I have left Microsoft and am pursuing more in the SQL Server space. I am currently working in Salt Lake City for the LDS Church as a Sr. SQL Server DBA. My new blog home for all things Ben Miller will be at http://www.dbaduck.com/ (DBA for what I do and Duck for who I am). You can also join me on IM at dbaduck AT hotmail dot com.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Microsoft and in the MVP Program. I will not soon lose touch with the MVPs and I will be very involved in SQL Server and ASP.NET still. These are my loves and working with them full-time will give me a deeper perspective than I have had in a long time.
Thanks for all your support and I hope to see you around in Cyberspace or maybe even at a conference or 2. I will also get to blog a little more often with my job and things I undertake.
Cya around.
I will be keynoting the event and will see you in SLC.
What: Utah Spring Code Camp
When: April 14th 2007 9:00-5:00
Where: Neumont University
Registration: http://utahcodecamp.eventbrite.com
The local .NET Users Group and SQL Server Users Group is conducting a “Code Camp” for local software programmers next month at Neumont University. The code camp is by the community for the community. Always free and Always for the community.
We will have Sessions on .NET, SQL Server, and Oracle. Presented by experts around the valley!
The Saturday, April 14th event is scheduled from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The conference is free please register at. http://utahcodecamp.eventbrite.com
Lots of Sponsors and Lots of software and Tech Gadgets to giveaway!
You can check out www.msutahevents.com for a session schedule and speaker list for the Code Camp.
This was very hard to find. I finally found it by using the http://msdn.microsoft.com/ and the Downloads Link, then there is a New Downloads nav on the left. The top 1 tonight is the Update.
Here is the link to the download for those that just want to get to it. I know I did.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=90e2942d-3ad1-4873-a2ee-4acc0aace5b6&DisplayLang=en
I have an MDA and just recently bought a Dash for use. I love the SmartPhone concept and decided to return to it. I installed Voice Command on it. I found out that there was no way to map a button, at least that I know of, since the there is no App1 – App6 buttons. I do a lot of calling ad hoc with my contacts, and putting voice tags in every contact for each phone number would be quite a laborious task for me.
I have a Bluetooth headset (Motorola H700) and with the Dash and the H700, if you push the bluetooth headset button, you get VoiceDial, and not VoiceCommand. This is not really helpful since I need VoiceCommand because I am so used to it with my MDA, that I have come to rely on it.
One night I was playing with the phone, and my wife even wanted one, so she was using hers to figure out some functions, and I came across a fun little workaround for getting voice command to work with the Bluetooth headset button, and without using any hacks like replacing files in ROM, etc.
I found out that you can use a Voice Tag for an application. VoiceDial is activated when you press and hold the Home button, or press the Bluetooth headset button. So I recorded a voice tag for VoiceCommand. I now can hold down the Home button, or push the Bluetooth headset button and say "Voice" and voila, VoiceCommand activates and I am off and running.
I thought I would share as it was a little fun for me to find that I could get to my VoiceCommand while driving, etc. Not to mention, that I can have voice tags for applications.
Happy Mobiling.
I am testing the TR version of Word 2007 to see if it delays the posts that it did before.
I hope that this feature continues to get better with more options for pictures, etc.
Cool stuff.
I have a project that I am wondering about using either XSLT or the .NET Framework 2.0 to transform an XML document into a table and then bind it. I know that I can bind XML in ways, but I am in a bind on this one and am more familiar with Framework coding in C# rather than XSLT.
I have run into a problem trying to get a URL into the xslt template using <a href=”something”>something</a> with the href being formed by part URL and part <xsl:value-of select=”something” />. It fails because I am not very good with it yet. Anyone with help or ideas, please feel free to suggest. I am going to go about it using .NET in C# and will entertain any XSLT help that anyone wants to provide.
I have been to www.topxml.com and www.xmlforasp.net and found some things that are basic, but nothing about how to use XSLT to put html elements together.
