Chris Bowen (Archive Blog)

Blog Moved (to http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen)

chris_p_bowen — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 15:38:00 GMT

I've decided to no longer cross-post to this blog, so please update your subscriptions to http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen

Thanks!
Chris

SharePoint Mini Code Camp - February 24th - Waltham, MA

chris_p_bowen — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:44:43 GMT

Learn all about the exciting new version of SharePoint!

Microsoft New England District
201 Jones Rd, 6th Floor, Waltham, MA

Next Saturday (February 24th), join Robert Holmes and select other presenters from 8:30 to 6:00 PM when they will be presenting all aspects of the new SharePoint products, Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007. This Mini Code Camp will focus on the new aspects of the product line, however we will start with an introduction to Team Services (WSS), and work up from there, and the goal is for anyone present for the whole day will leave with the knowledge of what is possible with the product, and the ability to sit down and get started on a new implementation of a SharePoint solution, or extend an existing one. You can review the schedule to see what specific areas are of interest to you, or else spend the whole day and learn all there is to learn.

It should be a great time! Hope to see you there.

-Chris

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

Announcing Bob and Chris' MSDN Roadshow!

chris_p_bowen — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 13:33:00 GMT

Bob Familiar and I are busting out of our home bases in Massachusetts and taking our long-winded rants and questionable demos on the roads across the Northeast! In the coming weeks, we'll be bringing the latest in developer- and architect-focused content to a town near you.

Join us for a full day of no-fluff deep technical content, plenty of code, 100% guaranteed-to-run demos*, and of course giveaways throughout with a chance to win a Zune at day's end! [* We'll define "run" as we go.]

Roadshow Schedule and Registration

Rochester, NY	February 27^th, 2007	8:30am-4:00pm	Click Here to Register!
Burlington, VT	March 1^st, 2007	8:30am-4:00pm	Click Here to Register!
Portland, ME	March 6^th, 2007	8:30am-4:00pm	Click Here to Register!
Manchester, NH	March 8^th, 2007	8:30am-4:00pm	Click Here to Register!
Farmington, CT	March 20^th, 2007	8:30am-4:00pm	Click Here to Register!

Event Agenda

For this tour, we're focusing on all things .Net Framework 3.0. Here's the agenda:

08:30am – Arrive, check in, grab a nosh and a seat

09:00 – 10:15 – Windows Communication Foundation

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is Microsoft's unified framework for building secure, reliable, transacted, and interoperable distributed applications. Learn how to leverage the new features in Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) to make a smooth transition to a service-orientation. The capabilities exposed through this new addition to the .NET framework will enable the core building blocks of connected systems such as data & service contracts, security, reliability, administration, and management

10:15 – 10:30 – Take a break and communicate

10:30 – 12:00 – Windows CardSpaces

Windows CardSpace enables users to provide their digital identities in a familiar, secure and easy way. In the physical world we use business cards, credit cards and membership cards. Online with CardSpace we use a variety of virtual cards to identify ourselves, each retrieving data from an identity provider. Don't struggle with usernames and passwords, just choose an information card! This session will delve into the architecture and implementation of CardSpaces.

12:00-01:00 – Grab a lunch and ponder your identity

01:00 – 02:15 –Workflow Foundation

Workflow Foundation (WF), a component of the .NET Framework 3.0, enables you to quickly and reliably implement workflows and business rules in your applications. WF provides a framework for constructing sequential and state-machine based workflows for any .NET application or service and includes tools to effectively manage and modify those workflows. In this session, we'll introduce the major concepts and purpose of WF, demonstrate the creation and maintenance of workflows with Visual Studio 2005, and show the potential uses of workflows within your applications.

02:15-02:30 – Take a break and go with the flow

02:30 – 03:45 – Windows Presentation Foundation

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is Microsoft’s new strategic User Interface technology designed to provide richer, high-fidelity, applications using an optimized developer/designer workflow. Learn how to leverage the new features in WPF such as XAML to create visually stunning interfaces to enhance capabilities and user experience of your applications.

