Mark Brown's Web Platform Blog

Vote for my Session at SXSW

2009-08-21T02:32:31Z

Hey everybody. I am up for Community Voting for the next SXSW Interactive Festival happening next March and I need your votes to get accepted. Here is the session I am presenting.

HD Video Streaming Server using PHP and Silverlight

A dash of PHP, a pinch of Silverlight and a smidge of IIS and you can easily make an HD video streaming server. Check out this session as we'll build a fully functional HD video streaming server and then give you the code so you can use it yourself. As a bonus we may even show on the fly encoding so you can make your very own HD version of YouTube with user generated content.

This promises to be an AWESOME session and I really want to show people how far the technology has come to not only stream video content over the internet easily but also to deliver HD quality video over the internet as well.

To get accepted for the SXSW event I need to get votes from the community that think this is a cool session and want to see it. So click on the session title above or the “Thumbs Up” graphic there up top, go register yourself if you haven’t (even if you’re not attending) and then click on this link above here to vote up my session.

Thanks !!!

Technorati Tags: SXSW,IIS,Microsoft,PHP

Drupal Camp LA and my life as a Food Critic

2009-08-12T17:58:27Z

Well I’m back from my weekend sojourn to Southern California for this year’s Drupal Camp LA held at the University of California Irvine. It was a great trip and I had a wonderful time down there. Overall the attendees at the Drupal Camp LA were surprised that Microsoft would sponsor this event as well as want to present sessions. Many wondered indeed why we were there at all.

It’s simple really. There’s a growing number of people who are really passionate about Drupal and are creating websites for their customers and for themselves. At Microsoft we are passionate about the web and we want to help the Drupal and all the other communities have the best experience using Windows as a both development environment as well as a web server. We want your stuff to run great on Windows and to do that we have to get out there to show you what we’ve been up to and also get your feedback so we can go make things better. So that’s why we were at this event and it’s why you’ll see more of us at events like this in the future.

My talk on our IIS SEO Toolkit was very well received. There weren’t many people in the audience. Maybe 20 or so, but it was clear that they were impressed with this little piece of technology we created. It works on any website built with any framework running on any web server. Indeed, the heart of it is a web site crawler much like what you’d see Google or Bing use to crawl websites to rank your pages and your site itself. If you have not seen this tool in action then I’d encourage you to take a few minutes to read up on the IIS SEO Toolkit.

My Life as a Food Critic

So during my travels this past weekend I only made it to two of the four restaurants I wanted to check out. I actually went to one of them twice (two separate locations). So here for your culinary pleasure is my review of Wahoo’s Fish Tacos in Costa Mesa, CA and San Shi Go in Laguna Beach, CA. In this segment I will be channeling James Lipton and Anthony Bourdain simultaneously.

My rating system is as follows:

200 OK = Outstanding

302 Found = Very Good

404 Not Found = Somewhat Disappointing

500 Internal Server Error = Stay Away At All Costs

Wahoo’s Fish Tacos:

I wandered into the Wahoo’s Fish Tacos in Costa Mesa, CA on Sunday afternoon. This location is in fact their first store so it’s been around for a while and the place has lots of charm.

I ordered my regular, a #2, which is a two fish taco combo, char-broiled, with black beans, white rice and a Pepsi. Now a few things have changed in the past year since I’ve eaten there. A #2 used to be a two fish taco combo. They have since started serving chicken which boggles my mind since who the hell wants chicken at a fish taco restaurant? They’ve also started serving brown rice. WHY for God’s sake? Nobody wants brown rice as a Mexican food side. Besides their white rice is out of this world. If my taste buds aren’t deceiving me they cook it in a chicken broth and add either a tiny bit of oregano or maybe thyme and also some cilantro too. And they’ve also started serving white beans in addition to pinto which they’ve had forever and of course, black. the best bean there is.

Ok, so I admit. I am not one who embraces change quickly. I like the #2 combo just the way I get it. I’ve been eating it that way for a very long time so don’t get your new fangled white beans and brown rice and chicken thing all up in my face. Flat out I don’t care. It’s perfect just the way I order it.

Anyway, after ordering I get myself a Pepsi from the soda fountain and sit down in the middle of their spacious and uniquely decorated dining room seated amongst a few other casually dressed but always hip and beautiful Wahoo’s crowd. It was a little chilly in there but then it always seems to have been in past visits. I suspect that this extra chilliness comes as a blessing when this place gets packed during the weekdays during lunch. Generally at this location and every other one I have been to the line goes right out the front door. A little extra cooling feels good when the place is packed with people.

