I’m going to be presenting this session in Greensboro, NC next week at the Triad Developer’s Guild user group meeting on July 7th, 6:30 - 8:00pm. Check out their website for directions and other details.

“Silverlight 3 is expected to hit the web sometime soon this summer and in this presentation you will learn about some of the new features applicable to developing business applications with Silverlight 3. We will look at building solutions with the new navigation framework, accessing, validating, and updating data with .NET RIA Services, working with the new capabilities to make your Silverlight applications SEO friendly, and a few more things as well.”

If you’re in the neighborhood stop in and check it out.

Have a day. :-|

Recently I had received an email warning me this might be happening and it did. Due to the impending actions of the North Carolina state legislature, Amazon has closed the accounts of all Amazon Associates in North Carolina. Here is the email I received:

“We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account has been closed as of June 26, 2009. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional tax collection scheme expected to be passed any day now by the North Carolina state legislature (the General Assembly) and signed by the governor. As a result, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com after June 26. We were forced to take this unfortunate action in anticipation of actual enactment because of uncertainties surrounding the legislation’s effective date.

Please be assured that all qualifying referral fees earned prior to June 26, 2009 will be processed and paid in full in accordance with our regular referral fee schedule. Based on your account closure date of June 26, 2009, any final payments will be paid by September 1, 2009.

In the event that North Carolina repeals this tax collection scheme, we would certainly be happy to re-open our Associates program to North Carolina residents.

The North Carolina General Assembly’s website is http://www.ncleg.net/, and additional information may be obtained from the Performance Marketing Alliance at http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/.

We have enjoyed working with you and other North Carolina-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program, and wish you all the best in your future.

Best Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team”

Nice huh?  I’ve already communicated with other Amazon Associates account holders in North Carolina and they are doing what I suspect others will be doing as well, opening accounts from another state. Other than terminating business as an Amazon Associate, it’s the only alternative.

Here is a TechCrunch article and a thread discussion which goes into some details

Have a day. :-|

Looking for insight into the differences between WPF and Silverlight?? Look no more! Here’s a link to a whitepaper on CodePlex that explains the differences.

Have a day.

Good news for those of you waiting to move past Vista… Windows 7 will be available in stores on Rock-tober 22nd.  I had my ear to the ground listening for the distant rumblings of boxes being pack up and trucks movin’ ‘em out. If I’m not mistaken, one really good ground rumble translated into “look for Windows 7 to RTM (release to manufacturing) in late July”.  While earth tremors don’t always make the best sources, this one wouldn’t surprise me. I can hope at least.

Have a day. :-|

My first question was, what is it? Taken from the Windows Team Blog posting about it:

“The Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7 is a set of six multi-touch optimized applications and games that are designed to truly showcase the capabilities of Windows Touch in Windows 7. It consists of 3 casual games, and 3 Microsoft Surface applications that have been created for Windows 7.”

“Great, I want to check these applications out and see how they work.” Not so fast… In order to use the applications and games inside the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7 you’ll need a Windows 7 PC that supports multi-touch like the HP TouchSmart tx2z series laptop or the HP TouchSmart IQ500t desktop. Then again, if you’ve got a Microsoft Surface lying around you could use them on that too!

Want to learn more about developing multi-touch applications? Microsoft’s Channel 9 has a couple of videos you’ll want to check out then.

Windows 7 Multi-Touch Overview

Programming Windows 7 Multi-Touch (Part 1)

Have a day. :-|

I don't know about you but to me looks are everything! :-)  I have a long way to go before I'm even close to resembling something beautiful but that doesn't mean my code has to suffer the same fate.

I don't know about you but I can't stand working with program code or HTML that isn't indented and formatted correctly. I find it hampers my productivity. A Visual Studio feature I use all the time is Format Document. You'll find it on the Edit menu under Advanced.

Hope this helps you have a beautiful day.

