Sam Chenaur recently conducted an interview with Lennox Scott, Chairman and CEO of John L Scott Real Estate.  With the help of Dr. Neil Roodyn, Tricky Business, and Loke Uei Tan from the Windows Mobile team, John L Scott Real Estate agreed to build a Silverlight POC targeting the Windows Mobile platform. 

Here is some interesting information about John L. Scott Real Estate:

• John L. Scott Real Estate was founded in 1931 and is currently led by third generation chairman and CEO, J. Lennox Scott
• Closed over 44,000 real estate transactions in 2007
• Grossed 14.6 billion dollars in sales volume in 2007 making it the 4th most productive regional real estate company in the US
• 145 offices with over 4,300 sales associates located throughout Washington, Oregon, and Idaho
• Johnlscott.com receives over one million user visits a month producing over nine million listing views
• Currently ranked the 8th most productive real estate brokerage in the nation by RIS Media
• Currently ranked the 4th largest regional real estate company in the nation by REAL Trends
• Recipient of Inman Innovator Award for “Most Innovative Real Estate Company in the Nation”
• Every year the John L. Scott foundation contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars to sponsor events that help to raise millions of dollars for children's healthcare throughout the Pacific Northwest

Silverlight Mobile with John L Scott Real Estate

For more information on Silverlight 1.0 for Mobile visit: http://silverlight.net/learn/mobile.aspx

My good friend Denny Boynton, an architect evangelist from the midwest, recently interviewed Juval Lowy of iDesign on the topic of Interface Based Design. The interview has been posted to ARCast.tv.

ARCast.tv - Juval Lowy on Interface Based Design

Description

Should you use abstract classes or interfaces? What about WCF service contracts? Is the decision which one to use a design decision or a direct product of the technology at hand? Why is .NET allowing you such wide range of options, and why are other technologies (from COM to WCF) restricting you? In this ARCast, Juval Lowy will demystify these age-old questions and share his insight and perspective.

-bob

eWeek is reporting: Microsoft’s fastest-yet homegrown supercomputer, running the U.S. company's new Windows HPC Server 2008, debuted in the top 25 of the world's top 500 fastest supercomputers, as tested and operated by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

The supercomputer, built and maintained in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, ranked No. 23 in the world with a problem-solving performance of 68.5 teraflops. The announcement was made June 18 at the International Supercomputing conference in Dresden, Germany…

Read more on eWeek…

Watch the video

Download the PDF

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Simon Guest, Senior Director of the Platform Architecture team at Microsoft for Channel 9. We discussed his team, what they do and what content and events we can expect from Microsoft  for the architect community. You can view the video right here:

ArCast.TV - Simon Guest on Architecture at Microsoft

You can subscribe to the ARCast.TV program here.

-bob

It was great fun to visit Burlington, VT, Portland ME, Hartford CT, Waltham, MA and Rochester NY in our latest roadshow. Chris, Jim and I presented on LINQ, Office Development, Silverlight 2 and ASP.NET MVC.

Right in the middle of the roadshow tour, the Silverlight team released Silverlight 2 Beta 2. That threw me a bit of a curve ball since my Sounds Familiar application was built on Silverlight 2 Beta 1. As a result I had to do some quick updates to the application while on the road. As a result, I learned a lot about the Beta 1 to Beta 2 migration. For the background reading on my Silverlight Session, see my 4 part series on Silverlight 2. Some of the information there is now out of date based on the release of Beta 2, but most of it is still relevant.

Whenever you are an early adopter of new technology there is always the risk that the next beta will break your current work. That is to be expected. Now that we have reached beta 2, we have a go live license and so the risk of breaking changes happening between now and the final release has been much reduced. Check out what NBC is doing with Silverlight to provide on-line coverage of the summer Olympics. Also check out the Hard Rock Cafe Memorabilia site.

The biggest issue I ran into when migrating from Beta 1 to Beta 2 was adjusting the HTML and JavaScript that participated in the resolution independence aspect of my application. As a result I moved from using JavaScript to bootstrap the application to using the <OBJECT> tag. This actually simplified my host application which has now been trimmed down to a single HTML file and the XAP file that contains the Silverlight application. Check out the contents of the Default.html file in the project.

