Random .NET Ramblings

@ritzy is not going to like this post but?

After the ASP.NET User Group the other night I went and had dinner with Mark Rosenberg and Tim McCarthy and I asked Tim if he was planning on attending PDC. The surprising answer I got was ?No why would I? I can get so much content online that I don?t need to take the time or spend the money to go to conferences any more.? (ok that is not an exact quite but it was close) he also pointed out that all the content from PDC will be available on line soon after a given session is done. Well now we have yet more ways to learn on line with The Channel 9 Learning Center from the site:

The Channel 9 Learning Center is the destination for free technical training on emerging Microsoft products and technologies. The Learning Center consists of a set of courses with each course including a set of videos, hands-on labs, and source code samples to get you up-to-speed quickly.

So if you are in to the bleeding edge stuff here is where you can get information about what Microsoft is up to.

Just yesterday I commented on twitter how I dreaded giving a 101 talk on the .NET Framework and I was pounced on in twitter and email with comments about how needed that type of content is desired. Like many people once I know something I tend to think everyone knows it… I need to break myself of that!

So today I found a two (new to me) sites that Microsoft has for getting stated…

• Ramp Up
  • This is new part of MSDN that has some quite complete content and helps you track a learning plan.
• www.msdev.com
  • This is a site targeting solution providers but anyone can use the content

Update: SI forgot one of the more amazing offers Microsoft has going right now. it’s called Jumpstart and you get 60 days of free hosting, free Expression Web and Visual Web Developer 2008 Express.

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.

I have been working with the various APIs from Live Services and while there is a lot of functionality but it’s a patchwork of APIs. To help the they have a couple good resources at dev.live.com but one of the best resources is not easy to find Live Services Jumpstart Videos where you will find overviews and in depth information on Online Identity, Messenger, Virtual Earth, Silverlight Streaming and much more.

It’s been a long while but we finally have a MSDN event scheduled the cool think is that it’s all about stuff people have been asking about.

The topics are:

Demystifying Azure - An Overview of the Azure Services Platform for Developers
Deepen your Debugging - Tips and Tricks for the Visual Studio 2008 Debugger
Developing for Windows Mobile Devices

All the details and more descriptions are at MSDN Events: Azure, Debugging and Mobility where you can register.

We are hosting 2-day, technical in-depth training we are offering on Microsoft Live Platform in Los Angeles & San Francisco.

From the invitation:

Why Attend?

You should attend Jumpstart 2009 to learn all there is to know about the consumer components of Microsoft's Software-plus-Services platform.

• Learn the full breadth of the Live Platform in more than a dozen technical sessions
• Roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty in the hands-on labs
• Meet with Live Platform experts and get answers to your specific questions
• Hear best practices from your peers
• Experience the community of Live Platform partners and their interesting solutions
• Connect with Microsoft field
• Provide input on Live Platform technology direction

Los Angeles, CA

December 1-2, 2008
Microsoft Los Angeles Office
333 South Grand Avenue, Suite 3300
Los Angeles, CA 90071

Pre-register today!

San Francisco, CA

December 4-5, 2008
Microsoft San Francisco Office
835 Market Street, Suite 700
San Francisco, CA 94103

Pre-register today!

I will be attending the LA event so if anyone wants to train pool from San Diego let me know.

The West Region Visual Studio sales team and Neudesic are hosting 6 events where customers are invited to come see how Visual Studio Team System and Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 can be used to implement the Agile method known as "Scrum".

8/26/2008 - Mountain View, CA Register

8/28/2008 - Phoenix, AZ Register

9/9/2008 - Irvine, CA Register

9/10/2008 - Los Angeles, CA Register

9/23/2008 - Denver, CO Register

9/25/2008 - Salt Lake City, UT Register

I know I am slow but I did not know we had a great set of resources for learning SharePoint but if you are looking to get in to doing any level of development on SharePoint check out www.MSSharePointDeveloper.com. There are Virtual Labs, Quick Start guides, Webcasts and more of a wide range of topics around SharePoint development.

Last week I presented to to about 30 to 40 people in Irvine about developing applications for the Mobile platform using the Compact Framework. The audience was great, lot's of good questions and interactions, I had promised to post all the content after the class and while this fulfils the terms of that statement I am sorry it has take me this long.

There are still some Mobility Metro events scheduled see Loke Uei Tan's blog entry More Mobility Metro events for more information. I talked to Loke this week and he has assured me we will be doing more of these events in a few more months as well.

Wan to get up to speed on on .NET 3.5 (I know I do!) the Microsoft Corporate Platform Evangelism team released the .NET 3.5 Enhancements Training Kit it has information on:

You can think of this kit as a CTP it's not to where the team wants it to be but there are a lot of people asking for this type of resource so they decided to release it now.