Mung Bean - wenting splean!

Life...

A friend of mine (Bill Ryan) just posted on his blog a rather curious post. Out of pure curiosity did i decide to follow the link from his blog.

Not so sure if i should have..first off, i'm not the mushy type and can generally distance myself from even the most horrific displays (TV, Photos, stories..life even)..i read through the entire blog from this guy (one of Bill Ryan's fellow MVPs) and had to stop on more than one occasion..

The guy, Michael, just lost his daugther, Mei in the most horrible way you can imagine (well, at least to me) through innattention from a doctor.

The blog (http://www.atrevido.net/blog/Default.aspx) takes you through the days where little Mei fought on. You can see how this event changed life for Michael as his blog was generally an up-beat (happy camper?) technical blog.

In few words..i feel sorry for Michael and his wife for what they're going through. Life isn't always fair and it's usually when you're at the happiest that it has to come hitting you with a devestating surprise.

The only link i didn't (couldn't??) follow on his site was was the letter Michael wrote to his daugther..just don't think i could read through that.

Eventhough i'm not religious then i hope Mei gets a good reception wherever she goes.

Michael, my sympaties and best wishes go out to you and your wife.

Perth .Net Community of Practice: ADO.Net Presentation...

So - finally back from holidays and works crazy.

On top of that then i had a presentation on ADO.Net for Perth .Net Community of Practice. Initially I was very nervous, felt this sense-of-dread sitting in a corner behind me just waiting for me to screw things up.

but - after 10 minutes or so i'd relaxed enough and started to enjoy myself.

All in all i'm VERY please with this one. no heckling either!

But first of all, I would like to thank all who attended and hope you enjoyed it at least half as much as i did.

Secondly, thanks to Bill Ryan and Lester Smith (www.knowdotnet.com) for their generous gifts which was 3 licenses for their VS.Net plugin NetRefactor. Absolutely brilliant plugin - walks all over the upcoming functionality of VS.Net 2005's refactoring. The VS.Net 2005 development team might as well NOT include that functionality. this tool definitely beats it down like a piece of wet cardboard! Well done guys and again, thanks for your generosity.

another view of the mung bean!

yay--- in DA houze!

http://sites.gizoogle.com/?url=http://www.dotnetjunkies.com/weblog/brianmadsen

this was an absolute effin' blast! still laughing!

Whidbey Beta 2 and .Net framework Go Live now available

So - all us lucky .Net developers now get more toys to play with.

Whidbey Beta 2 has just been released and you can get the download here: http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/vs2005/

Also - the long awaited .Net framework Go Live license is now available..the hunt for .Net 2 hosting is now on!

Get it from the above URL.

Happy coding..i know i'm going to download it all (or get a copy from somebody with a faster connection)

Off Topic: Love my job, love the company i work for!

I suppose this just shows how shallow and vain a person i really am.

Yesterday my new PC arrived for work and i love it...it's a big, ugly, mean looking machine!

Specs?? well - here's where I get really happy!

- 2 x 2.8Ghz Xeon Cpu
- 2Gb DDR Ram
- 1 x 128Mb ATI gfx card (DVI dual monitor capable)
- 1 x 64Mb NVidia gfx card
- 3 x 17” LCD screens
- 700W internatal UPS

man, i love it!!

There's been a few cry-babies complaining that i now work on the most powerful PC in the company (not counting servers of course, duh!) and more than just a little bitching (yes, even the guys)...but you know what..fuck that. i needed a powerful PC..hell, in the last year i've killed a P4 1.6Ghz Dell and a P4 2.4Ghz Dell - granted the 2.4Ghz can probably be saved if it gets a couple of new sticks of RAM or new HD.

