Clark Sell

Developer Smackdown #29 | Google IO with Wade Wegner

Clark Sell — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:56:43 GMT

In this musing Clark and Mark chat with fellow blue badge Wader Wegner. We recap what Wade took in while attending the 2010 Google IO Conference.

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Show Notes

Who is Wade Wegner?

Wade Wegner works for Microsoft, as a Technical Evangelist for the Windows Azure AppFabric. You can follow him at http://www.wadewegner.com or reach him on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wadewegner.

Here is the list of sites and\or resources mentioned in this musing:

Tips and Tricks

Due to the length of the show, we skipped this musings tip or trick.

Developer Smackdown #28 | HTML5 with Brian Hogan

Clark Sell — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:20:26 GMT

In this musing Clark and Mark chat with Pragmatic Bookshelf author Brian Hogan. We explore some of the different aspects of HTML5 and what it offers.

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Show Notes

Who is Brian Hogan?

Brian Hogan has been developing web sites since 1995 as both a consultant for his company New Auburn Personal Computer Services and as a developer at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He has five years of Rails development experience and over ten years of web application development experience with ASP and PHP. He maintains the HTML5 and CSS3 learning tool Rendera, the portfolio site FeelMySkills, code sharing site SnippetStash. He provides small group or one-on-one training and mentoring for developers on topics such as web design, accessibility, Ruby on Rails, test-driven development, and graphic design concepts. He is the author of Web Design for Developers published by the Pragmatic Bookshelf, and has contributed a chapter on Windows deployment to the book Deploying Rails Applications. He is also the co-author of the book "Rails for Windows", published by O'Reilly.

You can catch Brian and all of his great work at:

Here is a great list of resources mentioned in this show:

The following is a short list of books mentioned:

Tips and Tricks

Feature Builder PowerTool
When Can I Use
Rendera

Chicago’s very first GiveCamp kicks off July 9th – 11th at the Microsoft offices in Downers Grove, IL.

Clark Sell — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:50:04 GMT

What is GiveCamp you ask?

GiveCamp is a weekend-long event where technology professionals from designers, developers and database administrators to marketers and web strategists, donate their time to provide solutions for non-profit organizations. Since its inception in 2007, the GiveCamp program has provided benefits to over 150 charities, with a value of developer and designer time exceeding $100,000 in services!

Midwest GiveCamp will be serving the following charities:

My ask of each of you.

We are still looking for volunteers, if you or someone you know is interested please forward this along. Our registration can be found here: http://bit.ly/af9Vrj

If you would like to become a sponsor please contact me directly.

Developer Smackdown #27 | Application Architecture and PowerShell with Steven Murawski

Clark Sell — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:10:25 GMT

In this version, Clark and Mark chat with Steven Murawski and talk a bit about PowerShell. This isn’t a show about what PowerShell is but rather why it should be an upfront design tenant of everyone’s application. architecture.

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Show Notes

Who is Steven Murawski?

I’m the Director for Research and Development for ProPhoenix, a public safety software company. This position allows me to investigate new and existing technologies and incorporate them into our product line, with the end goal being to help public safety agencies to do their jobs more efficiently and safely.

I’m an advocate for PowerShell, as I believe it encourages administrative best practices and allows developers to provide additional access to their applications, without needing to explicitly write code for each administrative feature. Part of my advocacy for PowerShell includes my blog, appearances on various podcasts, and acting as a Community Director for PowerShellCommunity.Org

I’m also a co-host of Mind of Root (a weekly audio podcast about systems administration, tech news, and topics). We stream our show live on UStream.tv on Wednesday evening at 8:30 PM CST.

We started the show off referencing something Clark heard on the ThirstyDeveloper.com. That was show #54 and #64

You can catch Steven and all of his great work at:

Mind of Root
His Blog
PowerShellCommunity.org
Twitter
and of course the Greater Milwaukee PowerShell Script Club

Here is a great list of resources mentioned in this show:

The following is a short list of books Clark finds helpful:

Tips or Tricks

Mark’s tip this week is to check out the Windows PowerShell Quick Reference.

Steve’s tip of the week was more like a plethora of tips. I guess that will make up for the fact Clark was unprepared.

