Geek Post Monthly Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 3

Geek Post

Volume 2 Issue 3 March 2010

Hippolite Musings	Tena Koutou Katoa, Looking forward to the Visual Studio 2010 launch in April.  Finding it hard to find time to study for my next exam.   Blessings, James
Developer News	Grenada Village Online This is where I continue the saga of documenting my learnings from actually putting a web site “out in the wild” (I usually code within a nice, safe, Intranet). In March there wasn’t time nor a requirement to implement any new code.  However, I did have time to make a proposal to the Chairman.  Now that we’ve got a database, and a method to authenticate/authorise users, we could allow residents to view/book use of the community hall. This would be a radical departure from Standard Operating Procedures.  We need a meeting to discuss.  Stay tuned.
Telecom News	Got a new CTO My hierarchical structure now looks like this: Dr Paul Reynolds CEO Telecom -->David Havercroft -->Group CTO Transformation, Technology & Shared Services ---->Marc Rackett ---->GM Shared Business Delivery – IT & Internal ------>Trevor Coles ------>HO Application Delivery -------->Steven Burke -------->Manager Online Delivery
Microsoft News	What I did for Microsoft this month (I don’t work for them, but sometimes it feels like I do) Filled in Partner Survey Updated MCT Blog Roll Attended Dot Net User Group meeting Got a freebie t-shirt (thanks Microsoft!) which says “MS-DOS” (say what?) Started training myself on Exam 70-503, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – Windows Communication Foundation That’s enough!
Situations Vacant	Senior Category Specialist – Corporate - STR0204N Take tactical procurement to a new level in our Procurement Category Management function. Helping shape world class procurement practices. Work horizontally right across categories and suppliers ensuring that we bring together new developments. Deliver leading strategic category management activity that enhance our corporate sourcing activity and enable us to transform the way we deliver to our customers! Senior Payables Specialist - FIN020GS Let your enthusiasm and sense of achievement shine through as you develop your commercial understanding and steer your abilities towards being part of this dynamic, fun and tight knit team. Immerse yourself in this accounting environment, demonstrating your natural flair and confidence dealing with numbers. Come and find out where this role could lead you, the options are there for the taking - see where your potential lies!! If any of my non-Telecom friends are reading this and interesting in any of the above, then drop me a line so we can discuss eligibility and suitability.
Training News	Got invited to Visual Studio 2010 C# Beta Training At: Auldhouse Wellington On: April 26-30 By: Invitation only To register interest: drop me a line.
INETA News	INETA stands for the International .NET Association It’s the umbrella group for all Dot Net User Groups world-wide. I’ll try to find new stuff of interest to post here each month. Last week, we had a report back from Ryan Tarak of Microsoft about the recent MIX conference in Las Vegas.  Here’s the blurb: With MIX10 around the corner, it’s no better time for Microsoft to get on the road and showcase some of the highlights from this year’s conference held in Las Vegas. Join us at your local Community User Group where we will focus on some of the key highlights including; the future of Mobile™, Silverlight™, Internet Explorer®, Expression®. Ryan Tarak, from Microsoft New Zealand will be travelling all over NZ spreading the good word and also be getting everyone ready for the launch of Visual Studio 2010 by giving the first 30 members at each event a retro Microsoft t-shirt. We will also be providing content from MIX on DVD’s and also the usual pizza, so make sure you block out the date below.
PASS News	I’m not speaking at Auckland SQL Saturday in April… On Saturday 10 April at Wolters Kluwer, 41 Centorian Drive, Mairangi Bay, North Shore. My topic (Microsoft Sync Framework) was rejected.  I find it difficult (as a full-time Web Developer) to find topics of relevance to Microsoft SQL Server Database Administrators. If you’re in the area, you should still go; Ivan Towlson will be talking on LINQ again.
Events Schedule	In this section, I highlight dates, times and venues of events either I am presenting at, or of interest to Geeks.  I’m available for bookings. Date Event Venue Speaker 31-Mar-2010 Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) 2010 Xero,  Wellington     Mark Carroll 10-Apr-2010 SQL Saturday Wolters Kluwer, Auckland Various 14-Apr-2010 Wellington:SLUG Xero, Wellington Sky Sigal 22-Apr-10 Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Launch All Over The World Various 21-23 April 2010 PASS European Conference Neuss, Germany Various 18-May-10 NZ SharePoint Conference Bay of Plenty Lots
Humour	Why I’m generally sceptical of all statistics Three econometricians went out hunting, and came across a large deer. The first econometrician fired, but missed, by a meter to the left. The second econometrician fired, but also missed, by a meter to the right. The third econometrician didn't fire, but shouted in triumph, "We got it! We got it!"

