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I'm starting what could be called a business. Regardless of if it becomes profitable, I'm using it as an opportunity to learn ASP.net MVC, Umbraco 5, and Windows Azure.
I've found Windows Azure to be pretty nice so far. You aren't actually locked into Azure if you use it... your Azure project is different than your main web application project, and you can actually build the web app to run outside of Azure as well as in Azure (the book I read on Azure, the name of which I forget at the moment, demonstrates some of those techniques). In that sense, you are not locked into Azure.
As far as the Azure environment being difficult to replicate on a local box, it comes with compute and storage emulators, which I have tried and which seem to work fine. Debugging does not really seem different than outside of Azure.
In any event, since I'm using this as a learning exercise, I can afford to fail, so I can see why somebody who can't afford to fail would want to avoid Azure or any new technology.
And I'm thinking of getting a business license later this year, so Bizspark may be a real option for me. It's good to know the individual licenses extend beyond the initial 3 years 
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AspDotNetDev wrote: I've found Windows Azure to be pretty nice so far
read the production pricing fine print and tell me what you think after that
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I've read it. I can have a site running for less than $30/month, including SQL Server and bandwidth.
Though, the bigger server instances seem to be priced excessively high (the XL is $720/month). In theory, if you have enough users to warrant instances that hefty, you'd be able too afford it.
Was there anything in particular you don't like about the pricing?
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Guess what - the world isn't perfect.
Peter Wasser
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.
Frank Zappa
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8 years ago I wrote about a period of debilitating pain I went through when coding. Too many long hours at the keyboard took their toll on me so that even placing my fingers on the keyboard would cause me pain. I experienced numbness in my fingers, pain in my wrists, back and shoulders, and lots of headaches. In short, I was a mess. Debugging your body's aches and pains.
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I've never found a perfect chair, but I've come across some that have been close.
Just yesterday, I bought a new chair for home use. Looks like this Serta Leather Multifunction Managers Chair (I got it for about $150 on a discount), but in a different color. Has some neat features, but I most appreciate that the back can tilt distinctly from the base. That's great, because my legs are apparently short and my feet dangle on most chairs, but I have found a comfortable position on this chair (I still get a better position by wearing shoes).
My work chair looks a bit like this Aeron Chair by Herman Miller. It's nice because the front can be adjusted to bend to my liking, which reduces the pressure I feel on my legs with most chairs.
Unfortunately, most chairs I have ever tried have not been low enough. Much of the time, I'll end up crossing my legs on the chair rather than let my feet rest on the floor. Chair makers really need to account for us short legged folk.
One thing I do recommend is that people should not shop for chairs online. Like shoes, it can be really hit or miss (I had to give away a custom pair of Nike's that cost me $160 because Nike had a drastically different sizing scheme for a their new custom shoe option). Trying it out in person at a store is the best way to ensure you're getting exactly the chair you want.
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For ethnologists, linguistic diversity is a cultural resource to be nurtured and preserved, much like biodiversity. All human languages are valuable; the more the better. That attitude of detached reverence is harder to sustain when it comes to computer languages, which are products of design or engineering rather than evolution. The creators of a new programming language are not just adding variety for its own sake; they are trying to make something demonstrably better. Every programmer knows there is one true programming language. A new one every week.
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Initially heralded as the future of browser gaming and the next step beyond the monopolised world of Flash, HTML5 has since faced criticism for being tough to code with and possessing a string of broken features. Whether developers like it or not, HTML5 is here to stay. Or is it?
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Actually, the main thing that article says is that HTML5 audio is broken. The rest is just padding
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For a long time, it was considered fairly obvious, I think, that syntax didn’t really matter. It was just the surface skin over the underlying ideas. In recent times, though, the prevailing wisdom has reversed, and it is now quite common to hear people talk about how “syntax matters”. The siren call of pretty syntax
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Apple’s system has sometimes been called the first personal computer; it wasn’t, unless you use a definition designed to let it claim that honor. It may not even have been the best-selling machine in the early days. It was, however, easily the most visionary of the early personal computers. Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication.
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It’s been seven years since I took my first step into Information Architecture and, sadly, it seems that the practice of understanding and prioritizing information before designing the interface has been abandoned. And because of that, we are facing a huge problem in the world of UX, which is, simply put, that we are devolving. Are we not men? We are dev-elopers.
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Brain emulation requires enormous computing power. Enormous computing power requires further progression of Moore's law. Further Moore's law relies on large-scale production of cheap processors in chip fabs. Chip fabs are both expensive and vulnerable. Therefore, the advent of brain emulation can be delayed by attacks on chip fabs. My mission is to protect you.
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Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Ergo ipso facto columbo oreo.
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I like Oreos. I didn't know they were Latin though.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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As of Lion, Apple introduced a full-screen mode for apps. I wasn’t entirely convinced by this new feature, not least due to having a 27-inch iMac, which made many apps in full-screen mode look ridiculous. But the sense of focus was useful, and I was thoroughly enjoying the experience. And then I got sick. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!
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Terrence Dorsey wrote: Apple introduced a full-screen mode for apps
Ah, typical Apple, somehow getting away with re-releasing something that has been around for years and claiming it as there. Seriously, full screen mode? What next, the ability to plug a keyboard into a computer?
Jeez.
See if you can crack this: b749f6c269a746243debc6488046e33f
So far, no one seems to have cracked this!
The unofficial awesome history of Code Project's Bob!
"People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."
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Netflix awarded a $1 million prize to a developer team in 2009 for an algorithm that increased the accuracy of the company's recommendation engine by 10 percent. But today it doesn't use the million-dollar code, and has no plans to implement it in the future. Here's why. Not playing in a theater near you.
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Take a few minutes to complete our latest development survey and then enter in a drawing to win a $50 Amazon gift certificate. Have you built a Metro-style app for Windows 8? Tell us about it.
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There's an error in the form - question 2 should be optional - doesn't apply if the answer to question 1 is "No"
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This study doesn't include WPF development. The only options are
HTML5 + JavaScript/WinJS
XAML + C#/Visual Basic
XAML/DX with C++
Everything makes sense in someone's mind
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Question 1 could be multiple choice. Some of us have built apps in the Dev preview AND the Consumer preview.
Similarly, I've also coded in the three types for Question 2.
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Thanks for the feedback, guys. We'll make sure to address these issues in future surveys.
In the meantime, if you have to make just one choice where several would be better, just pick the option most recently used or most relevant to you.
There's no right answer. We're just gauging current usage and preferences.
Director of Content Development, The Code Project
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This week, contribute a news item in the Insider News forum and you'll have a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card. The heart of The Code Project is member contributions. Now you can contribute news, too.
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