Have a day. :-|

I'll admit I'm NOT the most objective guy on the subject because the editor-in-chief (Rod Paddock) and publisher (Markus Egger) are both friends of mine, not to mention I also write for the magazine, but I can say that that 99% of the software development and .NET content in CoDe Magazine is first rate and absolutely ROCKS! Where is the other 1%? Those are my articles. They're second rate at best and sounds more like disco. :-)

Each issue is full of amazing solid content from well known software development industry leaders, influencers and trend setters such as Rick Strahl, Chris Williams, Julie Lerman, Ken Getz, Brian Noyes, Rocky Lhokta, Ron Talmage, Juval Lowy, Ted Neward, Michele Leroux Bustamante, Neal Ford, and yet somehow they even let me contribute.

What am I getting for this glowing endorsement? Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Zippo. Nada. Bupkis. The null set. Zero Kelvin. I've been an avid reader and fan of the magazine for years and I can't tell you how much I've learned from the cutting edge and always insightful articles that grace the pages of the magazine each issue. This is just my way of saying "well done" to Rod, Markus, and all the authors who have contributed to CoDe over the years. If you're not a subscriber, I suggest you become one.

I just finished my weekend read of Joel Spolsky's book on finding and hiring the best software developers, Smart & Gets Things Done. This is a must read for people responsible for bringing in new software developers. Although his approach is slanted toward finding developers for a product-oriented software development shop versus a corporate I.T. development shop, Joel covers a wide variety of topics from delving into the thoughts and motivations of a typical developer to practical suggestions like software developers are more productive when they have their own office. This is an incredibly quick and light read full of suggestions like 1) how to effectively sort through resumes, 2) interview techniques that can help quickly determine if the applicant is right for your organization, 3) making sure you present and sell your organization to the applicant, and the list goes on.

On the flip side, I'm sending my copy to my nephew who is a computer science major at the University of Central Florida and make sure he reads it. I want to be sure he understands how important it is to present himself as one of those "smart & gets things done" types when he starts preparing for and going on job interviews.

The slow economic times we're in with all the layoffs and downsizing has dramatically increased the number of potential applicants available for any software developer openings at your company. It is increasingly important that you and/or your organization are prepared with the advice and mind set needed to select the best of the best for your company. Smart & Gets Things Done provides the insight and practical advice to help you select developers who are smart & gets things done.

If you're a technical recruiter and you haven't read this book yet, I'd suggest you add it to your short-list of books to read soon.

There is an interesting blog post here where the author offers advice on what programming language new software developers should learn/use. I went through all the comments and it's interesting to note just how heavily slanted this post and comments are on technologies such as PHP, Python, Perl, Java, and so on. The Microsoft stack (Visual Studio VB/C#, ASP.NET, & SQL Server) gets mentioned but not nearly as often as the others.

My favorite reply was posted yesterday (2/14/09) and basically said if you want to work in the corporate world learn things like C#, Java, SQL, and so on and if you want to be broke, learn php/ruby/python.

What are your thoughts on all this?

Unwrapping my new Wolves wall calendar I realized its time to do some prognosticating. I've blown the dust off my Nostradamus predictions book, taken some fresh tea leaves and smeared them all over my cracked crystal ball (it rolled off my desk last March and I haven't taken the time to get a replacement) and I'm ready to peer deep into the future... Oh yeah, don't hold me to these. :-)

Google Acquires IKEA: Google figures the best approach to gaining ground on the computer desktop is to buy the company that makes computer desks. Seems logical.

Advertising Prediction: PC finally snaps under the pressure and ridicule from that pesky and trendy Mac guy. He takes the witness stand during the murder trial wearing a t-shirt with a penguin on it. When asked if he did it he says "I'm NOT a PC." Jury doesn't buy it and convicts him thus finally ending the PC vs Mac advertising campaign. Microsoft stock jumps 13%.