03:45 – 04:00 – Zune Giveaway

-Chris

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

TechEd 2007 Registration Now Open

chris_p_bowen — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 22:26:13 GMT

Early-bird registration for TechEd 2007 is now open until April 7th. TechEd will be held in Orlando on June 4th-8th.

http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2007

There is also a special VIP Sweepstakes. Register by March 8 and be entered to win:

A 6-day, 5-night stay in a hotel suite with priority check-in
VIP treatment at the Tech·Ed 2007 attendee party
Front-row seating at the keynote session

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

Code Camp 7 - Registration Open!

chris_p_bowen — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 01:52:00 GMT

Attendee registration has just been opened for Code Camp 7 - "Deer in Headlights"! Go to TheDevCommunity.org and reserve your slot!

As I mentioned earlier, Code Camp 7 will be on March 31st and April 1st at the Microsoft office in Waltham, MA and is always a fantastic opportunity for learning, fun, and networking.

Look for speaker/session registration to be open in February.

-Chris

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

Upcoming Developer Events in the Northeast

chris_p_bowen — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:51:01 GMT

Here are some upcoming events and user group meetings for developers in the Northeast. Know of other events or user group meetings? Please let me know!

Connecticut

January 23
Connecticut .NET User Group
"Developing with Windows Presentation Foundation" - John Pelak

February 12, 10:30 - 3:30 PM
Microsoft arcCouncil - Farmington, CT
"Web 2.0"

February 22
Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange 2007 Launch Event - Cromwell, CT

Massachusetts

January 24
Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange 2007 Launch Event
Boston Convention Center

February 1, 5:30 - 7:30 PM
Beantown .NET User Group
"Implementing SOA Design Patterns with .NET" - Rob Daigneau

February 1, 6:15 - 8:30 PM
New England Visual Basic Professionals
"Introduction to Workflow Foundation" - Susan Wisowaty

February 6
Western Mass .NET Users Group
"Little is Big Again - Writing a Managed Mobile Application in .NET" - Steve Hawley

February 8, 6:30 PM
New England SQL Server User Group
"Developer-Centric SQL Server Topic [TBA]" - Adam Machanic

February 12, 10:30 - 3:30 PM
Microsoft arcCouncil - Waltham, MA
"Web 2.0"

February 13, 5:30 - 8:30
C# User Group of Greater Boston
"SharePoint Development with C#" - Robert Holmes

February 14, 5:00 - 8:30
Boston .NET User Group
".NET 101" - 5:00 - 6:00 PM
"Building Applications with Windows Workflow Foundation" - Michael Stiefel - 6:30 - 8:30

February 15, 5:30 - 7:30
Team System Public User Group
Topic TBA, but a copy of Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite will be raffled away!

February 21, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Boston .NET Architecture Study Group
[Topic TBA]

February 24
Microsoft Office SharePoint Mini Code Camp
More details coming soon!

March 31st & April 1st
Code Camp 7 - "Deer in Headlights"
More details coming soon!

Maine

February 13
Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange 2007 Launch Event - Portland, ME

New Hampshire

February 7, 7:00 PM
New Hampshire SQL Users Group
[Topic TBA]

February 15
Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange 2007 Launch Event - Nashua, NH

February 15
New Hampshire .NET User Group
[Topic TBA]

New York (Upstate)

February 7, 6:00 PM
Central New York .NET Developer Group
"WPF Overview" - Greg Smalter

February 13
Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange 2007 Launch Event - Rochester, NY

February 15
Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange 2007 Launch Event - Albany, NY

Rhode Island

February 7, 5:00 - 8:00 PM
Rhode Island .NET Users Group
"Building Web Applications with AJAX" - Stuart Jones

Vermont

February 12, 6:00 - 8:30
Vermont .NET User Group
VTdotNET's 5th Anniversary!
"Data Driven Websites with LINQ to SQL" - Julie Lerman

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

Reminder - Blog Moved

chris_p_bowen — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:10:00 GMT

Just a reminder that my main blog is now at:

http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen
http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen/rss.xml

The future of this one is uncertain as it's a bit of a chore to keep the content synchronized.

