"Good morning everybody, you're tuned to Computers 2K8 on sports radio 850 The Buzz" and so began today's show as we do every Sunday morning from 8am - 10am here in Raleigh, NC. You can download the show from the show's website or you can listen do us live as we stream the show across the web.

Vista Tip of the Day: Running Legacy Data in Compatibility Mode

If you're having a problem running older software in Vista you might want to try running in compatibility mode. Here's how:

1) Right-click on the program's EXE file and choose Properties

2) Click the Compatibility tab

3) Select the checkbox that says Run this program in compatibility mode for: and then select the OS you want to try.

Windows XP SP3 Goes RTM

If you've been anxiously awaiting Windows XP SP3 I have good news. It was released to manufacturing on April 21st and should be available for you to download as a part of Windows Update on April 29th. You can read more about that here.

Intel Slashes Processor Prices!

Intel this week slashed prices on a number of their processors. For more information check out this story I referenced on the show this morning.

AVG Releases Updated Version of Their Anti-Virus software (Free and Non-Free versions)

If you're a regular listener of the show you know we always recommend people protect their computers with the free version of AVG Anti-virus software. This past week AVG announced their new AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 software.  You can read more about that here.

Links Mentioned on the Show

Spencer mentioned a couple of interesting websites on the show today. Tom's Hardware and Gibson Research Corporation. Gibson research, founded by security and hardware expert Steve Gibson, provides software and podcast content to help you better understand and secure your PC.

Ok, that's it for today's show!

Have a day. :-|

Ok, so VB.NET isn't in 1st place (see this report) but it is ahead of that "other" .NET language. You know, that "other" .NET language that starts with the letter "c". You guessed it, COBOL.NET!!  Kidding aside, it looks like VB.NET is making a VERY STRONG showing against some solid competition. VB.NET is in 3rd place behind JAVA and C and I think that ROCKS! VB.NET is kickin' some COBOL (and c#) butt!  Tell all your friends, they probably won't care, but tell 'em anyway.

Have a day. :-|

I don't think anyone will disagree that our thoughts can play a huge role in our emotions. One thing we have as human beings that sets us apart from every other species on the planet is self-awareness, the unique ability to analyze our thoughts and emotions and make adjustments to our behavior based on that self reflection. The following is for all the VB.NET developers who migrated to .NET from VB6 (or earlier versions). Close your eyes and imagine this scene in your head:

Years ago, say in 1998, you're at a conference, user group meeting, Microsoft launch event, DevDays, or some other gathering of developers. You're standing with 4 other VB6 developers talking about the latest new additions to VB6 and up walks someone to join the conversation. This person introduces him or herself as a Visual FoxPro developer. Now be honest, what are your initial thoughts, feelings, or impression of this person? You probably started feeling all superior because you use VB and they don't. Possibly someone in the group openly ridicules this person (jokingly of course they say) or questions their sanity or their intelligence. Why? It's very simple. Because you felt validated in your feelings of superiority because Microsoft actively catered to you and the VB community. All code samples coming out of Microsoft for business developers back then was in VB, VB had wonderful support from Microsoft and the third party ActiveX control vendors, conference sessions and demos were typically all done in VB, and Microsoft was fully entrenched in marketing support for VB. Of course you felt validated in your decision to code in VB, of course you felt like you had the community backing from Microsoft, of course you felt confident coding in VB6, how could you NOT feel emotionally comfortable with your decision to code in VB6?? Everyone who was anyone was coding in VB unless they were C++ junkies so why wouldn't you feel somewhat superior to someone coding in VFP?

You with me so far?

The truth of the matter is in many ways Visual FoxPro was a superior product to VB6. I don't say that lightly and I'm NOT trying to, and won't participate in a heated conversation comparing the merits of either product because that is NOT the focus of what I'm trying to say. I'll add that I have experience developing software in both products.  Visual FoxPro has always and still does to this day support a full OOP model with full inheritance (much more so than VB6 ever came close to), dynamic language capability (sound familiar with all the current talk of the DLR?), a built-in and fully language integrated, extremely fast local data engine, a built in report writer, loosely typed variables (sound familiar with all the current talk of anonymous type support with LINQ?), an integrated ANSI-SQL compliant query language (sounds like LINQ to me, heck, where do you think the idea for LINQ came from?), easy connect-ability to SQL Server, an interactive command window to execute commands and manipulate data, and the list goes on. Don't get me wrong, of course VB6 had its technical strengths as well (much better COM support for example) but I don't think it was a better TECHCNICAL platform than VFP. It WAS though a better SUPPORTED and better MARKETED platform than VFP and that was what ultimately determined which product would succeed and which would not. I saw the writing on the wall and moved from VFP to .NET and VB.NET years ago. I'm not one of the bitter people who fought the change. I welcomed the opportunity to learn something new and expand my personal and business horizons. I'm happy being a VB.NET developer.

