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Server CE Database Development with .NET
This book comprises 10 Chapters in just under 450 pages, including the indexes and usual book stuff. Since CE supports ASNI Sql, there are a few chapters that discuss using SQL to manipulate databases, which are probably not necessary for most database programmers. Chapters 4-8 are dedicated to DDL (data definition language), DML (data manipulation language), and taking advantage of metadata. It's a good discussion of these subjects, and I guess an author must include them to be thorough, but if you aren't that familiar with SQL, you probably have some learning to do before diving into data-driven PDA apps.
Enough about the background, though. The book really excels in two areas, one of which I think is probably useful to any developer, even if you don't use the Compact Framework or Microsoft Products. That area is security.
Far too many developers blow off security concerns, or claim to care but do little or nothing about actually increasing security. Let's face it: no matter how secure your OS is, no matter how killer your firewall is, today there are a lot of people trying to break your app and they aren't always outside of your company. Tiffany points to a GIGA Information Group article criticizing the industry for ignoring security on mobile devices.
A lot of what he says is focused on security issues that are 'common sense,' and yet ones that people ignore all the time. It's kind of a shame that a writer needs to explain the benefits of using 'Strong Passwords,' but let's face it, no matter how well you write your app, it won't be secure if you leave the front door open.
In no way am I saying that the author's discussion of security is limited to such elementary topics, but he does a great job of bringing many issues into focus and suggesting ways to deal with them.
The other area that this book really excels in is getting you through replication. This is not a fun topic if you don't know what you are doing and there isn't a lot of literature out there to help you get through PUSH/PULL subscriptions and the like. Pragmatically speaking, of the topics this book covers, Tiffany's coverage of replication is probably going to benefit people the most, because if you can't sync your PDA with your server, you are effectively out of gas. If you aren't a Sql CE user you won't appreciate the value of this chapter, but love MS or hate them, the newsgroups and forums are filled with folks with the same sorts of problems that the author works diligently to get you through.
It's hard to know what will and won't work yet on the Compact Framework and CE. It's quite helpful to have a list of common functions that are supported listed in depth -- another thing I liked about this book.
What else? Well, the text was well written, very similar to his last book on Pocket Access (Pocket PC Database Development with eMbedded Visual Basic) and easy to read. If you are a total newbie to CE, you can use this book and hit the ground running. Everything that you need to write professional apps is included, and I can't find anything that Tiffany omitted.
I really appreciate the fact that the author wrote an entire book on such a niche subject. Many areas, particularly the Compact Framework, don't have a lot of literature on them and if you are writing SQL Server CE, you are on your own...until now.
If you develop in CE, or plan to, this book is a Must Have.
You can purchase SQL Server CE Database Development with the .NET Compact Framework from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to submit a review for consideration, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Everything was silent that Christmas Eve. Only the lightly falling snow that decorated the landscape seemed to exhibit life. The children of the Streamer family had gone to bed early in hopes that Santa would come. Tom Streamer and his lovely wife Laura were snuggled in each other's arms, anticipating the joyous laughter that soon will fill the Midwestern farmhouse as it did each Christmas before. Laura was asleep but Tom was engrossed in thought. Tom had promised himself that this year's drought and its devastating effects on his family's income would not spoil this Christmas for his children. But the lack of revenue made it impossible for him to buy the one thing his children wanted so desperately: a pony. All Midwestern farm kids, except his, had ponies to ride and Tom felt a sense of guilt not being able to afford one. Tom looked over towards Laura. He then realized he was a lucky man to have such a beautiful and adoring family. His fifteen year old son, Jimmy, had made All American in just his freshman year of high school. His thirteen year old daughter, Amy, was fast becoming a remarkable woman. Without warning, Tom's thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash coming from the roof of the two-story wood framed house. Startled, Laura woke to hear the supports in the attic creak under the strain of something heavy. "What is it?" Laura asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes. "I don't know," Tom replied, moving quickly out of bed and putting on a robe. "Let's find out." Laura followed Tom's lead while also slipping on a robe. As they scampered out of the master bedroom, they were greeted in the hallway