Was this the Microsoft Research showing at TED that had Scoble in tears?

See the video HERE of Photosynth and related technologies that they're working on. Very cool.

[UPDATE: Sounds like a Microsoft Word Wide Telescope Project was this actual thing]

Posted in Rant  | Comments [0] 

Are you thinking about going to Tech Ed in Orlando this June? One of the best parts of the event are the Birds-of-a-Feather sessions put on by the INETA and Culminis communities. They're a lot of fun, and a great chance to chat face to face with peers in the community. Go ahead an submit a topic if you have some ideas, and plan to attend if you're in the neighborhood!

The official info....

Submit your ideas as topics for Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) discussions and volunteer to be a moderator!

According to some of last year's attendees, BOFs were one of the 3 best things about Tech Ed 2007. While it may seem far in the future, it's time to start thinking about topics for the Birds of a Feather sessions at Tech Ed Developers in June.

With the conference split into two consecutive Tech Ed events for the first time this year, INETA is organizing the Birds-of-a-Feather sessions at Tech Ed 2008 Developers in Orlando June 3-6, 2008 while our sister organization, Culminis, is organizing the BOF sessions at Tech Ed IT Professionals, June 10-13.

If you're not familiar with the concept, a Birds-of-a-Feather session is an open discussion lead by a moderator who is not a Microsoft employee. The sessions are not presentations, there are no projectors. Unlike the Keynotes and Breakout sessions which are mostly one to many communication, Birds-of-a-Feather sessions are many to many communication and don't necessarily focus on Microsoft products or technology.  They are about people talking with people - connecting, sharing, networking, and creating community. It's that simple, and that's what we do best.

Over the past several years Birds of a Feather sessions have become fully integrated into the Tech Ed agenda.  This means you'll see them in the online scheduling tool and they'll be listed in the mini-guide.  There will be daytime sessions along with the other conference technical tracks, as well as an All-BOF Night on Wednesday, June 3rd from 6:30 to 9:00 PM.

As a result of this integration, BOF Submissions and Voting close on March 19th!

The BOFs are all about community participation, and community is a critical part of their success. INETA and Culminis solicit session proposals - you submit topics you would like to have discussed - your peers vote on they you want to see as BOF sessions - and then the organizers select, schedule, publicize and organize the Birds-of-a-Feather sessions.  If your BOF topic submission is selected, you are then asked to moderate the session.  You are welcome to submit more than one topic!!  Anyone attending a BOF can contribute to the discussion.

Do your part to continue the community tradition and get involved now!  Here's how you can participate:

1. Get the word out.  Blog about the Call for Topics, or post the Call in forums you participate in.  Let folks know about the voting and about your favorite topics.

2. Propose a Topic. If you're going to be at Tech Ed - if there's a topic you'd like to discuss with your peers and you'd be willing to moderate that discussion- click through and submit the topic.

3. Vote.  Check the Tech Ed Developers BOF Voting Page and as you see topics appear that interest you, vote for them!

4. Stay Tuned. As BOF session ideas come in, they will be added to the Tech Ed Developers BOF Voting Page for you to select. When the Tech Ed Schedule Builder goes live in April, mark your calendars and plan to attend and join in great discussions. We'll also have more to say about how you can volunteer to be a Host at one or more BOF sessions in the next INETA newsletter.

For Instructions check out: http://www.ineta.org/newsletters/misc/2008-02/bof_instructions.pdf

 

Posted in INETA  | Comments [1] 

Are you thinking about going to Tech Ed in Orlando this June? One of the best parts of the event are the Birds-of-a-Feather put on by the INETA and Culminis communities. They're a lot of fun, and a great chance to chat face to face with peers in the community. Go ahead an submit a topic if you have some ideas, and plan to attend if you're in the neighborhood!

The official info....

Submit your ideas as topics for Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) discussions and volunteer to be a moderator!

According to some of last year's attendees, BOFs were one of the 3 best things about Tech Ed 2007. While it may seem far in the future, it's time to start thinking about topics for the Birds of a Feather sessions at Tech Ed Developers in June.

With the conference split into two consecutive Tech Ed events for the first time this year, INETA is organizing the Birds-of-a-Feather sessions at Tech Ed 2008 Developers in Orlando June 3-6, 2008 while our sister organization, Culminis, is organizing the BOF sessions at Tech Ed IT Professionals, June 10-13.

If you're not familiar with the concept, a Birds-of-a-Feather session is an open discussion lead by a moderator who is not a Microsoft employee. The sessions are not presentations, there are no projectors. Unlike the Keynotes and Breakout sessions which are mostly one to many communication, Birds-of-a-Feather sessions are many to many communication and don't necessarily focus on Microsoft products or technology.  They are about people talking with people - connecting, sharing, networking, and creating community. It's that simple, and that's what we do best.

Over the past several years Birds of a Feather sessions have become fully integrated into the Tech Ed agenda.  This means you'll see them in the online scheduling tool and they'll be listed in the mini-guide.  There will be daytime sessions along with the other conference technical tracks, as well as an All-BOF Night on Wednesday, June 3rd from 6:30 to 9:00 PM.

As a result of this integration, BOF Submissions and Voting close on March 19th!

The BOFs are all about community participation, and community is a critical part of their success. INETA and Culminis solicit session proposals - you submit topics you would like to have discussed - your peers vote on they you want to see as BOF sessions - and then the organizers select, schedule, publicize and organize the Birds-of-a-Feather sessions.  If your BOF topic submission is selected, you are then asked to moderate the session.  You are welcome to submit more than one topic!!  Anyone attending a BOF can contribute to the discussion.

