I Have always had a problem with IIS Manager using SQL Aliases when using the built in .Net membership providers (mainly cause its handy to test and setup the initial FBA user) but never managed to get down to the cause of the issue, just took it as one of those things. Luckily it was never really that important to resolve so it got left as specifying the alias in the web.

Stumbled upon a great site today for anyone who prefer’s a slightly different editor theme in visual studio. Studio Styles is a website containing loads of colour themes for both VS 2008 and VS 2010 and also includes a ratings system. Even if your happy with the default colours I would recommend checking the site out just in case anything catches your eye. I prefer the low contracts themes these days as its just easier on the eye!