In case the Category was missed this is all RANT.
I have just wasted the last 50 minutes of my life with the junk for a site called MSDN Connection.
If I go to the Microsoft site in Microsoft’s flagship browser (IE 6.0.2900.2180) I can see a screen with the main page that treats me as a non authenticated user. But the Passport icon is in the Sign Out state. If I click the sign out button I get bounced via ~10 URLs back to the MSDN Connection site, in the same state as before. Did I mention I’m using a modem that connected at 44kpbs, so the site loads like treacle.
So I load my normal browser (Firefox) and it works all fine. Now my main purpose was to work through the personal training. (Which I got reminded about at today’s DNUG meeting). It is at this point the Firefox lets me down. Every thing works good until I want to view the next page in the self paced reading. Mousing over the next page button shows some javascript in the status bar, but click has no effect. So I click on the big fat “Training Forums: Get support and support others button” and get a error stating:
You are not signed in to Microsoft® .Net Passport. The page you are trying to navigate to is not viewable by anonymous users; you must be signed in to Passport to view it.
Which is really wired because I was until I clicked on the link. I can partly understand as the URL is now www.aspxconnection.com not www.microsoft.com as I was on the previous screen.
The other day I had a list of issue that I post to the feedback on the aspxconnection feedback form, but I’m not sure this is the correct place for the MSDN Connection related feedback.
So I started looking for a feed back on the Connection site but could only find a Contact Us link that has the New Zealand MS Team blog links, but I’m not really interesting in ranting on there blogs.
Arrg, I just find it frustrating as I see it as a useful site. But it just doesn’t work as you would expect.
I was writing a post before I decided to do more web-based training about frustration with development tools in the last couples of days, but it was getting long and unwieldy, so I threw it away. So now I have no “_these tools suck in this way_” post, and I don’t have and new a Star from the training and its late and I’m grumpy.
<Edited 15 minutes later>
Well I took the second star test in C# without completing the reading. The flow control is real sloppy. I submit my answers and get a near blank screen back. You then have to close this, and reload the original screen. You get no prompting, no results. In fact I’m not sure what the required pass rate is to get each star.