On August 5th, I sent out an email asking for help to raise funds for cancer support.  I had no idea it would be this easy.  I ended up raising $6400.   I am amazed at how people are willing to give to a cause.  I want to say thank you to everyone who gave.  But really, it's not me who should be thanking you--it's the people in need of the help.  Just think about it--the money you give is going to somebody who needs it in ways that I hope you may never know.  I am just glad I was able to participate in some way. 

I started out this effort with the though that I would participate in this event in honor of my wife and my dad, to raise money, and to help me get through some tough times.  I finished the ride on October 14th with a completely different perspective.  The reason for the ride was really to help others.  It is amazing how much my perspective has changed.  The following is a long write-up on the events that led up to the weekend and the ride itself--including pictures.  Read it if you wish.  Just know that if you were able to help--any amount at all--you were helping someone else in need.  Thanks again for your help--this one event on October 14th in Austin, TX raised $4 million dollar for cancer efforts. 

The Livestrong Challenge is a weekend long event that consists of a Saturday morning 5K walk/run and a Sunday bike ride that can go anywhere from 10 to 90 miles.  I originally signed up for the 100 mile course, but the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) decided to reduce the distance to 90 miles due to the difficulty of the course (hills, wind, and heat).

I signed up for this ride on July 9th and I started my training a few days after that.  I haven't really ridden my bike much since 2003--so I was not in the best shape.  Before I really got into my training, I had to go out and make a few purchases to prepare me for all the riding I was going to do.  The first thing I did was buy biker shorts, a jersey, and new shoes.  I never though I would ever wear biker shorts... but now I own *two* of them.  I also had to upgrade my bike with new pedals and tires to allow me to complete the 100 miles. 

I spent July, August, and September riding one long ride on each weekend ranging from 30-70 miles.  I was also trying to get as many short 10-15 mile rides in during the week as my schedule would allow--I ended up riding about two to three times per week and logged them all in an online bike journal.  I also completely stopped drinking alcohol during this time (believe me, that was a big feat in itself). 

When the course map and the elevation profile were published--I almost backed down from riding the 100 mile course--as the elevation really scared me.  I was told that the course elevation added up to 6000 ft--which dwarfs the kind of rides I was riding in Peoria, IL.  Well, I was scared enough to step up the elevation of my rides as much as possible given the terrain in the area.  I ended up riding up and down Detweiller Drive (the two big hills) for two weekends spending six hours on those two hills.

Before I left, I had to get my bike taken apart and packaged up for the trip.  I left that to the experts at Russell's Bike & Fitness in Washington, IL.  (I have never been to an establishment with better customer service.)  In any regards, they packed my bike up for me in about an hour and it was ready for the flight. 

Well, the weekend was at hand, and Kara and I got some bad news.  Kara broke one of her wisdom teeth and was scheduled to have surgery the day before we were supposed to leave to Austin.  As a result, Kara could not make the trip.  Hopefully, her and I can make this trip again in the future.

As a result of Kara not going, I called a friend of mine who was participating in the ride, Jeff Wells, to tell him that I was going down by myself.  He recommended that I stay with Scott Richardson, a sports/outdoor writer for the Pantagraph newspaper in Bloomington.  Scott is also a cancer survivor and has written about it.  Scott and Jeff have both done a tremendous amount for the LAF.  They were in a class of riders that were participating in the Ride for the Roses (reserved for fund raisers who raised over $15,000).  Ride for the Roses participants get to start the ride at the starting line, get to participate in special events, and obtain free services.  Scott, invited me to be his guest, so therefore I was able to participate as a Ride for the Roses guest (and obtain the benefits)!  Cool! 

The first thing I did in Austin was to register at the sign-in room.  At the entrance of the sign-up room was a sign... how fitting the room was called Hill Country (ughh).  I then dropped my bike off to get it unpacked and assembled (a benefit of the Ride for the Roses group).  The bike-room was manned by Shimano and Livestrong volunteers and didn't have many bikes I first arrived.  The volunteers assembled and made sure my bike was in good working condition.  By the end of the day, the room was full of bikes waiting to go out on a ride (these were only bikes that belong to the Ride for the Roses participants--and me).