Geek Post Monthly Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 2

Geek Post

Volume 2 Issue 2 February 2010

Hippolite Musings	Tena Koutou Katoa, Still catching up on stuff I did last month.  It’s been hectic at work, so taking a breather to document it all seems good to me. Blessings, James
Developer News	Grenada Village Online This is where I continue the saga of documenting my learnings from actually putting a web site “out in the wild” (I usually code within a nice, safe, Intranet). In February I learned how to upload documents to a database, without having to upload the file to the server first.  I had always assumed that using the FileUpload control, I had to copy the file from the client to the server first, in order to grab the file on the server and push it into the database. However, in a managed server environment (e.g. utilising an Internet Service Provider) I do not have permission to write files to the server. I now realise that assumption was false. Here is the completed (presentation) code: 1: Protected Sub Submit_Click(ByVal sender As Object, _ 2: ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _ 3: Handles Submit.Click 4: If Page.IsValid() Then 5: DocumentLogic.Insert() 6: End If 7: End Sub 8:   9: Protected Sub DocumentLogic_Inserting( _ 10: ByVal sender As Object, _ 11: ByVal e As ObjectDataSourceMethodEventArgs) _ 12: Handles DocumentLogic.Inserting 13:   14: Dim iod As IOrderedDictionary = e.InputParameters 15: iod("documentName") = TitleTextBox.Text 16: iod("attachment") = FileUpload1.PostedFile.InputStream 17: iod("documentType") = FileUpload1.PostedFile.ContentType 18: iod("userName") = AppState.UserName 19: End Sub   Then, the business layer looks like this: 1: [System.ComponentModel.DataObjectMethodAttribute( 2: System.ComponentModel.DataObjectMethodType.Insert, true)] 3: public bool Add( 4: string documentName, 5: string documentType, 6: string author, 7: string audience, 8: string purpose, 9: DateTime? dateWritten, 10: Stream attachment, 11: string userName) 12: { 13: DAL.Document dr = new DAL.Document(); 14:   15: dr.DocumentName = documentName; 16: dr.DocumentType = documentType; 17: dr.Author = author; 18: dr.Audience = audience; 19: dr.Purpose = purpose; 20: dr.DateWritten = dateWritten; 21: dr.UpdatedBy = userName; 22: dr.UpdatedOn = DateTime.Now; 23: Int32 docLength = (Int32)attachment.Length; 24: byte[] docBuffer = new byte[docLength]; 25: attachment.Read(docBuffer, 0, docLength); 26: dr.Attachment = docBuffer; 27: dr.Save(userName); 28: return true; 29: }
Telecom News	We are moving to SubVersion… We are finally moving off Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for source code control.  The reasons for moving are: Ability to branch and merge (apparently) is better; More stable, robust database; Other teams (non-Microsoft e.g. Java) already have it – we’re the last holdouts. Free Open Source application (although the Visual Studio interface – Visual SVN – isn’t free). The reason why we’re not going to Team Foundation Server is: There already is a TFS database, but they way it was implemented (Virtual Server on a non-Telecom network via internal wireless network) means that we couldn’t code from home. Prohibitively expensive to spin up a second license. Seems like a good idea to me.  Not sure I want to share the same repository as all other teams: might lose too much autonomy.  We shall see.
Product News	Nothing new to report at this time Last month, I made a mistake.  I had thought (typo?) that the world-wide launch of Visual Studio 2010 was taking place on 22 March.  Turns out to be 22 April.
Partner News	Got our new MSDN Subscriber Licenses Good for another two years of unlimited, legal downloads.  I love working here.
Situations Vacant	Senior Functional Specialist BI/Planning - Wellington Requisition ID – INF022D5 NZ-Wellington Permanent - Full-time Job Posting 18/Mar/10 Senior Finance Analyst Requisition ID – FIN020GO NZ-Wellington Permanent - Full-time Job Posting 12/Mar/10 Technical Graduate Programme Requisition ID – GRA2200Y New Zealand Permanent - Full-time Job Posting 08/Mar/10 Functional Specialist BI/Planning - Wellington Requisition ID – INF022CE NZ-Wellington Permanent - Full-time Job Posting 01/Mar/10 Graduate Leadership Development Programme 2011 Requisition ID – GRA2200X New Zealand Permanent - Full-time Job Posting 01/Mar/10 If any of my non-Telecom friends are reading this and interesting in any of the above, then drop me a line so we can discuss eligibility and suitability.
Training News	In February, I sat and passed Exam 70-562 TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Application Development Should have been easy, but there was a whole lotta extra stuff e.g. WCF & AJAX My score: 763 Skills being measured in this exam: Configuration and Deploying Web Applications (10%) Consuming and Creating Server Controls (20%) Working with Data and Services (17%) Troubleshooting and Debugging Web Applications (16%) Working with ASP.NET AJAX and Client-side Scripting (15%) Targeting Mobile Devices (5%) Programming Web Applications (17%)
Trainer News	Renewed my MCT for another year… I’m a Microsoft Certified Trainer again.  Yippee!  It means that Telecom gets a discount on MSDN subscription, and I get unlimited, free and legal access to all Microsoft Official Curriculum material.
PASS News	I’m speaking to Auckland SQL Saturday in April… On Saturday 10 April at Wolters Kluwer, 41 Centorian Drive, Mairangi Bay, North Shore. My topic will probably be the Microsoft Sync Framework (again).  I find it difficult (as a full-time Web Developer) to find topics of relevance to Microsoft SQL Server Database Administrators.
Events Schedule	In this section, I highlight dates, times and venues of events either I am presenting at, or of interest to Geeks.  I’m available for bookings. Date Event Venue Speaker 19-Feb-2010 Exam 70-562 Auldhouse, Wellington None 22-26 Feb 2010 Exchange 2010 Training Auldhouse, Wellington ? 10-Apr-2010 SQL Saturday Wolters Kluwer, Auckland James, et al 22-Apr-10 Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Launch All Over The World Various 21-23 April 2010 PASS European Conference Neuss, Germany Various 18-May-10 NZ SharePoint Conference Bay of Plenty Lots
Humour	Mistaken Identity One day, one of my first-grade students, Taylor, asked his grandmother if he was a child of God. "Why, of course you are, Taylor," she replied. He looked puzzled, then responded, "Well I better get home and tell Mom and Dad—they think I'm theirs!" —Mary De Guzman, Greenville, SC. Today's Christian Woman, "Heart to Heart."

