Sorry folks... only 1 interview this week. I've been busier than Gil Gerard at a one hour buffet. Our guest this week is my very good friend Jason Olson. Jason works for Microsoft now, but I knew him when... although that's a story for another day.  Here are my NINE Questions with Jason Olson.

1. Where are you from?
Now, Kirkland, WA (just outside of Seattle). As a child I was from McMinnville, OR (which had the adoring nickname of McHickville). And no, I'm not a hick.

2. Ok so we know you work for Microsoft, but what do you do? What is your "product"?
Believe it or not, my honest-to-goodness job title is "Technical Evangelist". I love it  . And it's exactly like it sounds like. I get paid to go out and preach "The Good Word" of Microsoft technologies. Even with that though, we tend to call it "how it is". Currently, I evangelize a technology known in the greater developer world as "Visual Studio". More specifically, Visual Studio "10" and .NET Framework 4.0. 

3. How did you end up at Microsoft?
I actually ended up at Microsoft "out of the blue" really. While I knew I wanted to work for Microsoft eventually, I was very happy with the job I was at and was not looking at leaving for another job at all. Then my life changed when I got a call from a Microsoft recruiter asking if I wanted to interview for a position on this team in the "Developer and Platform Evangelism" division at Microsoft.

The recruiter had seen me in their database as I had interviewed previously for a position at Microsoft and didn't get in (I was definitely not a match for that first job). So..... 5 days later, I had flown up, interviewed with a bunch of people, and was back at home when I got a call from the recruiter extending me an offer. What a whirlwind! From "I didn't want a new job" to "relocating to Seattle to work for Microsoft" within a week.

#4 you're a pretty versatile guy, blogging about your interests in music, game development and of course your awesome "day job." What's something the world doesn't know about Jason Olson?
Well, besides being a music lover, I'm actually a jazz musician myself (piano). I've had the tremendous pleasure of playing with greats like Jeff Hamilton, Kevin Mahogany, and this coming August, I'll be playing a gig with John Pizzarelli. I'm also a published composer/arrange with Sound Music Publications and am the current piano player for the Seattle Jazz Singers.

Oh, and I can't forget the incomparable Louise Rose in that list as well.

5. You were at TechEd this year. I know you've been there before (in fact it's how we met) but this time you were there as a blue shirt. How is that different from your past experience?
It was interesting, to say the least. The biggest difference I noticed is that I have a window into "how the sausage is made" now. It's incredible the number of resources that have to come together to run a conference like that. As a blue-shirt on the floor at Tech Ed, I like to think it was "more of the same" as I really go to Tech Ed for the networking. I love talking to other geeks to see what they like or don't like. I guess there's a certain amount of "respect" that happens when wearing around the blue shirt, but I don't usually think of that as I like the conversations just as much as if I was a non-blue-shirt.

6. This was also the first year TechEd used the new split format. What do you think of that (be honest) and how it affected the overall reach and networking potential of TechEd?
I felt "torn" about it. I loved the fact that I was surrounded by developers. I felt there were many more high-fidelity conversations I had than happened in the past. And the increase in developer-related content was awesome. But, many times (as much as I hate to say it), it felt like both conferences (developer week and IT week) were put together with the same budget as a one-week event. So I felt the "quality experience" was not nearly as there as it had been in years past.

7. I followed a lot of folks on Twitter during TechEd, and it seems like the way to go when out of town. I know you've been using it lately, so what's your take on Twitter?
I find Twitter to be very interesting at times. I definitely can't live without it while at big events and conferences. When Twitter is down while at these conferences, I always feel disconnected and not "in the know" about social events that are happening (you know, that feeling you get when you want to use your computer and internet but you just lost power because of some storm  ). Outside of events/conferences, I find myself not using twitter nearly as much. I tend to be a long-winded guy though, so I prefer in-depth blog posts when I write rather than spurting thoughts on Twitter.

It's definitely nice staying up to date on all my "virtual friends" that I know from these events (like continuing to give D'Arcy a hard time about no Chipotle in Canada (suckers)).

8. So, what advice, if any, do you have for people who want to eventually put on the blue shirt? Is there a Microsoft Type, regardless of technological preference?
I don't think there is a "Microsoft Type" per se. Sure, you have to be a very passionate person who is in it more than for "just the paycheck", but I think that describes many of us who are active blog readers, tech learners, conference goers, etc. The key advice I have is "never give up." Microsoft has a very rigorous interview process that can result in a lot of "false negatives" and good people who may have been good for the role get turned down. Don't let that get in the way. I know people here who are some of the smartest developers we have that took 6+ tries to get into the company. It's all about finding "the perfect fit." So keep your head held high, and continuing doing what your doing.

9. last question... any tattoos?
No tattoos yet. I'm not sure if I'll ever get inked. Though I do have to admit you look bad-ass.

Mission: Cereal Processing Mill
Status:  Abandoned (35 years)

Debrief:
We met up at 11pm (more or less) last night in a nearby parking lot and made sure we had our gear. For me, my gear consisted of a flashlight and my cellphone/camera. To avoid attracting undue attention, we all piled into one car and made the mile and a half drive to the mill.

There's a small parking lot by the mill. Small as in less than 10 spaces. There was also an empty car in the lot. It wasn't necessarily a cause for concern, but it was noteworthy. I wondered briefly if someone else was around.

We grabbed our stuff, and there was enough moonlight (and light from the bridge) for us to see by. We casually walked down the road to the entrance to the mill, instead of cutting down the side of the hill. No need attracting any attention. Once we got to the entrance road, we cut over to the railroad tracks and walked along those until we got well into the shadows.

