Using Caching to make your ASP.NET website more scalable

Jul 3, 2008 by Paul White

If you make dozens of SQL queries within a single webpage this is not the most scalable way to build a website.  ASP.NET supports Caching, allowing you to store information directly in the server's memory.  Here I give you a little information on caching and how to use it to make your websites load faster.

HTTP black lists stop comment spammers

Jun 4, 2008 by Paul White

I got sick of seeing failed viewstate in my event logs. so I wrote some code that checks visitors against a HTTP blacklist.  I found that one of my blacklists was full of false positives.  Not that the given IP wasn't abusive at one point in time but I found it was full of proxies of which are frequently used by legitimate users.  After comparing some user logs I found that I was blocking a few of my member.  The HTTP blacklist from Project Honey Pot works, but had the problem with proxies as I stated above.  However one that I have had much better luck with is the one by stopforumspam.com.
If you are looking to stop comment spammers from seeing your site, I highly recommend them.  Read on for a code snippet that shows how I implimented this block

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. 

How to stop Real Player from downloading your videos with ASP.NET

Mar 11, 2008 by Paul White

Coming soon!!  Even though you can never block computer savy people from downloading your videos. The latest Real Player makes it so easy that even a computer handicaped person could download videos from your members sites.  After some hacking I figured out how to bock Real Player from stealing your videos.  All I am going to say is it involves an Http Handler, and an ISAPI entry to manage your .MPG extensions.  I should have a full write up on how to do this within a few days.

Stop Hackers and Spam Bots in IIS

Mar 1, 2008 by Paul White


If you get a ton of server errors in your event logs in IIS. You might be under attack from hackers and spam bots attempting to inject comments and links in your submit forms.  The notorious Viewstate Failed Error seems to be the result of their attempts.  I have found an awesome resource to take care of this, and block these rejects for good.