Geek Post Monthly Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 1

Geek Post

Volume 2 Issue 1 January 2010

Hippolite Musings	Tena Koutou Katoa, Last year, I started this newsletter.  I managed 11 weeks before year end.  This was a bit much, so this year I will probably end up doing monthly.  I have two months to catch up on.  Here goes… Blessings, James
Developer News	Grenada Village Online This is where I continue the saga of documenting my learnings from actually putting a web site “out in the wild” (I usually code within a nice, safe, Intranet). This month I learned how to actually implement Profile, Membership and Role providers.  The first learning was that there are three providers! Secondly, put it all in the Web.config (see below).  Point all three providers to the one connection string for your application’s database.  Then, create all the objects (tables, views & stored procedures) that the Providers expect to find there.  The code for creating a script to generate the objects is this: aspnet_regsql -S (local) -E -A all –sqlexportonly <filename> <system.web> <profile enabled="true"> <properties> <add name="FirstName" type="string"/> <add name="LastName" type="string"/> <add name="HomePhone" type="string"/> <add name="CellPhone" type="string"/> <add name="StreetNo" type="string"/> <add name="StreetName" type="string"/> </properties> <providers> <clear/> <add name="AspNetSqlProfileProvider" connectionStringName="GrenadaVillageConnection" applicationName="GrenadaVillage" type="System.Web.Profile.SqlProfileProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" /> </providers> </profile> <siteMap defaultProvider="default"> <providers> <clear/> <add name="default" type="System.Web.XmlSiteMapProvider" siteMapFile="web.sitemap" securityTrimmingEnabled="true" /> </providers> </siteMap> <membership> <providers> <clear/> <add name="AspNetSqlMembershipProvider" type="System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" connectionStringName="GrenadaVillageConnection" enablePasswordRetrieval="false" enablePasswordReset="true" requiresQuestionAndAnswer="true" applicationName="GrenadaVillage" requiresUniqueEmail="false" passwordFormat="Hashed" maxInvalidPasswordAttempts="5" minRequiredPasswordLength="7" minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters="1" passwordAttemptWindow="10" passwordStrengthRegularExpression=""/> </providers> </membership> <!-- Set compilation debug="true" to insert debugging symbols into the compiled page. Because this affects performance, set this value to true only during development. --> <roleManager enabled="true"> <providers> <clear/> <add name="AspNetSqlRoleProvider" connectionStringName="GrenadaVillageConnection" applicationName="GrenadaVillage" type="System.Web.Security.SqlRoleProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" /> </providers> </roleManager> <compilation debug="true"> <assemblies> <add assembly="System.Core, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089"/> <add assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/> <add assembly="System.Xml.Linq, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089"/> <add assembly="System.Data.DataSetExtensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=B77A5C561934E089"/> </assemblies> </compilation> <!-- The <authentication> section enables configuration of the security authentication mode used by ASP.NET to identify an incoming user. --> <authentication mode="Forms"> <forms protection="All" ></forms> </authentication> <identity impersonate="true"/> <!-- The <customErrors> section enables configuration of what to do if/when an unhandled error occurs during the execution of a request. Specifically, it enables developers to configure html error pages to be displayed in place of a error stack trace. <customErrors mode="RemoteOnly" defaultRedirect="GenericErrorPage.aspx"> <error statusCode="403" redirect="NoAccess.aspx" /> <error statusCode="404" redirect="FileNotFound.aspx" /> </customErrors> --> <pages> <controls> <add tagPrefix="asp" namespace="System.Web.UI" assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/> <add tagPrefix="asp" namespace="System.Web.UI.WebControls" assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/> </controls> </pages> <httpHandlers> <remove verb="*" path="*.asmx"/> <add