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.

Télécharger l'émission

Si vous désirez un accès direct au fichier audio en format MP3 ou Windows Media (WMA), nous vous invitons à télécharger le fichier en utilisant un des boutons ci-dessous.

Si vous désirez utiliser le feed RSS pour télécharger l'émission, nous vous invitons à vous abonnez en utilisant le bouton ci-dessous.

Si vous désirez utiliser le répertoire iTunes Podcast pour télécharger l'émission, nous vous encourageons à vous abonnez en utilisant le bouton ci-dessous.

http://www.guvsm.net/

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