one of my all time favorites is ‘White rabbit’ by Jefferson Airplane; Grace Potter is the only band / performer that was able to do it to me so far.
Please ignore her boring billboard performance (Grace, you know I admire, love , respect you by now ) , and enjoy the brilliant live performance  :

BUT !!! as much as I like Grace (Sorry, Grace, meant love!), let’s enjoy the real thing (demonstrating how timing, paste, echo , voice can make a legendary song).

Speaking of Jefferson Airplane covers, here’s my second favorite :

You can create a list in each view that require that, but I decided to create an extension few years ago, and after few updates its still serve me in (nearly) every project.

namespace System.Web.Mvc
{

    public static class HtmlExtensions
    {

        public static MvcHtmlString RangeDropDownListFor<TModel, TProperty>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper, Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression, int min, int max, string caption)
        {
            //var name = ExpressionHelper.GetExpressionText(expression);

            // build the listÂ
            List<int> list = new List<int>();

            if (min > max)
            {
                for (int i = max; i >= min; i--)
                {
                    list.Add(i);
                }
            }else
            {
                for (int i = min; i <= max; i++)
                {
                    list.Add(i);
                }
            }

            return Html.SelectExtensions.DropDownListFor(htmlHelper, expression, new SelectList(list), caption);

        }

    }

}

This is just the basic, there are (many) more advanced version for my RangeDropDownlist class, stay tuned – I will probably publish them soon. ]]> http://www.segevs.com/programming/c/range-drop-down-list-extension/feed 0 http://www.segevs.com/music/nikki-jean-with-daryl-hall http://www.segevs.com/music/nikki-jean-with-daryl-hall#comments Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:49:33 +0000 Segev {CJ} Shmueli http://www.segevs.com/?p=108

Well… Nikki is a super talented performer, singer, musician, and song-writer, and she knows how much I appreciate her.

And… Nikki please don’t forget to get in touch about our collaboration on fotoshoot.com, I still need you to be our voice, and face.

But it’s time to share that upcoming superstar…. Please accept (and remember to buy the album) – Nikki Jean

So… I decided to give a stage in my taste in music, hope you like it….

For my first posting i decided to share Glannis Grace (what a voice, and what a presence) from Sweden, performing the classic from the 70′s – ‘Little Green Bag’, enjoy.

A while back, I wrote an article / tutorial about that particular topic on fotoshoot.com:

Jewelry photography is a serious challenge to photography enthusiasts and professional photographers alike.
Jewelry photography should capture all the little and subtle details in the jewelry, the color of the stone should be deep and real as possible while, of course, preserving the design, shine and glitter of the jewel.
The main problem in jewelry photography, is the fact that most jewelries are reflecting surfaces, and most of them will reflect anything in the room (including the photographer and the camera).
Another, potentially frustrating, problem is the stone – tend to come out black, or milky-white.
Here are some suggestions for amateurs, for getting better results:

1. Do not point the flash to the jewel itself. The Jewel will return it, and you’ll get the flash  reflections.
   If you are using a flash, just make sure that it points away from your subject
2. I recommend against using flash at all and using ambient (natural) light if possible. However, if you decide to use flash after all, you should soften the flash, it will decrease the reflection from the subject, and return deeper and more vivid color from the stone. To soften your flash, you can use a plain white, or creamy fabric (best results – using a shirt, or a bed sheet) , it will filter the light, and spread it better

Dan Sanor (the author), is trying to explain our critical thought process after a military training and service, how Israeli were wired a bit differently due (or thanks) to an utter unique set of challenges, and risks. Bringing very good and current example for very successful startups launched in Israel, and at the same time how Israeli teams changed the direction for giants such as Intel, taking them to the next level.

Guess I have more understanding, and sympathy to that book coming from my vantage point, but I do believe you will all enjoy it, and everybody and take something out of it just the same.

Grab your copy, and let me know what are your thoughts…..

Let’s start with the basics –
our class :

public class MyPagedDataModel<T> {
 /// ... code goes here....
}

Let’s continue by allowing us to determine the page size, current page index, and our data source.

        /// <summary>
        /// how many records per page
        /// </summary>
        public virtual int PageSize { get; set; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Current page index - offset 1 (first page is 0)
        /// </summary>
        public virtual int CurrentPageIndex { get; set; }

        public virtual object DataSource { get; set; }

To determine the number of records, and pages, I will have to skip one step, I trust you can keep up, but feel free to contact me if you have questions –

private IEnumerable<T> _list;

 public virtual IEnumerable<T> DisplayItems {
            get {
                ParseData();
                return _list;
            }
        }

internal override void ParseData()
        {

            if (_list == null)
            {
                _list = (IEnumerable<T>) DataSource;
                ApplyFilters();

                if (!PrePaged)
                {
                    TotalRecords = ((IQueryable<T>) DataSource).Count();

                    _list = _list.Skip(CurrentPageIndex * PageSize).Take(PageSize);
                }

            }
            base.ParseData();
        }

/// <summary>
        /// Total data records
        /// </summary>
        public virtual int TotalRecords
        {
            get
            {
                if (_totalRecords>0)
                    return _totalRecords; 

                ParseData();
                return _totalRecords;
            }
            set
            {
                _totalRecords = value;
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Compute the pages count.
        /// </summary>
        public virtual int TotalPages{
            get {
                if (PageSize == 0)
                    return 0;

                return (int)Math.Ceiling((decimal)TotalRecords / (decimal)PageSize);
            }
        }

