As You know I’ve just bitten the bullet and have installed Visual Studio 2005 SP1 Release version. Not being completely stupid I decided to use a VMWare session to check it out first.
Glad I did.

Once the SP1 install had finished, a painful process taking way more than an hour, I fired it up to build a simple Hello World with a label and a button in ASP.Net. All went well until I ran the project and Visual Studio dissapeared up it’s own binary equivalent ass. So round 2 try again. OK all seemed fine, project ran, click button, hello world yay!

No try something a bit more complicated, whip up a quick custom controll.

Right Click solution node in solution explorer… erm… where the frack is my solution node!
Took a bit of digging before I realised the damned check-box in the application preferences was unchecked. Solution nodes were no longer always showing. Damn!

Still… once I raved a bit and then dug around in the bowels of the property box, all was back to normal…

Just makes me wonder what’s next.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 has finally hit the streets, download it here.
I’ve only just begun testing this release so I’ve no gotcha’s etc… just yet, as always though you can expect to see them here as soon as I know of any.

AS with the Beta version you should expect the application of the patch to be a slow process, this patches almost every file in the application. I’ve not found a list of exactly what is included in the patch though so your guess is as good as mine.

Expect to see the Web Application project type fully included though, and if the beta was anything to go by you should ensure that the pre-patch version of the Web application projects add-in is removed before applying the patch, it’s less painfull if you do.

Slashdot reports a new Animated Trek series may be in the offing… I’m hoping for a box set of the old original animated series for christmas. I’m busy watching all the original series on Sci-Fi at the moment I guess I’m just super geeky as I really enjoy it.

Ho hum ;0)

Philias writes “A new web-based Star Trek Animated Series may be in the works. CBS is considering a pitch by veteran Trek producer Dave Rossi for a ‘Clone Wars’ style animated series for StarTrek.com. Like Clone Wars the episodes would be just a few minutes long. Unlike the old animated Trek show from the 70s, this one would be with a whole new crew set in a new time period. The setting is to be a war-torn post-9/11-like Trek universe 150 years after the time of Picard.” From the post: “The Zero Room team felt that the time was right for a new approach to Trek. The setting is the year 2528 and the Federation is a different place after suffering through a devastating war with the Romulans 60 years earlier. The war was sparked off after a surprise attack of dozens of ‘Omega particle’ detonations throughout the Federation creating vast areas which become impassible to warp travel and essentially cut off almost half the Federation from the rest. During the war the Klingon homeworld was occupied by the Romulans, all of Andoria was destroyed and the Vulcans, who were negotiating reunification with the Romulans, pulled out of the Federation. The setting may seem bleak and not very Trek-like, but that is where the show’s hero Captain Alexander Chase comes in.”

[Via Slashdot]

Skythe writes “Gateworld reports that an exclusive, third Stargate series is in the works: ‘The new series is in the concept phase, and is being actively worked on by the Vancouver creatives behind Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. No concept for the show has yet been revealed.’ Gateworld also reports despite the cancellation of SG-1, the series is likely for a 2007 debut. I wonder if the direct-to-dvd movies will any influence on the new series, and what the concept behind the show will be?”

[Via Slashdot]

oooh! SG-1 lost it’s way once we lost the Jack O’Niel character. Atlantis is cool though I’m certain there’s only so far it can go. any ideas on what the third incarnation will be? and what the heck are the direct to DVD movies?

NASA’s proposed 2024 moon base will be a steppingstone to Mars, but it may also be a mining outpost. The moon is an abundant source of helium-3, a potent fuel for next-generation nuclear reactors. Trouble is, China, India and Russia have their eyes on it too. By John Lasker.

[Via Wired News: Top Stories]

We are Doomed!!!

It’s my moon too who the hell said they could do what the Frack they like with it?

Two more days until the first UK screening of The Hogfather Yay!!
I’m a geek and a Pratchett fan and proud of it. If you have never read a Pratchett book you are missing out, if you read one and didn’t like it you are wiered.

I’m not going to give the plot away, just simply say that it’s a great story and well worth the watching. I saw the making of the other day and it looks like they got the whole look and feel nailed. Pratchett himself has a cameo part and spent time on set so I guess it got his buy in and there was a hint that there may be more to come.

