Sometimes technical, sometimes not, never a kitty

In my spare time, I've been working on an open source project management tool called Scrumr.  Scrumr is a lightweight app for managing sprints per Scrum methodology.  You can find out more about the project at http://codeplex.com/scrumr/. 

In the meantime, we need your help.  Please go to http://communitycodingcontest.org/ and vote for Scrumr.  We need the tools to make better software.

Thanks!

I'm headed to DevTeach Montreal!  It was DevTeach or PDC, and I liked the sessions at DevTeach better.  If you're attending also, drop a line.

Not sure how this one slid by me, but the MSDN Developer Freedom Roadshow is coming to Pittsburgh on September 19, 2008.  Since it’s being held at the MS offices, registration is limited to capacity (roughly 4 dozen or so).  The program looks to be very interesting, especially the morning half:

The Fundamentals of Liberty: Web Development Basics

Want to take advantage of the cool stuff that you can do with ASP.NET, but not sure where to start? Whether you’re a Windows programmer who hasn’t ventured into the web world yet, or coming from classic ASP or similar scripting languages, this session is for you. In this session, we’ll provide an overview of the .NET framework’s powerful web development features, from ASP.NET and its Web Forms programming model, to basic web services, to give you a foundation you can use to jump-start your web development efforts.

The Framer’s Intentions: What’s New in .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for Web Developers and ASP.NET MVC

In the first part of the session we will look into new features for web development that are introduced in the .NET framework 3.5 SP1 -- ADO.NET Entity Framework , ASP.NET Dynamic Data, and ADO.NET Data Services. In the second part, we will introduce the ASP.NET MVC framework, which enables you to easily implement the model-view-controller (MVC) pattern for Web applications. This pattern lets you separate applications into loosely coupled, pluggable components for application design, processing logic, and display. A key benefit of ASP.NET MVC applications it that they provide clean URIs that can also be accessed in a RESTful manner.

More information and sign up at http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032388335

My buddy Shaun has an immediate need for four midlevel .NET developers in Pittsburgh.  You can contact him at shaun [dot] eutsey [at] consultusa [dot] com if you're interested in hearing more.

<edit: email fixed />

December 11, 2-4 pm, or 5-7 pm (two sessions). 

Tuesday, December 11, 2007 (EST) - Visual Studio 2008 Community Launch Party

location: Microsoft Offices

Join us for the Visual Studio 2008 community launch party at Microsoft! We're having 2 sessions: 2-4 pm and 5-7 pm, with lots of giveaways, including 125 full Visual Studio 2008 licenses!

Join the Pittsburgh .NET User's Group on Tuesday, December 11th for
our Visual Studio 2008 Launch Event.  Danilo "Dani" Diaz, Microsoft
Developer Evangelist for Microsoft's Mid-Atlantic Region will be our
featured speaker.  Dani will be demonstrating the new features of
Visual Studio 2008 along with the new features of the .NET Framework
3.5.  Bring your laptop as we'll be providing trial editions of VS2008
for you to install and try out new features as Dani discusses them.
We'll also have a coding competition to see who can utilize the new
VS2008 features the best in creating a killer app; winners of the
local coding competition will be entered into a regional competition
where the stakes (and prizes) definitely increase!  All attendees (up
to a max of 125) will receive, via email, a free license to Visual
Studio 2008 Professional.
 
Due to the expected turnout for the event, we will be having two
sessions for our launch event.  Both will be held at Microsoft's
offices on the North Shore.  The sessions will be held from 2-4 PM and
from 5-7 PM on Tuesday, December 11th.  We'll also have lots of
give-aways at both events.  So come to the December .NET User's Group
on Tuesday, December 11th, and kick your holidays off to a good start.

 
Full info and RSVP link at http://pghdotnet.org/Events/430.aspx.

Microsoft Across America is bringing their Launch Event 2007 to Pittsburgh on Feb 1, 2007. The event will be held at Sheraton Station Square, which is an awesome location finally. Attendees go home with Office 2007 Pro and Groove 2007. You may wonder why Groove, but after you see the cool stuff it can do, you'll dig it. Full info at http://www.microsoft.com/business/launch2007/signup/default.mspx.