Another modification was a simplification of how to invoke a SOAP service. That went from 5 lines of code down to 3. Once you make the service reference, you will have a fully configured client proxy so there is no need to create and initialize an EndPointAddress() or a BasicHTTPHandler(). Those 2 steps are removed so you are left with (1) create the proxy, (2) configure the callback, (3) call the service:

ws = new SoundsFamiliarServiceClient();
ws.GetCDListCompleted += new EventHandler<GetCDListCompletedEventArgs>(GetCDListCompleted);
ws.GetCDListAsync();

Check out the MainWindow.xaml.cs file to review this code in context. My source code and PPTs are located in this SkyDrive folder:

If you are looking for Chris’ and Jim’s ppts and code, check out these links:

• Jim O’Neils roadshow recap
• Chris Bowen’s roadshow recap

For additional information on beta 2 and the changes between Beta 1 and Beta 2, check out these resources:

• Scott Guthrie’s Silverlight 2 Beta 2 post
• Breaking Changes Between Beta 1 and Beta 2
• What Changed from Beta 1 to Beta 2
• Upgrading from Beta 1 to Beta 2
• Details on the new networking features in Beta 2 including Duplex, JSONObject and tool support

See you in September – bob

The Heroes Happen Here event series has now come to a close. I was responsible for the Office Server System Development session, DEV003. I am now able to post my content from that session. Follow this link to download my PPT and and sample code:

The demos included are:

1. Word Action Pane

2. Excel Task Pane

3. Office Forms Region

  -bob

I attended TECH*ED 2008 last week in Orlando Florida. I was able to do several interviews with industry luminaries and influentials, architects all. Those video interviews are now showing up on the TECH*ED Online site.

My first interview was with Simon Guest, Senior Director of the Microsoft Platform Architecture Team. Simon leads a team that is doing some very interesting work creating online content for architects such as the Architect Journal, ARCast and events such as the Strategic Architect Forum (SAF). 

You can see my interview with Simon here.

Cilk Arts, Inc. is holding a seminar on Enabling your C++ applications to leverage Multi-Core x86 processors.

When is this unique event?  Friday, June 20 - 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Where is it being held? Microsoft Office, 201 Jones Road, Waltham, MA 02451

About this seminar
With an irreversible shift towards multicore x86 processors underway, in order to deliver competitive application performance, your application will soon need to be rewritten as parallel or multithreaded applications - which can be difficult, expensive, time-consuming, and error-prone. Join us for an informative briefing where you will hear about the key challenges facing software developers, review the programming tools and methodologies available today, and discover the key questions to ask when choosing a multithreading approach and toolset.

Register here to reserve your seat at this briefing.

Do you do technical presentations as part of your job? Do you speak at user groups or Code Camps? Well Chris Bowen has documented some of his most useful tips and tricks for technical presentations. -bob

Experience the Future of the Microsoft^® Platform

Since 1991, the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) has been Microsoft’s premier gathering of leading-edge developers and architects. Attend the PDC to understand the future of the Microsoft platform and to exchange ideas with fellow professionals. You’ll learn about upcoming products, meet Microsoft’s leaders and top engineers, write some code, and be inspired! Unplug for a few days and think about the future.

• Explore the full breadth of the Microsoft platform in more than 160 technical sessions
• Roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty, and explore the latest technology for yourself in the hands-on labs
• Attend a day-long pre-conference seminar to get deep training, best practices, and insightful advice from industry experts (*additional fee required).
• Take the opportunity to interact with your peers and Microsoft staff in a variety of community-focused events like Ask the Experts and in the PDC Lounges

In past years, the PDC has unveiled Microsoft .NET, Windows^® XP, Windows Vista^®, and other significant milestones in the evolution of the Microsoft platform. This year, you’ll hear more details about our services platform, the future of Windows, mobility, and our next generation of developer tools. And there are always a few surprises.

Visit the PDC2008 Site to learn more and to register.

I wanted to make you aware of a new architect group that is starting up here in the northeast. IASA is the premier association focused on the IT Architecture profession through education, advocacy, events and development of best practices. Microsoft is hosting the first IASA New England Chapter meeting on June 17^th at the new Microsoft office in Cambridge, MA.

Below are the details and logistics.

The New England chapter of IASA exists to provide a forum to established, practicing and emerging IT architects in the Boston and surrounding areas, for communication, learning, exchange of ideas, professional support and to contribute to the development of IT architecture as a profession.

On June 17^th, we will hold our very first meeting at the Microsoft Offices in Cambridge. Come join your fellow architects for some food, drink, conversation and a very interesting session on the topic of Software Factories.

