August 2005 - Posts

My Tech Ed presentation is now available for download
31 August 05 08:22 AM

I've just put my presentation from Tech Ed up on my website for downloading. The presentation was ".Net Compact Framework - a platform on the move" and covered the following topics: What is the .Net Compact Framework and why do we have it .Net CF Momentum Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

Tech Ed Day three - nearly done
31 August 05 04:36 AM

Tech Ed has bee pretty good this year. I've enjoyed it so far. I'm currently preparing for another conference tomorrow (no time to rest). It's been very busy, but it's been great catching up with lots of people I've worked with over the last five to ten Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

Tech Ed - first half of day 1
29 August 05 03:47 AM

Tech Ed 2005 is underway. We've been busy this morning ensuring people know where to go for their sessions. The MSDN Connection lounge is looking great. We've got four XBoxes and a variety of games. The XBox consoles are networked and we have three copies Read More...

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Tech Ed - want to see what's going on?
27 August 05 02:00 AM

I'll be blogging on my personal blog during Tech Ed. Why? MSN Spaces supports easy upating via email. I can take a photo, and blog it using email which means I dont have to have my laptop on me all the time. I know there are blogging tools like Kevins Read More...

Postedby dburling | 1 Comments    

MSN on Social Networking
27 August 05 01:48 AM

The MSN team have apparently been working on social networking features for MSN Messenger, Spaces, Hotmail, etc. I dont know the details, but I'm hoping for something like LinkedIn meets Messenger ... If thats the case I think we may need a new limit Read More...

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Tech Ed - come to the lounge!
25 August 05 04:51 AM

We've been busy over the last few weeks getting ready for Tech Ed. Nigel has been particularly busy organizaing the venue, speakers and content and has just posted what may be his last update before Tech Ed... We are going to have a MSDN Connection Lounge Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

Want to work in DPE for Microsoft New Zealand?
24 August 05 10:22 AM

We have three positions vacant. Probably all in Auckland. The roles are: Architect Evangelist (or Advisor) Developer Tools specialist Academic Developer Evangelist (or advisor) The Academic DE is actually an intern position. Sean has all the details here Read More...

Postedby dburling | 1 Comments    

On FireAnt, Atlas and AJAX
24 August 05 12:56 AM

Omar Shahine has written a really interesting peice about the plumbing behind the new hotmail beta. Its a great window in to the architectural and development approaches inside Microsoft, and inside MSN as well. Key points I saw: The new Hotmail system Read More...

Postedby dburling | 2 Comments    

Visual Studio 2005 nearing Release Candidate
23 August 05 06:22 AM

Somasegar has written a great blog post that tells us where the Visual Studio family is at. The August CTP is coming soon September see the first Release Candidate released Team Foundation Server Beta 3 will be released at the same time as the VS RC Team Read More...

Postedby dburling | 1 Comments    

Want to learn VS2005? Here is a list of resources
23 August 05 01:26 AM

A week or so ago Nigel posted a long list of learning resources on his blog. Now we've put all these resources together and hosted them on the MSDN New Zealand website. The list can be found at http://www.microsoft.co.nz/LearnVS2005 Read More...

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XBox 360 Pricing announced
22 August 05 11:46 PM

Last week Microsoft announced XBox 360 pricing . You may have already heard this, but I only just heard it so I thought I'd write it up while I'm thinking of it. The long and the short of it is that the base unit will sell for US$299 and the premium edition Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

Blogging and RSS Report - Really interesting reading!
22 August 05 09:39 AM

The spaces guys linked to this (apparently lots of people have already linked to it before me, but who cares) really interesting Neilsons report that gives some figures for blog sites, parent companies and RSS usage. The report is really interesting. Read More...

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NZ Tech Ed Geek Run
22 August 05 09:16 AM

Chris and I have been scheming a run together on the Saturday before Tech Ed . If you are interested in tagging along, Chris has just posted the details to his blog including a calendar entry for easy integration into Outlook. If you are fast - you will Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

How to kill a community
22 August 05 03:50 AM

I was looking at the inquirer (which is unusual for me) and saw this article that talks about an organization called "Linux Australia" that has been commissioned to get companies that are using the Linux name to pay AU$5000 to continue using it. Huh? Read More...

Postedby dburling | 12 Comments    

LS800 Reviewed
21 August 05 11:33 PM

Craig has put his review of the tiny new Motion LS800 Tablet up. It looks good ! Read More...

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Navman triples profit
21 August 05 11:30 PM

Navman is New Zealands biggest ISV. Their FY04 earnings were reported in the Dom this morning. And it was a very good year. Well done guys! Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

VS2005 Team System on Virtual PC - free order!
19 August 05 04:06 AM

This has actually been around for a while but I never blogged about it - its been a quiet NZ release :-) If you wanted to try Visual Studio 2005 Team System but could never get it going on your own machine - or dont have the time to get it going, you Read More...