It took me a while to find this tip, so here's how to get Google Desktop to index XML files:

I think by default GDS has XML file indexing TURNED OFF in the registry - it won't index them at all. This key is in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Desktop\file_extensions_to_skip.  You'll have to remove "xml" from that list (I think)

(source: http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Desktop_past-discussions/browse_thread/thread/6059c564cf1bf007/4cb1bf32429413bb)

The 'xml' extension was in this list, and I removed it.  Now I wait until the reindex is complete and try some queries.  Update to follow.

<update 2006-12-29>

The reindex has taken place, and there are plenty of XML files in the index now.  I can find them by simply searching for *.xml, but I still can't search the contents of an XML file in Google Desktop Search.  Not such a surprise, since Google Desktop Search's help indicates it does not support XML files (http://desktop.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=12634&topic=201).

Before I get too far into what I'm trying next, let me explain my need.  We use XML to send and receive shipment details with a business partner.  From time to time, I need to be able to quickly locate a specific shipment in the hundreds of XML files stored in the archive.  I'm positive I'm not the only person in this situation.

I found a plug-in at http://www.trivex.net/ which will have GDS treat XML as plain text, and that should hopefully improve the search.  Apparently Copernic can be set to do this from its control panel, and that's the next stop.  A plain text search is good enough, but ideally, either GDS or Copernic would support an XQuery for a specific element or attribute value.

So I've installed Larry's Any Text plug in (http://www.trivex.net/).  That was darn easy.  I had to add the XML extension to the config file furing installation, and the plug-in has triggered a reindex.  I'll let you know how this one works out.

<update 2006-12-29>

The index updated over lunch, and Larry's plug-in did the trick.  I can pull up the XML files I need simply by order number or some other identifier.  It's great.  Too bad it's not an XQuery or something similar, but it'll work.  Keep in mind that GDS does not support wildcards, so you have to enter the entire string you're looking for, not a partial order number.  Fortunately, element and attribute values are percieved as whole words.

The next meeting for the Pittsburgh .NET User Group (Pgh.NET) will be on Wednesday, November 8, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and is presented in partnership with the International .NET Association (INETA). Jason Beres from the INETA speakers bureau will be our presenter.

Deep Dive into Atlas Controls and Toolkit -- Building Applications
This session dives into the control details in the Atlas toolkit.  At the end of this session, attendees will have a full understanding of the data binding in Atlas, the Atlas Update Panel and other controls, such as the AutoComplete Extender.  In addition, the presentation will look at how all of the controls can be used to create business applications and "mash ups" using XML Web Services.

About Our Presenter
Jason Beres is the author of Teach Yourself Visual Studio .NET 2003 in 21 Days; the co-author of the Visual Basic .NET Bible and the C# Bible; and a contributor to SQL Server 2000: The Complete Reference and ASP.NET @ Work: 10 Enterprise Applications. Jason has been a featured speaker at Microsoft Dev Days, the largest regional developer-centric conference that Microsoft has each year.

Dinner and networking will run from 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., with the presentation beginning at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will take place at Microsoft, 30 Isabella Street, North Shore.

Please RSVP to Council Events or 412.918.4229, so that we have an accurate count for dinner.

Thank you,

Jared Roberts
Director, Member Programs
Pittsburgh Technology Council
412.918.4243

Mike Snell is being pulled away for a business meeting, but Geoff Tewksbury will fill in for him.  Geoff will be presenting an overview of the new features in SSRS 2005, and an overview of Windows Workflow Foundation.  Same time (6–8 pm) and same place (Communifax).

It’s back to The Waterfront this time.  That means PF Chang’s take-out for wifey’s dinner!

Three cool topics—VS for Database Professionals, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Expression Web Designer.  Full event information at http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032306677

The October BADNUG meeting will be held October 26, 2006 at Communifax HQ in Cranberry Township, PA.  Our speaker will be Regional Director Mike Snell, discussing testing with Visual Studio Team Testm.  Mike’s book “Visual Studio 2005: Unleashed” was recently published, and this will be a great chance to interact with an expert in Visual Studio 2005.

