Ms.Deway is waiting for your questions.  Try this: "About George Bush"
http://www.msdewey.com/

What a coincidence!  A bunch of updates are available today for Vista on Windows updates.

Perhaps, the most important is the Hold Em Poker game 

ATI, Erhhhh.....AMD finaly released yesterday their Catalyst drivers for Vista.
http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/vista32/common-vista32.html

It correct the issue with the Microsoft drivers where I couldn't resize my desktop when I had an external monitor/projector hooked up.  Basically, my laptop has a non standard 1280x800 setting.  When I hooked an external projctor, typically 1024x768, my desktop was stretched and distorted.  Now, there's a setting with the new drivers that let you use centered timings.

Perhaps the coolest thing is the possibility to rotate the displays individually.  I read a lot and I find that the widescreen aspect ratio is really not suited for reading.  Now, I can connect a 17" LCD monitor, place it sideways and read in portrait mode.  Cool!

And since this thing is on sale this week at FutureShop.  I'll think I'll get one.
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10077002&langid=EN

I just send a BOF submission for TechEd 2007.  Vote for me!

http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2007/communityteched.mspx

Windows Workflow Foundation - Will it change the way we develop software?
Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) is the new workflow API integrated right into the .NET Framework 3.0.  This is a fantastic technology that has the potential to change the way we architect and develop our applications.  However, the learning step is pretty high, not unlike the changes we saw when our industry moved from procedural programming to object oriented programming.  In this non-technical BOF, we will discuss about some of these fundamentals changes like: Are we ready for these changes (again)?  Do we really need workflows?  Will developers dig workflows?  Are there too many pain points right now in this version?

The NY Times published an article from the Associated Press this weekend about rivals of Microsoft saying this:

The group said Microsoft’s XAML markup language — which it said was positioned to replace the current Web page language HTML — was designed “from the ground up to be dependent on Windows.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/technology/27vista.html?_r=3&em&ex=1170046800&en=ffbd803fb74c61bf&ei=5087&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Well, if XAML is so dependant on Windows, why does it runs on the Mac platform?

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=1665A00C-F7BB-459A-9DA2-F1DB6297277F&displaylang=en

These Open Source/Linux zealots are masters at manipulating the press.  This has to stop.

http://www.visualstudiotalkshow.com/Archives/045-24janvier2007-GuyBarr.html

Surprise!!!  I'm the guest and Étienne Tremblay is the co-host!

Guy Barrette: Windows Workflow Foundation

Nous discutons avec Guy Barrette de Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), le nouvel API pour exprimer les workflow qui est intégré dans le .NET Framework 3.0. Entre autres sujets, nous discutons comment utiliser un workflow dans une application pour exprimer les processus d'affaires.

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Mardi 30 janvier, 18h15

Conférencier: Eric De Carufel, Développeur Senior .NET chez Investissement PSP
Sujet: Comment ne pas se faire avoir avec la concurence?

Non la concurrence dont il est question ici n'a rien à voir avec la mondialisation des marchés. On parle ici de comment gérer la concurrence dans notre petit monde de l'informatique. Il ne faut pas se leurrer. Bien qu'abondantes, les ressource ont toujours été limitées. Les vitesses de processeur atteindront bientôt un plateau. Comment, dans ces conditions, améliorer d'avantage les performances de nos applications. Les constructeurs ont trouvé la solution: ajouter des processeurs. Mais comment ces processeurs vont-il utiliser les ressources limitées à leur disposition sans se piler sur les pieds. C'est entre autre ce que je tenterai de vous expliquer.

Dans le cadre de cette session, Monsieur Eric De Carufel, viendra vous présenter les avantages et les inconvénients de l'utilisation concurrente des ressources dans le processus de développement d'applications d'entreprise.

The DevTeach Montreal 2007 sessions are now online:
http://www.devteach.com/Session.aspx

The list of speakers is simply awesome:

• All the Canadian RDs (Joel Semeniuk, Richard Campbell, Kate Gregory, Scott Howlett, Barry Gervin, Derek Hatchard, Luc Gauthier amd me)
• The MSDN Canada developer evangelists team (Jean-Luc David, Christian Beauclair and John "Mad Mexican" Bristowe)
• Brian Noyes
• Ted Neward
• Alan Griver
• Julie Lerman
• Don Keily
• Sam Gentile
• Miguel Castro
• Rod Paddock
• Scott Belleware
• Roy Osherove
• Oen Eini
• Udi Dahan
• Rob Daigneau
• Bill Vaughn
• Peter DeBetta
• And more...

I often need to capture screenshots when writing documentation, articles or other kind of documents.  Vista has a region/windows/screen capture utility called the Snipping Tool that is available in the Accessories Start menu folder. Cool!

TechEd 2007 will take place in sunny Orlando in June.  Registration is now open.

http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2007/default.mspx

So Étienne Tremblay bought a new graphic card to play the new Splinter Cell game only to find out that it was less performant then the one he had.  So he had to return the newly purchased card and buy a better one.  In the meantime, I bought Lost Planet, popped the DVD in my 360 and enjoyed right away a cool game with awesome graphics and the best smoke explosions in any game so far.

