Hello, I'm   Jason

During Julie Lerman’s recent visit to Pennsylvania, I was able to snag a 20 minute interview. We talked about where she had come from, how she has time to enjoy Vermont, and what she’d rather be doing. Be sure to check out this podcast! You can see the show notes by visiting http://aspnetpodcast.com/CS11/blogs/asp.net_podcast/archive/2006/07/28/362.aspx.

I’m not happy with the July CTP of Vista. There are a bunch of reasons why I’m not satisfied. First, Microsoft does not appear to be working with many of the media companies. Vista’s big “thing” is multimedia and unless someone found some hacks, neither Nero or LightScribe can install on Vista. Most home PCs that have been purchased over the last 2 years tend to have LightScribe drives as many home PCs are HP and Compaq purchased from retailers such as Best Buy, Staples, Circuit City, and Home Depot. I’d consider myself to be a fairly advanced PC user. I had an ISO file that I was going to burn to a DVD. Not using Vista much to burn things, I clicked on the ISO and a Burn button lit up on the toolbar. I clicked it thinking it was going to burn the contents of the ISO to the DVD. About 1/2 through the burn I said to myself, “I bet this is just another confusing Microsoft Beta mistake.” Sure enough, it burned the ISO file and not the contents to the DVD. I tried to then install NERO so I can burn the ISO directly and NERO is not compatible. I then tried to access the Windows DVD Burning software and I couldn’t because I was using a built-in 64MB Intel video card. I’m not seeing why my video card should prevent me from burning a DVD. I then decided to check out some of the other media options and noticed that Media Player changed names to M3b1a 91ay3r or something Greek (“no pun intended”). So, I then tried to access some of the cool features like Windows Flip and Aero and of course it doesn’t work. What Vista failed to tell me is what the Windows Experience Level meant. To this point I’m assuming 1.0 means you aren’t really using Vista’s capabilities. I’d expect that the first time I use the Windows Key + Tab that Windows would say “Hey, if you get your *** to the store to pick up a 128 MB or greater COMPATIBLE video card, I might actually work.” Argh! The pains of Vista and I’ve only skimmed the top layer

My review of the Visual Basic 2005 for Programmers book has been published to the ASPAlliance.com website. To read the review, please visit http://aspalliance.com/931

Many developers have asked how to create the SQLExpress database from an *.aspx page. Without creating or updating anything, a simple call to Membership.GetAllUsers.Count will do the trick. Your SQLExpress database will be generated in no time.

I received a message earlier today while attempting to run a compiled Crystal Report from version 8.5. If you attempt to run any compiled Crystal Report, this may solve your issue. Find the machine where it’s running just fine. Copy all of the DLLs from C:\Windows\Crystal (or C:\WINNT\Crystal) to the same folder on the destination PC. DO NOT REPLACE any DLLs in that folder. No DLL registration is necessary. The report should then work fine.

Check out the list of free upcoming webcasts by the ASP.NET team. You can see a full list of webcasts by visiting Scott Guthrie’s post.

I’m not saying I approve this, and usually I wouldn’t post this stuff, but this is funny. I live about 30 minutes from Hazleton, home of Lou Barletta. In Hazleton they have new laws regulating illegal aliens and immigrants. If you’ll be offended by this I’m really sorry. Please don’t read any further if this is the case. http://www.casadice.com/signs/index.htm

In this show, Wally interview John Papa. You can download this latest podcast at aspnetpodcast.com.

Also, be on the lookout for a future ASP.NET Podcast show where I interview Julie Lerman. I did the interview last night. Every time I meet up with Julie somewhere I find out something new and interesting.

Are you an avid reader of Scott Guthrie’s blog? Do you look to Scott first for answers? If so, check out his blog search. It can be found at http://cookbook.scottgu.com/

Tonight’s .NET Valley event will feature Julie Lerman. Julie will talk about 5 things that don’t have to be scary with .NET. If you’re new or have experience with .NET, it’s still a treat to see Julie present. More details can be found on the .NET Valley website at www.dotnetvalley.com.