Quick post -- I tried to get into the project to take out a reference to an object but oh well, my internet connection doesn't want to stay connected for long.  For now, its live, everyone can view it and watch the progress.  I need to get wcf finalized and the visuals are a bit woeful (see the post on the silverengine) but we'll see where this goes!

Take a look at www.codeplex.com/silversurvey

Took me a while but I finally got around to dumping the files into a zip for download.  My change up includes a sponsor section and a stats page that follows batting and pitching stats.  This is, of course, a modification to the clubstarterkit beta 3 found on codeplex so all the open source goodness applies.

ClubStarterKit-Baseball.zip (7.50 mb)

I'm starting to like these types of research projects -- I learn a ton of stuff, sometimes painfully, but its never time wasted.  Now I'm playing with SiteFinity by telerik -- which is why I needed the virtual PC.  Install is easy, download it from their site BUT there's a slight process involved.

Upon completion of my VPC, you have to install IIS (duh)

So I do.  I install sql server express with advanced services (I want the management studio) -- done and done.  Set the network service account to have write permissions to C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Temporary ASP.NET Files (you'll get an error later).  Next, install the exe and away you go.

From here, it's stupid simple.  Click create project and you'll end up with a nice CMS template site to start playing with.

Based on some feedback I got -- I've decided "why not?" and tossed the survey engine I started up to CodePlex.  I'm not going to allow anyone to join in just yet, not until I get the basic stuff setup and there's going to be a nasty learning curve that I feel coming.  So far, I've got the db project up, along with the core project itself (its kinda nice having TFS again!) -- as soon as that's done and rollin', feel free to join in.

I've loved virtual machines since hardware became cheap (stupid amounts of ram for 100$) -- I love 'em, been using them for a while now and today, I've been tasked with creating one.  Yay!  As with anything, there's a couple tricks I've found, kind of best practice thing, but not quite.  You can get a lot of this good stuff for free, so pick your favorite and go with it.  I use virtual PC since its easy to move them around from desktop to desktop.

First, let's be elementry, make sure you have enough RAM/CPU to run these things -- 1gb of ram is do-able, 2gb+ is best.  Most OS apps will run nicely with 512+ of ram (I run desktops with 512-1gb and servers with 1gb+).  Dual Core or at least hyperthreaded helps me keep sane, and the drive's got to have space as well -- sta-ndard installs take up 2-15gb.  On to the virtual PC!

1. Have a clear-ish idea of what machine you want to make.  If you want a 2k3 web, don't install 2k3 server or 2k3 enterprise.  Know what you need, stick with it.
2. Have your CDs in ISO style.  This'll make your life easy and the installs stupid fast.
3. Have your keys available -- I know this is a duh but I get pissed every time I don't.  Having the -right- key is even better.
4. Don't over do it.  Base installs, no configuring unless absolutely necessary.  Leave a text doc on the desktop with this info.
5. If you're using virtual pc, install the VM Additions (action, install or update within a virtual machine) -- this will allow drag/drop file copy and it won't hijack your mouse.
6. For the love of god, ACTIVATE YOUR COPY if you're using something that needs it.
7. Use a standard admin password.  If it's "Password", so be it -- document it so someone else can find it easily.

When you're done, if you plan on dropping this out on the network for others to enjoy, remove write permissions on the files so that no one can accidently torch your nicely created core install.  Every once in a while its a good idea to update the core with the latest updates as necessary.

Ok, I've got my source code ready and hopefully the sql script will work (much easier/smaller than posting up a bak or mdf).  Download it, take a look, make fun of me on twitter.  Honestly, this was/is going to be used at some point for something real (survey engine) other than a research-ish project.  Anyway, enjoy!

SilverEngine.zip (750.98 kb)

Finally got the chance to sit down and dork around with silverlight.  I skipped right over 1 and 1.1 and went directly to 2.0 hoping that there's something there I can figure out.  What I ended up with was a Linqed, WCFed silverlight app that will NOT accept its rightful place out in the world.  I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I keep getting either a totally blank page (tried all 3 pages I set aside for it) and the service itself isn't working property (thought it was the end point domain but that wasn't it either).

Anyway, if you get bored, take a look at http://silver.rileytech.net and take a look (nothing comes up at the time of me typing this) and the service doesn't either but I won't be posting up that link.  If anyone would care to take a look, let me know, I'll send you the code with the database too.  At least the other site works -- www.columbusstarsbaseball.org :-)

This past fall, I was asked to help coach a kids team, 12-13 year olds.  I played for years, know a ton of stuff about it -- I use to pitch, play first and left (I got wheels and can track down a ball).  Not to be overjocked, I knew we needed a website of some kind and remembered the club starter kit -- gah! There's 3 now.  I notice one is on codeplex and has a dazzling "2.0" on it ...I'm skeptical so I check it out.  Subsonic with a beta 3 is out!  Well, luck would have it I'm using subsonic on the project I'm currently working on.  Ha, this'll be easy.

Right out of the box, there were a couple little things with just general clicking around and removing the default content, no big deal.  I removed the forums area (nothing like having little Johnny's psycho mom going nuts on a public site) and started to completely rewire the stats area.  The site really isn't designed out of the box for a baseball team, so I went off and added a batting and pitching section, along with a base page that displays these.  Slap on some update panels and presto, I got a nice, clean looking stats page with uber cool updating.  I divided up the adding into two parts, Game and Player.  From there, you can add players to a "Roster" and therefore change what players were in that game, you can then input their stats which drive the main page.  This is a members only area of course, but otherwise, coooool stuff.

baselist.JPG (13.15 kb) - this is an empty stats page, extra links added along with "Sponsors"

mod-addgame.JPG (16.80 kb) - add game "pop up"

mod-addplayer.JPG (8.92 kb) - add player "pop up"

I'll post up my code here sometime soon (meant to do it last night when I started this writing) along with a blank database. 

Came in this morning and was smacked in the face with this... 

I'd been dorking around in the project in somewhat strange places so this wasn't a complete and total surprise.  I reset IIS, restarted the comp, went into the web.config and searched for red squigglies, rebuilt the solutions a billion times, cleaned the solution, looked at the error output, no help.  After a random web search and seeing suggestions that I've already tried, I go into the asp.net config settings within IIS for the particular app I'm working on (maybe I set it to v1.1? nope), click on the tabs and I get this surprisingly useful error.

...Debug cannot be parsed ..."On is not a valid value for boolean".  This also gives you a line number...gasp!  I jump into the web.config and sure enough on line 9 ....

custom error mode on, debug mode on ...how quaint ...thanks vstudio for not pitching a (useful) fit!  If you ever run across a strange cannot debug error, I suggest going into the asp.net config and clicking on the tabs!