I wish I could say I’ve not posted anything for a while because I’ve been burning litres of fuel in the RX-8, sadly however that’s not the case, although I have done nearly 2,500miles in it and spent something silly like £600 in fuel, but I’ve not posted anything for a while because I’ve been up to my eyeballs in work.

Those of you that have spoken with me recently know that not only is The Site Doctor currently going through a few alterations, but we’re also in the process of moving house, and in addition to this we’ve got a fair few projects going on -both paid and unpaid so watch this space for updates!

For those of you interested, I’m still working on the articles about SEO and eCommerce which I hope to get online soon as well as a few more updates re life the universe and just about everything else.

As for you Doug, thanks for your comments the other day, I'm working on it, but unlike you Yanks we don't all not work at work. Well, that is except for Craig...

This is a post for anyone else having connectivity issues with their LAN while connected to a VPN of some sort. When setting up the Virtual Private Network (VPN) on our new server we encountered a number of issues of not being able to connect to the local network while the VPN was established. Initially it was merely an inconvenience and something that we could live with, but as time went on we needed to stay connected and access files from the local network, it grew more and more irritating.

After much searching on the internet for a solution with terms like “Cisco VPN Local Area Connection Issues”, “Cisco VPN LAN Issues”, “Cisco VPN LAN files” and various inflections of we didn’t find anything useful.

While trying to sort the issue, I noticed that the VPN was establishing itself on the subnet of 192.168.1.x, that in itself is not a problem but we were running our LAN under the same subnet. It was only then that we realised that we had a conflict as the VPN was overriding the local subnet so on trying to access 192.168.1.5 it would attempt to contact the remote server group (which didn’t exist).

If you’ve got the same issue, the fix is simple, all you need to do is change your local subnet to something else i.e. 3, this means when the VPN is connected it will connect over 1 and the LAN will remain unaffected –lovely!

I know a fair few people have come across the error which, having a page called “Login.aspx” causes the error message “CS0108: 'ASP.login_aspx.Profile' hides inherited member 'Login.Profile'. Use the new keyword if hiding was intended.” But I’ve found another when calling a page sitemap.aspx: “CS0108: 'ASP.sitemap_aspx.Profile' hides inherited member 'SiteMap.Profile'. Use the new keyword if hiding was intended.” So just be careful not to name your pages the same as the controls.

If like me however you like to keep some sort of consistency in the page names across your sites, you can easily get around it by renaming the page’s partial class name to something which doesn’t conflict and then updating the page’s codebehind reference i.e. for sitemap.aspx:

I wasn’t sure if I’d broken something today when on opening Task Manager just after Windows booted all processes were missing a username. I still don’t know how I managed it but all seems ok again now, I guess I just opened it too early…

Tired of having to work out how many icon sets I’ve got I decided I would write a list here and update it, anyone that wants them let me know :) -ones that are 0 mail me for the zip…

Anaheim Alert (8 vigilantly informative icons)
5 deliveries remaining

Blinksale (25 invoicing-made-easy icons)
3 deliveries remaining

Farewell Snow (10 snowy creations)
4 deliveries remaining

Manhattan Metroplex (8 icons with a very short commute)
5 deliveries remaining

Manhattan Night Life (10 icons living it up.)
5 deliveries remaining

Manhattan Smilies 1 (8 dramatic mood swings)
5 deliveries remaining

Manhattan Veggie (7 farm-fresh icons)
5 deliveries remaining

Marseilles Breakfast (8 icons fortified with vitamins and iron)
5 deliveries remaining

Marseilles Cafe (7 freshly-ground icons)
4 deliveries remaining

Modena Alfanumerico Molten (39 letters and numbers, camerata!)
5 deliveries remaining