(These little things make all this volonteer work worthwhile)

Back in September I received an email from someone I didn't knew.  He was asking me for some advice regarding his job situation and about getting a Microsoft certification.  I replied to him with the best advices I could.  Yesterday, I received an email saying that he finally got his MCSD.NET.  Yeah!

Congrats Yannick and good luck with your career.

You can now register for the next Canadian MSDN/Technet tour:

. Tuesday March 13, 2007 - Edmonton
. Thursday March 15, 2007 - Calgary
. Thursday March 22, 2007 - Halifax
. Tuesday March 27, 2007 - Montreal
. Thursday March 29, 2007 - Quebec City
. Tuesday April 3, 2007 - London
. Thursday April 12, 2007 - Winnipeg
. Tuesday April 17,2007 - Ottawa
. Thursday April 19, 2007 - Vancouver
. Tuesday April 24, 2007 - Toronto

TechNet /MSDN - Application Platform Tour 2007 ( Montreal )
Event ID: 1032319202
March 27, 2007 9:00 AM - March 27, 2007 5:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Welcome Time: 8:00 AM

Paramount Montreal
500
977 Ste-Catherine West
Montreal Quebec H3B 1E3
Canada

Language(s):  English. 
Product(s):  BizTalk Server, SQL Server, Visual Studio and Windows. 
Audience(s):  Developer and IT Professional. 
Related Industry:  Education,Financial Services,Government,Professional Services,Telecommunications. 

Event Overview
Winter Tour 2006 – Application Platform

Keeping up with the latest tools, techniques and best practices is tough when your fulltime job keeps you in the trenches and heads down. Take this opportunity to learn the best practices in designing, developing, testing, deploying and managing data driven applications. If you are working with the Microsoft based platform or technologies such as SQL Server, Windows, Visual Studio or BizTalk, then this event will help you!  The four sessions will look at real world scenarios of building and deploying an internet application and walk through common challenges and solutions that many companies and individuals face. You will leave this event with a better understanding of the key Microsoft based technologies and best practices to help you with your job and provide you with a great opportunity to network with your peers in the industry.

There will be a common session in the morning; followed by two separate afternoon tracks to allow for a deeper discussion on role specific needs.

Morning Sessions (combined audiences):
Session 1 – Designing the architecture
Session 2 – Building, deploying and maintaining the application

MSDN Afternoon Track (for developers)
Session 3 – Developing a web based application on the Microsoft-based applicationplatform
Session 4 – Building a strong data foundation to your application

TechNet Afternoon Track (for IT Pros)
Session 3 – Enhancing Scalability and Availability of the Microsoft Application Platform
Session 4 – Managing and Monitoring the Microsoft Application Platform

AGENDA

8:00 AM  Registration
9:00 AM  Presentation

Registration Options Event ID:
1032319202 
 
Register by Phone
1-877-673-8368

Just Released! Enterprise Library 3.0 January 2007 CTP

The second CTP of Enterprise Library 3.0 is now available to download on our CodePlex community site! Full details on this release are in the included release notes, but here are a few highlights:

• Validation Application Block (also see my previous post on this)
  • Near-complete validator library
  • Configuration tool support
  • ASP.NET integration
  • Winforms integration
  • Quickstarts and preliminary documentation
• Data Access Application Block
  • TransactionScope enlistment
• Logging Application Block
  • Rolling Flat File Trace Listener
  • WCF integration
• Application Block Software Factory
  • VB code generation
• Configuration Tool
  • Selectable assembly sets

We've plan to have one more CTP before the final release around late March. More details, including any updates should this plan change, are on the Release Plans page. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the CTP - and as let us know your thoughs using the Forums and Issue Tracker tools.

Check Tom Hollander's blog for more info:
http://blogs.msdn.com/tomholl/archive/2007/01/19/just-released-enterprise-library-3-0-january-2007-ctp.aspx

Due to popular demand, the Groupe d'usagers Visual Studio Montreal is looking at organizing a one day workshop on Team Foundation Server sometimes in March.  Étienne Tremblay, a Team System MVP, will lead this workshop. Participants will be able to bring their laptops to run a VPC that has TFS already installed (well, that's the plan).

Stay tuned for more info.

Funny how the Apple ads don't tell the whole story...
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2078180,00.asp

At yesterday GUVSM meeting, Etienne Tremblay discussed my blog entry about me not understanding PC gamers.  He told me that over the wekend he installed the lastest Splinter Cell game only to find out that it didn't worked on his PC because it needed shader 3 or something like like that.  So he went and bought a $200 graphic card.  Well that was exactly my point.  On my 360, the latest Splinter Cell game didn't required any hardware upgrades 

He also told us about his first Wii experience playing the Rayman game.  It was just hilarious seeing him mimic the games moves.  I must say that Nintendo nailed it with this new controller experience.  The fun is back in gaming.

