a while back i wrote a post about sharepoint and firefox...i saw a trackback to this in a forum indicating a lot of rant for microsoft not including this support.  in my original post i made reference to a partner that was enabling this for firefox users.  the link is in the post but i'll make it here again.

telerik and cross-browser editor for sharepoint 2007

done.  get it (free btw) and install it.  they have a doc to help you configure/install.

there, so no more complaining :-)

thanks to mike ormond for prodding me about updating the msdn search sidebar gadget.  i had found this issue as well myself when i realized it wasn't working anymore.  well, it was because msdn went through a redesign and their urls changed...so much for scraping :-)

well, i updated mine and i'm sure nikhil is swamped and may not have a chance to update his (and i didn't want to redist his code, but here's what i did).

on mine you can just download the new one here: MSDN Search Sidebar Gadget

when i say "mine" it is just a basic typical gadget.  nikhil's was written using his Script# which is fantastically awesome.  he also has some UI updates.  which one is better?  they both yield the same result...i actually use nikhils because his UI is better...i'm merely updating mine here for the masses (same download link).

on to nikhil's changes required.  if you want to just update the currently installed one, go to C:\Users\<youruserid>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets and look for the installation point.  on my machine it is called "MSDNSearch.gadget" and open that folder.  in there you will find an MSDNGadget.js file.  go to line 26 and change:

http://search.msdn.microsoft.com/search/data.ashx?&query={0}

to

http://search.msdn.microsoft.com/search/Feed.aspx?query={0}&feed=rss

boom, then you are done.  if you want to modify the script# project, then open the MSDNSearch.cs file and make the same change to the SearchUrlFormat private string on line 13.  then you can recompile and all is well.

hope this helps...and thanks for the nudge mike!

a friend of mine send me a note today asking my thoughts on the whole testdriven.net situation.  i was surprised in anyone asking me about it (not because i'm a snob or anything, just that it had been all over the place).  i then realized that the register and /. picked it up finally and that's were it is getting some rebuzz.

if you don't know what i'm talking about, basically the author (jamie) of TestDriven.NET (a great tool btw) had been enabled for visual studio express.

The Express Editions are an expansion of the Visual Studio and SQL Server product line to include lightweight, easy-to-use, and easy-to-learn tools for hobbyists, students, and novice developers who want to build dynamic Windows applications, Web sites, and Web services.  Express Edition products are designed for hobbyists, students, and novice developers. As such, they lack the full breadth of features found in higher-end Visual Studio and SQL Server Editions. They are designed specifically for scenarios common to the hobbyist, student, and novice developer. Each Express Edition includes targeted documentation that will help the beginning programmer quickly learn the concepts required to build more advanced applications. The user interfaces are significantly streamlined to ensure that extraneous features do not interfere with the learning process. If you later decide that you do need additional features available in the higher-end editions of Visual Studio and SQL Server, you can seamlessly upgrade your code and skills.  You can learn more here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express.

jamie actually had done this a while back and it appears (by the documentation he provided as well as microsoft) that he was contacted and had conversations with microsoft's developer group about what he was doing and why he shouldn't be doing it.  as a result of that, he stopped distributing and making mention of the method he used to enable his product in express.  well, it's back.  microsoft reached out.  jamie responded with questions.  microsoft answered with some answers and asked him to stop.  jamie responded with more questions and noted he was going to seek legal advice.

back. forth.

well, i'm not a lawyer nor did i stay at a holiday inn last night, so i'm not going to comment on the legalities of the exchange between lawyers.  from where i stand though, i think the issue is clear.  whether microsoft is right/wrong about "going after" an mvp (i don't think they are as i've seen that microsoft has reached out to jamie numerous times trying to resolve amicably) i think is an unfortunate byproduct of bringing out public issues.  and the /. communities are eating it up (without really understanding any issues...spreading near FUD in my opinion).

anyhow, if you want to read microsoft's position on the matter, dan fernandez (super cool guy, you should meet him one time) has posted a few messages:

• Visual Studio Express and TestDriven.NET
• TestDriven.NET and Express - Technical Information

you can also read jamie's initial coming out posts of the issue here.

one of my homies just posted a note about winning an xbox through blogging.  what?! surely you couldn't be serious...ah but he is.

now you might consider it shameless promotion of events, and you'd be right, but there is a purpose here.  often times when we (as those field geeks with funny position titles) organize events there is certain targets that we are trying to meet (read: the people who pay for the events want to make sure they can direct some things).  if it were up to us, we'd always make everything free and always invite everyone.  but utopia doesn't exist.  so what we normally do is ensure that we establish some rules with the powers that be that at a certain point we can start inviting everyone to partake.

this is one such scenario.  you see, there are these web experience events happening around the nation (US).  the last one in new york apparently had some allegations that people said we were trying to "hide" the event.  okay, no more hiding :-) (we weren't really hiding).  so here goes.  there are more events happening.  denver and los angeles still have availability.  if you can go, you should.  if you can't, you can still win an xbox.

see kirk's post for more details.

loke pointed to a new device from htc being announced today for the uk market.  it's called the "touch" and is a new windows mobile 6 device.  probably my only huh moment is looking at the specs and not seeing support fro HSPDA/UTMS (3G) for the networks...odd i thought.

but it is going to come in a wasabi green color :-)  they have a new UI they call TouchFLO that you can see on the main product site at http://www.htctouch.com -- their advertisement on the main page of htc.com right now is a pretty good one i thought -- hits the right emotion (kind of like the blackjack ads did).