Fabio Claudio Ferracchiati has a book on LINQ that he wrote against very early bits. When the March 2007 CTP came out, he blogged a list of things that he discovered had changed in LINQ syntax that required updates to his book. The list is handy if you have code even from the January CTP.
Monthly Archives: March 2007
My amazingly great flight home from DevConnections
I used to hate flying. It still terrifies me to tempt gravity and nature so. But I have to fly a lot since I go to conferences and user groups all over the place. One of my tricks is that I love to get a window seat and look out at the amazing view.
Today I flew back from Orlando where I had just been at DevConnections (which I wrote about here). I flew from Orlando to Washington Dulles, then from there a short 1 hour flight home to Burlington, Vermont. Because it was a short flight, we were in a small plane and flying low. It was a fabulously goregous sunny day. I slept for the first bit of it but then woke up whe the pilot said “if you look to your right, you’ll see a great view of NYC”. I was on the left so I was looking at Newark. However as we got a little further north, it got better and better.
I lived in the Hudson Valley for 8 years prior to moving to Vermont. I was also quite in love with the Hudson River. My favorite bike rides were ones where I rode my bike across some of the many bridges that span the Hudson. Eventually, we were following the Hudson as we headed north and it was right out my window. By the time we got over Poughkeepsie, I was able to identify so much of what I was seeing because they were places I have spent a lot of time. I was able to see New Paltz and the Shawagunks. Then Rhinebeck which led to something that made my heart jump. I quickly followed the road out of Rhinebeck with my eyes and made my way to the house that I lived in for a very wonderful 6 years of my life (okay, that’s discounting an icchy boyfriend that lived there with me for a short while (but hindsight’s 20-20, right?). I couldn’t really see the house, but I saw what was my pond when I lived there and filled in the rest of the view from memory.
I kept my eyes peeled to the landscape all the way to Burlington. Up the Taconic and Hudson river, the Hudson bridge and the town of Hudson. The Castskills (where I have spent a lot of time not only hiking and winter climbing, but bicycling through as well in my “former life”) then Albany , the Adirondacks, Lake George and finally Lake Champlain. Even flying over Vermont, it was easy to pick out the place we put in to paddle Dead Creek, the Addison County Fairgrounds, Snake Mountain, Vergennes, Shelburne Bay and Shelburne Farms. Then finally Burlington. It was a pretty boundy landing due to some strong winds, but we did it safely and I got to drive home on some of the same roads that I had been watching from my birds’ eye view.
I wish I could have filmed the entire thing, but hopefully by blogging it, I’ll be able to come back and enjoy the memory here.
Beth Massi joins Microsoft to run the VB Developer Center!
I was heads down prepping for DevConnectiosn last week and missed this post from Beth Massi. This is fabulous news, not just for Beth but for anyone who is a fan of the VB Developer Center (and all the new fans that I’m sure she will attract). Beth is one of the most energetic people I know and she’s scary smart, too!
Congrats Beth!!
Thursday, March 22, 2007 6:27 PM
Yes, I swallowed the red pill, drank the koolaid, been assimilated, whatever…
That’s right folks, I joined Microsoft on Monday! (Right after the MVP summit, of course.) I’m very excited about my new position writing content for the Visual Basic Developer Center and promoting the Visual Basic language in the community. I’m still getting all set up over here but stay tuned!!!…
Here’s her new blog: blogs.msdn.com/bethmassi
What to expect in next (and future) Orcas bits for Entity Framework
I am at DevConnections where I was VERY excited to see Brian Dawson (ADO.NET team) do not one but TWO Entity Framework talks on Monday.
Brian has a newer build than what we are working with in the March CTP and I saw some stuff that made me wanna whine “gimme gimme”.
- SPAN – calling span on an entity sql query will force the ObjectContext to load up an object’s entire hieriarchy without having to call Load after the fact to get related data. This seems to be available in Object Services but not through Linq to Entities. Hopefully an Extension Method will be created for Linq to Entities to give us access.
- The EDM Wizard will display Views and Stored Procedures when building an EDM from a database. Then these will be part of the schemas.
- Referential Contraints will work the way you would expect. For example if your db has a referential constraint to delete child records when a parent is deleted, EDM will pick those up. I don’t know the details here but am assuming we will have some granular control over this.
- ToList may not be necessary in the future and serialization will be implicit.
- Beta 2 will have something (new to me) called IPOCO… Interface for Plain Old CLR Objects
- QueryViews – ooh baby ooh baby. Create your own views in the mapping layer.
- Associations between sub types.
There will be a way to convert existing strongly typed datasets to entity schemas.Unfortunately either Erick (who I got this from) misunderstood the question or I misunderstood the question or I misunderstood the answer. Darn.