verb="*" path="*.asmx" validate="false" type="System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptHandlerFactory, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/> <add verb="*" path="*_AppService.axd" validate="false" type="System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptHandlerFactory, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/> <add verb="GET,HEAD" path="ScriptResource.axd" validate="false" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptResourceHandler, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/> </httpHandlers> <httpModules> <add name="ScriptModule" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/> </httpModules> </system.web>
Telecom News	XT has developed a glitch… People are working on it. I’m not directly a cause nor a cure for the problem. We’re all being impacted in some way or other.  For example, Production change requests are under closer scrutiny to ensure nothing exacerbates the situation. That’s all I have to say on this subject at this time.
Product News	ReSharper 5.0 for Visual Studio 10 Can’t wait to get VS10 RTM, so I can upgrade ReSharper!
Partner News	I met Telecom’s new Microsoft Technical Account Manager His name is Antony Willis.
Situations Vacant	Customer Service Representative- Faults Mobile- 26th April Requisition ID – CUS020ZB NZ-Auckland Permanent - Full-time Job Posting 08/Mar/10 Complex Billing Specialist Requisition ID – INF022CU NZ-Christchurch Permanent - Full-time Job Posting 05/Mar/10 Systems Engineer - Networks Requisition ID – ENG0209K NZ-New Plymouth Permanent - Full-time Job Posting 05/Mar/10
Training News	In January, I sat and passed Exam 70-561 TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, ADO.NET Application Development Should have been easy, but there was a whole lotta extra stuff e.g. Sync Framework, LINQ and ORM with the Entity Framework Skills Being Measured This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below. The percentages indicate the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam. Connecting to Data Sources (12 percent) Manage connection strings. May include but is not limited to: using the ConnectionStringBuilder; leveraging the ConfigurationManager; protecting the connection string; using Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI) or SQL Server authentication; correctly addressing the SQL Server instance; managing “User Instance” and AttachDBfilename Manage connection objects. May include but is not limited to: managing connection state, managing connection pool; implementing persistent data connections; implementing Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS); encrypting and decrypting data Work with data providers. May include but is not limited to: limitations, behaviors, performance, installation issues, deployment issues; ODBC, Microsoft OLE DB, SqlClient, managed providers, third-party providers, native providers Connect to a data source by using a generic data access interface. May include but is not limited to: System.Data.Common namespace classes Handle and diagnose database connection exceptions. May include but is not limited to: implementing try/catch handlers Selecting and Querying Data (22 percent) Build command objects. May include but is not limited to: building Parameters collections; using input and output parameters and return values; selecting an appropriate CommandType action; selecting an appropriate Execute method; using the CommandBuilder class; choosing appropriate CommandBehavior Query data from data sources. May include but is not limited to: writing queries to solve assigned problems; implementing data paging; sorting, filtering, and aggregating data Retrieve data source data by using the DataReader. May include but is not limited to: retrieving data from SELECT statements; retrieving data from stored procedures; working with multiple result sets Manage data by using the DataAdapter or the TableAdapter. May include but is not limited to: retrieving data from SELECT statements; retrieving data from stored procedures; working with multiple result sets; working with JOIN products; creating updatable DataAdapters and TableAdapters; modifying TableAdapter Fill methods Execute an asynchronous query. May include but is not limited to: handling asynchronous events Handle special data