I put all of my family pictures on the flickr web site, and then if I need to have a picture from my account in my blog posts I just add it from there. This is not a hard process but now I have made it easier with this little Extension.

To make this extension work you will need an API key from flickr. I already had one before since I use it to display my pictures directly from flickr on this site (See my Photos Page). If you don't have it yet, get it at flickr's Services Page once you log into your account. You will also need your flickr id which is a number that looks like 123456789@N00. Once you have these two things you can use this extension.

To set up the extension to work with your API key and your account details you need to change few things in the code. On line 25 in the code you will see
"http://www.flickr.com/services/rest/?method=flickr.photos.getInfo&api_key=[KEY]&user_id=[ACC]&photo_id=[PHOTOID]"
Change the [KEY] to your API key and the [ACC] to your account details. You will notice that the url uses ?method=flickr.photos.getInfo this is the only function of the API we will use for this simple extension.

How does it work

First to make the extension work you will need to put in

The number is your picture id which your can get from flickr. (Its part of the url of every picture)

The extension converts this into a picture link to your flickr photo using the correct url information obtained from the XML file returned by the API method.

Download it and put it in your App_Code/Extensions/ and don't forget to change the [KEY] and [ACC] in the code.

FlickrPicture.zip (1.04 kb)

The following is a list of applications that I find super usefull in day to day work.

• SlickRun - This little utility makes accessing applications super easy. It works by creating magic words which you can then use to quickly access your applications and web sites
• PsPad - This is a freeware editor for windows. It handles syntax highlighting beautifully, it comes with a build in FTP client and tons more. I used to use EditPlus editor but I find PsPad more useful to me and the fact that it is free does not hurt.
• xplorer² - This is an amazing Windows Explorer replacement tool. It is perfect if you have to work with multiple folders open. I am using the free lite version.
• Beyond Compare 2 - This program lets you compare file content between two sources. Very helpful when you are working on several servers and need to move files around. It also comes with a FTP support so comparing files on the web server never been easier.

Microsoft has announced that they will allow developers to download the source code for their .NET Framework.

This is quite an interesting move from Microsoft. It is a good move, even though you can not change the source code, I think it will help many developers.

The source will be available with the new .NET 3.5 Framework and Visual Studio 2008. Perhaps the coolest thing about this is that you will now be able to dig into the actual source of the framework when debugging your code, something that I wanted to do for a long time.

Having source code access and debugger integration of the .NET Framework libraries is going to be really valuable for .NET developers. Being able to step through and review the source should provide much better insight into how the .NET Framework libraries are implemented, and in turn enable developers to build better applications and make even better use of them.