tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25775228843022175422011-07-29T18:45:44.440+10:00VERACITY (ve.rac.i.tee) Accurate, precise, conforming truthfully, adhering to the facts. RECONDITE (rek-uhn-dahyt) 1.Dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter. 2. Beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding; esoteric. 3. Little known; obscureMark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-5290803394320499542010-10-26T20:14:00.007+10:002010-10-26T20:36:02.903+10:00

I recently came across this error in a web app I had taken over from a previous developer. The app compiled fine, and ran just fine too.The pain is caused when you need to adjust properties via the smart tag of the control. The control is no longer visible, so the only way to make the adjustments is to hand code the markup code. That can be slow, and in my case, impossible as it was a control I

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-18335032629767209632010-08-23T10:54:00.002+10:002010-08-23T11:40:58.465+10:00

I have an iPhone. You probably do too.It seems that Apple's attempt to win over business users from Blackberry, iPAQ, et al has been successful. And not without good reason either. Quality construction, user-friendly interface,lovely screen - the reasons are numerous.My son was showing me his new Google Nexus Andriod-driven phone, and I was VERY impressed. Considerably faster than my iPhone, more

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-213205221174427662010-02-07T18:19:00.004+10:002010-08-21T12:19:31.476+10:00

I'm a great believer in learning keeps you young. Stop learning and you may as well curl up your toes and call it quits.The problem comes of course when an old brain has to learn new concepts. It may take much longer; it may take a LOT of repetition or attempts, but keep at it, and you can grasp a new skill or learn new information on a previously unstudied subject.Some things, of course, are

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-78380194793281257442009-12-01T21:44:00.003+10:002009-12-01T22:05:34.899+10:00

I recently blogged about the DevExpress ORM tool - Express Persistent Objects (XPO). I have had (and continue to have) a great experience using this tool. Everytime I use it, I find something else that endears itself to me.Having made the decision that all future projects would include a data access layer (DAL) based on XPO, I was nontheless surprised at how important some developers consider an

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-43995171223150204672009-11-10T14:40:00.005+10:002009-11-10T17:50:12.486+10:00

I spent some time today re-acquainting myself with an old friend. Back around the turn of the century, InnoSetup was a little tool by Jordan Russell that created install packages for my custom applications. My development tool of choice at the time was Computer Associates attempt at an OOP-based, windows development platform called Visual Objects. The power and elegance of the language was

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-41785283841708696352009-10-15T17:03:00.004+10:002009-10-15T17:27:17.959+10:00

Now, I'm not the world's best programmer and far be it from me to join the throng of people who regularly bash Microsoft, but I have come across an ORM tool for use with Visual Studio that cuts my code by more than 80%.I know that's a big claim, but I can prove it.One of the projects that I have been involved in over the past few years is a POS application that works on touch screen POS terminals

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-22526641142513326952009-06-17T19:29:00.004+10:002009-06-17T23:45:47.246+10:00

Many, many years ago, Ford had an advertisement that referred to their latest model in the manner of this blog's heading. I'm too young to have ever seen the ad, but my Father often referred to it when I was a lad.I have been curious as to how Windows 7 has obtained such speed improvements over Vista. It does indeed behave in a trim and taut manner. It requires far less CPU grunt and memory space

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-69933536166314429682009-06-13T16:45:00.004+10:002009-06-13T17:37:15.377+10:00

I lead what I think is an interesting and varied life. I am involved in a wide range of activities both professionally and socially, and I rarely find myself bored or lacking something to do. This is not to say that my life is all beer and skittles either. There are aspects of my professional life, in particular, that I would love to minimize or eradicate all together.As I have mentioned before,

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-11447296646642121422009-06-12T20:33:00.003+10:002009-06-12T20:38:29.927+10:00

Seeing as you may be in a generous mood and clicked on the link in my last blog (if you didn't click on the link, please read my last blog before proceeding), I thought I would stretch the friendship a little and ask you to click on one more.See, I'm an industrious fellow and I have two businesses. "Glutton for punishment", I hear you say, and you would be right, but that does not remove the need

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-45790315574433956762009-06-12T20:12:00.004+10:002009-06-12T20:32:49.438+10:00

Call this blatant self-promotion; call it shameless advertising; call it whatever you like, but let's be honest. One of the primary reasons for blogging is promotion of one's attitudes, opinions, skills set and expertise. I have no need to express my thoughts in writing in order to prove to myself that my logic is sound. I don't need to assert my status as a successful person by having something

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-73348495738966958422009-06-12T11:30:00.003+10:002009-06-12T11:45:48.392+10:00

