I'm looking to get an MSDN Subscription and I see a number of sites offering 2 year subscriptions versions. Are these sites offering a regular version that I can buy or are they for Software Assurance customers only? I don't want to buy one and find out I cannot activate it because I'm not associated with a company that has SA.
I checked with Microsoft and these subscriptions are genuine.
You may want to check out Microsoft's Empower program for ISVs. I'm not sure if you qualify (I believe you need to be incorporated and developing a commercial product or service), but the cost savings may be worth the hoop jumping. Note that it appears to be ending in May of 2010 (transitioning to another program).
https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40011351
Related
We currently use MelissaData to scrub our addresses. We have been pretty unhappy with the product and the support in general (considering how expensive they are). Can anyone recommend a good replacement? We want a product that we can download the database and don't want to use any web service type of calls to do the address scrubbing.
In order to have a complete address database, you will need to get it from the source, which in the United States is the US Postal Service. Once you have their data, you will need to parse it into a format that is usable. This is not a simple task since the USPS stores the data in their own proprietary format and the documentation is often "less than helpful". It literally can take years to refine your algorithms to handle all of the wacko edge cases that street addresses have. However, that would allow you to keep the data local instead of calling a webservice. You will need to license from the USPS their ZIP+4 data, and then be prepared to integrate new date each month as it is released. If you are going to scrub your addresses for mailing with the intention of obtaining mailing discounts, you will also need to go through the process of becoming CASS-Certified by the USPS. (This is not a task for the faint of heart, and not a quick process--As I mentioned earlier, it can take years to perfect.)
If your core operations are address verification, it is probably worth it go down that road since the time you spend developing your custom application will support your business. However, if you are not in the address verification business and would prefer to do other things rather than jumping through USPS certification and maintenance hoops, I recommend finding an address verification provider whose workflow will integrate nicely with your requirements. This will allow you to focus on what you do best instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am the founder of SmartyStreets. We provide street address verification.
A good replacement is CODE1 from the postal division of the USPS.
CODE1 will have to be installed on the SQL server - something that has to be considered when using this.
Also, to update the db it needs to run a DTSx package nightly, weekly or quarterly depending on how often you wish to update the addresses.
I would recommend trying ZP4 from www.SemaphoreCorp.com. The product and web site have an older look to them, but they've been doing this for years, and it's only $99 for a disc. No, I don't work for them or get any compensation, but I work for GreatData.com (we sell primarily 5-digit ZIP Code products) and have recommended them to lots of clients over the years and haven't heard any complaints.
MSDN subscriptions give a developer access to Visual Studio 2010 and the latest Microsoft platforms for development and testing access.
The Microsft MSDN subscription whitepaper says that MSDN licenses obtained thru an "Enterprise Agreement" (where a company buys volume named licenses on behalf of many employees) cannot be used after license expiry (i.e. they do not have Perpetual Use Rights).
I would like to know if this is a technical limitation - i.e. the product will not work after the license expires. Or whether Microsoft is relying on the licence owner to simply stop the using the product the day it expires.
(P.S. A moderator closed off this issue when I raised it yesterday saying it had nothing to do with programming. Any one who has ever used an MSDN subscription knows that it has a lot to do with programming. Looking the FAQ page, my question satisfies "software tools commonly used by programmers". My question is relevant to all Microsoft developers.)
The Microsft MSDN subscription whitepaper (Version: August 2011) says:
Generally, MSDN subscriptions that do not provide perpetual use rights
include: MSDN subscriptions purchased through Enterprise Agreement
Subscription, Open Value Subscription, Campus Agreement, or other
“subscription” Volume Licensing programs
The Volume Licensing programs Open Subscription and Open are different.
Volume Licensing Subscriptions are like "renting" the right to use the software.
"The Microsft MSDN subscription whitepaper says that MSDN licenses
obtained thru an "Enterprise Agreement" (where a company buys volume
named licenses on behalf of many employees) cannot be used after
license expiry (i.e. they do not have Perpetual Use Rights). "
True for Enterprise subscription (it's like a lease - none of the licenses under that program are perpetual unless you do a buyout at the end of the term). Not true for the regular Enterprise Agreement. Those licenses are perpetual. You'd lose rights to get further updates or media, but you'd still be able to use what you had during the term of the agreement.
There are a number of free finance tracking sites out there like mint.com, wesabe.com etc.. .
I've tried all of them and all seem to miss the mark in one way or another. I'm interested in creating my own website, or possibly just a stand alone windows program for tracking my finances in ASP.NET or C#.NET.