My order shows up in no time and I am face to face with a beautiful plate of food with the wonderful and tasty black beans on the left nestled gently against the rice which takes a commanding position in the middle with the two fish tacos riding side saddle off to the right. And of course a wedge of lime for your squeezing pleasure.

The tacos themselves are works of art. Char-broiled Wahoo fish with a small pinch of shredded cheddar cheese underneath some cool cabbage and topped with a dash of some wonderfully fresh salsa that compliments the fish, enhancing its flavor. All of this of course is lovingly double wrapped in two fresh white corn tortillas. Magnificent.

I start right in to the fish tacos savoring every bite. The fish, cabbage, cheese and salsa each in culinary harmony. A masticular delight to be sure. After I finished the fish tacos I then take the rice and beans and mix them together thoroughly into something akin to a casserole. Most people would say that I’m just mashing them together, but no. This is art and you have to ensure that the beans are completely mixed in together with the beans. You also have to use any of the salsa left on the plate and mix that in as well to create an unseemly looking but completely tasty mush.

After I finished my plate I refilled my drink with some more Pepsi. One of the Pepsi fountains was out of syrup so I dumped that out in the ice trap and refilled my cup with the other Pepsi dispenser. Marvelous.

Overall I give this Wahoo’s experience a 200 OK. Absolutely Magnificent.

San Shi Go:

My visit to San Shi Go was on a Saturday evening at about 8:30. I was lucky as I was expecting the place to be packed and might have to wait. Generally though over the years it is pretty easy to get in at the Sushi Bar as a single and this evening was no exception. As I walked in I see two of the sushi chefs that have been there forever. That’s Joe on the right and Yugi on the left. Both are incredible sushi chefs and artists.

As i sit down I am greeted by a friendly server who provided me with a hot towel and a choice of drink. Normally I enjoy sushi with a large Sapporo lager but this evening I was not in the mood for beer so I ordered a Coke instead. The sushi chef quickly gave me their traditional greeting appetizer, a small bowl of noodles swimming in a sweet soy broth. It’s very tasty and refreshing too and cleans your palate so that you may enjoy your fish a little better.

After my beverage arrives I made my first order. Toro Sushi. Now normally when a sushi place has Toro I order it sashimi style and when this place has Toro you better believe I do, but I was not very hungry so just a little is perfect for me this evening.

The Toro San Shi Go has is often Chutoro and very often Otoro grade. If they can’t get high grade they won’t buy it and to be honest nothing is more disappointing than ordering Toro and getting crap. Their Toro literally melts in your mouth. Tonight’s was no exception, Otoro this evening. Absolute perfection perched atop two perfectly formed pieces of sweet sushi rice with the perfect amount of wasabi between the two.

The next thing on the menu is their Spicy Scallop Roll. Now I know what you’re thinking. So what? It’s a stupid roll and you can get that anywhere. Well yes you can. However, you can’t get one made as good as these guys make one. Their recipe for the scallop, mayo and spicy sauce is excellent and when combined with their incredible sushi rice it really is an incredible dish. Besides, I can’t tell you how many times I have had terrible spicy scallop rolls. They either don’t make it spicy or flavorful enough, or they simply take some some scallops and squirt spicy sauce on it and smash it into a roll and serve it to you. It’s so spicy that I can’t feel my tongue!!! I swear to God. Sushi chefs should lose their sushi license for that.

My final order tonight and the one I have been waiting to have since the last time I was there and have been thinking about non-stop since I booked this trip is their Cajun Seared Tuna. A masterpiece. This is one of the most incredible sushi dishes you will ever have in your lifetime (if you’re Buddhist like me, your next lifetime too). First, they prepare the fish by first applying a seafood cajun rub over the top and bottom of the fish. If I remember the name of this rub I will let you know but you can find this on your specialty seafood store shelves. Next they sear the tuna on both sides as you would normally when making seared tuna for sushi. Once prepared, after you order it, they slice the fish as normal for sushi and then put a drop of spicy sauce on top of the sushi, a little big of Negi (thinly sliced scallions) and then drizzle it with some low sodium soy sauce and serve. It truly is a masterpiece is it not? On my scale of HTTP Response Codes again I am giving out my coveted 200 OK.

