Rob Windsor's Weblog : ObjectSharp

ObjectSharp Presents ‘Silverlight on the Silver Screen’ – July 9

windsor — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:52:00 GMT

Last year ObjectSharp took Toronto by storm with the blockbuster hit Visual Studio 2008 at the Movies. That was so 2008.

This July, the much anticipated SQL comes to a theatre near you (assuming you live near John and Richmond in Toronto). Silverlight on the Silver Screen will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you see the beauty that is XAML data binding. See Sith Lord Barry Gervin use the Force to move Silverlight apps out of the browser. See Dave ‘Binary Dump’ Lloyd take debugging to the next level with VSTS and TFS. See Princess Bruce Organa-Johnson in his breakout role, multi-touching his way to your heart.

OK, a little more seriously – please join us on July 9 for an event that showcases what’s new in Silverlight as well as some of exciting technologies coming up in Visual Studio 2010, .NET 4.0, Expression Blend 3, and Windows 7. It will be fun and informative and there may even be a prize or two being given away.

http://www.objectsharp.com/about/events/Pages/silverlight-on-the-silver-screen.aspx

Technorati Tags: Silverlight,ObjectSharp

ObjectSharp Announces The "BIG" Netbook Giveaway

windsor — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:43:00 GMT

Take at least seven days of public training with ObjectSharp between now and December 31, 2009 and they will give you sweet Acer Aspire One NetBook computer. I've been using the Acer Aspire One for about a month now and I love it - I'm sure you will too.

The Entity Framework vs. The Data Access Layer

windsor — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:33:00 GMT

My compadre Barry Gervin is starting a blog series discussing the Entity Framework vs. the Data Access Layer. You can find the first post here:

http://www.objectsharp.com/cs/blogs/barry/archive/2008/04/27/the-entity-framework-vs-the-data-access-layer-part-0-introduction.aspx

Technorati Tags: [Entity Framework], [Barry Gervin]

ObjectSharp's DevLounge Goes Live

windsor — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:03:00 GMT

ObjectSharp has always been very community focused. Our consultants run user groups; we speak at user groups, code camps and conferences; we man the experts areas at big Microsoft events; and we run our own community events like Visual Studio 2008 at the Movies. To extend our contribution to the community, we've added the DevLounge to our website. This is an area where we will post videos, articles, code, and tools so they are available on demand when you need them.

As a special kick off to the DevLounge, we are featuring a video taken at the recent Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Summit in Seattle. At the behest of ObjectSharp's Barry Gervin, Steve Ballmer donned a Team Canada hockey jersey to show Canadian developers some love.

Agenda Posted for the Toronto Code Camp

windsor — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:19:50 GMT

The agenda has been posted for the 2008 version of the Toronto Code Camp and it looks to be another awesome event. Twenty-five sessions from twenty-three speakers (six of which are my ObjectSharp homies) from all across the country (and New York). Check it out.

http://www.torontocodecamp.net/Agenda/tabid/56/Default.aspx

Visual Studio 2008 at the Movies - February 7

windsor — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:51:00 GMT

So, the muckety-mucks (i.e. my bosses) at ObjectSharp have been kicking around the idea of having an event to showcase the latest and greatest stuff in Visual Studio 2008. We got a date: February 7, 2008; and then we got a location: The ~~Paramount~~ Scotia Bank Theatre in downtown Toronto; but then we needed a name for the event. There were many ideas bandied about but we decided to go with "Visual Studio 2008 at the Movies" because we were talking about Visual Studio 2008 and we were holding the event at a movie theatre... give it a chance, it'll sink in in a second or two.

OK? Good.

So, our graphic designer, Nick Van Exan (who was responsible for our award-winning Silverlight ~~Holiday~~ Christmas Card), takes the idea and runs with it. First, he comes up with this beauty based on the original Oceans 11 movie poster.

We put together a little web page describing the event and send invites out to our friends, neighbours and family.

Is Nick done? No way.

After a little more work with MS Paint, or whatever program Nick uses to work his magic, he comes up with this homage to one of the greatest movies ever, ~~Spaceballs~~.

Pretty cool, huh? But is Nick done? Not quite.

As evil geniuses are want to do, Nick takes the process one step too far. Only a twisted mind that has been locked up in an office for hours with only a 16 bit colour pallette could come up with something like this.

I nearly peed my pants when I saw this. Who knows what will be next.

Anyway, the important part is, if you want to come hang out with the consultants from ObjectSharp, have some popcorn and soda, and learn about what's going on in the world of Visual Studio 2008 then please join us for Visual Studio 2008 at the Movies.

SharePoint, SharePoint, SharePoint

windsor — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 03:32:00 GMT

SharePoint is a hot topic right now and there's a lot going on in and around Toronto on the subject. I thought I'd take a moment to highlight a few.

Toronto SharePoint Camp - October 20

The good folks over at the Toronto SharePoint User Group are organizing the first Toronto SharePoint Camp. They're looking for speakers, sponsors and volunteers. For more information, to register, or to submit an abstract for a talk, visit:

http://www.torontosharepointcamp.com

ObjectSharp SMART Breakfast: Achieving Agility with SharePoint 2007 Technologies

Grab a hot breakfast and join your peers in a round table discussion about Microsoft’s widely distributed SharePoint 2007 Technologies. Microsoft Regional Director Barry Gervin will lead the round table in exploring how SharePoint can be used to achieve greater business agility, even in the face of disruptive change in your organization. Events will be held in Toronto, North York, Mississauga, Etobicoke, and Kitchener-Waterloo starting October 16. For more information, and to register visit:

http://www.objectsharp.com/smart/default.aspx

ObjectSharp Announces their New Course: Inside Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 for Developers

This intensive 4-day course explores design and development techniques used when building business solutions with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. The lectures and lab exercises dive into the WSS object model, developing WSS features and creating solution packages to deploy your development efforts in a staging or production environment. The first public course is running November 19-23. For more information on the course visit:

http://www.objectsharp.com/training/coursedetail.aspx?id=6010

My New Gig at ObjectSharp

windsor — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:19:00 GMT

My blog has been silent for a bit, not from a lack of desire to post but a lack of time. Back in April a signed a deal to work with ObjectSharp exclusively, adding Director of Training to my existing Senior Consultant role. So, for the last several months I've been learning the current business practices, sitting in on courses, reviewing and authoring material, and planning for future titles. All the while I was finishing out the remaining courses I had on my schedule for Learning Tree. Lots more work + the same amount of Rob (OK, maybe 5 lbs. more of Rob) = no blog posts and dust of the golf clubs.

Anyway, I did my last gig for Learning Tree last week and now I can focus exclusively on the task at hand here at ObjectSharp. I'm really excited at the opportunity and I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead. With all of the new stuff coming from Microsoft in 2008 (e.g. LINQ, Silverlight, Visual Studio 2008), I think the next couple years are going to be blockbuster for both the training and consulting sides or our business.

Tags: [ObjectSharp]

ObjectSharp is Hiring

windsor — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:28:00 GMT

I once said that ObjectSharp Consulting's motto should be "Taking over the world one developer at a time" (OK, maybe you can replace the world with Toronto... for now). Well, right now we are hiring not only .NET developers of all levels but people who have associated skills (e.g. SQL Server, SharePoint, Team System, BizTalk). If you are interested in joining a team of extremely bright and community oriented individuals then please let us know by sending an email to careers@objectsharp.com.

Below is a scan of a flyer we were passing out at DevTeach.

Tags: [ObjectSharp]