The Coding4Fun column has had some interesting side effects. I get to use the code I write, something that isn’t very common when you are paid to write samples.

I wanted to pull down the new Matrix Trailer, but it is around 60mb and I often switch networks (VPN on/off to get my mail, connect to the VSS on an internal server, etc.) so I opened the Background Copy program from my second issue… off it goes, incremental background download (can’t take credit for any of that, thank the team that built BITS!).. my wife has had the email checker (actually an early build without an options dialog, I just put the values right into the .config file for her) from the third issue running 24/7 and my home music system uses the code techniques from the first issue as it scans our system for music updates every few hours.

This is pretty cool so far, and right now I’m running some code, (that I hope will make it in as part of the next issue/installment), that is making my Messenger name into something ugly like “Duncan (Listening To: I Love Myself Today – Bif Naked [3:52])”

The next thing is to make it work the other way around: instead of personally using code I wrote for publication, I want to publish code I wrote at home for use by everyone else.