Category: BADNUG

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.