Blankenthoughts

      

So I know I just got back from an amazing conference in CodeMash, but I've got great news! I'm heading to Mix 07 at the end of April, thanks to the good folks at Quick Solutions. Brian Prince and the rest of the management team do nothing but support me and my technical growth. I can't thank them enough for the opportunities they have provided me.

It's taking place in the Venetian Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV from April 30 - May 2, 2007. I'll actually be heading out the morning of the 29th, and flying home to Columbus on May 3rd, so it should make for an exhausting trip. Based on the preliminary schedule of events, here's how I see my schedule going down:

April 29, 2006
7:00 AM - Get to the Columbus Airport, check in, go through security checkpoints, recover from cavity search.
9:00 AM - Take the flight to Sin City.
10:38 AM - Arrive in Las Vegas. We are now operating on Vegas time people, keep up.
10:39 AM - Lose my first $10 in a slot machine.
11:00 AM - Check in to the Venetian Hotel & Casino.
11:30 AM - Lose another $50 at the blackjack table.
12:00 PM - Grab some lunch.
12:45 PM - Wander the hotel, getting my bearings on where registration, session rooms, etc. are.
4:00 PM - Head over the registration, get checked in for the event.
5:00 PM - Sit down for a long night of Texas Hold-em at the Bellagio Poker Room (or maybe the Venetian Poker Room, it looks to be new)


April 30, 2006
1:00 AM - Go to bed.
8:30 AM - Head down to the Continental Breakfast. Mingle. Meet some people.
9:30 AM - Head over the Keynotes session. Ray Ozzie and Scott Guthrie are expected to be speaking. I really enjoyed Scott's talks at CodeMash, so I hope there is new material for Mix.
12:00 PM - Lunch
1:30 PM - Time for some sessions.


Um, I expected this blog post to be longer, but it doesn't appear that they have decided which sessions will be in which time slots. So, of the sessions that are listed on the site currently, here are the ones I expect to attend:


LINQing Your Web Applications - See how Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) allows for the most seamless integration of your Web applications and relational data. Get a sneak peek at the next version of the .NET Framework and Visual Studio (codenamed “Orcas”).

Driving Your Business through User Experience - Hear how tools, technologies and cutting edge design combine to create the user experiences that drive your business. See how a continuum of user experiences can be a powerful lever to differentiate the products and services you offer via the Web.

Gazing into the Future of Web Development - Be one of the first to see the big advances planned for the next version of ASP.NET for building rich Web applications. Get a sneak peek at technology to help simplify rich content, data, services and more. Learn how to efficiently and effectively create data-driven applications that fully leverage the power of “WPF/E” and AJAX on the client coupled with powerful server-side features provided by ASP.NET.

Thinking in CSS: How to Build Great Looking Sites - Delve into CSS with Molly Holzschlag, and look at the power CSS offers to Web developers and designers. Hear Molly's secrets about how to build stunning sites quickly and easily.

Five Real World Applications that Raise the Bar for User Experience - Come learn about five applications that will change what your customers will expect from tomorrow’s software applications.

IE7 Retrospective: Microsoft's Look at the Good, Bad and Ugly - Hear from Microsoft's IE7 team about the journey from mea culpa to broad market acceptance. Hear what went right, what had to be cut, and how development priorities are set. Learn how to minimize your Web browser support headaches, and move to a more standardized Web.

There are plenty more sessions planned, and my preference may change once I see which sessions are in which time slots. Expect to see many more posts about this in the near future. And for those of you that want me to put $1 on Red 32 for you while I'm there, start saving your pennies.

Labels: brian prince, codemash, CSS, drew robbins, HTML, IE7, jeff blankenburg, las vegas, linq, microsoft, mix, mix 07, poker, ray ozzie, scott guthrie, venetian, WPF, WPF/E

Codemash. What can I say? This is the first community-driven event I have ever attneded, and I have been blown away by the quality of the attendees here. I have had an opportunity to talk with Microsoft influencers (Drew Robbins, Josh Holmes, Jennifer Marsman, you have all been great, and it's been an absolute pleasure to spend some time talking and working with each of you), community leaders (Todd Kaufman [on the board of COJUG], Rob Stevenson [part of the Columbus Ruby Brigade], and many more), as well as thought leaders in people like Neal Ford, Bruce Eckel, and Scott Guthrie.

Events like this inspire me because it's a constant reminder that I need to keep moving forward in my "commitment to a lifetime of education". I've never mentioned this concept in my blog before, but it basically comes down to this: As an individual in the software development field, I have a choice. I can either commit to a lifetime of learning the new "thing", the new technology, the new way of doing things...or I can be left behind, to become extinct. Just like the carpenter that foo-fooed the hammer, those who mock the future of software development are destined to not be a participant.

I hope that Day 2 is nearly as eye-opening as Day 1. I am having an absolutely amazing (and most of all educational) experience. Codemash!

