BizTalk 2006, Users, Groups & Troubleshoot

Have you ever needed a full list of the BizTalk 2006 users and groups -- here is one from Microsoft .  If you used that guide Microsoft supplied to install BizTalk 2006, and it did not work (surprise!) you will probably need this BizTalk 2006 Troubleshoot Guide and Tools list.  This dedicated list of BizTalk 2006 troubleshoot utilities is very useful.  And of course, the most common trouble spot with BizTalk 2006 Server is the software components it depends on -- that is why this guide to troubleshoot BizTalk 2006 dependencies is so great!

Custom GetContextProperty Functoid

A newer version of the GetContextProperty functiod, and another useful "sister" functiod can be found here, http://www.codeplex.com/ContextAccessor.

Custom GetContextProperty Functoid

How can I get a message context property (promoted property) from a message in a map for use inside of an orchestration?

Using the Custom GetContextProperty Functoid, of course!

About BizTalk Message Context Properties -- Difference between BizTalk 2006 distinguished field and property field

Here is a good Microsoft page about the differences between property and distinguished fields in Microsoft Biztalk 2006 Server.

Yahoo Search Advertising is a FRAUD

I blogged a few weeks ago about my renewed interest in Yahoo Sponsored Search in my "Dear Yahoo" post.  At the time, I thought that perhaps Yahoo was turning a corner in the online advertising sphere and might have finally figured it out.  I have now, after spending $220 USD and one entire month advertising with them, realized how wrong I was. 

Yahoo's online search ad placement system is horrible.

In fact, I suspect the majority of the site traffic generated by a Yahoo ad is actually fraud.  Google Analytics is a powerful tool and I could teach a class on it at this point -- I've been using it since it was released and I have gone to seminars and taken classes.  So, I spent a few hours focused on Yahoo traffic analysis.  As it turns out, the "visitors" from Yahoo are (98%) fraud generated by Yahoo's content placement site.  Probably ad-placement scammers buying ads from Yahoo and then using "pay to browse" or automated methods to fire the ads and collect my money.

I am getting a 1.05PPV (pages viewed per visit)  traffic load from Yahoo traffic.  That means that 94.55% of the visitors are viewing only the first page after the ad link and then closing the browser -- a sure sign of fraud from the source.  All my legitimate traffic ( Google, TheKnot, WeddingChannel, CraigsList, Yahoo Organic Search) averages a bounce rate (immediate exit) of around 3.85 which is low, to be sure, but does not mean fraud.  The bounce rate for my average traffic is only 22%.

In addition, Yahoo is reporting that I get about 10 visitors a day from their ads.  I am finding about 10% of the traffic I am being billed for actually makes it to my site.  I suspect part of this is that most of the scammers have found a way to trigger the ads in an automated fashion that does not actually request pages from my site -- they're just getting Yahoo to record the click and never even downloading pages from CoryTrese.com

Other key terms I might use to describe Yahoo Sponsored Search include "click fraud", "fraud", "deception", "sucks", "lies", "terrible", "illegal", "unfair", "deceptive business practices" and maybe some other words I won't use on my blog.

Top 10 Security Vulnerabilities in .NET Configuration Files

Developers often concentrate on writing secure code but leave security vulnerabilities in application configuration files. Discover the most common configuration security problems—and how to avoid them.

by Bryan Sullivan

Top 10 Security Vulnerabilities in .NET Configuration Files

Gozi, Amazing!

http://www.secureworks.com/research/threats/gozi/?threat=gozi

ASP.Net 2.0 Complex User Controls and External JavaScript

If you are anything like me, you're spending a lot of time working with ASP.Net 2.0 building complex user controls.

For example, you might need to have a large piece of JavaScript included as an external resource, not emitted into the .aspx page.  This page has a detailed step-by-step guide on how to embedded URL accessible resources into a control.

Or perhaps, also like me, you are making use of the System.Web.UI.Masterpage namespace and are wondering about passing objects between content and master pages.  Well, this page has a detailed step-by-step guide on how to pass information between Content and Master pages in ASP.Net 2.0.

XSD and MSXML 4.0 SP2

Upgrading your XSD to parse on a release of the Microsoft XML Parser 4.0? Using XSD (XML Schema?) Having trouble?

Check this page about conformance to XSD specifications within the Microsoft XML Parser 4.0 software.

For example, might be generating the error:

'all' is not the only particle in a group, or is being used as an extension

Secure ASPSESSIONID Cookies in IIS 4, 5 and 6.0

>From this great page on Microsoft's Help and Support Site:

When you use Active Server Pages (ASP) in Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 or Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0, a session cookie is sent to a user's browser. This cookie identifies the user for the time that they are on the site. These cookies are sometimes called memory cookies, because they are never stored on the user's hard drive like a regular cookie. In reality, this is an additional header that is sent to the browser. Anytime a Web site sends additional information such as this, the browser is required to send it back with each request (provided the server name does not change). The following is an example of an ASP Session Cookie:

Set-Cookie: ASPSESSIONIDGQQGGLIC=HKEDPNNBNBBKMOCFFBEIJENM; path=/

HTTP is a stateless protocol, which means that every time a user connects to a Web site it is just like the first time they connected to the Web server. This is a problem in an environment where you store server-side information for users. The session cookie is a means of performing such tasks.

