September 2004 - Posts
My friend Joe Stegman has a few videos on Channel 9 that he made with Robert Scoble. In one he demonstrates the power of the Windows Forms designer in Visual Studio 2005, which allows you to create professional looking applications with relative ease. The new designer lets you spend your time adding value to your application in the "business" layer rather than spending all your time creating the UI.
Take a look...
Eric Lippert is going to present at the Visual Basic meeting of the .NET Developers Association in Redmond on Monday (9/27). Main topic: security policy in Visual Studio Tools for Office.
See you there...
.NETDA Meeting
Many talks on the .NET Security system focus on the correct use of permission objects. Though writing correct permission demands, asserts and denys to implement secure libraries is undoubtedly important, the role of the policy system in all this is often underemphasized. In this talk we'll take a closer look at how the policy system works at both a theoretical and practical level. To keep it real, we'll have a look at some of the policy code implemented by the Visual Studio Tools for Office team to mitigate security problems inherent in customizable applications such as Word and Excel.
Yes, it's this week! I can't wait. Read more over at http://nerddinner.com/blogs/portland.
I'm going to be heading to San Jose on September 21 for a team meeting / planning session with my teammates from across the west region.
So on that Tuesday evening (9/21), Ian and I are going to meet at some eating establishment (hopefully a mall food court) for a Nerd Dinner, San Jose style.
What: San Jose Nerd Dinner
When: Tuesday, September 21, starting around 6:30pm or so
Where: Tied House (http://www.tiedhouse.com/locations/san_jose.html)
Why: Because even rich nerds in San Jose have to eat sometime
Be there and be cool.
A few months ago I started a Wiki called "Northwest Evening Blend." I wanted to start a community place where developers in the Northwest could get together virtually and have an open dialog and share information. But it didn't really take off.
Stuart has spent a lot of time updating the site and adding content. He even started a Portland Nerd Drinks page to encourage people to use the Wiki. But there's still little day-to-day traffic.
Why? Here are a few of the reasons why I think it hasn't taken off.
- Wikis are different and take some getting used to.
- There's not enough critical mass to sustain it.
- The Wiki lacks good RSS support.
- A Wiki isn't that great for a 2-way conversation.
- There are so many other good developer-related web sites.
- It's not really a site even though it has its own domain name - it's just a Wiki hanging off SnowstormLife.com.
I have more, but that's enough...
Ah well, the web site is still around. Perhaps I'll morph it into something different over time...
Comments anyone?
Have you heard "100 Years" by Five for Fighting? Excellent song. I love that song. It's my favorite song in the whole world (right now, anyway). The entire album is full of good songs, too.
I'm listening to streaming music from MSN Radio Plus using Windows Media Player 10. It's cheaper than XM radio and doesn't require a special receiver. : )
If you haven't made the move to .NET yet, and are still curious as to what it's all about, here's your chance to find out. There's a ton of webcasts (over 25!) available about VB.NET. Take a look...
Why to move to Visual Basic .NET?
Best Practices for Upgrading VB 6.0 Projects to VB.NET
Visual Basic Series Part 1-Moving to Visual Basic.NET
Visual Basic Series Part 2-Upgrading Windows Forms Applications to Visual Basic.NET
Visual Basic Series Part 3-Moving your Architecture to .NET
Visual Basic Series Part 4-Deploying Windows Forms Applications using Visual Basic.NET
Understanding the New Architecture of Visual Basic .NET Applications (1st in a series of 6)
Understanding the New Architecture of Visual Basic .NET Applications (2nd in a series of 6)
Understanding the New Architecture of Visual Basic .NET Applications (3rd in a series of 6)
Understanding the New Architecture of Visual Basic .NET Applications (4th in a series of 6)
Understanding the New Architecture of Visual Basic .NET Applications (5th in a series of 6)
Understanding the New Architecture of Visual Basic .NET Applications (6th in a series of 6)
Modern Software Development - 15 part series on developing with Visual Basic .NET
Find out more at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/se/.