How i've manage to kill them..well, to be honest, i've no idea...i run the machine at the max performance settings that i can eeke out of Windows XP (here's an internal joke, i break the machines because of my desktop setup where i have my taskbar sticking to the left side (vertically) of my left monitor and got my quickstart + custom toolbar sitting at the top of the left monitor)..i seriously remove all eye-candy you can think of..on background pictures...only setting that's extravagant is smoothe edges on desktop fonts.

to top it off, i regular run machine maintenance, like defragging, disc cleanup, ram testing etc and i can still beat the shit out of the machine..but hey - the current project i'm working on contains 3 solutions, where the largest solution contain 13-15 C# projects + 1 Database Project + 1 Setup project...takes a wee bit of time to re-compile that one for release and it does beat the cpu cycles up to 100% constantly.

Now, all praises go to my bosses and their extremely smart decision to get me a good work horse....BEAST MACHINE!

Microsoft SQL Server UG - Perth: High Availability

Author: Brian H. Madsen Date Posted: 7/04/2005 10:43:06 AM

Perth is graced by Greg Low coming over for the MSDN Roadshow and when I found out i snapped him up to do a session for us on high availability:

----------------------------------------------------
In this session Greg will cover some of the new high availability
options in SQL Server 2005. He will cover database mirroring and the
enhancements to clustering and compare these with other availability
options. Greg will also cover database snapshots.

About Greg:
Greg is an internationally recognised consultant, developer and trainer. He has been working in development since 1978, holds a PhD in Computer Science and MC*.* from Microsoft. Greg is also president of the Qld MSDN Users Group and the Qld SQL Server Users Group. His primary interests are currently in ADO.NET and SQL Server. Greg is the lead SQL Server consultant with Readify.

For more information on Greg: https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=47c814bd-644a-41f0-8443-b8afcce19a60

Please ensure that you register online so i can see how many i need to cater for on food and drinks.

The session starts at 5:30pm, with food being provided, but those that wish can come to the Melbourne Hotel for a drink starting at 5:00pm.

I realise the session has a late start but we have to coordinate with the MSDN Roadshow event that's running in the afternoon at the Perth Convention Center.

## Prize Draw ##
This month we will have a copy of Visual.Studio 2003 Enterprise Architect to give away for those who register online.

Venue: Level 14, QV1, 255 St Georges Terrace | Duration 1hr | On: Thursday, 21 April 2005

Another week has gone by

Well, another week's gone by and i haven't posted anything at all.

Mainly been extremely busy organising events for my user group but also at work - can't believe how busy i've been over the last 5-6 days.

The company I work for has undergone some drastic organisational changes which saw me entered into the domain of the sales and marketing section. Primarily because i maintain our corporate website and it's now become obvious to the powers that be that it's been a largely underused tool.

So this week has been spent mostly in meetings and launching new DSL plans for our ISP section and the online application form + plan details.

Generally i wouldn't mind showing off my work but i'm not entirely proud of the site..it's lacking consistiency and character. But it was a inherited design which I'm hoping to shred pretty soon.

Mind you, i'm not a web designer and have just about as much artistic talent/ability as a 6 week dead beetle so i might have to find somebody to take on the design aspects of the site.

Anyways, the work for this weekend consists of installing Windows 2003 Server, Enterprise as a virtual image, then throwing SQL Server 2005 on it again because i really need to get more into SQL Server (last event, where i presented, didn't go that well for me).

So without actually committing to any other work this weekend i'm hoping to have some more information about SQL Server 2005 coming soon...

Off Topic: Online Gaming - so addictive, or can i control myself?

well - in an effort to prove that i have a life and that online gaming isn't going to take over my life now that i'm finally on DSL i thought i'd put Xfire on my blog..

This is supposedly live data...hmmm..i wonder if i could juuuust sneak in for a game of AA:SF???

Anyways - at the moment i play AA:SF a little bit...want a game just swing me a message.

Microsoft SQL Server UG - Perth: Programming with SQL Server 2005, Part 1

So Perth - here we go again. The first event and Chris Kempster set a benchmark and I hope to follow up with an interesting presentation on programming with SQL Server 2005.