At the same time as DevConnections, VSLive was happening in San Francisco. (Quite unfortunate scheduling…) Britt Johnston did a keynote and showed [a video of] the latest prototype of the EDM Modeler and also let us know that it won’t be ready for Orcas but they plan to release it shortly (?) (well the quote from the ADONET blog post is literally “sometime”) after Orcas. This is really frustrating, but it is just the reality and as developers we know the difficulties of designing tools… so it is what it is and until we have it, I will learn a LOT with the XML and personally hold off on doing any seriously complex modeling.
See the ADONET Team blog and Data Blog for more on Britt’s keynote and links to the screencast on where the modeler is at today.
I did my ADO.NET Orcas overview talk yesterday to a full room (not a huge room, but still all the seats were filled which was great given that Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell were doing a live DotNet Rocks show with Scott Guthrie at the same time!). I love talking about this stuff even if I never seem to have enough time for all the cool stuff I wish I could show.
The strange effects of forgetting to run some key apps as admin in Vista
If you forget to run particular apps (and I’m talking about key development tools) as an administrator, you may find yourself, as I did, spending a lot of time trying to solve the wrong problem! Read more
[A New DevLife post]
Vermont IT Jobs: MS SQL DBA near Burlington
I want to preface this by saying that I worked at Synergy when I first moved to Vermont and think the world of this company!!
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Synergy Software Technologies Inc. is a dynamic, fun and exciting software company located just outside of Burlington, Vermont. Synergy has been in business since 1992 and is a leader in software for human services organizations with over 5000 installations across the country. We are rapidly expanding our product line and have an immediate opening for an experienced MS SQL Server DBA.
This position requires a strong knowledge of MS SQL Database Administration on Windows 2003 platforms running in a clustered environment. Responsibilities include optimization and performance tuning, monitoring and maintenance of customer databases, development of scripts, documentation and procedures for database administration within testing and production environments and working with our development and technical support departments on resolution of database-related issues. The successful candidate must be a self-starter with the ability to establish priorities and work independently. Crystal Reports experience a plus.
Synergy offers a relaxed, fun working environment, and an opportunity to be part of a team working with the latest technologies in a high-growth area. We are leaders in the market segment that we serve, and expect continued rapid growth over the next several years. This is an opportunity for a creative, aggressive DBA to have a significant impact on our business. Come grow with us!
Interested candidates must submit a complete package, including cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to ddap@synergysw.com. Incomplete packages will not be considered. Please do not submit system generated resumes. Due to the typical volume of applicants, we will only be in contact with those candidates that we wish to interview.
Synergy Software Technologies Inc is an Equal Opportunity employer.
Run Visual Studio SLN file shortcut as Admin in Vista
Dominick Baier posted this 3 months ago, but I only needed it for the first time today. It’s quite handy having the SLN files as shortcts when doing conference presentations, and I am preparing my new Vista laptop for next week’s DevConnections.
Dominick created a little tool that you can use to run as admin from a file shortcut (not an default option in Vista). I added the tool as a SEND TO option which, while not being as great as having the shortcut run as admin on it’s own, is still very helpful.
If you havne’t discovered how to have application shortcuts always run as admin (so that you don’t have to remember to right click and choose that option each time), there’s a checkbox to force this in the shortcut’s properties on the Compatibility tab.
Office 2007 Activation for MSDN Subscribers – Just Phone Home
Activation by phone solved a strange problem which was suggesting that I had activated Office 2007 with my product key WAY too many times. Read more…
[A New DevLife post]
Verizon: Please do NOT consider getting a more expensive plan with us
I decided that I’m finally ready to make the move to a PocketPC Phone. This means buying a new phone and upgrading from a $40/month plan to an $80/month plan. But Verizon just does not seem to want my extra $40/month. I re-upped with them for another 2 year contract last summer (there was a mixup which is why my phone’s end date and my contract’s end date are not in synch) and if I want the upgrade discount on the phone I have to wait until June 2007. If I want to upgrade my monthly contract I have to wait until June 2008.
I understand the 2 year contract is a good thing for discouraging clients from cancelling, but I just don’t get Verizon telling me that my options are either to purchase a second plan while continuing to pay for my $40/month plan for another 18 months and paying $250 for a phone when NEW customers that have NO history with them and NO loyalty can get the phone for $79.
Sounds ass-backwards to me.
Code Project Windows Vista Mobile PC App Competition
Think Mobile apps are cool? Wanna win a UMPC (now that’s cool, too!)
From the mobility folks:
Today’s apps must work in an increasingly mobile environment and must allow new means of input: ink, touch, and more. Build a great application that encompasses these needs, write an article about what you’ve done, and you may win one of three cool Samsung Ultra-Mobile PCs. One winner per month, 3/15/07–6/15/07.
Check out Code Project for more details.
Hmm, now that I’ve got my own TOUCH SCREEN tablet, all I need to do is find some free time, and I’m so there….