More to come as I finish this project.
patterns and practices Goes Mobile!
The Microsoft patterns & practices team has released the first Community Technical Preview (CTP) for the Mobile Client Software Factory. The factory will help architects and developers design and build mobile LOB solutions. The Mobile Client Software Factory will include a prescriptive architecture, application blocks, and other guidance/tools for enterprise architects and developers targeting Windows Mobile powered devices. If you’re serious about building mobile enterprise solutions, join the community, download the latest pre-release drop, and start contributing feedback today!
I am blogging this from Word 2007 New blog entry. I downloaded and installed Vista on my Dell E510 Media Center. The version of Vista is Ultimate and it works great. I did run into a couple of things and so I thought I would let people know about them.
My configuration of the E510 is 2 GB RAM and 256 ATI X600 Raedon video, with Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS. When I installed Vista, it recognized almost everything. It saw my video and installed a video driver, and also saw my dual tuner and installed the Angel II MPEG controller, but choked on my Sound Blaster Audigy card.
I did decide to go out to ATI and download their latest driver, and I was pleasantly surprised to see they had Vista drivers and they are brand new (5/26/2006). I downloaded and installed them just for good measure.
I went to Sound Blaster and they had Vista drivers, but they were for a previous build (5231 was the requirement). I downloaded them and proceeded to install them. Well the install choked so I had to reboot my machine, and from thereafter, the install would complain about the version of the OS.
I decided to go brute force since Vista did not want to let the Audio go, and since I could not play with the Media Center part of it until I had audio (it must be a feature that says that if there is no audio, then it really isn’t Media Center), this is what I did. I downloaded Winzip 10.0 and opened the Self Extractor exe of the Vista drivers for Sound Blaster, and extracted them to a folder. No sooner had I done that, and Vista found the driver in that directory and installed it successfully. I was off to the races, and Media Center worked.
I thought, well since I am going Beta, I might as well download Office 2007 Beta since I had heard that it had some features that were pretty cool. I cannot believe how much fun it is to use it now. In fact I am not looking forward to going back to Office 2003 on my tablet. If I did not need to use Send Personally to send mail, I would jump at it. It is fantastic. So the combination of Office 2007 and Windows Vista ROCK. I have had only 1 crash and after that it was pretty smooth sailing.
Well more on this later, and BTW: I will be at TechEd 2006 in Boston for those that are going. I will be hanging in the Community Lounge areas. Look me up.
I have been doing some work on a site and have come to the point of the BLL and DAL of the site. I had many ideas of how to do it and I have listened to many discussions about it on architecture lists and then I talked to my buddy Aaron Zupancic about this and found a post that he pointed me to about these things. This goes into the concept of using a delegate in the BLL to call into the DAL with the delegate to get the data out of a reader or whatever and the delegate will return the type, by either using a concrete type or a generic type.
I have not ever done this, but it is simplifying my code and I think it is an elegant solution as he indicates. Just thought I would point to his insight.
Just wanted to make sure that you all knew about this party. I wish I was going to be there.
Come to the hottest Party at TechED EMEA! Jimmy Woo, the top nightlife hot-spot in Amsterdam has been exclusively reserved for Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Office and MSDN, Dr. Dobbs and Software Development Magazines on Wednesday, 6th July from 20:00-23:00. Please join us for drinks and celebration. And don’t miss out on a chance to win a new Bike or a Microsoft cycling shirt! Visit the SQL Server, Office or CMP booths at TechEd to get your personal invitations. And if you missed last years SQL bash this is your one chance to find out what all the fuss was about!
SQL Server 2005/Visual Studio 2005/BizTalk 2006 Connected Systems Developer Competition
Do You Dare? Show the world what a great developer you are and have the chance to win $50,000 USD and a trip to the joint SQL Server 2005/Visual Studio 2005/Biztalk 2006 Launch event
The Connected Systems Developer Competition has now launched. If you are a developer who uses or needs an excuse to use SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 or BizTalk then you should take a look at this competition as a reason to write some code. Not only do you have the chance to win $50,000 USD but if you are among the 15 finalists, you will be invited to the joint SQL Server 2005/Visual Studio 2005/Biztalk 2006 Launch event as well as get huge recognition for your skills.
