Rob Gonda's Blog

The Fourth Meal: Flash Masterpiece

Check out iChameleon Group's latest project: the Fourth Meal, for Taco Bell. Version 1 just got released today and there is still much more to come. This release includes a chat of customizable Avatars that can move around and talk to each other in various rooms, and a few games...

Ok, so the title is a little skewed, I wouldn't take it as far as a masterpiece, but it's a really nice Flash Site with awesome graphics and creative work.

BTW, it is using Adobe's FlashCom and CFMX7. I just can't wait to blog about v2 and the power of ColdFusion gateways.

Comments?

SQL: better than select count(*)

If you need to count all rows from a table without any conditional, there's a much better and faster way than select count(*). This code works with Microsoft SQL 2000 and 2005.

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[FASTCOUNT] (@Table sysname)

RETURNS INT

AS
BEGIN

  DECLARE @Rows int

  SELECT  @Rows = rows
  FROM sysindexes
  WHERE id = OBJECT_ID(@Table)
  AND indid < 2

  RETURN @Rows

END

p.s. I've been using this code for so long, I don't even remember who to give credit to :) thanks!

Script.aculo.us 1.6 Released

Script.aculo.us is a low level dhtml effects library, mainly used by the Rails framework. Version 1.6 was just released, and among the main changes is depends now on Prototype 1.5, instead of 1.4.

ooooh nt security

wow, this I've never seen before ... a co-worker was backing up a SQL 2005 database, and somehow, he handle to delete all NTFS permissions in the mdf file... needless to say SQL couldn't open the database.

I logged in into the system and realize that is only had the SYSTEM account, so it even denied me access as an Administrator. When I tried to add permissions for the Administrators group, it said access denied, and let me choose Cancel, Retry, or Ignore ...

Solution: as weird as it sounds, if you choose ignore it will add the permissions regardless... then all you have to do is reboot and the NTFS will use the new permissions when it comes back ... amazing how M$ Windows works...

sql: view problems after altering a table

This is old news, I know ... but many people don't know it ... When using Views in Microsoft SQL 2000 (haven't checked 2005), after altering a table the view will not update itself automatically ... it will get completely messed up ... the views point to the column number, not name, therefore after adding a field, some of your columns will be shifted.

The solution is simple, yet confusing if you're not aware of it ... you can click edit the view, and all your columns will show fine, but if you open the view they'll be wrong ... all you have to do is edit the view, save it again, and close ... simple, but necessary ...

A co-worker ran into this today and lost precious hours until he chose to ask :) now you know, and knowing is half of the battle.

The Ajax Experience Agenda

You must check out this amazing hands-on agenda... There's almost too much content to grasp in a single event. The Ajax Experience is a must-assist event for the West Coast. Unlike Sys-con's Real World Ajax Seminar more generic level sessions, which are great btw for management level delegates, the Ajax Experience is geared towards developers with 90 minutes technical sessions.

see you all there.

ajaxCFC suggest example

I've been saying I'll post this for far too long ... The code is still not at the point I would like it to be before it's released, but it's working and the community could make use of it; plus, as usual, you can suggest changes and fixes ...
I added a suggest example and sample code in my ajaxCFC project page. Enjoy.

**Special thanks to John Schroeder for his contribution to this code.

Aha! I do make a difference

I just thought I'll post a couple of links to reviews of my presentations, seminars, or conferences. If you have others, please comment below.

Backbase review of the Real World Ajax Seminar
Bill Scott (Yahoo) review of the Real World Ajax Seminar
Ajaxian review of the thel Wolrd Ajax Seminar
Dave Crane's weblog
stardotstarcomics review of the SEOMUG Spring Conference

by the way, this last link is enough inspiration to keep speaking and contributing to the community... what some nice words. Thanks!

Google Romance

So, a new site went up this morning, Google Romance! now you can use the search monster to find your beloved one, cuz if you think about it, love is just another search problem.

Nice April Fool's Joke.. I wonder if they'll take it down tomorrow.

It's really amazing how much buzz they can create in a single day.

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