Sky 1 Sunday & Monday at 8 , if you have digital with the magic red button, it’s on the new multi start service so you can start in 1/2 hour intervals up to 11pm I think. no doubt sky.com will give you more details.

Also planning on going to watch Eragon tomorrow as a surprise for the missus. The Books are awesome the movie looks great, I’ll report back after the movie to let you know if it is as good as it looks.

The final release of Microsoft ASP.Net Ajax 1.0 (formerly Atlas) grows ever nearer, the RC (Release Candidate) is out today and available to download from the Asp.Net Ajax website.

There are a few changes in this release so you need to read the documentation, specifically the docs covering converting from Atlas CTP to Ajax RC and Converting from Beta 2 to Ajax RC. There’s some new features in there too and the Whitepaper will cover these so more reading I’m affraid.

Not sure I’ll get round to checking this release out what with Christmas on the horizon and all but it’s looking good for the final release.

    

In an attempt to ensure I maintain a decent Caffeine related presence on this blog I’ve decided I’ll include a Caffeine induced posting every Friday.

This week I’m going to kick the whole thing off by joining in the debate of Costa vs Starbucks.

My personal standpoint is that Starbucks is by far the better coffee lovers coffee shop, the reasons for this are pretty straightforward.

• Starbucks have a better choice of coffee on offer
• Starbucks staff know a lot about coffee

In addressing my first point:
I went into the local Costa store that opened here the other day and if you order a coffee then you have no choice in the coffee you get, it’s Costa coffee (self roasted) or Costa coffee. Now, this approach is fine if you are just looking for a coffee and don’t want too much by way of choice. If however, like me, you prefer a bit of variety and like to try coffee from around the world, challenge the tastebuds and discover something new then Starbucks is the place.

They always have two different filtered coffee on, one is usually the default Fair trade coffee which is very nice. Then of course there is their mix of the usual cappuccino, mocha etc…

I particularly enjoy the seasonal choices which I must also say are better than Costa. A 4 shot Egg Nogg Laté is my tipple of choice in the season of goodwill, Costa’s Spiced Gingerbread Laté I’ve not yet mastered, even with 4 shots it seems too weak.

One thing I have noticed about Costa, and this is a big improvement, is that they seem to have stopped cremating the beans and have improved the roasting.

Starbucks do appear to have a good training program in place for their staff too, next time you visit a store look for the barista with the black apron, those are the coffee experts. It’s their job to know about the coffee, if there is a new one in store they should know what it tastes like and can recommend one to suit you. I admit I don’t know about Costa’s policy but I can’t imagine that it’s anywhere near as good as there’s only one coffee, hell they probably know it well though ;0)

For me it has to be Starbucks hands down simply because of the Community spirit in the stores I visit & the choice of coffee from around the world. They fit with my adventurous side, I always buy the guest coffee and coffee of the month from Whittards, I always try the new ale in the local pub and look out for new stuff in the supermarkets, and I always try the different coffee at Starbucks.

Well i think so :0)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c71aqY-uqRQ]

You may be aware of the mezzoblue website by Dave Shea, especially if you are serious about web design. There’s not much Dave doesn’t know about CSS and putting together world class designs. I bought a copy of his book The Zen of CSS Design a while back and I’m so glad I did.

The book acompanies the Zen Garden website which is a showcase for what can be achieved with CSS and delves into the designs and shows how they are achieved, aimed as an inspirational guide to encourage us all to think differently and achieve more.

The redesign of mezzoblue continues this inspiration, you’ll get more by reading Dave’s post announcing the redesign and I encourage you to use Firefox or IE 7 to get the full benefit as IE6 spoils the party as usual. (due to it’s quirks and not bad design I hasten to add.)

In short, Dave has taken inspiration from the way magazines are put together. Colour schemes are centered around a picture and he’s put together a neat way of archiving posts too. The upshot is a functional design that is almost living in that colours will change over time as the image changes.

I am inspired and I’m certain after a few minutes on Dave’s site you will be too.