ISerializable - Roy Osherove's Blog

"Rory has some great .Net knowledge that wasn't exposed in the interview. Why?"

They actually did try to engage me on technical topics, but I was so nervous that I could hardly see straight, let alone think :)

There were things that I wanted to talk about, and I had planned to bring them up, but my mind went blank during the recording. It was the first time I had ever done an interview like that, and I just sort of did my best under the circumstances.

It also doesn't help that I'm a huge fan of the show (that's not ass kissing, by the way - when the show first came out, I was really happy that there was a community effort to give developers a voice - I loved the format, the ideas, and the people - getting to be on the show was a truly exciting thing for me that I had never expected would actually happen, and I'm very thankful to have had the chance to take part).

Being a big fan made me a bit more nervous than I should have been.

So, yeah - I think that most of your concerns can be addressed by the fact that I was an interview virgin whose brain was going nuts with excitement. The previous two shows had plenty of good technical content, so I don't think the show is headed downhill or anything ;)

Then again, I love the non-technical content on there. I already know that Don Box is a smarty-man, so I wanted to experience a side of him that we don't usually get to see when he's writing/presenting. Same thing with the other developers. I want to know what makes them tick, and when they talk about things *other* than code, I feel like I'm getting a glimpse into a small bit of their worlds outside communion with a PC, which is cool.

I'm not arguing with you, of course :) (I'm using extra smileys to ensure that the proper tone comes across). "It takes all kinds" to make a community, and we are two coders who differ slightly in taste, but I totally understand where you're coming from.

And, yeah - I'm also going to miss Mark... We definitely agree on that.

"Hey, I love Microsoft technologies, but is it just me or was the show sounding like an orgy of ass kissing from both sides to each other and to Microsoft?"

I just remembered this comment, and wanted to make sure that I addressed it.

What sounded like ass kissing was my *genuine* love of MS dev tools and products.

I've been coding for about 80% of the time I've been on this planet. I've dealt with BASIC, Pascal, C, C++, Objective-C, Java, Python, Assembly, and .NET.

The *truth* is that I've never encountered anything that I've loved so much as .NET, and I've loved many tools. My excitement for this stuff is very real - if it weren't, then I sure wouldn't be doing this whole blogging thing :) If I did the math, I'd probably see that I spend almost all of my time dedicated to this community. Friends and family wonder about where I've gone, and it's not like I don't love *them*. It's just that I get really passionate about this stuff, and want to get other people excited, too.

I can see how it could be mistaken for ass kissing, but I'm seriously *that* interested in this stuff, and I've been having such a great time for the past few months, having had the chance to meet a lot of the people I've quietly worshipped from between book covers. These past few months have given me the chance to help define this totally weird community of which I constitute one small part, and the joy has caused me to say a lot of nice stuff about many of the nice people I've met.

I guess I'm just happy, and it shows :)

I do say the occasional bad thing about MS, but only when I'm being critical for the sake of trying to improve something (as you're doing now).

However, there's a time and place for everything, and I didn't see myself helping out much by stopping the show to grumble for a while.

It's funny - I was thinking about the show earlier today, and was trying to figure out when somebody was going to call my enthusiasm into question. This thought entered my mind: "It's much easier to say something acceptably negative than it is to say something acceptably positive." People don't cut you as much slack for the latter...

Anyway, I'll stop. I'm just writing this stuff because you happen to be someone I respect, and I wanted to "clear my name" so to speak.

Ok. I know there was no real ass-kissing taking place. You are all smart thinking people and you do what you love (as do I). But what I meant to say was that the show had too much "I love this I love that aI love you" rather than actual content. Which is a shame. Sure, it's nice to relax once in a while with a totally non technichal interview but even a non technical interview should include questions, not famous quotes. Am I wrong? Yes it's a matter of taste, but hey, for me, with you on the show, it could have been a whole lot better.
Just my 2 cents.
It does not mean I don't read your blog, because I do, and love it. It does not mean I do't like .Net rocks, because I do, and sometimes you want to hear criticism from lovers, IMHO. Better than listening to it from haters..
Anyway, As a .Net rocks show, I did not want to see "Neopoleon on the radio" but wanted to see the real Rory, which sometimes I bet is not that funny but has a serious side. Talking about real issues you had with .Net. Just saying how much everything is wonderful makes for a boring show, to me.

I don't know, Roy. I think you missed a few minutes of the show! Rory discussed his involvement in non-MS technologies and why he (a wacked, but extremely brainy guy) chose Microsoft. I didn't want to know the long story of his evolution, "just the facts, m'am." It definitely worked for me as a MS developer.

And Rory's discussion of his Compact Framework app, how he "was hoping other parts of his body would go numb (!!)" didn't go into the nuts-and-bolts of building a compact framework app, but it triggered the techie in me to think in CE terms.

The incident of using Mapquest and a laptop at the airport (I forget the particulars) to select an alternative to a cancelled flight was a technical reference, seemed to me.

And it was great to hear Carl re-read that post about WinFS and the Porn Collection was priceless! And darn applicable, too!

I don't want to hear about interfaces or contextobjects or such things in a .NET Rocks show. I'll get that at MSDN, but as was already mentioned, experiencing the human element is particularly beneficial to other barely socially functional nerds like myself who tune in for more than page_load{}.

No, I definitely thought the show was .NET technology sufficient.

Disclaimer: I love Microsoft. I love Carl. I love Rory. :-)

Thanks for your post, Roy.

I was a bit annoyed at the show, too. A couple times, when Rory was getting into some technical-related dialoge, he was interrupted so that the conversation could be steered back towards the comedic entertainment that it seemed like he was there for.

I think '.NET Rocks' can do with a rating system - 'stars', 'thumbs-up' or similar. At the end of year, we can have our own Oscars!

You people should get your own shows! <g>

Hey Carl. I like your show. Hope you don't mind a little criticism <g>

I listened to the show while I worked . . . funny enough to keep me interested, not so technical as to distract me. Good bang for my buck . . .

I guess you can't argue with taste, can you? :)

sorry - but Carl's comment still has me laughing

Roy,

I will certainly miss doing the show. I have too many irons in the fire these days and something had to give. Keep listening and keep that constructive criticism going.

Cheers,

-Mark

DNR is going downhill...