We'll also be looking at some of the new tools that ships with SQL Server 2005 (Where did EM go?..what do we do now?).

Here's the official blurb:

Author: Brian Madsen Date Posted: 18/03/2005 1:13:29 AM

Perth is at it again - the next event (eventhough it has been delayed) is coming.

Starting at 5:00pm to 6:30pm on the 30th of March.

Overview:

This session includes the new features of TSQL, managed code integration and a look at some of the new tools that ships with SQL Server 2005.

ps. Please ensure that you register for this event so I can make sure there is enough beer and pizza.

Venue: Level 14, QV1, 255 St Georges Terrace | Duration 60mins | On: Wednesday, 30 March 2005

click here -> http://www.sqlserver.org.au/ to register for this event....

Visual Studio.Net 2003 EA acting up? or is it me?

Had an enterprise solution corrupt on me, VSS failed miserably and i gave up trying to retrieve it from there. So, i had to rebuild the solution.

Was a larger undertaking as the original solution had 13-14 projects (class libraries, component libraries, web services, windows services, web apps etc).

I eventually got it all right, all dependencies correct, references set up in the right order...everything went fine until i tried to rebuild the solution for the first time.

kept getting this one warning:

Warning: The dependency 'AmcomUtilities, Version=1.0.1893.15741, Culture=neutral' in project 'XXXXXXX_WebUI' cannot be copied to the run directory because it would overwrite the reference 'AmcomUtilities, Version=1.0.1893.26907, Culture=neutral'.

now, AmcomUtilities is a class library that i use virtually everywhere - contains logging, configs, validation, encryption/decryption, custom data types - hell a whole bunch of stuff that's just plain handy...i tried recompiling the utility library, got another version - removed the references to the old one and added the new one. Bang! still the same warning, except the latest version number changed. I've searched high and low and still can't locate ANYTHING in the project that refers to the old class library..nada!

Anybody got any clues as to what's going on? it's a new solution (my machine's getting it's arse beaten and has caused yonks of corruptions in project files, compilations, debugging files etc - but hopefully i'm going to replace this dodgy P4 2.4Ghz with a sparkly dual xeon 2.8Ghz box which i just got quoted a neat price on..). Also i didn't re-use any of the old project files, just removed source bindings on the projects, copied the files elsewhere, removed the old and rebuild a new project with the old files..added the new references and compiled..voila, none throwing an error till the WebUI project where i've doubled and triple checked that there IS NO references to the old version around...at all. Even scoured my machine in order to locate the damned version..and nada..it does not exist anymore!

i'm at my wits end!

Microsoft Windows-based Hosting Seminar Series

Here we go again - Microsoft is holding a series of seminars centered around Windows-based hosting environments.

Here's the official blurb:

Looking to hear the latest benefits of hosting on the Windows platform from industry experts and how hosting can add value to your business in 2005?

We'd like to invite you to hear how Microsoft Windows-based Hosting empowers hosting services providers to lower operational costs through automation, while propelling revenues through the deployment of enhanced managed services. This Solution provides tools, tested best practices, scripts, and code samples designed to efficiently deploy offerings on the Windows platform.

The Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration enables services providers to offer flexible and scalable rich e-mail, messaging, and collaboration services to small and medium businesses plus consumers. This Solution includes management tools that help ensure rapid time-to-market and superior service levels to end users.

This seminar will provide attendees with a thorough technical operation and business value overview of both Solutions. Attendees will learn what the Solutions are, how they can be attained, and how Microsoft's assistance can be leveraged to facilitate a quick deployment that yields a quick return on investment through operational efficiency as well as additional revenue streams, including Windows SharePoint Services and Live Communications Server hosting.

Also hear from other Industry experts such as Ensim, Fenestrae, SWSoft, activAeon, DotNetNuke and more!

You can register at these locations.

