Join us on geekSpeak this Wednesday for a practical look at how to deploy WCF services from a guy who’s been there. Our guest Keith Elder is a team leader and senior software engineer for Quicken Loans, so he’s been on the frontlines of running services in an enterprise. Besides being a popular speaker and running a user group in Mississippi, Keith is a blast to talk to.
If you’ve ever wanted to get your questions about WCF answered, or pick up some excellent tips, this is the geekSpeak for you.
Register today at http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032417610&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US
Here are the resources from the presentation I’ve delivered recently on highlights of MIX 2009.
Download the Silverlight 3 beta plug-in, SDK, Visual Studio tools, Expression Blend 3 preview, and .NET RIA Services runtime.
Watch these key videos from MIX
Articles
Blogs to follow
If you want to gain an all-up perspective of Azure that covers business value as well as technical aspects, join RDA and Microsoft for a “Day of Azure” on July 7.
This all-day event will be presented by some real rock stars within RDA and will give you enough knowledge to pilot your own cloud-based applications.
The agenda includes talks on the Azure roadmap, a business overview, using .NET Services, writing apps for Azure and using Azure storage, and Live services.
This free session will probably fill up fast, so view more details and register at http://www.rdacorp.com/getting_started/events.html#Azure_Platform_Training
After our MSDN Roadshow in Raleigh, NC yesterday, an attendee emailed me this question:
Hi,
I was VERY impressed with the performance of Glen's laptop at the MSDN roadshow in Raleigh on June 3. I heard him mention it is a Lenovo.
Would you allow me to be a geek and ask about the specs for Glen's laptop [model, cpu, memory, disk space, etc]?
Thanks!
I am running a brand spanking new Lenovo T400 with 4 GB of RAM. The T400 is a successor of sorts to Lenovo’s very popular T61 line.
The first think I did when I got it a few weeks ago was install Windows 7 RC 64 bit. I am experiencing the same amazing battery life and great performance described in this review. The only issue I am having is that I can’t switch between the internal and dedicated graphics cards on the fly (as apparently you can do with Vista). I anticipate this will be possible under Win7 once it’s released.
If anyone is interested, here are my Windows Experience scores.
Now open for registration - the latest installment of the MSDN Southern Fried Roadshow. We’ll be talking about Windows 7 – developing on it as well as for it. We’ll also feature what’s new in IE8, highlights of MIX 2009, and an Azure architecture talk. See the registration pages for full details. Sign up now before they fill up!
Monday, June 1 – Atlanta, GA
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032415606&Culture=en-USTuesday, June 2 – Charlotte, NC
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032415608&Culture=en-USWednesday, June 3 – Raleigh, NC
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032415611&Culture=en-US
Please join me for a geekSpeak webcast on Wednesday, May 20 when SharePoint MVP Dan Attis will be explaining how you can access information stored in SharePoint in a variety of ways.
Sign up for the geekSpeak here, and tell your friends!
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032413424&Culture=en-US
Here’s a cool Facebook app for Windows Mobile that’s finally been released. Been using this internally for a while now, and it’s super handy.
Download
(via Loke Uei’s blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/lokeuei/archive/2009/05/07/official-facebook-app-for-windows-mobile.aspx)
I had a great time this week speaking to the Atlanta PHP user group about our new Web Platform gallery and installer, as well as how to make sites work well with IE8. Here is a link to the slide deck as well as relevant resources.
Microsoft Web Platform
Internet Explorer 8 - Compatibility
Internet Explorer 8 – New Features
BarCampBirmingham is a user generated conference created around an open, participatory workshop-event, with content provided by participants. Those participating choose the session topics for the day and then present to each other. It’s free. It’s fun. It’s a great way to meet the local technology community.
BarCampBirmingham
This week the Microsoft Learning career express bus kicks off its Tech-Ed bound bus tour in Atlanta on Friday, May 1. Join them (and me) at some of these key events, I think there will even be prizes!
For the full event schedule of the bus along all of their tour stops, check out their blog at http://blogs.technet.com/mslcommunity
This past Saturday, 170 attendees, 7 sponsors, 20 or so speakers, and several key organizers pulled of a wonderful community event for the SharePoint community. SharePoint Saturday Atlanta was a rousing success, with 20 session in 5 tracks. Many thanks to all the volunteers who spent time, energy, and in many cases their own money to head to Alpharetta for this event.
The speaker dinner the night before was quite enjoyable, thanks to the sponsors for that as well.
From the event, there was live blogging, tweeting and even a session delivered remotely via LiveMeeting. What a great day!
Sorry for the late notice on this, but the Microsoft Learning Community team is sponsoring a contest (as well as going on a roadtrip, but more on that in another post) for MCPs. Win a trip to TechEd 2009 in Los Angeles, CA. From what I hear, they are not getting to many entries, so there’s a good chance you could win!
Full rules and how to enter can be found at http://blogs.technet.com/mslcommunity/archive/2009/04/09/another-chance-to-get-on-the-bus-or-fly-directly-to-teched.aspx
Good luck!
If you are interested in mobile development (regardless of the platform) then you may want to attend the upcoming Mobicamp in Atlanta on May 29th. It’s going to be run like a barcamp, with a pretty loose agenda. There are only a few seats left, so sign up at http://www.mobicamp.me. Microsoft is helping to sponsor the event, and I’ll be there to talk about Windows Mobile and .NET Compact Framework development, as well as to learn about iPhone, Android and more.
Here are some upcoming geekSpeak webcasts for the next few weeks. We’re especially excited to have Shawn Wildermuth kick off this set with some great information from MIX about Silverlight 3. Remember, geekSpeak webcasts are driven by your questions, so plan to experience them live so you can ask realtime.
April 15
What's New in Silverlight 3 with Shawn Wildermuth
April 22
WPF for the Business Programmer with Paul Sheriff
April 29
SharePoint as a Data Store with J. Dan Attis
May 6
Parallel Computing APIs in .NET 4.0 with Mark Michaelis
There is a Silverlight meetup forming in Atlanta, more information is at their website: http://www.meetup.com/The-Atlanta-Silverlight-Meetup-Group/
The group anticipates being able to focus on designer and developer topics centered around creating interactive user experiences via RIAs using Silverlight and tools like Expression Blend.
This is a good opportunity to influence the direction of a fledgling user group focused on an exciting technology! Whether you’re a .NETter getting into design, a Flash designer looking to branch out, or just curious about Silverlight, you’re welcome to join in.
Right now, the meetup is targeted to have an event on April 21, more information will be made available once a venue is selected.
