This blog has moved http://www.sharplogic.com/blogs/ed : Work Stuff

This Blog Has Moved To http://www.sharplogic.com/blogs/ed

EdKaim — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 17:27:00 GMT

Web: http://www.sharplogic.com/blogs/ed

RSS: http://www.sharplogic.com/blogs/ed/SyndicationService.asmx/GetRss

SharpLogic Software Proudly Enters The Year 2003

EdKaim — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 13:28:00 GMT

I finally got around to updating http://www.sharplogic.com to ASP.NET. Up next--XAML!

So It Looks Like I'm Going To India

EdKaim — Sat, 20 Nov 2004 06:37:00 GMT

Well, at least for a few days--I've been invited to speak at Microsoft's Mobile Developer Conference in Bangalore. I hear that Doug Boling will be there, which is great because I've always wanted to get the chance to meet him. I don't know exactly which sessions I'll be giving yet (as far as I know they're all .NET CF so far), but I've already picked out the wu-tang lyrics I plan to slip into the demos in one form or another. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, let me know and we can find some good pizza.

One Way To Enumerate Virtual Directories On The Local Machine

EdKaim — Tue, 09 Nov 2004 02:20:00 GMT

I had a need to list the IIS directories available on my local machine, along with their local paths. There is a lot of cool WMI stuff to support things like this for IIS 6, but since I'm using XP I can't use it. I found it to be quite challenging to find code for this on the Web, so here's the code in case anyone else runs across the same challenge in the future:

using DirectoryEntry root = new DirectoryEntry("IIS://localhost/W3SVC/1/Root")

foreach (DirectoryEntry child in root.Children)

{

if (child.SchemaClassName == "IIsWebVirtualDir")

{

Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0}: {1}", child.Name, child.Properties["Path"][0]));

}

Let me know if there are better ways to do this.

I'm Looking For A Good Program Manager (Or Someone That Wants To Be)

EdKaim — Sat, 16 Oct 2004 10:32:00 GMT

Although I generally reserve this blog for nonsense, I do have something relatively serious to post. I have an immediate need for a program manager for a contract-based job based in Redmond, WA. Please note that this role is for my company, SharpLogic Software (http://www.sharplogic.com), and will take place mostly on the Redmond, WA site of one of my biggest customers. It will initially have a four month pilot period starting in January with the likelihood of being extended to a full two years, and probably even more beyond that.

As for requirements, the PM:
- Must live within commuting distance from Redmond, WA, and be a US citizen or permanent resident
- Must have a BS/BA in computer science, engineering, or a related field (this means more to the customer than it does to me), with at least two years of experience
- Must have strong understanding of XML, SQL, and ActiveX
- Must have broad expertise with Windows, although specific developer experience is not required
- Must be fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese

Up front, I’d like to point out that this isn’t a programming role. It is, however, a technical role in which you’ll probably learn more about the details of working with Windows than you ever expected. If you are an experienced developer or tester who would like to grow their program management experience, this is a great opportunity for you.

If you’re interested in learning more (or know someone who would be a good fit), please send a resume directly to me at ed@sharplogic.com. Please note if you would like the submission to be kept confidential.

How Would You Handle This?

EdKaim — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 07:37:00 GMT

I had to take a last-minute business trip to New York this week. Since hotel rates have skyrocketed over the past 12 months (from $120/night to $250/night) I decided to be frugal and picked a 1-star hotel from Expedia. This hotel was the “West Side Inn” and clocked in at a reasonable $72/night.

Upon arrival, I began to understand why the rate was so low—the full name of the hotel is actually the “West Side Inn & Hostel”, which has been updated since I booked my reservation. I ended up having to book another hotel a few minutes after getting to my room because it was just horrible. The most annoying part is that Expedia’s online description is very vague about the quality and features of this hotel, and their policy does not allow refunds. Rather than try to argue, I figured I’d ask the community if they have any clever recommendations.

