Projects

Bloget™ is a Web log (often referred to as just "blog") control for use in ASP.NET 2.0 Web sites. Bloget is implemented as a control meaning you add it to an ASP.NET 2.0 Web page in much the same way you insert other ASP.NET controls. This allows you to integrate your blog into your Web site rather than designing your Web site around the blog software.

Calendar Gadget^® is a skinable desktop calendar and appointment program. It features alpha-blending (transparency), a way-cool skin editor and some really nifty controls. Unlike other skinable calendars, this one can have multiple elements (like months for instance) keyed to different backgrounds, timezones, and styles. CalendarGadget is still in development but you can get a sneak peek here.

FreeSnap™ is the oldest of my freeware offerings. Here's how PC World described it - "Manually resizing windows can be a pain, and getting them to line up along the side of the screen is an unwelcome dexterity test. With FreeSnap, you can move and resize windows with your keypad. Just fire up the program, and you can use hotkeys to center windows or send them to all corners of the screen. You can use the "plus" and "minus" keys to resize windows without tiresome clicking and dragging". [August 2005 - PC World]

Desk Drive™ solves a really annoying problem. You pop a USB thumb drive or DVD into your computer and then you have to open Window's Explorer and find the mapped drive or folder. Desk Drive adds a desktop icon pointing to the drive automatically. Remove the media and the shortcut goes away. Brilliantly simple and effective.

Calendar was my first attempt at a useful desktop calendar program. It is still a great program but feedback from users suggested they wanted more customizations and better desktop integration. Calendar strikes a great balance between features and ease of use.

NonContiguousMemoryStream is an implementation of a .NET memory stream that does not write to the large memory heap. This can reduce out of memory conditions in situations where large memory streams are used. Includes source code.

SimpleZip is a C# class that creates .ZIP compatible archives. It consists of a single file of 450 lines of code. Unlike other implementations, this one can stream to non-seekable streams.  While not as full featured as commercial implementations its free, easy to understand and modify and can be added to a project without introducing a third-party dependency. Includes source code.

Simply Weather Sidebar Gadget is a no-nonsense gadget that reports the current conditions and the 3 day forecast in one easy to read compact format. Actually, there are five formats so you can have it just the way you want it. Unlike other weather gadgets, there's no branding and you can even choose which weather site to go to when you double click it. No vendor lock-in like the Weather Channel and like gadgets. If you've ever had the feeling that weather gadgets are more about the gadget than the weather, then this gadget is for you.

Stopwatch Sidebar Gadget is a Vista sidebar stopwatch gadget. Nothing fancy, just functional and easy to use. Click to start, click to stop and double-click to reset. Hey, even I can handle that. It's part of a tutorial I wrote on how to author Vista Sidebar Gadgets. Recently added count down timer as well.

Calculator Sidebar Gadget is a Vista sidebar gadget with a purpose. It's not pretty, but it's small, powerful and much nicer than those fancy "button" calculators.

AdSensor Sidebar Gadget keeps track of your AdSense riches. No more having to check the AdSense Web site every 10 minutes to see if you've made more than Bill Gates.

Market Report Sidebar Gadget tracks the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 in a handy little format.

Throw.zip - A handy set of C# routines for checking conditions and raising exceptions. Intended primarily for checking parameters on methods, these routines make it easy to validate parameters in a single line of code.

Just for the record, there is no spyware, adware or underwear in any of these programs. Enjoy them, send me feedback, tell me what a great guy I am for giving this stuff away, etc. And what does it cost? Nada, zip, zilch, zero, like in free. Yep, for now and in the future, they're free. Of course if you would like to send money my way, a donation is always appreciated. - Mike