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

Application Development/Design

• Scott Guthrie has posted his October 10th Links. ASP.NET, ASP.NET AJAX, jQuery, IIS
• Sara Chipps gives us The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Refactoring: Why, Where, When and How. “How do you get to the point where you’re comfortable knowing when to make the refactoring choice? I’m going to share with you what I have done in the last months, hopeully you can glean some wisdom.”
• BlackWasp has posted an article on Generating Random Numbers.
• Derick Bailey tells us The Point of Delegates in .NET.
• Adam Tibi has posted a good C# syntax comparison article titled Three C# 2.0/3.0 Syntaxes That You Didn’t Know But Were Afraid to Ask.
• Article(s) from Code project: Append Date and Time to File
• Forum Thread(s):
• Tip(s): Edit a .csproj or .vbproj project file within the IDE | Configure the MSBuild verbosity in the Output window

SQL Server, Compliance & PowerShell

• Kenneth Downs has posted a great article on The Argument For Normalization. “The major argument for normalization is very simple: you end up coding less, coding easier, and coding stronger, and you end up with fewer data errors.”
• Here is an article on Simple-Talk that explains all The New Data Types in SQL Server 2008.
• Scott Bateman has started a series on Cool New Features in SSMS. Select Top 100 Rows | Recent Expensive Queries
• Pinal Dave has posted an article titled SQL SERVER – 2008 – TRIM() Function – User Defined Function. “SQL Server does not have function which can trim leading or trailing spaces of any string at the same time.”
• Forum Thread(s):

 Community & Technology Events

• Houston Area User Group Meetings – This is my monthly listing of Houston area user group meetings.
• Brent Ozar shares what he learned at Tulsa Tech Fest 2008.
• Claudio Lassala has posted his presentation material from Tulsa TechFest.
• Aaron Lerch provides his slide deck on ASP.NET MVC from Indy Tech Fest.

Blogging and Social Networking

• Ran across a good Web Worker Daily article on how to Twitter With Your Favorite Productivity Web Apps.

Self-Improvement, Productivity and Career

• Good article on Lifehack asks the question Are You Sabotaging Your Plan to Exercise More?
• Interesting post titled 11 Mindless Eating Habits for Skinny Robots.
• Great article from Zen Habits listing 10 Simple Ways to Live a Less Stressful Life. I really need to do #1, but when you are getting pulled 3 directions it is difficult.

Sports, Entertainment and Everything Else

• I love this Awesomeness wallpaper.
• Nice tips from Wired Magazine on how to Photograph the Stars.
• Looks like the 80’s sci-fi series V is making a comeback.
• Cool article on the MESSENGER 10/6 Mercury Flyby. (via @KeviKev on Twitter)  
• Movie Trailers: The Unborn | Twilight   
• Funny Dilberts this week: 10/8

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Great Link Blog Sources

• Jason Haley – Interesting Finds
• Alvin Ashcraft – Daily Links
• Steve Pietrek – Links
• Arjan Zuidhof – LinkBlog
• Christopher Steen – Link Listing
• Mike Gunderloy – Double-Shot
• David Vidmar – Links of the week
• Sam Gentile – New and Notable
• Craig Bailey – On Microsoft
• Chris Alcock – Morning Brew
• Darren Stokes – Visual Studio Links
• Chris Love – Links of the Week

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Happy Surfing.