Well, it's been too long since my last post - bad blogging form on my part, admit it. I had some great time off over the holidays, a chance to recharge a bit. I hope you did too.

Now - there is a ton going on in the next 6 months in Microsoft Canada DevLand (what would that theme park be like?!) We are going to be travelling across the country delivering over 75 presentations in the next 6 months.

First off, we've got our next user group tour under way in just a month. This one is really interesting - it's on interoperating between .NET and Java. Should be cool - anybody out there that is in a .NET or Java user group, watch the MSDN Flash for details on dates and locations. The tour kicks off on February 8th.

The next set of deep dives are warming up too - Building Web Applications, a first look at ASP.NET 2.0 is going to be a great event. Again, you should watch the MSDN Flash for dates and locations - that roadshow starts on March 1, 2005.

Did I mention there is a lot going on? Two more deep dives before July! Smart Client (Focusing on Microsoft Office, Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005 and Information Bridge Framework) and of course . . . Whidbey Deep Dive! One more shameless plug for the Flash won't hurt - details to follow. We'll also be out to the user groups one more before the summer with a deeper look at Whidbey.

What else . . . VSLive! Toronto 2005, taking place at the Toronto Westin Harbour Castle on April 13-16th. Second year this wicked conference is coming back to T.O. and taking it downtown!

DevTeach 2005 Montreal happening June18th - 22nd, 2005.

And that's just the live events - there's also a ton happening online - webcasts, chats and even a contest that we think you'll enjoy. More details on that later.

Happy New Year,

Craig.

One of the best resources out there is a user group. I work very closely with all of the .NET focused user groups here in Canada. It's a blast to work with people who are so passionate about technology and building and architecting applications that will solve problems in all areas of business, academia, etc.

The analogy I like to use, is that a user group is like a knowledge bank. Members of the group make deposits of knowledge into the bank, so that the overall balance of knowledge is always on the rise. Other members can make withdrawls to top up their own personal knowlege balance. When the balances of individuals, approaches that of the group as a whole (i.e. when everyone knows what everyone else knows) then you inject new knowledge from outside of the group into the group, it may be from Microsoft, or from the INETA speaker's bureau or from any one of our business partners, or academics, whoever. It might also be from a book, website, blog, etc. From that point, certain members are going to pick up the concepts faster than others, and the cycle of knowledge transfer begins again. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that every member has to present everything they know to the group, that wouldn't work, there aren't enough meetings in the year, and many are not comfortable speaking in front of the group. There are many many ways to share knowledge! Through your user group website, email list-serve, discussion groups.

As a user group member, there are definetly some best practices for getting the most out of the group. Overall, the value you derive from a user group will be proportionate to how involved you are with the group.

1. Set goals for yourself as to what things you'd like to learn more about, what are your weaknesses?
2. Identify what your strengths are, and let the group know - a great practice many of our user groups haveis a skills inventory of the group.
3. Make it a point of contributing to, or starting discussions around both your strengths, and your weaknesses and be open to people approaching you (online or face to face at the networking portion of the UG meeting) to talk about both.
4. Get more people from your company involved in the group, and be sure to include your user group in your official development plan with your employer.

Following these steps will identify your own expectations and objectives, which is half the battle, and often overlooked. If you figure out what you want to get out of the group, then you'll be able to make it happen.

Happy Coding,
Craig.

Hey Folks,

Please join Scott Howlett, Microsoft Regional Director from iMason on our webcast today.

This session is targeted at intermediate ASP.Net developers who are interested in developing collaborative web applications under Sharepoint and/or Windows Sharepoint Services.  We’ll cover the top 10 things to know as you move from a pure IIS platform to a SPS/WSS platform.   In the end, you’ll have a good idea for the types of apps that can be built on Sharepoint and a good idea for how to do it.  This is a developer-oriented session, delivered by developers.

Hey Everyone,

We've launched Terrarium again in Canada, and we will be running the contest to see who's code will build the best herbavore, carnivore and plant. The contest will run for a few months, ending on February 9th, 2005. The prizes are very good.

For each 1st placed carnivore, herbivore and plant:
· Trip to VSLive! Toronto 2005
· Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 3.0
· .NET Core Requirements Book (set of 4 books) for MCAD/MCSD certification

For each 2nd placed carnivore, herbivore and plant:
· XBox video game system & five Microsoft XBox video games
· .NET Core Requirements Book (set of 4 books) for MCAD/MCSD certification

For each 3rd placed carnivore, herbivore and plant:
· Microosft Wireless Optical Desktop 3.0
· .NET Core Requirements Book (set of 4 books) for MCAD/MCSD certification

Visit http://msdn.microsoft.ca/terrarium/ for complete details.

Happy Coding,

Craig.

I hear a lot of people saying that the music industry dropped the ball on online music. That in the hayday of online music piracy, they should have jumped at the opportunity of changing their business model. I'm no music industry insider, so I'm not sure if they did or did not - but here's my latest great experience.

I love the online music services. I'm a member at Puretracks and Napster. I'm also always looking for new sites, so please send my way. It's exciting to see the music industry go through so much change, and to see technology playing a leading role. I burned 3 CDs this weekend, paid a grand total of a about $45 CDN. Amazing. For the cost about 2 CDs, on which I may have truly enjoyed 3 songs, I now get 40 songs that I love.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a great technology. Many of the online music services use DRM to protect the music, and grant users differing levels of ownership. Napster for example, leverages Windows Media Player, and allows me to stream or download an unlimited numbers of songs for a monthly fee. This doesn't mean I own them, I'm simply a Napster subscriber, and as a subscriber, I have access to the all the streams and downloads I want, while being a subscriber. You see, if I stop my subscription, the songs no longer play - the license I have for each song doesn't allow me to play without having a subscription. When I want to burn a track, to perminant media (CD, DVD, Card, PPC, etc.) I pay the track fee, and then I own it, like I bought it off the shelf.

I'm not claiming to be a DRM expert, not even a little bit, and I'll probably get corrected on the above paragraph. The labels have taken a great step forward, and trusted that the technology is ready. I'm not sure what the artist's take on all of this is, but from a technology lover's standpoint, I'm in.

Hey Folks,

If you were one of the first 10, and you haven't yet responded to my email asking for your address, please email me a place I can send this to - email: msdncan@microsoft.com

Thanks!

Wow - lesson learned. Prizes offered = blog wild fire

Thanks to everyone who responded! I see Ottawa is in the house, as are our friends out east!

I'll keep everyone informed as we go forward with getting some of these contests off the ground.

Thanks!