Well that’s it for my Drupal Camp and So Cal Restaurant Review. I hope you enjoyed it. If you are interested in having me come and speak at your local Drupal Camp about the Microsoft Web Platform and our SEO Toolkit and how you can use it to improve the SEO for your or your customer’s websites please do drop me a line. If my schedule permits I’d be happy to and I’d be happy to come and enjoy in some of the local restaurants in your area as well.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Drupal,IIS

Presenting at Drupal Camp LA This Weekend And I Become a Food Critic

2009-08-06T08:33:44Z

I am really excited to be presenting at Drupal Camp LA this weekend. Actually it’s in Irvine which is down in Orange County but who cares. I’m getting a chance to go back to a place I called home for a long time before moving up to Seattle to work for Microsoft and is still a very special place to me where I have lots of friends and family that live there.

At this event I will be presenting a session on the IIS SEO Toolkit which is a FREE tool integrated with IIS7 and part of the Microsoft Web Platform which is a complete collection of Microsoft’s FREE web stack, and ships in our Web Platform Installer. I will also be helping our at our Install Fest to let the attendees at this event check out our web stack and see how easy it is to run Drupal on the Microsoft Web Platform.

I’m a food nut (and sometimes a food snob too) and since I haven’t back in So Cal for some time when I’m not busy at this conference I’ll be scrambling to enjoy all of the food I used to love when I lived there. Oh where do I start.

Well first there are those awesome chicken burritos at Alejandro’s in Costa Mesa. Their carne asada burrito is incredible too. They make what feels like a 2 lb burrito that is nothing but meat. It is awesome and spicy and they don’t speak a word of English and neither do any of their customers which is a good thing. If I walk into any Mexican restaurant and I see what looks like someone from this nation’s mid-west ordering a Chimich-A-A-A-A-nga or N-A-A-A-A-chos, I turn around and RUN. Yes, I may be a snob but growing up in Arizona and California and spending ALOT of time in Mexico growing up has made me a snob when it comes to Mexican food. Seriously, some of the best Mexican food I’ve had in Seattle has been from a Taco Truck parked at a gas station. It was cheap too. Some of the worst was the most expensive. Sad.

Next is Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. I absolutely love this place and wish I could open one of these up in Seattle. Lots of restaurants up in Seattle serve fish tacos but their idea of a fish taco is a piece of cod rolled in flour and dropped in a deep fat fryer. Losers. Wahoo’s makes THE BEST fish tacos. They are made from either Wahoo or Mahi-Mahi and are charbroiled or blackened, served in a double wrapped tortilla with a tiny bit of cabbage and cheese and salsa. THAT’S IT. No stupid smoked chipotle mango sauce, no other garbage to take away from the yumminess of the fish. btw, they have INCREDIBLE rice. I know that sounds stupid but it is great. I don’t know what they put in it. And their black beans are also AWESOME. Can you tell that I love this place? Oh yeah, almost forgot. It’s is HEALTHY. Try calling that fried piece of crap they call a fish taco in Seattle healthy.

So not everything I go eat is healthy. Certainly the chicken burrito I’m going for at Alejandro’s isn’t. This next one is pure heart attack but if I’m in So Cal I have to make a stop by In-N-Out Burger, just down the street from Alejandro’s in Costa Mesa. Now I’ve tried the 4x4 Animal Style a number of times and while it is pretty yummy I find it is too hard to eat and ends up on my lap or the floor. So I tone it down to just a double-double, fries, oh and of course a vanilla shake.

I know what you’re thinking. This guy calls himself a food snob but he’s eating total CRAP. Well even Anthony Bourdain partakes in fatty greasy food once in a while and since we don’t have In-N-Out up in Seattle, I’M GOING.

This next one is and has been been my one of my favorite restaurants if not THE FAVORITE for probably close to 15 years. Two good friends turned me on to this place back in 1995 and after eating there once I probably had at least one meal in this place every week for 5 years before moving to Seattle in 2000. For approximately a two year period I ate there 2-3 times a week and sometimes I ate lunch AND dinner there and would eat there up to 5-10 times in a week.