A problem can occur if developers decide to store confidential or sensitive information in the session. For example, if a developer writes a piece of ASP code that requests a user's credit card number, the developer can store this information in a session variable (session variables are linked to the session cookie) on the server. The user can then browse to a page that lists the information they entered (for example, an authorization page or an order confirmation page). The credit card (when the list is generated) may be pulled from a session variable. If so, this information may be at risk.

The Help and Support page linked to above covers IIS 4.0 and 5.0, however, the command that it lists at the end:

NOTE: After you apply the patch, run the following commands to enable secure cookies (this example enables them for site 1):\

cd c:\inetpub\AdminScripts
cscript adsutil.vbs set w3svc/1/AspKeepSessionIDSecure 1

Is correct for all versions of IIS.  For version 6.0 of IIS simply run that command and the ASPSESSIONID cookie will be set to secure.

I Love Legos

This is a great video of an impressive Lego creation!

IEs4Linux, Support for IE7

I have blogged about this project before, but it is good enough to blog about again.  The project, called ies4linux exists to support installing and running multiple original versions of IE (5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 7.0) under Linux using Wine and CAB files.  Another good blog entry on Web Expose talks in detail about IE 7.0 support and has a good thread of comments from early testers and adopters.

IE on Linux.  Never would have guessed that one back in 1999, would ya?  =)

Quick and Dirty Regular Expressions Visual Basic

A quick and dirty blog about Regex and VB6, useful if you ever have to maintain or write real software in VB6.  Poor us, eh?

10 Best Extensions for Everyone's Favorite Browse

I was reading some random reviews of the last FireFox 2.0 release and hit this link on CNet showing a list of the "10 best firefox extensions" ... some of the choices are terrible, but some are rather good. I already use a few of them...

C# Class Picturebox Improved for Aspect Ratio & Photograph Display in .Net

The key difference between Picturebox and the Photobox class implemented in this blog entry is that the Photobox class supports aspect ratio scaling and is appropriate for displaying photographs in an application.

SSL and TSL Essentials

By now, we are growing accustomed to the staggering success of the Internet and digital commerce performed over it. Millions of people—with billions of dollars—rely on the Web to execute critical transactions every day. All of those transactions require trust.

Users must trust the authenticity of the Web site; users must trust that their sensitive information remains confidential as it traverses the Internet and users must trust that no malicious hacker has modified their requests.

Security technology provides that trust. And on the Web, the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol is THE security technology.

Read the rest here at www.NetworkSystemDesignLine.com

Thanks for reading,

Cory Trese
cory.trese@gmail.com
http://www.corytrese.com/

Interview with Joyce Park

Joyce Park is the co-founder and CTO of Renkoo.  I saw this blog entry, and interview with Joyce Park from Friendster and it has a series of questions about getting shitcanned for blogging.  I think a more interesting topic is blogging after you get shitcanned, something I know a little bit about.  But unlike this person, I gave in and edited my entries.

Google Kills SOAP?

From Google Deprecates Their SOAP Search API:

The AJAX Search API is great for web applications and users that want to bling their blog, but does not provide the flexibility of the SOAP API. I am surprised that it has not been replaced with a GData API instead. The developer community has been discussing this and do not seem happy with the change. Discussion on the forums have pointed out that Yahoo! has a REST Search API. Live Search also has a SOAP API available.

This worries me.  What is Google doing?  Trying to kill off developer mind share?

ASP.Net 1.1 Does Not Stop XSS or Cross-Site Scripting

The built in protection in ASP.Net 1.1 is broken.

The "ValidateInput()" method does not work.  It ignores null characters and so does IE.  So, all your 'ValidatePageInput="true"' does nothing.  You are not safe.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnaspp/html/scriptingprotection.asp

Write your own HTTPModule or buy mine.

Testing Web Applications Under Linux!

If you're a Linux using web-developer such as myself, you can really benefit from having IE installed under Linux using the IEs 4 Linux system (runs using WINE.)  Here is a like to the FAQ about how IEs 4 Linux works.

Want to run IE in Linux?  That's how!

Google Winner Developer Mindshare

http://www.google.com/codesearch

Of course, this makes so much sense.  Take all the open source code and make it so you can search it by content, comment, technique and language (and of course, license.)

So clearly a good idea.

http://www.google.com/codesearch

Great .Net Blog I Read

I thought I would share this great .Net and development in general blog I read.

Google "Bigdaddy" Updates Impact on Search Ranking, SEO and your web site

#1. Beware of Banned Sites.

