Matt Berseth

A few months ago, I wrote a blog entry describing how you could use ASP.NET AJAX along with the Virtual Earth Map Control to create a web based map application that locates ZIP Code boundaries by drawing a shaded region on the maps surface.  You can view the interactive demo for this here.    The number one comment I received from that post was: That's cool, but where did you get the ZIP Code dataset from? Well ...  I got this data from the U.S Census Bureau's Cartographic web site.  The site contains links that allow you to download the data files for each of the 50 states along with Puerto Rico and District of Columbia.  The data is from the 2000 census, so it is already almost eight years old.  Nevertheless it makes for a pretty good test dataset (if you need a more up to date dataset there are plently of...

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On September 11th and 12th I was in Orlando FL attending Mike Cohn's ScrumMaster Certification course.  The course consisted of two 8 hour days filled with scrum techniques and best practices.  I found the course valuable.  If you haven't met Mike Cohn, he is a high energy person that is passionate about scrum as well as software in general.  He does a good job presenting the material and makes an extra effort to tie it back to techniques you can take back to the office with you.  As a process, scrum is pretty flexible and Mike tells a number of useful stories about how successful scrum teams have adapted scrum to fit their organization's needs.  I found this useful as each organization tends to have its own unique quirks and I think it is reassuring to hear how others have adapted scrum to fit within their own organization. Going into the first day of the course, I was a little skeptical of what the value would be to...

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Ever run into one of those really tough technical problems at work?  The type of problem that persists through hours of googling.  The kind that remains unsolved even after downloading numerous CodeProject samples?  I think every developer has been there one time or another.  It comes with the territory, but there is a solution: Microsoft's MSDN Forum Website.  The MSDN Forums are patrolled around the clock by some of the most talented technical people in the industry.  If anyone is going to be able to help you solve your problem, it is one of these people.  The trick is that you need to craft your question in such a manner that it is appealing to answer.  If want your question answered first you need to make it stand out.  What makes a post attractive to other developers?  CODE SAMPLES!  Shame on you if you answered that incorrectly.  At some level, forum threads are similar...

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