10+ sources for Windows Phone 7 development
Windows Phone 7 is out and it’s great !
As a dotnet developper you have to be interested in how develop apps for that platform.
Besides you can develop for free, there are a bunch of tools that Microsoft offers you !
- Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone
- Windows Phone Emulator
- Silverlight for Windows Phone
- XNA Game Studio 4.0
- Expression Blend 4 for Windows Phone
All available from here
And here is a list of sources for informations.
There is no more excuses to avoid wp7 !
Analyse your web traffic without redeployment.
The spying of users activity is good for you business !
Web analytics are an important part for a website; it allows the site owner to understand what users are looking for and to enhance his site in order to grab more users.
Web Analytics systems.
One of the most popular system is google analytics, if you have a google account, you can use this system for your sites.
You just have to create an entry for your website on www.google.com/analytics.
It generates for you a piece of code with a specific ID that you have to paste just before the closing head tag of each of the pages you want to monitor.
An alternative is Piwik, which is open source.
This web application has to be installed on a web server (with php/mysql).
This app also generates for you a piece of javascript code that you have to paste right before the closing body tag.
With ASP.NET Webforms.
In ASP.NET Webform you can copy this tracking code on your main Master page and it’s included in all pages using this master page.
But it requires modifying the page and redeploying the web site.
You can also use the Global.asax to add code to each page which is generated. It also requires redeployment.
Another alternative are the httpmodules.
It allows you to add functionalities to a website with just copying a dll file in the bin directory of your application and reference it in your main web.config file.
It’s the solution I choose in order to add analytics functionality to a website already running.
SAHM for Simple Analytics HttpModule.
My first implementation added only google tracking code, but I added piwik just in case and because I was testing this system.
I made it public, so you can download it from codeplex at the address : http://sahm.codeplex.com/
To use it:
1.) Copy the SAHM.dll file in the bin folder of your application
2.) Edit your Web.Config application file.
2.1) Locate <configSections> and add
<sectionGroup name="SAHM"> <section name="google" type="SAHM.GoogleConfig, SAHM" allowLocation="true" allowDefinition="Everywhere"/> <section name="piwik" type="SAHM.PiwikConfig, SAHM" allowLocation="true" allowDefinition="Everywhere"/> </sectionGroup>
2.1) Add a SAHM section
<SAHM> <google Code="UA-XXXXXX-X"/> <piwik Server="www.yourpiwikserver/" IDSite="1"/> </SAHM>
Set your identifiers.
For the piwik : be sure to set the Server value without the “http://”
2.3) Add the module in the <module>
<httpModules> <add name="SAHM" type="SAHM.AnalyticsModule, SAHM"/> </httpModules>
or if you use II7
<system.webServer> <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true"/> </system.webServer>
2.4) Save your web.config file and test if your tracking code is in your page code.
2.5) That’s it
If you enjoy this module, please let me know!
Happy web traffic analyses.
Download link : http://sahm.codeplex.com/
25+ Podcast sources for your ears
A free and easy source for information.
Podcasts are easy to find, you can sometimes listen to them online or you simply download them and listen later.
Put them on your “walkman” when you go out for a walk or when you take the public transports, at work when you are in an environment with multiple noise sources (it reduce them to a single source), when you are in a meeting for which you have no interest , or even in a family meal while your stepmother is talking about her last haircut.
You can also take it in your car when driving work or to home. It’s the option I take because I spend 4 hours a day in the car. I simply copy them on an usb stick and plug it to the radio. (you can also burn it on a cd, depends of your car radio system).
Do it your way !
Podcasts are a great idea, they allow you to listen to a show you missed, to be informed of the latest buzz and so on.
Listening to posdcasts is a good thing because even if you aren’t really attentive to what is said, your subconscient is smart enough to make you listen at important parts, so you if you heard of a subject after listening to a relative podcast, you know a little of the subject and you seem less dumb that you are.
Plus, il like me you listen to podcasts in a foreign language, you can significantly improve your knowlege by simply semi-listening to conversations in that language.
Like I early said : Podcasts are cool, so listen to them !
Here is my list of podcasts’s sources for developers : share it and enjoy it !
