Architecture + Strategy : Events

Best Party at PDC09! Free Registration!

dachou — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:18:25 GMT

The Underground @ PDC 2009
CONGA ROOM | L.A. LIVE
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009 | 7:00PM to 1:00AM

See the future of Developer Technology at The Underground @ PDC 2009, sponsored by INETA, Microsoft and local Southern California partners.

The Underground will showcase the vision and roadmap of Microsoft’s Developer Platform and highlight newly released technical strategy & announcements direct from The Professional Developers Conference by Microsoft leaders and local community luminaries. Located at the world famous Conga Room in the new downtown Los Angeles’ entertainment district – L.A. LIVE, come to one of the hottest salsa destinations and experience the hip, exciting, authentic Latin Sabor!

Don't miss:

Feature Keynote, Scott Guthrie, Corporate Vice President, .NET Developer Platform
Newly released PDC 2009 announcements & technology roadmap
Network with hundreds of local developers, architects, designers & community
Signature savory pan Latin cusine & cocktails provided by the legendary Wolfgang Puck Catering
Chance to win prizes including: Windows Mobile Devices, XBOX System, Zune HDs & More

To register, visit http://undergroundatpdc.com/eventReg.aspx and use RSVP code: “wcqjrw”. Hope to see you there!

Architect Council | 2010: A Cloud Odyssey

dachou — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:39:00 GMT

The forecast for 2010 is looking very cloudy, with every technology company delivering some type of cloud offering, and analysts estimating that almost everyone will try some form of cloud computing. But from a practical stand point, how should organizations leverage cloud computing effectively? Is it to simply host existing and legacy assets somewhere else, or to create next-generation applications that enable differentiated capabilities? In addition, what role does SOA play in the age of cloud computing? And does this impact the way we manage and interact with data?

Facilitated by Microsoft, the premise of this half-day event is to provide an open forum where architects can meet to discuss technologies and insights with peers. This forum will provide first-hand experiences and best practices intended to help the community to collectively discover and generate knowledge. Please join us for this opportunity to learn, share and network with your peers and other thought leaders.

Event Summary

Provide a clear and profound understanding of Microsoft’s cloud strategy and roadmap, and latest updates on the Windows Azure Platform
Discuss the state of SOA, and its relevance in the age of cloud computing
Review case studies and models of cloud usage, and examine approaches to build next-generation capabilities leveraging the cloud
Explore trade-offs, best practices, and guidance on today’s myriad of data storage options
Explain the differences and patterns of using various data interaction frameworks

Who Should Attend

Technology and business stakeholders, including CTOs, CIOs, VPs, Directors, Program and Product Managers, Architects, Lead Engineers, and IT Managers

When & Where

12/01/09: Irvine, CA

12/02/09: Los Angeles, CA

12/03/09: Phoenix, AZ

12/08/09: Mountain View, CA

12/09/09: San Francisco, CA

12/10/09: Seattle, WA

12/15/09: Denver, CO

How to Attend

This is a FREE event; only an online registration is required. Please follow the links on the event page at http://blogs.msdn.com/sac/pages/council-2009q4.aspx

Architect Cafe | November 2009 Series | Online Webcasts

dachou — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:08:39 GMT

November 24, 2009 at 11:00am – 12:30pm PST
An Architect’s perspective on Silverlight 3
Tim Heuer
Many .NET developers are becoming more and more interested in the Rich Internet Application development space, and in particular Silverlight. In this session we will step back from a detailed implementation technology and take a higher level look at Silverlight from the architect’s perspective. We will discuss the types of applications where Silverlight makes sense and some scenarios where Silverlight may not be the appropriate technology. We will also delve into some of the architectural decisions that the architect must consider when writing applications for this platform and where some of the tradeoffs may lie.