It is a sushi joint in Laguna Beach called San-Shi-Go. These guys are incredible, friendly and even though the place can get pretty packed they are great at turning tables and getting you in. They are without doubt the MASTER’s of the Cajun Seared Tuna. I fell in love with this dish so much that when I moved up to Seattle I tried for three years to get local chef’s to make it. They simply can’t or they get mad at you and insist it I am insulting the fish by even suggesting it. Also great is their spicy scallop rolls and the best thing of all is to just let them go all Chef’s Choice on you. They are artists as well as chefs and they create stuff that is simply beautiful as well as delicious.

Oh there are so many more. There’s no way I could list them all. FOOD, FOOD, FOOD. It’s a powerful mechanism for bringing back memories. I had great memories living in So Cal and there was great food all along the way. I can’t wait to get back and sink my teeth into it.

Sugar CRM Now Available in Windows Web App Gallery

2009-07-30T17:36:13Z

We are happy to announce that Sugar CRM Community Edition is now in the Windows Web Application Gallery.

Sugar is the leading open source customer relationship management (CRM) solution. Sugar gives users a complete view of their customers through core sales, marketing and customer support features. The Sugar platform is highly extensible, and the application includes a built-in Module Builder tool to assist developers and users in creating and maintaining custom applications that extend the value of the core platform.

Sugar joins the long list of free and open source PHP and ASP.NET applications now available in the Windows Web Application Gallery all available for easy installation via our Web Platform Installer that installs our entire free web platform stack plus the community version of PHP.

Check it out.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Web PI,Sugar CRM

Watch LIVE HD broadcast of Michael Jackson Memorial

2009-07-07T08:10:05Z

Tomorrow, July 7^th, 10AM PT, 1PM ET – We are broadcasting the Michael Jackson memorial, live in HD from the Staples Center in Los Angeles using IIS Smooth Streaming and Silverlight to the world. This broadcast is available to everyone World-Wide. Make sure to show up a few minutes early if you need to download the Silverlight player. Only takes a moment.

The link to the embedded player is here, http://inmusic.ca/news_and_features/Michael_Jackson

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Silverlight,IIS,Michael Jackson

Microsoft at the Country Music Association Festival

2009-06-09T05:46:36Z

On June 11-14 2009, over 200,000 people will be attending the Country Music Association’s Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee. For the first time in the history of the Music Festival, Microsoft is will have a significant presence at the event. The CMA is interested in aligning technology and country music cultures so the CMA and Microsoft have embarked on a number of initiatives designed to drive buzz and excitement around the digital lifestyle and country music and Microsoft will be showcasing technology such as Silverlight with Deep Zoom technology and Microsoft Tag.

Here’s a rundown on what you can find if you’re fixin’ to be at the CMA Festival next week:

“Be this Close” Silverlight Deep zoom online game

Interactive search, on CMA site and radio partner web sites (see list below)
Ex. “Find the picture of Blake Shelton kissing a fan with a orange hat at the 2007 CMA Music Fest”

“Where Am I” – Microsoft Tag

Microsoft Tag will be featured in a number of ways throughout the Music Festival experience. Attendees will be able to scan signs located throughout the venues to learn more about the physical environment and what’s happening around them. Their location will also be mapped via Windows Live Search Maps making the task of navigating the enormous number of venues easy and convenient for festival attendees. Tag will also be featured in an event wide contest called “Tag Hunter” which will be distributed event wide by a legion CMA “Fun Squad” members. To check out Tag for your phone, get it here, http://gettag.mobi/

Cell Journalists Online Photo Shared Experience” – Windows Mobile

Attendees can participate in the event by acting as cell journalists. Using Windows mobile or other cell phone cameras, pictures taken from the event are automatically uploaded to a shared server hosted by ASP.NET and displayed throughout the event – including the Jumbotron. Windows Mobile users will have a customized, high-end experience.

Microsoft Booth and E-Mail Kiosk Featuring Internet Explorer 8 and Microsoft Surface and Meet Some Stars!

