Archives
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VSTO impressions
Two weeks ago, a did a talk about Visual Studio Tools for the Office System (VSTO) en behalf of MSDN Canada in Quebec City. Here are a few thoughts:
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VS 2005 December CTP available
The December CTP of Visual Studio 2005 is now available to download for MSDN subscribers.
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DevTeach 2005 announced
DevTeach 2005 has been officially announced. June 18-22 2005 in Montreal.
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Wintellect's John Robbins in Montreal 12/14/2005
Montreal Visual Studio User Group next meeting
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VSTO talk in Quebec City
Yesterday, I talked about VSTO at the Quebec City .NET user group for MSDN Canada. It was a fun talk to prepare. I'm impressed about the integration of VSTO 2005 with Visual Studio 2005. The coolest thing is how easy it is to place controls and user controls in the ActionsPane.
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PDC 2005 announced
PDC 2005. It's official: September 13 – 16, 2005 in L.A.
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A Smart Watch for $30 CDN !
Tiger Direct is selling a Smart Watch for $30 CDN !
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MSN Spaces (Beta)
Want to join the blogging world? Check MSN Spaces where you can have your own free blog. Right now it's in Beta.
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Halo 2 RSS Excel Workbook
Want to analyse your Halo 2 performances ? Check this cool Excel Workbook. It grab your stats from Bungie's Website using a RSS link and then crunch and graph the data.
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1 x 19" CRT vs 2 x 17" LCD
Just switched from a 19" CRT monitor to a dual desktop consisting of two 17" LCD monitors. I was surprised how well the drivers are integrated and how easy it is to set and configure two monitors. Of course, I bought a video card with dual VGA outputs so it's a lot easier to set. I just LOVE the real estate!
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BlaBla dotNet : New French radio show
A new Internet radio show is born. BlaBla dotNet is in French and is targeted at French Canadian developers. This initiative comes from Mario Cardinal, a well known architect in the .NET world here in Montreal. Éric Côté is the first guest and his topics are multilingual applications and developers certification.
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Mobile Development with .NET talk at McGill
I'll looking forward to give a talk at McGill in Montreal this Thursday. Here's the info:
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Montreal: Building Smart Client Application using Visual Studio Tools for Office
Les assemblées sont gratuites pour les membres. Un frais de 5$ est exigé pour les non-membres. Le membership est de 25$ par année et vous donne droit à assister aux assemblées mensuelles sans frais. Pas besoin de réserver ou de confirmer votre présence. Vous n'avez qu'à vous présenter le soir de l'assemblée. Des bénévoles seront à la réception pour vous donner tous les renseignements et vous pourrez devenir membre sur place.
Endroit: Locaux de Microsoft au 2000 McGill College, 4e étage (coin de Maisonneuve O.).
Carte du centre-ville
Tournée MSDN Canada
Sujet: Building Smart Client Application using Visual Studio Tools for Office Version 2005
Conférencier: Barry Gervin, ObjectSharp
Notez que cette présentation sera donnée en anglais.
This session provides an overview of how you can use the Visual Studio .NET 2003 project templates provided by Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System to create Smart Client solutions that use Microsoft Office Excel 2003 and Microsoft Office Word 2003. This session will also show the value of InfoPath, how to build solutions and review many of the new features and managed code support. Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 is a hybrid tool that combines the best of a traditional document editing experience, such as a word processor or e-mail application, with the rigorous data-capture capabilities of a forms package. -
Montreal: Team System Talk and Demos
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TechNet Magazine
TechNet has now it's own magazine dedicated to IT stuff.
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Free ASP.NET Webcasts + How to get VB.NET for free
Dive head first into an in-depth, hands-on learning environment with the Microsoft ASP.NET webcast series, and come out a programming guru. We are offering more than 40 hours of free training from October 18–29, 2004. Tune in for valuable advice from industry leaders such as Rob Howard, Carl Franklin, and Ken Getz, who are standing by to answer all of your questions.