Do your part to continue the community tradition and get involved now!  Here's how you can participate:

1. Get the word out.  Blog about the Call for Topics, or post the Call in forums you participate in.  Let folks know about the voting and about your favorite topics.

2. Propose a Topic. If you're going to be at Tech Ed - if there's a topic you'd like to discuss with your peers and you'd be willing to moderate that discussion- click through and submit the topic.

3. Vote.  Check the Tech Ed Developers BOF Voting Page and as you see topics appear that interest you, vote for them!

4. Stay Tuned. As BOF session ideas come in, they will be added to the Tech Ed Developers BOF Voting Page for you to select. When the Tech Ed Schedule Builder goes live in April, mark your calendars and plan to attend and join in great discussions. We'll also have more to say about how you can volunteer to be a Host at one or more BOF sessions in the next INETA newsletter.

For Instructions check out: http://www.ineta.org/newsletters/misc/2008-02/bof_instructions.pdf

 

Posted in INETA  | Comments [1] 

It's going to be an interesting week ahead, with a number of events in the developer world. On Wednesday Feb 27th, Microsoft will begin the "Global Wave" of launch events around the world, starting with a large scale event in Los Angeles. At this event we will see Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 officially launched.

One week later is the Microsoft MIX08 conference where it is anticipated that Microsoft will be showing Silverlight 2 and IE8 for the first time, as well as well as updates to Visual Studio and futures such as the MVC Framework.  (Note that it's apparently "Silverlight 2" now and not Silverlight 2.0. ScottGu has given a few preview details on his blog) I get the feeling that there are a lot of other exciting announcements in the pipe that are being held back and will be made between or during these events. (There is also the TED conference that could preview some new things from Microsoft Research)

Not to be left out of the picture, It also sounds like Adobe will be fighting for attention next week as well as they are expected to release Flex 3 and AIR. We'll save the Flash vs Silverlight debate for another day, but the important fact is that competition in this space is really heating up.

There has been a lot of debate about the future of RIA (Rich Internet Applications or Rich Interactive Applications, or as I prefer to think of it, a way to get Rich on the Internet Again), and what the impact really will be. There are some camps that feel that HTML + JavaScript will be as far as mainstream development goes within the browsers. Personally while I do not think that in the near future every html based site will cease to exist and be replaced by a Silverlight or Flash applications, I do think that these technologies represent some major opportunities for existing sites to add some dramatic enhancements without completely replacing everything that is. My hope is not that we see more of the same, but get to experience some real innovations in user interfaces and the way that information is presented to us.

While some developers/admin users have claimed that they are not willing to install the runtimes for these environments, the reality is that most end users want more interactivity and will gladly click Next, Yes, Yes, Next at the prospect of doing something cool. If the download is quick, and relatively easy they will install it.Smart developers will use ways of gradually introducing enhanced features into their sites.

 

 

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [1] 

I'd like to take this opportunity to say congratulations to two very deserving friends of mine that were recently awarded Regional Director status by Microsoft, Daniel Egan and Jim Duffy. Without going into all the details, (You can learn more here) but let's just say it's a pretty big deal and these guys should be feeling pretty good about their accomplishments. Good job guys! You both deserve it!

Jim received a big round of applause at the Raleigh Code Camp when our DE Brian Hitney made the big announcement. Below is Daniel after receiving the email following an INETA user group presentation he gave in Florida.

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All I can say is that I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO looking forward to attending Microsoft's MIX08 conference this year in Vegas.

One of the coolest things about MIX is how fast they get the sessions videos up online. Last year I remember downloading sessions I missed at the airport to watch on the flight home.

Some current highlights from the schedule that have me tingling are:

Microsoft Silverlight and Dynamic Languages - Learn how the Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) works in Silverlight. Includes an introduction to Microsoft Silverlight for Python and Ruby programmers.

Effective User Interfaces in Windows Presentation Foundation and Microsoft Silverlight - Come see how customizable user interfaces were created by extending XAML in a way that integrates various content formats into a single consistent UI. Learn how to build an effective UI, extend XAML, build a Windows Presentation Foundation and Microsoft Silverlight application that can consume extended XAML, and much more.

Creating Rich, Dynamic User Interfaces with Silverlight 2 - See how to use the Microsoft Silverlight 2 control model to efficiently design and develop custom controls, style existing controls, create control templates, and package your controls for re-use to develop Rich Internet Applications. Also hear about the capabilities for localization and accessibility.

Working with Data and Web Services in Microsoft Silverlight 2 = Learn how easy it is to utilize POX, REST, RSS, ATOM, JSON, and SOAP in your Microsoft Silverlight mashup applications. Also learn how to easily access and display data with Silverlight using LINQ and databinding.

From Flash to Silverlight: A Rosetta Stone - Come learn how Cynergy Systems has been translating skills in Flash/Flex development to Microsoft Silverlight 2 with an eye for great design. Learn how to create custom animation techniques, apply popular Flash tricks to Silverlight, and more.

And there there's the MVC content and the WPF content.... OH.. And what about that IE8 thing?

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Registration for Code Camp RDU on Feb 16, 2008 is almost full. If you're planning to attend this free day of .Net developer training, make sure you register over on the www.trinug.org website.

This year's event has a speaker list including Richard Campbell, Carl Franklin, Mark Dunn, Ken Spencer, Don Demsak, Miguel Castro, Steve Avery, Scott Forsyth, Jim Wooley and many more.

Topics include LINQ, SharePoint, MVC, SIlverlight, ASP.NET AJAX and more.

The last spaces will likely fill up fast so get registered if you're not already. This is an event you will not want to miss!

 

Posted in TRINUG  | Comments [0]