In the meantime, I will offer to rewrite Expedia’s amenities list for Manhattan’s “West Side Inn & Hostel”:
- This inn offers a very relaxed attitude for the weary traveler. Feel free to take a nap on the couch of our lobby upon arrival. Our clerk checks in every 45 minutes or so, and he’ll be more than happy to check you in once he finishes the standard “significant other” argument over Windows Messenger.
- This hotel features the first production elevator ever deployed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go to the first floor anymore, so you need to carry your bags to the second floor and hope for the best.
- Each and every door has been kicked in while locked to offer the full crackhouse experience. If you forget your key, feel free to wait for a strong breeze to blow the door open for you.
- This social networking-friendly building offers a complete bathroom on every floor, so you’ll get to know your new friends best. Don’t worry, most of the people you walk in on will be administering insulin shots—we swear.
- To ensure the highest degree of privacy, phones have been removed from each room.
- To protect guests from unknown infrared radiation risks, all TVs come equipped without remote controls. Don’t worry—you’ll still have access to all thirteen channels via the onboard dial, and we’re sure you’ll certainly enjoy our retro-style black & white screens.
- In accordance with our guest safety policy, all electrical outlets have been painted over.

I’d be interested in knowing if anyone has had a worse experience in NY, or if they’ve found a way to get a refund from Expedia.

Ed Kaim Entrepreneur Tip #1

EdKaim — Mon, 04 Oct 2004 22:49:00 GMT

From time to time I'll be posting entrepreneurial tips from things I've learned in my past business experience, as well as things I learn along the way in my new adventure. To be honest, most of these aren't going to be serious tips, so take extra special care to not confuse them with useful advice from people like Eric Sink. To make things interesting, I'll let you try to figure out what's useful and what isn't :-)

There are three main things you want to handle very early on in developing a new business.

First, it's critical that you draft a business plan, even if you're the only person in the company. A business plan isn't always something you execute against line-by-line, but it will serve as a great forcing function to guide you through your thinking process when trying to figure out what to build/offer, as well as how customers will learn about it, buy it, get it, and use it.

Second, make sure you take advantage of all the small business-focused services out there. Although it might seem annoying to pay for little services here and there, many of them add great value. Having a cell phone that you can check email from is a great investment if it will give you a few minutes of relaxation while traveling. Also be sure to check out industry-specific offers because they may be incredibly compelling. My current favorite offer is Microsoft's ISV Empower program, which is a virtually pornographic display of software love.

Third, figure out what your phone number spells. There are hundreds of reasons you'll want to do this, so just take my word for it.

Let's try that third one in practice. For example, let's take my new company, SharpLogic Software (http://www.sharplogic.com). SharpLogic has received the phone number (877)878-3909 at random. At first look, it's a pretty nice number. Lots of round 8s--always a bonus. However, the trained entrepreneur will quickly identify the fatal flaw--that dreaded 0, which doesn't correlate with any letters on the typical handset. Considering how important this exercise is, we'll cheat here and use the letter "o" in place of an officially sanctioned letter. While there is some potential risk, these cases generally hold up in court when you cite the precedent of "The People of Delaware vs 1-800-MATTRES", in which the judge decided that it was appropriate, in some cases, to leave the last "S" off for savings.

Still with me? Fantastic.

The goal of this exercise is to see how well we can customize a new business phone number to various audience segments. At first, SharpLogic Software will be focusing squarely on the software and technical services market. Since some of this business may be from overseas, a localized corporate tagline may be "For American Super Software #1, Call 1(877)TRUE-WOW!". However, as the company matures, there will likely be a need to address specific audience segments, such as verticals. One idea SharpLogic is tossing around is to develop a product to heal sick pack animals. Upon launch, it may be worthwhile to adjust the tagline to "For all your farmyard healthcare needs, call 1(877)U-PUFY-OX". With any luck, SharpLogic will get aquired by a larger, more comprehensive animal services company. Our latest project would be for cosmetic surgery, which will be hotly debated. As it stands, the proposal would be to adopt the tagline, "You don't have to live with ugly animals anymore. Call 1-UR-PURTEY-OX for more information".

Well, that's about all the value I can add today. Let me know if you have better phone numbers or better phrases for mine.

Ed Kaim - Off To New Adventures

EdKaim — Sat, 02 Oct 2004 08:14:00 GMT

Six years ago I founded my first software company out of a college dorm room in New York. It was an amazing experience, but I knew then that I had a great deal to learn about the process of building great software and delivering it to market. When the opportunity to join Microsoft came up, I closed up shop and headed out west to learn from the company that had mastered software like no other. During my three years at Microsoft I’ve had the opportunity to do some amazing things. However, every day it becomes harder and harder for me to ignore my entrepreneurial dreams. As such, I have resigned from Microsoft in order to start a new software company that will focus on building solutions and products for the same Microsoft platform I have had the honor of being a part of.