I presented a session about SubSonic at the last Montreal Code Camp.  Martin Lapierre, a member of our local UG was attending and I guess that I picked his curiosity because he started playing with it.  He got far enough to modify the code so it could work in WinForms projects.  Cool!

Last week, he was accepted in the SubSonic dev team.  Way to go Martin!

BTW, Martin and I will co-present about SubSonic in April at the Montreal Visual Studio User Group.  Don't miss that!

SubSonic:
http://www.codeplex.com/actionpack

Martin's tool:
http://www.devinstinct.com/

The process or converting large VB6 apps to .NET is a daunting one.  How do you convert a giant app with dozens of forms?  Do you start a new C# or .NET app and use the business logic from the VB6 DLL?  Do you write new business logic in .NET and access it from VB6?  Not simple questions to answer basically because the migration story is really not great.  Using the conversion wizard does not produce acceptable results so what do you do?  Stop all new development and start converting for the next 12 months?
Sylvain, an architect where I’m currently on contract, pointed me to a cool new power pack tool called the Interop Forms Toolkit 1.0 available for free from Microsoft’s Website.
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vbasic/aa701259.aspx

The toolkit’s goal is to help you migrate VB6 apps slowly but surely by being able to call VB.NET Windows Forms directly from VB6 like they were regular VB6 forms.   From the point of view of the VB6 dev, the .NET form feels like a regular VB6 forms, wicked!  However, out of the box, it works only with VB.NET but Leon Langleyben created a cool project on The Code Project Website to solve this issue.  Now you can call C# Windows Forms from VB6 using Leon’s mod.
http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/VB6_-_C__Interop_Form.asp

See the toolkit in action in this screencast:
http://blogs.msdn.com/vbteam/archive/2006/09/23/768719.aspx

I can’t stress how fantastic this toolkit is because it solves a five years old problem: VB6 migration to .NET that make sense.  The toolkit was developed by Jon Rauschenberger’s team at Clarity Consulting.  Jon is a Regional Director based in Chicago.  He was interviewed recently on .NET Rocks about the toolkit:
http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=184

The 2007 Launch Event sessions are now available in streaming format:

http://www.microsoft.com/canada/anewdayevent/resources/default.aspx

The Visual Studio Orcas January CTP is now available in stand alone or in a VPC:

Stand-alone:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=69055927-458B-4129-9047-FCC4FACAE96C&displaylang=en

VM Based:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=1FF0B35D-0C4A-40B4-915A-5331E11C39E6&displaylang=en

I changed my 360 setup over the weekend and I moved the console from the living room to my office.  I purchased the VGA cable and hooked the console to a 17" LCD computer monitor.  Wow!  The picture quality is just outstanding.  I just can't understand people who buy $300-400 hi end video cards when they can buy a 360 for the same price.

The cable comes with an RCA to mini plug adapter + a female/male VGA adpater if you have the wrong connector on your monitor or your VGA extension cable.  You can also hook a digital audio cable.

Supported VGA resolutions are:
640 x 480
848 x 480
1024 x 768
1280 x 720 (equivalent to 720p)
1280 x 768
1280 x 1024
1360 x 768

I updated the GUVSM calendar for the next confirmed meetings.  More info @ www.guvsm.net

2 avril 2007 Monday, April 02, 2007 at 6:15 PM Conférenciers: Guy Barrette et Martin Lapierre Sujet: SubSonic - Un DAL à zéro code SubSonic est un DAL (Data Access Layer), un générateur de code et un ORM (object relational mapper) destiné aux applications .NET en C# ne requérant aucun code de votre part car il se construit dynamiquement à la compilation.  Vous avez bien lu, l'utilisation de SubSonic ne requiert aucune ligne de code!  De plus, il fonctionne avec SQL Server 2000 et 2005, Enterprise Library et même MySQL.  Ah oui, chose importante..il est tout à fait gratuit!  Trop beau pour être vrai?  Lors de cette conférence, Guy Barrette examinera SubSonic avec vous afin de valider si l'outil fait vraiment tout ce qu'il prétend faire et si son utilisation fait du sens dans le développement d'applications en entreprise.  En deuxième partie, Martin Lapierre vous expliquera comment utiliser SubSonic dans des applications Windows et comment adapter le code.  Il est à noter que Martin fait partie de l'équipe de développement de SubSonic.

