A good article that goes into the basics of how one can go about achieving a loosely coupled design. In addition it talks about how a loosely coupled design is good for testing.
Tame Your Software Dependencies for More Flexible Apps by James Kovacs (MSDN Magazine - March 2008)
This article discusses:
- What's wrong with tightly coupled architectures
- Testing and dependency woes
- Dependency inversion
- Dependency injection
Loosen Up: Tame Your Software Dependencies for More Flexible Apps
This map contains only 82 of the recycling bins in the Denver area. These bins are run by the Shriners (http://www.eljebelshrine.org/recycle.htm)
For the complete list of bins in and around Denver (Denver Metro area) check out my other map - http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=114327217251696325968.0004406b4270b7b03baa5&t=h&z=9. (Takes a while to load and move around as it has over 200 locations).
Also a list of acceptable items in these single stream bins is available here:
http://www.eljebelshrine.org/documents/Recycle%20-%20Acceptable%20Items.pdf
Here is some info about the Shriners who maintain this valuable resource for the community:
http://cbs4denver.com/local/shriners.recycling.bins.2.678371.html
video: http://www.cbs4denver.com/video/?id=39953@kcnc.dayport.com
When I started writing about my LASIK experience - I wanted to write my daily experiences for the first week. But I didn't - because the first week was hard and I didn't want to write a post when I had some doubts about the entire procedure.
So first with the good news - its been 10 days - and I am feeling great about my repaired set of eye balls!
Monday to Friday of the first week was really the hardest set of days. As I had to work during the week - I think that viewing the computer screen for hours on end, definitely added to the strain I was putting on my eyes.
That as you can see is a long list of post-operative problems that I had. And when the pain or dry-ness in my eyes would reach the highest level - many times I wondered if I really should have gone for the LASIK treatment. Also - many times - I felt as though I couldn't see as well as I could with my glasses. (Remember - to begin with I had a pretty low prescription for my eyes. I am sure if you had 1.5 or over in your eyes - you would see a change almost immediately and it would all feel worth it from day one).
Even on the day of my one week appointment - I did not feel as though I was able to see as well as I could with my glasses on pre-LASIK.
But I can drive around without my glasses - what a relief. I can buy any damn sun-glasses that I want - no more prescription based ones - that I have to be extremely careful with - least I forget them - especially on a trip. All these small things are what makes LASIK so worth-while.
Finally yesterday I decided to go to the theatre to watch 10,000 B.C. Now before - whenever I went to watch a movie - I had to remember to take my glasses. If I forgot them - it was not going to be fun. The movie would be a blur, I would have to trouble somebody near me to read off text on the screen - which my friends hated - especially in a crucial scene in a movie. Many times, when I forgot my glasses, I would turn back home to get my glasses - again not a very popular move with my friends.
But this Sunday - I intentionally went to the movies without my glasses. Really had no idea of what to expect. Now, 10,000 B.C is a movie that is set in - you guessed it right - 10,000 B.C. So obviously the actors speak in some 10,000 B.C. language and hence the movie was peppered with sub-titles. Sub-titles that if I had missed - then the movie would have probably been a truly boring movie (Not that it wasn't as is - again - that's another post). I was able read each and every one of the sub-titles. No problems at all. (This after 3 glasses of Irish beer - it was St. Patty's day after all). No head-aches after the movie.... no irritated family or friends. Proof that indeed the LASIK procedure had made my life better. 
What helped through this first week were preservative free eye drops. I used them almost every hour or as soon as I felt my eyes dry up. (The times I felt like pulling out my eyes - were when I got too caught up with work and would skip the artificial tears). So here is my advice for the first week:
As I go forward - I only expect my eyesight to get better. My next appointment with the doctor is in 6 weeks.
Popular Science has an excellent animated article on the features of GeoEye 1. GeoEye 1 should be in orbit later this year.
How It Works: The Best View From Space Yet | Popular Science
Here are some of the features about this system:
1 meter resolution
0.41 meter resolution (16 inches) - simulated.
More information is available at http://www.geoeye.com/products/imagery/geoeye1/default.htm
Also check out their gallery of satellite images: http://www.geoeye.com/gallery/default.htm
Need to learn python? This is probably one of the best places to start - a free e-book:
Today is Pi day!
