Rob Windsor's Weblog

Free Visual Studio and SQL Server at the Launch Events

I guess this is the, “Wait, there's more!”

MSDN Canada has now confirmed that everyone who attends a Visual Studio 2005 Launch event will receive the new bits. From the Launch Blog:

The Launch Team is pleased to confirm that Special Edition copies of Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 will be made available to everyone who attends the launch events.  This is full functional "non-evaluation" software. This means that you will be able to start developing and implementing solutions right away!

Oh, in addition to receiving Visual Studio and SQL Server, you're gonna' get a bunch of great talks, you're gonna' get to hang and talk geek with some technology experts in the Cabanas, you're probably goona' get fed, and you're goona' get a bunch of SWAG.

OK, go register.... dude, forget checking your email, go register... no, don't answer that IM from Steve, he just wants to borrow money again... GO REGISTER

http://blogs.msdn.com/mark_relph/archive/2005/10/28/486419.aspx

Tags: [Launch2005]

ReadyBuzz - Podcast About the Canadian 2005 Launch Tour

Check out these audio podcasts about the Canadian Visual Studio 2005 Launch Tour.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/Readybuzz

Tags: [Launch2005]

Jax Roxe Talks About VB6 to VB.NET Migration

Jay Roxe, Product Manager for VB, talks about resources to help VB 6.0 developers migrate applications to .NET as well as new features in VB 2005 that make this transition less painful.

http://www.ddj.com/documents/s=9776/ddj1129914421813/swigart2.htm

How much is my Blog worth?

PDC05 Sessions - Watch Online or Download

How cool is this (well, at least for people who know the difference between IUnknown and IDispatch or know what Gandalf's Dwarven name is)

The sessions for PDC05 are now online. For each session you can watch video of the presenter in addition to the Powerpoint and demos. Best of all, you can download the sessions for offline viewing.

http://blogs.msdn.com/mswanson/archive/2005/10/24/484434.aspx

http://microsoft.sitestream.com/PDC05/

Microsoft's WSYP Project

The WSYP project was announced at PDC05 but has seemed to have gotten lost amongst all the hype around developer tools, Vista and Office 12. Here's what Mauro Meanti, General Manager of the Server and Tools Business Group for Microsoft EMEA had to say about this bold initiative:

Windows Server reliability advances are the result of a continuous process of improvement that began with the release of Windows NT Server. But to be effective, the engineering process needs to evolve and be connected directly to the customer in real time. We can then improve the overall customer experience by collecting, analyzing, and responding to customer problems & feedback as it is generated in real-time. Project 'WSYP' is a bold step in that direction - some call it a 'drastic' measure. It is however a promising technique!

For more on the WSYP Project check out:
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/technet/itsshowtime/sessionh.aspx?videoid=9999

The .NET Rocks! Road Trip is About to Begin

Hey y'all

The .NET Rocks! Road Trip is just about ready to go. Carl, Richard, Geoff and Tom (the driver) will be heading south from Waltham, MA down to Florida, then across the southern states to the west coast, ending up in San Francisco for the Visual Studio 2005 Launch. While they're on the road they plan to have a live event every day or two and record a show almost every day.

For a schedule of the live events, a link to the Road Trip RSS feed and to see the live webcam check out this site:

http://www.dotnetrocks.com/roadtrip/Default.aspx

C# 4.0 - Like it you will

The innovation continues! Maybe I'll have to switch to being a Sharpee after all.

http://blogs.msdn.com/mattwar/archive/2005/10/09/479008.aspx

Anti-Bacterial Pen

This one goes out to Rory Blyth - peace out, my brother.

The Papermate FlexGrip Elite - NOW with Anti-Bacterial pen protection (Anti-Bacterial technology is designed to protect the pen's surface and does not extend protection to skin)

Toronto Code Camp - January 14

Announcing the first ever Toronto Code Camp (http://www.torontocodecamp.com). The event is slated for January 14th, 2006 and promises to be very exciting. The new website has many features including:

• General registration: There are only 160 spaces for attendees so if you want to register for the event you have to do so right away! To register for the Toronto Code Camp 2006, simply click on the Register button at the top right of the website. Or you can click on the following link: http://www.torontocodecamp.com/Home/tabid/72/ctl/Register/Default.aspx
• Call for Speakers: Do you live in the GTA and you would like to speak on a .NET development topic? Then feel free to download the speaker registration form and send it in. The four categories are quite broad to accommodate a wide variety of topics. The main categories include: .NET, Futures, Service Oriented Architecture and ASP.NET 2.0. Some of the hot topics we would like to see includes application and code security, mobile device development, and case studies of real applications you've built. Send an email along with the registration form to the following email address: torontocodecamp@hotmail.com
• Call for Volunteers: Any large scale event requires volunteers to make it happen. Some of the tasks may include setting up the location, helping out the speakers, helping bring food to the event, helping out at the registration desk and much more. To register as a volunteer, send an email to torontocodecamp@hotmail.com