Waiting a moment and looking around, we cut across to the other tracks and started walking back towards the mill. As we got closer, we veered off to the right and cut through the weeds, only occasionally using flashlights (hooded by our palms to only give off a fraction of the usual light.) One of us was a nervous talker, though he quickly clamped down after a stern word from another member of the group.

We cut around the backside of the mill and looked around. The first objective, just getting there, had been reached. One of us, who had been here before, did a quick recon walk around the mill while the rest of us stayed put. He knew where the entrances were, so we waited.

Not more than a couple minutes later, he came around the corner, informing that a new lock had been added to the way he usually gained entrance. Fortunately there was another way in.

Following quietly, we found the other entrance and climbed in, one by one. It was completely dark inside, so all the flashlights came out.

The first thing I noticed about this room was the smell. It stank really really bad. It smelled like rot and decay and maybe even death. The second thing I noticed was the overall condition of the place. There was the expected graffiti, although nothing remarkable at this point. The floor was riddled with holes, some fairly large, and some covered by thin sheets of plywood.

We made our way around the room, looking at this hole and that hole, the graffiti on the walls and support beams. The abandoned pieces of equipment and machinery were everywhere, the purpose of some instantly recognizable while others were a mystery to us. Eventually we found a set of stairs leading down, into what I could only describe as my idea of hell. The entire lower level was at least waist deep in sludge and dark dark water containing things we could only speculate.  Even if we were to wear waders, it wouldn't be safe. No telling what was under the water, or how sure the footing was.  Our guide offered some additional food for thought that previous explorers had in fact gone down there and felt "something" under the water. Perhaps a body or bodies. They weren't sure. It really would be the perfect place to stow one. I certainly would never want to look there.

I can't begin to emphasize how strong the stench was in this room. Eventually, we moved to the stairs leading up and climbed as quietly as possible on metal steps, guided by our muted flashlights. The next floor didn't smell nearly as bad, but was otherwise a lot like the first, with graffiti on the walls, holes in the floor and trash everywhere. We walked around, looking at whatever the room had to offer before proceeding again up the stairs to the next floor. One thing I noticed, the graffiti got a little better the higher we climbed. It was almost like a point of pride for the taggers. The more risk, the better the art, it seemed.

Eventually, after exploring 4 or 5 floors, I honestly can't recall since they were very similar, we found a door leading outside. Actually, I should qualify that. Along the way, we found several doors to the outside. This was the first one that offered us somewhere to step on the other side. That somewhere happened to be a roof.

Turning off our flashlights, we stepped out on to the roof, and crossed to the other, connected building. This is the building we wanted to get into originally, but couldn't. Crossing the roof was one of the first genuinely scary experiences for me. I've never had a fear of heights, surprisingly, but squishy roofs are another story. Perhaps squishy isn't the right word, but the roof had a fair amount of "give" to it. Every step I took was the most careful step I had ever taken, until the next one, and the next one. I made it across, but it was then I realized how potentially dangerous our little trip could be.

Another thing I noticed was the large amount of plant life, including some small trees (TREES?!?!) growing on the roof of the mill.  That was completely unexpected. I guess if enough stuff dies and decays up there, and seeds fall, then rain falls and things begin to grow and take root. Pretty cool actually.

Once we made it to the door to the other building, things really started getting interesting. we were 5 or 6 stories up from the ground, and the upper levels of this building were waiting to be explored. There was a lot more equipment and just "stuff" in these rooms. I call them rooms, but mostly each floor was a completely open area. The graffiti was even more colorful and elaborate than what we saw in the previous building. Some of the artwork had a degree of risk beyond just entering an abandoned building and climbing a few stairs.

One piece in particular really stood out. Aside from the size and detail of the work, which was comparable to others in the room, was the fact that there was a huge hole right in front of the wall, with little more than a 10-12 inch ledge for the tagger to stand. The hole was to big to reach across, and the likelihood of bringing a ladder (especially one big enough to be useful) in this place seemed pretty doubtful.

After admiring some of the artwork, we continued up to the next floor. Our "guide" took a brief detour outside onto a rather doubtful looking scaffold and spent a little time (and took a few pics) out there. He probably could have gone higher, but there's no way it would have supported the rest of us, so he came back down, and back inside.

After a few more flights of stairs, and a few more rooms, we had gone as high as we were able. This floor was practically wallpapered with graffiti. Some of it was recent, having been tagged with 2008. We took a lot of pics and looked at everything. This is where I got my second real scare of the night. Something swooped past my head, flapping about. At first we all thought it was a bat, but it was just a small bird. It was the first living thing I had seen the entire night, other than the occasional bug. (It's funny, but I assumed there would be lots of spiders. I never saw a single one...)

At this point, it was getting late and we still had a decent climb back down to the roof, and then back down the other building, so we decided to head back. The trip down to the roof was pretty uneventful and it was as I was crossing the roof that I got my third scare of the night.

We were moving a lot faster on the way down than on the way up. Partly because we didn't want to push our luck by staying too long, and partly because we were feeling pretty comfortable having seen everything on the way up. Maybe this is why I wasn't as careful crossing the roof the second time. The path I took the first time, although it gave a little, was pretty stable as I stayed near the reinforced parts. On the way down, I cut through the middle without really thinking about it. That was dumb and it could have gotten me into a lot of trouble.  Aside from being much more visible to anyone on the road or on the ground, it was also the weakest part of the roof. About the time I hit the middle, I could feel a LOT of "give" under each step.

At this point, going slow didn't really seem like a smart option. The best thing to do way to get away from the center as fast as possible. So without taking hard or heavy steps, I moved forwards and towards the edge as quickly as I could manage. I think I was pretty lucky, all things considered.

Apparently while on the roof, someone had ridden across the bridge on a bicycle. We were pretty visible, and didn't know if we were spotted or not. We made our way into the first building again, and climbed down the metal stairs, not pausing at each floor anymore. It was time to go.

