Eric Johnson (MCS)

Windows Vista and Office 2007 Launch

The Vista and Office 2007 launch kicked off this month in Des Moines, IA.   Being an Iowa resident myself, I was extremely excited that we hosted the 1st launch event in the US.   A recap of the event from be found here:   http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007701190386.

For more details on other launch events see: http://www.microsoft.com/business/launch2007/. 

 And dont forget...  Windows Vista nd Office 2007 are available January 30th!!

Office Live

I was thrilled the other day to see the internal annoucment about Office Live and the services it provides.  Like many in our profession I often get hit by family, friends, and associates to create simply web sites for thier side or non-profit businesses.   I recently referred my non-technical brother to Office Live Basics.  Within a few hours he was able to register his own domain name and create his own web site using the office live tools.  This was a tremendous time saver for me, and my brother loves the tools.  In fact, he's even learning more about computers in the process. 

Office Live Basics is a FREE service, but it also offers upgrade paths for businesses that take off and need more funtionality.  Go here for a quick comparison of Office Live offerings.

Exciting Times

I joined MS a little over 1 year ago and it's been quite a ride.   Obviously this is my first time going through an OS and office release. It's been an incrediable experence dogfooding Vista and Office 12.  These are truely compelling products that offer tremendous advantages over their predisesccors (XP, Office 2003).  For more information on Vista vist the Vista Homepage or the official Vista blog.  For more information on Office 2007 see the Office Products Homepage.

In addion to the OS and office releases, we're also released Zune and Gears of War.  

My holiday is going to be pretty exciting since I plan on purchasing all 4 of these products for myself, and many of them for my family.

HDC06 Recap

The HDC continues to grow and improve each and every year.  This year was our 3rd annual conference with the largest attendance to date.   We had over 500 attendees, 20 sponsors, 18 tremendous speakers, and 75 people on our waitlist.   To put our numbers in perspective, VSLive in Boston ran concurrently with our conference and had 250 attendees at a $1000 per person price tag.  For $175 per person this year’s 2 day event provided a pre-party, 3 tracks, 2 keynotes, 21 sessions, hot & cold meals, casino night, and multiple prize raffles.  For the second year in a row Jeff Julian (PodcastStudio.NET) was on-site recording podcasts with speakers and organizers.

Like prior years, we received rave reviews from attendees, speakers, and sponsors.  We were thrilled to hear that many  sponsors drummed up new business during our conference and can’t wait to sponsor another event.  Joe, Phil, and I have already started discussing the HD07, and we’re sure it will be even bigger and better  than previous years.

If you'd like to stay up to date on all the latest HDC news, you can sign up for updates on our website at www.heartlanddc.com/updates.aspx. 

WCF Typed Service Moinker Contract

When using a typed service moniker, the contract specifies the UUID of the interface for the contact (IInteropTest) defined in the web.config of the WCF service.  The UUID can be located by viewing the type library for the registered assembly (i.e. InteropTestProxy.tlb) using Oleview.exe.

Strong Named Proxy Assembly

Register with COM - “regasm InteropTestProxy.dll /tlb:InteropTestProxy.tlb”

Install into GAC – “gacutil /i InteropTestProxy.dll”

Type Library – Interface for IInteropTest

[

    odl,

    uuid(604B94B4-915D-3EC7-94B9-060F0B1337AD),

    version(1.0),

    dual,

    oleautomation,

    custom(0F21F359-AB84-41E8-9A78-36D110E6D2F9, InteropTestProxy.InteropTest.IInteropTest)   

]
interface IInteropTest : IDispatch

WCF Service - Web.config

<system.serviceModel>

    <services>

      <service behaviorConfiguration="returnFaults" name="InteropTest">

        <endpoint binding="wsHttpBinding" name="InteropTest" contract="IInteropTest" />

      </service>

    </services>

    <behaviors>

      <serviceBehaviors>

        <behavior name="returnFaults" >

          <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="true" />

          <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true"/>

        </behavior>

      </serviceBehaviors>

    </behaviors>

</system.serviceModel>

Client Typed Moniker Code

Set proxy = GetObject("service:address=http://localhost/InteropTest/service.svc, binding=wsHttpBinding, contract={604B94B4-915D-3EC7-94B9-060F0B1337AD}")

SecurityNegotiationException in WCF Services

Many people including myself are running into this problem while sharing and running WCF samples using the .NET Framwork 3.0 RC1.  If you receive the following...

Exception
[System.ServiceModel.Security.SecurityNegotiationException] {"SOAP security negotiation with 'http://localhost/OrderService/OrderService.svc' for target 'http://localhost/OrderService/OrderService.svc' failed. See inner exception for more details."}

Inner Exception
[System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception] {"The Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI) negotiation failed."}

Try changing <userPrincipalName value="MACHINENAME\ASPNET" /> to <servicePrincipalName value="host/localhost" /> in the client config file.