Link to Register: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032432980&Culture=en-US

November 25, 2009, 11:00am – 12:30pm PST
Cloud-computing architecture – designing multi-tenant applications on Windows Azure
Joseph Hofstader
Cloud computing is one of the hottest topics in information technology today. With all the confusion surrounding acronyms ending in ‘aas’ like Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) it can be intimidating for even seasoned IT professionals. This presentation will briefly discuss the different types of cloud platforms and then address one of the key business scenarios for the cloud: Software as a Service.
Software as a Service is a business model for making applications available over the Internet. One of the key tenets of SaaS is multi-tenancy, or software designed to be used by multiple parties. Designing SaaS applications touches on many of the technologies that comprise the Azure platform: Processing, Storage, Workflow, Database and most importantly security. This presentation will discuss how each of technologies can be utilized to define a flexible architecture for multi-tenant solutions.

Link to Register: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032432981&Culture=en-US

For session recordings and content from the November 2009 series, please visit http://blogs.msdn.com/sac/pages/cafe-2009-11.aspx.

For information on other events part of the Architect Cafe series, please visit http://blogs.msdn.com/sac/pages/architect-cafe.aspx.

CloudCamp Los Angeles

dachou — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:03:16 GMT

I had the opportunity to speak at the CloudCamp Los Angeles event last week. It had a turnout of more than 200 people (223 registered attendees on eventbrite). We also had nice support from the local Microsoft team, including Daniel Egan, Woody Pewitt, Lynn Langit, and Jason Campbell. Many of our friends also turned up, such as David Pullman from Neudesic.

Similar to the CloudCamp Las Vegas event I also spoke at, the attendees brought many different perspectives and questions about cloud computing. Questions ranged from “what is cloud computing”, “what does cloud computing mean in business terms”, to really specific questions such as security, management, and how to design applications that can achieve both scale and availability (while not sacrificing much data consistency).

I did one of the 5-minute lightning talks at the start of the CloudCamp unconference. The deck I used is shown below.

Microsoft Cloud Lightning Talk at CloudCamp Los Angeles -

Lastly, just want to take the opportunity to list available learning resources, which also shows how anyone can deploy an application and provision a website in Windows Azure Platform in a matter of minutes.

GET a free Windows Azure CTP account in minutes

JOIN the Azure Community

Talk Azure with your local user group colleagues

LEARN more about Azure

Download the Azure Training Kit
View a 15 minute screencast on deploying your first app in Azure
Check out the Azure “How do I…” Videos
View Azure Webcasts
Sample Projects; search for “Azure”
Code Samples & Snippets; search for Azure
What is Software-plus-Services

Architect Innovation Cafe – Free Online Webcast Series for IT Architects

dachou — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:26:09 GMT

Each month through June 2010 (usually during the last week of each month), we’ll bring you a 90-minute Architect focused Webcast to educate on the latest trends/topics and how new technologies can align with your business needs.

Each webcast is also recorded, with content available for download. You can find all of the webcasts listed at http://blogs.msdn.com/sac/pages/architect-cafe.aspx.

Silverlight 3 FireStarter | Thursday 2009.09.17 | Redmond, WA or Online

dachou — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:39:17 GMT

The FREE Silverlight 3 Firestarter sessions in Redmond, WA and available as online webcasts on Thursday September 17th include a keynote from Scott Guthrie and presentations from Tim Heuer, Brad Abrams, Karl Shifflett and other Microsoft community leaders. You'll learn what's new and noteworthy in the latest releases of Silverlight and Expression 3. We'll also give you a rundown on .NET RIA services, toolkit, and more.

AGENDA:

TIME	SESSION	SPEAKERS
8:45am – 9:00am	Event Kick Off	Mithun Dhar
9:00am – 10:00am	Keynote	Scott Guthrie
10:00am – 11:00am	Key Silverlight Scenarios	Tim Heuer
11:00am – 11:15am	Break
11:15am – 12:15pm	Expression 3 Overview (Includes Behaviors)	Janete Perez
12:15pm – 1:00pm	Lunch Break
1:00pm – 1:30pm	Sketch Flow	Shawn Oster
1:30pm – 2:30pm	Toolkit & Controls	Justin Angel, Shawn Oster
2:30pm – 3:30pm	RIA Services	Brad Abrams
3:30pm – 3:45pm	Break
3:45pm – 4:30pm	Building Silverlight UIs with XAML Power Toys	Karl Shifflett
4:30pm – 5:00pm	Q & A Panel	All Speakers