Its March 14th (3.14) - so hopefuly you remembered to eat pie at 1:59 pm
3.14159....... http://www.piday.org/
Too Funny!
According to Wikipedia - there is no battleship with the name "U.S.S. Montana". In fact Montana is the only state to not have a battleship named after it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Montana
U.S.S. Montana - a cruiser from WW I. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Montana_%28ACR-13%29)
Better Business Bureau (BBB) Denver report on Icon LASIK:
http://denver.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=33&bbb=0885&firm=23036458
BBB web page for Icon: http://www.iconlasik.justgoodbusiness.biz/
Daniel Walzenbach has posted a list of download-able cheat sheets for .NET, SQL Server, ASP.NET, etc.
: Various Cheat Sheets (.NET, SQL Server, ASP.NET Ajax, CSS, JavaScript, RegEx, ...) - Free Download
.NET Framework
C#
Web Development
SQL Server
Office 2007
Active Directory
Smart Client
BizTalk Server
Microsoft patterns & practices
Keyboard shortcuts can be found here:
Visited the doctor in the morning. Was able to read the 20/20 line - but it was a little blurry. At this point it is expected. The first doctor's appointment after the LASIK procedure is to check for the health of the flap (make sure it hasn't shifted, folded, etc while sleeping).
I am able to drive around - though in the sun - my eyes hurt a bit - and I need my sun-glasses. I was able to watch TV and actually watched Michael Clayton - without any issues (Hi-Def without glasses finally looks like Hi-Def - and the movie was awesome).
Eye's feel dry - and I have to keep putting artificial tears into my eyes in addition to a couple of other eye drops (a steroid and an anti-biotic). The dryness of the eye is again an expected side-effect at this point. My wife had dry eyes after her LASIK for about 2 to 3 months after her procedure and is no longer an issue for her.
A little bit about the facility where I performed my LASIK eye surgery.
Icon is probably the cheapest LASIK facility in Denver. But that is not the reason that I chose it as the place where I would get my LASIK done (it was definitely the final nail in the coffin).
Icon has at its disposal multiple Lasik technologies - VISX Star 4 custom wavefront laser, the NIDEK EC5000 eye tracker, and the Intralase bladeless lasik system. This allows the doctor to recommend the best machine suited for your prescription instead of prescribing the only machine he might have to correct your prescription. In addition - the doctors are available to talk to you at all times. Dr. Rick Anderson is the person you will be in touch with most of the time, but if you ever needed to - you could talk to the eye surgeon who will perform the procedure - Dr. Timothy Christianson too. A doctor is available at all times and so you can talk to them about your concerns and questions up until the day that you will be performing the surgery. The staff at the facility is also very nice and hospitable.
A word about the Nidek Lasik Machine:
If you go to many of the other LASIK facilities around Denver and ask them about the Nidek machine - they immediately tell you that its not a good device and that it is often used against FDA recommendations. It is important to realize that the Nidek machine is extremely popular all over the world. It is just not the most popular machine in the U.S. And about the use of the machine against FDA recommendations - which is categorized as "Off-label" usage, all doctors do that with almost anything that is used on or in your body - even medication. It just means that the FDA hasn't verified the usage of the machine for certain prescriptions or in certain modes. Icon Lasik has performed over 60,000 procedures and its doctors know the limitations of their machines very well. The recommendation to go with a certain machine - definitely seems to come from their experience gained over these thousands of procedures.
In addition, Icon will tell you when the NIDEK is not for you and it would be better to use the VISX machine or one of the other technologies to perform the procedure. From my understanding - the VISX needs to remove less of the tissue and hence is suited better for those with thinner corneas. In addition it is good for those with high levels of astigmatism - cylinders. - warning - that was not a scientific explanation. You can ask the doctors at Icon as to why they recommended a certain machine over another - and they will be more than happy to answer your questions. (I had a similar question - wondering why I was asked to use the Nidek over the Visx machine - especially after doctors at a different facility scared me about the Nidek's results - which Dr. Rick Anderson answered and I was sure that Nidek would be great for me - saving me around $400 per eye).