19 mars 2007 Monday, March 19, 2007 at 6:15 PM Conférencier: Mario Cardinal, MVP Software Architecture Sujet: Les exigences d’architecture des applications d’entreprise Lors de cette présentation nous allons discuter des fameuses exigences de construction et d’opération que doivent circonscrire les architectes logiciels. Ces exigences exprime les contraintes techniques que rencontre les développeurs et les opérateurs lors de la construction et l’exploitation d’une application logicielle. Le but de cette présentation consiste à démontrer que la façon la plus efficace d’exprimer ces exigences d’architecture ne consiste pas à rédiger un cahier de charge mais plutôt à rédiger des jeux de tests. Depuis les cinq dernières années la communauté Agile a démontré avec succès que l’automatisation des tests permet de construire du logiciel de meilleure qualité et ce plus rapidement. Un logiciel de qualité ne doit pas seulement satisfaire les besoins des utilisateurs mais aussi les besoins des développeurs et des opérateurs. Les tests permettent de décrire ces 3 catégories d’exigences avec succès : 1. Exigences du code : Tests unitaires 2. Exigences des utilisateurs : Tests fonctionnels et d’acceptation des clients 3. Exigences des développeurs et des opérateurs : Tests d’intégration et d’infrastructure (contraintes de développement et d’opération)

5 mars 2007 Monday, March 05, 2007 at 6:15 PM Conférencier: Rod Paddock, CoDe Magazine Editor, Seattle USA Sujet: à venir Rod is president and founder of Dash Point Software, Inc. DPSI is an award winning software company based in Seattle, WA, specializing in application development and software training. Dash Point specializes in Visual Studio .NET, VB 6, Visual FoxPro, and SQL Server development. Dash Point Software was the winner of the 1999 Visual FoxPro Excellence Award and a finalist in 1998. Dash Point was also a finalist in 1996 at Windows World Open. Rod has been a very popular speaker at a wide variety of developer conferences in North America and Europe since 1995. His most recent speaking appearance was at the XML Connections conference in October 2002. Rod is the editor for CoDe Magazine and his writing credits include articles for database publications such as Data Based Advisor, FoxTalk and Dbase Advisor. He has also authored a number of books including Visual Basic 5 for Web Development, Visual Basic 6 for Web Development, and Visual FoxPro 6.0 Enterprise Development. Rod is also the V.P. of Technology for Red Matrix Technologies and the architectural visionary behind the DataClas middle-tier component and SQLAudit product lines.

26 février 2007 Monday, February 26, 2007 at 6:15 PM Conférencier: James Lapalme, Architecte de systèmes et de solutions pour CGI – Pratique Microsoft .NET Sujet: Le développement de logiciel orienté «Software Factory» avec Enterprise Library 2.0, CodeSmith et .NetTier Afin d’être compétitif, les gens d’affaires s’attendent à des systèmes informatiques de complexité et de capacité croissante avec chaque nouvelle génération. De plus, ils demandent que chaque génération soit livrée dans un délai équivalent ou inférieur à la précédente. Pour concilier les besoins conflictuels des gens d’affaires, la communauté de génie logiciel a proposé une approche nommée « Software Factory » afin de réduire les efforts de développement requis. Le paradigme de « Software Factory » est basé sur l’implémentation de systèmes informatiques non par codage bout-à-bout mais par assemblage réalisée avec l’utilisation de: • Composante logiciel réutilisable; • Outils de génération de code; • Patrons et pratiques de génie logiciel. Au programme : • Enterprise Library 2.0 • Des orientations d’utilisation d’EntLib 2.0 • La génération de couches d’accès de données avec CodeSmith, .NetTier et EntLib 2.0 • L’autorisation avec AzMan et EntLib 2.0 • Le développement d’“application blocks” personnalisés pour EntLib 2.0 (ServiceAgent) • Enterprise Library 3.0 (survol) • Web Service Software Factory (survol et comparaison)

12 février 2007 Monday, February 12, 2007 at 6:15 PM Conférencier: Adam Machanic, MVP SQL Server, Boston USA Sujet: Designing Highly Concurrent SQL Server Database Applications Note: Cette présentation sera en anglais Our jobs as developers would be so much easier if we didn't have to worry about any users using the software we created—it's amazing how well an application can scale with zero concurrent users. But fortunately for our careers (and unfortunately for our stress levels), we often have to deal with the opposite problem: Lots of users, all trying to manipulate the same data at the same time. In this session we will start with a discussion of the various types of concurrency issues you might encounter in different scenarios, and then move on to an analysis of techniques for solving the problems that concurrency brings to the table. We will look at both the tools SQL Server provides natively (such as isolation level settings), as well as database and application design strategies that can help to maximize the user experience in highly concurrent applications. Adam Machanic is an independent database software consultant, writer,and speaker based in Boston, Massachusetts. He has implemented SQLServer solutions for a variety of high-availability OLTP andlarge-scale data warehouse applications, and also specializes in .NETdata access layer performance optimization. Machanic has written forSQL Server Professional magazine, serves as SQL Server 2005 Expert forSearchSQLServer.com, and is co-author of "Pro SQL Server 2005". Inaddition, he regularly speaks at user groups, community events, andconferences on a variety of SQL Server and .N

