The .NET Framework is not really a 200+ meg download. From Scott’s site:

Which installer do I use?

Here’s the whole thing in a nutshell for Developers, ISVs, and Administrators.

• Offline Installer - One single file that can be run offline and can install the .NET Framework any system it’s run on. It’s complete, all platforms, installable offline.
• Online Installer - A 2.7 meg setup program that will detect what just the files you need, then go download between 10 and 60 megs.
  • NOTE: If you’re IT and inside an office, you’ll want to decide if you want everyone in the office downloading .NET separately, or if you just want download it once, and have them to run it off a network share. Check out the Deployment Guide for Administrators for ways to push it out via AD or SMS.

So how big is it the .NET Framework download, really?

It depends on what you’ve already got installed. Here’s some examples of my results using an XP SP2 machine.

Scott goes into much greater detail on his blog here. He’s also launched a section of his site called SmallestDotNet, it checks you browser’s “UserAgent” and figures out what version (if any) of the .NET Framework you have (or don’t have) installed, then calculated the total size if you chose to download the .NET Framework. Easy huh. The bummer is that it doesn’t work with FireFox.

Scott Hanselman clears up .NET installer questions is a post from: Student Tech News

Of course, excuse or no, according to Netcraft, as many as 18% of the Fortune 1000 websites have expired SSL certificates. That means the odds are pretty good that Firefox 3 is going to block you from accessing some legitimate sites.

I’m gunna say thumbs-up to FireFox for doing us all a favor. People like my mom have no idea what an SSL Cert even is… if it stops here from hitting some bogus self-signed site in error then kudos to the FireFox team.

Read more at WebMonkey

FireFox 3 blocks 18% of the Fortune 1000 websites is a post from: Student Tech News

Robert Murraine vs Phillip Chbeeb is a post from: Student Tech News

Ya, I’ve had one of those days too.

Those Were the Droids I Was Looking For is a post from: Student Tech News

The AJAX Control Toolkit can be found on CodePlex here. You can also see an online example of each control in action at the Extensions sample website.

The examples shown include:

Accordion
AlwaysVisibleControl
Animation
AutoComplete
Calendar
CascadingDropDown
CollapsiblePanel
ConfirmButton
DragPanel
DropDown
DropShadow
DynamicPopulate
FilteredTextBox
HoverMenu
ListSearch
MaskedEdit
ModalPopup
MutuallyExclusiveCheckBox
NoBot
NumericUpDown
PagingBulletedList
PasswordStrength
PopupControl
Rating
ReorderList
ResizableControl
RoundedCorners
Slider
SlideShow
Tabs
TextBoxWatermark
ToggleButton
UpdatePanelAnimation
ValidatorCallout

ASP.NET Extensions – Free AJAX Extensions for ASP.NET is a post from: Student Tech News

You’ll get 3 new windows  (available from the View menu).

• The Clone Explorer is where you initiate clone detection, and see results.

• The Clone Intersections looks at a file and shows you all the other files that share clones with it.  The different colours represent the different clones sections.

• The Clone Results shows you an individual cloned piece of code and where it resides throughout the application (i.e. all the different files where  that same code occurs).

When you look at a file with clones you’ll see a purple line next to the cloned lines (shown in the image).  By default visual studio just shows a single source file in the main window, however by dragging the tab with the filename in it to the right you can get to a side-by-side view which makes it so much easier to compare the clones before deciding it you should refactor or not.

At this time it appears to be only for C#, sorry VB guys.

Clone Detective is available via CodePlex and is free. Download it here.

Clone Detective for Visual Studio is a post from: Student Tech News

Source: GovernmentSecurity.org

Default Logins and Passwords for Networked Devices is a post from: Student Tech News

From the beginning I knew these guys HAD to take it, oddly enough they were up for elimination several times. Ultimately, their skill could not be matched. These guys are incredible B-boys.

Bio: Super Cr3w is a conglomerate of b-boys from three West Coast dance crews — Full Force, Battle Monkeys and Knucklehead Zoo — who battled each other eight years ago and have been friends ever since. Heading into America’s Best Dance Crew 2, members Ronnie Rey, Do-Knock, Abenamar Honrubia, Rockadile, Alex Murda and Vex are ready to do battle and obliterate the competition.

But what exactly makes this crew so super? Well, for starters, they have traveled the world showing off their skills, having won countless competitions together and as solo dancers.

Despite the fact that he had heart surgery when he was 4 years old, Ronnie Rey came in first at Red Bull BC One World Championship in Johannesburg, South Africa. Do-Knock appeared on Star Search — and won! — while Abenamar Honrubia won Battle of the Year in 2005 and 2006.

But their individual accomplishments don’t stop there. Rockadile has won a whopping 35 competitions, including Underdog 3, What Lies Beneath, Who Runs the Deuce and Break It Down. Alex Murda was the IBE (Holland) one-on-one champion and the City Vs. City (Chicago) one-on-one champion. Meanwhile, racking up kudos of his own, Vex has no trouble keeping up with his counterparts and expressing himself onstage.

After watching their friends JabbaWockeeZ win season 1 of America’s Best Dance Crew, Super Cr3w decided to throw their hat in the ring. They think their versatility, unique brand of b-boy flavor and individual expertise gives them a leg up on the competition. As Ronnie Rey puts it, they’re shooting to be “bigger than the Backstreet Boys!”

Super Cr3w wins America’s Best Dance Crew is a post from: Student Tech News

This is quite impressive and covers an array of different layout styles. From the site:

This is not the long list with all the available wordpress themes on the internet but its an exclusive collection of free wordpress themes which are not less than premium themes and you may consider any of these themes as per your need before going to purchase any paid premium theme.

Below are screenshot of some I found the most impressive looking. Be sure to visit SmashingApps for the full list, descriptions, and breakdown.

21 Amazing Free Wordpress Themes is a post from: Student Tech News

Rather than try and index everything on your computer like Launchy or the Vista Search box, this application lets you add exactly what you want in the list, and even lets you assign an item to launch multiple applications, documents or websites at once.

Your mileage on an application like this may vary. There are other applications like StarDock ObjectBar that have similar functionality. I personally see little use for this app when compared to Launch or the Start Menu Search box in Vista. Still, it may be just what some of you are looking for… feel free to give it a whirl.

Speed Launch’s Launcher. To get this you can hit the ”Windows Key + C” or double click the bull’s-eye. The text field has autocomplete so it’s very quick to get to shortcuts even with long names.

This is the context menu on Speed Launch where you can find more advanced functionality.

More info:

Microsoft Office Labs – Speed Launch site (download here)

How to Geek – full review

Microsoft Labs Speed Launch – Quick Launch Application is a post from: Student Tech News