Tools to develop Vista generation applications

The tools be will give the intellisense, visual designers, configuration editors, registration tools, and log viewer nesscary to develop or get familer with WCF, WPF, WF, or Cardspace. 

.NET Framework 3.0
A new managed code programming model for Windows®. It combines the power of the .NET Framework version 2.0 with new technologies for building applications that have visually compelling user experiences, seamless communication across technology boundaries, and the ability to support a wide range of business processes. These new technologies are Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), and Windows CardSpace. The .NET Framework 3.0 is included as part of the Windows Vista™ operating system.  This redistributable package is for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Download available at Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Redistributable Package.

Visual Studio 2005 Orcus Extensions (Code name "Fidalgo")
Provides developers with support for building .NET Framework 3.0 applications using the released version of Visual Studio 2005. These tools are provided as an early preview of technology being considered for the Orcas release of Visual Studio. These tools are not supported by Microsoft but provided as is to enable early adoption of the .NET Framework 3.0 platform. Users will be expected to upgrade to the Visual Studio Orcas release when that becomes commercially available. Please fully review the EULA provided to understand the terms of this release.

This release includes XAML Intellisense support through schema extensions for the editor, project templates for the Windows Presentation Foundation and the Windows Communication Foundation, and .NET Framework 3.0 SDK documentation integration. This release contains a preview of the Visual Designer for Windows Presentation Foundation (code name "Cider"). More information can be found on the Channel 9 Wiki site for Cider. This release does not include a graphical design surface for the Windows Communication Foundation.

This is the last release of this technology that will be in the form of a set of extensions for Visual Studio 2005. Any new technology in this space will be included in CTPs of the next full version of Visual Studio which is currently code named “Orcas”. The Visual Studio Orcas CTP releases will include some of the technology available in this CTP. The availability of this technology in Orcas will come online at various points during the development cycle and may have differences from features available by installing this product with Visual Studio 2005. You are strongly encouraged to install the Orcas CTP to get an early look at how these features will exist in the next supported version of Visual Studio.

Downloads available at:
Visual Studio 2005 extensions for .NET Framework 3.0 (WCF & WPF), November 2006 CTP
Visual Studio 2005 extensions for .NET Framework 3.0 (Windows Workflow Foundation)

Windows Vista SDK
The Microsoft® Windows® Software Development Kit (SDK) provides the documentation, samples, header files, libraries, and tools you need to develop applications that run on Windows.

The Windows SDK includes content for application development with the APIs in Windows Vista, including the .NET Framework 3.0 technologies: .NET Framework 2.0, Windows® Presentation Foundation, Windows® Communication Foundation, Windows® Workflow Foundation, and Windows CardSpace™.

This SDK is designed for use with Windows Vista (which includes Framework 3.0). The Windows SDK for Vista also supports creating applications for Windows XP, Windows Server® 2003 SP1, and Windows Server 2003 R2.

Download available at Microsoft® Windows® Software Development Kit for Windows Vista™ and .NET Framework 3.0 Runtime Components

Note: If you're upgrading from a prior releases (Beta, RC1, etc), make sure uninstall all bits before installing the the RTM bits.

My User Group Findings

My local .NET user group (CRINETA) has had a bumpy road recently after loosing several key contributers.  I stepped down as leader of the group around 10 months ago.  Since then, I've tried to stay involved the group through email, but I'm typically unavailable to attend meetings.  The information below are some of the lessons learned during my 3 years running the user group.  I hope that other user group leaders find this information helpful.

Associations
There are many International and National organizations out there to with the sole purpose of supporting user groups.   For a .NET user group, make sure your user group is registered with INETA and Codezone.  A few other organizations that I know of are PASS and Cullumis

Sponsorship
This is an area that many groups struggle with however, it's actually pretty easy to obtain SWAG, funding, etc from sponsors.  Associations often provide a quartley kit of SWAG for their members, however that isn't typically enough for a thriving user group.  To really keep the SWAG and funding rolling in, you need to contact companies directly.  Most companies have user group programs that are free to join, and they're always looking for new members.  These companies are typically 3rd-partly software shops, development magazines, book publishers, local businesses and local consluting companies.  For a list of known user group sponsors see the INETA User Group Specials page.

Once you've obtained your sponsorship the question of "where to draw the line" always come up.  Many sponsors will give you their expectations up front, however local businesses and consulting companies are a differnt breed.  I heard mixed opinions about user groups involvement with local companies.  My personal view is that it's that they can be one of the best resources for a user group, but you must know where to draw the line to avoid conflicts with sponsors and your members.   

