August 2005 - Posts
So the secret is out... for some. I'm going to be attending the Microsoft PDC conference in LA (like in Hollywood). All thanks to Microsoft SA and in particular Lillian and Ruari!
This is so exciting!
I managed to sort out the Visa stuff in about a week - If anyone wants tips on how to prepare for those just drop me a note and I'll tell you all the ups and downs about it. And don't let enyone tell you the 'Netherlands Visas' are easy to come by...
I found some more info on what [might] be covered in PDC
here
It look like it will be exciting all the way with stuff like Windows Vista, WinFX, Avalon, Indigo, IE7 *cough*, Monad, VS2005, SQL 2005, Exchange 12, Office 12 and XPS (Metro)
Perhaps when I get back I must organise a whole session just for feedback. Who's keen?
For those that have not seen it, Google finally updated their maps covering Cape Town (the city). At least now we can see the Castle, and even make out ou Jannie Koffie (I mean, van Riebeeck)'s statue.
Now, can someone please just tell those guys from Google to update the maps in my area as well? I feel so blind not being able to see where I'm going - just joking.
One sad thing though is that the KLM Boeing isn't visible on the runway anymore. That was a sight :(
b.t.w. If someone working at Google's maps read this please add detail maps for 33°57'22.65"S, 18°42'9.96"E. I'll even wave for the camera is possible - yeh right!
I just wanted to say I'm still alive. Unfortunately ever since our traffic (amount) is monitored at work browsing anything that has not been approved in triplicate by the managers is not allowed. Thus I'm effectively cut of from the net and afterwards at home these days I'm too tired to bother.
Anyway, at least I'm still physically here and breathing (for now) ;)
Then, like Ruari I've also got a secret.... I can tell you but then...nah, I can't take you with me... hehe
Thanks a mil Lillian and Ruari!
Yesterday I tried writing a small piece of JavaScript to build a search function for a couple of htm pages that will eventually go on a cd as part of a 'searchable' database. It should have been easy but I discovered just how bad documentation is around JavaScript in particular when using non IE browsers. This is something I must praise Microsoft on. At least they have proper programming resources that are centralized. However I eventually managed to scratch around on the net (using Google off course...) and found some useful articles and samples to do what I want to do.
It turns out in Mozilla based browsers that the XmlDocument.load() method throws an exception when reading a local xml file because of security unless you have specified 'XmlDocument.async = false;'
This is due to security restrictions implemented in the browser to avoid militias scripts from reading any files on your hard drive and sending it to some web server (for example) giving a hacker potential access to any file on your hard drive (think sam file here). The 'async' flag allows for asynchronous file transfer when using AJAX for example.
Anyway, I got it right so I can build a search page that works in both IE and Firefox.
Interestingly enough, IE lets you happily read local files without any problems. Hmm, do I see another security fix coming along...
Unfortunately the source code is a bit long so I won't be posting it here. Perhaps I'll post it as an article on SADev.
In short it is part of a genealogical 'database' that I'm building for an uncle for our 'family league'. It is sold as a CD and thus the ‘database’ must run of a ‘read-only’ medium without any kind of installation.