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Showing posts from March, 2010

Book Review: “Linchpin” by Seth Godin

Overview There has been a lot of noise over Seth Godin's latest book, " Linchpin ". While I have not read any other of Seth's books, I have seen several of his talks online, as well as hearing him speak on some podcasts. I was very impressed with what I heard, so thought I would grab a copy of "Linchpin". "Linchpin" discusses the problems we are facing as modern workers. The "factory age" for most of the western world is dying. Mass production can take place elsewhere at a much cheaper cost. The old model of "get a factory with a simple process and lots of cheap people to fulfil simple roles" no longer holds fast. We are now in a time where we need a new breed of worker to have a successful business. A worker that takes their work not only to "the next level", but to their level. We need " linchpins ". Good Points Delivers a much-needed message that we ALL need to hear. Easy to read/foll

Book Review: “Screw It! Let’s Do It!” – Sir Richard Branson

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So, this book has actually been on my shelf for AGES (actually purchased this book when it first came out). For some reason, I never got around to reading it… Maybe it was because I was focused a lot more on my technical reading, maybe it’s because I didn’t feel like I needed “inspiration”. Whatever the reason, leaving it on my bookshelf was a big mistake . Once I started reading this, I couldn’t put it down – I thoroughly enjoyed this book from so many different angles. To summarise: The “Feel Good” Factor I was overwhelmed by the “feel good” factor that Sir Richard creates when he talks about ventures current and past in the book. You can almost imagine him sat opposite you, with that trademark big smile on his face, talking you through them. It’s Genuine I didn’t feel like there was any “BS” factor, “edited for public viewing” or anything like that. I felt the highs and the (few) lows in the book were written “straight from the heart”. Something that takes real cour

ASP.NET MVC Filters and Model Binders Intro

I thought the next stop on my MVC tour would be Filters and Model Binders . Since I am still grokking some of these bits – nothing detailed here, but wanted to share what I have found so far. Filters Filters allow us to perform actions against Controller Action methods (i.e. requests from users). Types of Filters There are four “types” of Filters: Authorization – Performed before the action method or any other filters run. Allows you to grant/deny access before any other code is executed. Example: AuthorizeAttribute ). Action – Can be run before and after an action method. Ideal for doing any model data manipulation etc. Couldn’t find examples in the core framework but projects like MvcContrib has them . Result – Runs after the action method has completed, but before the response is returned to the view. Ideal spot for last-minute changes to the response. Example: OutputCache . Exception – Runs after everything else, allowing you to catch any/all exception