by Jimmy and Amy. "Is that Santa?" Amy asked. Jimmy said, "I don't think so, Amy. But I'm ready for anything." Tom and Laura laughed as Jimmy knifed his hands through the air. He was taking Karate lessons at the local YMCA and was anxious to demonstrate his newfound skill. Amy and Jimmy soon followed their parent's laughter with snickers of their own. "Come on, 'Karate Kid.' Let's see what's going on," Tom said, grinning while ruffling his right hand through Jimmy's thick curly hair. The family followed the creaking sound along the rafters. "It seems to be heading towards the chimney," Laura said perplexed. "It is Santa!" Amy exclaimed. "Don't jump to conclusions just yet young lady," Tom said with a fake scowl on his face. "The fireplace is lit. Maybe it's an animal that got on the roof from a nearby tree and wants to get close to the heat coming from the chimney. It's cold outside you know." "By the sound of it, it's a pretty *BIG* animal don't you think, Dad?" Jimmy went back to making Karate chops again. They huddled around the top of the staircase, crouching down to get the full view of the roaring fire in the fireplace, wondering what the source of the sound on the roof was going to do next. All of a sudden the fire in the fireplace blew out with a whooshing sound. But just as suddenly, the fire roared back to life. The four of them gasped. There, standing in front of the fireplace, was a very large man with a white beard dressed in a red suit, wearing gloves and a cap and stroking the head of a magnificent pony! "Ho ho ho," the jolly old man chuckled. "Wasn't that fun?" the man asked the beast. The pony nodded his head up and down as if to agree. "That *IS* Santa," Tom whispered, bewildered. The four bodies at the top of the stairs stole quick glances at each other then just as quickly returned their gaze towards the scene that was taking place in the living room. "I'd better get you ready for the children," the jolly man said with a twinkle in his eye. He moved without delay towards the far side of the handsome animal and fell to his knees with a loud plop. The pony was parallel to the fireplace and the big man was in between them. The reddish orange glow cast forth from the flames complimented the rosy cheeks of the warm-hearted man. The fire being near the flo
Carl Hulsey was determined to turn his white billy goat, Snowball, into a watchdog, whether Snowball wanted to be one or not. To that end, 77-year-old Hulsey, a retired poultry worker from Canton, Georgia, took to beating Snowball with a stick to make him more aggressive. "Pa, this goat's going to kill you if you keep that up," Alma Hulsey warned her husband. She was right.
On 16 May 1991, Hulsey once again approached the goat, brandishing a stick. This time Snowball landed the first blow. The 110-pound goat attacked his tormentor, butting Hulsey in the stomach, twice knocking him down. Hulsey scrambled onto the porch in an effort to get away. The goat bounded up the steps after him. While Alma Hulsey watched, Snowball rammed his master over the edge. Hulsey fell to the ground five feet below and died where he landed. "Blunt trauma to the abdominal cavity," said the coroner. Snowball had ruptured Hulsey's stomach.
As a dangerous animal who might harm another, by rights Snowball should have been put down. Once the goat's story was known, however, the officials who were to decide Snowball's fate were inundated with pleas to spare the creature. More than 500 protesters from around the nation called Cherokee County animal control after it was announced Snowball might be put to death. Many offered to adopt Snowball.
Some even made death threats. "What happens to the goat happens to you," one caller reportedly warned. There was also talk of a bomb being planted if the goat didn't walk.
Snowball got his reprieve. He was turned over to Noah's Ark, a private animal shelter for neglected and abused animals in Locust Grove, a little town south of Atlanta. Four hours after his arrival, he was laid on a kitchen table and neutered, an operation intended to make him less aggressive. He was also rechristened "Snow".
Why this furor over a goat and the seeming lack of concern for the man whose life it had ended? In the small community Hulsey had been part of, he was well and truly mourned. Yet outside that pocket of acquaintance, sentiment ran the other way -- many animal lovers saw a certain divine justice in his fate. He'd brought harm to an animal, and the animal had struck back.
As Tom Teepen, editor of the editorial pages of The Atlanta Constitution, noted:
We are keener to understand and spare an abused goat than an abused human. Indeed, when a human kills, we sneer at his defense as a dodge -- 'Yeah, yeah sure, his mother didn't love him' - yet we are sentimental about killer goats. We are a very strange animal.
What do you expect from a call center in Hazard Kentucky. They do SBC tech support and the password to their techsupp@sbcglobal.net account is training_1
What a bunch of morons using that for a password. As usually login at www.sbcglobal.net and you can get into their email. Send all the mail you want!
Tell them how fucktarded they are and call the sykes number directly at 606-487-9901. If someone askes where to be directed ask for Ops, or any SBC tm available. They hire people there that don't even have a high school diplom