I'm assuming the answer is no, but is there any way that a personal developer can download transactions from financial websites like these? I know once you login to most financial sites you can download a CSV or Quicken file. Yet I really like how I can log-in to my Mint.com account and update all my accounts with one click.
Popular applications (like Quicken) and most major US banks support Open Financial Exchange (OFX). If a bank can connect to Quicken, it probably supports OFX (though not guaranteed).
I doubt very many banks have public APIs for this. More likely than not, you will need to send HTTPS requests to the various banking websites, and you will probably have to have custom code for each bank that you wish to support, tailored to the structure of their websites and their form elements.
I am developing software which I want to sell online. The typical pay the vender, get a digital key that unlocks the application scenario.
I've never set this up before, does anyone have any info on good service providers, and things I need to know when setting this up?
Microsoft uses digital river, maybe check them out?
You can checkout a typical license acquisition flow using FastSpring
FastSpring / NetLicensing flow
This combines FastSpring e-Commerce and NetLicensing license management.
You did not say what language you are planning on using, but this is a great solution for a .net compiled language:
http://xheo.com/products/copy-protection
It provides two key features. First the ability to automatically generate your licenses based on many different ecommerce solutions so you don't have to keep paying a 3rd party a % for it. Second, it offers code protection to prevent people from using Reflection on your software to crack it / steal your intellectual rights. (note i said prevent, not completely stop)
I'm using FastSpring, you give them binary file and keys, and you setup your account to send an email that contains these two informations. you can tell them what you want and they will do it for you
I'm looking into building a web app that allows multiple e-commerce stores to coexist on the same installation and lets allows each individual vendor manage their own products, pricing, sales reports, etc. I know that there have been a number of previous questions on the Stack regarding the best shopping cart software, but this is a bit of an unusual twist and I couldn't find it answered elsewhere.
Obviously, open source is better from a pricing standpoint, but I've got no problem with spending money on a quality product that meets my needs. The ideal package would allow each store to be uniquely skinned, would minimize the amount of time that it takes to get a new store up and running, and would include payment gateway and shipping integration.
I've run across a few things in my scouring of the web, but haven't found "the one" yet--I know that osCommerce sort of supports what I'm trying to do, but I'm looking for something designed with this functionality in mind. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Justin
I am at present looking into the same thing. After looking at all the different cart on the market I have settled on PHP Mall 2. I have had demos of X-Cart Pro, iscripts multicart and a few others.
There were only 2 that were any good at handling payments direct from buyer to seller without any added costs of have a mod done for that. They were PHP Mall 2 and iScripts Multi cart. iScripts Multicart didn't really have alot happening in the backend, and vendor shops were really just an about us page with their products showing.
I settled for PHP Mall 2 becuase each vendor can have their own website as such and can customise it to the way they want it. They can choose from a number of templates for their shop.
The part I really like about it is the payments system, there are a number of payment gateways out of the box and the vendor can choose which ever he/she wants. (because not everyone use paypal right!). Its also a fair bit cheaper than all the others and provides alot more from a site admin and seller admin side of things.
I was tasked with looking into a multi vendor cart for a project that was canceled. Before it got canceled, I felt that the below were strong contenders. This is not a comprehensive list but it's somewhere to start. The requirement for multi vendor was paramount, so the listed have varying amounts of CMS/blogging etc; so they are not necessarily apples to apples.
I did get to try out magento community and using information found here http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/145/ got what I felt was the correct experience for multi store/vendor for my purposes. Mileage may vary depending on requirements. It's a beast though and for some reason comparison doesn't indicate the multi vendor capabilities. My impression was that Magento was definitely for the technically minded, with a very high degree of configurability available. It's a meta system for sure. The average joe business owner wouldn't stand a chance with it. However, it might be a perfect for resellers.
http://www.x-cart.com/mall_solution.html
http://www.php-shop-system.com/products/iq-cart-for-joomla-our-new-cart-component-for-joomla.html
http://www.magentocommerce.com/product/compare
I am also in search of a multi-store solution. Magento Commerce is too expensive. OpenCart now supports multi-shop but only a single user can manage the stores. I would have preferred setting up multiple stores and have different users manage each store.
I've also been undertaking research within this area and discovered the following options;
For joomla = http://www.ijoobi.com, IXXO
For Magento = http://www.unirgy.com, MVDE
There is also an interesting product called MultiCart from iScripts, and the X-Cart Pro from Qualiteam.