We got to our egress point on the ground floor and checked to see if anyone was around. Not spotting anyone, we each climbed out and moved to a dumpster for cover. A quick jog back around the side of the building to the railroad tracks and back up to the car, and we were done.

I've never really considered myself an adrenaline junkie, but that was the biggest rush I've ever had. Yes, I got the crap scared out of me a few times, but that only added to the excitement.  Whenever the next mission comes up, I'll be ready to do it again.

Unless there's spiders. Then we'll have to see.

Not too long ago, I mentioned that I'm having a little contest. Send me a cool fansign and you might win a seriously awesome badass prize. I had a couple of entries show up at first and then things slowed down a bit. So I figure, maybe you need a reminder, or an example.

 

I received these today:

 

There's a prize worth about $10,000 on the line here folks... keep em coming.

You really don't have to send in a picture of yourself tattooing a nun to win. Just be creative.

This is in response to a post by my fellow blogger & INETA guy, Randy Walker.

Randy has a theory on how to make Twitter more performant (or profitable.) You can read it here or just see below for the relevant part:

"charge anyone with a follow to follower ratio greater than 2 to 1.  This would immediately eliminate 99% of spammers, drastically cut the system resource issues (thus reducing downtime), and create an income for company.  While I doubt this will completely resolve it's lack of income problem, it's a step in the right direction.  Those who use twitter as a marketing method, can continue to use the service, but must pay for it."


My response... 

I think there's a problem with that logic. Most true spammers don't have that kind of following, in fact they are the polar opposite. Most of the ones I have seen follow 1000s of people and very few follow them in return. (Spammers arent too smart.)

Who this would hurt are people who actually have something to say (like myself, with a roughly 3.6 to 1 ratio, or people like Rocky Lhotka with a 10 to 1 or greater ratio.) 

Charging people (like WilW or PopCandy) with significant TFF ratios and who actually provide interesting content, would just drive them off.   No content, no twitter. The end. But no more performance problems either. ;)

I think the answer is simple. Sell ads on the site. Maybe even the occasional feed ad. Find a way to monetize the service without charging the users... once that expectation (of free service) is set, it's hard to go to a paid model.

Personally, as much as I love Twitter, I think it's likely doomed unless someone with deeper (REALLLLLY deep) pockets comes along and buys them... and just offers it as one more service.  (You listening Google?)

I first met Rachel at TechEd 2008 and have been following her Twitter feed ever since. She's a newly awarded ASP.NET MVP, ASPInsider, Microsoft Certified Trainer and one seriously cool geeky chick. You can find her blog at www.RachelAppel.com. Fortunately for you, dear reader, she was able to squeeze these NINE Questions into her busy schedule. Enjoy...

1. Where are you from? 
I’m from Northeastern Pennsylvania. I was born, raised and remain here, only to escape during my frequent travels.

2. Who do you work for? Give me the 10 second pitch on them. Why would I want to work there, or why would I want to hire them?
I work for myself. I’ve been around the app development block a few times and by now I know how to get things done. I create software that the customer wants, and is useful to the customer wants, not some version of software that some developer thinks the customer wants. 

3. What brought you to independent consulting?
I worked for a small consulting company that went under, after working for a slightly larger company that went under and I was not about to test the “three times the charm” theory.  That was around 2004 and I’ve never looked back - now I am the company and I like it much better.

4. I know you're an ASP.NET MVP, but I'm curious what else you do. What other areas of technical expertise do you have? 
I started out on non Microsoft platforms (read: Borland C, Perl, COBOL) and I’ve coded everything from Win32 desktop apps to enterprise transaction processing systems so I have a well rounded knowledge of what’s out there.  I currently focus on pragmatic  software development using Microsoft technologies, particularly ASP.NET w/ C# or VB.NET, take your pick.  I’ve also done my fair share of SQL DBA work over the years as well.

5. You worked part of TechEd 2008 (Developers) this year. What area did you cover, and what did you think? Would you do it again?
I worked the ADO.NET product booth. It was a great experience being able to help customers solve their problems, especially those who had the problems or questions that are off the beaten path.  I learned a lot from the DP team and I’d definitely do it again.

6. It seems a lot of TechEd attendees see greater value in the networking, rather than the sessions. Mostly, I just go for the parties (ed: Just kidding boss.) What's your take on the whole Tech Ed experience?
Between working the booth and other activities, I was only able to get to one session, which was a BOF and I enjoyed participating. I really tried to get to some other sessions but kept getting caught up elsewhere.  I’d say the networking, interpersonal connections and technical discussions with people like yourself made it well worth the experience, despite my poor session attendance.  There’s definitely as great a value in networking as in the sessions.

 

On a side note, I do believe if you’re one of our twitter tribe, the rules state that conference party attendance is mandatory.

7. Speaking of Twitter, I rely pretty heavily on Twitter when traveling. What's your take on it and do you think it will survive its own success?
Aside from Twitter’s technical issues, I find the concept simple but useful, as I can keep in touch with many friends at once and see what’s going with them.  Friends don’t have to constantly ask where I’m at and what I’m doing anymore which is nice; it cuts down on the number of texts and emails I get.  There’s a hefty of noise to signal ratio with twitter, which will cause some issues with many users when they hit their saturation point.  I’m on twitter as @RachelAppel.

8. Any non-technical hobbies?
There is such a thing as non technical hobbies? Ok then, I golf.  I also used to garden but haven’t had time lately for much more than killing houseplants.

9. Last of all, any tattoos?
I never ink and tell.

http://www.torpexgames.com

Microsoft and Torpex Games announced today the release of Schizoid for Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Billed as "the most co-op game ever", Schizoid creates a new category of action gaming where teamwork equals survival and players must protect each other from waves of glowing enemies.