Can current software engineering paradigms cope with increasing software complexity? Is it even possible to conceive of factory produced software - where software creation is a well defined and repeatable engineering process? Learn from the experts who are at the forefront of new developments.

Our speakers are experts in Software Factories, Patterns and Practices, Model Driven Development and Domain Specific Languages. Most importantly, they are actually applying and testing these approaches in the real world using the Microsoft Factory Initiative which is a natural evolution of the processes, tools and techniques that define software development best practices. Learn about the challenges that must be overcome to realize the Software Factory vision, and why it is so essential for the next leap in software engineering.

Agenda

5:00pm-6:00pm – Eat Drink and Talk Shop

6:00pm-6:15pm – IASA Overview and Goals of IASA New England

6:15pm-7:30pm – Introduction to Software Factories, John Slaby and Jezz Santos

7:30pm-8:00pm – Discuss our next meeting, suggestion for topics, wrap up

Software Factories - John Slaby of Raytheon and Jezz Santos of Microsoft

or I’d Rather Build Tools that Write Code than Write Plain Old Code

This presentation will provide an introduction to the Microsoft Software Factories initiative. As we examine the history of software engineering, we see Software Factories as a natural evolution of the processes, tools and techniques that define software development best practices. We will talk about the challenges that must be overcome to realize the Software Factory vision, and the motivations for why we believe this is an essential next step in an increasingly competitive business environment.

Meeting Logistics

June 17^th, 2008, 5pm to 8pm

Microsoft Office

One Memorial Drive

Cambridge, MA

Charles River Conference Room, First Floor

Click here to register

If you have any questions about this event or IASA New England, please contact the chapter officers at iasane@live.com.

p.s. there is a related Facebook Group for this chapter that you can join by visiting this link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26711674592

Microsoft Research has released the long awaited Worldwide Telescope. The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a visualization software environment that enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope—bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world for a seamless exploration of the universe.

Choose from a growing number of guided tours of the sky by astronomers and educators from some of the most famous observatories and planetariums in the country. Feel free at any time to pause the tour, explore on your own (with multiple information sources for objects at your fingertips), and rejoin the tour where you left off.

WorldWide Telescope is created with the Microsoft® high performance Visual Experience Engine™ and allows seamless panning and zooming around the night sky, planets, and image environments. View the sky from multiple wavelengths: See the x-ray view of the sky and zoom into bright radiation clouds, and then crossfade into the visible light view and discover the cloud remnants of a supernova explosion from a thousand years ago. Switch to the Hydrogen Alpha view to see the distribution and illumination of massive primordial hydrogen cloud structures lit up by the high energy radiation coming from nearby stars in the Milky Way. These are just two of many different ways to reveal the hidden structures in the universe with the WorldWide Telescope. Seamlessly pan and zoom from aerial views of the Moon and selected planets, as well as see their precise positions in the sky from any location on Earth and any time in the past or future with the Microsoft Visual Experience Engine.

WWT is a single rich application portal that blends terabytes of images, information, and stories from multiple sources over the Internet into a seamless, immersive, rich media experience. Kids of all ages will feel empowered to explore and understand the universe with its simple and powerful user interface.

Microsoft Research is dedicating WorldWide Telescope to the memory of Jim Gray and is releasing WWT as a free resource to the astronomy and education communities with the hope that it will inspire and empower people to explore and understand the universe like never before.

Download WorldWide Telescope

] in-between [ weekend, June 7/8, Orlando Convention Center

Attending Tech-Ed and looking for something to do ‘inbetween’ the two Tech-Eds?  Or just looking for a really great, free, community driven event for the weekend down in Florida?

The Florida Microsoft Community has secured Orange County Convention Center in Orlando (where TechEd is being held) for a giant community mega-event on June 7 and 8.  There’s .NET Code Camp plus SQL Saturday plus ITPro Camp all rolled into one.  And that’s just Saturday.  On Sunday we’ve got all day tracked learning in SQL, Office Communication Server, .NET Framework 3.5, Biztalk, Sharepoint, Visual Studio Team System, DotNetNuke, and more. 

Russ Fustino will also be spearheading an all day Toolshed session as well.  In addition to the learning, we’ll have OpenSpace lightning talks, MCSD/MCAD exam crams, discount certification testing, MCT training, and some extra special surprises. 

For more information go to http://www.devfish.net/articles/inbetween .  Register for an event on Saturday, and one on Sunday, and we’re good to go. 

