This is is my weekly speed link post.  It is here that I note the web sites that I have run across that interest me – whether it be related to work or play.

Application Development

• Chris Newman provides some great examples for the use of an ASP.NET Google Map Control.
• Scott Guthrie has started a great series on Dynamic LINQ. Part 1: Using the LINQ Dynamic Query Library.
• Jon Galloway has posted an excellent article on Large file uploads in ASP.NET.
• Julia Lerman shares her own experience with corrupt PST files in her article titled 101 Ways to fix Outlook PST files.
• Jeff Atwood has posted a great article about the distraction of shiny things titled The Magpie Developer.
• Matthew Griffin provides us with a great tutorial on Two Column CSS Layout: The Absolute Basics.
• Jesse Ezbell provides us with the Bad, Better, Best ways of Designing a Generic Database Layer.
• Beth Massi recommends us to Get LINQ in Your Brain Over at ThinqLinq.com.
• Chris Sutton has posted a great article on the Clarity with var in C# 3. Code clarity is very important and I believe he poses a good point.
• Ben Scheirman cautions us to Be careful outputting strings in ASP.NET MVC.
• I know this post from Beth Massi is from November, but I just listened to the .NET Rocks interview with Ken Levy and am all excited about VS extensibility.
• David Vidmar gives us Complete RSS feeds of AAC torrents for Pwop podcasts (HanselMinutes, .NET Rocks!, RunAs Radio, Mondays).
• Aaron Sprague provides a good example of the using Statement.
• Ben Scheirman gives us a heads up in his article Visual Studio 2008 CSS Support – Not Quite.
• Dmitriy Salko tells us about a Completely free PDF .NET library written in C#. Free sounds good.
• Snippet(s) from CodeKeep: Snippet: StartProcess (C#) ~ WPF Double animation (C#)
• Tip(s) from Sara Ford:  Open up a Win Explorer browser directly to the active file
• Tip(s) from DNTOD:  How to check email works with no SMTP

SQL Server Development

• Lionel Clarke has posted SQL Puzzle 9. I find most of his puzzle quite interesting. This one is no exception.
• Scott Bateman has posted a great article on automating SQL commands titled The Automatic DBA. This should come in really handy. Thanks Scott! 
• Joe Webb answers the question Do I need to compact my SQL Server database?
• SearchSQL Server has posted the Top 10 SQL Server Tips of 2007.

Houston Area & Regional Technology Events

• User Group Meetings – This is my monthly listing of user group meetings.

Internet, Software and General Technology

• Mike Azocar recommends a Cool Online Design Tool. There is a limitation of 5 files with the basic, but it is pretty sweet.
• Ran across an article titled Is There Anything Developers WON’T Do For a Pizza? There is a lot of truth to it.

Self-Improvement, Productivity and Career

• Misty Khan gives us some great tips on Outlook and goal setting in her article titled You Might Be a Microsoft Outlook Snoozaholic If…

Sports, Entertainment and Everything Else

• Looks like edited episodes of Dexter is going to be on CBS.
• Dan Wahlin links us to a very funny video on Bill Gates’ last day at Microsoft.
• Looks like the new series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is getting good reviews.
• Ran across an interesting article from the Planetary Society on the Messenger spacecraft. Can’t wait to see some pictures and information from Mercury.
• Funny Dilberts this week:   1/9 ~ 1/11

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Great Link Blog Sources

• Jason Haley – Interesting Finds
• Steve Pietrek – Links
• Arjan Zuidhof – LinkBlog
• Christopher Steen – Link Listing
• Matt Hinze – Links Today
• Scott Reynolds – Links from the SharpSide
• David Vidmar – Links of the week
• Matt Goyer – Links
• Mike Gunderloy – WWD Coffee Break
• Sam Gentile – New and Notable
• Chihn Do – Finds of the Week
• Craig Bailey – Link Blog
• Alvin Ashcraft – Daily Links
• Scott Koon – Links
• Scott Kingery – Links
• Chris Alcock – Morning Brew
• Matthew Griffin – 5 for Friday

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Happy Surfing.

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