Attendees will be able to test drive our latest and greatest browser to learn about the tremendous innovations Microsoft is delivering in making the web a safer and more productive environment. In addition to IE, attendees will be able to experience not one, but two, Microsoft Surface stations. Microsoft Partner Interknowlogy will be showcasing a Surface based Jukebox application featuring country music and visits by country music celebrities. Winchester ammunition will be showcase their award winning ballistic simulator built on Surface. Zune and Xbox will also be in the house showcasing. And if you want to rub elbows with a few Country Music Stars these ones will be hanging out at the Microsoft Booth (#334) here below:
Thursday 6/11/2009

9:00 AM James Otto
11:00 AM Love and Theft
1:30 PM Randy Rodgers Band
2:00 PM Bucky Covington

Friday 6/12/2009

9:00 AM Whitney Duncan
11:00 AM Point of Grace

Saturday 6/13/2009

11:00 AM Lee Brice

Sunday 6/14/2009

Jessica Harp

And if you’re not planning to be there because the Sheriff won’t let you leave your county or because your Maa said “no” then you can check it out online.

Main Site: http://cmafest.com/2009/
IE 8 Web slice : http://ieaddons.com/en/details/music/CMA_Music_Festival_2009/
“Be This Close” interactive Silverlight game - http://www.cmafest.com/2009/videophotos/games/bethisclose/
Microsoft page on CMA Site: http://www.cmafest.com/2009/microsoft

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Silverlight,Microsoft Tag,IE8,CMA

New Windows Web App Gallery Release - AmpliFeeder

2009-05-28T00:52:53Z

It’s a busy day at the office as we have another new application up in the Windows Web Application Gallery today, AmpliFeeder. AmpliFeeder is a distributed social activity aggregator. In their own words…

You are no longer defined by your activity on just one website, message board or social network. Every photograph you upload, every page you bookmark or share, every tweet you twitter helps to define you just a little bit more. AmpliFeeder pulls all of your online activity into one place to display a new aggregated you, redefining ideas of what a blog or personal page should be.

Simple. Powerful. Flexible

Combine and archive your activity from lots of different services. Adding new services is a complete breeze. It's easy.

Easy to style and personalize

AmpliFeeder is built to make theming and personalisation as simple as possible with standard XHTML & CSS. Be unique

Pull yourself together

Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google Shared Items, Tumblr, Digg, Reddit, LastFM, Stumbleupon, Delicious, Upcoming, Mixx & more

Open Source and AGPL Licensed

Runs on industry standard ASP.NET 3.5, SQL Server Express and IIS: A rock solid foundation for exceptional web applications

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Web PI,AmpliFeeder

New Windows Web App Gallery Release - nopCommerce

2009-05-28T00:34:20Z

The good times just keep on rolling over here on the Web Platform team here at Microsoft. We have just released a new application out onto the Windows Web Application Gallery, nopCommerce.

nopCommerce is the leading ASP.NET online shop e-commerce solution. nopCommerce can be installed and set-up by anyone with the most basic web site building and computer skills. nopCommerce is a secure, scalable and extendable e-commerce platform. It has user friendly administration tool to manage your storefront and customers, wish lists, discounts, coupons, flexible tax support, multi-lingual support, and hundreds of other features. Support for most popular gateways: Authorize.net, PayPal, Google Checkout, 2Checkout, and more. nopCommerce also runs in Medium Trust.

Check it out.

Technorati Tags: microsoft,Web PI

SQL Server 2008 Developer Training Kit Available

2009-05-24T08:55:27Z

SQL Server 2008 offers an impressive array of capabilities for developers that build upon key innovations introduced in SQL Server 2005. The SQL Server 2008 Developer Training Kit will help you understand how to build web applications which deeply exploit the rich data types, programming models and new development paradigms in SQL Server 2008. The training kit is brought to you by Microsoft Developer and Platform Evangelism.

Overview and Benefits

The training kit offers the following benefits:

Learn how to build web applications that exploit the unique features and capabilities of SQL Server 2008.
Provides a comprehensive set of presentations, demos and hands-on labs
Designed for web developers who are already familiar with SQL Server application development.
Easy to download and install and works on free editions of SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008.

Software Requirements

The following software is not included with the training kit and must be downloaded and installed separately. I’ve included the links for you here.