Wow! This is an amazing offer! I just found out about this through Jay Roxe, Product Manager on the VB.NET team. If you don't have an MSDN license, this is the next best thing. There's a host of tools eligible for upgrade pricing (both MS and competitive)...
Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 Special Edition is Here
For a limited time, developers can upgrade to the NEW Special Edition for only US $549! The addition of Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2000 make this an ideal Web application development platform. For a full list of the tools eligible for upgrade pricing click here.
Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 Special Edition enables developers to quickly create data-driven Web applications using familiar Visual Basic techniques and dozens of reusable, browser-independent Web controls. Web applications built using Visual Studio .NET and ASP.NET benefit from improved performance, reliability, security, and scalability.
Austin Powers would be so jealous...
Top Secret - Microsoft Across America RV
I mentioned in an earlier blog entry that I'm up here at the MSDN Event outside of Worcester, MA. What I didn't tell you is that this event is the pilot launch of of our Microsoft Across America mobile event experience truck. This is an awesome vehicle that we'll be bringing around to select cities where our events (MSDN, Technet, Connections and TS2) are held. On these trucks, folks can get hands-on experience with Microsoft products and technologies, and partners can meet with potential customers.
Hey, Portland Nerds, get ready for the .NET Mobility Roadshow, coming to the Oregon Convention Center on November 8. It's a free three-hour workshop packed with information. Be sure to register today!
.NET To Go Mobility Roadshow
Have you been thinking about taking your code mobile? Did you know you can develop and implement mobile solutions with the development tools that you already know?
The .NET To Go Mobility Roadshow will provide you with the answers to your mobile development questions. Digging into the details, using more code and fewer slides, these technical sessions will show you how to develop and implement mobile solutions using the .NET Compact Framework and languages you are already familiar with.
Good information from my buddy James...
So you're a small ISV or you have a great idea
I get asked this question a lot. Is there a program out there for an entry level partner in the Microsoft ecosystem? The answer is: Yes.
The program is called Empower. I can't say enough good about the program. It was created 2 years ago to target several differing ISV segments, from the casual developer with a shareware product right up to the ISV with a small budget but very big ideas.
If so, you need to go listen to Rory on Tuesday (9/14) in Olympia, or on Thursday (9/16) in Redmond. The main theme for the MSDN event is about developer productivity. He has a number of cool things to show you.
Register today if you haven't already.
Be there and be enlightened.
Hey, cool!
Columbus, Ohio, has started posting on NerdDinner.com. If you live in Central Ohio you may want to take a look.
Columbus Nerd Dinner
Hi there and welcome to the home for Columbus Nerd Dinners. The first one was held a couple weeks ago and there will likely be one dinner held each month. Subscribe to this feed to keep tabs on the nerd dinner occurrences in Columbus.
Greg provides info about opening files in their respective programs, not in IE...
First, Office documents...
Open Office files in their respective programs, not in IE
To configure Internet Explorer to open Office files in the appropriate Office program by using the Folder Options tool:
- Open My Computer.
- On the Tools menu (or the View menu), click Folder Options (or click Options).
- Click the File Types tab.
- In the Registered file types list, click the specific Office document type (for example, Microsoft Excel Worksheet), and then click Advanced (or click Edit).
- In the Edit File Type dialog box, click to clear the Browse in same window check box (or click to clear the Open Web documents in place check box).
- Click OK.
Second, PDF files...
How to open PDF files in Acrobat Reader, not Internet Explorer
The dialog where you make those changes is not exactly where you'd expect to find it. You'd think the Tools menu would be the place to find the options, but it's not there. Yay Adobe. Instead, it's hidden in the bottom of the Edit menu. Click on Edit>Preferences, then click on the Internet section header:
Uncheck the Display PDF in browser option and save. That's it! When you click on a PDF file from there on out, it will download and open in Adobe Acrobat or Reader.
Thanks for the pointers, Greg!
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