Random .NET Ramblings

Today Microsoft announced another round of layoffs and I was included. It was totally unexpected and there was no explanation other than the (I am sure legally vetted) ?reorganize and restructure? answer. I am sure this is how they have handled past layoffs and if you look at the group I am in I can understand how the job I was doing was redundant, if I were management I could see selecting this position for removal. I had a counterpart doing the same job in NorCal and that is the market that Microsoft is more concerned with. I have looked at the current positions Microsoft has open in SoCal and decided not to apply as I would not be a good fit for them. So that leaves me with some thinking to do?

I will brush-up the resume but I really want to take some time to think about what?s next for me and my family. I am sure I will find many interesting opportunities and at least one that I will be excited about. My goal is to find something where I can make big contributions to ensure the success of an organization.

My network access and email will be shut off soon so you can reach me through this blog or use my gmail address or send a note on facebook or twitter @woodyp.

Thank you to all of the great people I was able to work with at Microsoft, I will look forward to seeing you all in the developer community soon.

I had the pleasure of once again being a guest on the "Java with John" show on computeroutlook.com. John had several emails from his audience from the last time I was on there talking about Windows 7. While we were doing the show, I got the idea that a lot of what we were talking about would be just a little more than abstract for a radio show... So I offered to make some videos that showed off the features we talked about. I have the videos for Libraries and the Problem Steps Recorder completed today and I will get the videos for Windows Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Access finished soon.

Windows 7 Libraries

Windows 7 Problem Steps Recorder

For more information about Libraries see the Libraries topic of the Windows 7 Features site and for more information about the Problem Steps Recorder see the ?How do I use Problem Steps Recorder? topic in the Windows 7 site. There is some information that developers will need to know about Libraries but that will have to be a different post.

Go get it at download.live.com. If you have not been keeping up Microsoft has moved Movie Maker out of the Ultimate product line and in to Live so now if your computer has the horsepower to edit video go for it!

For full details see the product groups announcement on there blog post The new Windows Live Movie Maker – available today! - Windows Live. Have fun!

I was just ordering some new Business Cards so I was checking out the web sites I have listed on the back of my cards and found this little tidbit An Easy Way to Create a Bootable USB Drive for Windows 7 from Channel 10. I can’t wait to get the RTM bits so I can test this utility out. For the RC of Win7 I spend 2 hours making two bootable USB drives (one 64bit the other 32bit) it took so long because the messed up the steps the first time. This will help make the process go faster and I hope get more people to use a bootable USB to install from as it takes sooooo much less time than from a DVD.

I am happy to announce that I have a new job here at Microsoft! This will not change much about my involvement with many things I do today such as Code Camps, BarCamp etc. and it’s not a big change from the outside but inside a big company like Microsoft small things matter.

To recap where I am and where I have been, I was hired by the West Region Developer Platform & Evangelism Team (WRDPE). I started in the group that is now called the Audience Team where I was focused on talking to as many developers in SoCal as I could and making sure others that were talking to developers in SoCal got what they needed from Microsoft. This was a fantastic job and now Lynn Langat & Daniel Egan are doing a great job at it. Then last year about this time I was offered a job in the Customer Team for WRDPE where I would shift focus on enabling and highlighting the success customers have with the overall Microsoft platform and technology. So what's new? Now Microsoft has me focused on developers, ISV & consultants as well as software startups that are not currently using Microsoft products or technology to show the value, enable and highlight there success they can have with the Microsoft platform. I can see while it will be hard to get non-Microsoft developers attention once I get a chance to understand their goals I know I can show how and what Microsoft has to offer to help them achieve their goals.

So if you are or know any ISVs, consultant shops or startups that want to know more of what Microsoft can offer please put me in touch.

By way of Kurt Shintaku and the Swiss IT Professional and TechNet Blog here is a cool way to know what is going on with Power Management on your Windows 7 box.