Thanks,
Chris

Going Global

chris_p_bowen — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 18:19:00 GMT

I recently received a small package from Wiley. I opened it to find a copy of my book (Professional Visual Studio 2005 Team System.) Only this copy seemed... different. Why is Anaya Multimedia also listed on the cover? Why is "Professional" spelled "Profesional"?

It turns out our friends at Anaya in Madrid have been at work translating the book into a Spanish language edition. Very cool!

Everything from the chapter content, screenshots, and code comments, to the bios and acknowledgements have been translated. Need a chapter on unit testing? Try "Preuebas unitarias con el framework de pruebas unitarias"! Test case management? "Administracion de un caso de prueba".

It's a strange yet interesting thing to see your words when they aren't your words.

Hasta leugo!

-Chris

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

Save the Dates: Code Camp 7 - Deer in Headlights

chris_p_bowen — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 05:08:00 GMT

I'm happy to announce we've finalized the dates for the next round of the Code Camp that started it all!

New England's Code Camp 7 - "Deer In Headlights" will be held the weekend of March 31st and April 1st at Microsoft's Waltham, MA office. Look for some changes to "the usual" this time around!

Haven't been to a Code Camp before? They're free events, held outside of work hours, that are a chance for regional .NET communities to gather and to learn from each other. High signal, low marketing. Code aplenty, slides afew. Check out the Code Camp Manifesto for the brief list of the Code Camp guiding principles.

The relaxed atmosphere of Code Camps is also a great way to break into practice of public speaking. If you've been considering giving it a try, this will be the perfect opportunity.

Mark your calendars and stay tuned for event registration and speaker submission details!

-Chris

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

My Turn for the 5 Things Tagging Meme

chris_p_bowen — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 05:54:00 GMT

Okay, I'm the last of Andy Beaulieu's group of 5 tagees to blog five things that people probably didn't know about me. So, to curtail any further guilt (and to replace it with shame?), here we go:

I'm a very big fan of craft beer. I love checking out the latest offerings from Dogfish Head, Avery, AleSmith, Rogue, Stone, etc. In fact, if you're in the Boston area, check out the Extreme Beer Fest. I'll be there on 2/10 and sleeping on 2/11.
My older daughter and I are reading through the Harry Potter series together. Of course, when you read in 15-20 minute chunks at bedtime, it takes a while. Halfway through book 4... Go Gryffindor!
Unusual skill that I'm not particularly good at - glassblowing. I have a collection of misshapen cups and random whatchamicallits to prove it.
I started programming as a wee lad in 1979. "101 Basic Games" was one of the first books that sped me on the way. Ah, the fun of Boxing and hunting the Wumpus in full text-based glory.
I can bend my left thumb back so it is parallel with my index finger - pointing the other way. Good for entertaining audiences when my demos fail. Used frequently.

Well there you have it. I'll try to find time later to come back and tag five other people who haven't been tagged yet, but I wanted to get this post up now to complete Andy's group.

-Chris

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

Boston Vista, Office 2007, Exchange 2007 Launch Event - 1/24/07

chris_p_bowen — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 20:51:00 GMT

Boston is one of the key launch cities for the upcoming Vista, Office 2007, Exchange 2007 launch series. The launch will be held at the Boston Convention Center on January 24th.

Some highlights:

Attendees will get a free copy of Office 2007 Professional and Office Groove 2007
Breakout sessions for developers, IT pros, and technology decision makers
Keynote with Ron Markezich (VP, Microsoft Managed Solutions)
Expo hall with Ask the Experts and Microsoft and Partner Paviliions
Opportunity to test drive the new products
Bumping into your friendly local Developer Evangelist :)

Full agenda

Registration is required - Developer or IT Professional | Technology Decision Maker

If you can't attend the Boston launch, there will be a number of regional launch events as well. Northeast events are:

South Portland, ME - 2/13
Rochester, NY - 2/13
Nashua, NH - 2/15
Albany, NY - 2/15
Comwell, CT - 2/22

You can find details on these events here.