LIVE EVENT (Redmond, WA) | REGISTER >>
LIVE WEBCAST | REGISTER >>

For more information or to register, visit:www.msdnevents.com/firestarter
OR CALL 1-877-MSEVENT

Architect Council | Innovation is the Name of the Game

dachou — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:18:18 GMT

Adverse times are also best times for innovation! Choosing the right battles to fight, and reinventing ourselves with less resources are par for the course today. However, not all innovation needs to be revolutionary or transformative. In fact, in the current economic crisis, opportunities for innovation can be found in aspects of our core competencies, and implemented as incremental and iterative changes.

For this series of Architect Council LIVE WEBCASTS on August 24 and 25, 2009, we will discuss two of the many ways architects can innovate by recognizing the impact to architects, and learning how to effectively leverage cloud computing beyond just another place to host existing assets.

Role of the Architect in Turbulent Times – August 24, 2009
Miha Kralj – Architect, Microsoft

A Closer Look at an Internet Service Bus – August 25, 2009
Clemens Vasters – Principal Technical Lead .NET Services, Microsoft

For more details and registration, please visit http://blogs.msdn.com/sac/pages/council-2009-08.aspx

Architect Council | Pragmatic Patterns for Architects

dachou — Wed, 27 May 2009 06:03:43 GMT

“Cloud computing will supersede traditional IT”, “SOA will enable business agility”, “my way or the highway”, etc. We’ve all heard this type of proclamations before, as many look to the “next big things” in technology to exact sweeping changes and solve many issues; truth is, technologies and tools aren’t as instrumental in influencing progress, as the design and discipline in applying them to specific issues. When used appropriately, technologies and tools can be powerful enablers that bring about change.

To address this, and trying to be a bit more green, our team is hosting a series of live webcasts at noon PST on June 9th – 11th, 2009, which will focus on guidance and patterns for some of today’s hottest topics. Just another excuse to have lunch at your desk (if your time zone is nearby)! :)

Patterns for Moving to the Cloud – June 9
Larry Clarkin & Wade Wegner

Building Silverlight & WPF Applications with Prism – June 10
David Hill

Patterns for Parallel Computing – June 11
David Chou

For more details and registration, please visit http://blogs.msdn.com/sac/pages/council-2009q2.aspx

Free WPF Training in Los Angeles on 4/24-25 and Phoenix on 6/26-27

dachou — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 02:14:42 GMT

Overview

This two day training is designed to teach developers how to create Line of Business (LOB) applications using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

Day One is an introduction to the WPF graphics subsystem, the tools used to build WPF applications, and the core UI services: styling, data binding, templating, layout and input-
The second day begins with interop (Windows Forms and Win32) and then quickly dives into LOB topics, including building applications using the Model-View-ViewModel pattern, creating unit testable applications, implementing data validation, and error handling.
After completion, attendees will have a solid understanding of WPF, its advantages over other Microsoft UI platforms, and how to use the M-V-VM pattern to create great WPF LOB applications.

Dates, Locations, and Logistics

Los Angeles, CA | 4/24-25 | To register: www.msregistration.com/wpflobLA

Phoenix, AZ | 6/26-27 | To register: www.msregistration.com/wpflobAZ

Registration tips:
If you are not a partner or don't know if you are:
When asked "are you registered" select No. Select "Visiting partner" under Partner Level.
Get creative on the Partner Type; if in doubt, we are all "System builders"
Note that registration links with * are not active today (4/2). Sorry for inconvenience, they will all be active in next few days. We blogged all at once to avoid people flying from say St. Louis to LA when they could have driven to Chicago. We wanted you to know what was coming.

Format

Instructor-led training from 9 AM to 5:30 PM. 15 minute breaks every couple hours. 45 minutes lunch around mid-day.
Food: Breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks are provided.

Cost

The training is FREE! You do need to register prior to the event, but there is no cost. You can register for one or two days. Registration is first-come-first serve, sign-up as early as possible to reserve your spot!

