Don't Abuse Anchors -- Use CSS

Many web developers use anchors "<a...>" to suround texts and images simply to change the cursor. This usually involves setting the href property to "#" and possibly using the onclick event to execute some JavaScript code and then adding "return false;" at the end so that the page doesn't jump to top every time a user clicks the link.

This might have been the right way to do things at some point. However, after introducing the CSS element "cursor," there is no reason to use all that mess. Simply set the cursor property of the HTML element in question to "pointer" and add the onclick event code to the element itself if needed.

So for example:

.button {
cursor: pointer;
}

This makes code look so much cleaner and it would prevent the URL in the browser from changing to something with an "#" at the end. Moreover, it would also prevent the status of the window shown usually at the bottom of the browser from changing when hovering over the element.

Creating and Customizing Document Information Panels Using MOSS 2007

Part 1:

Part 2:

This video does a good job of showing how Document Information Panels integrates with Office 2007 applications. Ted demonstrates creating custom content types and using Document Information Panels with InfoPath 2007 to add custom metadata to Office files.
The video is courtesy of Ted Pattison of www.tedpattison.net

ASP .NET 3.5 and ADO .NET 3.5 Beta Exams Canceled

I just got off the phone with the manager of the Prometric testing center I usually go to to cancel both of my beta exams scheduled for today. He said he had an emergency and has to close the center by 10am to go pick up some people from LAX airport. The people he's receiving were supposed to come on Monday but for some reason came a day early.

I don't really care but I am curious if I can actually reschedule them. He gave me a ticket number to use to reschedule and said that I would be able to reschedule them even though today was the last day to take them. I think he didn't know what he was talking about but it's worth trying. I am going to call tomorrow and see what happens. Anyway today was the last day to take the beta ASP .NET 3.5 70-562 and the ADO .NET 3.5 70-561 exams.