musings from a snowstorm....

Getting started videos for Silverlight and Expression

2010-03-30T01:19:34Z

Just ran across these getting started training videos. They’re all between 10 and 20 minutes long. Easy to consume and digest during lunch!

What is Silverlight? An Overview

Understanding and Working with XAML Code in Expression Blend

Creating Vector-Based Artwork with Expression Design

Organizing Your Project using Layout Containers in Expression Blend

Applying Color and Effects to Projects using Expression Design

Editing the Appearance of Your Project Items using Expression Blend

Exploring the Objects and Timeline Task Pane in Expression Blend

Customizing Silverlight Video Players using Expression Blend

Optimizing Video for Silverlight Playback using Expression Encoder

Adding Interactivity to Silverlight Projects using Expression Blend

Publishing Silverlight Projects to the Web using Expression Blend

You can find the main page at: http://expression.microsoft.com/en-us/cc268169.aspx. The main page also has a “Getting started with standards-based design” video training series.

VHDTool – special sauce for VHD disks

2009-12-28T18:23:20Z

Dear Reader, have you ever wished you could resize – grow – a fixed-sized VHD disk?

Earlier today I sure did. A couple of months ago I created a smallish fixed-size VHD file that I boot native into, to use as the “host” for running Hyper-V images. That’s all I used it for. Just to boot into it, then launch a Hyper-V image.

Worked great.

But, recently I thought, For my demos, wouldn’t it be great to run VS 2010 beta2 with SharePoint 2010 Beta in the boot native VHD host, and connect to the TFS server in the Hyper-V image?

Which meant installing Office 2007, VS 2010 beta 2, SharePoint 2010 Beta, etc, into my little bitty fixed VHD disk. It all installed, but there wasn’t room for anything else. Let’s say the VHD was busting at the seams.

Fixed size VHD = super fast. But, Fixed means FIXED, right? Can’t grow it.

Not necessarily. Ben Armstrong and his VHD team to the rescue. They’ve created a sweet utility called VHDTool that will allow you to manipulate a VHD file. One of the things it does is it allows you to expand a fixed-size VHD disk.

Insanely perfect!!!

I made a backup of the VHD, downloaded the utility, ran it with fingers crossed, and gave my VHD an extra 10GB. It finished within seconds. Lightning fast!

And it worked as advertised. Sweetness!

What else can it do? Create, convert, extend, and repair. Neat-o.

Check out Ben’s blog post about it: http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2009/03/25/quick-fixed-vhd-creation-tool.aspx

Question of the day…

2009-09-26T06:53:47Z

When you tell Hyper-V Manager to “Delete Snapshot Subtree…” how do you know if it’s started doing anything? Or if it’s still doing anything? Or if it’s done doing anything?

(I guess that’s more than one question. but they’re all related.)

I’m trying to collapse a huge snapshot subtree that I created as I was building out and adding demo content my Team System 2010 Hyper-V image.

I told it to delete the subtree, but I cannot tell that it’s done anything.

Hmmm…

Welcome back (to me)

2009-09-26T05:52:45Z

Hi Dear Reader.

Eons ago I kept my blog over here on http://blogs.msdn.com/jblizzard, but then moved to my own site, http://snowstormlife.com/blogs/bliz.

This evening, on a lark, I looked back here and yes, my old blog is still working, and I was even able to retrieve my old password.

And just over six years later I’m adding my next post. This is so random.

Things have changed just a bit since my last post here in September, 2003. At the time I was a developer evangelist, living in Bothell, Washington, covering the PacWest district (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho), and spreading the cool news about .NET.

In 2004 we moved to Vancouver, Washington, just outside Portland, still working as a DE. I got to know Scott Haneslman, Rory Blyth, and a bunch of other cool Portland people really well, and even helped start the Portland Nerd Dinner.

In early 2005 I switched jobs, moving into a Developer Solutions Specialist role, and moving across country, back to Tampa, Florida, my almost home town. Back in Portland, Rich Claussen took over PND duties, and Jason Mauer earned the DE job. In Florida I got to know Joe Healy, Russ Fustino, and Jeff Barnes really well.