SQL Server 2008 Express with Advanced Services (or higher-level SKU)
Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2008 Express (or higher-level SKU) - via the Windows Platform Installer
AdventureWorks 2008 Sample Databases

Contents

The training kit includes the following content:

Presentations (6)
- Filestream
- Spatial
- T-SQL
- Date and Time Types
- SQLCLR
- Reporting Services
Demos (13)
- AdventureWorks Racing All-Up SQL Server 2008 Demo
- SQL Server 2008 All-Up Spatial Demo
- Spatial Types Demo
- Intro to Filestream Demo
- SQL CLR Nullable Types Demo
- Programming with Filestream Demo
- Reporting Services Web Application Integration Demo
- Date and Time Support in SQL Server 2008 Demo
- T-SQL Table-Valued Parameters Demo
- T-SQL Row Constructors Demo
- T-SQL Grouping Sets Demo
- T-SQL Merge Demo
- Trasact-SQL
Hands-on Labs (3)
- Using Spatial Data in TSQL
- Using Spatial Data in Managed Code
- Using SQL CLR in SQL Server 2008

Get the kit here, http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9665942

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Web PI,SQL Server,Expression Web.

New to Windows App Gallery – ResourceBlender.NET

2009-05-19T08:17:32Z

We have a new application in our Windows Web Application Gallery, ResourceBlender.NET

ResourceBlender.NET enables you to quickly translate an application into multiple languages. An AJAX interface lets translators work over the internet or download an XML Spreadsheet and re-import later. Translations can be re-used and included in different applications for export as .resx, .properties or .po files or XUL/JavaScript bundles used by Firefox extensions. Existing resource files can be imported quickly using a wizard. Automatic machine translation is available with one click to speed up a translator’s job.

Check it out here at, http://www.microsoft.com/web/gallery/ResourceBlender.NET.aspx

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Web PI,.NET

Announcing PHP SDK for Windows Azure!

2009-05-14T20:35:52Z

Hey busy day blogging today about the Microsoft Web Platform today!!!

Check this out, a new SDK for PHP developers to build applications using PHP on Azure. They have 4 sample projects that you can download from CodePlex for you to peruse.

Of course I’m a bit partial to the Virtual Earth PHP Kit but these others with Silverlight and SQL Server are great as well.

Interoperability @ Microsoft : Announcing PHP SDK for Windows Azure… and much more!

And don’t forget, the easiest way to get set up doing PHP on Windows and IIS is to use our Web Platform Installer :)

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Web PI,Azure,PHP,Virtual Earth,SQL Server,SilverLight

PHP Driver for SQL Server Now in Web PI

2009-05-14T20:02:24Z

Great news for web developers who are building PHP applications that integrate with SQL Server. We have just released an update to the Web Platform Installer that now includes the Microsoft SQL Server Driver for PHP 1.0.

Go check it out. www.microsoft.com/web

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Web PI,SQL Server,PHP

Microsoft Web PI Delivers 1.5M Product Downloads

2009-05-14T19:03:48Z

On May 12, 2009 we announced that the Microsoft Web Platform Installer has downloaded over 1.5 million products since January 2009.

The Microsoft Web Platform Installer 1.0 and 2.0, and the Windows Web Application Gallery, which has received more than 100,000 application downloads, are all part of our broader Microsoft Web Platform, which includes core free Web products that help developers, designers, and end-users achieve success in developing for the Web. The Web Platform Installer is a download manager offering packaged Open Source applications to maximize productivity, making it easier for Web developers to install, and offers essential Web products and tools for building next-generation Web applications.

The Windows Web Application Gallery enables you to install the most popular community Web applications with just a few clicks,such as: WordPress, Drupal, DotNetNuke, Gallery and SilverStripe, which integrate with the Microsoft Web Platform. The Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 Beta and Windows Web Application Gallery were all recently released in Las Vegas during the MIX ’09 event and explained in Scott Guthrie’s keynote.

If you haven’t yet checked out the Web PI and the Application Gallery you can check them out here, www.microsoft.com/web

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Web PI,PHP,MIX09,ASP.NET

Cannon P.I. - Episode #1 is Now Available

2009-05-13T00:12:27Z

There comes a time only maybe once in our lives where a true hero for the web developer emerges. They are caring problem solvers but are rough around the edges, they drive fast cars from the 80’s, they drink a bit too much and sometimes get into a little bit of trouble themselves.

But they are there, ready and willing to help when we need them.

Well the time has come and a new hero joins us and brings new life to Web Developers everywhere. I’d like to introduce you to the, fast driving, hard drinking, moustache wearing, Hawaiian shirt loving, and problem solving, Cannon P.I.

Here is the title sequence for the show. Enjoy :)

In our first episode, “To Catch and Eagle – The Secret Platform” Cannon goes to incredible lengths to help a couple of developers get the latest web platform tools, frameworks and applications using the Web Platform Installer.