The problem now for VB.Net developers is that the shoe is on the other foot. Much like VB developers felt superior to VFP developers because of the items outlined in the imaginary scene a couple paragraphs above, today the C# developers feel superior to VB developers because of the perceived stronger or better support from Microsoft for their decision to code in C# (more samples, used by Microsoft in demos, etc.). Consider that when a baby brother or sister of an only child comes home from the hospital with Mom & Dad the new baby is going to get more attention. Unfortunately that is interpreted by the older sibling, the former only-child, as the parents loving the new baby more. I'm sure this couldn't be farther from the truth but the PERCEPTION by the older child IS real. I'm sure those of you with multiple children will agree that you love all your children equally but will acknowledge that sometimes one, but not always the same one mind you, gets preferential treatment over the others (just to be clear, I'm NOT saying that C# is the baby brother/sister to VB). The reality is that C# has some features that VB does not have and VB has some features that C# does not have.

I think one of the things that makes the VB community uncomfortable is the "shoe being on the other foot" feeling. It doesn't feel good NOT being the  "favored son", the "golden child", the "IT" development community anymore does it? It's all about feelings... and don't make me go all Barbara Streisand on you! :-)

I say get a grip on your emotions and relax because in the end the thing that matters most is that VB isn't going away any time soon, if ever. Most people I talk with say they're more productive in VB and isn't that what it's all about?  Agreed?

Have a day.  :-|

A Silverlight user group in forming in the RTP area of NC! The kick off meeting is Tuesday, April 22nd. For more information check out Rob Zelt's blog posting about it.

I'll be there!!

Have a day. :-|

I've had a couple people ask me if we took any pictures while we were "behind the velvet ropes" at the races this past weekend. Here's one of me standing next to the Torco Top Fuel dragster driven by JR Todd. You can see the crew busy in the background. They were in the process of tearing down the engine and rebuilding it for the next qualifying pass.

Thanks again to Don Higgins of Crew Chief Pro 7.0 software fame and the accommodating crew members on the JR Todd and Hot Rod Fuller teams for putting up with us during our tour of their pit areas. I'm already looking forward to next year's event.

I made my annual trip down to Gainesville, FL this past weekend to attend the NHRA Gator Nationals and had a blast as usual! Nitro burning Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars just do something to get the testosterone a pumping!  There is nothing like watching (and HEARING!) a car go from zero to over 330mph in 4 seconds!

While this post doesn't appear to be technology related it is. How so? Well I had a chance to meet Don Higgins, lead software developer of Crew Chief Pro 7.0.

Crew Chief Pro 7.0 is used by a wide variety of drag racing teams to help predict their performance based on weather conditions, previous runs, and other factors. Customers include professional teams such as the Caterpillar top fuel dragster racing team driven by Hot Rod Fuller, down to the unsung Sportsman categories.  Crew Chief Pro 7.0 is the result of Don's years and years of experience in the drag racing world and it shows.

Don himself is a drag racer though unfortunately his car wasn't ready for this years Gator Nationals.

My thanks to Don and a number of his customers for allowing my friends and I to watch his software in action. I learned a TON about drag racing this past weekend!

Have a day. :-|

While at Mix '08 last week I had a chance to have lunch with CoDe Magazine Editor, Rod Paddock and a mutual old friend, Ken Levy. I've known Ken since waaaaay back in our Visual FoxPro days. These days he's the Product Manager for the Visual Studio Ecosystem. Microsoft designed Visual Studio to be extensible and encourages the community to contribute tools and utilities to make other developer's work more productive. If you're interested in writing your own Visual Studio add-in head over to the Visual Studio Extensibility Developer Center and checkout the resources there. Interested in what others have already contributed to the VS community? If so check out the Visual Studio Gallery.

Ken was recently on DotNetRocks discussing Visual Studio Extensibility with Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell.

Have a day. :-|

Mark for calendar for Wednesday, April 9th as Microsoft Group Program Manager for the .NET Framework, Brad Abrams, will be in town and presenting at the Triangle .NET Users Group (TRINUG) meeting that evening. For details on what he'll be presenting check out Brad's blog. I for one will be there.

Have a day. :-|

Well I'm back from Vegas having attended the Microsoft Mix '08 conference. It was a first time Mix attendee and I must say my walking away impression is very positive. One of the things I liked the most, in addition to Silverlight 2.0, was the incorporation of designers AND developers. Typically, the conferences I attend or present at have an obvious, developer-centric slant on content. I enjoyed the sessions discussing design issues, strategies, and user experiences.  I specifically enjoyed a number of the panel discussion sessions because of the different opinions you hear. My plan is to download a number of the recordings for the sessions I didn't get a chance to attend. If you didn't make it out there yourself, hit the Mix 08 sessions page and download the content.

Scott Hanselman Rocks!

