Entries from Simon Butcher

I like Serendipity for blogging, and have no intention to move to WordPress despite constant nagging from fellow bloggers.

The great thing about Serendipity is the ease at which new plug-ins can be created. While their plugin API documentation looks like it's lacking substance, it makes sense once you get going and realise the blanks are fairly obvious.

On Monday, Mr. Brewer mentioned something about my Axapta posts looking messy and that they could probably benefit from a little thing called GeSHi. Having never heard of this before, I set out and asked the oracle what this was.

After finding this funky little toy, I set my heart on writing a tiny plug-in for Serendipity, but David Rolston beat me to it.

Sometimes I wonder if I have one of those information symbols glued to my forehead -- I feel like a walking tourist information booth. While I realise Brussels attracts a large amount of foreigners by its very nature, I do feel like I've become some sort of an tourist information point. This has reached a level now that I can't go to the GB without being asked for directions on the way home.

Our company was the first to use the European Commission's VIES system via SOAP to validate VAT numbers automatically. We used to have a custom hack to perform this operation within Axapta 3.0, waiting for what was then a rumour that Dynamics Ax 4.0 would be able to call .NET assemblies via CLR interoperability.

In my previous article, I touched on calling code within Ax from C#, but now I want to explain how this works the other way around.

No, not that IMDB, this IMDb! I've been hooked on this site since late 1994, however I used to skim over stuff on their old newsgroup haunt around 1991/1992. Today, IMDb is more than just alive and well, with yet another revision to their site's design being unveiled today - not bad guys!

I'm currently in the process of migrating our Axapta 3.0 system over to Dynamics Ax 4.0. This is a difficult process due to the number of customisations we have made in the system, and many changes between the two standard code-beds. In light of this, we've been conscious of new developments on the horizon, so some of our customisations had temporary snippets of code in them, waiting for enhancements such as .NET interoperability.

One of these temporary snippets of code is responsible for monitoring recurring batch job execution, and ultimately the use of a monitoring system completely outside of Dynamics Ax is preferable. This is where the .NET Business Connector steps in, and since a small number of licenses come with the base Dynamics Ax product, it can be a really useful development tool. Most of what's written here will also apply to the old COM Connector, in principle.

Now popularised by intense American commercialisation of the last century, Valentine's Day is possibly the most obtuse and superficial holiday on the occidental calendar. With its deep roots in history, this day has now become an significant cash cow in the Hallmark holiday line-up.

In the West, there is societal obligation that lovers must present each other with gifts, and somehow love each other more-so on this day than any other day. Chocolates, flowers (preferably red roses), and lingerie are the norm for intimate presents to one's other half, accompanied by the "traditional" pre-printed greeting card. In more Americanized [sīc] cultures, it is perceived that the expense and lavishness of a gift reflects proportionally on the degree of love being declared.

Does anyone else find this just a little repugnant?

Oddly enough, the STIB, in their infinite wisdom, started making public announcements that playing music on public transport is forbidden shortly after I wrote my previous rant about public transport. Since then, I have neither seen nor heard buskers within the public transport network here in Brussels. Hurrah!

This does seem related to the STIB's new efforts to secure public transport, including many new guys that just stand around wearing highly visible vests with the word "prevention" on them at trouble spots.

Spring is upon us here in Belgium, despite it being 45 days early. Trees are starting to grow new leaves, birds are building nests, and the weather this weekend has all the attributes of perfect spring days. It's at this point that I feel inclined to point out that I could have been wrong about it being winter in a previous post -- maybe winter was cancelled this year?

One thing about taking public transport is the unfortunate amount of anti-social behaviour you have to exhibit to make the journey a smooth one. If you seem too sociable, you wind up attracting undesirables: Smelly buskers, smelly beggars, and not-so-smelly emissaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, recently arrived from Canada and unaware that Belgians really don't want to talk to them.

Since many people I know don't take public transport, it might be time to explain what they're missing.

Winter has finally arrived in Western Europe. Not bad really, considering it's just over a month late. To be honest, I was starting to have my doubts about seeing winter at all until the end of the year, but it took a large violent storm to force some semblance of balance back into place.

This time last week, we were only just starting to see the start of strong gusts of wind that really took hold on Thursday, causing vast property damage, even to the point of rotating traffic lights 90° on the boulevard in front of the office. Here in Belgium, we only topped wind speeds of around 100km/h, however this was a mere breeze compared to other countries such as Germany and Austria where gusts peaked to around 170km/h.

If you haven't yet noticed because you're too busy living under your rock, the weather is completely stuffed, worldwide.

Many people have asked me to make my version of a Toblerone Cheesecake recipe public. I like keeping recipes quiet, but too many people have asked. My version requires no baking - you just pop it in the fridge once you're done.

Most people are suspicious of a chocolate cheesecake because they usually picture Cadbury's mixed with cheddar. That's a revolting prospect, I agree. Instead, this cake has a rich, creamy flavour that's always proven popular.

Or maybe people were just being too polite.

Every man and his dog have been talking about the new iPhone, launched last week by Steve Jobs during his Macworld 2007 key-note speech. No this isn't the Linksys iPhone (that now pales in comparison); this is the long anticipated revolutionary product from Apple, the next in the line since the launch of the iPod in 2001.

This news has also marked the end of Apple Computer Inc. and the start of Apple Inc., a new name for what is no longer a computer company, but a mainstream consumer electronics company. This is possibly the biggest news from Apple, above and beyond the iPhone launch, since it shows a fundamental shift in the company's focus.

I've seen the keynote speech, and read so many articles, and it seems most points of view are partisan, either loving the new device, or hating it disparagingly. I don't feel either views are warranted, so I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Ego-searching (as I've always called it, before I found that Wikipedia uses the term Ego-surfing, probably because of egoSurf itself) has always been a interesting psychological phenomenon to me. So many people do it, and yet it's difficult to find people who will readily admit it.

The psychology behind it is essentially the same behind looking for your name in the White Pages, within the credits of a production you were involved in, or on a document you wrote. Ego-searching specifically involves plugging your name into Google, usually your full name in quotes, and hunting down matches that are relevant to yourself personally.

Welcome to two-thousand and seven. Are we all excited to be here? No? Well that's pretty normal. It seems like everyone has some form of New Years Blues today due to circumstances that would otherwise just be silently factored into a normal day. Western society is pressured into having a great time to celebrate the end of another ineffectual year and the birth of another repeat effort.