Available for download now, Schizoid is the first-ever Xbox LIVE Arcade title built using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio.

Microsoft's Schizoid page:  click me


I am really really excited about this.  It's great seeing XNA games showing up on Xbox Live Arcade.

The Twin Cities Developers Guild had our kickoff/cookout this evening. We had an excellent turnout and served up a bunch of burgers and hot dogs.

Afterwards, Jason Bock gave his talk on "Writing Better Code" which went really well. Lots of good questions from the audience. Jason and I tossed a few VB vs C# barbs back and forth, which was fun.

Everyone seemed to have a good time, and we wrapped up with some giveaways and announced the speakers for the next two months (August: Rocky Lhotka - CSLA Light, September: Kirstin Juhl - Team Foundation Server)

We also solicited feedback on what topics everyone would like to see and got enough suggestions to cover us for nearly a year. Now we just have to find speakers for them all.

If you live in the southeast United States, chances are you've heard of Wally McClure. You may have even met him in person. I met Wally at the Charlotte Code Camp, back in the early days before my inevitable ascension to .NET Demigod. Wally is always a lot of fun to talk listen to, so enjoy.

1. Where are you from?
I grew up in Knoxville, TN.  I have a BS & MS in Electrical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  I worked at “The Coca-Cola Company” in Atlanta, but I found that the corporate life wasn’t for me.  It’s funny because I was great at it, even at an early age.  So, after ten years in Atlanta, we moved back to Knoxville.  I’m an ASP.NET MVP, ASPInsider, Member of the INETA Speaker’s Bureau, and have written four books over the past 8 years.  I run the ASP.NET Podcast (www.aspnetpodcast.com). I get 12-15k downloads per episode.

2. Who do you work for?  Give me the 10 second pitch on why I should use them or their product?
My business partner and I run Scalable Development, Inc.  We’re a consulting shop.  We write code to solve business problems as well as we’re getting into customized developer training.  Our specialty is in applications that must scale up to large numbers of users and large amounts of data.  We also do a little bit with AJAX.

3. I see you Twittering a lot, maybe even as much as I do. What's your take on Twitter?
People who know me will understand why I use twitter, blog, and run the podcast.  Basically, I love to get out and talk to people.  I was told once that if I was a politician, I would have been the stereotypical one.  I’d be out shaking hands and kissing babies.  The problem with the technology world is that there are limited opportunities to  get out and meet lots of people, thus the continually running my mouth, or is it hands by typing.

As for twitter, I think its an interesting concept.  Unfortunately, there is very little information in it.  Its mostly noise, and I think most of that comes from me!  I think they have some architectural problems that they aren’t going to be able to overcome.  Fundamentally, the home page is a query with an IN, so that’s going to be problematic for them.  I would think they are having to go to some caching and queueing functionality.  The traffic they generate is fairly large, so there has to be something they are doing to take care of it.  I bet they could use SDI.  Twitter downtime is fairly frustrating  Another concern is while they have gotten some investment money, I don’t see a really good business model.  They have the options of:

1. Advertising.  They probably have the traffic to support it.  They could do it today.  It would be a way to generate some income today from that traffic.
2. memberships.  Some folks will be fine with an advertising supported site, some won’t.  For those that don’t like it, they could implement a membership system where they can pay for a membership and have no advertising show on their home page.
3. Business analysis of the posts.  Why not have some business analysis tool that can see what people are talking about.  This allows companies to understand how people view their products.  Now, the anti-big brother people will scream bloody murder about that, but they scream about anything anyway. 
4. Some other mechanism to show that inflows exceed outflows.  This is a concept that many people don’t get.  If you want to have a viable business, you have to have the inflow of money exceed the outflows.  If not, the business won’t make it, the investors won’t get their money back,  and the business can’t stay open.  Its great to talk about large numbers of users, but without a way to monetize the traffic, there is little in the way of a business.

4. You're a bit of a rockstar in this industry. What's it take to get there? Step on any fingers on the way up the ladder?
Rockstar?  Hah!   I think a lot of people know me and I know them.  The key thing to remember is that you have to prove yourself everyday.

Ok, so what was my strategy to get my name out.  I’m not sure I had a strategy as much as I just talk a lot.  The things that I did are:

1. First off, I try and learn as much as I can and then share that knowledge in a way that people can use.
2. Write.  I have written four books.  Yes, they are a pain to do, but they show a fairly big commitment to get things done.  They take a lot of time, don’t make much money, but they set you apart from those that haven’t.
3. Blogging.  I was a little slow on the uptake on blogging, but I have tried to catch up on that.
4. Podcasting.  I hit podcasting early in the uptake on that.  I can thank Jason Salas on getting me started there.  First off, DNR is a very professional show.  Carl does a great job there.  I finally met him at TechEd.  He’s really talented.  Anyway, he should be congratulated for his work there.  He’s really the father of the technology podcast in the community.  My view on a podcast was that I wanted to have video as well as discussion on technology.  Over the past two years, I have been able to get that going with videos and audio shows.
5. Get out and meet people.  I love to get out and talk to people.  I love to go to speak at user groups as well as the weekend events.  They are great to get out to and speak.  Meeting people generates a level of interaction that you just can’t get from being “online” in some way.
6. Market yourself.  I don’t mean that people should stand up and scream their own name from the hilltops or anything like that.  At the same time, you have to promote yourself and hold your line on what you want to do.  They key is to do good work and then to show it.  For example, I try to remember to ask for link love to our podcasts and important events.  It’s a small thing, but over time, it really helps!  So, yes, you shouldn’t be afraid to market yourself.  Ask your friends for help.  Friends will help.  After all you shouldn’t expect help from your enemies.  Another piece to remember about marketing is that you don’t know what will work.  You have to try things and see what works.  An old marketing line is that only 50% of marketing works, but that no one knows which 50% works.

