Need for VB6+

I am glad that I read Bill's article from ftponline.
I had been always thinking in similar grounds as VB6 to VB .Net, I felt was not a easy transition but a very tough journey. With something like VB6+ could really bridge the gap and resolve the many VB6 enthusiastic's problems.
I hope Microsoft just over hears Bill and take this serious.

Bill's article can be read from http://www.ftponline.com/vsm/2004_03/magazine/departments/guestop/

The Controversy over Da VinciCode

The controversy and the outcry of the Vatican against the book has only made the book more popular. People who have never read or even heard of this book, have made started to read the book, just to see what makes Church cry over a fiction.

You can reach the author of the book from http://www.danbrown.com and academically the web site can be very interesting, with complete photographs of the monuments described in the book. Also the web takes you to some good code breaking puzzles.

Hope you guys will enjoy taking a tour of the web site.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Manager

Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Express Manager is a new, lightweight database management tool built on top of the Microsoft Windows® .NET Framework 2.0. Express Manager is a free download and can be used to manage SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000), and SQL Server 2005 Developer and Express Edition databases on local and remote computers.


Read the article http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/9/1/E91E11E6-4929-4573-8862-7725A0DC496D/ReadmeSQLExpMgr.htm

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition

The SQL Server 2005 Express Edition has a lot of improvements over the earlier MSDE.

The Top 10 cool things about the Express Edition as from MS web site are -

1. Integrated CLR Support. Stored Procedures and the functions can be written now in your favourite programming language.
2. Native XML support.
3. XCopy support for moving databases from one location to another.
4. Robust & Reliable installation using either GUI or client mode.
5. Automated servicing & patching.
6. Deep integration with Visual Studio to provide access to rich data controls like DataGrid view, Data Navigator & Data Connector.
7. Support database up to 4 GB.
8. Sipport for disconnected systems like SQL Server Service Broker & Replication.
9. SQL Server express manager, a new, easy-to-use database management & query analysis tool (available 2004 Aug).
10. Easier deployment via Visual Studio click one (made available with Beta 3).

Server Break-in Challenge

Linuxense is conducting a server break-in challenge starting from 9 March
2005 2 AM IST. In this event, Linuxense will make a GNU/Linux server available on the Internet which the contestants try to break in.

This challenge will give you a unique opportunity to test your security skills on a professionally set up server without violating any legal barriers. This event will also help you to understand the requirements of a secured server to be deployed on the Internet.

At the end of the event Linuxense will share the network packet dump of the event which will help you to learn various techniques used by other contestants and do forensic analysis.

Details about the event can be found http://www.linuxense.com/challenge