When I got to my hotel room, I unpacked the welcome kit to find a Livestrong pamphlet that every rider received.  I was very proud to see my name in the book as a top-fundraiser in the over $5000 category.  That's a moment I will never forget.

I was able to participate in two evening events.  One of the events was a Friday night BBQ party for the Ride for the Roses participants at a beautiful game ranch in Creedmore, TX.  It was a small group--maybe 100 people or so.  Lance was in attendance and was very friendly with everyone.  I think he knew most of the people in the room.   The night started with a silent auction.  I saw a Cheryl Crow guitar go for $10,500!   After the Texas BBQ was served--Lance started narrating a slide-show on a projector.  He started off by naming off the top fundraisers and went down the list--saying each name out loud.  Many of the names had great survivor stories.  One of them is 7 year old Spencer Sartin (if you don't click on another link in this entire post, click on Spencer's link).  His dad raised him up in the air while Lance joked about Spencer holding the record for the most Livestrong bands ever worn by one person.  Spencer is a cancer survivor going through chemo treatments--and rode in the ride with his dad!  It was hard not to cry.  Another was Matt Pomeroy, who's mother just passed away after a 17 year battle with cancer.  Matt decided to ride his bike across the country to raise money in her honor.  He raised over $64,000!  Some of the names couldn't be their--as they were in hospital's fighting cancer.  A couple of names weren't their because they didn't make it--and then it hits home why Livestrong is important.

On Saturday, the night before the ride, I attended a pasta dinner for all fundraisers have raised over $5000.  Lance again spoke and I got to meet a few more people.  The weekend was full of stories.  In any regards, I got back to my room to get some rest--as the bus was coming to pick up the Ride for the Roses participants at 4:30 am.  I was preoccupied with the ride ahead.  Many people were backing out of the 90 mile ride and telling me to do the same due to the hills.  I was determined to at least try--regardless of the outcome.  My roommate, Scott, gave me good advice on how to relax your mind and get some sleep.  It didn't work--I was awake until that stupid alarm went off at 4:30am.  Got up in the morning and made sure I had everything for the ride--helmet, socks, gloves, shorts, shoes, sweat-cap, sunglasses, micro-fiber cloth (for the sunglasses), jersey, participant number, mobile phone (I will explain later), my camera, sun-block, and finally gel-packs to give me the energy I need during the ride.  I placed all this into my duffel bag and proceeded to head out into the dark.  The ride started at 7:30am.

We arrived at our starting point, Dripping Springs High School, in Dripping Springs Texas.  On our way out to the starting point, I saw a street sign that read, "Welcome to Hill Country".   When we got the the starting point, I was greeted by my bike.  I was surprised to see the seat had a piece of scotch-tape on it that read "Go Pete Go".  I immediately knew who put this on the seat--one of the Livestrong volunteers in the bike room named Fred from the University of Illinois. 

It was still dark.  I was pretty nervous before the ride.  I loaded up on carbs, water, and Gatorade to prepare myself for the day.  As the ride time came near, I made my way up to the starting line.  Hundreds of people were already gathered around.  I was able to get in up-front due to me being invited as a Ride for the Roses guest.  I was literally two rows from the starting line.  I just sat back and took in the sites as dawn approached.    Almost everyone had a sign on either saying "Survivor", "In Memory Of", or "In Honor Of".  This is another reminder of why everyone is here.  The back of my jersey had a sign that said "In Honor of Kara and Dad".  This was another moving part of the weekend.  Throughout the ride, I ran into so many Survivors.  I wanted to ask each and everyone of them their story.  I saw one rider with an In Memory Of Mom and Sister.  I thought to myself, "Wow.  Thousands of riders.  Everyone has their own story.  Livestrong means something different to each of us.  However, all of us are here for the same goal."

