Those of you who have access to the Science Channel should try to check out a documentary that just came out: "Download: The True Story of the Internet". I don't know how many episodes will be produced in total but, the two 1-hour episodes that have been released so far ("Browser Wars" and "Search") are definitely worth checking out.

This may be the shortest tidbit to date, but it is not meant to be the lightest in content. I believe that all episodes will be rebroadcast on the main Discovery Channel, so non-Science Channel subscribers will eventually be able to view the show's episodes.

Till the next one!

Sooner or later, those of us who choose to remain in the .NET world are going to have to move on towards the 3.x Framework technologies. With WPF's crazily awesome looking demos, WCF/WF's applicability to business process workflows, "data access works 'good enough' as is", lack of time, etc. some items such LINQ may easily fall through the cracks to the bottom of the update-my-skills priority list.

Regardless of whether or not you find a need to delve into the world of LINQ, it can't hurt to check out LINQPad. No hard sell, just get in and get out - I promise you won't get hurt either way.

Ever have to export data from a GridView to an Excel spreadsheet?

While the overall process is fairly straightforward, there are some caveats involved when paging and column sorting are enabled. A search on the Web will lead you to several results on how to proceed (some with good but unproven ideas, many with frustrating deadends) - the best discussion/example, in my opinion, can be found here.

Note that while this is a great implementation, it didn't exactly cover my specific assignment's needs (my details/solution will be discussed in a future article on my News page). Otherwise, enjoy till the next one!

So you figure out the client already has a "standard" look-and-feel to their existing sites. "Great! I should be able to easily make this ASP.NET app fit in with the rest of your sites..." is the oft-made comment before the other shoe drops. At this point, the in-house web kid says that he can forward you one of the "standard templates" to use in your app. While you mumble your best professional reply to this last bit, you realize that not only do you have zero experience with Dreamweaver templates, you now have to convert one (being provided by a non-.NET person) into a master page.

Don't fret: Go here to get an excellent article (and well worth the minimal charge) on how to go through this very process. Note that this will walk you through a pre-built example so you will need to tweak the process to your particular need. While you're at it, check out some of the other CommunityMX.com tutorials (many are free) and get a more-rounded perspective in web development.