I always love the concept of random people doing something unexpected in a crowd. It’s funny to see how people react.

I’ve been hit by this a few times, and it’s darn confusing at first, but it makes sense (kinda.)

In ASP.Net, if you reference a control’s .Visible property, it not only checks if it’s been set to Visible = True, but also if it’s parent control is Visible = True. Only then will it return a “True” value back to you.

For example, let’s say you have a PlaceHolder, and inside the PlaceHolder you add a Label control:

   1: <asp:PlaceHolder ID="phParent" runat="server">

   2:     <asp:Label ID="lblChild" runat="server" />

   3: </asp:PlaceHolder>

And then in your code, you write:

   1: phParent.Visible = False

   2: lblChild.Visible = True

   3: Response.Write(lblChild.Visible)

Your response is going to be “False” because the Label’s parent control is not visible.

Just thought I’d share this as a warning to anyone else who might get tripped up on it.

I have an MX Revolution mouse, and recently it started double-clicking when I was just doing a single click. I thought it was a hardware problem so I went through their customer service department to schedule a replacement.

They’ve sent the replacement but I noticed the same exact problem on the replacement. After much hair pulling, it turns out to be a software/driver problem. After removing the Logitech software/drivers and going back to the default Windows ones, the problem disappears.

The moral of the story is: if you’ve got a Logitech mouse and the buttons/scrolling are acting up, don’t just assume it’s the hardware. Try the default/older drivers first.

1. I don’t know why our government feels the need to waste the money, but it seems we’ve exhausted our 1+ billion dollar budget for DTV coupons already. I ask myself: why is the government funding people getting digital television converters in the first place?
2. If you are getting your television from the cable company (like most people I know), then you DO NOT NEED A DTV CONVERTER.
3. If you have a box from your cable company, you DO NOT NEED A DTV CONVERTER.
4. If you have a newer TV capable of receiving OTA (over the air) digital channels, you DO NOT NEED A DTV CONVERTER.

However…

If you are using rabbit ears, or an antenna on your roof or something, you WILL need a DTV converter.

However…

There’s no guarantees you’ll be able to get much of anything. Some stations are broadcasting digital signals from different towers than the analog signals, so your antenna may need to be pointed in an entirely different direction, or it simply may not work any longer. Your mileage may vary.