I just discovered IronPython and this is one cool system. This is a Python implementation that targets the .NET Framework and Mono. I was especially interested to see this on the page:

Fast - IronPython-0.6 is up to 1.7x faster than Python-2.3 on the standard pystone benchmark. An early performance report is are contained in this paper for PyCon 2004.

I've only started playing with this, but it shows a lot of promise. I also noticed on Jason Zander's Weblog that Jim Hugunin, the author, has joined Microsoft.

Mark Olwick, the Security Developer Center site manager, let me know about this eWeek article on the changes in WSE SP1. We're headlining the WSE download today on the Security Developer Center. Here's a link to the eWeek article:

Microsoft Add-On Secures Web Services
Microsoft Corp. has released an upgrade to its Web Services Enhancements technology for .Net developers.

The Redmond, Wash., company this week announced Web Services Enhancements 2.0 Service Pack 1 (WSE 2.0 SP1) for Microsoft .Net. The technology is an add-on to the company's Visual Studio .Net and the .Net Framework that enables developers to build secure Web services, the company said.

We've got some new content up around driver writing that you might want to check out if you're into such things. There's a getting started article, an article about handling IRPs, and finally a piece about threads:

How to Write a Windows Driver
This document describes the basic steps for learning to create a driver for your device. The Windows DDK provides the development environment, tools, sample code, and documentation.

Handling IRPs: What Every Driver Writer Needs to Know
This paper presents an overview of the I/O request packet (IRP) mechanism that is used in the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems. It is intended to provide driver writers with a greater understanding of how I/O works in the operating system, and how their drivers should manage and respond to I/O requests.

Scheduling, Thread Context, and IRQL
This paper presents information about how thread scheduling, thread context, and a processor's current interrupt request level (IRQL) affect the operation of kernel-mode drivers for the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems. It is intended to provide driver writers with a greater understanding of the environment in which their code runs.

I was doing some reading tonight and I found this absolutely cool article on creating custom effects for Windows Movie Maker in XML and C++. Check it out here:

Creating Custom Effects and Transitions in Windows Movie Maker
Microsoft Windows Movie Maker enables programmers to add their own custom special effects and transitions to the Windows Movie Maker interface. These effects can be created with an XML file that modifies the supplied effects or transitions, or can be built from scratch using C++ and the Windows Media Transforms supplied by the Microsoft DirectX Media SDK.

Shawn let me know that they're giving away a Tablet PC on .NET Rocks. Check out the details here:

The .NET Rocks! Tablet PC Listener Giveaway
Microsoft and Franklins.Net are trying to learn more about the developers who listen to .NET Rocks! So, we've been authorized by Microsoft to hold a contest where the winner gets a fully decked out Toshiba M200 Tablet PC.

Here are some of the Security offerings from Microsoft this week:

26-Jul-04 9:00 AM (PST)
MSDN Webcast: Essentials of Application Security (Part 3) - Authorization - Level 300

28-Jul-04 11:00 AM (PST)
MSDN Webcast: Security Design in .NET Enterprise Applications - Level 200

30-Jul-04 1:00PM (PST)
MSDN Webcast: Creating a Single Sign-On Enterprise Security Portal - Level 200

I'll update my last Lookout post as soon as I can, but the Lookout download was move to MSN Sandbox.

Steve Makofsky noticed that Lookout is available from the Microsoft Download Center. If you're an Outlook user, run, don't walk to get this thing. It has saved me at least an hour a day since I started using it. Here's some info and a link:

Lookout
Lookout is lightning-fast search for your email, files, and desktop integrated with Microsoft Outlook. Built on top of a powerful search engine, Lookout is the only personal search engine that can search all of your email from directly within Outlook - in seconds...

The Visual C++ PM team is looking to expand the FAQ for Visual C++ 2005 Beta 1 and for the Visual C++ 2005 Express Beta. Feel free to post your questions to this blog entry and we'll try to get them in. If you haven't done so already, you can download the Visual C++ 2005 Express Beta here. The Visual Studio 2005 Beta is available to MSDN Subscribers.

This is the list of Channel 9 interviews with Kang Su Gatlin. Kang, one of the program managers on the C++ compiler team, spent some time with Channel 9 talking about C++.:

Kang Su Gatlin - The power of C++ in the managed code world  

Kang Su Gatlin - What is parallel debugging?   

Kang Su Gatlin - What about 64-bit?  

Kang Su Gatlin - What's the advantage to writing managed code in ...

Kang Su Gatlin - "Phoenix," next-generation compiler