Naysayers are everywhere.  It amazes me today the number of people that couldn’t understand why I wanted to get out and meet people.  Some folks told me, a book is too much work.  Others tell me weird things.  For example, my sig line of “Get More Wally in Your Life.”  I had a person I knew come up to me at Mix06 and proceed to shake their finger in my face and tell me how evil I was for promoting myself.  The funny thing was that they were serious!  My thought was that if they got worked up over my marketing, that my marketing was working properly and the message I was trying to send was getting out.  The naysayers are typically intimidated by what you are doing.  When the customers come to you and use your own lines, you know that it is working well.  Developers need to think outside their cubicle!

5.  I know you from your podcast and your community work in the southeast region. What's something the world doesn't know about Wally McClure?
At home, I’m coach Wally.  I coach my kids basketball teams.  My daughter has graduated from Coach Dad and plays at her middle school.  I think my son has one more year with me and then he’ll hopefully make the boys team at middle school..

Also, I’m not one of the new age parents.  I’m old school on that.  I’m not into being my kids buddies.  I push them to do their best at whatever they do. 

6.  I'm speaking at Codestock this fall, but many of my readers are probably wondering "What's this CodeStock thing I'm hearing about? Why should I go?"
First off, CodeStock ’08 is a first year event.  CodeStock is a weekend developers event in Knoxville.  We’re having speakers from all over the country wanting to come.  Scott Cate from Phoenix and Rich Hundhausen from Boise wanted to come and speak.  We had 60 session submissions for approximately 25 spots.  This was a shock to me.  I’ve been contacted by people from outside the US about how to get to the event.  The amount of interest from the region has been amazing.  A couple of years ago, I felt like we would never be able to have an event  in Knoxville due to attendance.  Now, I think that this can be a very good regional conference. So, the reason you should go is that we have a regional conference with national level content.
Michael Neel and Alan Stevens have done a lot of good work on getting the conference going!  I’m just the pretty face that is out there promoting the event.

7. You were at TechEd 2008 (Developers) this year. What did you think of the new format? Where's the value in TechEd for you? ("I'm here to learn!"  or  "Networking, Baby!")
its all of the above.  While I’m there, I’m joking around, but that didn’t stop me from going to sessions and trying to understand what is going on regarding technology.

8. What's next for Wally? Any big projects or plans on the horizon?
We’re keeping on keeping on.  We just got a new project out in Albuquerque, NM so I plan on spending lots of time between here and there as well as maintenance work for existing projects.

I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do for Wally 2.0.  The “Get More Wally in your Life” tag line is great and will be around forever, but I’m trying to figure out a new angle.

9. So... any tattoos?
No tattoos. 

 

...Not one to be satisfied with a mere NINE Questions, Wally decided to add (and answer) a couple of his own...

Boxers or Briefs?
Commando Baby!

VB or C#?
Yes.  The choice of languages tends to be very much a religious issue.  People want to think that their language is the right choice.  The truth is that there is very little difference.  Most applications are based on the framework.  I’d like to challenge people to document the things that one language can do that the other language can not.  Now, I’m not talking about the syntax sugar differences.  I want to know which features people are using that clearly don’t exist in anyway, shape or form in the other language.  I’ve only found one feature in c# that doesn’t exist in VB and I’ve never seen anyone have a need for it outside of the high performance ISV world.  I’m sure that there are other features that exist in one but not the other, but I haven’t run across them.  So, what features exist in one and not the other?

Check this out!
http://www.unthinkability.com/?p=200

As the Grand Poobah of Visual Basic at Microsoft, Paul is one of the busiest guys I know. Fortunately for us, he managed to find the time to answer these NINE Questions.

1. So, inquiring minds want to know, where are you from?
Originally, Durham, NC. But I’ve been in Seattle almost as long as I was in Durham so…

2. Who do you work for? Give me the 10 second pitch on them. Why would I want to buy their product?
A small technology company in Redmond, WA. You probably haven’t heard of them or used their products…

3. What brought you to your current employer?
They offered me a job, which was more than a lot of my fellow graduates were getting at the time (it was a recession). Even better, they offered me a job after my internship was over, so my senior year was very relaxed on that front…

4. I know you mostly from your blog (www.panopticoncentral.net), but that's just one side of you. What's something the world doesn't know about you?
Well, being really into Dr. Who as a kid doesn’t really get me any geek points in this crowd, so how about: I sang in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas as a teenager. I’d do it as an adult if I had the time (and a better voice).

5. You presented some pretty cool forward looking stuff at the MVP Summit this year. How do you feel about the reactions you got?
It’s always gratifying to get positive feedback for work that we’re doing. I’m looking forward to being able to show it off in public at some point!

6. Regarding the MVP Summit, lots of folks find value in different areas. Some prefer the presentations while others go for the networking opportunities. Is there a part of the MVP Summit that stands out as your favorite, from a Microsoft perspective?
The down side of having the MVP Summit at Microsoft is that it’s very difficult to get away from my regular work duties and spend as much time as I’d like to with the MVPs! That’s really what I get the most out of—getting a chance to talk and interact with people who use our products very deeply and who are very passionate about them. I’m looking forward to the PDC this year since it’ll mean that I’ll be out of the office and can spend a lot of quality time to whoever makes it to LA!

7. I followed a lot of folks on Twitter during TechEd, and it seems like the way to go when out of town. I know you've been using it lately, so what's your take on Twitter?
I like it because I can say things without having to wrap a whole blog entry around it. Plus I like the immediacy and ability to get direct replies. (My twitter account is http://twitter.com/paulvick.)