Flash forward to August of this year, and I’ve switched back to a technical role and my technical roots, now working as a Developer Technical Specialist, kinda close to what I was doing as a DE. We’re still living in the Tampa area. Life is good. Quent Herschelman took my old job, and is now the Developer Solutions Specialist around here.

If you want to see the gory details of what’s happened during the past six years (but, why would anyone want to do that?), take a peek at SnowstormLife. (Part of the past 6 years I used dasBlog and WordPress. Some of those entries are still buried in the depths of those systems, still waiting to be resurrected. One day.)

bliz

My new blog home at www.snowstormlife.com/blog

2003-09-21T04:54:00Z

I must be crazy. I've left the safety and warmth of http://weblogs.asp.net to move out on my own. No longer will my posts be displayed on that central page, ready to be viewed by the masses.

Nope, I'm now on my own, but using .Text as my blog engine.

Why? Just for kicks. I created snowstormlife.com as a place to put some sample code that has to be ready for the real world. Through my hosting company (www.webhost4life.com) I also have SQL Server databases. So, my sample code cannot just use “uid=SA;pwd=;“. I feel much better already, just by making that change.

If you want to read my old posts, you can take a look at them on http://weblogs.asp.net/jblizzard.

All my new stuff will be posted here, to http://www.snowstormlife.com/blog.

Hope to keep seeing you.

bliz

See you at the Boise NETDUG meeting Thursday evening...

2003-09-18T05:50:00Z

During the general meeting, Cory Isakson and I will be talking about state management for web sites. After the general meeting the MCAD SIG will meet. See you there!

Cool shirt....

2003-09-18T04:19:00Z

Last month I though I saw a cool geek shirt with the slogan “got msil”. Turns out that the shirt didn't say that. But now David Scott has created a real version of the shirt. Be the first geek in your user group to get one! Very cool...

Finding things...

2003-09-13T03:07:00Z

Heh. Someone out there needs to know what to do in a snowstorm. How do I know? Well, weblogs.asp.net now has a cool stats section that shows referrers (thanks Scott!). Someone did a Yahoo! search for “what to do in a snowstorm” which returned one of my posts: “Do that newsgroup thing…” So remember, the next time you're stuck in a snowstorm... post to a newsgroup. :o)

A cool thing (or perhaps not) is that my post on “"403 Access Forbidden" when attempting to create an ASP.NET web project” has been referred to a ton of times by people looking for answers. Hopefully I added some value with that post.

Agility...

2003-09-13T01:37:00Z

Scott Stanfield from Vertigo Software gave a talk last night at the Portland Area Dot Net User Group (PADNUG).

He made an interesting comment, with the net of: If you’re going to fail, you want to fail fast. That way you can figure out what went wrong, make changes, and try out something else.

If you are going to fail, fail fast. Then get on to something new.

Cool thought.

He said this during a discussion about the number of lines of code it takes to write a program. He said that lines of code are like inventory. And just as less inventory on hand can make a business more agile, fewer lines of code can make a software project more agile.

I tend to agree, unless reducing the lines of code turns it into obfuscated code.

He also showed one of the patterns from the patterns and practices group at MS – the Data Access Architecture Guide (DAAG). By using the DAAG he was able to reduce the # of lines of code in his data access layer significantly.

Things like the DAAG and the .NET Framework itself can help reduce the number of lines of code you have to write. There’s so much built in. After the user group meeting ended, at the bar across the street, Rory said he didn’t know how many times he’s written a particular routine, then he discovered that that very thing was built into the System.IO namespace.

It all makes programming fun. Write fewer lines of code. Get paid more. Have a blast. Have fun with the .NET Framework.

[Bliz thought patrol: OK. THIS IS STARTING TO SOUND LIKE A COMMERCIAL. TIME TO STOP BLATHERING.]

Now that's the way a Pocket PC Phone should work!

2003-09-12T00:27:00Z

I upgraded my sorry Pocket PC phone's operating system to Pocket PC 2003 and a new radio stack. Bingo! Home run!

Connectivity issues are a thing of the past. I can finally use IM on the thing. And it synch’s with Exchange automatically every 10 minutes (I set the schedule). And I can confidently reply to e-mail and know that it will get sent.

It’s snappy, dependable, and it has a cool new game that comes with it!

Good job, mobility team.