Useful information:
NIDEK Clinical Study Results: http://icondenver.com/nidek-better-than-wavefront.html
Information on "Wavefront vs NIDEK" and "Intralase bladeless lasik vs Microkeratome" and "LASIK vs LASEK": http://icondenver.com/wavefront-intralase.html
Wavefront Results: http://icondenver.com/wavefront-results.html
Advantages of ICON: http://icondenver.com/advantages.html
All my posts on LASIK: http://blog.aggregatedintelligence.com/search/label/LASIK
So I have chosen Icon Lasik of Denver as the facility that will perform my LASIK eye surgery. The doctor recommended the NIDEK machine for my eyes.
Dr. Timothy Christianson performed the procedure. The whole procedure of going under the machine, getting operated and then walking away from it must have taken less than 7 minutes. The steps were exactly as outlined in my previous post "In quest of 20/20 - LASIK".
I was able to see almost immediately after stepping up from the operating seat - though the vision was blurry - as is to be expected. I felt no major pain or discomfort (I was given a valium and aleve).
Once home, I taped an eye shield over my eyes and hit the sack.
(Dr. Rick Anderson - top right and Dr. Timothy Christianson - bottom right)
Dr. Rick Anderson of Denver-based Icon LASIK joined 9NEWS Saturday Morning to talk about the procedure.
Finally news about the iPhone SDK - a beta version has been released. Distribution of applications seems to be possible only via the itunes store - which will start in June.
The iPhone SDK is a free download. Also there are 2 flavors to the dev program (standard - $99 and commercial - $299)
What happens during the LASIK surgery:
These images show what happens during the LASIK eye operation.
The eyes are cleaned and a eye drop is used to numb the eyes.
An instrument is used to keep the eyes open
A suction ring is placed around the eye - which lifts the cornea - making it easier to perform the next step.
A microkeratome is used to make a small flap. (If you are using in the interlase procedure, then instead of a mechanical device, a laser is used to make the incision for the flap).
The suction ring is removed and The flap is lifted up
A laser is used to reshape the cornea - to correct for your prescription. During this time you will most probably be asked to look at a blinking light - so that your pupils remain centered. At the same time another laser tracks the position of your pupils and automatically corrects for movements in your eye. In case the laser detects that your pupils have moved by more than a threshold amount, the machine will automatically shut down and the doctor can restart from where the machine left off. The laser works by burning away portions of your cornea - so that the cornea is reshaped to compensate for your prescription.
Once the laser has completed reshaping the cornea, the doctor will fold the flap back into place.
With the date approaching for when my Flex account expires I had to quickly figure out what to do with the cash that is sitting in it. So I have decided to go for LASIK. I have been wearing spectacles for at least 15 years, if not more. It is finally time to wish them adieu!
My wife had her LASIK surgery in 2005 while we were living in Missoula. At that time, we had to drive down to Spokane in Washington to get her surgery done. Hers was a "custom" Lasik (wave front) done on a VISX machine.
Denver on the other hand has many, many options. It is extremely hard to come by any online reviews, etc on all the facilities that offer LASIK in Denver. So I have decided to blog my experience.
I have been investigating the LASIK procedure since 2004 - at which time we were thinking of getting it done in India. Due to scheduling issues that wasn't possible and my wife got hers done in 2005. She had a higher power correction that I have and she was extremely happy with her results. To this day - she has had no problems with her eye surgery and has 20/20 vision.
For my surgery I decided to look around and I checked with TLC, 20-20 Institute and Icon Lasik. I narrowed my search down to TLC and Icon Lasik (Tiger Woods used TLC and he still is a champion - that is good and I had seen the Icon Lasik doctor in a local news piece and he seemed impressive). The main reason I stayed away from eye clinics - is that a place that specializes in LASIK surgeries alone and does 1000s of surgeries every year - should have a ton of more experience than a doctor that does many different eye surgeries. Also many eye surgeons don't own their own equipment and instead rent it for a certain period of the year. Just in case you want to know - Colorado Eye Surgeons and Levinson Eye clinic are two eye surgeons in Denver that perform Lasik.
For my LASIK surgery tomorrow - I am going to Icon Lasik. The main reason that I did not go with TLC was that I felt like they herded people through a manufacturing line. My initial measurements weren't done right and you end up speaking to many more people than just the doctor - including a sales person - who tries to make you sign up for the surgery on the spot - telling you things like prices are going up, etc. In addition - I felt as though they were always trying to push me towards the higher priced packages - such as the bladeless LASIK - for no good reason.