Topic: Automated Testing using Visual Studio Team Test and Team Foundation Server

Description:
Automated testing has finally been added to the Visual Studio lineup! In this session we will cover these new tools from front-to-back. This includes demonstrations on creating and executing unit, web, performance, load, manual, and ordered tests. We will also cover the Test Manager interface. Finally, we will look at reporting test results using Visual Studio Team Foundation Server.

This will be our last meeting for the season—we’ll resume again in January.

The September BADNUG meeting will be this Thursday (Sep 28),  from 6-8 pm at Communifax HQ.  Eric Kepes will discuss WiX.  The Windows Installer XML (WiX) is a toolset that builds Windows installation packages from XML source code.  It's also one of the first (if not the first) open source tool from Microsoft hosted on SourceForge (project at http://sourceforge.net/projects/wix/).

If you need to deploy desktop applications to your user base or clients, WiX is one good option for customizing the installation process.

The Central Penn .NET Users Group is planning a Code Camp for Dec 3.  More information at http://centralpenn.web121.discountasp.net/home/.

The Windows Installer XML (WiX) is a toolset that builds Windows installation packages from XML source code.  It's also one of the first (if not the first) open source tool from Microsoft hosted on SourceForge (project at http://sourceforge.net/projects/wix/).

Join as as Eric Kepes talks about WiX and how it can be used to create customized deployment packages.  The meeting will run from 6–8 pm on September 28, pizza and refreshments provided.  Directions to Communifax HQ at http://www.communifax.com.

The August BADNUG meeting will be from 6–8pm on Aug 31 at Communifax HQ in Cranberry Township, PA.  Our presentation will be an overview of Community Server, from installation to administration to some free stuff to pimp out your site a little.  The presentation will be based in large part on the links below.

Whether you’re building an online community for marketing purposes or a corporate knowledge portal, one tool to consider is Community Server.  Community Server is essentially the spawn of a menage-a-trois of DotNetForums (I think that’s what they were called), nGallery and .Text.  Since its inception, more features have been added, but not to the detriment of its core functionality.

Sample Sites

Direct2Dell

MSNBC Cosmic Log

Offline Blogging Tools (one of many)

Windows Live Writer

Configuring WLW for CS

Photo Galleries

Lightbox Module

Batch Import Photos

Chiwi Photo Gallery Manager

Cross-posting from Flickr

Skinning

Create a New CS Skin in 5 minutes

Change the title image of your blog without access to the CSS file

Spam Control

angrypets reverse dos (not Community Server specific)

Why no CAPTCHA

Inside the Spam Blocker

Alabaster – Akismet Spam Rule Utility (what is Akismet?)

Developing Modules

Code Browser

Community Server 2.1 SDK

Community Server Developer Wiki (ICSModule entry)

Spreading the Word

ShareIt module in Scott Water’s CS Modules

Google Sitemap Add-on

The next meeting for the Pittsburgh .NET User Group will be on Thursday, August 10, from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at the Pittsburgh Technology Council. Read on for complete details.

Represent the Architecture of Your Enterprise Application Using UML 2.0 and More
Have you ever been confused by an arrow in a box-and-line diagram? Do you use UML in your software architecture? Do you want to understand the difference between architecture and detailed design? If your answer to any of these questions is "yes," then this tutorial has practical and valuable information for you. This joint meeting of the Pittsburgh .NET and Java User Groups offers attendees the chance to learn from Paulo Merson of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) as he explains how to represent an architecture so that others can use it, maintain it and build a system from it successfully. Explore examples of existing applications, then take the concepts presented and apply them to any software system. Sponsored by Advanticom, DQE Communications, Schneider Downs, Sprint Nextel and Summa Technologies.

Please RSVP to Council Events at 412.918.4229 so that we have an accurate count for dinner. For directions, visit the Council's Web site.