The Northeast Roadshow

We're at it again!  It's time to pack our laptops and gear to head out across the northeast for our fifth Roadshow!  Only this time, you're getting three of us for the price of, well, zero - the events are free after all...  Jim O'Neil, our new colleague here in the northeast, is joining Bob and me as we set out to tour various cities, bringing you deep developer and architect content.  And some giveaways as well, of course. 

What's the Roadshow?

Starting with our first one in March of 2007, the Roadshow is our chance to head out to various parts of the northeast to reach the broader community.  In these free full-day events, we bring you deep technical content including not just the "how to", but also discussion of why and when you may consider technology and practices.  We're also hugely entertaining, especially when failing to hit our marks as we throw things into the audience.

Where?  When?

• May 22 - Williston, VT

• May 28 - Westbrook, ME

• May 29 - Waltham, MA

• June 10 - Rochester, NY

• June 12 - Farmington, CT**

How?

Register today (venue details and links below) - it's free - and join us for a relaxed day of low-fluff, high-signal content for developers and architects!

Note that some cities consistently hit capacity, so don't wait to register.

The Agenda:

8:30-9:00 AM -  Registration

9:00-10:25 AM - The Strongest LINQ - The Sequel (SQL and Entities)

Our story began with the previous Roadshow, where a tale of C# and VB language enhancements led us to an appreciation for how LINQ works.  Now another story  unfolds, featuring practical details of how LINQ to SQL and LINQ to Entities can make your life better as a developer and architect.  We'll quickly get you up to speed with the foundations of LINQ, then dive deeply into the specific applications of LINQ for use with databases.  Besides the how-to details of LINQ to SQL and the Entity Framework, we'll also share practical insights for adoption strategies, performance optimization, and maintainability.  The slide-and-code-based equivalent of a real page turner!

10:25-10:35 AM - We'll put a bookmark in the content so you can take a break

10:35 AM -12:00 PM - Leveraging .NET in the Office

In this overview of Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) with Visual Studio 2008, Jim will show how you can leverage your .NET skills to bring additional customized functionality to the Microsoft Office suite of products.   We'll look at integrating custom actions in the Microsoft Word Ribbon control , creating form regions in Outlook, and extending existing VBA investments in Excel.  With sample code galore, you can be a hero in your own office as you integrate and standardize your business's unique processes and requirements into those very familiar Office applications your colleagues and staff use day in and day out.

12:00-12:45 PM - All this talk has made us hungry.  Lunch!

12:45-2:10 PM -  The Architecture of RIA - The Silverlight 2 Story

In this session, we'll take a look at the current state of RIA (Rich Internet Application) development leveraging Silverlight 2.0.  We'll focus on the architecture of RIA's, using XAML for user interface layout and design, WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) for Web Services, Visual Studio 2008 and Expression Blend for the design/development environment and Windows Server 2008/IIS 7 as the deployment environment.  Hmm, all of that in one session?  Even we aren't sure it's going to fit... pre reading for this session is here.

2:10-2:20 PM - Time to relax and consider your architecture options

2:20-3:45 PM - ASP.NET's Model View Controller (MVC) - What's All the Fuss About?

It's everywhere you look: blogs, magazines, the backs of cereal boxes.  You may recall reading something about it in that "Gang of Four" book, but you're not entirely sure.  What is it?  MVC!  In this session, we'll dive into the world of ASP.NET's Model View Controller (MVC) implementation.  What the MVC pattern is, how it can clearly separate concerns, improve control over published URLs and HTML, where it might make your life easier, and of course, plenty of code showing how to use it with your websites.  You'll end the day with the background necessary to confidently stride into technology discussions and boldly say "M-V-C".

3:45-4:00 PM -  Wrap-up, giveaways, and a fond farewell

Register

See you on the road!

-Bob

Today Microsoft unveiled RoboChamps, a simulated robotics league that is open to academics, hobbyists and developers from around the world, that demonstrates the power of the Microsoft platform to enable a broad range of developers to explore new ways to use .NET for robotics programming.

RoboChamps is built on top of the Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio(MSRDS) 2008 CTP, and uses that product’s robust, physics enabled simulation environment to remove the barriers of entry that exist for many today. This simulated league provides individuals with immersive 3D environments, simulated versions of robots, and compelling scenario-specific challenges where they can win real robots.

More information:

• Channel 9 video
• .NET Rocks Podcast
• On10.net video