types. May include but is not limited to: Binary Large Objects (BLOBs); Filestream, Spatial, Table Value Parameters Query data sources by using LINQ. May include but is not limited to: extended method; CLR delegate; lambda expressions; classes of the System.LINQ.Expressions namespace Manage exceptions when selecting data. May include but is not limited to: identifying and resolving syntax errors; security exceptions Modifying Data (24 percent) Manage transactions. May include but is not limited to: selecting an appropriate transaction isolation level; participating in local transactions; participating in distributed transactions; using declarative transactions Manage data integrity. May include but is not limited to: cascading updates or cascading deletes; auto number management; server-generated value management; client-side data validation; business rules, constraints Update data. May include but is not limited to: update data by using stored procedures; update dataSets to data source; managing concurrency Manage exceptions when modifying data. May include but is not limited to: resolve exceptions from data integrity, constraint, or referential integrity violations; data locking conflicts; data collision issues Transform data by using LINQ. May include but is not limited to: aggregation operators; JOIN operator, QUERY operator, LIKE, etc. Synchronizing Data (15 percent) Monitor event notifications. May include but is not limited to: implement notifications by using SqlDependency or SqlNotificationRequest Cache data. May include but is not limited to: SqlCacheDependency, Local Data Cache Manage update conflicts between online data and offline data. Partition data for synchronization. Implement Synchronization Services. May include but is not limited to: SyncAgent, SyncTable, ClientSyncProvider, ServerSyncProvider, SyncAdapter Working with Disconnected Data (16 percent) Manage occasionally connected data. Programmatically create data objects. May include but is not limited to: DataTable; DataSet Work with untyped DataSets and DataTables. May include but is not limited to: populating a DataSet or DataTable Expose a DataTableReader from a DataTable or from a DataSet. Work with strongly typed DataSets and DataTables. Object Relational Mapping by Using the Entity Framework (11 percent) Define and implement an Entity Data Model. May include but is not limited to: mapping schemas and storage metadata; EDM Generator Query data by using Object Services. May include but is not limited to: querying data as objects and shaping results; working with objects; managing the Object Context; customizing objects Map data by using the Entity SQL Language. May include but is not limited to: manually define mapping files; execute an Entity SQL Query by using EntityCommand Access entity data by using the EntityClient Provider. May include but is not limited to: managing EntityConnection; creating EntityCommand; executing a query by using EntityDataReader; managing EntityTransaction
Trainer News	Nothing new
PASS News	Nothing New
Events Schedule	In this section, I highlight dates, times and venues of events either I am presenting at, or of interest to METTLE.  I’m available for bookings. Date Event Venue Speaker 11-Jan-2010 First day back at work Telecom Wellington James 19-Jan-2010 Exam 70-561 Auldhouse, Wellington James 25-29 Jan 2010 SharePoint 2010 Ignite for Developers Microsoft, Wellington Wayne Ewington 22-26 Feb 2010 Exchange 2010 Training Auldhouse, Wellington ? 22-Mar-10 Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Launch All Over The World Various 21-23 April 2010 PASS European Conference Neuss, Germany Various 18-May-10 NZ SharePoint Conference Bay of Plenty Lots
Humour	Digging Whales We had recently moved from Tennessee to Mississippi. Our four-year-old son, Jeep, came home from church one Sunday, excited about the Sunday school lesson. "My teacher taught us all about the whales," he announced. "You mean Jonah and the whale?" my wife asked. "No," he said, "Jacob and the whales." "I think it was Jonah," my wife corrected. "He was swallowed by a whale in the ocean." But Jeep knew his lesson. "No, it was Jacob. He moved out into the desert and when he got thirsty, he dug some whales." —Pat Apel, Hazlehurst, Mississippi. Christian Reader, "Kids of the Kingdom."