Postedby dburling | 3 Comments    

How to succeed at Microsoft
19 August 05 12:46 AM

Frank forwarded this article that Josh Ledgard blogged which is a great bunch of tips from his five (now plus) years of service at Microsoft. Great tips! Read More...

Postedby dburling | 2 Comments    

Hey - whats this feedback link?
19 August 05 12:23 AM

Duh - I just discovered the feedback link. If you've left a comment in the past and wondered why it wasn't published when others where - here's the answer! I've had auto publish on for users who have an account and it's been on "moderate" for anonymous Read More...

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Tiny new tablet
18 August 05 11:39 PM

I had coffee with Craig Pringle this morning. Craig runs the Tablet PC user group in Wellington. He had this really nice little tablet on him - the new Motion LS800. He's got it over the weekend and will put a review of it up on his blog near the end Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

On Windows Mobile, Media Player 10 and ActiveSync 4.0
16 August 05 10:58 AM

This morning I synced my Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone with ActiveSync 4.0 and noticed the Media Sync part of ActiveSync which I'd not noticed before on my WM2003 Pocket PC Phone (with AS 4.0). Essentially the Media Sync simply integrates with Windows Read More...

Postedby dburling | 1 Comments    

Screenshots of the Hotmail Beta
15 August 05 05:35 AM

If you want to know what the hotmail beta looks like - you should take a look at this page . Its nice and simple - and fast. Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

Internet Explorer Beta 1
14 August 05 10:40 PM

Last week I installed Internet Explorer beta 1, here are my thoughts. Its stable. I've had no crashes or odd sufferings at all since I installed it. Tabbed browsing - without MSN Search toolbar and with a much nicer implementation Search is built in - Read More...

Postedby dburling | 6 Comments    

SQL Server Hot Labs - Filling up fast
14 August 05 10:37 PM

If you are interested in getting some SQL 2005 training - you'd better get in quick. We've got some training in the infrastructure/scalability, development and business intelligence features of SQL 2005 coming up starting next week and continuing through Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

More on the Change email address ability on Passport accounts...
09 August 05 12:35 AM

I've had a few emails from people who would like to change their email addresses in Passport but dont have the option. I tried looking at the other two passport accounts I've got and found that I couldn't change the email addresses for them either. It Read More...

Postedby dburling | 4 Comments    

Steve Ballmer on NZ TV
05 August 05 09:54 AM

In case you missed it (I did) Steve Ballmers interview with TVNZ was aired tonight. You can see the video here . Read More...

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On Windows Vista and gaming
04 August 05 04:47 AM

If you read Major Nelsons blog , you'll know that he often has great information about the XBox and gaming inside Microsoft. Today he points us to a great article about gaming in Vista . We saw this stuff today at TechReady, and it's pretty cool! Read More...

Postedby dburling | 1 Comments    

Ajax in .Net
03 August 05 08:40 AM

Tim has started a blogversation in our community about AJAX . While I'm no ASP.Net expert and certainly not a AJAX expert, I thought I'd point out this free library for .Net . It comes with documentation and looks quite simple to use. A big thanks to Read More...

Postedby dburling | 4 Comments    

Change your MSN Passport email address
02 August 05 06:13 PM

I just went to a session at Tech Ready on MSN Architecture. After the session I had a chat with the presenter and asked him one of the questions I often get asked: "Why can't I change my Passport/Spaces/MSN email address?". The news is all good! Yesterday Read More...

Postedby dburling | 10 Comments    

On the subject of Express editions...
02 August 05 09:01 AM

If you are interested in getting into the express editions you'll want to check out the new video series that went up on MSDN today. It is a series of 16 videos called the " Absolute beginners video series to Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions " to help Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

I dont believe these stats...
02 August 05 07:57 AM

According to our stats only 926 New Zealanders have registered a Visual Studio 2005 Express edition. I'm sure more than that have actually been downloaded! If you haven't tried out one of the Express editions and you're curious about getting into .Net, Read More...

Postedby dburling | 1 Comments    

SQL Courses available in Wellington.
02 August 05 06:10 AM

If you are interested - there is some training coming up in Wellington on SQL 2005. There is a small cost involved, but this is a great opportunity to some SQL 2005 training for a low cost. Subjects being offered include: • MS SQL Server 2005 Database Read More...

Postedby dburling | (Comments Off)    

How to stitch photos in Acrylic
01 August 05 05:55 AM

You've probably found people talking about the nice panoramic images they can make from Acrylic . Well I decided to have a go at making my own. Being very ignorant of image editing in general and image editing software in particular, I found it tricky Read More...

Postedby dburling | 3 Comments    

CLR Upgrade event
01 August 05 12:49 AM

If you read Seans blog, you may have seen this entry that talks about registering for a general session with Kit George from the CLR team in Redmond If you haven't registered for this event, you have now missed out. We are full (sorry to be the bearer Read More...

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