Michael Earls - US ISV Resources and Discussions

The new Windows Live Spaces are an incredibly easy and powerful way to keep a blog.  Add to that the ability to keep a photo album, music list, favorite blogs list, Windows Live Gadgets, XBox Live Gamertag, XBox Live recent games stats, and an archive list and you've got one awesome offering.  You can't beat the price either (it's free).

The integration with Windows Live Messenger is seamless.  I'm moving all of my blogs over to my new Windows Live Space

See you at the new site:  The Cerebral Kitchen

The ISV Touchdown Briefings will be presented in Atlanta on Thursday, June 29th.  This is a complimentary event.  There will be two topics:

• Preview of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
• Preview of Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)

This event is free for all to come.  Register for the event today.

As always, continue to check www.touchdownbriefings.com for more events in the future.

 I'm really looking forward to attending this one.  I've been a Speech Server enthusiast ever since the Microsoft Agent ActiveX control came out back in 1997.  We've come a long way since then and this event is a good way to get up to speed on how you might use Speech Server technologies in your application.  You'd be surprised at how easy it is to do and how much it could improve user experience. 

Speech Server Day: Alpharetta, GA
May 3^rd, 2006 8:30AM – 5:00PM

Does your application have something to say? Show me the code!

Using the power of .NET, Microsoft Speech Server and Visual Studio 2003 can give your application its voice. Used in conjunction with the Microsoft Speech Application Software Development Kit (SASDK), this platform enables developers to write and deploy web-enabled speech applications to new and existing .NET applications.

Join Microsoft and Brooktrout for a one day special developer session designed to teach you how to architect, develop and implement speech enabled applications using Visual Studio 2003 and the Speech Server platform. We will show how this combination provides all the components necessary for building and deploying telephony (voice-only) and multimodal (voice/visual) applications. Additionally, we will show how the Speech Server platform builds upon the work of the open industry standard Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) specification to extend existing Web markup languages by adding speech recognition and prompt functionality to your Web applications. Using a practical code oriented approach we will cover how to architect, build and deploy applications that performs speech recognition and speech synthesis that can be accessed by telephone, cell phone, Pocket PC, Tablet PC and other devices.

I wanted to take a few minutes to share an upcoming training opportunity for those of you in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi.

http://www.devfish.net/FullBlogItemView.aspx?BlogId=228

Sponsored by Microsoft Developer & Platform Evangelism East Region, Idea Integration, and DevFish.net >««(o>...

Instructor: Kevin Ayers of Idea Integration – http://www.bloglines.com/blog/kayers

Topics include abilities to understand the structure of Team System and Team Foundation Server, understand work item type definition and extensibility, define check in policies, track project status, create your own reports for tracking a project, create real world tests, navigate Sharepoint, navigate team explorer, use code profiling and code analysis to create better code, create and understand builds, and use DSM modelers to design your applications and better understand deployment.

Each lesson consists of lecture on key concepts and terminology followed by a brief demonstration. There will be no labs, but detailed documentation on the demonstration will be provided.

This is a FREE event.

Click here for full agenda and signup info: http://www.devfish.net/FullBlogItemView.aspx?BlogId=228

Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation: The future of applications.

We want to make sure you don't miss this opportunity. Take your knowledge of the Windows Vista™ operating system and the next-generation Microsoft® application platform to the next level by attending one of our half-day, demo-driven events. Featuring Windows® Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), these sessions will show you how to build compelling connected systems.

Thursday, April 20, 2006 8:00 AM
Welcome Time: 7:30 AM

Theater - Regal Stonecrest @ Piper Glen Stadium 22  

7824 Rea Road
Charlotte North Carolina 28277

A lap around Windows Presentation Foundation.

Windows Presentation Foundation is the new Microsoft presentation technology for the Windows operating system that provides a unified programming model for building rich Windows smart client user experiences that incorporate user interface (UI), media, and documents. Using Windows Presentation Foundation, you can increase developer-designer productivity and collaboration through Microsoft Visual Studio® development system, Microsoft Expression Interactive Designer, and extensible application markup language (XAML). In this session, we will explore the core concepts of Windows Presentation Foundation programming model, including XAML, layout, controls, resources, styling, and databinding.

A lap around Windows Communication Foundation.

Windows Communication Foundation is the new Microsoft subsystem for building connected systems. This session introduces core features of Windows Communication Foundation: its simple yet universal distributed programming model, its claims-based authorization and federated security, and its exceptionally rich management facilities. We will show you how Windows Communication Foundation makes it practical to build applications that span organizations, incorporating data from diverse remote and local sources. If you want to reduce your development costs by drastically simplifying your distributed programming, or enhance the value proposition of your own applications by leveraging the rich administration facilities of Windows Communication Foundation, then this session is for you.

Visit our Web site today to get more information on ISV Touchdown Briefings, the topics covered, and a list of dates and locations.

I host one of my production webs on a hosted server that I do not control.  This is much easier than having to worry about maintaining a server in my home (and the problems that come with hosting in your home - like horrible speeds, power outages, etc.).

