Radical Development | 2009

August 23, 2009
by Steven Swafford
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SiteMinder Versus Custom Code

The benefits of using a Single Sign-On system are endless. User-rights are tightly integrated with user and company policies and these policies are all centralized in data center or such within a given organization. Users have only one identity (user IDs and Passwords) to maintain. Companies have the feeling of security that all the entry points to a number of applications and data are secured in the LDAP Directory which controls the company’s user and password-policy. Now that Single Sing-On has been defined and the positives aspects have been discussed what are your options when it comes to Single Sing-On web applications. I will discuss two …

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August 22, 2009
by Steven Swafford
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Microsoft Certifications

During my career as a Software Engineer (SE) I have never took the time to obtain any Microsoft Certification what so ever. I am curious what others in this field think about certifications in general. I have been a SE for fourteen years now and while I do not claim to be an expert and I am always learning with each passing day. I just never had the desire to obtain a certification which I always felt said “look at me, I passed a written test” so I must know what I am doing. Now, I am not saying certifications provide no …

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August 19, 2009
by Steven Swafford
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The Life And Times Of A Software Developer

Today I was reading the article Programming Sucks! Or At Least, It Ought To from The Daily WTF and Programming: Love It or Leave It from Coding Horror and this got me to thinking about the pros and cons of software development. I am sure that there a great number of you out there that one time or another found yourself having to make due with the tools and equipment you have knowing all to well that you could perform you just much better if management would just invest money to make money. Now I admit that I am not …

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August 17, 2009
by Steven Swafford
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Understanding SMTP Status Codes

Many programmers take processing email as one of those actions that is easily implemented and rarely fails. If you have not read my earlier post How-to: Easily Sent Emails With .NET you want to review this example. One would greatly benefit from understanding the status code result from the attempt to process emails and the .NET framework provides the tools you need to successfully perform this exact task. The System.Net.Mail Namespace provides the SmtpStatusCode Enumeration which will provide a fine level of detail to the programmer thus allowing for better informed decisions. For example, assume that you have a requirement …

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August 17, 2009
by Steven Swafford
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Scott Hansleman Provides A Step-By-Step: How To “Upgrade” from Windows XP to Windows 7

At The time of this post I have not purchased Windows 7 yet and the only reason I have not is there is rumor that Microsoft may be lowering the price for a limited time. I am simply sitting on the sidelines to see if there is any truth to this matter. The rumors of the potential price drop comes from Apple’s release of Snow Leopard in September 2009 at a cost of $29.00 for an upgrade. If you have any XP systems that you want to upgrade, then Scott has a very detailed write-up on how one may upgrade from XP to Win7. You’ve …

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August 13, 2009
by Steven Swafford
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Gr-apple-fest is on in the Mobile Industry!

This is a must read for those who are interested in the iPhone saga.. It appears that Apple is waging war in the mobile industry… and there’s some questions as to whether or not they’re playing fair. Apple first lashed out at the popular open source hack for the iPhone, called Jailbreak, stating that the Jailbreak application violated Apple’s copyright. Huh? iPhone owners might be stunned to find out that Apple thinks that, even though you bought your phone, they should maintain control over what you do to it. Read the entire post at Geeks Are Sexy …

August 9, 2009
by Steven Swafford
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myTouch Applications: Round One

Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer. It was built to be truly open. For example, an application can call upon any of the phone’s core functionality such as making calls, sending text messages, or using the camera, allowing developers to create richer and more cohesive experiences for users. Android is built on the open Linux Kernel. Furthermore, it utilizes a custom virtual machine that was designed to optimize memory and hardware resources in a mobile environment. Android is open source; it …

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August 8, 2009
by Steven Swafford
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Interview With Steve Smith

Full Name: Steve Smith URLs: http://stevesmithblog.com http://theregion.com/profile.aspx?rd=1322 http://lakequincy.com http://aspalliance.com Steven: For those who may not know who you are can you please introduce yourself and describe you role at ASPAlliance and Lake Quincy Media? Steve: I run ASPAlliance.com , which I inherited from the founder in 1999 and have owned and operated ever since. I collaborated with other similar developer sites in 2001 to start the ASPAlliance Ad Network, which initially had about 8 web sites. This network grew to the point where it became a full time job for several people to operate it. In 2005, we established a …

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