This has been a wonderful year, and I only hope that 2004 brings more of the same. I want to wish all of you a very happy New Year. I hope that this new year brings you health, happiness and anything else you wish for.

This service can generate an easy-to-read XHTML documentation from an XSD schema.

Features include:

• links that allow you to jump to the referenced schema components
• sample XML of schema components’ constraints
• glossary section which explains some schema terminology

You can also download this for use on your local system at the project Titanium download page (you will need an XSLT processor that supports W3C XSLT 1.0).

“In times of change learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to work in a world that no longer exists.”

Chuck Allison quoting Eric Hoffer in C/C++ Users Journal March 2003.

I just stumbled across this quote on Elliot’s blog, and I find this to be incredibly true. Change is an ongoing process, and if you can’t adapt to the change, then you will be left behind.

With this being my 200th post to my weblog, I thought I would introduce the next version of MovablePoster.

MovablePoster is a standalone posting utility specifically for MovableType blogs, written in C#. MovablePoster also ships with a plugin that lets you hook into NewsGator, SharpReader or any other aggregator that supports the IBlogExtension interface to provide posting capabilities directly from the aggregator.

MovablePoster 2.0 is a dramatic change from version 1.0.1.6. Some of the most notable new features are:

• MovablePoster now operates in a standalone mode, which will allow me to more closely emulate the MovableType web interface. The plugin now simply starts an instance of the MovablePoster application, passing in the content.
• Customization of content passed from the plugin to the application.
• You will no longer be required to use the Outlook editor and be subjected to all the extraneous HTML that Outlook puts into the post.
• Support for the text filters installed on your MovableType server. Previously, only Convert Line Break was supported.
• Multiple blog support. The configuration now allows you to select which blog you would like to post to via a dropdown list. The account structure also allows support for blogs hosted on different servers.
• Categories are now also handled in a better manner. The primary category can be selected via a dropdown, while additional categories can be assigned via the post options tab.
• Support for extended entries and keywords. (Entry excerpts are coming soon)
• Support for setting default values per blog for allow comments, allow pings, categories, post status, text filter and trackback urls, as well as being to override these at the individual post level.
• Browser preview of your post
• An ability to provide feedback directly to me from within the MovablePoster application.
• A complete online support forum (powered by Invision Power Board), accessible via the Help menu, or directly at http://www.mattberther.com/forums/. By the way, if there are any graphic artists out there that are willing to design a nice skin for the forums, please let me know. ;)

When installing this new version, it should not be necessary to uninstall the existing version of your plugin. However, if by some chance you get an error about the previous config file, go ahead and ignore it, and continue through setting up the application.

Also, by default, MovablePoster supports a plugin installation for NewsGator. If you are not using NewsGator, make sure that you choose a custom installation, and change the MovablePoster Plugin feature destination path to the path that your aggregator looks to for its IBlogExtension plugins.

Lastly, I would like to thank the beta testers for their feedback. Their feedback was very valuable in bringing forth this version.

Enjoy!

Download MovablePoster 2.0.0.1 (.msi | .zip)

I just found this excellent site devoted to wallpapers, themes, boot screens and login screens. My new desktop wallpaper:

Awesome, isnt it?

I’m pleased to let everyone know that at 7:24AM this morning, I became an uncle for the third time. My sister delivered Angelina Sophia, a beautiful 6lb 13oz baby girl. Angelina is 19 inches long, and has the fullest (jet black) head of hair I have ever seen.

We werent expecting her to be here until after New Year, so this is quite a wonderful Christmas surprise for us.

A few weeks ago, Vince posted his egg nog drink recipe.

Keeping with that, I wanted to post my favorite Christmas recipe. Every year, I make 3 to 8 of these mint chocolate cheesecakes for family and close friends. These are quite a hit and people ask about them every year. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do here.

• 2 cups finely crushed graham crackers
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 4 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup creme de menthe
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 5 eggs
• 1 16oz carton sour cream (2 cups)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk chocolate pieces
• 1 tsp shortening

1. For crust: In a bowl, combine crushed graham crackers and melted butter or margarine. Press evenly on bottom and 2 inches up sides of a 10 inch springform pan. Set aside.
2. For filling: In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, the 1 1/4cups sugar, creme de menthe and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs all at once, beating on low speed until just combined. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Place on a shallow baking pan in oven.
3. Bake in 325 degree oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the filling is just set.
4. Stir together the sour cream and 1/3 cup sugar. Carefully spread over cheesecake. Bake for 10 minutes more. Cool for 15 minutes. Loosen the edges of the springform pan. Cool for 30 minutes. Remove the sides of the pan. Cool completely.
5. In a small saucepan, heat milk chocolate pieces and shortening over low heat until melted. Remove from heat. Cool. Spread the melted chocolate over the top of the cheesecake.
6. After 5 minutes, score the chocolate layer into 9 to 16 pieces so it will be easier to cut later. Cover and chill the cheesecake until its time to serve.

I hope everyone has a very safe and happy holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

A new MSDN TV episode is available with ChrisAn and Don Box talking about XAML and it’s lack of dependency on a specific framework (eg: Avalon).

Make sure you stay tuned for the holiday songs towards the end.

Looks like they made it. Microsoft posted the first beta of its XP Service Pack 2 for approved testers to download via its Microsoft Developer Network on Wednesday night.

[Microsoft Watch from Mary Jo Foley]

Earlier today, I noticed my first instance of comment spam. For some reason, I always thought I would be immune to this. My site would not generate enough traffic to warrant the headaches of installing a comment spam filter.

Apparently, traffic and visibility has become more than I initially thought (which I’m flattered by). I started looking around for comment spam filter tools, and it seems like the one everyone is talking about for MovableType is Jay Allen’s MT-Blacklist.

Installation of this was a snap. Very thorough instructions that were incredibly easy to implement. From start to finish, I had MT-Blacklist running within 5 minutes.

Kudos to Jay for a wonderful tool to help combat an increasing epedemic.