Microsoft Acquisition Prediction: Microsoft somehow ends up with a piece of Yahoo in 2009. In more interesting news, Microsoft, in an attempt to boost its Internet search market share, acquires a small, start-up software company which specializes in applying artificial intelligence technology to Internet search algorithms. While performing an in-depth inventory review of all the software assets they just acquired, one Microsoft engineer turns to another and says "Hey Tim, check out this really cool chess game I found in the AI_Games folder. It's called The Turk ". And so it begins....   Didn't you just know Microsoft had something to do with SkyNet????? :-)

December 28, 2009 Prediction: Looking back on 2009, Steve Ballmer is very pleased with the fantastic reception that Windows 7 received from the computer press and the market. Holiday PC sales bucked downward recessionary trends because people wanted a new PC with Windows 7 under the Christmas tree, next to the Menorah, or tied to the Festivus pole. Microsoft stock rises 18% from the time Windows 7 is released in early November until December 28. The debacle that was Vista is now behind them, Windows Server 2008 sales are surpassing expectations, armed with their new A.I. Internet search technology Live Search surpasses Google and achieves a 55% Internet search share, the new touch screen features in the new Windows Mobile are making those devices a "must have" in the consumer space, and of course those PC vs Mac ads are gone. All is finally good again at Microsoft.

December 29, 2009 Prediction: A memory management bug in the Universe's dark matter compressor driver causes the Universe to freeze up. A reboot is required and the universe starts all over from the beginning thus bringing to an end Microsoft's one day of joy and bliss.

Rich Internet and Desktop Applications Flourish: With the continued interest and success of Silverlight more developers are brought into the world of XAML. This has an unexpected benefit of driving up WPF adoption as developers become aware of the applications they can deliver on the client.

Laptop Hardware Prediction: Solid State Drive (SSD) capacity continues to increase and prices continue to drop making SSDs a very attractive replacement for traditional hard drives on netbooks and laptop computers. Ok, that was a gimme. :-)

Solar Activity Prediction: The sun will continue to rise in the east and set in the west for the entire year. I bet you thought this one had to do with solar flares, sunspots, or solar storms didn't you. Another gimme. :-)

Uh oh, the cold water from the tea leaves (ice tea!) reacted with the glass in my crystal ball and caused the crack to expand, splitting my crystal ball in two. Looks likes I'm done prognosticating for this year. I figure next year I can look back on these and know that I got at least two right. Which two? Only time will tell... :-)

I hope 2009 brings joy, happiness, and prosperity to you and your family!

Have a great 2009!!

Ok you VBers people out here, time to step up. Microsoft is watching and here is your time to make yourselves heard!  Click here to vote for VB Samples in the Silverlight Toolkit!  Do it now!

Have a day and a very Merry Christmas!

This post is going to highlight a "DUH JIM!" moment I had this morning. I have a number of different client computers and servers that I remote into in order to get some work done. For a while now I have had a shortcut on my desktop to launch the Remote Desktop Connection application. All of the machines I connect to are conveniently listed in drop down for me to select from. Today in my "DUH JIM!" moment I figured out that I could add the URL for the computer I'm connecting to after the call to the Remote Desktop Connection program. Here is what I mean:

C:\Windows\System32\mstsc.exe /v:[url here]

You can optionally add window size parameters like /h:800 /w:600 in order to control the size of the remote desktop window.

I now have shortcuts on my desktop that take me directly to the machines that I want to connect to. May seem kind of simple but it did qualify for the "DUH JIM!" moment today. :-)

Have a day.

I haven't had a chance to dig in yet but it looks like change is in the air at Live.com. Check out the video on TechCrunch.

Have a day. :-|

Attention southeastern U.S. software developers!

If you're in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, or anywhere else in the southeast U.S. don't forget to mark your calendar for next Saturday!  Not sure what a Code Camp is? Check out this link and find out!

Raleigh Code Camp

Saturday, November 15, 2008 , 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Location: ECPI

I'll be presenting a session on integrating Microsoft Virtual Earth into your web applications.

Hope to see you Saturday!

Have a day. :-|