Some sites like WedPlan.net have benefitted from the "Bigdaddy" update, Google's continuing effort to provide users with the best possible results to their search queries. Some sites have been penalized by the update. And some sites have been outright "banned" -- dropped from Google's index altogether.

So why do you care about how Google views other sites, you may ask? Because links from banned sites to your site or from your site to a banned site can negatively impact how Google chooses to interpret, index, and judge your site.

Google engineer Matt Cutts has discussed the increased importance that the "Bigdaddy" update places on inbound and outbound link quality. Cutts warns that "linking to spammy neighborhoods on the web" may result in a site being banned. If a banned site is linking to you, you presumably become an unwitting new resident in the banned site's "spammy neighborhood".

The bottom line? Affiliation with sites that have been banned by Google could be a risky proposition and may adversely affect your site's (and company's) own credibility.

#2. How Do I Tell If a Site Has Been Banned? Use Google's "info:" Feature.

Google has some cool search features you may not be aware of. One secret weapon you can use to find out what Google thinks about a particular site is to use its built-in "info:" search. To use this helpful tool, just do a Google search for "info:domain.com" (without quotes) where "domain.com" is the full domain name of the site you want to find out about.

If the site is not banned, you will see information about the site. If, however, Google returns: "Sorry, no information is available for the URL", there is a good possibility that the site has been banned by Google. Even if the site has not been banned, a response like this indicates that Google places little or no "trust" in the site and is unwilling to provide its users with any information about or from the site. Do this search for all the domains you currently advertise with. If any of them have been banned by Google, it may be time to end your affiliation with them.

#3. Advertiser Beware: Do Your Homework.

If a site is in good standing with Google, the search engine should provide you with a wealth of information about it. Again, do a Google "info:" search for the full domain name you are researching. If the site is not banned, you should be presented with 5 links. Perhaps the most informative of those links is the "from the site" link. Clicking that link should reveal how many pages from the given site have been indexed by Google and are currently presentable as search results in Google's index. Generally speaking, the more pages from a site that Google is displaying in its index, the more confidence Google has that the site will contain relevant information for its users. Perform these kinds of searches when deciding where you think you might want to allocate your advertising dollars. Doing a little homework ahead of time can pay dividends later.

#4. Take Action.

In researching Google's "Bigdaddy" update and the logic behind it, it becomes clear how important it is for a business owner to keep up with changes on the web. It took months for Google's "Bigdaddy" infrastructure to be built and for the new search results to go live at all of its data centers. But Google's changes have some immediate consequences for you and your business. You need to be proactive to end your affiliation with banned sites or those that Google engineer Matt Cutts describes as "spammy neighborhoods on the web". Google has done a good thing by rewarding quality, ethically-run sites and also by penalizing those sites it has determined to fall short of the mark. What's more, the Google update also may mean that association with such sites can negatively impact your own reputation. Take action now by ending your relationship with sites that Google has chosen to penalize or, worse yet, to ban completely.

Original Credit Unknown, Reposted Here for Reference.

Error 8013141C in Visual Studio or sn.exe

I have an earlier post about Error "8013141C" in Visual Studio .NET 2003 or sn.exe from any of the .NET toolkits.

• Error 8013141C in Visual Studio or sn.exe

The problem is that you cannot delete a key and you cannot add the key. This is because you do not have access to the key to delete it and the .NET framework cannot add it because of constraints on the StrongName data store.

The solution is to give yourself access to C:\Documents and Settings\AllUsers\ApplicationData\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys\. This allows proper functioning when you run "sn.exe -d" allow it to remove the StrongName.

• On Windows 7 32 bit, it is located here: C:\Windows\System32\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA
• On Windows 7 64bit, it is located here: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA

Here is an example sequence of commands:

C:\>sn -d someKey

Microsoft (R) .NET Framework Strong Name Utility Version 1.1.4322.573
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1998-2002. All rights reserved.

Failed to delete container 'someKey' -- Unable to format error message
8013141C

The key container must still exist because I cannot create a new key
container, the error message is as follows:

C:\Projects\dload\Assembly>sn -i "C:\Keys.snk" someKey

Microsoft (R) .NET Framework Strong Name Utility Version 1.1.4322.573
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1998-2002. All rights reserved.

Failed to install key pair -- Object already exists.


The hack to fix this is:

1. Browse to %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\AllUsers\ApplicationData\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys
2. Grant rights to Adminstrators, or whatever group you belong to
3. Take Ownership of this folder (click Advanced under Security, and then click the Ownership tab at the top)
4. Apply the changes to the children ("Replicate permission...")

Virtual People & lonelygirl15

I saw this Wikipedia page about one of the most popular virtual people, lonelygirl15 on Myspace.com

Pretty interesting concepts behind this. The creation of "virtual celebrities" that actually represent (much like "real" celebrities) the work of hundreds or possibly thousands of content creators and marketeers.

I must admit I am most intrigued by this concept. Where will this go in the future I wonder?