At Icon Lasik - I got to speak to the main doctor - Dr. Rick Anderson - and I was able to go into the office multiple times to speak to him about my concerns. Icon has multiple LASIK machines on which they can perform your surgery. This includes the NIDEK and the VISK 4 machines. Apart from the easy accessibility to the doctor, what sold me on Icon was the fact that the doctor did not recommend that I use the most expensive procedure that they have - but what he thought was most appropriate for my situation.
After having called and visited the Icon center multiple times - I feel confident that Dr. Anderson would do a good job on my eyes. He recommended that I use the NIDEK laser, which will cost me $699 per eye.
via Josh Morey (www.JoshMorey.com) Gamasutra - Microsoft Excel: Revolutionary 3D Game Engine?
Maybe not a revolutionary game engine - but a pretty cool demo of what one can do with Excel!
According to the author:
Cutting-edge computer games use different graphics subsystems -- so-called 3D graphics engines. Source (used in Half Life 2), Unreal Engine (Unreal Tournament), idTech 4 (Doom 3), CryENGINE2 (Crysis) or Clever's Paradox engine are well-known among the players and the game industry experts.
It's time to learn a new 3D game engine name: Microsoft Excel.
It is understood that Excel is an all-round office tool, but probably it is unknown that it has a bunch of features that makes Excel a high-class 3D graphics engine.
In this article I will demonstrate Excel's arithmetical facilities, the embedded rendering subsystems (there are two of them!) and the revolutionary approach which might just cause a paradigm shift. I hope you will discover that Excel effectively and efficiently incorporates practicality, tons of features, the multi-platform portability and the high performance with the unique and futuristic 3D engine features.
The chapters even have demo programs and movies created with the Excel 3D engine.
And here are a couple of the cool videos! Awesomeness!
In the first one - each cell in Excel has been used as a pixel. The author calls this Excel-native Cell Graphics (ECG).
The next one is called Office-level Graphics Abstraction Layer (OGAL).
Virtual Earth's browser-based capabilities are now available behind a customer’s firewall, on private or classified networks, and on portable platforms.
The Virtual Earth Appliance is designed to bring all of the rich data and functionality of the Virtual Earth internet service to the offline customer.
Vexcel Remote Sensing Ground Systems
https://blogs.msdn.com/virtualearth/archive/2008/03/05/virtual-earth-appliance.aspx
via Got 3D data- and DirectionsMag
Google solicits building model data from local governments via its "Google Cities in 3D Program". Google advertises the program as a means for government to share its data with other stake-holders as well as the general public.
If you have LIDAR data for your city then you must give LIDAR Analyst a try. LIDAR Analyst not only can extract your buildings but will also export it to KML files - which can then be provided to other users either through the "Google Cities in 3D Program" or via your own website. In addition you can also provide Google with your bare-earth DEMs, as well as tree and forest layers that you extracted using LIDAR Analyst.
Here is what Google has to say about the data formats that they will accept towards this program. (http://earth.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=90969)
What file formats can be uploaded into the 3D Warehouse?
What 3D data types does Google accept?
- Photo-textured 3D buildings in any of the following file formats:
- .shp, .kmz, .skp, .dae, .3ds, .max.
- Non-textured 3D buildings in any of the following file formats:
- .shp, .kmz, .skp, .dae, .3ds, .max.
- Building footprints with heights (extruded or has z-value)
- .shp, .csv, .kmz.(LIDAR Analyst can provide you attributed buildings with z-values in shp as well as KML formats).
In the current version of LIDAR Analyst - features can be exported as kml files. KMZ files - are just zipped kml files. In a future release, you will be able to export features directly to the KMZ file format.
Building footprints (red) shown on top of the hill-shaded last return DEM. Buildings were auto-magically extracted from first and last return DEMs. (LIDAR Analyst is a plugin that works with ArcMAP and Erdas Imagine).
Building footprints exported as a KML file to Google Earth.
Building footprints exported as extruded building models to Google Earth.
10 really cool videos that should tickle every chemistry loving molecule in your body.
Top 10 Amazing Chemistry Videos | Wired Science from Wired.com
from The Best Free Software - Reviews by PC Magazine:
157 software tools. No fees. No expiration dates. No problems. Sometimes even no downloads. No kidding.