A few minutes before the ride started, I saw Lance about 30 feet in front of me.  He got up on stage and gave an opening ceremony speech.  I was impressed with his ability to speak and communicate.  He was also pretty humorous throughout the weekend.  After he and the president of the LAF said a few words, Lance came down and got on his bike.  I could see him clearly in front of me.  While I was behind the starting line, he was in front of it.  Within minutes, he was surrounded by an entourage of about 8 people or so.  I couldn't make out who they were. 

The ride started with Lance and his group leaving first and then immediately after, the group I was in (Ride for the Roses) started.  The rest of the riders started in groups--as they would never let all three thousand riders go at the same time.  The first part of the ride was pretty dangerous--as many riders were crammed in a narrow winding road.  I was moving pretty quickly from the start.  I didn't need much warm-up time as the adrenaline had me going.  I was moving much quicker than normal.  I was really trying to see if I could see Lance in front of me.  At one point in time, I was maybe 100 ft behind his group, but after the first hard right turn, I lost them. 

The first part of this ride was exhilarating.  I will never forget it.  Riders were riding handle-bar to handle-bar.  Volunteers and the crowds were to the left and right of us all cheering us on.  It was really amazing.  After I broke through a little of the real rough congestion, I picked up some speed--again this was adrenaline.  I was even chatting with quite a few riders as I went.  I was also wishing the Survivors luck as I rode by them.  Every so often, we had to slow down as the road was full of cattle grates in the street.  I have never seen these in the Midwest.  At each of these cattle grates, a volunteer was sitting ringing a cow bell to warn us of the grate in the street.  We went over a low water point and had to ride through a stream of water.  Again, a volunteer was their telling us to get off our bikes.  I got off and walked over it but almost slipped.  The guy next to me wasn't so lucky--he fell.  Soon after I was up at a good speed again and riding very close to one person.  We were right next to each other and getting ready to take a turn.  I felt like we were going a little to fast as their may have been gravel around the turn.  Well, we were.  His bike lost control and he slid ride into a steel street barrier.  I stopped and asked him if he was ok.  He said he was--but I wasn't sure.  Others also stopped and he ended up getting back up and going.

The ride was pretty much like this for the first 20 miles or so... lots of cheering crouds , volunteers everywhere, tight bike-traffic, and all hills.  After 20 miles, the 40 mile riders broke off.  I didn't notice much of a difference because of the speed I was going at put me ahead of them.  However, I really noticed a difference at about the 30 mile marker when the 60 milers split off--as I was riding with many of them.  After this point, the number of riders really died down.  I didn't really get the feeling that a lot of people rode the 90 miler.

Each 10-15 miles was a rest stop--and I stopped at all of them.  Usually during each stop, I would fill up on drinks, stretch, eat a bite, and send a text message using my mobile device.  Yes, I am a nerd and I was actually was sending Twitter text messages during my ride (hence the reason for my mobile phone).  :)  I was even counting porta-potty stops along the way... However, after about 8 or so, I lost track.

In any regards, I was feeling great and didn't really feel too tired until about mile 60 or so.  This was in the middle of a horrendous stretch of about 15-20 miles or so going up a ~long~ hill, against the wind, and in which not many riders were around me.  I hated this part of the ride.  It was at this point that I wasn't sure how much longer I could go.  The entire ride consisted of a bunch of small hills that took the energy out of you over time.  However, this hill was the longest hill I have ever ridden (by a great length) and the wind was brutal.  My average speed going into this hill was over 17mph.  Needless to say, my average speed was nowhere near that after I was done (or should I say the hill was done with me).  The others that I saw riding this were struggling as much as or more than I.  People were barely moving as cars and trucks would speed by us up this hill.

Once the long hill let up, there was a little bit of a decline (whoohoo), but then again, more hills to finish off the ride.  This is the point in the ride in which I was downing the energy gels that I packed with me.  I really think they gave me what I needed to make it through the later part of this ride.  Also, it was about 90 degrees that day--so the heat was really getting to many of us during this portion of the ride.  I really noticed it during the last 30 miles or so. 

