Events
Events
Microsoft will begin running SQL Server 2005 webcasts on December 6th. Initially, there will be 15 webcasts that introduce the new features of SQL 2005. Starting in January, they will be showing at least 1 webcast per week, focusing on specific developer topics.
Everyone who attends a webcast will receive a copy of the Beta 2 Resource Kit. They will also receive a copy of the Beta 3 Resource kit when it ships. In addition, the first 1,500 people to watch 5 or more webcasts will receive a special SQL 2005 t-shirt. All webcast viewers will be entered in a drawing to win an XBox. (One XBox for each day of the week.)
Full rules can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/SQL/WebcastRules.aspx.
The webcasts can be viewed at http://msdn.microsoft.com/SQL/2005Webcasts.
Jon Box, Ron Hostetter, and I presented more good security content at the Birmingham Developer Days last week. Joe Healy of Microsoft organized the show, and did a great job. There were good questions, good information, and cool prizes galore. (Thanks for the better-than-normal lunch food, Joe) Joe set us up in a really nice hotel, treated us to some really good Mexican chow one night, and great BBQ then next. All you Microsoft users in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi have a great connection in Joe. You all should meet him when you can.
Microsoft gave out some pretty cool floaty hourglass things to the attendees. I was really surprised when the airline let me take one home with me on the plane. I showed them the paperwork, where it said that the hourglass was very fragile and contains flammable, toxic, caustic liquid. Hmmm. I guess I won't let my son play with that....
I also got to meet Russ Fustino, of Russ' ToolShed fame. (Go here for a picture and bio.) I love his presentation method, music and all. There is a lot that I could learn from him. I've never seen a presentation where the presenter comes with their own theme music! Cool stuff, Russ.
I just completed my last Security Summit. This also happens to be the last one scheduled for Microsoft too. This time it was in Seattle, and it was a good one. We were on the fourth floor of a pretty cool convention center.
This time there was a vendor that sells a product called “Enterprise Configuration Monitor” that looks pretty cool. It “actively scans and updates configurations and patches, performs audits, and hardens your system.” In short, it helps automate system configuration settings that an admin might miss. The guys at the booth were great, so I thought I would give them a plug here. Go to www.configuresoft.com for more information. Thanks for the info guys!
Finally, as I always do, I want to thank those attendees that contributed to the conversation. There were quite a few excellent questions raised, which makes the whole process better for all concerned.
Now, I go back to Memphis, so I can have a whole half-week to get ready for Birmingham DevDays!
Yes, another Security Summit. As always, I learned some new tricks, even while teaching the attendees. My favorite was while running a demo on one of my VPCs. The keyboard completely locked up, and nothing I did could correct this. (Having your PC lock up during a demo, in front of hundreds of people, is not a good feeling.) One of the attendees asked me to try pressing the left control key. I did, and the keyboard started working again. I will definitely remember this little trick.
As always, I want to thank a couple of the attendees for their participation. You know who you are! I really prefer leading a discussion group, rather than a simple lecture. Pratical experience beats rote knowlege every time!
I presented the Web Track for the Microsoft Security Summit in Charlotte, NC this Wednesday. I don't believe that any of the attendees left that day without learning something. I was not the only one talking either; the attendees contributed many important points. I want to thank them all for their insights.
I will be presenting at two more summits: St. Louis and Seattle. Go to the official website and register for one of these events. They are free, you get to miss a day of work, and you will receive invaluable information about application security.
Microsoft is presenting a FREE full-day security summit in 20 cities across the country. You can check out the specifics at the official web site. There will be two tracks for the infrastucture types, and one for us developers. I will personally be presenting all four sessions of the development track in three of the cities; Charlotte, St. Louis, and Seattle. Come by and say hi!
In the development track, I will show you some common threats and how to defend against them. We will discuss threat modeling and introduce some established best practices for writing secure code. We will also discuss how to use features of the .NET framework to further secure your application.
Wouldn't you like to know what the hackers know?
Seriously, if you can attend, you should do so. With all of the hackers out there, you need to learn how to protect yourself.
Terry Cole, the leader of the Jackson .NET User's Group, invited Jon Box to speak at their inaugural meeting. (I tagged along. Somone has to keep Jon in line.) Jon and I gave a general overview of .NET from a VB perspective, and tried to show some of the cool features of .NET.
Here are some pictures. In the first, I am once again plugging the book, “.NET Game Programming with DirectX 9.0” by Alexandre Santos and Ellen Hatton. I love DirectX! (Take a look. I am the hairless one in the red shirt.)
Finally, anyone who can help grow the Jackson user group: do it! We should all try to advance the adoption of this great tool.
It's official. You can now go to the DevDays site and see the list of local speakers. As I said in a previous post, I know most of these guys personally. I would make every effort to go see these guys. Remember, there are two tracks; Smart Client and Web Development.
Come see me present session 2 of the Web Track. In this session, entitled “Threats and Threat Modeling - Understanding Web Application Threats and Vulnerabilities”, I get to show you how most web sites contain insecure code.
I can't wait to see you there. I get to scare your pants off!
Once again, I must thank Jon Box for his support. Because of him, I will be a speaker at the Memphis DevDays event. Look for me on the Web Track. I am scheduled to present the 2nd session, which is on Web Application Threats and Vulnerabilities. This is really cool stuff. If you haven't registered, do so. I know many of the speakers; they are people worth listening to. You won't want to miss it.