Modena Simbolo (45 metallic symbolic frolics)
0 deliveries remaining

Oslo Atmosphere (9 happy weather icons)
1 delivery remaining

Oslo Easter (12 icons for Pascha Resurrectionis)
5 deliveries remaining

Oslo Finance (Get your Euro on! 12 icons)
0 deliveries remaining

Shanghai Tech (Get it? 15 icons...)
2 deliveries remaining

Shanghai Tech Smilies (Whoa! 36 smilies?)
1 delivery remaining

Taipei Night Market (14 Asian-esque icons)
3 deliveries remaining

Taipei Plastic Primates (18 days in the life of a plastic monkey)
1 delivery remaining

Tower Grove Elementalist (8 icons conjured up to do your bidding)
5 deliveries remaining

Tower Grove Promenade (11 iconic park fixtures)
4 deliveries remaining

For those of you not familiar with Icon Buffet, they offer free sets of icons at www.iconbuffet.com

Ones I'm missing:

• Alexandria Architecture
• Alexandria Atmosphere
• Dresden Tournament
• Durango Research
• Helsinki Hi-Fi
• Mallow Buzz 1
• Mallow Buzz 2
• Manhattan Finance
• Manhattan Smilies 2
• Manhattan Symbol
• Modena Alfanumerico Cold
• Modena Alfanumerico Cool
• Shanghai Tech Vector
• Shanghai Toolbox
• Taipei Buddies 1
• Taipei Buddies 2
• Taipei Monkey
• Tower Grove Melee
• Tower Grove Wedding

So after nearly 3months of waiting (or it may have been over 3 months actually), we finally picked up the RX-8 (referred to as "the 8") yesterday. Having waited this long I had everything planned and ready to go.

After sorting out the final payments etc and having a quick look around the car, we were off! I can’t even begin to describe how pleased I am with the car, it’s so much fun to drive and not only that, I don’t think the fuel efficiency is too bad. I’ve done 440miles so far and on my first full tank I managed 277.5miles (mostly motorways but there were a couple of hours pottering around town) that works out at 22.2mpg which baring in mind this is the break-in period that uses more fuel than after around 4k miles...

I really can’t fault the car so far, because you’re meant to “break the car in” for the first 600 miles or so, I’m being very careful not to push it too much but boy what fun, without taking it over 5k ish revs I’ve been getting out every time with a massive smile! Don’t get me started on the looks Stacey and I have been getting from clearly very envious pedestrians…

If I had to pick a fault with it I’d be hard pushed to, the price was great, insurance less than I was paying for a 1.2l Corsa 3 years ago (though I do have 1years NCD now!!), fuel efficiency not bad for a 231bhp, the drive’s so much fun, the look is incredible and build feels quality and solid. Top marks for Mazda me thinks! 3 years of wanting one, 3 months till I got it and totally worth it!!

You’re all more than welcome to come and have a play in it sometime, I don’t think I’ll be needing an excuse to take her out! For now though, here are some photos.

The first time I had to park it and leave it ;)

Proof the mpg aren't really THAT bad...

These are more for the 8 guys, but it shows the new Air Conditioner grill fitted by Mazda, it’s only covering 1/3rd of the intake and not at all on the oil cooler so I think I’ll be adding the vents :)

I came across an interesting anomaly last week with one of our new sites (http://www.missmays.com/ -not work safe). We first started developing the site in ASP.Net 1.1 and wanted to make it XHTML 1.1 valid so wrote a HttpModule that transforms the offending source (i.e. wrapping inputs in div tags). Over time we realised that we could also encode other offending items such as ampsands which would save us a load of time typing them out in the URL’s and updating the database.

We knew the site’s HTML was XHTML1.1 valid and the tests we’d run with the source were fine but on validating the live site using the W3C URL Validator (http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.missmays.com%2F) all was not so rosey. It was falling over on the last two inputs (__PREVIOUSPAGE and __ EVENTVALIDATION). On examing the module code it turned out that I hadn’t included them in the Regex (new to ASP.Net 2.0). Adding them all was fine, but why doesn’t the framework automatically wrap the inputs in div tags as it does for the browsers?