Agenda

Day One:

Lap Around WPF
WPF Tools ( Blend, Visual Studio 2008)
Graphics Subsystem
Layout
WPF Fundamentals and new concepts
- Application Model
- Dependency Properties
- Trees (logical & visual)
- Events
- Threading
- Resources
Controls
Styling
Templating
Q&A with instructors at end of day

Day Two:

WPF integration with Win32 and Windows Forms
Data binding
Introduction to Model-View-ViewModel
Commanding in M-V-VM
Views, Navigation and Transitions
Data Validation
Error handling, Model dialogs, Logging
Unit Testing
MVVM & LOB tips and tricks
Q&A with the instructors

About the instructors
Karl Shifflett is a software architect, former Microsoft MVP, current Code Project MVP and MCAD from Bellevue, Washington. He is currently working for Microsoft on the Cider Team as a Program Manager II. He has been designing & developing business applications since 1989 and transitioned to .NET in March of 2003. In April of 2007 he joined the list of WPF and Microsoft Expression fanatics & evangelists. He is a member of Team Mole that delivered Mole Visualizer For Visual Studio to the world. He is the author to XAML Power Toys and loves WPF LOB. Karl’s Blog: http://karlshifflett.wordpress.com/

Jaime Rodriguez is a Senior Technical Evangelist at Microsoft. He focuses on WPF and Silverlight. For the last four years, he has helped a lot of enterprises and ISVs adopt WPF in large scale, mission critical, projects.
Jaime has been doing software development for fifteen years. Prior to Microsoft, he worked at Xerox, HP, Cerner and GeoAccess. He joined Microsoft 9 years ago, he spent the first four years as an Enterprise Architect Consultant in Microsoft Services, and the last five he has been a client evangelist covering Windows Forms, WPF and Silverlight. Jaime’s blog is at http://blogs.msdn.com/jaimer.

Best practices for development using Visual Studio – free events

dachou — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:50:21 GMT

Team System “Big Event”

How do you take an idea from conception to completion? How can you truly do more with less?

Please join us for this unique, invitation-only event to discover how both product and processes help your organization succeed in today’s environment. We will explore how Team System assists teams across the board to be successful in today’s tough times. This “break through” event will not only provide you with best practices around development and testing, but will demonstrate key capabilities of both Visual Studio Team System 2008 and the upcoming 2010 release. It’s a day that promises to have something for everyone!

SESSIONS

Test Driven Development: Improving .NET Application Performance & Scalability

This session will demonstrate how to leverage Test Driven Development in Team System. We’ll highlight both writing unit tests up front as well as creating test stubs for existing code.

"It Works on My Machine!" Closing the Loop Between Development & Testing

In this session, we will examine the traditional barriers between the developer and tester; and how Team System can help remove those walls.

Treating Databases as First-Class Citizens in Development

Team System Database Edition elevates database development to the same level as code development. See how Database Edition enables database change management, automation, comparison, and deployment.

Architecture without Big Design Up Front

Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2010 Architecture Edition, introduces new UML designers, use cases, activity diagrams, sequence diagrams that can visualize existing code, layering to enforce dependency rules, and physical designers to visualize, analyze, and refactor your software. See how VSTS extends UML logical views into physical views of your code. Learn how to create relationships from these views to work items and project metrics, how to extend these designers, and how to programmatically transform models into patterns for other domains and disciplines.

Development Best Practices & How Microsoft Helps

Sometimes development teams get too bogged down with the details. Take a deep breath, step back, and re-acquaint yourself with a review of current development best practice trends, including continuous integration, automation, and requirements analysis; and see how Microsoft tools map to those practices.

"Bang for Your Buck" Getting the Most out of Team Foundation Server

Today’s IT budgets are forcing teams to do as much as they can with as little as possible. Why not leverage Team Foundation Server to its full potential? In this session we’ll highlight some capabilities of TFS that you may or may not already know about to help you maximize productivity.

REGISTRATION

Register for a date & location near you!

Welcome: 8:00 AM

Seminar: 8:30 AM-5:00 PM

April 22, 2009 - Denver, CO

Click here to register with invitation code: DD1A7F.