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Julia Lerman talk in Montreal
Last Monday, Julia Lerman talked a the Montreal Visual Studio User Group. Her subject was WSE 101. I must say that I learned quite a lot. Julia did a fantastic introduction to security, keys and crypto stuff that you need to know before trying to figure out WSE.
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CRITICAL: ASP.NET Vulnerability
There's a vulnerability with ASP.NET Forms authentification. Check knowledge base 887459 for more information on this threat and how to implement a workaround.
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Montreal Visual Studio User Group October Meeting
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Google for your desktop? Try Copernic Desktop Free
I was sick and tired of searching through my files and emails, spending too much time not finding what I was looking for. I installed LookOut and fell in love. However, there are some limitations. Yesterday, I went to the Copernic Web site to get information on their Enterprise Search product (BTW, it's free for 5,000 documents and less, a real bargain) and found this: Copernic Desktop Search. All I can say is WOW ! It's a small download (2.3MB), and it indexes files, e-mails, email attachments, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, Acrobat PDFs, all popular music, picture and video formats, your browser history, favorites, and contacts. Everything except the kitchen sink!
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Comparing Microsoft .NET and IBM WebSphere/J2EE
Check out this interesting study by Middleware Research comparing .NET and IBM WebSphere/J2EE.
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Forrester Research: The State of Technology Adoption (.NET @ 56%)
Forrester Research recently surveyed 878 IT decision-makers at North American enterprises. Forty-eight percent represent enterprises with 1,000 to 4,999 employees, and 52 percent represent companies with 5,000 or more employees. On average, these enterprises increased their IT budgets by 2.4 percent over 2003, up from the average of 1.7 percent growth projected for 2004 at the end of 2003. This research determined that Microsoft .NET has the edge when it comes to choosing a development platform. In interviewing these enterprise software decision-makers, Forrester found that 56 percent were using .NET as their development platform.
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Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 Special Edition
Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 Special Edition is a limited time offer from Microsoft. It includes VS .NET Pro + Windows Server 2003 + SQL Server 2000 Dev edition + the Office Tools for VS + a set a 4 MCAD/MCSD books + a voucher good for 50% off the price of an exam. All this for $749US or $549US for an upgrade.
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.NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1 problem + fix
Looks like the .NET Framework 1.1 SP1 introduce a problem with the validation controls.
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MSDN Canada User Group Tour - Tomorrow in Montreal
Through September and October, Canadian .NET User Groups are hosting meetings with Microsoft Developer Specialists. You're invite to come and learn more about Building Mobile Applications using the .NET Compact Framework and SQL CE.
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Ken Spencer INETA talks in Montreal
Yesterday, Ken Spencer gave a great talk at the Montreal Visual Studio user group. He his speaking again tonight, this time at the .NET Architects UG. If you're in town, don't miss it !
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Features postponed for ASP.NET 2.0 Beta 2
If you're already developing on ASP.NET 2.0 Beta 1, be sure to check this article that describe a few feature changes that may affect you.
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Sharepoint (Portal & Services) SP1 available
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New service packs for the .NET Framework are available
New service packs for the .NET Framework are available for download right now.
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I've been SP2ed !
I installed XP SP2 on a few machines and I was surprised how smooth the installations went. No probs at all. Even my Norton AntiVirus updated itself this morning and is now monitored by the OS.
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We're Hiring (Montreal, Canada)
The company where I work is hiring. We are looking for two senior C# Web developers, a Solution Architect and an Infrastructure specialist (MCSE). Experience with Microsoft server products like Commerce Server, Content Management Server and SharePoint Portal is a big big big plus.
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The .NET Rocks! Tablet PC Listener Giveaway
Carl is giving away a Tablet PC. Not just a Tablet PC, THE Tablet PC.
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Bunch of new downloads
A bunch of new downloads appeared this week. This should keep us busy for a few days ;-)
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Adventures in BizTalkLand - Part 3
After installing BizTalk on a VPC running Windows Server 2003, I started doing the tutorials that can be downloaded from the BizTalk Website. The first one went without a glitch but I failed to make the second one work in part because I didn't knew all the BizTalk concepts at that point. So I decided to do some reading. Well, the only reading that I could find was the documentation in the form of the help file (that I updated with the latest refresh of course).
