Where would life be without this sweet nectar of the gods?  Ahh, joyous refreshment, you fulfill me.  Thank you for your existence.  Even though you look like urine, I still love you.

It may seem like common sense, but many times we forget the best way to manage tasks and solve problems.  Here is how I manage my long list of things to do (for work).  Each week I write down a list of everything I need to do.  This list is not necessarily everything I need to do for the week.  This list is everything I need to do, period.  Once I have written/typed out my list, I prioritize them.

Here comes the tricky, yet simple part that we often forget: work on the items in list of priority.  I find that I am often working on items in the 3rd spot, while items #1 & #2 are un-done.  Why, you ask?  Maybe #3 is easier.  Is this a good reason?  NO.

There is a reason we prioritize things!  So, once items have been prioritized, we need to stick to the list.  If possible, we should stick with a problem/task until it is completed, BEFORE starting a new task.  Many people waste a crazy amount of time juggling multiple tasks.  In fact, I would venture to say that employee #1, who works on one task at a time, is much more efficient than employee #2, who jumps around from task to task.  Why?  Think about re-learning.  How much time is spent re-learning a task/problem that has not been thought about for a week or more?  When I fall into this pit of re-learning, I often find that I spend about as much time re-learning the task/problem, as I originally spent trying to work on the task or solve the problem.

Is this list of tasks static?  By no means, no.  We can always re-prioritize.  But, I also do not believe that we should re-prioritize daily.  Many times we succumb to outside pressures and/or influences, false deadlines, etc....  Re-prioritization should only come as a result of an emergency.

So, I went on-site for an all-night install with one of my clients, to help them upgrade their servers.  My specific responsibility/role was to move web applications & databases to the new server.  The network 'engineer', was supposedly supposed to research and verify that the other core software they wanted to run on these new servers was Windows Server 2008 compatible.

At about 5 in the morning, we realized that this 'engineer' had NOT done due diligence, and made many false assumptions regarding software compatibility.  I mean, Windows wouldn't release a new OS without first verifying that ALL software in the known universe is compatible, right?

Operator Error Code: 1D10T

Many of us have faced the dilemna of auto-sizing an IFrame based on external web content.  Auto-sizing works just fine, if both the website and content are on the same domain.  But, if you are trying to auto-size content using cross-domain scripting, it is nearly impossible.

I too faced this problem, but using an example I found here: http://scvdotnet.org/index.php?url=archives/8-Autofitting-iFrame.html, I was able to make this work.  Please note, the example only works if you have access to both the website where the IFrame is hosted, and the website where the content is hosted.  I.e. this script will not work if you are trying to auto-size an IFrame for content you do not host or have access to.

I have been plagued for a couple of years trying to integrate accounting type applications with QuickBooks.  It is easier said than done.  The hopes that systems are developed with integration in mind is only valid in school.  In the real world, applications, even applications as large as QuickBooks, are rarely built with easy to use API's.

Luckily, I came across /n software's IBiz Integrator for QuickBooks.  This tool makes my life super easy, as I am able to quickly and efficiently interface with QuickBooks.  Best of all, their support is fast.  On more than one occasion, I have faced an in-surmountable integration obstacle, and /n software has been super-fast on the response, usually the same day.

I am an ASP.Net developer.  I am very biased in this regard, so don't get me started.  Anyway, I was faced with a challenge today, as a new customer is adamant that if I want to work with them, my work must be hosted on their servers.  After going the rounds, I realized how engrained this philosophy is in their company culture, so I decided I better either learn PHP, find an alternative, or forego working with this new customer.

And then I came across Mono.  No, this has nothing to do with monkeys or some weird teenage disease.  Mono is a great (and free!) framework that allows ASP.Net (and more) to run in the Linux environment.  You can learn more about Mono, here: http://www.mono-project.com.

I love to use GUID's in my applications.  Today I was wondering just how unique a GUID is, and if I am safe to use them in my application.  Turns out that the use of GUID's does NOT guarantee a unique string every time, but the likelihood of a GUID not being unique is 1:340,282,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.  Yes, that is 340,282 with 33 zeros after it.

So, I would guess it is safe to use GUID's in the future.