Technorati Tags: microsoft,ms Web Platform,webPI,IIS,PHP

Tons of new PHP stuff from Microsoft

2009-05-01T23:12:43Z

Hey everybody. Apologies for not blogging lately. With the arrival of our baby I took a month off from work to spend time with the new baby (here’s a picture of him doing his Derek Zoolander look) and to give my wife a much needed break (well I tried to give her a break anyway). It’s been a great month and the weather has been really nice here in Seattle which allowed me to go take a long weekend on an Olympic Peninsula Golf Junket (more about that in a later post). It also allowed me to get outside and get the property and gardens cleaned up after a really harsh winter here. I lost a ton of plants, including my much beloved Yuccas. I had some that were up to 20 feet tall. I like them because they remind me of Arizona where I grew up. Well now my month of leave is almost up I wanted to share some of the recent announcements that may be of interest to web developers, especially those who are using PHP in some of their applications.

4 New PHP on Windows Virtual Labs

A collection of 4 Virtual Labs are now up on the TechNet site and will allow end users to fire up a lab and get a deep dive into PHP on Windows. Virtual Labs are great because you can go test drive without any heavy lifting at all.

Title	URL
IIS 7.0 Access Control Features for PHP Applications	http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9661016
Migrating PHP Applications	http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9661017
Troubleshooting PHP	http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9661018
Using IIS 7.0 Media Features in a PHP Application	http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9661019

Cumulative Update of the SQL Server Driver for PHP, version 1.0 is live!

The second cumulative update to version 1.0 of the SQL Server Driver for PHP is now available for download on the MSDN download site. We have also published the updates to the source on the CodePlex site. We've modified the source code specifically so that the extension can be compiled and used with the current builds of PHP 5.3.

Announcing the PHP on Windows Training Kit

This thing is really cool. I tested early versions of this thing and there is a TON of killer content in here to check out. I especially loved the SQL Spatial with PHP content but I’m partial because I was on the Virtual Earth team for a while. It also includes the Virtual Labs I mentioned above. This 40MB download is available on the Download Center and includes the following content. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9656081

PHP & SQL Server Demos

· Integrating SQL Server Geo-Spatial with PHP

· SQL Server Reporting Services and PHP

PHP & SQL Server Hands On Labs

· Introduction to Using SQL Server with PHP

· Using Full Text Search over Office Documents in PHP

PHP on Windows Hands On Labs

· IIS Access Control Features for PHP

· Using IIS 7.0 Media Features in a PHP Application

· Troubleshooting PHP

· Migrating PHP Applications to IIS 7.0

How Do I Video: Accessing Windows Live Contacts & Profiles from PHP

The guys on the Azure Services Platform Team have created another in a series of videos for the Azure Services Platform. The Azure Services Platform is continuously expanding its interoperability in a standards based approach. Here’s another great example: Live framework is the uniform way of programming Live Services from any platform, programming language, application or device. As a concrete example, check out a very useful “how do I” screencast - - Access Windows Live Profiles and Contacts from PHP apps - - by Program Manager Nishant Gupta. He also provides a code snippet you can use to step along with the video. You can check out the video here, Access Windows Live Profiles and Contacts from PHP Apps. And if you’re interested you can check out this and some of the other How Do I videos they’ve created here below.

EDIT: Added the other Azure videos I mention above…

Extend the Live Framework Resource Model	In this screencast, find out how you can store and automatically sync many kinds of data in the Live Framework to all your devices in the mesh
Using Logging in a Windows Azure Application	Windows Azure provides a built-in framework for writing log messages from your applications. In this screencast, you’ll learn how to use the Windows Azure logging API and how to read log messages whether your application is running in the development fabric or in the cloud.
Use the .NET Workflow Service	Windows Workflow Foundation provides a platform for using managed code to defined work as composable, reusable parts. With .NET Services, you can host your workflow in the cloud and access it from anywhere. In this screencast, you’ll see the basics of taking a simple workflow and deploying it to the cloud.
Multicast with the .NET Service Bus	The Microsoft .NET Service Bus supports a range of connectivity options. In this screencast, see how multicast is supported through via code examples and sample applications.

So that’s it. People around here have been pretty busy creating some great content while I’ve been living a life of leisure. Take some time to check it out and ENJOY!

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