GeekPost Weekly Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 5

Geek Post

Volume 1 Issue 5

Friday 13 November 2009

Hippolite Musings

Delayed posting this week because of Jury Service all week.  Fascinating process, which I will speak more about on my non-technical blog, TVORNZ.

Blessings,
James

Developer News

In amongst all the launch activity around Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange 2010, we've been busy planning our next UNPLUGGED Road Trip. This trip we will be visiting Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Tauranga and Auckland (in that order). There will be four of us presenting; Nathan Mercer will be covering migrating Windows versions with the Microsoft Deployment Tools and then providing an infrastructure update (including Office 2010, Microsoft Online Services and Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation), John-Daniel Trask from Mindscape will be covering Visual Studio 2010 content and Ryan Tarak and I will be covering what's new in the Windows Azure Platform and the announcements from this year's Professional Developers Conference. For more information, including dates and locations, have a look at the UNPLUGGED event web site. These events fill up quickly in some locations so register today.

Telecom News

I can tell you that the new logo has now been applied to:

• Telecom Retail
• Gen-i
• Telecom Wholesale
• Telecom International
• Telecom Rentals Limited

Security News

- must be pretty secure!

Product News

Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2010 was released recently and contains a lot of new features that weren't in Beta 1. The .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 was released at the same time and again contains a lot of features that weren't in the previous beta (a lot of Windows Presentation Foundation features for example). Check out both the Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 videos on Channel 9 for some good overviews and then go download Beta 2 and start trying it out for yourself. Make sure you catch JD's session during the upcoming UNPLUGGED tour as well. Download Spec Explorer for Visual Studio

Spec Explorer is a model-based testing tool that runs as an add-in to Visual Studio for modelling software behaviour and analyzing that behaviour by graphical visualization, model checking, and generating standalone test code from models.

Situations Vacant

We urgently require an experienced ASP.NET Web Developer to join our in house Development and Interactive team to help deliver various web application and integration projects on a fixed term contract.
Click on the link below to apply now!
http://careers.thlonline.com/job=5474THL

Rajesh Shukla
IT Development Manager | Tourism Holdings Limited |

Trainer News

Microsoft Learning releases new courses almost every month, and from now on, this newsletter will include the courses that have shipped in the previous month. In this edition, we'll play catch-up and list courses shipped in the past three months.

The following MOC titles were released between August 1 and October 31, 2009. All of these courses are available for download today from the MCT Download Centre.

Never heard of Learning Rewards (previously MCT Rewards)? Now is the time to find out. Did you know that as an MCT, you can request and distribute certification exam vouchers at a discount to your students, and earn points redeemable for valuable rewards?

Here are a few tidbits on Learning Rewards:

• Customizable collateral can help you facilitate meaningful conversations with your students and guide them to appropriate training and certifications.
• A personal dashboard lets you request and distribute vouchers and redeem your points for rewards with a simple click.
• Along with the new name, there's a new Learning Rewards Web site. Bookmark the Learning Rewards Web site.
• Exam discount vouchers for students are now valid for three months.

For more information, visit the MCT member site.

Training News

Dive into videos and labs that will help you get familiar with .NET Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010. This exclusive opportunity lets developers access free courseware online for a self-paced learning experience. Windows 7 Developer Training Is Now Online on Channel 9

These videos, hands-on labs and samples are the quickest way to ramp up on the new developer features in Windows 7. Our new online offering allows you to learn at your own pace and download only those modules that interest you. Windows 7 New Features for Managed Code Developers Series

This on-demand series presents examples of how developers who write in managed code (Visual Basic and C#) can take advantage of some of the new features of Windows 7. The series includes: an introductory overview of new features, overview of the Windows API Code Pack, and individual sessions that include a demonstration of the new features in Windows 7.

Dot Net News

Join us to learn how to build service-oriented architecture (SOA)-style services whose contracts are both defined and implemented with workflow activities and how to host, manage, and execute the services. UAC Data Redirection: .NET Framework

After completing this lab, you will be better able to troubleshoot a file redirection issue and use Process Monitor to find the root cause of the issue. Shell Libraries: Managed

After completing this lab, you will be better able to create a new library, open an existing library, add and remove folders from a library, and more. Taskbar: Managed

After completing this lab, you will be better able to provide visual progress and status indicators using taskbar progress bars and overlay icons.

Events Schedule

In this section, I highlight dates, times and venues of events either I am presenting at, or of interest to METTLE.  I'm available for bookings.

Humour

1. I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.
2. I almost had a psychic girlfriend, but she left me before we met.
3. Does killing time alter eternity?
4. A conscience does not prevent sin.  It only prevents you from enjoying it.
5. I plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.
6. Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off forever.
7. You know you are ugly if you make blind kids cry.
8. For all the advances in medicine, there is still no cure for the common birthday.
9. Inside every older person is a younger person - wondering what the heck happened.
10. Questionable definitions: Syntax n., Money in the collection plate.