Safely Retrieving Values in ASP.Net 4.0

This is a C# 4.0 updated version of Safely Retrieving Values in ASP.Net 2.0 from January, 2009.
Not everything we do in ASP.Net gets sent via web form.  We still do a lot involving Request.QueryString[] and Request.Form[]. The trick is dealing with input that may or may not be there or may even be in the wrong format (such as someone tweaking the URL to see if they can break your site or insert content for a cross-site scripting attack).

Apple Clamps Down on Free Apple Device Promotions

Slashdot is carrying a discussion of Apple's recent enforcement attempts to prevent companies using Apple devices in giveaways. This amuses me to no end, as having worked with a few Apple devices, you'd have to pay me to take one.

I want TermKit and I want it via SSH too

A terminal program that handles text and graphics, handles pipes based on input source or output type, and gives you the ability to format your data with HTML/CSS? Yes PLEASE.

Droid 2 Texting Failure Has Finally Struck Me

I've had at least 3 text messages this morning that may or may not have gone to who I was trying to send to because the name and picture on the conversation thread belong to one person while the phone number that appears belongs to another person who is right before them on the contact list.  I don't know if it's Motorola, Google/Android, or Verizon to blame for this, but I'm utterly disappointed that such a basic feature as texting can go so horribly wrong. And I know from searches that I'm not the first person to be struck by this, so either those companies are incompetent or willfully unaware of the problems with their phones.
Neither of these were new contacts and I've texted each of them (successfully) in the recent past as well.

Update: Some good news.  The number I was trying to text really did receive the messages, it just looked like they were going to the wrong person, right down to showing up in a conversation thread with that other person. Not sure who would have gotten the messages if I'd gotten a reply to the texts instead of originating all of them from the contacts list.

My Family's Opinion on Ubuntu's Unity: Can We Please Downgrade?

Yes, Canonical, every member of my family that has been subjected to Ubuntu 11.04 has hated it to the point where the kids fight over who gets to use one of the computers still running Ubuntu 10.10.  My teenagers were ready to stage a rebellion when I told them I was updating the remaining computers this weekend until I told them that I would also be installing Gnome-Shell as an alternative to Unity so they'd be able to use them pretty much they way they did prior to the "upgrade".

Personally, if I wanted a netbook interface, I would have bought a netbook. I'm beginning the upgrade of my personal system as I write this. When completed, the very first thing I'll be doing is banishing Unity to some dark, desolate corner of my hard drive.

Post Install Update: Seems I won't be fighting with Unity after all. I was informed my hardware wasn't up to snuff for running it and would have to use Ubuntu Classic. If my hardware can't run Unity, I shudder to think of what Canonical has foisted upon netbook users who "upgrade" to 11.04.

Sharing Has Its Limits

As much as I like to help keep costs down by using torrents when getting Linux distributions, the Ultimate Boot CD, Eclipse, OpenOffice.org, and now LibreOffice, it really hurts that others seem to think that my openness and sharing extends to my entire network.  I have logs full of people getting blocked from my network because they just couldn't help but see if they could access SSH, FTP, POP, IMAP, and a number of other ports you might find interesting if you were a hacker.  There's no 3 strikes rule on my network.  If you attempt to access anything I haven't specifically granted, you're out.  No jury.  No appeal.

ASP.Net HTTP Status 404

I've seen 2 common ways to throw HTTP 404 errors in ASP.Net (I'm using C# for the code examples)...

throw new System.Web.HttpException(404, "{Custom not found message here}");

And...

Response.Clear();
Response.StatusCode = 404;
Response.End();


While it would seem like the first one would be the best all-around option, it has a large problem when implemented in the middle of a try/catch block... It gets caught. By using the Response object instead, you can let the browser handle the status code by whatever means it would normally display such a response from the server.

Linked Droid Contacts FAIL

I'm finding lots of posts by people trying to fix their Droid contacts lists to show the name stored in the phone instead of the one on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. and I have yet to find a single solution other than removing social networking accounts from the phone settings. Google engineers are pretty good at fixing their mistakes in a fairly timely manner. This leads me to believe that Verizon or Motorola did the poor job of testing contact data management on the Droid line of phones.

So let's ask Motorola and ask Verizon how we fix this problem. After all, it's a cell phone function that been around for years and has always allowed for editing entries as far back as I can remember.

Android market impasse [not] solved. [Updated]

Just a few days ago I wrote about problems trying to get apps for an Android tablet. I swear that I had no idea at the time Google/Android were going to be opening a web based Android market just 4 days later. I feel much better now about buying an Android tablet without having to pay for a big name on the box.

Update: Finally got around to trying the web based Android Market with my wife's aPad and it's still useless. I can't associate the device with my market account because the maker didn't include an accounts and sync section in the settings. Going forward, anyone purchasing an off-brand Android based device should make sure that set of settings exists or that something like AndAppStore.com gets some massive improvements done.

A review of my family's experiences with the Apad E600

Seems I'll have to revise my earlier statement that these are passable tablets. You should instead take a pass on them. The 256MB of RAM and 720MHz processor just aren't enough for my family members' use. We finally worked out a way of getting some apps from the official Apps Market and onto the Apads, but you'll need a friend with an actual "blessed" Android system to do it (before anyone yells piracy, we only copied over free apps that weren't available through F-Droid or AndAppStore). The 2GB is built-in storage was adequate for what few apps they wanted to use. We have 2 Apads and each of them has had stuck power button issues. They've both had overheating problems to the point where they are painful to touch on the back. The touch screens are also a bit finicky, but that's only a problem if you're trying to play games, not read or watch videos.

Update: One of the power buttons is now permanently stuck and DinoDirect.com's customer assistance redirects you to their forums where I'm seeing lots of problems being posted about the various "aPad" models they carry. I don't think I'm likely to order from them again. They appear to be intended as wholesalers and have a very short return policy centered more around receiving defective merchandise than items failing during use. I also haven't been able to determine a manufacturer for the aPads to contact about any kind of warranty whatsoever.