Windows 7 – Power Management Reports

Well no one except Jas (the guy who hired me in to Microsoft) noticed that I have now been at Microsoft for 4 years... WOW I know there were several people who did not expect me to make it this long and to be honest I did not expect to make it this long but now it looks like I may make it for my desired 5 years. Just to review I started at MS as a Developer Evangelist where I got to help support the local Microsoft community as well as reached out to non-Microsoft communities. This was a great job I loved helping get support from Microsoft, this year I took on the challenge of the Architect Evangelist position (I call my self a Technology Evangelist as I self identify more as a developer). In this job I am more focused on working to make early adoption of Microsoft technology successful and then evangelizing the use of the solution. In my option I have not done an outstanding job in this position, it kills me as I want to be the best at anything I do! This coming year I will be looking to be outstanding in this job or what ever they have me doing.

What I have learned in 4 year:

• Most people think Microsoft is something it’s not!
• Big companies can bring out the best and worst in people
• To succeed you have to self promote
• Having big company benefits make wives happy
• I love to deliver not just work processes
• and more that I don’t want to make too public ;)

Local VSTS for Database Professionals workshop around SoCal…

Overview
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition provides advanced tools for database change management and testing and offers functionality to enable database developers and administrators to be more productive and increase application quality in the database tier.

Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition delivers a market shifting database development product that provides a foundation for managed database evolution through the use of an offline, Visual Studio project-centered source code control system together with a suite of tools designed to help understand the impact of proposed changes. Schemas, DML and metadata can be versioned, code can be automatically reviewed using static analysis, unit tests can be created and executed to ensure quality, and comparisons can be made with test and production systems prior to deployment. Integration with Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server helps increase the productivity of the database professionals by enabling them to become an integral part of the application team.

Please join Microsoft and Adventos for this one-day course to learn how the Developer and Database editions of Team System work together in the application lifecycle.

Course Outline

I. Core Features of TFS

II. Team Projects

III. Source Control and Team Foundation Build

IV. Managing Databases in a Team Environment

Who Should Attend?

Database Administrators, Database Developers

The schedule for each event is:

Welcome: 8:30 PM

Seminar: 9:00 AM-4:30 PM

Los Angeles, CA
March 3, 2009
Click here to register with invitation code: 31A402

Irvine, CA

March 4, 2009

Click here to register with invitation code: E4995A

San Diego, CA

March 5, 2009

Click here to register with invitation code: 3B9F3B

To Register by Phone –

Call 1.877.MSEVENT (1.877.673.8368) with invitation code.

The US based developer marketing group at Microsoft is starting a second Silverlight game competition…

All the details can be found at www.serverquestcontest.com but the basics are you make a short\small game based on Silverlight and if it’s jugged to be the best you get $5k and all the top 16 finalists will be highlighted on the site.

If you are in the west (Denver west) and you submit a game please let me know so we can show of why west is best ;).

Good luck!

OK normally I don’t post stuff like this but hey this could be a free shirt for you so I just have to post this.

“Are you a PC?”

Get a FREE “I’m a PC” black, cotton t-shirt by taking a short survey…honest, it’s less than 10 questions!  Click here to take the survey and get your t-shirt:   I'm a PC T-shirt Giveaway Survey

The legal crap that I have to add... (have fun reading that!)

Microsoft is committed to protecting your privacy. Your personal information such as name, e-mail address, postal address, and phone number may be collected if you choose to register to complete the survey to receive the incentive. It will be used for fulfillment of the incentive. Your responses to this survey will not be linked to the contact information previously collected by Microsoft. Your answers will be reported in aggregate with those of other respondents. This survey does not use any cookies or other technologies to track your responses to the survey. Please note that this privacy statement applies only to the [I'm a PC T-Shirt Giveaway] survey. It does not apply to other online or offline Microsoft sites, surveys, products or services.
Please contact jolarter@microsoft.com if you have any questions concerning collection and use of your personal information.

Offer good only to residents of the 50 United States (including the District of Columbia) who are 18 years of age or older and are professionals or hobbyists engaged in the field of technology development. Limit one gift per person. This offer is non-transferable and cannot be combined with any other offer. This offer is while supplies last, and is not redeemable for cash. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient. Any gift returned as non-deliverable will not be re-sent. Please allow 6 - 8 weeks for shipment of your gift. We will try to accommodate your shirt size request and will send the next closest size if unavailable.

© 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Update: I am sorry but all the shirts are gone, they lasted about 3 hours and then we ran out. I am pushing for more shirts so please stay tuned.