March 2004 - Posts

TechEd 2004 Is Coming

That's right, I'll be there. This year at TechEd I will be presenting 3 sessions as part of the Data Management track.

My sessions are:

DAT337  SQL Server Data Access Developer Don'ts (10 Things You Currently Do That You Shouldn't)
May 27 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Speaker(s): Doug Seven
Track(s): Data Management, Developer Tools and Technologies
Come face-to-face with ten (10) different data access methods that you probably have used, or still do. Learn why these methods are not recommended--from performance reasons to security reasons--and what you should be doing in your code instead.
 
DAT356  Hackers Paradise: SQL Injection Attacks
May 28 9:00AM - 10:15AM
Speaker(s): Doug Seven
Track(s): Data Management, Developer Tools and Technologies, Security
Learn what a SQL injection attack is and why you should be concerned about one. Through demonstrations, witness different types of SQL injection attacks, how to find them, and how to block them.
 
DAT465  Implementing Role-based Security with ASP.NET and SQL Server 2000
May 27 5:00PM - 6:15PM
Speaker(s): Doug Seven
Track(s): Data Management, Developer Tools and Technologies
Security in Web applications is paramount, and lately quite the hot topic. In this session attendees will learn how to implement a complete role-based security model for a Web application. Attendees will learn how the security plays a role in the ASP.NET Framework, how to set up security roles in a SQL Server database, and how to use them effectively. Through this presentation attendees will learn how to go back to their Web solutions and quickly and effectively implement a role-based security model using a SQL Server back-end.

The last session will be in one of the new TechEd Lounges (designed for a more intimate session?).

You can see a list of all of the TechEd sessions here: http://www.msteched.com/content/breakouts.aspx

posted Tuesday, March 23, 2004 5:23 PM by DougSeven with 0 Comments

DevDays is Over (for me)

Well, my DevDays run is over. I was fortunate to have sopoken at the first one (New York) and the largest one (so far - Seattle), as well as Newark (no special stats here). Be the time it was all over I had given three different presentations. It culminated in Seattle at what was jokingly called “DougDays” - since I ended up presenting 3 of the 4 Web track sessions (filling in for an ill Carl Prothman).

I plan on posting some follow-up on my tracks and my impressions, but let me say this now. A lot of Microsoft people kept asking me what I thought of the content vs. the audience - how appropriate was the content for the audience. IMHO it was perfect. Some more advanced developers I know had complained about it (like Tim), but the fact is DevDays is not intended to satisfy advanced developers - it is intended to satisfy the largest possible cross section of developers. Lets face it, that means beginning- to intermediate-level content, not advanced-level.

Based on the kinds of questions I was being asked after each session, and the number of people that were asking them, I believe the content hit its target. If you are an advanced developer, pay the money to go to PDC and attend the higher-level sessions. You will be happier in the long run. Ultimately I think Microsoft should do a better job at telling people when they should NOT be attending an event (like saying, “You know too much to go to DevDays - save you $100 and put it toward PDC”), and telling attendees what level the content really is.

More to come soon.

posted Friday, March 19, 2004 2:54 PM by DougSeven with 2 Comments

New Blog Skin on DotNetJunkies and SqlJunkies

In an effort to continue supporting blogs on our sites, I have made a new blog skin (”Default”) that gives your blog the look and feel of the entire DotNetJunkies or SqlJunkies site. This includes advertisements in our normal spots. This will help us show advertisements on more page views, which in turn helps us make money to pay for our servers and our (ever-growing) bandwidth.

If you have a blog on one of our sites, we'd love it if you would use the new “Default” skin.

posted Tuesday, March 09, 2004 2:39 PM by DougSeven with 0 Comments

[non-tech]Big Brothers

I had a great experience this week. I met my little brother for the first time.

Back in November I decided to volunteer with the Big Brothers & Big Sisters organization in my area. After a thorough screening I was matched with a little brother just this week. I met him on Monday, and he is cool. I don't really want to talk about him, but rather about what a great experience this is shaping up to be. My little brother is so excited to have me as his big brother and I think we are going to have a great time together.

At the end of last year I decided that I really need to be more involved in non-tech community efforts. After discussing it with my girlfriend, and spending some time investigating how I would like to be involved, I settled on the Big Brothers & Big Sisters organization. I fell that there are a lot of young people that really want to have good role models in their life, and to learn from older people who are willing to give them some time in their life. Big Brothers, IMHO, is evidence of that. In my area there are currently over 500 young people on the waiting list for Big Brothers/Big Sisters to be their mentor and friend.

If you have the time and commitment, I highly encourage you to look into it (or another mentorship organization that may be more suited for you).

posted Thursday, March 04, 2004 10:06 AM by DougSeven with 0 Comments