Three good sessions at the next MSDN Event:

Session 1: Exploring the System.Net Namespace in the .NET Framework 2.0

This session will delve into the System.Net namespace, including:

• How to create applications that detect network availability and connections
• Sending SMTP mail and transferring data via HTTP and FTP
• How to use the HTTP Listener class to write a simple Web server

Session 2: Windows Communication Foundation Exposed

In this session, we'll explore:

• How WCF extends the .NET Base Class Library and builds distributed connected systems
• Where WCF fits into the larger WinFX world and how to use WCF to build distributed applications
• Enabling services that communicate across multiple boundaries and transports
• How to optimize for platform or performance

Session 3: Building the Next Generation of Web Applications with ASP.NET "Atlas"

This session will cover:

• The Atlas architecture, including scenarios associated with the AJAX programming model
• How to apply Atlas to enhance new or existing ASP.NET applications
• Applications that incorporate AJAX, Web services, and rich DHTML-based user experiences

Registration and full story: http://www.msdnevents.com/default.aspx?sid=24 (tiny little dropdown list at the bottom of the page to register).  You Pittsburgh folks need to look for "PA - Canonsburg", not "PA - Pittsburgh".

Join us as Tony Casale of Comunifax presents the second half of his talk on Custom Server Controls in ASP.NET 2.0.  In the first half of Tony's talk, we saw how powerful custom server controls are, and how finely we can control output and formatting.  This session will finish covering the design and programming of these controls.

Developers, leave your code at the office; DBAs, forget Oracle and SQL for one night; CIOs, you can worry about the information technology audit tomorrow. It's time for Pittsburgh user groups to unite! For the fifth consecutive year the summer socials of many Pittsburgh user groups -- including PittJUG, Pgh.NET, PghOUG and PSSUG -- combine for a unique night of networking and fun.

Learn about the benefits and challenges of each technology through informal conversations with peers. Enjoy free appetizers, raffle prizes and a cash bar. Other participating user groups include GPEP, IRMAP, ISSA, PES, PMI's IT SIG, PGHMUG, PRKMC, STC, WPEAF and WSUG. Attend and interact with your peers to learn the meaning of each acronym. Sponsored by Advanticom, DQE Communications, GoldenGate Software, Google, Microsoft, Prithvi Information Solutions, Schneider Downs, Sprint Nextel and Summa Technologies.

Please RSVP to Council Events or 412.918.4229.

Just a reminder that the Butler Area Dot Net User Group will be meeting from 6-8pm tomorrow (6/22/2006) at the Communifax HQ in Cranberry Township.  Directions can be found at http://communifax.com/.

The topic will be SQL Server Potluck.  We'll have 10-15 min presentation on SQL Delta (one of my favorite tools) by me, and another short presentation on Fuzzy Matching in SSIS by Communifax's Greg Duffie.

What sort of tips are we looking for?  Here's one--if you're in Query Analyzer, you can highlight the name of a table and press Alt-F1 to retrieve the schema for that table.  Column names, types, etc.  Bring us your favorite DBCC commands, hotkey combinations, plug-ins and extensions.  Sorry if I just shorted someone a tip.

One lucky person will walk away with a full license for SQL Delta.

Matt McGee, of Small Business SEM, as assembled a guide for small businesses wanting to replace costly yellow pages ads with local search engine marketing:

Just as many small business owners want to stop spending so much money on the yellow pages and move their marketing dollars to the web, I also believe shoppers and information seekers will choose the web over the yellow pages in greater frequency in coming years. With that in mind, I believe local search offers a great opportunity for small businesses (especially) to reach customers on the web. And those of you who take advantage of this opportunity sooner, rather than later, have the best chance to win in the end.

The purpose of this guide is to introduce small business owners to the different Local Search products and marketing opportunities offered by each of thee main search engines. I’ll do my best to keep the material up-to-date, and I invite you to help me stay informed by emailing matt [at] smallbusinesssem.com with any new discoveries or corrections you find appropriate. You can also use that email for questions you may have!

Full article at http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/local-search-marketing-guide/.

 

The June BADNUG meeting will be a SQL Server Potluck.  Round up your favorite SQL Server tools, tips and tricks (for 2000 and/or 2005) and prepare to share them!  Rich Dudley will present on SQL Delta, Greg Duffie will present on Fuzzy Matching, and then we'll have a round-table sharing of tips and tricks.