Sydney	Monday 14 March 2005	Register
Melbourne	Tuesday 15 March 2005	Register
Brisbane	Wednesday 16 March 2005	Register
Perth	Tuesday 22 March 2005	Register

ASP.Net 2.0 web hosting eludes me still

Ok, this is getting frustrating - i cannot find any web hosts out there willing to offer me ASP.Net 2.0 web hosting without going for either 1) extremely expensive hosting plan or 2) dedicated server/virtual server etc...

Now the question is, anybody know of a commercial host who has .Net 2.0 on the plate?

Microsoft SQL Server IG Perth, 16th of February event a complete success!

Well, here we go - we packed a full house with 40+ attendees for a presentation on SQL Server 2005.

It was quiet as a cemetary in there as Chris Kempster went through his slides and i was a little bit worried about the technical aspect of the presentation. But needless to say (though i will anyways) the feedback was that people wanted more of it...more more more.

After taking us through a nearly 2 hour tour of the new features in MS SQL Server 2005 we still had more to digest, but alas, time was running out.

Anyways, a big (no, a HUGE) thanks goes to Chris Kempster for his efforts (an apparent knowledge)!

The results of the survey handed out at the event showed promise:

1. Overall how satisfied would you say you where with this event? (1-9)

Avg. 7.33

2. How likely are you to attend an event such as this in the future? (1-9)

Avg. 8.00

5. Has your knowledge on the topic being addressed today been increased as a result of attending the event? (1-9)

Avg. 6.94

6. Please rate the session you attended, taking into consideration both the speaker and content. (1-9)

Avg. 7.50

7. Do you believe you would be able to apply the information shared with you at the event to your business? (1-9)

Avg. 6.67

1 being lowest (extremely dissatisfied) and 9 being highest (extremely satisfied).

Overall i'm pleased with the feedback. I had 18 attendees fill out the survey out of 40+ which could have been better.

So, thanks to those that turned up and I hope you're amongst the ones that enjoyed the event.

If you have any feedback outside the survey and/or want to let me know what you would like to hear about next please don't hesitate to contact me on brian.madsen@gmail.com

VOIP SDK released by Works Out Software

Works Out Software has just released their VOIP .Net SDK for beta testing.

the official plug is:

The world's first VOIP softphone SDK made exclusively for Microsoft .NET!

Now you can create applications that take advantage of Voice-Over-IP (VOIP) without all the hassle of difficult to use APIs. intellIPhone is a full featured SDK which enables developers to rapidly develop VOIP and Softphone applications using .NET.

Rapidly develop IP based Softphone or IVR applications
Supports Text-To-Speech and Speech Recognition
Supports DTMF tone generation and recognition
Supports MP3 and WAV sound playback and recording
Easy-to-use .NET assemblies
Full API documentation included
Extensive sample application and source code included

Use the intellIPhone SDK to:

*Make telephone calls from a PC
*Receive telephone calls on a PC
Create personalized interactive voice prompt (IVR) applications
Leverage speech recognition and speech synthesis

*VOIP Provider Required

you can find the SDK at http://www.worksoutsoft.com/products/intellIPhoneSDK.aspx

Microsoft Applications SIG (March) - Advanced Creation of Webparts for Sharepoint Portal Server

Another wicked event is coming up - one that also comes close to home (Perth)..

The presenter is Matthew Cosier..now I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the man but have heard he's worth his weight in gold.

The official agenda for this event is:

Creating Web Parts using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
Accessing standard services from SharePoint Portal Server
Extending your Web Part to be fully integrated with SharePoint Portal Server
Taking advantage of the Single Sign On Service in Web Parts

It's held on the 17th of March, 4pm-6pm. More details can be found here. One of the things i really want to get some info on is deployment to both single and multiple Sharepoint environments..maybe i can stretch his time and corner him with some invasive questions.

Big thumbs up for Matthew! see you there!

On another note - Matthew is also full bottle on skype and i think i'm going to follow his blog a bit more often.