Developer Smackdown #25 | Multi-Touch with Travis Feirtag

Clark Sell — Wed, 26 May 2010 15:22:13 GMT

In this version, Clark and Mark sit down with Travis Feirtag and talk multi-touch. We explore the importance of user experience and what role multi-touch plays in applications today. Of course we dive into what that means to .NET. Listen along as we start touching UX.

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Show Notes

Who is Travis Feirtag you ask?

First and foremost, I am a proud father and loving husband for my wonderful family. My wife, Julie and our four children live in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. It is unbelievable watching our children grow and learn. My chest puffs up with pride when I speak of them. They are the best part of my life.

Secondly, I have been an engineer since I got my first computer when I was ten years old. It is my second love after my family, of course. If there is such a thing as destiny then it was fateful that I have become an engineer. I drive my wife crazy talking about technology. Of course, if our children love tech as much as their dad then mommy is in trouble :)

I have spent many years working, exploring, making mistakes and learning from them. In my opinion, it is truly through our mistakes that we gain the most useful experience in life. I believe that I am open-minded about new technologies but I do not adopt a technology simply because it is new. I have a considerable amount of experience but there always is so much more to know. For the last nine years, I have been spending most of my time using .NET technologies. Microsoft has done their homework when creating the .NET framework. It is the most cohesive set of development technologies from them to date.

I was on the executive committee of the Wisconsin .NET User Group for 3 years. And was the president of the Madison .NET User Group for two years and I now serve on the Board of Directors, which means that I am involved in the regional and national .NET developer community. I have been a full-time engineering consultant in the Southern Wisconsin region for over 10 years now.

You can catch Travis and all of his great work at:

Multi-Touch Screen Types:

Infrared - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared
Resistive - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistive_touchscreen
Capacitive - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitive_sensing

Flick Gestures:

Flick Gestures Explained - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms694980%28VS.85%29.aspx
System.Windows.Input - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms604577%28v=VS.100%29.aspx
Application Gestures - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.ink.applicationgesture%28VS.90%29.aspx
Simple Gesture Sample - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ptorr/archive/2010/03/23/simple-gesture-sample.aspx

Windows Touch Pack - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/whats-the-microsoft-touch-pack-for-windows-7

Looking too start doing development for Windows Phone 7, check out http://Developer.WindowsPhone.com

Bamboo Tablets - http://www.wacom.com/index2.php

The OData Deep Dive with Woody is coming to Chicago and Madison

Clark Sell — Thu, 20 May 2010 00:32:58 GMT

OData Deep Dive with Chris Woodruff

Recommended Audiences:

Solution Architects, Software Developers, Developers, Architects

Abstract

The Open Data Protocol (OData) is an open protocol for sharing data. It provides a way to break down data silos and increase the shared value of data by creating an ecosystem in which data consumers can interoperate with data producers in a way that is far more powerful than currently possible, enabling more applications to make sense of a broader set of data. Every producer and consumer of data that participates in this ecosystem increases its overall value.

OData is consistent with the way the Web works - it makes a deep commitment to URIs for resource identification and commits to an HTTP-based, uniform interface for interacting with those resources (just like the Web). This commitment to core Web principles allows OData to enable a new level of data integration and interoperability across a broad range of clients, servers, services, and tools.

OData is released under the Open Specification Promise to allow anyone to freely interoperate with OData implementations.

In this talk Chris will provide an in depth knowledge to this protocol, how to consume a OData service and finally how to implement an OData service on Windows using the WCF Data Services product.

Agenda

Introductions (5 minutes)
Overview of OData (10 minutes)
The OData Protocol (45 hour)
15 minute break
Producing OData Feeds (1 hour)
15 minute break
Consuming OData Feeds (1 hour)