Don't sweat it if you don't have many to share--just bring some paper and be ready to learn!  That's what this is all about.

As a special bonus, TASC has donated a full license of SQL Delta, which will be given to a lucky attendee (if you've never seen SQL Delta, you have no idea how lucky you'll be).

We'll meet from 6-8 pm at Communifax HQ in Cranberry Township.  Meeting information at http://badnug.org/, directions at http://communifax.com/.

The May BADNUG meeting has been cancelled; Tony can't make it tonight.

The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 22.  Collect your favorite tips and trick for SQL Server 2000 or 2005 and be ready to share them.  We'll demonstrate SQL Delta, Fuzzy Matching and a few other topics, then have a sharing session.

Thanks to TASC, we have a free license of SQL Delta for one lucky attendee--a $295 value!  If you've never been to a BADNUG meeting before, this would be a good first time.  We'll have the schedule revised shortly, and you can register through the site at http://www.badnug.org/. 

Hat tip: Pat Santry

This is the final week to register for BITS in Edinboro, PA. There will be many presentations provided, here is an overview of the sessions:

Keynote: Convergence and Cellular Data
Don't Touch Any Switches: Leading IT for the Non-IT Leader
Delivering Value to Your Enterprise - A Survival Guide
Information SuperHighway-Construction Ahead
Are You and Your Networks Ready for IP Telephony?
RFID Overview
DotNetNuke Overview
Monitoring and Pro-Active Response with Linux
How Secure Are You? Practical Security Strategies
Are You Missing Out on the RSS Revolution?
Extending the LAN

Secure Converged Networking

Panel Discussion: Aligning Business Goals with IT Solutions
Panel Discussion: Computer Forensics Examiners in the War on Terror
Workshop: Computer Forensics
Microsoft Vista Office Preview

Get 'em while you can at http://www.pghtech.org/Networks/InformationSystems/dotnet.asp.

Hat tip: Eric Kepes

Join us on May 31 from 6-8 pm for Part 2 of Tony Casale's talk on custom server controls in ASP.NET 2.0.  We'll meet at Communifax HQ; directions at www.communifax.com.

The subject of Scott's Pittsburgh .NET talk has been updated:

Essential Tools for the Effective Developer

Join us for the May Pittsburgh .NET User Group meeting as Scott Hanselman, Chief Architect at the Corillian Corporation, looks at some of the essential tools for effective development.  Scott is known for his Ultimate Tools List at http://www.hanselman.com/tooland his ongoing efforts to collect and use tools that help developers be as effective as possible.
Your brain thinks fast, why should your fingers be "I/O Bound?" Join us at this fast-paced talk about Scott's philosophy of effectiveness, a journey that might introduce you to a number of Apps, Applets, Add-Ins, Toolbars and Shell Customizations that'll take your development environment to the next level. We'll also talk about Test Driven Development and Continuous Integration and may also touch on a number of CompSci concepts like Cyclomatic Complexity.

Info at http://pghdotnet.org/Events/220.aspx.

Pgh.NET: Software Factories / Code Generation
Join the Pittsburgh .NET User Group (Pgh.NET) as Scott Hanselman, Chief Architect at Corillian and Microsoft Regional Director, presents at this International .NET Association (INETA) sponsored event. Sponsored by Raeder Landree.
Date: Tuesday, May 9
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Venue: Microsoft, 30 Isabella Street
Cost: No charge
RSVP: Online, Council Events or 412.918.4229

Join us as Tony Casale of Communifax discusses developing custom server controls and HTTP Handlers in VS 2005.

We'll meet from 6-8 pm on April 20 at Communifax HQ; directions can be found at www.communifax.com.

According to an article in today's Post-Gazette:

By the time visitors stream into Pittsburgh for the July All-Star Game, Mayor Bob O'Connor and Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership CEO Michael Edwards want them to be able to fire up their laptops and connect to the Internet from anywhere in the Golden Triangle. The system may tie into another wireless network the Pirates want to deploy in PNC Park.

That would be the MLB All-Star game, coming to PNC Park this summer.