Mike-Ward.Net

Links 2007-02-25

Universal Data Type Checker
Here’s a neat little C# function for checking if one can convert a string value to a specific type.

Here are some examples:

CanConvert("12", typeof(int)); // true
CanConvert("f637a876-9d58-4229-9559-a5e42a95fdac ", typeof(Guid)); // true
CanConvert("Backspace", typeof(System.ConsoleKey)); // true
CanConvert("10px", typeof(System.Web.UI.WebControls.Unit)); // true
CanConvert("red", typeof(System.Drawing.Color)); // true

Windows Vista’s three killer features
I’ve heard many people trash talk Vista. I heard the same thing when XP debuted. Ed Bott actually has spent time with the Vista and offers up what I would call a “fair” assessment of the Microsoft’s latest offering.

C# Keyboard Shortcut Posters
Here is a really nice, colorful poster of the standard C# keyboard shortcuts. You’ll need a printer that can print on 18” paper to get the full resolution of this one. It’s Ok on legal size paper as well.

Inspire Yourself: 50 Remarkable Favicons
The good folks at Smashing Magazine of an excellent collection of Favicons free for the taking.

SILK ICONS
More lovely and free icons for your Web site.

MeasureIt - Firefox ruler extension
This is a really nice measuring tool for Firefox browsers. Draw a ruler across any Web page to check the width, height, or alignment of page elements in pixels.

About protocol links - MozillaZine Knowledge Base
This is a listing of all the about protocol links in Firefox. There are a few special URLs, which begin with about:, that you can type into the Location Bar.

MS AJAX 1.0 is here
Rick Strahl’s blog is one of the best overviews of MS AJAX 1.0 I’ve read to date.

Context Help Made Easy
This article introduces a way to instrument your code that enables help authors to associate help topics with the application’s visual contexts at any time - even post-compilation – and to do so using the application’s user interface without the involvement of the developer. There is no need for the help author to manually edit any files or have knowledge of any internals.

X-Hawk: The Revolutionary, Modular, VTOL Aircraft
X-Hawk is a ‘rotorless’ Vertical-Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft. To be more precise, it is an aircraft that has the VTOL capability of a helicopter, but without the exposed rotors that make it dangerous or impossible for helicopters to maneuver in complex urban and natural environments.