Checking the main ASP.Net site (http://www.asp.net/) the same thing happens, looking at the source through Firefox or IE shows the inputs wrapped nicely but through the validator they’re not, the source isn’t XHTML1.0 Strict anyways btw but it’s still worth noting that validating the URL fails on different points: http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http%3A%2F%2Fasp.net%2F

I’d be interested to know if anyone else has come across this before or has an insight on why it may be happening.

This is what the validator used to produce when validating against the URL:

This page is not Valid XHTML 1.1!

Below are the results of checking this document for XML well-formedness and validity.

1. Error Line 327 column 96: document type does not allow element "input" here; missing one of "ins", "del", "h1", "h2", "h3", "h4", "h5", "h6", "p", "div", "address", "fieldset" start-tag.

...GE" value="CLXotzBdGnifesOhxidubQ2" /> 

The mentioned element is not allowed to appear in the context in which you've placed it; the other mentioned elements are the only ones that are both allowed there and can contain the element mentioned. This might mean that you need a containing element, or possibly that you've forgotten to close a previous element.
One possible cause for this message is that you have attempted to put a block-level element (such as "<p>" or "<table>") inside an inline element (such as "<a>", "<span>", or "<font>").

2. Error Line 328 column 183: document type does not allow element "input" here; missing one of "ins", "del", "h1", "h2", "h3", "h4", "h5", "h6", "p", "div", "address", "fieldset" start-tag.

...K6hIzLASsITXlU6vlPxFkdzgJFxH9ADe8B" /></form> 

The mentioned element is not allowed to appear in the context in which you've placed it; the other mentioned elements are the only ones that are both allowed there and can contain the element mentioned. This might mean that you need a containing element, or possibly that you've forgotten to close a previous element.

One possible cause for this message is that you have attempted to put a block-level element (such as "<p>" or "<table>") inside an inline element (such as "<a>", "<span>", or "<font>"

Update: Although I've not yet had a chance to try it, Phil Winstanley has suggested using .browser files may get around this.

Update 2: Here's a browser file you can use, you'll need to add a "Special ASP.Net 2.0 Directory" in your solution calls App_Browsers and place the w3cvalidator.browser (.5 KB) file into the new directory, recompile and the application should now output valid XHTML.

Taking the type of hotels we’ve been staying in into account, you would have thought the staff would be the money grabbing, impolite and thoughtless type you so commonly meet in the UK, but something’s changed since the last time I stayed in a hotel. No-one seems willing to accept a tip which has really amazed me. I don’t tip all the time but I like to tip where I think it’s due i.e. good service/food at a restaurant or a helpful bell boy. But every time I’ve tried it’s been refused.

The first time was in the Renaissance (Marriott) just outside Heathrow Airport, the bell boy came quickly, was helpful carrying the bags to/from the room and was gentle when transferring the bags so, being in the holiday mood I offered a tip but he just gestured no, shook his head and walked away, leaving me with my jaw to the ground. Then, again at the Hilton in Hua Hin the same thing happened.

I’m not sure why they’re not accepting tips but I expect it’s got something to do with some T&C’s in their contract. Interestingly though I was left feeling rather bad –not for refusing the cocky git who’s waiting for a tip “filling out some paperwork” but because I offered. Still it beats not tipping

Then when we went out for our first dinner I noticed something interesting, at the bottom of the menu in small print there were two lines: “All prices are subject to a 10% service charge” and “All prices are excluding government tax at 7%”. Automatically including a “service charge” is one of my pet hates, to me it’s like saying “we know we’re not good enough to earn a tip on our service so we’ll just take it anyways”. Normally it’s optional but how many people ask to have it back…?