For those who would like to keep tabs on my progress, I will still be keeping a blog at http://weblogs.asp.net/edkaim, and you can check out the company site at http://www.sharplogic.com.

Wish me luck!

Nick Hodapp, We Hardly Knew Ye

EdKaim — Sat, 14 Aug 2004 21:00:00 GMT

Nick Hodapp, Visual C++ product manager and all-around good guy, is leaving Microsoft next week to go make video games. Nick joined Microsoft a few months before I did and was always a good person to learn "new guy" stuff from and bounce stupid "new guy" questions off of (because he had been asking them a few months before I was). I must admit that I'm a little jealous of Nick's new job, which is as at Oberon Media, makers of Inspector Parker, one of my favorite casual games. Although I'm sad to see him go, I'm especially glad that he isn't landing at a competitor :-)

Web Development Roadmap Presentation Posted

EdKaim — Fri, 30 Jul 2004 00:17:00 GMT

I almost forgot to point this one out: http://ineta.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=36&SubAreaID=17.

Isn't My Boss Funny?

EdKaim — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:47:00 GMT

http://blogs.msdn.com/johnmont/archive/2004/07/29/200946.aspx

No, of course not, but it could be worse.

Oh yes--I went there (and Dan Fernandez made me do it).

Microsoft Lifecycle Tools Roadmap Presentation Posted

EdKaim — Thu, 01 Jul 2004 20:04:00 GMT

Reusable slides on the Visual Studio 2005 Team System (“Burton“) are at http://ineta.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=36&SubAreaID=17.

FotoVision Has Arrived--MS Paint Quivers In Boots

EdKaim — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 20:19:00 GMT

http://msdn.microsoft.com/smartclient/codesamples/fotovision/

A Great Source For Presentation Materials On Microsoft Developer Roadmap Stuff

EdKaim — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 20:42:00 GMT

The International .NET Association (INETA) exposes its content repository for folks to download and use as they see fit (such as for presentation at user groups or inside companies). A useful page is where some of Microsoft's Longhorn roadmap presentations are kept is at http://www.ineta.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=36&SubAreaID=17. The “Microsoft Services Oriented Architecture Roadmap” was just posted. Previous months have included the “Microsoft Programming Languages Roadmap” and “Microsoft Client Presentation Roadmap” slide decks. The client one has some demos too.

"When Good Ideas Look Bad"

EdKaim — Sat, 27 Mar 2004 23:56:00 GMT

Yes, this title is ripped from Jeremy, but I link to him below so it's okay :-)

A lot of people tend to assume the worst whenever Microsoft makes a change in the way products are shipped or features are added/removed. Before coming to Microsoft I used to assume that every time something happened it was because Microsoft was trying to screw me (sometimes indirectly) because they were evil. After spending a few years on the inside, my eyes have opened a lot about why decisions are made the way they are and how much research and effort is put into them. I also found the company to be much less evil than originally suspected. In fact, most of the evil is concentrated around the printers in my building, although they're being slowly phased out in favor of less evil hardware.

Anyway, the company makes mistakes (sometimes design errors, sometimes just bad luck) but the truth is that the people involved always try to make the *right* decision. Unfortunately, the “right“ decision isn't usually perfect (it's virtually impossible for a company the size of Microsoft). In my personal opinion, this is where “business integrity“ means more than ever. As one of the pillars of “Trustworthy Computing“, business integrity is what matters when the “right“ decision leaves you feeling like it was the “wrong” decision.

Jeremy offers a great case study of this regarding Office file converters at http://blogs.msdn.com/jmazner/archive/2004/03/09/87094.aspx.

Another one is Windows XP Service Pack 2, which introduces many significant changes in the Windows security model. These changes are *good* changes, but may seem very *bad* if you're not prepared. If you are a software developer or admin, PLEASE check out http://msdn.microsoft.com/security/productinfo/xpsp2/default.aspx to learn more about how this may affect you and what you can do to prepare.