One of the highlight sessions for me was Scott Hanselman's Developing ASP.NET Applications Using the Model View Controller Pattern session. This was the first time I had the opportunity to see Scott present in person and I wasn't disappointed. Informative, well-prepared, very-knowledgeable, funny, and engaging all describe Scott's very professional approach to delivering a session. I can see why he is always an audience favorite. I was also fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet Scott and chat for a few minutes Thursday evening before dinner.

Karen Corby Rocks!

Another session I was very pleased with was Karen Corby's Creating Rich, Dynamic User Interfaces With Silverlight 2 session. Her enthusiasm and passion for her work on the Silverlight team were evident from the beginning. She was energetic, informative, polished, and fun to watch.  Check out her session on the Mix 08 sessions page.

Microsoft Partner Program Session

One session I didn't have time to check out in person was the Understanding Microsoft Partner Programs for Designers, Developers, and Agencies session. I did download it and watch it on the flight back home. It was very informative and points you in the right direction if your business is interested in pursuing becoming a Microsoft Partner. There are three basic levels, a Registered Partner (FREE!), a Certified Partner, and a Gold Certified Partner. While I'm not going to go into the details of the requirements for each level, one tip I can pass along is as a partner, even as a Registered Partner, you can purchase the Microsoft Action Pack for $299 which includes more Microsoft software than you can imagine. Check it out...

Keynote II

Of course, last but not least, is the Guy Kawasaki interview of Steve Ballmer in front of about 2,000 of their closest friends. That is also available for you to download and checkout on the Mix 08 sessions page. Guy didn't pull any punches and hit Steve with a number of direct questions. The chemistry between the two of them was great! I enjoyed that quite a bit.

Next Year!

One of the announcements out of Mix 08 was the calendar for Mix '09. Mark you calendars for March 18-20, 2009 at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

Ok, that wraps up my take on my Mix experience. Go to the sessions page and download the session content as well as checking out the Mix University which is full of educational content as well.

Have a day. :-|

I was given a wonderful opportunity to make an appearance on DotNetRocks TV (dnrTV) last week. I'll use Carl Franklin's words to describe my appearance:

"Jim Duffy comes to the dnrTV screen this week with a great presentation using Microsoft's Virtual Earth in ASP .NET. Jim shows you how to incorporate live maps in your applications complete with push pins, lines, shapes, links and more."

While it doesn't say it specifically, I also covered how to import GeoRSS data feeds into Virtual Earth providing a way to quickly and easily display your existing data in a geospacial format. If you haven't tried adding Virtual Earth features to your ASP.NET applications you really ought to give it a try. It is VERY straightforward, is well documented, and just requires a little JavaScript coding.

You'll also notice on the dnrTV page I'm giving VB some lovin' with the picture I selected... :-)  My thanks to Microsoft Program Manager on the Visual Studio Community Team, Beth Massi who's Northwind Meets Virtual Earth - Generate VE Maps with LINQ blog entry was very helpful!  You rock Beth!

Have a day. :-|

"Good morning everybody, you're tuned to Computers 2K8 on sports radio 850 The Buzz" and so began today's show as we do every Sunday morning from 8am - 10am here in Raleigh, NC. You can download the show from the show's website or you can listen do us live as we stream the show across the web.

Hard Drive Recovery When Drive is Knocked Off the Desk and Crashes to the Floor!

The most interesting topic on today's show was the result of a caller inquiring about what to do about the fact his daughter had knocked her external USB hard drive containg a project she was working on from school (not backed up of course) off her desk and on to the floor. He said the drive made some noice so it was spinning up but the drive was unreadable. Another caller suggested he check out a hard drive data recovery utility called GetDataBack. My co-host Spencer downloaded the program and tool a quick look at it. He said it looks fairly comprehensive and he will be checking it out this week. The caller who mentioned this utility said he has had wonderful success recovering data from drives long thought dead. So while I can't reccomend this hard drive recovery utility because I haven't used it, it does appear to be a less expensive first choice than sending the drive off to a data recovery company.

I'm Heading For Mix '08

I mentioned I was heading for Mix '08 in Las Vegas (or is that Lost Wages!) this week to learn all there is to know about what is coming (or already arrived!) from Microsoft in the web development world. If you see me at Mix make sure you say hi and let me know if you listen to the show streamed across the web or if you read my blog!

This is a story I mentioned in the wrap-up entry for today's Computers 2K8 radio show that I co-host but I also wanted to be sure it got an entry of it's own so people find out about it.

Microsoft's DreamSpark program gives university students Microsoft professional-level developer and design tools for FREE. This includes Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition, Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Microsoft Expression Studio, and the XNA 2.0 Game Studio. The program is currently available in 11 countries with additional countries to be added in the future. Looks like a sweet deal to me.

In this article, fellow Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Jonathan Goodyear does a wonderful job of defining what an MVP is and explaining the process for becoming one.

Have a day. :-|