Here are the ones I use or found interesting from the list (also at the end are some that didn't make this list - but are high on mine):
Firefox (though my primary browser of choice is IE)
www.mozilla.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux This PC Mag Editors' Choice Web browser has been on top of the heap since version 1.5 came out in late 2005.
GIMP (I mainly use Photoshop - but when I dont have it I use either Paint.NET or GIMP)
www.gimp.org
Windows | MacOS | Linux The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) does most of what Photoshop does; the Gimpshop project (plasticbugs.com) even makes it look like Photoshop.
ajaxWindows (This sounds very cool)
www.ajaxwindows.com
Web A virtual operating system (aka Web OS), it uses Asynchronous Java-Script and XML (AJAX) programming to mimic the look and feel of a Windows desktop in Firefox or IE. It stores files (using Gmail) and runs its own applications, plus Web apps like Meebo and Google Maps. If you can launch a Web browser, you can get work done through ajaxWindows.
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition (On machines where I cant install McAfee - this is my choice of AV)
free.grisoft.com
Windows Its control center is awkward, but AVG scans files on demand, upon access, on a schedule, and in e-mail. Its rescue disks will help you recover from disaster.
HijackThis (A must have)
www.trendsecure.com
Windows Run HijackThis, save a log, and then post the log on sites that support the program. You'll quickly get personalized expert help to remove any malware.
EULAlyzer (another possibly cool software I might install)
www.javacoolsoftware.com
Windows Wonder what you're agreeing to when you click "I Accept"? Don't worry; just drag EULAlyzer's target icon onto the EULA for a quick report on any troublesome language.
mint (This is already my favorite money management software - my post: Mint Refreshing Money Management)
www.mint.com
Web Mint isn't like Quicken, where you enter in all your transactions. Instead, it syncs with your bank and credit card accounts online, checks your spending habits, and tells you how to improve to save money. If you're not paying attention to your spending, it'll send you regular alerts to inform you where your money has gone (nice for making sure you haven't been ripped off).
Google Docs (When I need to work on a document that needs constant shared access and collaboration - GDocs is what I use - though my primary office app is still MS Office)
docs.google.com
Web | Mobile Google's slickly designed office suite offers online shared word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations-and best of all, finally a solid alternative in the office-suite space to the totally dominating Microsoft. Upload or e-mail your current documents for storage and editing.
Notepad++ (As a developer - I constantly use this tool)
notepad-plus.sourceforge.net
Windows Notepad++ handles text--especially source code-in ways the basic Windows Notepad could only dream of, with embellishments like tabs and color coding.
Windows Live Mail (If you post to your blog constantly - this tool will make your life so much easier)
get.live.com
Windows Live Mail not only reads your Hotmail, but also can check POP, IMAP, or HTTP mail accounts. It works as an RSS feed reader and a newsreader.
SyncToy v2.0 (Another awesomely cool tool from Microsoft - keeps my life simple by doing all the back up and sync work between all my computers and the centralized backup disk).
www.microsoft.com/downloads
Windows Make sure folders across your networked computers contain the same files, even on drives that change location and name.
CCleaner (I like this tool for how simple it makes it to clean the crap of your machine)
www.ccleaner.com
Windows The extra C is for crap, and that's what CCleaner gets rid of: all the detritus left behind in the course of using Windows.
FileZilla (Before I used to use SmartFTP - but who wants annoying ware - this works just as great and is completely free!)
www.filezilla-project.org
Windows | MacOS | Linux Download this FTP client for accessing multiple sites or to use as an FTP server. In both cases, FileZilla has convenient drag-and-drop support.
NetStumbler (Useful for the laptop)
www.netstumbler.com
Windows Use it to detect any Wi-Fi network in your vicinity and see if it's open for use, or just use it to troubleshoot your own.
Google Reader (This is my favorite reader - as I can quickly move between any of the 3 machines I am working with and start of from where I left on another machine. Also you can access your reading list from your phone. One of the best online apps)
reader.google.com
Web | Mobile Google Reader is arguably the best RSS/newsfeed reader on the Internet. Read feeds while off-line or on your mobile phone.
ooVoo (My main messenger style app is Live Messenger. But when I want to video chat with more than 1 person - this is the best. You can video chat with upto 5 other people).
www.oovoo.com
Windows | MacOS ooVoo video chat is more P2P than Skype (no supernodes!), with a better picture. It supports up to six co-videoconferencers, file transfers, and group text chat.