For those around the Utah area that are interested in a 1 day dive into Visual Studio or SQL Server 2005, this event is one that you do not want to miss. Details below.
Betas 2005 Unleashed
Microsoft has been working hard on the next generation of development tools and database technologies. Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 are two of the most anticipated technologies to be released by Microsoft this year. There are many changes in both Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 that promise to make it easier to develop high quality code. Come attend this day long event where we will drill down into some of the new technologies in both Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005. We will have two tracks that will cover the major features of each product.
Date: May 18th 2005 - 8.30 am - 5pm (registration and breakfast starts at 7.30)
Venue: Miller Free Enterprise Center (http://www.slcc.edu/miller/Buildings/Building3.htm)
SLCC-Miller Campus
9750 S 300 W
Sandy, UT 84070
Registration: Please register at the following link http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/eventdetail.aspx?culture=en-US&eventid=1032273553
Visual Studio .NET 2005 Track:
The release of Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework 2.0 will make strides in all dimensions of application development. Visual Studio 2005 will set a new bar for developer productivity by tailoring the software development experience to the needs of the individual developer. This "personalized productivity" will deliver features across the development environment and .NET Framework class libraries to help developers overcome their most pressing challenges in minimal time.
We have put together a comprehensive training for free to help our customers understand the power and value of Visual Studio 2005. This session will cover the core features of -
. Web Development Platform - ASP .NET 2.0
. Smart Client Development Platform - Windows Forms, Mobile Development
. Visual Studio Team System
SQL Server 2005 Track:
SQL Server 2005 is the most anticipated database release in Microsoft's history. With significant improvements in the areas of infrastructure, development, and business intelligence SQL Server 2005 represents a huge leap forward for a wide variety of applications.
As we get closer to the launch of SQL Server 2005, we want you to have a full appreciation for what this powerful platform can do for your database projects. As such, we've put together a free in-depth developer training event and invite you to take advantage of this opportunity.
. SQL Server Developer Platform - SQLCLR, TSQL Enhancements
. Business Intelligence Platform - Reporting Services, Analysis Services, Data Warehousing
. Infrastructure Platform - Availability, Management, Database Mirroring
I just wanted to point you to my personal blog at http://blog.benmiller.net as I have posted a Gallery for the pictures at http://blog.benmiller.net/gallery/6.aspx.
For personal things you can see them at the blog address above. I will still maintain both as this will have technical information on this one.
Check this out. http://msdn.microsoft.com/elearning/
First course is about Windows Server : Taking Advantage of 64-Bit Computing. This is your opportunity to take advantage of some Free Developer learning that is free and available 24/7. On that page there is a description of the courses and best of all, YOU COULD WIN SOME COOL PRIZES :-). Rules for the sweepstakes are on the site through a link.
Grand Prize Sony 50" Plasma WEGA High Definition TV ultimate home theater package
2nd Prize Nikon D70 SLR Digital Camera package
3rd Prize Bose Acoustic Wave 5-CD Music System
4th Prize Bose Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones
Now how is that for some cool prizes. Get out there now and take a course. This learning will cover some key new technologies in Visual Studio 2005. There will be more courses planned in the near future, but for now, go get involved. You deserve it.
Have a great day and go see the site for details.
Are you ready to experience SQL Server 2005?
Announcing the launch of the SQL Server 2005 Virtual Hands on labs. In these labs, you will get to experience many of the new features in SQL Server 2005 including CLR integration, XML support and deep business intelligence integration.
Just follow the link and experience SQL Server 2005 for yourself
Registration link:
http://msdn.demoservers.com/login.aspx?group=sql2005
