Monthly Archives: December 2005

TabletPC Issue of CoDe Focus is online (and in hand)!!

Tablet

I didn’t realize it was done yet as I hadn’t gotten the print copy. (Update: it arrived within a few  hours of posting this!!)

But the jam packed special issue of CoDe Mag, filled solely with Tablet and Mobile PC Articles, is online here!

There are articles by Markus Egger, Billy Hollis, Larry O’Brien, Dr. Neil, Ellen Whitney and myself. Also, there’s a forward by Frank Gozinski, from the Mobile Platforms Division of Microsoft. Additionally, there are quotes throughout from some of the key players at Microsoft in research and design of TabletPCs as well as the developer platform.

Here is the description from Frank’s blog:

Code Magazine has put together a complete end to end developer reference for building applications tuned for the Tablet PC and Mobile PC applications. Are you mobilizing your applications? With the continued move by customers who want anywhere access to their data and applications mobilizing software applications is taking on a new sense of urgency.  This Focus Issue of Code Magazine is a reference you’ll want to have and it’s free, check out the work Markus and company have done http://www.code-magazine.com/focus/TabletPC/ 

Happy reading (I really like the welcome letter)



Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

The mysterious return of my Pocket PC – after 18 months!

Just Rambling

In June 2004, I returned from DevTeach in Montreal and couldn’t find my Pocket PC anywhere. I asked Marcie who I had shared my room with if she had found it. I called the hotel to see if it was still in the room. Nope. It did have a return address sticker on the back with my address and cell phone, so maybe just maybe…   Oh well.

Today I received a mysterious package from St. Louis, MO with no return address on it. In it? My pocket PC! One and a half years later.

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

Tablet PC Development in Montreal (and playing hookey at the Fine Arts Museum)

Just Rambling

On Monday night, I did a somewhat lengthy overview of developing software for Tablet PCs at GUVSM, one of the .NET groups in Montreal.. As I started the session, I learned that only one person in the room had ever seen a tablet pc, so I decided to spend a little time showing them a bit about the technology, otherwise developing inkable software wouldn’t make too much sense! I did the whole presentation in VS2005, which says a lot about the updated API working pretty well with VS2005. It was also a great exercise for me because I haven’t played with a great variety of functionality in a while and preparing the demos gave me an excuse to refresh my memory.

The meeting was sponsored by MSDN Canada, who covered my travel expenses and enabled me to stay overnight rather than do the 3 hour drive back home so late at night. Thanks to Sasha and Wendy from MSDN Canada and for Guy and Jean-Rene for bringing me up. Naturally, the meeting was followed by a late night dinner of smoked meat. Though we normally go to the all-time classic Ben’s, this time we went to Reuben’s. I always have a blast with these guys: Mario Cardinal, Jean-Rene Roy, Eric Cote and Etienne Tremblay. The biggest lesson of the night was to stay away from Bell as your ISV if you can and to befriend a geek who likes to keep up with the latest toys, so when they shed their antiques (like 2 month old cell phones) you might be first in line!

To top it off, before I drove back home Tuesday morning, I got to go see an exhibit that I have been wanting to get to: Right Under the Sun. Landscape in Provence, from Classicism to Modernism (1750–1920) at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Though attempting to view about 200 works of art in a mere 2 hours was a little quick, it was wonderful to see. Provence has a beautiful combination of landscapes – mountains, canyons, harbors, the sea – and it was a magnet for painters including those that are more commonly known, such as VanGogh, Cezanne, Monet, Georges Braque, Renoir. Some of the landscapes became familiar as many painters had captured them – most memorable were Mt. Saint-Victoire and a canyon whose name I can no longer remember. It was also fascinating to watch the styles evolve. Perhaps I’ll get up there one more time before the show ends in early January to linger a bit longer.

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

ASP and VS Connections Spring 2006

Connections

I will be doing 4 [new] talks at Connections this spring. I was happy to learn that both Alex Homer and Dave Sussman will be also there this time. These guys are in the U.K. so they can’t always make it. Now to find a great sushi restaurant and see what other squiggly things I can talk Dave into trying!

Posted from BLInk!

VTdotNET Holiday Party – even with a live jazz band!

dotNET

In the past, the December “meeting” for Vermont.NET has been a pot-luck gathering at either someone’s office or house. This year, with other (less stingy? ;-)) folks than myself in charge, we are having a real party! It’s going to be at Parima Thai in Burlington which has a really cool private party room designed in the feel of Frank Llloyd Wright. And member, Paul Swider, has somehow gotten his friends from Pine Street Jazz to play at the party! It’s like a real office party. Appetizers will be provided and there will be a cash bar. Parima is even offering a discount to any of our members who want to have dinner at their Thai Buffet before or after the party. We will still do our pot-luck in the form of desserts as well as collect food for Vermont Foodbank.

Thanks to Parima and Pine Street Jazz for making this affordable and to local c-tech, Knowledgewave, for their sponsorship!

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

Virginia Beach: St. George’s Brewery and Mongolian fare

Travel

In addition to having a great time presenting at WeProgram.NET last week, there were two other things I wanted to share.

When it’s possible, I try to bring back a local beer for Rich. Unfortunately, there was no bringing a 6pack of Castle back from South Africa, but in Virginia Beach, the local brewery is St. George. I had to find them via google, but was able to grab a 6-pack at the local market. Since my laptop is not too heavy, it wasn’t so bad carrying it back home in my backpack.

While there, my brother brought me to one of his favorite lunch spots, the Warriors Grill, which does a buffet in the style of the Mongolian warriors of centuries past. I love the history of this, described in ther menu and got a good laugh out of “at the Warrior’s Grill, we do the gathering and preparing for you. No need to place the meat under your saddle to tenderize it as the Mongol Warriors would sometimes do.”

At the restaurant, you pile prepared vegetables and meats along with a great variety of oils into a bowl and then they are cooked on a hot surface.

Unfortunately, the whole history is not on their website, so here’s a quick scan for you.



Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org

How many programmers does it take to …(TFS scales way up)

dotNET

Etienne Tremblay is a real VSTS wonk. (Etienne is French Canadian, so I should be sure to remind him that “wonk” is a good word..). He works at EDS, which is one b-i-g company, and is excited about the fact that Microsoft has just changed it’s Team Foundation Server recommendations from “Teams of up to 500 users” to “Teams of up to 2000” users. That’s a lot of programmers mucking with your code. But one has to understand that I am an independent so it’s basically unfathomable to me….

Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org