Lately, I’ve been writing ASP.Net Web Services for more than a few projects.  With the advent of AJAX and the slow demise of EDI, so much data is moving over the web via XML.  With that, comes a need to develop, test and debug those web services.  Luckily, there is a great open source tool out there called SoapUI.

I can’t tell you how handy this tool is for building Soap requests against those web services.  It’s helped me unit test my code, helped confirm a production site is online and load test too.  Take a look at all of these features.  If you don’t agree that this is a developer’s friend, well… go build your own.

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon www.highscalability.com this morning.  I, like any developer, would love to build that one great website that generates some revenue with little to no overhead (think Craigslist).  That being said, I have almost no chance of doing so.  The reasons are plenty but the main reason is scalability and how to achieve it.

Luckily (or not so luckily) highscalability.com offers valuable tips and lessons learned from people who work at or run some of the major web sites.  This makes for some great reading.  It wasn’t that long ago, when people like myself, wondered aloud “How did they do that?” or “I wonder what they learned or uncovered along the way?”.  Well, in today’s community oriented development mindset (re: open source), sharing is the path to enlightenment (and/or asymmetric competition).

Enjoy the read… I’ve got to get back to database sharding.

I’m as excited as anyone at the prospect of SQL 2008 and its requisite certifications coming out later this year, but this took me by surprise.  Not only is the price of admission into this certification $18,500, it also requires 3 weeks of classroom training in Redmond.  At least you get to breath the heady air of the Microsoft Campus.  That must be worth something.

I was extremely excited to participate in Independents Week last week (see post). Now it’s time to recount the hits and misses from my original goals and a few surprises along the way. How did you do? I managed to spend $626.00 locally.

The surprises:

Chompies: Attended the COR3 Referral Group - Chompies meeting, but only had a soda. $3. P.S. Great group of people here, I may just join this group.

Casa Reynoso: A developer who works for a client, took me here for lunch on Tue for some great Tex-Mex food. $12

George & Dragon: I met up with some ex-coworkers for happy hour (and dinner) right before the Silverlight User Group meeting. $20

Amano Bistro: Also a miss but I did get my Italian locally, we went to La Piazza El Forno, in downtown Glendale. Fantastic! I will be back! $40

Diamondbacks: Took in the baseball game on Fri, hired a pedal cab, and had some amazing tamales from a stand right near section 138. $20

The hits:

New windshield: Done. $378.

Groceries: Done at Bashas Ahwatukee store. $146.

Golf: Done. Snuck out at 3pm on Wed. for Aguila. $7.

The misses:

AC checkup: They never called me back. Typical contractors….probably on Lake Havasu in the biggest boat you can imagine.

Ad buy: I couldn’t get my graphics together in time, spending too much time managing my current projects.

Athenian Express: Client couldn’t meet this week. So sad on two fronts (i.e. need to touch base with client and stomach needs some amazing Greek food).

Thanks a log! (Anonymous poster)

It’s like the first brownie out of the tin, it’s ugly.

I am harvesting.  (Thanks - Clate Mask for the post).

I’ve been intrigued of late with adding some video to my company website.  Something to welcome the user or add some of the personal touch that may be lacking.  The problem I’ve had is that I had no clue what to say.  What else could I say that isn’t already on the site?  I could tell some of the technology war stories that all developers, programmers, and architects have, but that only communicates to the technophile and not the small business owner I want to engage.

I definitely wanted to communicate my level of honesty but what would I do to express the emotion I have for this line of work.  Well, now I know.  I found this blog post, Are you asking these 11 stimulating interview questions…, by Tom Clifford.  Thanks Tom!  Tom encourages you to interview your employees using 11 common questions.  From those questions, you will get genuine responses that could then be edited together into a very effective message.  Great stuff!

If you haven’t seen the news (or the web page), June 30 - July 6 is Independents Week in Arizona. The basic premise: take the pledge and buy local.

For me, the challenge is: how many ways can I find to shop local? Let’s see…

1) I need a new windshield (thanks to the Arizona heat and yet another truck with a blowout on the 101). I guess that means a call to Diamond Auto Glass.

2) I need an AC checkup. I guess that means a call to a guy my wife met who is just starting out on his own.

3) I need groceries, so that means a trip to Bashas. This is doubly enjoyable because a neighbor manages a store and I’ll give his store a little bump too.

4) I haven’t played golf in something like 2 months, but I absolutely love the municipal course at Aguila, so count me in. The city and state governments need your help too.

5) The neighbors want to go eat Italian (hey, their from Philly), so I think we’ll go to Amano Bistro. A simply beautiful restaurant with the freshest food south of downtown.

6) One of my clients downtown is overdue for a courtesy call. Luckily, they are within walking distance of Athenian Express.

7) I’m ready to make another advertising buy, so I need to make up mind between one of the local papers, a magazine published by Republic Media or a direct mail campaign. I can do the printing for direct mail locally, but the postage might violate my 100% local pledge. Tough one.

Recently had the opportunity to bid on a new project for a potential client.  During my first conversation with this company, they had an MS Access front and back end.  During my second conversation, we discovered it was a Visual Basic 6 front end application with a MS Access back end database.  No matter, just another application, right?

Wrong.  An email thread was discovered between the potential client and the original developer of the software.  The title:  What you asked for.  Well, not quite (in my eyes).  The contents?  3 custom controls from 2 different companies, 3 freeware controls from freewhereville and Crystal Reports 8.  Crystal I can live with, as it was a fairly standard reporting tool in VB6, since MS never really offered a good one.

As is par for the course, the original developer owned the licenses and not the customer.  This is a complete disservice.  If you are a developer, you embed these controls in an application and you don’t let your customer know, you as a developer are at fault.  The customer deserves the opportunity to weigh the pros, cons and long term impact of their choice.

So here we are.  No original developer.  No licenses for the third party controls.  Difficulty reviewing the design of the original system.  No chance of deploying an update to the old system.  The customer and the (potential) new developer left with few choices moving forward.

Although this article from Marshall Goldsmith focuses on successful leaders looking back on their careers, the lessons learned apply directly to entrepeneurs as well.  The findings he discusses, as discovered by John Izzo while researching his new book include:

1)  …people don’t regret their failures and that most people wished they had risked more…

2)  …if you think your work-life mix is out of whack it probably is…

3)  …the importance of being true to self…

Is adaptability as important as planning?

Time wounds all heels. (Thanks - John Lennon)

Can joining a “strong contact network” improve your shyness?

If I can’t find it on Amazon, do I really need it?

Did we work together or did we golf together?  I can’t remember (Thanks - Karl)

Spring fell on a Wednesday last year.