Blogs|Feb 28, 2010

Idempotency for Windows Azure Message Queues

Idempotency is the mathematical term used to describe a system that produces the same result when a formula or procedure is applied numerous times against the same target. In software systems, this translates to an ability to perform an operation more than one time with knowledge that the resulting state of the system will be…
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wintellect-blogs|Feb 10, 2010

Windows Communication Foundation Data Services (Astoria) – The Stuff They Should Have Told You Before You Started

Entity Framework derived types support inheritance and relationships, just as you’d expect from any Object Relational Mapper tool (ORM) Windows Communication Foundation Data Services (Astoria) throws an exception if your derived entities have relationships. That means if a Contact, a Lead, and a Doctor all inherit from a Person… and derived entities have different needs…
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Azure and Cloud Computing|Oct 25, 2009

Migrating Polling Duplex Binding Element from Silverlight v2.0 to v3.0 for WCF Services In The Cloud Code Samples

When running the WCF / Windows Azure samples (see my previous blog entry) you may get an error indicating that the Polling Duplex Binding Element cannot be loaded if you have Silverlight v3.0 installed (The type ‘System.ServiceModel.Configuration.PollingDuplexElement, System.ServiceModel.PollingDuplex’ registered for extension ‘pollingDuplex’ could not be loaded). Replace the reference in the WcfSamples project from the…
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wintellect-blogs|Aug 12, 2009

Setup Windows Identity Framework SDK Samples on Windows 7

The setup and cleanup scripts that ship with the Windows Identity Framework SDK sample code do not properly operate under Windows 7. This is due to a check for the OS type that is used to determine if the scripts should use the netsh command or the older httpcfg command. To correct this problem, simply…
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wintellect-blogs|Aug 11, 2009

Google Notebooks and Bookmarks

I really like Microsoft OneNote. It only stands to reason then that I would love the online Google Notebook application. Of course I do!… What’s not to love?! Nearly everyone that I know who has used the application loves it. If didn’t have a chance to add the application before it went away… you really…
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wintellect-blogs|Jul 8, 2009

Compiling and Installing AzureServicesManagement Tools on Vista

Microsoft provides an MMC SnapIn for managing Azure Services as C# source code and a set of scripts. The tool allows the management and configuration of .NET Access Control Services, .NET Service Bus, and .NET Workflow Services [now on hold until .net 4.0 matures]. The download can be found here: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/AzureManagementTools When following the Readme.docx…
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wintellect-blogs|May 25, 2008

One Small Landing, Another Giant Leap For Mankind

  I have vague memories of watching the Apollo moon mission in 1969 at age 6. I remember my father sitting with me on the sofa and telling me how history was being made as we watched Neil Armstrong take his first step on the moon. Later, we watched in high anticipation during the radio silence…
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Blogs|Apr 29, 2008

Vista SP1 for my 64-bit OS has fallen and it can’t get up!

Vista SP1 for the 64-bit version of the OS has fallen on my computer, and it can’t get up! I’ve been without my primary computer now for several days due to the release of SP1 for Vista. The symptom is an infinite loop of installations and failures of SP1 (the specific details seem to vary by…
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security|Dec 23, 2007

Security Implications Of Services Impersonating Callers

In my last post (Caller Impersonation for WCF Services Hosted Under IIS Appears Broken), I laid out my rationale for why I felt that the security of services impersonating a caller when hosted under IIS was broken. To be responsible, I feel it necessary to follow-up my previous assertion by noting that such a configuration…
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wintellect-blogs|Dec 16, 2007

Caller Impersonation for WCF Services Hosted Under IIS Appears Broken

There is a security feature of WCF services hosted under IIS that I find poorly implemented. In all honesty, it appears to be broken and non-compliant with its intended purpose. If you’re developing services for use in the intranet environment, then it’s quite reasonable for you to expect that a service can impersonate your Windows identity…
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