Over the two weeks we were in Thailand I noticed it was a standard thing, some places included this additional 17% in their prices, others just added it on at the end. It’s certainly an interesting concept –and one I hope doesn’t start here too. It’s a shame imho that they feel they have to force a tip on you like that when we’d generally leave one if the service wasn’t appalling. Then again I can hardly moan, most meals were under £5 with drinks for two people including the tip…

Then we went to the Marriott in Bangkok. As soon as we pulled up it felt different. The atmosphere was far colder (not heat wise), very clinical and business like. It’s clearly a hotel that the business men visit on their trips. Having spent the last 11days having our tips refused it was a shock when we were back to the usual bell boy standing in the doorway filling out some “paper work”. This time however I ignored him and he got the hint –clearly the difference in clientele. The service charge still applies in Bangkok though, so it must be a nationwide agreement…

I've not yet had the chance to stay in a large number of up market hotels but the Hilton at Hua Hin has to be my favourite to date. Location aside, the atmosphere, generosity (in not only the room size but also service) and the facilities are second to none. I seem to recall being told that the UK and Worldwide Hilton groups were separate but from what I’ve seen of the UK ones they’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

I liked pretty much everything at the Hilton, the service was always there when you needed it but it was unobtrusive, the food was excellent (we ate there a few times) and surprisingly inexpensive and the cleanliness was top notch.

I really don’t think I can fault it. Having spoken to a couple of other visitors who were on the excursions I think we had the best hotel location-wise too, it was right on the beach (not that you wanted to go onto the beach too much as it wasn’t that great and it was crawling with salesmen), had plenty of space allowing you to get away from the hustle and bustle when you needed to and the fact that nearly every Hua Hin attraction was within a 10min walk or 5min tuk tuk ride just tops it all.

As if all that wasn’t enough, Hua Hin’s local brewery was onsite and served up some cracking food and the beer was, well, very tasty!

If you’re ever considering visiting Hua Hin I would defiantly recommend the Hilton, some places may be cheaper but they’re miles away and some even charge you to be transported to and from Hua Hin –around 400Baht (just over £5 atm) so save your money and live it up!

When we first arrived, Todtoo –our tour rep had mentioned there was a “Monkey Mountain” in Hua Hin and after the disappointment of the waterfall, Stacey and I decided to plan our own excursion –after all, we could see it from our window, how hard could it be to get there?

We decided that rather than walking it (in hindsight it really was quite a trek so I’m glad we didn’t) we caught a Tuk Tuk. It took about 20mins to get there but what a place. Winding up the hill in what can only be described as a tin can spluttering black smoke we caught our first glimpse of the monkeys, a few were sitting next to a womans house looking a little bored.

When we were dropped off, we couldn’t see any monkeys, but instead there was a large flight of steps up to a temple¹. Figuring the monkeys must be found up there we started our assent.

The temple was somewhat plain compared to some of the temples we’ve been visiting on our trip, but the views² were breath taking, you could see for miles. I’m glad that I took the binoculars too as it meant we could see right out to sea and, more importantly, spot the monkeys which were at the bottom of the temple! The monkeys were playing all over the roof tops³ and creating a terrible racket but it was fun to watch.

Feeling a little toyed with we wandered back down, only to be greeted by a monkey sitting on a tin roof⁴ and quickly realised that the monkeys gathered outside the local monkey feeding house. They’re curious creatures, and the likeness to humans is very obvious when you feed them. First we bought some bananas and the monkeys would take them gently⁵ and peel them –just like we do. If they wanted more than they had been given they would pull at your trouser leg until you offered another banana⁶.

After the bananas ran out, we got a packet of peanuts to see what they did with those. Again they de-shelled the nuts and ate the nice insides. It’s amazing to watch and something I doubt I’ll ever forget –beats the monkey sanctuary hands down!

The woman in the food stall also had a baby monkey⁷ which we think had its mother killed. It was tiny and she let it climb over me, he was a cheeky little fellow too, at one point he climbed into the little bucket of peanuts I had and proceeded to de-shell his feast –much to the annoyance of his peers⁸!