-Chris

P.S. Keep in mind this is the new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (if you attended the Visual Studio 2005 launch event - same place) and not the Hynes CC.

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

Speaking on WF at Rhode Island .NET User Group - 1/3/2007

chris_p_bowen — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 03:09:06 GMT

I will be giving a session on Windows Workflow Foundation for the Rhode Island .NET User Group tomorrow night, January 3rd, from 6-8 PM at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. There is also a social hour from 5-6 with soda and pizza.

Here is the abstract:

Workflow Foundation (WF), a component of the .NET Framework 3.0, enables you to quickly and reliably implement workflows and business rules in your applications. WF provides a framework for constructing sequential and state-machine based workflows for any .NET application or service and includes tools to effectively manage and modify those workflows. In this session, we'll introduce the major concepts and purpose of WF, demonstrate the creation and maintenance of workflows with Visual Studio 2005, and show the potential uses of workflows within your applications.

The group requests an RSVP if you plan to attend. Hope to see you there!

-Chris

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

Visual Studio Windows PowerShell Templates

chris_p_bowen — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 18:50:55 GMT

I've written a few PowerShell CmdLets over the past year or so and, while it isn't difficult, there is a fair amount of boilerplate work that needs to be done - adding references, implementing PSCmdLet and PSCustomSnapIn, etc.

So, Channel 9 to the rescue, where David Aiken posts word of Windows PowerShell templates available for Visual Studio 2005:

This Visual Studio template adds a C# and/or VB.NET project template for building Windows PowerShell Cmdlets and item templates in both languages to build CmdLet derived and PSCmdLet derived Windows PowerShell Cmdlets.

Thanks to Don Jones for pointing out the link in his post on CmdLet creation.

-Chris

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

Enterprise Library 3.0 CTP Released

chris_p_bowen — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 04:18:58 GMT

Hot off the press, the Patterns & Practices team's Tom Hollander has announced the availability of the first Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Enterprise Library v3.0!

Download it from the new CodePlex site at http://www.codeplex.com/entlib.

Some highlights from Tom's post:

Core

Source Code installer

Partial Trust Support

Strong-Named Binary Assemblies

Validation Application Block

Core validation API

Minimal Validator Library

Attaching validators to objects via attributes

Attaching validators to objects via configuration

Not included yet (but in the works): Configuration tool support, complete validator library, integration with ASP.NET, Windows Forms, WCF etc.

Data Access Application Block

SQL Server Compact Edition Support

New Database.UpdateDatabase overload with updateBatchSize parameter

Configuration Tool

Visual Studio IDE integration

AppSettings support

Encryption support

Application Block Software Factory

Templates and recipes for creating application blocks and provider libraries

Preliminary documentation

Strong Naming Guidance Package

Recipes to assist in strong-naming and updating [InternalsVisibleTo] across multiple projects

Don't forget to be among the first to provide feedback for the team via the CodePlex forums.

-Chris

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]

Team System Public User Group Meeting - Dec. 21st

chris_p_bowen — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 16:08:00 GMT

The Boston area's newest user group, the Team System Public User Group, will be having its first meeting at the Microsoft Office at 201 Jones Road, Waltham this Thursday (12/21) from 5:30-7:30.

Agenda from the site:

This meeting will kick off the user group as a whole and a presentation and discussion:

"The State of Team System"
A discussion and exposure of various Visual Studio Team System initiatives inside and outside of Microsoft. Expect discussion of SP1 which is imminent in its release. A lot of focus will be placed on an inventory of “Collaborative Community Source” projects and commercial third party applications as well.

For more information about the group and meeting, see Michael Ruminer's post on the new group. From Michael's post:

This months meeting will focus on a meet and greet and then a presentation/discussion of existing initiatives around VSTS/TFS both inside and outside Microsoft and both third party commercial and collaborative source projects that exist out there. Are you involved in any? Do you know of any? Do you have a special project you'd like to start up? If so bring that info along so that if my inventory misses it you can fill us all in.

-Chris

[Cross-posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen]