Irish band Republic of Loose played The Village in Dublin last night for Microsoft Ireland's Vista launch party. It was a sold-out free gig that's part of the Experience Wow Vista fanfare here in Ireland. I came armed with my camera and there's a set...

The British Library has launched an application that uses the Windows Presentation Foundation to let you leaf through historic texts. Like Doninoken (mentioned yesterday ), it's published as an XBAP - a WPF application that runs within Internet Explorer...

Bill Gates was great on The Daily Show ! (Link goes to Youtube clip.)

There were a couple of interesting Windows Presentation Foundation bits I've seen recently. A third-party called XCeed has released a DataGrid control for WPF that is free of charge! A DataGrid was conspicuously missing from the WPF toolbox and I think...

Two nice new downloads for photographers made me re-think my photo-processing pipeline today. Nikon has released their RAW (NEF) Codec for Vista . Follow the link to download it, or open Vista's Windows Photo Gallery and it will automatically check...

In the spirit of five things you didn't know about me comes thing #6 you were blissfully unaware of: #6: I spent a summer north of the arctic circle, in Tromsø, northern Norway and #6a: I was up there again last week! Here's stuff from my trip along...

This is excellent explanation and commentary by Jim Allchin on some of Vista's new security features , including User Account Control (UAC) and Data Execution Prevention (DEP). He goes into detail about the security features vs. convenience decisions...

What do the Windows Communication Framework (WCF), BizTalk 2006 and SQL Server Service Broker have in common? They’re three strategic Microsoft technologies that offer developers opportunities to build applications that tightly link together users in...

Over the holidays, I built a data-driven website for a family member. It gave me a chance to explore some new Microsoft web technologies and tools hands-on. Here's how I developed, designed, and deployed the site: Develop: using ASP.NET AJAX and Visual...

For the first time ever, this year's Imagine Cup competition will include Ireland ! I just got out of a meeting with Liam Cronin, one of my colleagues here at Microsoft Ireland, who is leading the charge and making it happen. The Imagine Cup is...

I want to go to Designertopia , a conference about Microsoft's new designer-oriented tools that is taking place in London on February 1st and 2nd. The focus seems split between (1) the new Expression applications, (2) cross-browser, cross-platform...

Martin tagged me in this worldwide game of BlogTag, so let's see... what are five things you probably don't already know about me? 1. I can play the bagpipes. 2. I have no uvula. 3. I met and was blessed by Pope John Paul II when he visited...

"People want technologies that support and deepen the very differences that make one place distinct from another." So asserts Richard Harper, the second Microsoft Research speaker coming to present here in Ireland. Second Life illustrates the value...

I'm watching the Bill Gates CES keynote today. For me, the coolest announcement is the Microsoft Home Server . Automated backup of all your home PC data, connectivity to other PCs, Zune, XBox, and also remote connectivity without complexity. I created...

There wasn't a whole of blogging (or snowing) going on while I was visiting family and friends back in Canada last week. The sunsets , however, were gorgeous! I'm back in action today, knee-deep in the e-mail. Events: I've had a few people mail...