By Robert Thomas on 9/10/2008 1:40 AM

Construction on our new offices is finally nearing an end.  We will be hosting the Open House on Thursday, September 25th from 1200-1900.  We are hoping this time-frame will provide scheduling flexibility to as many guests as possible.  If guests wish to attend during the 1200-1400 time-frame, lunch will be provided.

Invitations will be going out soon.  Save the date!

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By Robert Thomas on 8/3/2008 9:04 PM

I am proud to announce the immediate release of SentryPoint Version 8.2.  As always, we try to incorporate customer feedback into our products whenever possible and this release is no exception.  The release includes many powerful new features based on customer feedback.  Here is a high-level overview of the changes.

Added CapsLock button to on-screen keyboard to allow administrators to choose case sensitivity of their data. Added User-defined Text fields which allows administrators to create an unlimited number of steps/questions for presenting to visitors. Added User-defined Lists which allows administrators to create an unlimited number of steps which present visitors with a list of values to choose from. Removed the requirement to use badges for check-in. Added ability for administrators to choose the checkout mode based on Visitor Last Name in cases where Badges are not used. Added a StationID for customers who have SentryPoint installed at multiple stations throught their organization making it possible to tell which station a visitor check-in and out at....

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By Robert Thomas on 7/26/2008 9:14 PM

Update: Testing is progressing well and unless we find any showstopper issues, our SentryPoint 8.2 release is on target to be released on Friday, August 1st.

By Robert Thomas on 7/16/2008 11:35 PM

We are preparing to launch our largest software undertaking to date (still top secret) and I have been focusing on performance tuning for the last week or so in preparation for the public release.  Our new application has a huge list of features and benefits, but if the application is slow we fail.  I downloaded and installed AutomatedQA's QATime demo and have been using it to gather results on our software's performance.

Our new software runs either locally on a corporate LAN or remotely over the Internet using SSL security.  When the application is on the LAN, database calls are very quick and not usually a performance problem.  However, over the Internet these calls become very expensive and take considerably more time to complete.  The goal of my performance profiling was to reduce the number of database calls and optimize the traffic.

 When you run our Beta application over the Internet, the slowest screen is the Charge Number screen.  The screen was typically taking about 1 second * the # of...

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By Robert Thomas on 6/30/2008 12:08 PM

Recently I worked on a project where there was a requirement to query an Oracle Internet Directory (OID) server with a user's certificate subject to verifiy if the user existed in the OID directory and return the username to be used as the credential.  This seemed at first like it would be a simple task using the System.DirectoryServices namespace.  Knowing that Oracle OID was LDAP v3 compliant, I developed a prototype on my local machine that queried an Active Directory domain controller.  Everything worked out nicely.  I then moved the code to my development server and pointed to the Oracle LDAP server.  I kept getting an invalid username/password error.  This was interesting because the LDAP server allowed anonymous browsing and did not need credentials.  I scoured the Internet for answers and found many forum posts of people asking how to do this scenario, but no answers.  I wanted to blog about this in case someone else finds themselves in my situation.  The answer turned out to be pretty simple.  The System.DirectoryServices.Protocols...

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By Robert Thomas on 6/30/2008 11:59 AM

We are finally moved into the new office and getting settled in quickly.  There are a few construction items to be completed, but overall we are very happy with the results.  Our phone numbers and mailing address remain unchanged.  Invitations to the open house will be forthcoming.

By Robert Thomas on 6/5/2008 10:05 PM

Our tentative move-in date has been set for June 14th.  I think a more realistic date is later in June because our custom cabinets and glass wall/door for the main conference room is not in yet.  Once we get settled in we'll be sure to invite everyone to an office warming celebration.

For you Capriccio types, get ready to move!