Let’s see the complete class

public class MyPagedDataModel<T> {
        /// <summary>
        /// how many records per page
        /// </summary>
        public virtual int PageSize { get; set; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Current page index - offset 1 (first page is 0)
        /// </summary>
        public virtual int CurrentPageIndex { get; set; }

        public virtual object DataSource { get; set; }

private IEnumerable<T> _list;

 public virtual IEnumerable<T> DisplayItems {
            get {
                ParseData();
                return _list;
            }
        }

internal override void ParseData()
        {

            if (_list == null)
            {
                _list = (IEnumerable<T>) DataSource;
                ApplyFilters();

                if (!PrePaged)
                {
                    TotalRecords = ((IQueryable<T>) DataSource).Count();

                    _list = _list.Skip(CurrentPageIndex * PageSize).Take(PageSize);
                }

            }
            base.ParseData();
        }

/// <summary>
        /// Total data records
        /// </summary>
        public virtual int TotalRecords
        {
            get
            {
                if (_totalRecords>0)
                    return _totalRecords; 

                ParseData();
                return _totalRecords;
            }
            set
            {
                _totalRecords = value;
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Compute the pages count.
        /// </summary>
        public virtual int TotalPages{
            get {
                if (PageSize == 0)
                    return 0;

                return (int)Math.Ceiling((decimal)TotalRecords / (decimal)PageSize);
            }
        }

}

Speaking as a guy with the weirdest dating history, and a guy that got divorced more times than he got married, I feel I’m some sort of an authority when it comes to doing the wrong thing.

Let’s go over the ‘don’t do list’ :

1) “When will I see you again?”
Every beginner HR personnel knows that when a candidate ask about their salary during the first interview, they are probably the wrong person for the job.
Same rule applies to dating. Don’t ask us when will I see you again, let us ask you out, leave us with a new peak to conquer – a second date!

Once you asked us that question, the manly gland ( a simple gland that controls our live – get laid, get paid, die), naturally switches to the ‘let’s hook up’ mode… or something more like – ‘oh yeah, I’m in… Let’s meet tomorrow, my apartment is shiny and I just restocked my stash of condoms.’

2) “Do you think that she’s pretty?”
‘She is cute, but not as pretty as you!’ (lie! lie! lie!) … Please never ask us that question.
No reasonable man would honestly answer that question (just FIY). Guys don’t like you trying to compare yourself to every hot woman that is walking by (coincidentally, all of them are very very young, way younger than you!).

I understand competition as much as the next person, I even admire competitive nature; But in that specific instance you are asking a question that every man on earth (at least the mildly sane and above) will give you the same answer (and since you usually pick the most outrageously hot girl that walked by, lie).

3) “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine, nothing happened”
During instances of misscommunication, you result to ‘nothing happened’, while what you actually think is closer to ‘he doesn’t get me. No point in telling him’. Our brain is painfully simple, when you tell us it’s OK, we actually believe you!
In fact, you are more likely to get our back that night, than an attempt to understand what we did wrong.

Don’t get me wrong, guys are trained (or rather both designed by nature and nurtured) to take whatever you say as a cleaver mask, we know that there is always an hidden agenda, but please – give us a hint/ sign.
Keep one thing in mind, by the time you finished that sentence, we actually believe that everything is fine, and free as much brain space as possible to think about sex.

4) “…. we need to talk”
First thing that jump to our mind – ‘Was don’t need to talk!’
Whenever you say the above phrase, expect your guy to shut down, and avoid a serious conversation at any cost.

If what you had in mind is a talk about him leaving clothes all over the place; You must find another opening .

5) “I want to try anything, at least once”
Oooh, that one is tricky .
Don’t say it unless you really mean it. Trust me, your guy has way more fantasies than you could ever imagine.
When we start acting on our fantasy, and you back down, it could be really disappointing .

So…. let’s change ‘anything’ to ‘anything but…’

6) “What are you thinking about right now?”
Never ask us that question!.
Most of the time, we don’t think, we react. Other times we are trying to find the perfect strategy for how to make todays’ date successful .

Either way – we just don’t have an answer to that particular question!

7) “You are just like my ex”
Bad Bad Bad date!
What would you think if I told you that you were just like my ex?

Yes factoring your taste, features you find attractive, and your unique chemistry with potential mates, it is safe to assume we share few qualities with (all) your ex (es).
But we want to feel like we are the first, don’t bring up previous relationships!!!!

“I don’t trust you yet”
wrong thing to say in any situation. Why bother if you start from a negative place.

9) “What are you thinking about right now?”
The most annoying question for a first (or one of the firsts) date .
While you spend a lot of brain power figuring out what we might be thinking about at the moment, we don’t think about anything!!
But when you ask us that we do feel compelled to come up with something so we spend time and a lot of energy coming up with something we think you might like.

10) “How many girls have you slept with?”
No No No No! we don’t want to know with how many guys you’ve been with, and we will NEVER EVER give you a real number!
But you do come across as an easier target to conquer. After all you mentioned sex first!

Hope that helps
Let’s hear question that you don’t want to hear during one of the first dates….

The solution is actually way more simple than you’d imagine – There is a built it serializer just for that in the System.Web.Script.Serialization namespace.

So… let’s see it in action :

First – let’s built our object:

[Serializable()]
public class MyObject {
    public string StringField { get; set; }

    public int[] Numbers { get; set; }

    public String[] Names { get; set; }

}

Now the fun part – Convert to JSON

Step 1. Import the namespace

using System.Web.Script.Serialization;

Step 2. Let’s JSON it!

JavaScriptSerializer o = new JavaScriptSerializer();
string json = o.Serialize(Images);

Is that all???

YES! that’s all. You just converted your object (custom, ADO, Linq object, or otherwise) to JSON!!