30 janvier 2007 Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 6:15 PM ATTENTION, C'EST UN MARDI! Conférencier: Eric De Carufel, Développeur Senior .NET chez Investissement PSP Sujet: Comment ne pas se faire avoir avec la concurence? Non la concurrence dont il est question ici n'a rien à voir avec la mondialisation des marchés. On parle ici de comment gérer la concurrence dans notre petit monde de l'informatique. Il ne faut pas se leurrer. Bien qu'abondantes, les ressource ont toujours été limitées. Les vitesses de processeur atteindront bientôt un plateau. Comment, dans ces conditions, améliorer d'avantage les performances de nos applications. Les constructeurs ont trouvé la solution: ajouter des processeurs. Mais comment ces processeurs vont-il utiliser les ressources limitées à leur disposition sans se piler sur les pieds. C'est entre autre ce que je tenterai de vous expliquer. Dans le cadre de cette session, Monsieur Eric De Carufel, viendra vous présenter les avantages et les inconvénients de l'utilisation concurrente des ressources dans le processus de développement d'applications d'entreprise.

More info @ www.guvsm.net

Conférencier: Nicole Calinoiu, MVP Sécurité
Sujet: FxCop
Présentation en français

FxCop est un outil offert gratuitement par Microsoft qui permet d'analyser de code afin qu'il soit conforme aux normes de design du framework .NET.  Il est même déjà intégré dans Visual Studio 2005 Team Developer.  Par contre, son utilisation peut s'avérer difficile à cause des nombreuses règles qu'il applique.  Lors de cette présentation, Nicole Calinoiu, MVP Sécurité, vous introduira à FxCop et à son utilisation.  Voyez comment vous pouvez développer des applications plus robustes et plus stables avec FxCop.

1. Introduction to the API design guidelines and static analysis
2. Mechanics of using FxCop
   1. How to use the tools (stand-alone GUI, integrated VStudio analysis, and command-line executable)
   2. Choosing between stand-alone and VStudio-integrated versions
   3. Custom dictionary use
   4. FxCop in automated builds and continuous integration
   5. Managing rule violation exclusions
   6. Creating custom rules
3. Processes and practices
   1. Making sense of the rules
   2. Using FxCop for new projects
   3. Introducing FxCop screening for an older project with a large pre-existing code base

Nicole Calinoiu travaille comme architecte-développeur sénior chez FinRad (http://www.finrad.com/), un fournisseur indépendant de logiciels financiers situé à Montréal. Elle possède plus dix années d’expérience en conception et développement d'applications « data driven », incluant plus de cinq années d’expérience avec les applications web ouverts au grand public. Elle est MVP Microsoft (www.microsoft.com/mvp) pour la sécurité en développement.

Steve Mathieu: Les rôles et les aspects humains dans une équipe de conception de logiciel

Pour cette première émission de l'année 2007, nous revenons à la formule habituelle. Nous discutons avec Steve Mathieu des différents roles qu'on retrouve auu sein d'une équipe de conception de logiciel. Entre autres, nous cherchons à identifier en quoi une équipe "web" est si différente d'une équipe qui développe des applications natives "windows".

Télécharger l'émission

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Strange that Microsoft does not include Expression Web in MSDN Subscriptions but promote it on the MSDN site as the first item on the home page.

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/ces/materials.mspx

SuperSite Preview: http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview.asp

Computers and digital media have become central to family life. The multitude of digital cameras, digital video recorders and entertainment devices available today enables all members of a household to create and store a massive amount of digital information. According to internal research from Microsoft Corp., in 2005, of the more than 106 million households estimated to be in the United States:

·         Thirty-five million households (33 percent) used a broadband Internet connection.¹

·         Thirty-four million households (32 percent) had more then one PC in their home.¹

·         Nineteen million households (18 percent) were using a LAN connection.¹

In addition, the use of digital cameras has steadily increased:

·         In 2005, 182 billion digital photos were taken, which equates to 346,000 taken every minute.¹

·         The volume of digital photos is expected to grow to almost a half trillion by 2009 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 percent. Of the digital photos taken, roughly a third are shared with others.²

·         More than 70 percent of digital camera owners in the U.S. store their photos on their PC and on average have accumulated more than 1,200 photos on their computers.³

However, families often have little means of protecting that precious digital information. In the event of hard drive failure or other unforeseen problems, their digital information is effectively lost. Also, it’s difficult for consumers to easily access and share that information with people in their own household, let alone with extended family or friends outside their home.

Delivered on hardware from some of Microsoft’s leading partners, Microsoft^® Windows^® Home Server will empower consumers with the ability to connect home PCs, digital devices and printers in the home. Windows Home Server is designed to enable families with multiple PCs to easily store information in a central place, access and share that information with others, and automatically back up and help protect treasured images, music, personal documents and videos. Later this year, HP will deliver the HP MediaSmart Server, powered by Windows Home Server software.

Working with HP and other partners, Microsoft is creating a new consumer product category with Windows Home Server. This new solution offers unprecedented simplicity and ease of use for integrated backup, storage and remote access. Further, as a software platform, Windows Home Server offers independent software vendors great opportunities to build innovative products for the digital home.

