
• # of posts

How about it  Community Server :: Blogs team?

I decided it was time to apply a new blog skin, as David pointed out, "Lighty" just doesn't render correctly in Firefox. I think it would be cool if more skins would appear for weblogs.asp.net, or we can upload our own, yeah that would be cool.

Update: I forgot the wonderful world of being able to override CSS elements. Wahoo! Now I can take the current skin and modify it to what I want :)

No, I'm not talking about their browser only being half the way there, I'm talking about their goal of 1 million downloads in 10 days. I can't believe that in only a mere 2 days, over 500,000 estimated downloads have of Firefox 1.0PR have taken place. At this rate, I think they'll reach the 1 million mark by day 5.

Go Firefox Go! BTW, if you've not downloaded Firefox, I'd suggest doing so, it is by far becoming my primary browser both at home and at work.

So I just finished competing in the qualification round for Google's Top Coder contest, and well, damn there are some quick coders out there. You basically had 1 hour to code solutions for 2 problems, 1 being worth 400 points and the other worth being 1000 points. Points are based on how fast you submit your code, but are later tested against system tests and code reviews in which they can remove points from you.

Lets just say I got 311 points total (in 14 minutes), and that was for problem 1. Problem #2 was difficult, but I just needed more time than 46 minutes to complete it...I was close darnit! It truly is a test of ones ability to code accurately under a time crunch.

Since the qualification round is still going on, I can't really divulge my problems as it could give other coders out there an advantage against me. 500 participants will continue on (they take 100 participants from each of the 5 different problem sets), so I can only cross my fingers that I advance, however I won't be heartbroken if I don't. I set out merely to see if I could actually code under a time crunch like this, and I feel I didn't do too bad. Other coders out there that actually submit both solutions just amaze me, but who knows if their solutions are correct...only time will tell.

So, wish me luck and cross your fingers for me, I'd really like to get that "free plane trip" to compete in the final round.

Firefox 1.0PR has been released, amongst other Mozilla based browser updates. I've personally tried to start using Firefox more, but I seem to always revert back to IE. I however, have spent about 30 min customizing Firefox to my browsing habits, so maybe that will help me in my conversion.

So, if you're still running and older version of Firefox, download 1.0PR now! BTW, some extensions do not function in the new version, specifically the google extension and a few others I was using. So, don't fret just because of that, its still a great build!