Does anyone have experience with EasyCGI (windows) hosting? I am particularly interested to know if there is a delay when sending an email from your ASP.NET application.

Hi Chris. Thanks for reply. It is definitely their mail server. I thought of installing an email server on my home PC but that means that I'll have to relay my messages through my ISP and when someone looks at the email and discovers that I am using "Rogers" (local provider) it will seem unprofessional. Do you know any other strategies to tackle this issue? I honestly think to move to another hosting provider. I had way to many issues with GoDaddy.

I have been hosting my web site with godaddy for about 6 month now (shared hosting). Recently, I am experiencing a huge delay when sending emails (45 min or more). I tried contacting their support and this was their response: Unfortunately, when messages are sent from scripts on a Windows shared hosting account, there should be a 30 minute to an hour delay. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Let us know if we can help you in any other way. First of all my application is not a script, it is ASP.NET application, second of all I definitely did not expect that kind of answer. My application must be able to interact with user via email and that kind of a delay is completely intolerable. When I called their support I was put on perpetual hold... I am pretty mach fed up with GoDaddy... Does anyone else have similar issue with GoDaddy. Can anyone suggest another non expensive reliable host?

I pretty sure that someone came across the same dilemma: Where should I maintain the database connection object, should I open it once when the web application is started and close id when it is terminated or should I open and close it with each session. Which strategy is the one that is usually used ?

Could anyone recommend a decent JavaScript obfuscator. The obvious ones suggested by Google do not seem to be working.

I was wondering which online payment gateway provider is least expensive ? Can anyone advise?

Unfortunately, Yes. Hopefully this is temporary arrangement, because a job market here, if you are any other type of programmer than a web developer is pretty mach dead.

>You should change your profile Done it.

Few weeks ago I asked for advise about winter tires. So eventually I installed some tires, second best brand (according to consumer report). Today was the first winter day in Toronto, and my impression of winter tires: Total crap , complete money waste. The 3 S's all where there: Skid, Spin, Slide. No difference between "all season" and winter tires whatsoever. In other words : guys, you can waste 500$ on something more useful.

Recently I came across the GetAcoder.com and some similar other websites. I would like to share some thoughts about it with you fellow CP loungers: It seems that those sites emphasize the unfair competition between western programmers and the Far East or Eastern European programmers. Example : development of a website for 300$ !!! Western (or north American programmer) would not even look at this proposal, whereas Far East programmer will gladly take this project for even less! This situation is in a consequence of unequal monetary equivalent: you can buy much more for 100$ in China then you can buy in US. Anybody has any idea how these sites could be useful for north American guys (like many of us)? What do you think about this absurd situation?

Since many of you guys are working as contractors I think this is the perfect place to ask this question: If one get a contract for 6 month is it possible that the employer will cancel the contract within period shorter then 6 month? Are employers usually commit to project duration?

Thank you very match. That's what I was looking for.

Does anyone know how to get a full path to a program registered under windows for a certain file extension? For example: if a given file extension is .xls how is it possible to find Microsoft Excel executable file path to run the xls file ? Any other ways except scanning registry? Any windows API's?

Black tea, with lemon and a teaspoon of honey. Works like a charm every time. Vodka, on the other hand, is always a good idea, but usually it will give you side effects on the next lecture.;)

Has anybody driven a car with winter tires ? Are they any better then all-season? Will it do any good replacing just 2 front tires? I just have a dilemma since last winter in Toronto was REALLY bad. I have almost new all-season tires and the driving last winter was simply a nightmare.:doh: So anybody has an experience with winter tires?

Thanks Christian. You gave me a good idea of what to ask. Basically, same questions I would ask an offline programmer. Thanks a lot for your assistance.

Christian, Thank you for your thorough reply. I would really appreciate if you could expand on "what to ask a developer". I've been a developer myself for 10 years now (C,C++,COM,MFC stuff mostly), but usually I was the one to be asked.. Even though I have an idea of what to demand (technology-wise, and time wise) I could definitely use some other opinions.

Thank you guys for all your feedback. It is very valuable for me and, most probably, saved me a lot of time surfing the web. Again, a lot of thanks.

Thank you Colin. As far as I know north American prices are somewhat different from mentioned by you, so I would really appreciate if anyone could give me approximate north American (Canada) prices applicable to such a project, as well as mention how complicated it would be to do it myself. Thanks again.

Around a week ago I asked this question , but unfortunately I did not give enough details to get it answered. So, first of all I really appreciate all those of you guys who tried to answer my enquiry anyway, I'm always amazed by the good will of people of CP lounge.:) So here is the question: I'm interested in a auction like website, build upon JSP or PHP with a database support. Site layout and business logic are already existent, but it has to be coded. Basically , it is supposed to be something similar to eBay. How expensive ,approximately, can it be, to hire someone to do the job. If it is very expensive: how long will it take , someone without any web development experience (myself) to study the technology and create the website (I can dedicate few hours a day to study).