8. Any non-technical hobbies? What are they and why?
Raising twin boys. With two 2-year-olds running around, there really isn’t much time for anything else.

9. Last of all, any tattoos?
No way! I just think it’s very unlikely that I’ll be happy thirty years from now with whatever I might think is a cool tattoo today. I admire other peoples’ optimism. :)

I went to see WALL-E earlier this week (Yes, I know it's supposed to be a dot and not a dash. Call it a hardware limitation.)

I wasn't in a big hurry to see this movie. The sense of urgency that I felt for Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hancock, The Dark Knight, etc this summer so far, just wasn't there. It was more like "oh look, WALL-E is playing. Well, I've seen everything else TWICE, so why not?"

My daughters are in from Atlanta for most of the summer, so we're seeing a lot of movies. They wanted to see WALL-E. So we went to see WALL-E.

Anyway, lest I bore you with seemingly irrelevant personal details...  my review.

It's a good movie. It's Pixar, so you know the production quality is first rate. It has funny moments. It has, umm... endearing moments. It's cute. Lots of cute. There are some pretty clever aspects of it, including how fat and decadent the human race has become. How we trashed an entire planet (literally) because we apparently never learned to recycle. How Corporate Big Box America is destroying our planet (yes, we're talking to you WalMart...)

The message is loud and clear, but it never becomes heavy handed or overbearing. Even to the adults. Ok, let's face it, none of this crap matters a bit to the kids... (and some adults) to them it's just a funny love story about two robots. If you're paying attention, yes there's a point to be made, semi-preachy but smothered in enough cute to make it easy to swallow.

If you're like me though, it's fairly easy to ignore the message and enjoy the movie. Like I said, it's funny. It's quirky, with interesting characters. Even the robots are decidedly non-Robotic, including the very OCD cleaning robot. (In my opinion, he's the funniest character in the movie.)  WALL-E represents a rather pathetic figure, hanging out with a lone cockroach until EVE shows up.

Yes, there's one cockroach on an entire planet covered in junk and waste. Talk about missed potential for comic relief. There should be BILLIONS of TRILLIONS of those nasty little bugs. Sorry, I digress.

Anyway, things start to get a bit more interesting once the movie gets to space. Everything is clean and polished and pretty. Except for the people of course.

I don't want to talk too much about the later story for fear of ruining any surprises, so I'll give one final gripe and then wrap it up.  The trailer is a lie.  So many movie trailers these days show stuff that's not in the movie. Kung-Fu Panda did it, and WALL-E is no exception. I really really hate this. HATE IT!! It makes me nuts.

ok, sorry about that.

Anyway, my final verdict is this:  Go see it. It's cute and if you have kids you probably won't have a choice anyway.

This month is kind of a big deal (to me) here in the Twin Cities. We're launching not one, but TWO developer related groups.

The first one is my own project, the Twin Cities Developers Guild. (www.twincitiesdevelopersguild.com)  Our kickoff meeting is on Tuesday, July 8 at 6pm (with our Kickoff Cookout starting at 5pm) at New Horizons of Minnesota (in Edina) and features Jason Bock (Magenic) speaking on "Writing Better Code."

Later in the week, on Thursday, July 10 at 5:30pm, the Twin Cities Languages User Group (www.twincitieslanguagesusergroup.com) is having their first meeting too. This one is at Magenic (in Golden Valley) The featured speaker for this event is Charles Nutter (Sun Microsystems) who will be speaking on JRuby.

If you're in the Twin Cities (or relatively close) you don't want to miss these events. If you are planning on attending either or both events, please take a moment and RSVP via the appropriate website. Thank you.


Also, later this month, there won't be a Twin Cities XNA User Group (www.twincitiesxnausergroup.com) meeting because we're having a joint cookout with the local IGDA chapter.  Details to follow.

Happy 4th of July to everyone. Whether you celebrate Independence Day or not, there's still a 4th of July on most of your calendars, so I hope it's a good one. I plan to celebrate my freedom by having a few beers and making stuff explode. Good times.

I've worked with Laurel for a few months on a number of different projects and had the good fortune of finally meeting her face to face (that would be her face on the right, and yours truly on the left) during TechEd Developers 2008. She was gracious enough to indulge me in a few drinks at Howl At The Moon and to answer these NINE Questions, so here we go...

1. Where are you from? 
I grew up in a small town in southern Maine. I now live in Medford, Massachusetts, less than two miles from O'Reilly's East coast office in Cambridge.

2. Well, I guess that spoils the surprise on my second question, but I'll ask it anyway: Who do you work for? Give me the 10 second pitch on them. Why would I want to buy their product?
I am an associate editor at O'Reilly Media, focusing on Microsoft technologies. We publish computer/tech culture books, online content, and magazines, as well as host a whole bunch of great conferences. You've likely seen our iconic animal books, but we also publish the Head First and Missing Manual series, Craft and Make magazines, and throw Maker Faires in the Bay Area and Austin every year.

3. That's pretty cool, so what brought you to O'Reilly?
Luck! I was a copyeditor for three IT analyst/consulting firms in Boston before starting out at O'Reilly as a production editor (copyediting manuscripts and getting the book to the printer). However, I became more interested in the process before the copyediting part (how do you find a good topic and shape a book), which paired well with my outgoing personality, so I was promoted into an editorial role acquiring and developing books. It was a good move, but I'm still learning the space.

4. I've worked with you as an editor, but that's pretty much the only side of you I know. What other areas of technical expertise do you have? 
I'm not much of an expert in anything (yet), but I am a quick study (which is good considering the vast field I cover). I'm into Internet culture and Web 2.0, but mostly I like people and what interests them.

