DonS.CF

Speaking Of Windows Mobile Presentation Downloads...

My Presentations From Enterprise Mobility Mini Code Camp Now Available

First off - thanks to everyone who attended this past Saturday's Enterprise Mobility Mini Code Camp in Waltham, MA. It was great to have such a strong turnout and a great interactive crowd. I loved the questions both during and after the event; it really makes me believe in the genuine interest the community continues to generate in Windows Mobile / .NET Compact Framework solutions. I would be terribly remiss if an additional HUGE THANKS did not go out to Thom Robbins, who continues to lead the way in making these community events a reality, and the New England .NET Developer Community as strong as any other out there.

My PowerPoint slides from my 3 presentations for the day are now available for download from the BostonPocketPC.com web site -

Windows Mobile User Interface Design

Windows Mobile Data Access and Movement

Developing Mobile Web Applications

Mobile Phone Web Scammers - You Gotta Love 'Em

The plethora of unlocked cellular phones that are available for direct consumer purchase has made for a nice new "cottage industry" - the mobile phone Internet scam. In the <extreme sarcasm>"Wow! What a surprise!"</extreme sarcasm> category, most of these scams come from - drumroll please - Nigeria (home of the "Hello, I am <insert unpronounceable name>, the head of the <insert ficticious organization or company>. My <insert relative or work relationship> has..." e-mail). In this scam, phones are offered at ridiculously low prices, usually using a Yahoo, Hotmail or GMail accout for contacting. So why, you may ask, am I bringing this up. Well,...

Usually, my days begin by going to the BostonPocketPC.com web site for a quick "check in". Lately, these quick checks have taken a bit longer. You see, I start by looking at our latest forums postings, muttering some obscenity, then deleting a bunch of these mobile phone scam postings. NOTE - IP banning is relatively worthless; a new IP comes back for the next round. Then, I look at news submissions (our web site allows for the posting of news from the community; fortunately, the posts are queued first for editorial approval). Again, mutter some obscenities, then begin deleting news posts. Actually, I find it quite humorous to think that some idiot in a faraway land thinks "Hey! I'll post this scam advertisement IN ALL CAPS and referencing the same old Yahoo e-mail account to Don's news queue 10-12 times in a row. He'll never catch on!"

So, the following is my advice -

1. Do not buy an unlocked cell phone from just anyone. There are a number of reputable (and legitimate) sites on the Internet to go to;
2. If buying from eBay, give "due diligence" to research to avoid these folks;
3. If you are uncertain about a seller, don't take any chances; err to the side of caution.

In conclusion, to all you mobile phone scammers who persist in annoying me daily at BostonPocketPC.com, I leave you with the following quote from the immortal philosopher Mr. Garrison of South Park fame...

"YOU GO TO HELL! YOU GO TO HELL AND YOU DIE!" :-D

OpenNETCF Smart Device Framework 2.0, Beta 1 Now Available

As always, the OpenNETCF Project delivers for .NET Compact Framework developers! -

We're pleased to announce the availability of the Smart Device Framework (SDF) 2.0 Beta.

SDF 2.0 is a continuation of our version 1.4 efforts to improve the development experience for Smart Device developers using the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework.  SDF 2.0 has a significant number of changes, improvements and enhancement over the previous versions.  Details of those will be out soon.  In the interim, we invite you to browse the new library's object model.

Currently we have the Beta1 redistibutables available for download.

You can read more and download the SDF 2.0 and 1.1 at the OpenNETCF web site.

Thinking "Mobility Geek Dinner"... Hmmmm...

With all of talk around "geek dinners", I started to think it might be fun to have a casual gathering for all the mobility-oriented geeks, just for a change of pace. Don't get me wrong - I love the general geek dinner. In the Boston area, though, I think you have to rent out a whole restaurant (if not an arena) to accommidate all of the participants ;-)

So, what do you folks in the Greater Boston area think - time to convene a Mobility Geek Dinner? If I hear enough positive feedback, I'll get the ball rolling.

Club Pocket PC - Boston Meeting Wednesday, Feb. 15th

While not a developer topic this month, I thought this might be of interest to those Windows Mobile device owners who want to flex their "device multimedia muscles" a bit more... ;-)

The next Club Pocket PC - Boston meeting will be held Wednesday, February 15th starting at 6:30 PM at the Microsoft offices in Waltham, MA (201 Jones Road, 6th Floor).

The theme for this next meeting is Multimedia Madness! If you've wondered about all of the ways that you can use your Windows Mobile device for multimedia functionality, then this is the meeting to attend. Steve Hughes and I will cover the array of Windows Mobile possibilities for video and audio o­n Windows Mobile Smartphones, Pocket PCs and Pocket PC Phone Edition devices, including:

- Built-in functionality with Windows Media Player Mobile;
- Integration with Windows Media Player 10 o­n the desktop;
- Third-party utilities for video and audio playback and conversion;
- Windows Media Center integration features (note: we will be demoing MCE 2005 as well, so if you're wondering what MCE is all about, this is another reason to attend).

As usual, we'll also have items for giveaway!

Hope to see you there!

New England SharePoint User Group Meeting February 28th

As some of you know, I began work with a new company shortly after the first of the year. One of the many Microsoft technologies my company is involved with is SharePoint (both Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint Portal Server). We are also proud to run the New England SharePoint User Group. For those involved with projects surrounding collaborative solutions, this user group is a wonderful resource of information. The next meeting may be of additional interest to those who are interested in presence-awareness and corporate IM -

Topic: Presence Enabling SharePoint with Microsoft Live Communication Server

Please join us at the New England SharePoint User Group meeting o­n Tuesday, February 28, 2006.

5:45 - 6:00 Registration

6:00 - 7:15 Presence Enabling SharePoint with Microsoft Live Communication Server with Chris Chalmers, Microsoft Technology specialist, Real-Time Collaboration

A powerful feature of SharePoint is the ability to see the o­nline/offline “presence” of any user whenever their name appears, and to use a o­ne-click menu displaying all available communication options for that user, including sending email, sending instant messages, and looking up calendar free/busy data and telephone numbers. Enabling “presence” within SharePoint increases collaboration, decreases lag time in communications, and multiplies the value of SharePoint. Presence is managed and controlled by a separate Microsoft product called Live Communications Server.

Chris Chalmers will demonstrate presence-enabled SharePoint sites, explain Microsoft’s vision for presence, and detail how to deploy a Live Communications Server and presence-enable a SharePoint site. Chris Chalmers is a technology specialist in the Real-Time Collaboration group, based in the Northeast District. His entire tenure at Microsoft has been within the RTC group. Prior to Microsoft, Chris held various technical positions at e-Learning and CRM application companies. He is a contributor to the microsoft.public.livemeeting forums, and a Microsoft Certified Professional.

7:15 - 7:30 Q&A

Where Microsoft Corporation - 201 Jones Road (6th floor), Waltham, MA 02451
The meeting is free, but space is limited. To register, please email NERSUG@starit.com.