Many of my clients use a computer at home to access work servers or even their desktop. Some have a laptop they kart around, and when this is home, their children often use these computers for school assignments, social networking, general entertainment and, I suspect, for things their parents are either totally unaware of, or simply don't realise can be done on the web.So I regularly receive

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-14024392341754866242009-06-09T13:25:00.006+10:002009-06-09T14:54:34.024+10:00

Well, having investigated Windows 7 for an hour or two I think the title of this blog entry says it all (and that's a good thing).You see, I think about operating systems a bit like old grandma thought about small children - they should be seen, but not heard. What I want from an O/S is to be fast; consistent; reliable; attentive, but not fussy. In a word - unobtrusive. I don't need grand logos,

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-75152247756927055812009-06-08T12:06:00.006+10:002009-06-08T12:39:06.063+10:00

There's one thing about bleeding edge technology - eventually the pain outweighs the gain. So it has been some time since I bothered getting involved in beta test cycles, and testing the latest craze to hit the marketplace. My involvement with beta test teams hit its peek in the late 90s, but I had taken a no-go approach since the turn of the century. I don't know whether it was burn-out (I

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-73404840668836945962008-10-16T21:46:00.003+10:002008-10-16T22:12:12.671+10:00

I don't normally get involved with quasi-computer technologies like PC-based security systems, but I had a customer beg me for help, and so began a journey that has uncovered, for me at least, a nice little scam being played on unsuspecting buyers on Internet auction sites.My customer's security PC, the one that ran her security cameras and recording software, crashed and burned. I replaced it

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-19405237178081490362008-10-07T17:49:00.003+10:002008-10-07T18:06:00.322+10:00

I had a customer ring me the other day in a mad panic. It was a local carnival and lots of extra people around so their small business was very busy. Very early in the morning one of her touch screen POS terminals had started misbehaving.No matter what she did, the mouse cursor would not move from the bottom right hand corner of the screen. The very tip of the mouse arrow was peeking above the

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-16629320705713063362008-10-02T09:17:00.004+10:002008-10-02T10:00:23.107+10:00

I have a couple of web sites that are favourites of mine. I like them, not because of content, but because they care about me. They do this by making my use of their site easy and intuitive, and facilitating my stay so it can be as short as possible. To me, that is the highest compliment. A site that makes me visit often, but not stay for long.Google's GMail, is a classic example. The thing I

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-59669583877002197372008-09-26T18:14:00.004+10:002008-09-26T18:58:57.130+10:00

There is one thing most people do not enjoy doing - backups. I have had clients whose business folded because their backups were inadequate (non-existent actually). Why is it that something so important, nay, even essential, is so poorly managed by so many people? Is it the riveting excitement one does not get from a well-performed backup? Is it the complete lack of a sense of accomplishment

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-58054578124615490072008-05-23T18:35:00.004+10:002008-05-23T20:17:49.213+10:00

I had the opportunity to use my daughter's Mac Book Pro for a day. My Dell recently spat the dummy and I needed a laptop on-site for a day. We both code in C# so her MBP was already decked out with VMWare Fusion, VS2005, SQL Express, and the Dev Express library.As this was my first time using a Mac I expected to struggle with key positions, key commands and the like; but it was not as bad as I

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-72029766402932752572008-05-17T15:57:00.005+10:002008-05-17T17:09:11.829+10:00

A friend reminded me the other day of an adage we have both used when consulting to clients. It goes something like this: "Your accounting system is how your business eats and your telephone system is how it breathes."In this age of multiple communication options, this adage still holds true. Even if you have a completely web-based business, I suspect you would be hard pressed to do away with

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-10635164966477190702008-05-16T10:49:00.004+10:002008-05-17T17:10:03.090+10:00

I enjoy reading Joel Spolsky's blog, Joel on Software. Recently, he wrote a humerous article about IE 8, and although it was funny (he often is), it gave a critical insight into the state of software development as it current stands.If you have 10 minutes, do yourself a favour and read Joel's article. I hate being a doomsayer, but fore warning is fore knowledge as the saying goes, or as Proverbs

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2577522884302217542.post-74901796007391072382008-05-16T00:20:00.003+10:002010-08-23T11:44:52.855+10:00

Welcome to Veracity Recondite.As the title suggests, you will find a wide array of topics discussed in this blog, mainly aimed at technology and small business, but with a smattering of social psychology thrown in for good measure. The word 'Recondite' intrigues me with its three different meanings. Of course, it is the third meaning that applies to this blog.Firstly, I would like like to point

Mark Chimeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15202531774139306900noreply@blogger.com0