Windows Home Server allows users to accomplish the following:

·         Create centralized storage of photos, music, home videos and documents

·         Automatically back up multiple personal computers in the home and completely restore a PC or “rewind” to a time when a PC was working well

·         Remotely access Windows Home Server using a personalized⁴ Windows Live™ Internet address to upload and download files and to use home PCs and applications

·         Use Xbox 360™ or other Windows Media^® Connect-supported devices to enjoy digital media stored on Windows Home Server

·         Centrally monitor the health of their Windows Vista™-based PCs to proactively identify and resolve problems

·         Easily expand storage by adding additional internal or external hard drives of any size

·         Print from any connected PC in the home

The HP MediaSmart Server, powered by Windows Home Server and scheduled for retail availability in fall 2007, offers the following:

·         1.8 GHz, 64-bit AMD Sempron processor

·         Four 750GB hard drive bays and four USB ports for a maximum total supported capacity of all internal and external drives connected to HP MediaSmart Server of 6 TB

·         Microsoft Windows Media Connect media stream capability for streaming photos, music and videos to a networked home entertainment center

·         An easy way to share photos with select friends and family members directly from the HP MediaSmart Server, accessed using a secure personal Web address and linked to Snapfish for easy photo printing

·         Up to 10 user accounts that can access the HP MediaSmart Server, and a predefined guest account that can be enabled for guests who want to use the file- or print-sharing capabilities of the HP MediaSmart Server

I’ve been tagged!

For those who don’t know, there’s a little game going on in the blogger’s community right now.  If someone tag you, you must tell 5 thing about yourself that most people don’t know.  I’ve been tagged by Étienne Tremblay so here it is...

1-I never broke a bone. Niet, nada, never, jamais.  I’m touching wood right now 
2-I programmed the music that you hear on my podcast: www.visualstudiotalkshow.com
3-I started drinking coffee at the age of 45.
4-I like a good LBV Port.
5-I never smoked.

So I'll tag Georgie Boy, Kimmy, Ronny and Donald.

Foundations of WF: an Introduction to Windows Workflow Foundation

Author: Brian Myers
Publisher: APress
ISBN: 1590597184
Retail Price: $34.99 US, (eBook $17.50 US)
Publication Date: October 2006
Softcover: 264 pages
Online information: Table of Contents, Sample chapter, Source code
URL: http://www.apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=10172

In my quest to find a Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) book that would serve as an introduction for typical developer, I found “Foundations of WF: an Introduction to Windows Workflow Foundation” published at APress. Like its title imply, this is an introduction to WF targeted at C# or VB developers wanting to learn how to develop applications using WF and its designers. The reader will learn what is a workflow, the difference between sequential and state machine workflows, the various activities available out of the box, how to create a custom activity, how to expose a workflow as a Web service, and even a little peek at workflows in Office 2007.

Sounds good? Of course however I should point out a few problems with this book. I’ve been doing book reviews for a few years now and I must say that this book is probably the worst written book that I’ve reviewed so far. It’s that bad. Throughout the book, you’ll find step-by-step examples however the steps are written in paragraphs instead of bullets making hard to follow them. The author provides code examples in C# and VB however, instead of grouping the examples together, he repeats the same section with the same comments for both languages. On top of that you’ll find useful sentences like this one throughout the book: “Although the language is different, this class uses the same namespaces and classes as the VB .NET code did”.

I can’t believe that APress published this book in this state. Not that the content is wrong, just that it looks like a first draft and rushed to press. So be warned!

Essential Windows Workflow Foundation

Authors: Dharma Shukla, Bob Schmidt
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
ISBN: 0321399838
Retail Price: $49.99 US, $61.99 CDN
Publication Date: October 2006
Softcover: 449 pages
Online information: Table of Contents, Sample chapter
URL: http://www.awprofessional.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0321399838&rl=1

I was very excited when I saw that Addison-Wesley would publish a Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) book written by two WF lead architects. Although the first attempt at writing a WF book by the WF team was a failure (see my March 2006 review of “Presenting Windows Workflow Foundation Beta Edition”), the title of this new book looked promising: Essential Windows Workflow Foundation.

For those who don’t know what WF is: Microsoft is giving away a free workflow engine that is part ot the .NET Framework 3.0. This is a bold move from Microsoft since 3rd party workflow engines usually cost around $50,000.

Essential Windows Workflow Foundation is a book targeted at experienced WF developers. Beginners should stay away from this book since it doesn’t teach any of the fundamental steps needed to learn WF. You should have developed at least one WF project before attempting learning anything from this book. Why? Because the authors go under-the-hood with code only examples. Yep, although one of the biggest benefits of workflows is the graphic representation of the business logic, you won’t find how to develop workflows using the designer with this book. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not saying that it is a bad thing; I’m saying that it is an advanced book and that maybe its title should be Advanced Windows Workflow Foundation instead of Essential. This book will prove invaluable for any WF developer wanting to go deeper with this technology.