At about the 70 mile marker, I started to see people giving up.  There were SAG vans all throughout the ride that would repair a flat, tend to medical needs, etc.  However, at this point in the ride, whenever I would see a vehicle, I would see a bike on top of it with a rider inside--enjoying the cool air-conditioning and getting a ride to the finish line.  The heat really got to me and I had to stop under a couple of trees for a bit to get away from the sun.

I was at a rest stop about 15 miles out.  A volunteer at that point told me that it was the last stop until the end.  I was surprised as I thought that their was one more.  In any regards, I told myself that I was going to ride the hardest 15 miles of my life to finish the day strong.  This is something that I learned from a good friend of mine, Ken Beckler.  Well, I finished really strong--riding as fast as I was during some of the earlier parts of the ride.  As it turned out, their was a final rest-stop, about 5 miles before the ending point.  I stopped for a couple of minutes--but I didn't feel like I needed to. 

As I approached the finish line, a great feeling overcame me.  A summer's worth of effort and a lot of emotion went into this event for me.  I was riding next to a group of Discovery Channel riders.  They looked like really good riders--so I was surprised they were finishing this late in the ride.  I think one of them hurt himself earlier and the rest stayed with him. 

At the finish line,   I noticed that any cancer survivor that crosses the line gets yellow roses showered on them as they cross the line.  As I crossed the line, many people were their to greet me, give me liquids and food, and take photographs of me.  It was a pretty emotional moment for me--but I can' explain how fulfilled I felt.  Scott and Jeff, whom I was riding with earlier in the day had to leave the ride early--as they had a flight to catch.  I went back to where my bag and clothes were.  I noticed a greeting card on my bag that read: "Pete, We made it!  Hope you did too!  No matter what, you are an inspiration and you should be proud of all you've accomplished! Livestrong, Jeff and Scott".  Reading that card was another highlight of the trip for me.

I want to thank Scott Richardson and Jeff Wells for setting me up with a great opportunity and for the companionship.  I also want to thank Ken Beckler for teaching me how to ride.  Also, again, thanks to all the people that gave!

November 2007 Meeting

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Central Time (US & Canada)
Microsoft Corporation
2203 E. Empire Street
Suite J
Bloomington Illinois 61704

The .NET Language Integrated Query Framework (LINQ)

Modern applications operate on data in several different forms: relational tables, XML documents, in-memory objects, and so-on. Each data domain can have profound differences in semantics, data types, and capabilities, and much of the complexity in today’s applications is the result of these mismatches. In this talk, Pete will explain how Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 aim to unify the programming models through LINQ capabilities in C# and Visual Basic, a strongly typed data access framework.

This discussion will mostly focus on the language features that support the LINQ framework and demonstrate the use of LINQ to Objects, LINQ to SQL, and LINQ to XML.

Presenter: Pete Maroun, Application Development Consultant, Microsoft

Microsoft has provided us with a copy of Office 2007 Ultimate and a Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse combo to give away.

Dinner will be provided, so bring your appetite and your business cards, for networking.

Please sign-up if you are planning on attending so we can plan for the group size!

The Bloomington, IL .Net Users Group (BDNUG) brings together Microsoft .NET developers to learn and network.

Intro to Microsoft’s Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)

Joe Kraft from Pearl Technology will present a high level overview of the Windows Communication Foundation (formerly Indigo), Microsoft’s unified programming model for building service-oriented applications.  Discussed will be the WCF Architecture, Data Contract Versioning, Message Queuing, Transaction Support and Security aspects of WCF.

About Bloomington .NET Users Group (BDNUG)

The Bloomington, IL .Net Users Group brings together Microsoft .NET developers to learn and network.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Central Time (US & Canada)
Microsoft Corporation
2203 E. Empire Street
Suite J
Bloomington Illinois 61704
Directions

Please register if you plan on attending!

I took the Nerd Analyzer a couple of weeks ago and aced that with a whopping 475 Noints (nerd-points).  The Nerd Test is a little more in-depth.  Wait till my wife finds out I'm a Cool Technology Geek.   This test fails to address at least one category--obsessive baseball nerd/fan. 

