Houston Clubs web design and life

WhiteSites News and Updates

Apr 28, 2008 by Paul White

New website is coming soon.  Read about it and other rants.

Stop Spam with Grey Listing in SmarterMail

Apr 17, 2008 by Paul White

For the longest time I had the wrong definition of what grey listing is.  Once I figured out what it really is, and implemented it on my server running SmarterMail 4.x. I saw a huge drop in spam.  If you hate spam, this might very well solve all your problems.  Read this article for information on how it works and why it works.

Best idea to solve the war in the middle east

Apr 5, 2008 by Paul White

I got this recently in an email.  Even though its not the most politically correct solution, it is maybe one of the better ones.

How to Decompile a .NET DLL

Apr 1, 2008 by Paul White

I am not a huge fan of precompiling my code into DLL files, Simply because it makes it harder for other to diagnose problems, and trouble shoot your application.  Repairs should be possible with notepad if you are desperate.  I had a client that called with this exact situation.  Their Old Developer was a hard core Visual Studio Man, and all the code was in DLL files.  I found a little tool that allows you to open the DLLs and see the source code.  Opening DLL files may not be legal in some situations, but in my case it was to help my client get their application back up and running.  I was rather impressed with this tool. 

asp.net http module for project honey pot http IP blacklist

Mar 31, 2008 by Paul White


If there is one things that developers agree on, its that hackers, and spammers should be hunted down, and Killed, ( I mean brought to justice ).  The guys over at Project Honey Pot are leading the fight against spam.  They have setup a HTTP Blacklist that developers can use to validate their visitors IP.  The only problem is writing some code to utilize it might be a little advanced for some.  I have created an HTTP Module for ASP.NET that will validated your visitors before they get into your site.  I even commented my code ( something I usually don't do ), so others can learn.  Give it a try and let me know what you think. 

Dictionary attack IP list

Mar 31, 2008 by Paul White

This is a list of IPs that tried to send email to users that don't exist on one of my client's sites.  SmarterMail can be setup to reject these IPs after X failed attempts.  Feel free to add these to your blacklists.

New Samsung 2493HM Displays added to workstation

Mar 25, 2008 by Paul White


If you read my previous article you surely noted that 1 of my 3 Samsung Syncmaster 175V displays was having problems.  What do you do when one of your displays goes out? Replace it with two bigger ones.  I choose the Samsung 2493HM from newegg because of its ability to swivel for a tall screen.  This is especially helpful when writing code.  Read more about my setup on the full article.

Getting your Mower Ready for Spring

Mar 24, 2008 by Paul White

Spring is here, and your lawn is starting to take over.  Before you get your mower out and attack that jungle on your property, do a few things to ensure your hardware is ready for the task at hand.  Here is a checklist of things to keep in mind as you fire up your mower for spring.

Tripp-Lite UPS review

Mar 15, 2008 by Paul White


This is my review of the TrippLite UPS.  Lets just say it has saved me from countless power outages, and brown outs.  I highly recommend this Unit

Samsung SyncMaster 175V DIM and Menu Locked

Mar 14, 2008 by Paul White


I built my workstation about 5 years ago, and at the time it was cutting edge stuff.  However one of my 17 inch SyncMaster LCDs has been having issues for the past couple days.  The Picture still shows but its very dim. What is weird is when I hit the menu button the menu comes up with the right intensity.  I have searched google and it seems I am not the only person having this problem.  I don't have time to hunt ebay for replacement parts, so I ordered some a couple new monitors off newegg.