The Xbox wireless headset came out recently and I tought I would give it a try.  The first thing you have to do is associate the headset with a wireless controller.  Well after 30 minutes, I just couldn't make them work together.  Basically, the controller would occupy slot #1 on the 360 ring of light and the headset would occupy slot #2.  I scanned the forums on Xbox.com and found that many many people had the same problem.  Some of them went and bought new wireless controllers and they were able to make them work with the headset.  Not very happy with this solution, I went and bought a new wireless controller and bingo, I was able to associate the headset with the controller.  So I fired up Gears of Wars to test the headset.  At first, I tought I was playing with total jerks because no one were answering or talking to me so I plugged back my wired headset and things were back to normal.   So I went back to the Xbox.com forums to find out that many people had the same problem: the output of the wireless headset is so low in some games that no one can hear you!

DOT NOT BUY THIS PIECE OF CRAP!

.NET Internationalization: The Developer's Guide to Building Global Windows and Web Applications

Author: Guy Smith-Ferrier
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
ISBN: 0321341384
Retail Price: $49.99 US, $61.99 CDN
Publication Date: August 2006
Softcover: 639 pages
Online information: Table of Contents, Sample chapter, Source Code, Errata, Updates
URL: http://www.awprofessional.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0321341384&rl=1
Author's Website: http://www.dotneti18n.com/

If you never built a multilingual application, you’re in for quite a surprise because it’s not as easy as it’s sound. Building this type of software has always been a challenge but thanks for the .NET Framework, it’s easier then ever. Still, there’s much too learn. “.NET Internationalization: The Developer's Guide to Building Global Windows and Web Applications” is a book targeted at developers that want to globalize their applications. The author is specialized in globalization and it shows. His book covers everything you want to know about the subject and then more. Techniques for the .NET Framework 1.1 and 2.0 are explained in details with code examples in C#.

In the first chapters, Smith-Ferrier explains the concepts behind developing multilingual applications then goes into specifics for Windows Forms and ASP.NET. He then discusses the challenges of Middle East and East Asian cultures and also machine translation. In the last chapters, the author goes deeper and you’ll learn about creating your own cultures and building your own resource managers.

Smith-Ferrier is a very generous author; he provided the source code (available for download) for some very cool helper apps he built. The writing style is also one of the best I’ve seen in a while for a technical book.

Basically, if you’re interested in internationalization, globalization and localization on the .NET platform, this is your Bible, period. High praises for “.NET Internationalization: The Developer's Guide to Building Global Windows and Web Applications”.

Registration for Mix07 is now open...

This event is geared toward Web developers, designers, online advertising professionals and includes a broad set of partners and customers. Building on last year’s inaugural event, MIX will continue to explore how to build more interactive and responsive experiences that take full advantage of the capabilities of the Web. This is a great opportunity to dive deeper into Microsoft’s Web technology offerings and discover new ways to create more dynamic customer connections.

Take user experience to the next level and attend MIX07 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, April 30^th to May 2^nd.  More information about the event can be found at the official MIX site at www.visitmix.com. 

28 sessions for $1,000 + 3-4 hotel nights @ $259 + flight + cab/shuttle....hummmm, last year they made the sessions available for streaming after the event

Virtual PC 2007 Release Candidate is now available on Microsoft Connect.  Many people had problems with previous versions on Vista with laptops with the Intel 915 chipset.  Hope this solves the problem.

https://connect.microsoft.com/Downloads/Downloads.aspx?SiteID=288

A new version of DNN was released a couple of days ago.  The .NET Expertise site is now powered by this new version:
www.dotnet-expertise.com

From what I read, the core team focused on improving general performance.  More info here:
www.dotnetnuke.com

Enterprise Library 3.0 - December 2006 CTP is now available to download from its brand new home on CodePlex:
http://www.codeplex.com/entlib

More info from Tom Hollander:
http://blogs.msdn.com/tomholl/archive/2006/12/22/just-released-enterprise-library-3-0-december-2006-ctp.aspx

If you want to download and install Visual Studio Team for Database Pro, you'll find a large (3.2GB) and a small (20MB) download on MSDN.  If you have Team Suite, all you have to download is the smaller version even if it says "trial" version.

A couple of good friends of mine are now brand new ASP/ASP.NET MVPs:

Derek Hatchard, an RD based in Eastern Canada.
Laurent Duveau, a software developer based in Montreal (formerly from Toulouse, France).

Congrats guys!!!

I went to see Mozart's The Magic Flute by the Metropolitan Opera but I didn't had to travel to NY to see it live.  I just went to a local theater where the opera was presented live from an HD satellite feed.  The sound and the image quality were very good.  Of course, the image quality of a live TV feed even in HD will never be as precise as a film but none the less, it was very acceptable and you can't beat the price: $20 instead of a fee hundreds 

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events.aspx

The Magic Flute, December 30, 2006
Celebrated director and filmmaker Julie Taymor, who directed The Lion King on Broadway, brings her dynamic theatrical vision to Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Dancing bears, flying birds, a giant serpent—all are brought vividly to life through Taymor’s ingenious use of puppetry. This abridged 100-minute version of Mozart’s opera is sung in English and features a winning young cast conducted by beloved Met Maestro James Levine.

