.net and other interesting dev stuff in PA

Yet another use for the Xbox, and one that my wife will actually allow in the house. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/evaluation/devices/xboxextenderkit.asp

Thankfully, my UltimateTV's tuner started to die, and my wife got annoyed enough to let me replace it with an Windows XP Media Center 2005 box. I had certain operational parameters, however. First, since it was going in the family room, it could not look...

Tamar Granor, a FoxPro MVP who is starting this group, will be presenting at the Microsoft offices in Malvern, PA. The meeting starts at 7pm, so please try to arrive 15-30 minutes sooner. This presentation wil be Using the VFP Debugger Effectively...

Read about Microsoft's acquisition of GIANT, and what we're doing in this field in the press release . I've got this beta installed on my laptops as well as my Windows XP Media Center Edition box at home. I'm interested in seeing how we're going to compare...

One of our managers brought his latest toy into the office today. It was Gateway's top of the line model of the Media Center PC. Very cool stuff. Wide, flat screen. Speakers built in, including subwoofer. The PC guts are built into the neck of the...

Thanks to some great footwork by our PhillyDotNet User Group leader Bill Wolff and member/volunteer Mike Cullina, we've selected our site to be the Community College of Philadelphia at their Center for Business and Industry, at 1751 Callowhill Street...

Just released on MSDN! http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnpag2/html/entlib.asp The patterns & practices Enterprise Library is a library of Application Blocks designed to assist developers with common enterprise development challenges. Application...

14 BizTalk Hands-on Labs are now publicly available in the full-featured MSDN Virtual Lab at: http://msdn.demoservers.com/login.aspx?group=biztalk It's simple to access, and there is no complex setup or installation required to try out Biztalk Server...

Your chances to pass any Microsoft certification exam have just doubled. Simply register for this offer by May 31, 2005, before taking your exam, and we'll give you a free second shot at success. http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/2ndshot

This stuff is so cool. For years, before I started working for Microsoft, I was always wondering where the guidance from Microsoft was for designing applications. Sure, I could find books on it; I could get lucky and one of the tomes I bought would have...

The meeting, held at SEI in Oaks, PA last night, had about 95 attendees. Darn good in 20 degree (F) weather! http://www.phillydotnet.org The first presentation was a PDC review by Mujtaba Syed of Marlabs, and had demos of Longhorn and Avalon. The...

Okay, I made it to San Diego in one piece, got registered - through LONG lines, and can't wait for the week to start. This is my first time in San Diego, and I'm impressed with how nice a city it is so far. I'm currently at the INETA User Group leader...

I just got pinged by the ISV Buddy of a local ISV that I never ran into, and they’re right in my back yard. The ISV is doing some interesting stuff, and wants to get more help at a local, technical level. Had they not had a buddy it would have taken...

I was up in Boston for the Web Services Edge East conference today to give a tutorial presentation about Enterprise Libarary . I took out the slides that showed pasted code and ran demos on the fly to show how to work with the configuration editor, the...

You can go to the registration site and sign up for it now! Also, our Code Camp information site will have the latest news, agenda, and other information on it, so be sure to check it out regularly. We're running at ludicrous speed now, and are looking...

This was a great event, and everyone involved made it a huge success. There were a few minor glitches with setup and logistics on the first morning, and no one remembered to check to see if the A/C stayed on after 6pm (it didn't, and it got hot!), but...

Whether you are a devout Java programmer, a developer committed to Microsoft's .NET framework or an XMLer caught in the middle -- or a DBA working in Oracle or an IT professional dedicated to SQL Server -- set aside your differences for a day as Pittsburgh...

The Philadelphia SQL Server User Group, Philly.NET User Group, and Microsoft are delighted to together host a special Philadelphia Development Community event with world renowned SQL Server expert Itzik Ben Gan. This event is free but requires advanced...

I haven't posted for a while, having been out on infant care leave with my wife and new twin boys, and I've taken a new job outside of Microsoft at Computer Aid, Inc. . My new blogsite is: http://www.geekswithblogs.net/sspotts/ . Microsoft was a great...

Windows Vista Beta 1 is now available on the MSDN subscriber downloads site. Yet another example of why MSDN subscriptions rock! And if you're a developer, check out the Windows Vista Developer Center .

"Acrylic" is the codename for an innovative illustration, painting and graphics tool that provides exciting creative capabilities for designers working in print, web, video, and interactive media. Check out this site to download the beta or get more info...

We had about 50 people attending the DotNetNuke SIG meeting tonight at the Microsoft office in Malvern, PA. There were three talks tonight - one by Bill Wolff, the PhillyDotNet User Group leader, one by Hal Dell, the DotNetNuke SIG leader, and the final...

This is great! Now you don't have to install the tools to do a test drive. Maybe the developer community could develop custom scripts for hands-on labs that can be shared with others since a standard base VPC image is now available. That would be a great...

The Charlotte portals Code Camp just got even more horsepower! Doug Turnure , my fellow DE down there, has enlisted Ted Pattison and David Leininger as speakers. Ted Pattison is a published author and an industry-leading trainer and consultant who...

You’ve heard the buzz about Indigo , Microsoft’s unified programming model for building distributed applications. Attend this FREE event and learn how Indigo technology will simplify your life. With Indigo, you use the tools and language you’re familiar...