Jing (This is the best free app to do screen captures. The interface is a little two simple and sometime annoying to work with - but its made on the platform of CamTasia - so its pretty good and fast)
www.jingproject.com
Windows | MacOSx Jing shares what's showing on your monitor with others online, or records it for future viewing.
VLC media player (I constantly use this app - especially to play all the flv files I have. You can also convert your flv files to other formats)
www.videolan.org
Windows | MacOS | Linux Forget Windows Media Player. VideoLAN's open-source VLC can replace it, and nearly every other player, too. VLC supports almost every audio format and video codec imaginable and doubles as a server for streaming your music and video to other PCs. Change its skin to make it look like the player you want—even WMP.
Paint.NET (I use this app constantly. Especially when I dont need the muscle of PaintShop but need more control then Picasa - this is my go to graphics app)
www.getpaint.net
Windows This program is probably the closest thing to Photoshop you can get free, courtesy of a student project.
Picasa (For browsing, cataloging your digital images this is my favorite. In addition I love how simple it makes it for me to post my images to the web using PicasaWeb. The only reason I dont use flickr is how easy it is for me to post images to PicasaWeb using Picasa.)
www.getpaint.net
Windows | Linux Google's photo manager makes it easy to get pictures off a digital camera, organize them, and even edit and share them.
Google Toolbar (My favorite feature about G-Toolbar - is bookmarks. Bookmarking via this toolbar is easy and makes your book marks available on any computer - either via a web page or the toolbar. Also - I love the FireFox style search that it provides within IE. Another must have tool)
toolbar.google.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux The toolbar brings Google's search and other functionality directly to IE or Firefox. It offers extras like auto fill, spell-checking, and one-click RSS feed subscriptions.
Geni.com (After I got most of my family subscribed to this site - its amazing how much our family tree has grown. Its easy - that even the oldest members in my family were able to get in on the action).
www.geni.com
Web | Flash Share your genealogy with everyone in the family. They can contribute more individual profiles until your family tree is complete.
Google Earth (Just install it - enuff said. Also get the Virtual Earth control for your browser.)
earth.google.com
Windows | MacOS | Linux Fly over familiar terrain or foreign lands with Google Earth, a searchable database of satellite images and geographical data—even images of the heavens. You can go a step further with all sorts of downloadable, gee-whiz applications from scientists, media outlets, and other third-party developers to trick out your Earth-moving experience.
Google Maps (I am constantly using Live Maps and Google Maps - dont have a clear favorite as yet - but sometimes find the Live Maps has better and more relevant search results)
maps.google.com
Web | Mobile This interactive mapping tool goes beyond driving directions. View destinations in Street View, Satellite, or Terrain modes; check traffic updates; or look up info on nearby businesses.
Other apps I like and that didnt get a mention in the above list:
TrueCrypt: The easiest way to secure your important information. Provides you with an encrypted file which is mounted and acts like another disk drive. Simple and powerful.
OrbitDownloader: Makes it much easier to download media from web-pages. Especially useful to download a backup of YouTube videos.
Andrea Mosaic: Make cool mosaic images from many small thumbnails derived from images on your hard-disk.
WinDirStat: A very useful system utility - that shows you how your disk space is being used. Use it to quickly find those large files that you no longer need and delete them.
via VSX Team Blog : PowerCommands for Visual Studio 2008 released
PowerCommands for Visual Studio 2008 is now available for free download, along with source code and a readme document. PowerCommands, is a set of useful extensions for the Visual Studio 2008 adding additional functionality to various areas of the IDE.
The source code, which requires the VS SDK for VS 2008 installed, can be used to modify the existing PowerCommands functionality or to use as a reference sample for creating additional custom menu extensions.
PowerCommands is the type of extension for Visual Studio that contains additional command menu functions for the VS IDE that most VS developers would use regularly. Some of these cool menu commands are being considered for new IDE features in the next version of Visual Studio. PowerCommands makes a great complementary PowerToy utility to both StickyNotes and the Source Code Outliner PowerToy.