I Puritani, January 6, 2007
The sensational Russian soprano Anna Netrebko (“Audrey Hepburn with a voice,” according to one critic) has taken the opera world by storm, dazzling audiences in Vienna, Milan, Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles. Now she inhabits the role of the fragile Elvira in Bellini’s I Puritani, who delivers one of opera’s wildest mad scenes when she is abandoned at the altar. With its vocal fireworks and opportunities for real acting, this has been a supreme role for great singing actresses from Maria Callas to Beverly Sills.

The First Emperor, January 13, 2007
The world-premiere broadcast of Chinese composer Tan Dun’s epic opera, The First Emperor, features the legendary tenor Plácido Domingo as Emperor Qin, who built the Great Wall and gave China its name. Tan Dun’s music is a fascinating mix of East and West, and the monumental production is staged by revered Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern and House of Flying Daggers), with costumes by Oscar-winning designer Emi Wada (Kurosawa’s Ran).

Eugene Onegin, February 24, 2007
The beloved American soprano Renée Fleming joins Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky for this broadcast of Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous and lyrical Eugene Onegin. The sweeping dramatic arc of this opera—youthful longing, rejection, regret, a desperate plea that comes too late—is perfectly mirrored in Tchaikovsky’s achingly beautiful music and in the stunning lighting of this strikingly minimal production.

The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), March 24, 2007
The instantly familiar music of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) has been featured in cartoons, commercials, and TV shows galore, but it’s best heard in its original form, where its infectious charm and bubbling joy are given free reign. In the Met’s new production, by acclaimed theater director Bartlett Sher and his Tony Award-winning team from The Light in the Piazza, the dashing young Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez proves why he is one of the world’s greatest Rossini singers, in his calling-card role of Count Almaviva.

Il Trittico, April 28, 2007
Jealousy, murder, suicide, religious rapture, intrigue, young love! No, it isn’t a soap opera— it’s Puccini’s triple-bill of one-act operas, Il Trittico. This gripping new production by Broadway luminary (and Tony Award-winner) Jack O’Brien and a team of leading theater designers showcases the amazing technical resources of the Met stage as well as a brilliant ensemble cast, not to mention Puccini at his most hauntingly lyrical and dramatic. The Met’s celebrated music director, James Levine, conducts.

Panel DevTeach: Les techniques d'accès aux données

Pour cette dernière émission avant la période des fêtes on vous offre un cadeau de noël. Lors de la conférence DevTeach 2006 en mai dernier, nous avons fait une captation sonore du panel qui a eu lieu sur les techniques d’accès aux données. Voici la liste des experts qui participe au panel.

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Scott Bellware: Test Driven Development (TDD)

Nous discutons avec Scott Bellware du Test Driven Development (TDD) ou en Français du développement piloté par les tests. Une méthode de développement de logiciel qui préconise d'écrire les tests avant d'écrire le code source d'un logiciel. En écrivant les tests d'abord, on utilise le programme avant même qu'il existe. Il est donc impératif d'avoir une vision précise de la manière dont on va utiliser le programme avant même d'envisager son implémentation. Cela évite souvent des erreurs de conception dues à une précipitation dans l'implémentation avant d'avoir défini les objectifs. De plus, le fait d'avoir des tests augmente la confiance en soi du programmeur lors de la refactorisation du code: il sait qu'à un moment donné les tests ont réussi. Il peut ainsi se permettre des changements radicaux de design en étant sûr, à la fin, d'avoir un programme se comportant toujours de la même façon (si les tests réussissent toujours).

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I got the Xbox 360 HD-DVD player for Christmas.  I watched a couple of HD movies and yes, the image quality is a lot better then standard DVD however, I can't say that the difference is astonishing.  The real difference is in the details.  This is maybe because I have a tube TV instead of an LCD one; don't know.  The biggest difference is watching regular TV after watching an HD movie.  Yark!  I have Videotron standard digital cable and the quality is so bad because they over compress the signal.

The price is right ($200 + King Kong for a limited time) if you already have a 360.  One drawback I found so far is the fact that the 360 is a noisy beast compared to a standard player.  I don't know if the regular HD players are noisy (or even the PS3) so I can't compare.  The other one is that the studios assume that we all have a 50"+ TV because sometimes, it's hard to read the menus (Superman Returns) on my 32" TV, the fonts being so tiny.

http://www.xbox.com/en-CA/Hardware/x/xbox360hddvdplayer/default.htm

Here's the Team Xbox review:
http://hardware.teamxbox.com/reviews/xbox-360/68/Xbox-360-HD-DVD-Player/p1/

Hi-Def Digest provides info and reviews on HD movies:
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/

VMware Workstation 6 Beta is now available for download.  These features look promising:

http://www.vmware.com/products/beta/ws/