MCTS Exam 70-561 Prep

I’m reading the Self-Paced Training Kit for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – ADO.NET Application Development…

…and loving it.

At first, I wasn’t because the first four chapters were boring, but now I’m reading about interesting stuff:

1. Creating Database Connections
2. Selecting and Querying Data
3. DataSets (including Strongly-Typed DataSets)
4. Updating Data
5. Synchronizing Data (including the Microsoft Sync Framework)
6. Introducing LINQ
7. XML
8. LINQ to SQL
9. Using the Entity Framework
10. ADO.NET Data Services

Tech Ed 2009 Thank you!

Dear James,

Thank you for attending TechEd 2009!

We really appreciate the effort and commitment that TechEd takes from all of our attendees and thank you for your support during the particularly tough current economic climate.

This year we hosted 128 sessions over 11 tracks and 3 virtual tracks and trust this provided you with confidence in the Microsoft roadmap, and visibility on how Microsoft technology can help to move your business and career forward. 

To maximise your TechEd experience, we are pleased to announce that as a delegate of the event, you will have complimentary access to premium content on TechEd Online. This offers hundreds of hours of breakout sessions from TechEd events around the world and is a great way to check out your favourite session or catch up on any of the sessions you may have missed.  We will notify you by email as soon as your access details have been set up.

Also don’t forget to tell us what you would like to see at future TechEd New Zealand events. Your feedback is critical for our future success so please go to www.msteched.com/newzealand/Public/eval.aspx to complete the evaluation form.  To show our appreciation you will automatically go into the draw to win a HP ProBook 5310. Deadline Wednesday 30 September.

Thanks again for supporting TechEd 2009 and we look forward to seeing you next year!

Kind regards,

Scott Wylie

Director Developer & Platform Strategy

Microsoft NZ Ltd

Training Report

Kiaora Jacinta,

As requested, here is a detailed report back on the value of the training that I received this year at Tech Ed.

Tech Ed is the premiere Microsoft conference in New Zealand.  It runs from Monday to Wednesday, delivering more than seven streams (DEV, DB, Security, Vendor Case Studies, Architecture, Office System, Azure) of simultaneous training from which to choose.  In addition, Code Camp is an optional, extra training day, organised by the New Zealand User Group Community that runs on the Sunday preceding Tech Ed.

Code Camp topics that I attended were:

• What’s Happening in .NET Languages – An overview of the changes to be expected in Visual Studio 2010.  VS is the development tool that I use all day every day.  Ivan Towlson demonstrated the new Functional Language F#, as well as how the existing statically defined languages (C#, Visual Basic) can interact with them.
• Behaviour Driven Development – This is an evolution of the formerly named Test Driven Development methodology of application development.  Owen Evans was able to clearly demonstrate the conceptual brilliance of the “Given… When… Then…” paradigm.
• C#4.0 – Ivan again showed how VS2010 will enable developers to use new dynamic features of our existing static languages in order to “break the mould” of our strongly-typed declarative world.