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Adventures in BizTalkLand - Part 2
After my failed attempt at installing BizTalk 2004 onto XP, I prepared a VPC running Windows Server 2003 and went back to the BizTalk installation guide.
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Adventures in BizTalkLand - Part 1
I thought it would be cool to document the learning process I will go trough learning BizTalk 2004. At least, I'll have some form of trace that I can share with others at a later time.
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Any suggestions for Biztalk 2004 self-paced learning?
Looking for ideas on how to learn Biztalk 2004 from scratch. Yes I know, I should read the damn manual but beside of that, any suggestions for self-paced learning? What worked for you?
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.NET Framework 1.0 SP3 and 1.1 SP1 Technical Preview
Microsoft has released tech preview of service packs for the .NET Framework 1.0 and 1.1.
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Book review: Microsoft .Net and J2EE Interoperability Toolkit
Microsoft .Net and J2EE Interoperability Toolkit
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Book review: C# for Java Developers
C# for Java Developers
Authors: Allen Jones, Adam Freeman
Publisher: Microsoft Press
ISBN: 0-735-61779-1
Retail Price: $49.99 US, $72.99 CDN
Publication Date: September 2002
Paperback: 548 pagesOnline information: Table of content, Index, Chapter 9
URL: http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/6173.asp -
I'm a brand new MVP !
Just got news that I'm a brand new MVP (ASP/ASP.NET). Yipee !
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Ladybug is now flying (MSDN Product Feedback site)
The MSDN Product Feedback site (code named Ladybug) was launched today. You can now send suggestions and bugs to Microsoft using this tool. Even better you'll be able to track the status of the bug/suggestion, post and see workarounds.
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Visual Studio 2005 Beta 1 Availability
Today at TechEd Amsterdam, Microsoft announced the availability of the Beta 1 of Visual Studio 2005.
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Visual Studio 2005 Express Beta Products
Today, Microsoft announced at TechEd Amsterdam new products in the Visual Studio family: the Express line of products.
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We're hiring ! (Montreal, Canada)
The company where I work is hiring. We are looking for good C# Web developers, a Solution Architect and an Infrastructure Architect. Experience with Microsoft server products like Commerce Server, Content Management Server and SharePoint Portal is a big big big plus.
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Ten Must-Have Tools Every Developer Should Download Now
The July 2004 issue of MSDN Magazine has a great article on 10 tools that every .NET developer should use.
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SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services Service Pack 1
Now available for download.
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MSN Announces Comprehensive Worldwide Upgrade to MSN Hotmail
Basically the free account will have 250MB storage and the premium will have 2GB for $20/year.
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Visual Studio Google Search Macro
A very cool alternative to search for Visual Studio help....A Google search macro for Visual Studio. Highlight your code, press Alt-F1 and voilà !
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TechEd 2004 Sessions Online and Free !
The TechEd 2004 San Diego sessions are now available to view online...free of charge!
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Smart Client Developer Center
Another great ressource for developers who buid Smart Clients, the Smart Client Developer Center on MSDN.
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Visual Basic Power Pack
If you make Smart apps (C# or VB), check the Visual Basic Power Pack on GotDotNet. It's a set of 8 user controls that will add some sizzle to your apps.
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DevTeach thoughts
I finally recovered from DevTeach where I gave two talks. One on Mobile development with the .NET Compact Framework and the other one on the new SQL Server 2005 features for developers.
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DataGrid Girl - DevTeach Talk
Marcie (the DataGrid Girl or the Femme de Grille d'informatique) is speaking at this moment at DevTeach in Montreal and we're having so much fun. She's an unique individual. If you look at her Website, you get a good idea of her personality. If she's speaking at a conference that you attend, make sure you catch her sessions.