April 28, 2009 - Mountain View, CA

Click here to register with invitation code: 80D459.

April 30, 2009 - Irvine, CA

Click here to register with invitation code: A86389.

May 5, 2009 - Portland, OR

Click here to register with invitation code: 2DC0A9.

May 7, 2009 - Phoenix, AZ

Click here to register with invitation code: 90BC47.

To Register by Phone – Call 1.877.MSEVENT (1.877.673.8368) with invitation code.

Agile development with Scrum – free events

dachou — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:36:43 GMT

A Day in the Life of Scrum with Visual Studio Team System 2008 and Team Foundation Server

Please join Microsoft and Neudesic for a day in the life of Scrum with Visual Studio Team System 2008 and Team Foundation Server! Agile methods are a set of development processes intended to create software in a lighter, faster, more people-centric way. Many development teams have adopted "agile" methodologies to manage change and to improve software quality. These methodologies promote continuous integration as a practice to build and test software products incrementally as new features are included, bugs are fixed, and code is re-factored.

If you missed the first series of Agile & Scrum Essentials last fall; here’s your chance to attend the follow-on event where we’ll briefly revisit the basics of Agile and Scrum and provide a walkthrough of how to configure Visual Studio Team System 2008 and Team Foundation Server for Scrum. Participants will be familiarized with how key artifacts are managed within this popular process template for enacting Scrum in organizations.

Join us for this interactive event as we explore a “day in the life of a Sprint,” that will give you a practical perspective of how Scrum teams leverage Visual Studio Team System for end to end management of the planning, execution and control of Scrum projects. The day will end with an overview of what’s coming in Visual Studio Team System 2010!

Register for a date & location near you

Welcome: 8:30 AM
Seminar: 9:00 AM-4:30 PM

To Register by Phone –
Call 1.877.MSEVENT (1.877.673.8368) with invitation code.

April 2, 2009 - Bellevue, WA
Click here to register with invitation code: 46F263.

June 4, 2009 - Denver, CO
Click here to register with invitation code: 02B7F8.

April 9, 2009 - Portland, OR
Click here to register with invitation code: ED7794.

April 7, 2009 - Salt Lake City, UT
Click here to register with invitation code: FF5466.

April 14, 2009 - San Diego, CA
Click here to register with invitation code: 1A8639.

April 15, 2009 - Irvine, CA
Click here to register with invitation code: 808B1B.

April 16, 2009 - Los Angeles, CA
Click here to register with invitation code: A61EB4.

Microsoft Enterprise Developer and Industry Solutions Conference 2009 (May 5 and 6: NYC)

dachou — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:50:00 GMT

Please join us for the 7th annual Microsoft Enterprise Developer and Industry Solutions Conference 2009 where you will learn about solutions in Microsoft technologies relevant to the Financial Services and Health & Life Sciences industries, as well as hear about the latest advancements in major industries. This two day event will be held in New York City on May 5th and 6th.

The content is tailored for developers, architects, business decision makers, and technology decision makers in large enterprise organizations a clear roadmap of the Microsoft development platform. We will give specific examples of real world solutions using the best of breed technology to bring you from where you are today, to where you will be tomorrow. This is the only conference that will show case enterprise customer solutions directly from the mouth of developers that work in the enterprise industry space as well hear from Microsoft and their partners on topics such as Cloud Computing, Application Lifecycle Management and User Experience.

Who Should Attend?

Developers, Architects, Business Decision Makers, CIOs, CTOs, Development Managers and Technical Decision Makers.

Registration

Accommodations:

For your convenience, a block of rooms has been reserved at the Marriott Marquis at a rate of $299. You are responsible for your own reservations which can be made by calling (212) 398-1900 or 1-800-843-4898 to receive the discounted rate. Be sure to reference the Microsoft Enterprise Developer & Industry Solution Conference

Marriott Marquis Hotel

New York, NY

Conference attendance is FREE. Breakfast and lunch for both days is provided as well as a welcome reception on the first night of the event. You are responsible for all other travel and hotel expenses.