5. You went to TechEd2008 (Developers & IT Pro) this year. Was it your first time, and what did you think? Worth going back again? 
It was my first year at TechEd and although it made for a long couple of weeks, it was worthwhile. I met lots of great people, put names/blogs to faces, and came out with bunches of ideas. I'm psyched TechEd is in LA next year.

6. Lots of folks find equal or greater value in the networking, rather than the sessions. Would you agree? Did you have a favorite session or event?
I agree. However, I thought the Women in Tech luncheon was a great combination of both networking and learning. Having breakout areas where the conversation can continue is pretty important, but it also requires conference hosts/attendees to think differently about the standard heavily-scheduled conference day.

7. I followed a lot of folks on Twitter during TechEd, and it seems like the way to go when out of town. What's your take on Twitter?
I think Twitter is great (I'm @laurelatoreilly). Since MIX08, I've found it to be a fantastic way to keep in touch with lots of people all at once. It's easy to read through hundreds of micro-blog messages to see what's going on in the world and people's lives.

8. Any non-technical hobbies?
I'm a photographer and depending on the season, I'm likely watching the New England Patriots, skiing, gardening, or brewing beer.

9. Well hopefully my readers can overlook that Patriots comment. Last question, and I'll let you get back to work:  Any tattoos?
Nope, but I think about it occasionally.

I just got back from the 9:30 showing of Hancock.

Let me start off by saying this is a great superhero movie, but it's NOT a comic book movie. (Well... until Dark Horse starts cranking out comic movies anyway.) The point is, you can't really compare it to Iron Man or Spiderman. If you do, you'll be disappointed. There's no canon, no established history. This is something fresh and new and unlike anything you've seen before.

I really REALLY enjoyed this movie.

Imagine drunk and dirty Superman from Superman III... sitting in a bar flicking peanuts through the mirror. Now instead of one scene, picture most of a movie that way. Hancock is a total asshole and you can't help but love him for it.

There's a great joke, that goes something like this:

This salesman walks into a fancy bar on the 60th floor of a new highrise, sits down and orders a drink.
The guy sitting next to him is a bit tipsy, and he looks over and says "I bet you didn't know this but the winds this high up are so strong you can jump out the window and they'll blow you back in."
The salesman looks doubtful, so the second guy hops off the barstool, runs and jumps through the window... falls for a bit and then wooooosh comes back in through the window, landing on his feet.
The salesman says "holy shit that's the most amazing thing I've ever seen..." and so he runs and jumps through the window, falling to his death.
The bartender looks up and says, you know, you're a real asshole when you're drunk Superman.

That joke could just as easily be about Hancock... because that's the kind of guy he is. He may be a hero, and he may save lives, but he doesn't give a damn about you. It's just something he's compelled to do.

He does eventually clean up his act, mostly, although there's enough comic relief even after his "hero turn" to keep you laughing. A few folks have said this isn't a superhero movie, it's a comedy. Those people are wrong. This is very much a superhero movie, it just happens to be one that's funny as hell.

There's also a great scene in this movie with Daeg Faerch which was a nice surprise since I didn't even know he was in it. (if you don't know who this is, you're missing out. He played the young Michael Myers in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween.)  He is one creepy looking little dude.

Anyway, I don't want to spoil the movie too much, but there are a few good twists that certain sites have already spoiled (this is why I try not to read reviews beforehand.) 

Oh and there's an excellent soundtrack as well.

I'll probably see this again in the theatre and I'll definitely buy it on DVD.

As a special treat for you, dear reader, I have 3 MS Mafia guitar picks to give away. The first 3 people to contact me through this blog with their mailing address will each get one.  Enjoy.

I (relatively) recently received a handsfree bluetooth rearview mirror kit as my prize from Community-Credit.com.

This weekend, I finally got around to hooking it up. First impressions are good. The mirror just clips right on top of the existing mirror and is held in place by some spring loaded clips. I like the fact that this mirror is about 25% wider than my original mirror, giving me a better field of vision. The mirror does seem darker though, but not so much to be a problem.

Pairing the bluetooth to my phone was quick and painless, and a small blue led lights up when connected. On the side of the mirror is a small earpiece that connects via magnet. So you can use the speaker on the mirror or the earpiece for more privacy.

Sound quality is acceptable, and if you have voice tags set up on your phone, the hands free dialing is nice too although I had to speak pretty loud for it to recognize the voice tag.

I don't know how long battery life is because I haven't driven anywhere long enough for it to get a full charge... so far I've been keeping it plugged into the lighter. If the charge light ever goes out, I'll unplug it and see how long it lasts.

The incoming calls feature is kinda cool, since it shows caller id on the mirror surface. I've tested the incoming calls a few times and it's kinda nice just hitting a button on the front of the mirror.

All in all, I'm a bit of a gadget geek so I'm pretty happy with it. I've seen these things go for around $100 at MicroCenter, which is probably more than I'd be willing to pay.  If the price goes down though, it's worth snatching one up.

The following is an excerpt from a story I'm working on. Writing fiction is a lot harder than blogging. Writing interesting fiction even harder still... so take this for what it is.  A rough, first attempt.  enjoy (or avoid... your choice.)

Lathan swung his axe for what felt like the thousandth time that day, turning, ducking and swinging as blood and gore flew past his head. For every orc the warrior took down, it seemed as though another stepped in to continue the fight.

“Where the hell is Shawna?” he cursed to himself, more worried than angry. She wasn’t much good in a fight and the tenets of her faith prevented her from wearing armor. If she had fallen… well, best not to think about that now. Without the halfling’s divine healing on their side, mending wound and spirit, Lathan wasn’t sure how much longer they would last.

