April 2005 - Posts

Band Geek Heaven............tonight!
Well tonight my wife, brother, and I are headed with some friends to see a "one night only" movie produced by Drum Corps International (DCI). This is going to ROCK! They allowed fans to vote for the top 12 Drum Corps shows of all time through their web site. Then they took those shows, digitally remastered them, and turned it into one full length movie that is showing tonight at theaters across the US.

If you're an old school band geek, you'll want to check this out.

-Eric.
Posted 21 April 2005 08:08 AM by eking1013 | 1 comment(s)
Thank You Sarbanes Oxley..........NOT!
I was here at work until midnight last night working on the phone with an IGS (IBM Global Services) person, watching them upgrade an app for us.

Remember the good ol' days when you could just schedule a production upgrade with your users, and then make it happen? Now we are caught up in SO much red tape that it isn't even funny. You have to get a gazillion sign-offs and the Pope's blessing before you can migrate anything to production. AND THEN you aren't allowed to migrate it yourself. OH NO.........that would be too risky. Even though this is a dedicated server and it's the ONLY app running on it! In fact, I don't have JACK SQUAT for rights or privlidges to the production box. So we have to schedule a time with one of the IGS guys to perform the upgrade. So I connect to his shared desktop, then watch as he uses terminal services, connects to the server, and then proceeds to double click on setup.exe and then click 'Next' a few times. Whew! What rocket science this is.......

The reason we were here so late is because the process was goofed up somehow the first time around this was supposed to happen at 8:00. Apparently somewhere in the update process, the server is required to reboot. That freaked him out. Even in their own little IGS side of the world, even they aren't supposed to reboot a production server without going through lots of channels and red tape. So the install got hosed up when he apparently tried to circumvent parts of the process. So I drove back down to work around 9:30 to get involved and help things along. Anyway, after pulling some teeth we were able to get everything smoothed out.

I'm very sleepy today.....................
Posted 21 April 2005 08:02 AM by eking1013 | 2 comment(s)
What do you think about the "Hobbyist Programmer"?
Here's a new site you can send their way.  It's Microsoft's new Coding4Fun site. Oddly enough, as I've read through blogs over the past few years, I've seen plenty of mixed opinions and emotions regarding the "Hobbyist Programmer". Some people think that it detracts from the professionalism of software development. Others think it's a good way for MS to reach a broader audience with it's new Express versions of Visual Studio.

Are you up on the Fence or do you fall into one of these two camps? Or do you perhaps lean towards the open source camp like someone else I know?

-Eric.
Posted 20 April 2005 09:57 AM by eking1013 | 8 comment(s)
New MS Cert coming...
Thanks to Jon Box for pointing this out.

When Jon was in town last month, our families got together and had dinner. One of the topics of our discussion (OK, it was a discussion between Jon and I. I think our wives were swapping recipies at the time.)was MS Certification, and if it really holds any value with most employers. Although I don't personally have any MS Certs, I am still happy to hear about this one. One discouraging factor in going for my MCSD is that I know people who have used the 3rd party practice exams to pass the tests. I think the 3rd party practice exams are good for a study aid, but if you can just take the exams over and over and over, and memorize the answers and pass the exam, then something just doesn't jive there. That means someone could pass the Web Services exam who has never written a real, working Web Service.

When I was at TechEd last year, one of the MS Cert PMs sat down with about 10 of us from INETA to discuss the MS Cert program, and whether or not we thought that Certification held any value with our user group members. I came back from TechEd, and took a survey with our group. I found that less than 10% of our members thought that MS Certs where meaningful, or that it made any difference with their employers.

Anyway, maybe this will slowly change things.....
Posted 20 April 2005 09:45 AM by eking1013 | 9 comment(s)
Sniglets!!
Sniglets are those words that aren't really words, but should probably be added to the dictionary. Steve Buchanan showed these to us in a team meeting the other day, and I thought that I would share:

  • •blamestorming - sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
  • •
  • •percussive maintenance - the fine art of whacking the crap of of an electronic device to get it to work again.
  • •
  • •questfallen - reaction to the realization that your Mapquest directions have failed you.
  • •
  • •cellphonic appraisal - the activity that occurs when a ringing cell phone causes everyone in the room to check and see if it's theirs.
  • •
  • •fonesia - the affliction that strikes when you dial a phone number and forget whom you were calling just as they answer.
  • •
  • •fUtility - a 3rd party utility that won't install no matter how closely one follows the instructions.
  • •
  • •animousity - vigorously clicking your pointer device because a page is loading too slowly
  • •dopeler effect- the tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
  • •
  • •assmosis - the process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.
  • •
  • •seagull manager - a manager that flies in and makes a lot of noise, dumps on everyone, and flies out again, still squawking.
  • •
  • •prairiedogged - the feeling of helplessness that overtakes you when co-workers in neighboring cubicles constantly pop their heads up to ask you stupid questions.
  • •
  • •ohnosecond - that very short moment in time during which you realize that you have pressed the wrong key and deleted hours, days, or weeks of work.
  • •
  • •stress puppy - a co-worker who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiney.
Enjoy!!
Posted 20 April 2005 09:00 AM by eking1013 | 1 comment(s)
Woohoo!!

Just 13 more hours to go on my VS2005 Beta 2 download........

What is up with my cable connection tonight? I'm only pulling the Beta down at around ISDN speed. Ah well....... I guess I'll burn it to DVD tomorrow sometime.

Get yours today!!

-Eric.

Posted 19 April 2005 09:27 PM by eking1013 | 3 comment(s)
Are you a Lord of the Rings fan?
I laughed my butt off the first time I saw this......enjoy:



-Eric.
Posted 13 April 2005 10:13 AM by eking1013 | no comments
Our DE is the DA MAN!!
Our regional Developer Evangelist (Steve Loethen) wanted to do something special for his regional community folks. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! He hooked us up with an awesome jacket! Check this thing out. You KNOW the chicks all dig a leather clad developer.

JACKET FRONT IMAGE

JACKET BACK IMAGE

Steve wanted to get something nice for everyone that would last and they could use for long time. THANKS Steve!! This is definately the coolest thing I've gotten in a very long time.

Added Later:
If you're going to be around St. Louis on the 19th, Steve will be presenting to their local .NET User Group.
Posted 13 April 2005 09:18 AM by eking1013 | 1 comment(s)
Phil Woods and Bud Shank - Phenomenal Concert!!
Saturday 4 of piled into the car and drove for 3 1/2 hours to see Phil Woods and Bud Shank in concert at the University of Alabama. It was worth every penny and every minute of the drive.  As a sax player, I  could REALLY appreciate the skill, talent, and technique of these guys.  I just sat there in awe as I listened and just soaked it up. The truly ironic part was to be surrounded by many students who "were just there for some class". I'm not sure that they had any idea what they were witnessing. Phil has been playing a long time (he's 71 years old), and has played with most of the absolute best jazz artists of all time.



Posted 13 April 2005 09:08 AM by eking1013 | no comments
Interested in PodCasting? Here ya go....
I found this on WindowsDevCenter. Check it out.

Create Podcasts Using Your PC by Jake Ludington -- Want to create a podcast? It's simpler than you think. Jake Ludington shows you how to do it using tools virtually everyone has or can easily acquire on a tiny budget.



-Eric.
Posted 06 April 2005 09:24 AM by eking1013 | 1 comment(s)
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