Yesterday, as I was migrating the site over to the new host, I ran into a few problems.  The first problem is that I take advantage of HttpModules to enable custom extensions like .product and .category.  This was easily solved by opening a ticket with my ISP help desk and asking them to map the extensions to the .NET runtime (just like .aspx or .asmx are).

The second problem was a little more interesting.  In order to provide the branding of the site, I had to create a dynamic title image generator that grabbed the titles out of the database and built an image using a specific font.  The issue I ran into here is that my host does not have the particular font that I need installed on the server.  I went looking for a way that I could use this font without submitting another help ticket.  I figured two things: if I was the administrator for my host, I'd be a little irritated by such a request (even though I'm certain they would have done it anyway) - also, if the server ever got rebuilt, then I 'd have to ask to have the font installed each time.

Well, I found the answer I was looking for, and it is an incredibly simple solution.

Here's the code that I used to have:

    Font tFont = new Font("French Script MT", 30, FontStyle.Bold);

Since my host didn't have the French Script MT font installed, I had to use a class called the PrivateFontCollection.  Here is the new code:

    // load a Private font collection to ensure we have the correct font
    PrivateFontCollection fontCollection = new PrivateFontCollection();
    fontCollection.AddFontFile(fontPath + "\\FRSCRIPT.TTF");
    Font tFont = new Font(fontCollection.Families[0], 30, FontStyle.Bold);

As you can see, it was just a matter of loading the font from disk and using the first family in the fontCollection in the Font class constructor.

Initially, I can see two primary use cases for this class:

• Hosted web servers - Using GDI+, it is possible to create images using a specific font.  There's a good chance that the font you need isn't going to be on the server (and may not be licensed to that host).  This is the use case that I ran into.
• Windows applications - With the new WinFX WPF applications coming out these days taking advantage of rich graphical user experiences, I can see where it would be useful to use the PrivateFontCollection to keep a ClickOnce application from having to install a font in the system Font directory.  This would lower the security permissions required to execute the code and would provide a much more secure experience for your users.

I recently made a few major errors while hurredly setting up some online sites.  I set up a full year of hosting for the wrong domain.

I have been hosting www.cerkit.com with DiscountASP.net for over a year now, so I also signed up for hosting for my new domain.

When I contacted the sales department at DiscountASP.net, they replied in less than two hours (on a Sunday!) telling me that everything was taken care of.  They had changed the domain over and not charged me for it!  Now that's service.

So, not only do I now recommend them to my friends based on their superb up-time, excellent throughput, and support of ASP.NET 2.0, I now have yet another reason to recommend them - service.

There truly are advantages to consumers for doing business with a Microsoft Certified partner, and now I've experienced that from the other side.

I’m currently installing Community Server to host a new community that I’m building.  Since I’m hosting it with DiscountASP.net, I needed to use the web installer.  I’ve also never installed Community Server before, so this was an excellent experience.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a bug in the web installer that prevents the password entered in an early page in the wizard from being persisted.  This results in the following error:

    Select Database Instance

    Choose the database where you would like to to install Community Server.

And rerun the installer.

I went to restore all of my files and settings to my newly rebuilt computer last night and I’m getting the message “please select a folder that contains files and settings”.  So I say to my computer, “I just did.  Let me try again”.  No luck.

All of the documents, OneNote notes, PowerPoints, development projects, and personal email that I’ve created for the past three months is locked up in two 4 GB .DAT files that I can’t seem to get the files and settings transfer wizard to recognize.

I’m presently seeking alternative ways to access those files.

This is the first time that I’ve done something like this without physically copying the files over to an external drive, so of course something would go wrong.

The main problem seems to stem from the fact that I created the files and settings on a domain-joined XP computer.  I’ve tried unsuccessfully to restore them from Vista and from a non-domain-joined XP computer.  The Vista problem I can understrand, because there’s a program that Vista creates for you that does a great job of migrating the XP settings to the Vista settings.  But the XP problem perplexes me.

Luckily, many of my important documents are saved either in a Microsoft Groove workspace, my email Inbox, my personal SharePoint site, or my “backup” computer.  However, I’m pretty sure I’ve lost all of my OneNote notes.

I hope today brings about some way of getting to those files.  If you have any suggestions on how I can crack open those .DAT files to get access to what’s inside, I’d love to hear about it.

My teammate Steve Yi has posted an entry describing an upcoming Windows Vista application compatibility webcast.

Windows Vista Application Compatibility Webcast

Ok, this position has been open for a while.  We've interviewed a lot of people for the position, but it's still open.

ISV Developer Evangelist

The position is listed for Charlotte, NC, but the accounts will be in Atlanta, GA and in North Carolina.  To be honest, I'd prefer someone in Atlanta because that would mean that we could more easily collaborate, team up to assist customers, and get more involved in local events.

However, that's not a requirement of the position, it's just a personal preference of someone who's already in it.