Click on the picture below to see a live demonstration of Microsoft Surface

Silverlight 3, Windows 7, Touch and Gesture Computing, etc. – Values of Software Clients (Live Events and Webcast)

dachou — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 20:22:00 GMT

Architect Council | The Importance of the Client

Over the last couple of years, there has been a lot of innovation around technologies that make it easier for the end user of an application to interact with systems. These innovations have been a boon for the end user because it has provided them a more natural interface with systems that span the web, computer, and phone. However, this has caused the complexity of systems architecture and development to increase. The focus of this session will be on how to prepare and manage this complexity within your organization.

Facilitated by Microsoft, the premise of this event is to provide an open forum where architects can meet to discuss technologies with their peers. This forum will provide first-hand experience and best practices that will enable its members to learn from each other and transfer knowledge. Please join us for this great opportunity to learn, share and network with your peers and other company leaders.

EVENT SUMMARY

The Value of the Client – In the past, the choice of how an end user interacts with an application has been dictated by IT and often without regards to the usage. Recently, as the population has become more tech savvy and are experiencing interactions on the web, computer, and the phone their expectations have increased tremendously. Many organizations now have to support multiple standards and technologies to accommodate their user base. We will discuss the opportunities and challenges this presents.

The Changing Face of the Web – The web has changed from a static collection of data to an application platform. In many cases, JavaScript and AJAX have enhanced the experience to enable more advance application scenarios. In other cases, the Rich Internet Application using technologies such as Silverlight and Flash can bring the experience to a new level. In this session we will discuss the web and in particular the investments Microsoft is making in this technology.

Creating Powerful Applications on Computers and Devices – The web has been a boon to application development and deployment, but it doesn’t always fit every scenario. There are certain classes of applications which provide a better experience when running on a device and utilizing local hardware. The ubiquity of the mobile device has also extended the expectations of users with anytime/anywhere access.

The Future of the Client – The pace of change in client technologies over the past few years has been tremendous and is expected to continue to evolve. From support of new device types such as tables and walls, to continued improvements in interactions on the web, client, and the phone the client will become more and more important from a technology perspective and more strategic to the organization.

AGENDA

12:45 PM Open for Dial-in & Announcements

01:00 PM The Value of the Client

01:45 PM The Changing Face of the Web

02:45 PM Creating Powerful Applications on Computers and Devices

03:45 PM The Future of the Client

04:15 PM Raffle and Close

REGISTER

To register, please select a date/venue below.

March 31, 2009 | Online Webcast

Registration Link: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032408787&Culture=en-US

Event ID: 1032408787 *Referral code not required to register.*

April 1, 2009 | Irvine, CA

Microsoft Corporation

3 Park Plaza, Suite 1600

Irvine California 92614

Registration Link: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032399665&Culture=en-US

Event ID: 1032399665 *Referral code not required to register.*

April 2, 2009 | Los Angeles, CA

Microsoft Corporation

333 S. Grand Ave, 33rd Floor

Los Angeles California 90071

Registration Link: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032404032&Culture=en-US

Event ID: 1032404032 *Referral code not required to register.*

Internet Explorer 8 “FireStarter” Event | Mar 26th 2009

dachou — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 04:02:00 GMT

On Thursday, March 26, 2009 - Microsoft is hosting a day long free training event for all Developers and IT Pro’s interested in learning more about Internet Explorer 8. You can read about the speaker line up, sessions and get a feel for the agenda by registering for the event.

Note that this event will be broadcasted online as well. So, if you are not in Redmond, you can watch the entire event online via Live Meeting. Be sure to register for the Online version. All the sessions will be recorded and made available post event.

Register to Attend In-Person (Redmond, WA): http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032406308&Culture=en-US

Register to Watch the event online: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032408665&Culture=en-US

For more details, you can contact Mithun Dhar (Developer Evangelist)

We look forward to seeing you at the event!

Cloud Computing and Azure Presentation at South Bay .NET User Group

dachou — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:24:30 GMT

I had the privilege of speaking to the community at the South Bay .NET User Group again, on March 12, 2009; onsite at the Honda campus in Torrance, California. Thanks to everyone who made the time to attend!

For those who are interested, the slide decks I used can be found via the links below.