In addition to attending Code Camp, I also contributed two presentations:

• Lightening Talk – Data Dude: MS VSTS for Database Professionals (GDR), in which I explained the usefulness of GDR as an optional add-in to the Development Edition of Visual Studio.
• Becoming Certified – In which I explained the benefits, costs & process of attaining Microsoft Credentials.

Tech Ed topics on Day 1 that I attended were:

• Keynote presentation by Hon. Steven Joyce, Minister of IT&C, in which he discussed fibre to the home.
• DAT201 Overview of SQL Server 2008 R2 – Mark Souza from Microsoft NZ explained how to enable managed self-service Business Intelligence, via the new Excel add-on “Gemini”.
• DAT202 Microsoft Business Intelligence Overview – Myles Matheson from Microsoft US further elucidated on the BI Reporting Maturity Model.
• MVP – I had a very illuminated private discussion with Rose Stamell from Microsoft Australia about what’s involved in being nominated as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional.
• LABS – These were available at anytime as a “filler” for in-depth hands-on training with the latest products.  At this time, I did an ADO.NET lab because DEV307 was postponed.
• DEV302 What’s Coming in .NET 4.0 – In which John-Daniel Trask from Mindscape demoed Visual Basic 10 language improvements.
• Gen-I Dinner – In which I briefly turned up, looked around, recognized nobody, saw it was going to be a booze party and left 10 minutes later.
• GeekZone Dinner – In which I sat in a Chinese restaurant and conversed with industry peers.  Much more to my liking.  Social networking at its best.

Tech Ed topics on Day 2 that I attended were:

• DEV204 What’s new in Team Foundation Server 2010 – In which Adam Cogan from http://ssw.com.au demonstrated Team Collections.
• VOC203 Databases, gods and maps – In which Scott Campbell from Express Couriers Limited demonstrated their use of GIS via SQL Server to deliver on-time, every time.
• DEV301 Visual Studio 2008 IDE Tips – In which Sara Ford from Microsoft US demonstrated many keyboard shortcuts and little-known option settings.
• LABS Azure – Nothing else appealed at this time.  Self-study.
• DAT301 Building applications in SQL Azure – In which Jeremy Boyd from Mindscape demonstrated how to do it, and gave useful advice like avoid chatty calls, code for chunky calls.
• DAT305 Upgrading from SQL 2000 to 2008 – In which Greg Low (MVP, SQL Server Master) gave us a practical approach, which I’m dying to use on our servers!
• Tech Fest – In which I turned up for dinner, took one drink, had a few conversations, saw it was going to be a booze party and left early.

Tech Ed topics on Day 3 that I attended were:

• LABS .NET 4.0 – In which I did self-study because SOA205 was packed.
• DEV205 A tour of CodePlex – In which Sara Ford talked about Open Source at Microsoft.
• DEV307 Using Team Foundation Server in a Distributed World – In which Wayne Ewington (Microsoft NZ) demonstrated working offline with TFS.
• DEV306 TFS for successful project management – In which Adam Cogan demonstrated collecting User Stories via INVEST.
• DAT303 Managing database with VS – In which Greg Low gave a fuller presentation of my Data Dude Code Camp presentation.

Blessings
James Hippolite
MCPD (Web Developer), MCITP (Database Developer), MCT
Senior .NET Developer – Workgroup Solutions Team
Applications Development, Maintenance & Support – Shared Capability

Code Camp Auckland 2009 – Feedback from attendees

Over on Kirk Jackson’s Page of Words, he gives an overview of the feedback from attendees.  All very positive.

He also released individual speaker’s performances privately to each one of us speakers.  Here’re mine:

Becoming Certified. James Hippolite:

• Dissatisfied: 1 (3%)
• Satisfied: 11 (28%)
• Satisfied++: 19 (49%)
• Very satisfied: 8 (21%)

It was difficult to follow the structure in the Becoming Certified talk and the Secure Coding Practices talk.

I guess that’s because I had 1/2 an hour to cram 1 hour’s worth of presentation.

Kirk indicated that responses were on average about 50% of attendance, which implies I had 80 people in my talk.  Not bad, woo hoo!