Shaking off thoughts of his own mortality, Lathan threw himself back into the fight. He had felt it was hopeless before the first swing, but they had been caught completely off guard by the ambush and he didn’t have time to think about that now. Ducking under a wild swing, spinning around and slicing the orc in half from behind, he stole a glance across the battlefield, where he could see Durok’s dwarven helm shining in the moonlight, the dwarf fighting from atop a steadily growing pile of dead orcs.

Behind him, he heard the reassuring song of the elf Azura, getting closer and closer. Every note served to bolster his confidence and renew his strength. How she could sing like that and fight at the same time, he would never understand. Before long he was taking orcs down two at a time and the gaps weren’t being filled quite so fast.

“Just maybe, gods willing, we’ll make it through this day after all.” Lathan barely had time to finish his thought as he felt the searing heat of a firebolt spell flying past his head. “Damn that wizard if he doesn’t kill us all before the orcs do.”

A couple weeks ago, Jeff Brand and I sat down and talked about XNA on his Spaghetti Code podcast. We had a good time, as usual, and discussed various aspects of the XNA experience, and what's new in the XNA 3.0 CTP.

Here's the link:  XNA Podcast

Do the Twin Cities really need ANOTHER .Net User Group?

There are two answers to that question. The first is YES, we think so. The second is that we aren't a typical .net user group, even though we focus on Microsoft Technologies. We use the term Developers Guild to imply more than just a roomful of folks sitting around listening to someone talk.

Our objective is to bring the various special interest groups of the Twin Cities together and also provide our own events. We think you'll be pretty happy with the results.

July 8, 2008 - Guild Kickoff Meeting and Cookout

When: Cookout at 5:00 PM, Meeting at 6:00 PM.

Where: New Horizons of Minnesota (4510 West 77th Street - Edina, MN 55435)   MAP

Cookout Details: Show up at 5pm for our kickoff cookout. We'll be serving burgers, brats and hot dogs for an hour prior to the meeting beginning at 6pm.

Jason Bock

Topic: Writing Better Code It's one thing to write code that will do the job in the short-term; it's another challenge to write code that can stand the test of time. In this session I'll show you how you can use tools and features in VS 2008 (e.g. unit testing, Code Analysis, Code Coverage, etc.) to assist you in making your code maintainable over time, easy to understand, and resilient to defects. Speaker Bio: Jason Bock is a Principal Consultant for Magenic, and is also a Microsoft MVP. He has worked on a number of business applications using a diverse set of substrates and languages such as C#, .NET, and Java. He is the author of "Applied .NET Attributes", "CIL Programming: Under the Hood of .NET", ".NET Security", and "Visual Basic 6 Win32 API Tutorial". He has written numerous articles on software development issues and has presented at a number of conferences and user groups. Jason holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Marquette University.

...and we're back. This time with Aaron Erickson, a Technical Sales Specialist with Magenic's Chicago office. Aaron was nice enough to sit down with me while I was in Chicago and answer these NINE Questions.

1. Where are you from?
Born in El Cajon, CA, grew up in Troutdale, OR.

2. Obviously, I know where you work since I work there as well, but give our readers the 10 second pitch on them anyway. Why would I want to buy the product?
We are a firm that effectively converts IQ points into business results.

3. What brought you to your current employer?
Rocky Lhotka wrote a really great post back in August 2006 that convinced me to throw my hat in the ring (http://www.lhotka.net/weblog/CommentView,guid,440d80eb-533d-425a-9876-3b6e867ccf56.aspx).  Haven't looked back since.

4. I've seen your F# talks and interviews, but that's just one side of you. Tell me something the world doesn't know about Aaron Erickson.
I started out as a Mechanical Engineering major, and was pretty awful.  Computers were much more fun, especially because when you run the tests, you don't risk either injury or destruction of a work product that was expensive to produce.  That, and the fact that I was fired once for trying to expense the book "The Dilbert Principle" in early 1996.  It would have gone through, but I put the book on his desk with post-its on the pages I wanted him to read.  Needless to say, didn't go over well.

5. You went to TechEd2008 (Developers) this year. Was it your first time, and what did you think? Worth going back again?
It was my first time.  I thought it was a great networking opportunity, alongside the chance to learn some perspectives on technology you don't always read on blogs.  I learned, for example, that the new version of visual studio allows you to easily split a DataAdapter and the resulting Typed Dataset into different assemblies.  You don't read about that kind of more mundane stuff on blogs anymore, because it isn't quite as sexy to talk about, but the concept is definitely useful.

6. Lots of folks find equal or greater value in the networking, rather than the sessions. Would you agree?  Did you have a favorite session or event?
Networking, frankly, is the reason in my humble opinion, why you do TechEd.  I enjoyed the Speaker Idol sessions the most, mostly because those guys had the most to prove.

7. I followed a lot of folks on Twitter during TechEd, and it seems like the way to go when out of town. What's your take on Twitter?
I am not the biggest fan of twitter in particular, but I love the idea of a group chat that makes you say your piece in a brief amount of time.  Really matches well with my attention span.  Now (drumroll, cliche about to follow) - if only twitter actually worked most of the time :)

8. Any non-technical hobbies? What are they and why?
a. Running, mostly to stay in shape, but also for the challenge of partaking in an activity with almost no short term benefit.
b. Collecting encyclopedias published in various decades... nothing like reading an entry on the USSR written in the 70s when people thought that the idea would actually work.
c. Politics, as anyone who knows me well and follows my twitter on Tuesday night during election season can attest to.

9. Last of all, any tattoos?
Me flesh is as clean as the wind driven snow :)

How would you like to win a prize that doesn't suck? A really big, expensive prize...

I mean it. This prize doesn't suck at all. In fact, it's the opposite of suck. This prize rocks. Totally rocks. I've got a 1 Year MSDN Premium Subscription sitting on my desk, staring at me... just daring me to give it away. (I actually have more than one of them, cause that's how I roll, but I'm o