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Addicted to OneNote
Can't live without OneNote anymore. It's such a nice tool, simple and right to the point.
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OT: Kraftwerk live in Montreal
Slightly out of topic but technologically (and musically) interesting…
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Sysprep, Virtual PC's best friend
I discovered Sysprep recently while discussing with some Virtual PC product team members at the MVP Summit. Basically I wanted to install and set one XP virtual machine and use it multiple times. The problem is when you need to run two virtual machines at the same time; they have the same name.
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MSDN Deep Dive: .NET For Java Developers
I you live in the Montreal, Canada area and want to convert some Java developers friends to .NET, tomorrow there's a free MSDN event:
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MVP Summit Thoughts
Yes I know that I'm late but here are my thoughts about the MVP Summit 2004.
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Rod Paddock, editor of CoDe Magazine, to talk at the Montreal Visual Studio UG
Rod Paddock, editor of CoDe Magazine will talk next Monday at the Montreal Visual Studio User Group about Wikis and how to create them. -
Jason Beres' talk in Montreal
Yesterday, Jason Beres talked at the Montreal Visual Studio User Group. Jason has written a few books, is an INETA speaker and now works for Infragistics. Jason's talk was Writing an n-Tier Windows Forms Application.
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DevTeach 2004 spouse program announced
The DevTeach 2004 spouse program announced was announced this week. It's a great way to go to a developers conference and bring your spouse along with you. Montreal is such a beautiful city in the summertime.
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Topica Email Publisher Service
The GUVSM is hosted at Brinkster and we were sending the monthly emails to our members using their SMTP server but since they moved us onto a different server, we simply can't send emails to our mailing list anymore. Looks like they limit the number of emails that are being sent.
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.NET Book Review: Microsoft .NET Compact Framework Kick Start
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.NET Book Review: Building Solutions with the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework: Architecture and Best Practices for Mobile Development
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MSDN Security Briefing - Toronto
I attended the MSDN Security Briefing in Toronto Wednesday. Paul Murphy, a developers evangelist, presented four sessions on security for developers. The Toronto Congress Center was packed with 1200 developers and the event was organized by MSDN Canada. I really appreciated the content and the message that Paul presented. For those interested, check his Website where you'll find the PowerPoints and the demo code.
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Yukon Presentation at SSMUG
Last Monday, I presented the new developer's features of Yukon at the Montreal SQL Server User Group. I was focusing on the CLR integration.
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Book Reviews
I forgot to mention that the book reviews are from my column on an online magazine called the UniversalThread Magazine.
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January .NET Books
In case you just woke up, here’s a quick reminder: it is already 2004! What’s so special about 2004 ? It’s the year we should see the release of the new version of the .NET Framework (code name Whidbey) along with new versions of Visual Studio .NET, ASP.NET and even a new version of SQL Server (code name Yukon). All of the products were unveiled at the last Microsoft Professional Developers (PDC) Conference that took place in October 2003 and already we’re beginning to see books on the bookstores shelves that are focusing on these new technologies. This month, I’ll review two books that talk about ASP.NET 2.0. Keep in mind that those books are based on Alpha versions of ASP.NET and Visual Studio .NET and things may change from the time the products will reach Beta. For those interested on the PDC, check my coverage of the conference at http://www.universalthread.com/Conferences/PDC/2003/
The Wow factor is pretty high here. The new stuff is so cool, the only drawback of such early books is that we still have to wait a year before Whidbey ships. For those who don’t have access to the developers preview (the alpha) of Whidbey, don’t despair, both books have a multitude of screenshots so that you can easily see the new features. Finally, you may wonder is it worth it to read books on such early technology. In this case, the answer is yes because the changes that will ship in Whidbey will definitively affect the way you develop Web applications in the near future. -
February .NET Books
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Yukon UDT - Case Sensitive
While preparing for a talk on Yukon for the Montreal SQL Server UG, I found something interesting. I used Peter W. DeBetta code from his MSDN Magazine February article on UDTs.
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Bonjour and welcome
Here's the official bio ;-)