Dates, Times and Locations

1. Chicago, IL June 21

a. 8:30 am - 12:00 pm

b. Microsoft Offices, Downers Grove, IL

c. http://bit.ly/DownersOData1

2. Chicago June 21

a. 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

b. Microsoft Offices, Downers Grove, IL

c. http://bit.ly/DownersOData2

3. June 22, 2010

a. 8:30 am - 12:00 pm

b. Microsoft MTC, Chicago IL

c. http://bit.ly/MTCOData1

4. June 22 2010

a. 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

b. Microsoft MTC, Chicago IL

c. http://bit.ly/MTCOData2

5. July 7^th 2010

a. 1 pm – 5 pm

b. Herzing College, Madison WI

c. http://bit.ly/MadisonOdata

Bio

Chris Woodruff (or Woody as he is commonly known as) has a degree in Computer Science from Michigan State University’s College of Engineering. Woody has been developing and architecting software solutions for almost 15 years and has worked in many different platforms and tools. He is a community leader, helping such events as Day of .NET Ann Arbor, West Michigan Day of .NET and CodeMash. He was also instrumental in bringing the popular Give Camp event to Western Michigan where technology professionals lend their time and development expertise to assist local non-profits. As a speaker and podcaster, Woody has spoken and discussed a variety of topics, including database design and open source. He is a Microsoft MVP in Data Platform Development. Woody works at RCM Technologies in Grand Rapids, MI as a Principal Consultant.

Woody is the co-host of the popular podcast “Deep Fried Bytes” and blogs at www.chriswoodruff.com. He is the President of the West Michigan .NET User Group and also is a co-founder of the software architecture online portal nPlus1.org.

Woody has worked in many arenas throughout the years, including healthcare, manufacturing, publishing, promotion execution and the automotive industry. He has experience with starting and running new ventures, including past work with technology startups. Woody continues to develop his expertise by learning & developing new technologies to better meet the needs of his clients, while devoting his free time to improving the development community at large, and giving back to the community in which he lives.

Developer Smackdown Musing #24 | TFS Team Build 2010

Clark Sell — Thu, 13 May 2010 20:12:57 GMT

In this version of The Smackdown, Clark and Mark introduce Team Foundation Server’s Team Build 2010.

Listen Here –> Play Now

Show Notes

We still have some Developer Smackdown stickers left. If your interested in one send us a SASE. See the following for more information: http://bit.ly/9XFaF7.

Great Sites:

Tips and Tricks

Debugger Step Through Attribute

When applied, this will tell the debugger to actually skip over even when you are trying to step into.

Get more information here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.diagnostics.debuggerstepthroughattribute.aspx

Visual Studio Tip of the Day Extension

This is a Visual Studio extension to have Visual Studio Tips and Tricks delivered right to your Start Page in Visual Studio.

Get more information here: http://bit.ly/9iRJGJ

Developer Smackdown Musing #23 | Intro to OData

Clark Sell — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:07:34 GMT

In this version of The Smackdown, Clark and Mark introduce OData. Our goal was to simply bring some awareness to what is this thing called OData and how can you start finding more information about it.

Listen Here –> Play Now

Show Notes

Great Sites:

Downloads:

Tips and Tricks

Internet Explorer Feed Reading View

To toggle the the feed reading view of an ATOM or RSS feed in Internet Explorer do the following:

Select Tools
Select Internet Options
Select the Content Tab
Select the Settings button
un-Check the “Turn on feed reading view”

Debugging Silverlight Out of Browser Applications

Silverlight Out-of-Browser Support - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd550721(VS.96).aspx
Channel 9 Silverlight Out-of-Browser debugging video - http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/MSDNSweden/Debugging-Silverlight-4-Out-Of-Browser-applications-in-Visual-Studio-2010/
Silverlight 4 debugging overview - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc838267(VS.96).aspx

DeveloperSmackdown Musing #22 | Why Projects Fail

Clark Sell — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:08:00 GMT

This time we talk about our vast experience with failed projects. Project "X" is the big topic but there were others.

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Show Notes

Why do so many projects fail? Well, in our experience, it has to do with some combination of the following:

Statement of Work
Conditions of Satisfaction
Define "Done"
Define Assumptions
Requirements
- Can change - just not constantly
- Good ones can actually be tested
Use Business Analysts for appropriate context
Build and Deployment: How to get the application created and installed - always underestimated

Cover your ass with detailed status reports (Weekly!)

What did you do this week
What is planned for next week
What did you do that was unplanned (KEY! - This is why you didn't finish everything you planned)
What resources do you need to get the job done
What issues are blocking you

Document, Document, Document!!!

Resources:

Failing project sound effect: http://www.SadTrombone.com

Developer.WindowsPhone.com

Tips or Tricks

Generate from Usage - Visual Studio 2010 Refactoring Tool

iPad is nice but…

Clark Sell — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:26:33 GMT

It’s even better when it has a DeveloperSmackdown.com sticker on the back of it.

This is *NOT* mine, nor do I have one. Having said that, thanks @cjibo for the DeveloperSmackdown.com love!