Marketing
This a is key element to starting and maintaining a user group.  Sponsors and local businesses play a key role in marketing a user group.  Not only will they invest in community but they'll promote their investmest.  Some common marketing techniques are word of mouth, flyers, and mass emails.  Other approaches that I've found useful are advertising at local venues that attract a technical target audieance (movies theatres, gaming events, best buy, etc).  Also, make sure you utilize your existing membership to advertise the user group.  Ask them to post your flyer at their business or run a bring a buddy campain.  You can reward their contribution with additional prize raffles.

Topics & Speakers
Topic selection and communicaiton can make or break a user group.   Poll your membership often on their satisfaction with the group and topic selection.  Ask for topic suggestions and guest speakers.  If you're struggling with feedback, the safe bet is to present on the latest technologies.  Lastly, you can also lookup/contact other groups in your region to see what topics they're presenting.  This can often help both group since they may have talented speakers, but they've already covered their subject matter with their local group.  In this sceneria a speaker exchange typically serves both group well and give the speaker more a wider audiance.

User group in my region are:

Cedar Rapids - CRINETA
Des Moines - IowaDNUG
Minneapolis - TwinCities.NET
Omaha - FunWith.NET
South Dakota - Code Prairie
Wisconsin - Wi-ineta

If you're not aware of other user groups in your area, you can also look them up on the INETA website.

Frequent Traveler Tips

Over the last 10 months, I've learned quite a bit about some of the things that you can do to lessen the pain of weekly travel.  Here a few tips..

Avis Preferred

Avis, like many rental car agencies doesn’t always have their fleet of cars right outside the airport.  It’s typical for me to wait 5-20 minutes for their shuttle to arrive at the airport.  Next, there’s the 5-10 minute drive to the rental agency.  You’ve already waited 10-30 minutes, do you really want to wait in line another 5-30 minutes once you get there to get your car?  You can avoid this by signing up as an Avis Preferred member.  As a preferred member, my preferred type of rental car is ready for me the moment I step off the shuttle.  The Avis shuttle driver typically tells me my space number before we get there or there’s an electronic billboard for me to look up my number.  Membership is especially nice if you’re flying into any cold regions during the winter, since they start and warm up the car for you before you arrive. In summary, this saves time and makes travel a bit more comfortable.

Airline and Hotel Programs

You can never be signed up in enough FREE frequent traveler programs and they offer nice rewards (free hotel stays, free airfare, upgraded seats/rooms, pre-boarding, guaranteed reservations, etc).  You should know what airlines carriers are prominent at your local airport and which hotels you prefer.  I suggest you sign up for a minimum of 3 from each of the following categories in case your primary choice isn't always available.

Airline Onboard Laptop Power

Do you constantly find yourself fighting/tuning your powers levels in an attempt to get through those final 20 minutes of a movie?  If so, there is a solution.  Most major airlines offer a power port in business, first class, and select coach seating (i.e. exit row).   This could become a crucial travel device if (knock of wood) the FAA ever decides to require batteries to be removed from laptops.  For more information see Seat Guru.  For a visual of the power ports see American Airlines Website. 

Frequent Flyer Challenges

I can't speak to all of the airlines, but American Airlines offer multiple frequent flyer challenges to help weekly travelers get to the gold, platinum, and executive platinum much quicker.  These challenges are not widely known or listed on American's website.  However, you can call into customer service and request to participate in one of the challenges.  For more information see the AAdvantage Gold and Platinum Challenges page of the  FewMiles' Unofficial Guide to American Airlines AAdvantage.

Credit Card Rewards

Our companies credit credit card of choice is American Express (AMEX).  Singing up for American Express Membership Rewards is $120 per year, but it really adds up with weekly travel expenses and the redemption items are well over the membership price.

The airport outlet scavenger hunt

In everyone airport I visit, people are walking the aisles looking for those vacant AC outlets.  A simple way to avoid this problem is to carry your own AC splitter.  It adds almost no room or weight to your current bag and can REALLY come in handy.  It's also great for those occasions where you find a vacant outlet, but need to charge your cell phone and laptop. 

Limited Hotels with wireless Internet

I stay in a wide variety of Internet enabled hotels during my travel, but they all seem to provide the service slightly different.  I found myself packing a LONG Ethernet cable (to reach the bed or couch of course), and adding new SSID's to my wireless profile each week.  Eventually I stumbled across this great solution from Linksys.  They offer a Wireless-G Travel Router with SpeedBooster.  This wonderful device is well worth the price and can be picked up at most Best Buy locations. 

The first thing I do when I arrive at my hotel room is plug in my travel router.  I have it configured with the same wireless security as my wireless network at home.  This allows me to access the Internet securely while on the road without additional configuration and avoids cluttering up my wireless profile . Whether you’re visiting friends/family or staying a hotel with only wired Internet, you learn how incredibly useful this device can be. 

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