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I was getting a 72/100 score from Google Page Speed, so I attempted to improve that a bit. I added caching to static resources via the web config, which raised my score by about 10: <staticContent> <clientCache cacheControlMode="UseMaxAge" cacheControlMaxAge="365.00:00:00" /> <remove fileExtension=".mp4" /> <remove fileExtension=".gif" /> <remove fileExtension=".htm" /> <remove fileExtension=".html" /> <remove fileExtension=".jpeg" /> <remove fileExtension=".jpg" /> <remove fileExtension=".js" /> <remove fileExtension=".png" /> <remove fileExtension=".txt" /> <mimeMap fileExtension=".mp4" mimeType="video/mp4" /> <mimeMap fileExtension=".gif" mimeType="image/gif" /> <mimeMap fileExtension=".htm" mimeType="text/html" /> <mimeMap fileExtension=".html" mimeType="text/html" /> <mimeMap fileExtension=".jpeg" mimeType="image/jpeg" /> <mimeMap fileExtension=".jpg" mimeType="image/jpeg" /> <mimeMap fileExtension=".js" mimeType="application/x-javascript" /> <mimeMap fileExtension=".png" mimeType="image/png" /> <mimeMap fileExtension=".txt" mimeType="text/plain" /> </staticContent> New page score: 82/100 ...

After I switched to Disqus comments, I noticed that my recent comments widget no longer worked. So I wrote a new widget that adds some JavaScript to the web page which includes the recent comments (and a few other options, if desired) when using Disqus. The widget is is available on the blogengine.net gallery website. Known issues -The character limit when using the combination look doesn’t seem to be working. I need to look into this more, but right now it seems Disqus is ignoring the character count.

The blog now uses a new comment system – Disqus. I upgraded to BE v2.5, and found various instructions on how to move to Disqus… including these. There was one problem, however. The instructions state that on post.aspx, JavaScript needs to change to the following: <script type="text/javascript"> var disqus_title = '<%=Post.Title %>'; var disqus_identifier = '<%= Post.Id.ToString() %>'; var disqus_url = '<%= Post.AbsoluteLink %>'; var disqus_developer = '<%= BlogEngine.Core.BlogSettings.Instance.DisqusDevMode ? 1 : 0 %>'; (function () { var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true; dsq.src = 'http://<%=BlogEngine.Core.BlogSettings.Instance.DisqusWebsiteName %>.disqus.com/embed.js'; (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq); })(); </script> However, that is not accurate and will result in errors. The correct code needs to reference Page, and not Post. ...

I needed to change the background color of the text region of a flash combobox – using AS3 at runtime. Styles for some reason were not working.  The solution was to directly address the textfield property and change its background color.  Here’s an example: cbo.textField.textField.background = true; cbo.textField.textField.backgroundColor = 0xDEDE29;

Just created my new sig using Google’s QR code API ( http://createqrcode.appspot.com/ ).  It creates the codes with error correction (there are some settings that you can use to modify this), so its possible to actually delete a part of it and enter your own image/text in the middle of the QR code. I had to play around a little with my name in the middle.  If it is not aligned properly on the QR code or if it covers the wrong area, the code won’t be recognized. ...

Just ran into a strange issue after upgrading my home network. I got a switch that all devices in my home network are connected to (dumb switch – it al hooks up to a Cisco E2000 for ips).  Anyways… after switching everything over to this new setup, I ran into two issues. First, my gigabit network was no longer gigabit, even though all lights on the switch indicated that it was gigabit.  Network properties in connected computers also indicated gigabit speeds,  but actual file transfers were at fast ethernet speeds. ...

The first thing you’ll need to create a custom ringtone in WP7 is an MP3 file.  This file must be 40 seconds or shorter (and 1MB or smaller in size).  If your MP3 is too large, you can use a program like Audacity to crop it. After you have your MP3 file the correct size, you’ll need to open Zune and make sure that the MP3 is listed in your music collection. Find it in the collection, right click on the MP3, and click on “Edit”.  This should bring up a window with the MP3 properties.  The only real important thing here is that the genre of the song must be changed to Ringtone.  See the image below.  ...

Microsoft has setup a website where users can submit and vote on features they’d like to see in Windows Phone 7. I’ve submitted a couple features I’d like to see: Treat the phone as a USB drive when plugged in to devices which do not have Zune installed.Integrate with Ford SYNC…. I think its crazy that iPhones work with SYNC but WP7 devices do not. You can vote on them here: http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/users/24151465-filip-stanek

I tried to customize the combobox ( AS3 ), and everything was working fine by using cbo.setStyle( “embedFonts” ) and cbo.setStyle( “textFormat” ) while testing the movie.  However, when I published the SWF, the styles were no longer working. It seems like setStyle doesn’t really work properly for comboboxes for some reason.  The solution was to apply the setStyle to the textField inside the combobox, and not to the combobox itself. ...

There’s some pretty cool new software for fantasy football this year.  It is designed for fantasy football draft parties (for up to 20 teams) to select their players via either a snake draft, or an auction draft. The draft software is called Prime Time Draft, and it was developed by folks at where I work. It is designed for Windows, and it really shines when you hook it up to a big TV.  ...