General Interest

Twin Cities Developers Guild kickoff wrapup

Chris Williams — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:01:00 GMT

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.

NINE Questions with Wally McClure

Chris Williams — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:12:08 GMT

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:

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.
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.
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.
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:

First off, I try and learn as much as I can and then share that knowledge in a way that people can use.
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.
Blogging. I was a little slow on the uptake on blogging, but I have tried to catch up on that.
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.
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.
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

NINE Questions with Paul Vick

Chris Williams — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:13:44 GMT

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. :)

WALL-E

Chris Williams — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:21:41 GMT

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.

Developer Groups in the Twin Cities

Chris Williams — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:57:46 GMT

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.

NINE Questions with Laurel Ruma

Chris Williams — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:41:20 GMT

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.

Hancock

Chris Williams — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:17:02 GMT

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.

MS Mafia

Chris Williams — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:24:33 GMT

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.

Bluetooth Rearview Mirror

Chris Williams — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:04:58 GMT

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.

writing sample

Chris Williams — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:30:25 GMT

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.”