shawn's blog : TechEd 2K4

Pat makes me cry

Shawn L. Morrissey — Thu, 08 Jul 2004 18:01:00 GMT

One of the highlights of my visit to Amsterdam to attend TechEd Europe was Pat Helland's post-preso piece, captured here. Rock On, Pat... Great job...B-)

Van Gogh and the .NET Framework

Shawn L. Morrissey — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:38:00 GMT

While in Amsterdam for TechEd, I decided to take a morning off and visit the Van Gogh museum. I think I've been thinking about technology *way* too much lately - I kept thinking how the painting techniques in Van Gogh's Saint-Remy period, around 1890, remind me of the .NET Framework. Zoom in to the elemental level, and the paintings all look like nothing but simple brush strokes, and it's difficult to distinguish the purpose of the brushstroke. Yet you know if you were to remove a single brushstroke, the image would be incomplete.

The .NET Framework - viewed from an arm's length, it really is a work of art. Viewed at the API level, it's tough to distinguish the beauty... And yet, the removal of even one API would be immediately noticed.

If you're in Amsterdam, go to the Van Gogh. It was an amazing settling experience. Just don't think too much about technology while you're there...B-)

Welkommen to Amsterdam

Shawn L. Morrissey — Mon, 28 Jun 2004 09:24:00 GMT

I'm here, waiting for the Regional Directors to arrive. Because of the weather, I decided to walk from the hotel, mainly as a way to stay awake today...

These folks are seriously into their bicycles. This looks more like a food stop on the STP bike ride than it does a train station. How cool. And all the bikes seem to be the same cool beach bike - how friggin' cool!

Microsoft EMEA did a pretty cool thing and made the conference bag a bicycle messenger bag. Their choice of colors is interesting - is orange the nat'l color here?