Date:   09/26/2007  

Time:   9:00am – 4:45pm

Location:           

Microsoft Office
2203 E. Empire St., Suite J
Bloomington, IL61704

.NET Technology Briefing

Come join your technology peers to learn about current and future.NET technologies.  The focus of this 1 day seminar will be around Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System.  You’ll be provided with an overview of each role and the session will wrap up with a preview of Visual Studio 2008 ("Orcas").   This is a 200-level presentation,so it's geared towards people with a familiarity with these products that want to learn more.

Agenda

9:00am – 9:45am Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) / Team Foundation Server Business Value

9:45am - 10:30am VSTS Project Management and Collaboration Features

10:30am - 11:15pm VSTS Architect and Developer Features

11:15pm - 12:00pm VSTS Tester Features

12:00pm – 1:00pm Lunch (provided)

1:00pm –  2:00pm VSTS Database Professional Features

2:00pm –  3:00pm .NET 3.0

3:00pm –  4:00pm .NET 3.5

 4:00pm – 4:30pm Orcas / Rosario

4:30pm – 4:45pm  Licensing and Q&A

4:45pm                 Drawing for games / books

Attendance is limited, so please register early to secure your spot!

Date:   Sept 26, 2007

Time:   9:00am – 4:45pm

Registration Starts: 8:45am

Location:       

Microsoft Office
2203 E. Empire St., Suite J
Bloomington, IL 61704 
Phone: (309) 665-0113

Click here to register

You may also access the registration site at: www.microsoft.com/events and reference Event ID 1032350084

This session will be delivered by Microsoft’s valued partner:

Deploying Smart Client Applications with ClickOnce

An organization is more likely to adopt a smart client architecture if it has an easy, flexible, low-effort way to deploy and maintain client applications on a user's desktop.  During this meeting, we will look at how Visual Studio 2008 (“Orcas”) can be used to deploy SmartClient applications in this manner using ClickOnce.  ClickOnce also provides built-in protections during installation and at runtime for the machine on which you are deploying the application.  We will discuss what
security mechanisms are available, how they work, and how to best utilize them for a number of scenarios.  We will also discuss and demonstrate how ClickOnce isolates applications and how permissions are granted.  We also show how to use the Trusted Application Deployment technology to deploy applications with elevated privileges on a user’s machine, based on either user prompting or trusted publishers.

Presenter: Pete Maroun, Application Development Consultant, Microsoft

Please register for this event if you are planning on attending!

September 2007 Meeting

Tuesday, September11, 2007 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Central Time (US & Canada)
Microsoft Corporation
2203 E. Empire Street
Suite J
Bloomington Illinois 61704

Food and drinks will be provided, courtesy of Microsoft.

Microsoft has also provided prizes, including Vista Ultimate, to be given away in a drawing at the end of the meeting.

About Bloomington .NET Users Group

The Bloomington, IL .Net Users Group brings together Microsoft .NET developers to learn and network.

9.12.07 Update:  The slides from this presentation can be downloaded from Windows Live SkyDrive.

These are some of (if not) the coolest videos I have seen on the web.. brought to you by Silverlight.

I am running into many Visual Basic 6 developers that are contemplating the upgrade to the .NET platform.  Some of these are independent software vendors that don't have the time or resources to learn the new platform and some are large enterprise customers that just need some guidance early on in the project life-cycle.  I have accumulated some resources that I have been sending to developers in need of help.  This page will be my ongoing reference list of Visual Basic 6 references that I have found to be valuable in getting started down the path of VB6 migration.

The place to go for all existing Visual Basic 6 developers is Visual Basic 6 Resource Center.  This site contains resources on developing in Visual Basic 6 and upgrading to Visual Basic .NET.

• Upgrading Visual Basic 6.0 Applications to Visual Basic .NET and Visual Basic 2005

This book can be downloaded for free or purchased.  It's a rather large book (720 pages), so I was happy with purchasing it.

• Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET

This is an introductory book for developers and can also be used by project managers.  This book is available online for free and can still be purchased.

• VB6 Upgrade Assessment Tool

This tool may be used to analyze your Visual Basic 6.0 projects to determine what issues you will need to address to be able to upgrade. It also provides information about where to get help understanding each issue and the types of skills needed to address them.