I'm not sure that this position will require up to 50% travel as is listed, since most of the customers will be in Atlanta.  I guess if you're not in Atlanta you'd have to travel more.  Or you could move.  We'd love to have you. :)

Take the requirements seriously.  We've turned down candidates that I personally felt would have been good, which tells me that Larry (our manager) is very serious about customer satisfaction.  In short, you've got to know your architecture and you've got to know your business.

You should feel as comfortable talking to a senior level architect of a 50 million dollar company about design patterns as you do talking to the CTO, CFO, or CEO of a 50 million dollar software company about the business value of our current and future platform.

You've also got to understand how to make things happen when no one else around you knows how.  It's your responsibility to make things happen.

I've been in the position for four months and it's the first position I've ever had at Microsoft.  I must tell you that it's extremely satisfying, but equally challenging.  I decide how I do my job - my nearest team mate is in Dallas, TX.  However, I'm surrounded by awesome members of other teams in other groups within Microsoft, so you also need to know how to make a case for your customers to get what you need to help them reach their full potential.

If you've got what it takes, submit your resume and contact me from this site with the email address you used to register and we'll talk.

Good luck!

One last thing - every day is Friday on our team!

Via Tom Archer –

The February CTP for Windows Vista, Windows SDK (and WinFX) and Orcas technologies such as Cider have been released on the Windows Vista and WinFX Dev Centers.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista

My pal Paul Lockwood will be presenting at the next Atlanta .NET user group meeting.  If you’re in the area, come on out and get a taste of one of Atlanta’s top architect developers as he discusses the finer points of testing with .NET.

From the site:

Testing for .Net Developers; just do it!

Speaker: Paul Lockwood

Last year Paul gave our group a brief overview of NUnit. In his latest presentation Paul draws on his almost 17 years of real world IT experience to summarize developer-driven testing techniques. It is a fact that almost every project today is managed in a 'code-and-fix' manner; Paul will show how to gently introduce a little formality which will result in a more stable product and much less stressful regression testing. Technical demonstrations will use a small subset of Microsoft's brand new Team System, but every concept demonstrated can also be duplicated using Test Driven .Net which is only a free download away.

About the speaker:   In 1982 when Paul was age 11 he declared a wish to be a Systems Analyst, which is an old fashioned name for 'do-it-all IT consultant' - his hands have rarely left a qwerty keyboard since. Academically Paul holds Bsc and MEng degrees from UMIST University (England's MIT) which was followed up ten years later with another Masters degree in AI and Robotics. A PhD in Artificial Intelligence has been on the card twice, but the thought of four more years living on a student grant always make day jobs look much more attractive!

A real IT career began as a sponsored student in 1989 working on satellite communication equipment for the UK's Defense program. Since then he has worked for many big name IT consultancies including Andersen Consulting (Accenture), Deloitte and Touche, IBM and EDS.

Paul has a strong attention to detail and is very focused on a methodical approach to software development. Tools such as Microsoft's Team System and the use of Automated Testing are high on Paul's agenda; diligently performing up-front work leads to correct implementation the first time around.

Technology wise Paul works only on Microsoft .Net projects and he has used .Net exclusively since Beta 1 in March 2001. Historically Paul moved from Clipper5/ dBase IV to PowerBuilder to Java Application Servers before becoming enamored with .Net.

Paul maintains a technical web log http://www.dotnetworkaholic.com

Meeting Location and Directions

Microsoft Corporation
1125 Sanctuary Pkwy.
Suite 300
Atlanta, GA 30004
Directions to Microsoft

Microsoft Global Contact Access for Windows Mobile powered devices.

With Microsoft Global Contact Access, you can use Pocket Outlook on your Windows Mobile powered Smartphone or Pocket PC Phone Edition to look up contacts in the Global Address List (GAL) on your corporate Exchange server.
You can also check your co-workers' schedules to see if they're free or busy, and add multiple recipients to a meeting request.

Even if you're away from your office you'll have all the information you need to connect with any co-worker in your organization, and send them e-mail or request a meeting.

My Bluetooth dock for the Microsoft GPS will arrive soon and I’ll need to read up on how to get GPS coordinates from it for a few applications that I’m building for my Palm Treo 700w.  I’m not doing anything that hasn’t been discussed before, but I still want to have certain features.  I’ll log my findings here.

In the mean time, it took me longer to find the documentation on the GPS than it did to write the code, so I’m posting this here for easy reference (and search engine indexing to make it easier to find in the future).

From the GPS Intermediate Driver Reference:

The GPS Intermediate Driver is useful to developers writing applications that use GPS (Global Positioning System) devices as well as to GPS hardware manufacturers. It is useful because it provides an intermediate layer that abstracts the actual GPS device from developers and manufacturers. Ideally, this enables application developers to write code that works with any GPS hardware, and GPS device manufacturers to produce hardware that works with any application.

All of the GPS Intermediate Driver documentation should be useful for both application developers and device manufacturers. With that said, the GPS Intermediate Driver Application Development topic (and subtopics) may be of special interest to application developers. These topics provide information about using the GPS Intermediate Driver from an application. Of most interest may be the Accessing Parsed GPS Data and Accessing Raw GPS Data topics, which explain how to write code that uses GPS Intermediate Driver location data.