• What's New for Visual Basic 6 Developers

This is a very detailed reference targeted at Visual Basic 6 developers that have very specific "how-to" questions on specific tasks/topics.  One of the biggest problems I see with VB6 developers jumping into .NET projects is that they do not have the visibility into some of the newer features that .NET provides and as a result, end up spending lots of time rewriting /upgrading existing features can be addressed with features already in the .NET framework.

Interoperability

If your .NET application does need to integrate with existing COM components, the following resources are dedicated to interoperability between Visual Basic 6 application and .NET.

• Microsoft .NET/COM Migration and Interoperability

This document discusses wrapping existing COM objects for use during the migration.  The document focuses on the ASP / ASP.NET migration scenario.

• Introduction to COM Interop

This document contains walk-through's on referencing COM objects from .NET, calling the Windows API from .NET, and how to call .NET components from Visual Basic 6 applications.

• Interop Forms Toolkit 2.0

This toolkit allows you to upgrade your VB6 applications one form at a time (a phased upgrade).  This actually allows upgraded/new .NET forms to run within the same process as the VB6 application.

Office as a Client

Something else to consider... Will your application benefit from integration with the Office platform?  This may not be applicable to independent software vendors, because you cannot control the client software requirements.  However, sometimes this is an ideal solution for the enterprise.  Why? 

• Do your users use Office as their primary application?  If so, does it make sense to integrate application components into the Outlook interface?   
• Do your end-users want an application that has functionality that is integrated seamlessly into Office?
• As a developer, do you want to focus on writing business logic--and not an interface or pluming?

If these answers are yes, then you may want to consider Visual Studio Tools for Office.  Note that this is not Visual Basic for Applications.. This is a full-fledged .NET with support and access to the .NET framework from Office--which is a powerful combination. 

Dedicated to my Wife, Kara, and my Dad, Maurice

As some of you know, my wife and my dad are both in a battle against cancer.

My wife was diagnosed with Stage III Melanoma about five weeks after we were married (June 2006).  She has had three surgeries and had her lymph nodes removed from her upper left leg.  She was on an experimental chemo treatment but unfortunately had a violent allergic reaction to the drug.  She was unable to continue with the treatment.  However, she was recently told by her doctors that she is in remission.

That November, my dad was diagnosed with Stage IV Mantel Cell Lymphoma.  He saw multiple doctors and was told that he had about one to three months to live without treatment.  He went through multiple chemo therapy treatments and had spent a month in the hospital while he underwent a stem-cell transplant.  He is currently at home and is on the long road to recovery.

Kara and I have decided that we will participate in the LIVESTRONG Challenge on October 11th, 2007 outside of Austin, TX.  I will be riding in a 100 mile bike ride and Kara will be participating as a volunteer.

I am dedicating my training, the event, and the fund-raising to Kara and my Dad.  I'm asking for the help of my family, friends, co-workers, and others who want to help with the fight.

I don't know why my wife and dad were chosen to be afflicted with this horrible disease in the same timeframe.  However, I do know that cancer can take the wind out of your sails--as it has mine.  Please help me get that wind back.

All of the benefits go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF). The LAF is dedicated to helping cancer patients and fund cancer research.  We have been fortunate in that we have had good financial support; however, not all people are as lucky. 

We are trying to raise $5000 for this effort.  Please help us in making this a reality.

Please go to my fundraising page to make a donation.  If you use a credit card, your donation will only take a few minutes to process.  A receipt will be instantly e-mailed to you as an official tax receipt.  I can also take donations via PayPal:

Thanks for your help and wish me luck!

How many Nerd Points (Noints) can you rack up on The Nerd Analyzer?  I check-in at 475... which means I should be living in my parent's basement.

The final version of the “Team Development with Team Foundation Server” Guide was just released.  This guide shows you how to get the most out of Team Foundation Server to help improve the effectiveness of your team-based software development. Whether you are already using Team Foundation Server or adopting from scratch, you’ll find guidance and insights you can tailor for your specific scenarios. It's a collaborative effort between patterns & practices, Team System team members, VSTS Rangers and industry experts.

Part I, “Fundamentals,” gives you a quick overview of team development with Team Foundation Server. You’ll see the big picture in terms of your software development environment, including the development and test environment. You’ll also learn the basic architecture of Team Foundation Server.

Part II, “Source Control,” shows you how to structure your source code and manage dependencies. It also shows you how to determine a branching and merging strategy if you need isolation for your development efforts.

Part III, “Builds,” shows you how to set up team builds, how to produce continuous integration builds for your development team, and how to drop scheduled builds to your test team. It also discusses common problems and how to work around them.

Part IV, “Large Project Considerations,” show you additional considerations you need to deal with when working with large projects.

Part V, “Project Management,” shows you how to use Team Foundation Server work items, areas and iterations to streamline your development process regardless of what project management approach you use.

Part VI, “Process Templates,” shows you how to get the most out of the process templates and process guidance that is supplied with Team Foundation Server out of the box. It also shows how you can customize the process templates, and make modifications to work items and workflow to map to the software engineering process your team is already using.

Part VII, “Reporting,” shows you how all of the other Team Foundation Server components integrate their data store into a common reporting mechanism. You’ll learn how to use the default reports as well as how to build your own custom reports.

Part VIII, “Setting Up and Maintaining the Team Environment,” removes the mystery from Team Foundation Server deployment. You’ll learn how to choose between a single server and multiple server deployment. You’ll also learn how to support remote development teams and how to maximize Team Foundation Server performance.

Part IX, “Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server”, shows the changes that are coming in the next version of Team Foundation Server. You’ll learn what new features are planned as well as what features are going to be significantly improved. Some of the changes impact the guidance we give elsewhere in this guide, so use this section to improve your Team Foundation Server upgrade planning.

This guide is available at: http://www.codeplex.com/TFSGuide.  It will be made available on MSDN as well as in the Patterns and Practices blue book form.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 6:00 PM - Tuesday, July 10, 2007 9:00 PM Central Time (US & Canada)

Microsoft Corporation

2203 E. Empire Street
Suite J Bloomington Illinois 61704
United States

Language(s):
English.

Product(s):
.NET, .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Development Tool Betas, Internet Explorer, SharePoint Portal Server, Visual Studio and Web Development.

Audience(s):
Architect, Developer, IT Professional, Partner, Student and Technology Decision Maker.

Event Overview

Join us for the July meeting of the Bloomington .NET Users Group, in Bloomington, IL, where Marcellus Duffy will provide an overview of SharePoint 2007.
Dinner (pizza & pop) will be provided by Levi, Ray, & Shoup Inc.

Speaker: Marcellus Duffy, Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc.

A Microsoft MVP, Bill Simser, named his daughter "Vista Avalon Simser".  I have a question... Is she going to be repeatedly saying "Allow or Deny"?

Congratulations Bill!

Monday, June 18, 2007 6:00 PM - Monday, June 18, 2007 9:00 PM Central Time (US & Canada)

Microsoft Corporation

2203 E. Empire Street
Suite J Bloomington Illinois 61704
United States

Language(s):
English.

Product(s):
.NET, .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Development Tool Betas, Internet Explorer, Visual Studio and Web Development.

Audience(s):
Architect, Developer, IT Professional, Partner, Student and Technology Decision Maker.

Event Overview

Join us for the June meeting of the Bloomington .NET Users Group, in Bloomington, IL, where Dave Bost will provide an overview of Microsoft's recently announced Silverlight technologies.

Dinner (pizza & pop) will be provided by TEKSystems.
Speaker: Dave Bost, Developer Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation

Please be sure to register for the event to allow the organizers to get a count for food and seating.

Happy 10th Birthday to Visual Studio!  It's amazing at how much power and productivity is packed into the current Visual Studio .net development environment:  web applications, web services, windows applications, windows services, AJAX, mobile development, Xbox development, Office development, and the list goes on-and-on.  The ride has been fun and I'm looking forward to what comes next!