Labels: codemash, commitment to education, drew robbins, java, jeff blankenburg, jennifer marsman, josh holmes, microsoft, rob stevenson, ruby, todd kaufman

Ok, technically, it's not until tomorrow, but with all of the activities I'll be involved in tomorrow at CodeMash, I figured I'd write this one tonight.

I have two tools that I did not have the opportunity to contribute to the book, but I feel need to be mentioned because I use them both in almost every day of my professional life. They are Screen Ruler, and Pixie.

Screen Ruler
Screen Ruler is a TINY application with huge power. It was created by MicroFox. It comes in the form of an 85K zip file. Basically, it's a ruler for your screen. Whether you're an interface developer working through an intricate CSS layout, or just very particular about your spacing, this is absolutely the best application I have found for measuring things, both on screen and off.



The best part of it is that you can use as an on-screen measuring stick, as well as off-screen. I was recently tasked with creating all of the labels for the CodeMash conference, using Avery (no, they don't deserve a link, and that's for another post...) labels. In order to determine what the dimensions of the margins were for these labels, I kicked open Screen Ruler (changing the units to Inches), and measured the document right on my screen, holding the paper up to my monitor. An absolutely brilliant application, with the versatility I am looking for in most applications. And the developer is based in Columbus, OH! When I bought my official license, he actually hand-delivered it to my house on a CD. If that's not customer support, I don't know what is. I could not get by without this application on a daily basis.

Pixie (though I call it Color Pixie)
The second most valuable tool for an interface developer: Pixie, by Nattysoft. This application is even smaller than Screen Ruler. 62K. Unbelievable. Anyways, it provides the ability to determine the Hex, HTML, RGB, CMYK, AND HGB color of any area of your screen. It also displays the pixel position of your mouse in real-time, so you can use it as a measuring tool as well for those hard to reach areas.

It even has built in shortcut keys to copy and paste those colors to your Clipboard for pasting into your code, as well as zooming and color mixing. Valuable tools when you are trying to create a CSS layout from a JPG from your web designer.

In short, these are two small applications that I use daily. I can't recommend them enough, and though I'm sure their creators would be glad to let me, the applications have been worth 10 times their price over my career. I have registered versions of each, and I think the modest prices that these talented developers ask for their software is MORE than reasonable.

Hooray for Windows Developer Powere Tools! I'm on page 1123. :)

Labels: blankenburg, codemash, color picker, microfox, nattyware, o'reilly, pixie, screen ruler, windows developer power tools

I've been published! Last fall, I was approached about writing an article on HTML validation services for a book authored by Jim Holmes, and I did. On January 19 (during CodeMash, no less), the book will be released to the masses.



It was fun to write for this book, and I got my copy of it yesterday. I got 9 pages, of the 1,217 pages in the book. I've already read most of it during the review process, but to toot my own horn, here's an excerpt from my section:

Valid markup is not just a status symbol. Seperating your content from your layout benefits you in many ways. The point of publishing on the Web is to reach the broadest audience possible, and adhering to Web Standards is the best way to ensure that you meet this goal. Cell phones, nontraditional devices such as screen readers, and tomorrow's unreleased devices will support web standards, but those little tricks you use in IE may well not be supported in the future. Get it right the first time by using a validator - the time and money it will save you in the long run will make the upfront investment worth your while.

Get your copy of Windows Developer Power Tools at Amazon.com today!

Labels: CSS, HTML, standards compliance, validation, Windows

My wife and I were out for a drive this past weekend, and I was stuck behind a stupid Lowe's Delivery Truck. Nothing huge, something about this size:



Anyways, we're in the left-hand lane, and there's some traffic passing us on the right (because we're going 30 in a 45). All of a sudden, this truck moves over into the right lane, without a turn signal, looking, etc. There were cars in the lane, and thankfully, they were paying attention, and chose to get run off of the road rather than get run over by this much-larger-than-their-Civic truck.

So in a circumstance like this, I prefer to pass this driver, so that when they do cause the ensuing accident, I'm not stuck behind it, but can watch it in my rear-view mirror. As I pass this truck, I look up at the driver, to offer him a mean look and a "thumbs-up" for his excellent ability to control his vehicle. That would have been fruitless, however, because his eyes were focused on the road...while holding his cigarette in his left hand, and talking on his cell phone with his right.

Now, I'm pissed. So I slow down to see if maybe I'll have the good fortune of finding a "How's My Driving" sticker on the back of the truck. So I finally get behind it, and I'm in luck!

HOW'S MY DRIVING?
1-866-444-4231
Lic. No. LO2534

So, in the ironic twist of events, I pull out my cell phone (while driving) in order to call this number, bitch to Lowe's about their ridiculous driver, and perhaps collect a free gift card or something. I had 15 minutes to my destination, so what better way to spend my time? I get a recorded message that actually identified themselves as Lowe's Safe Driving Hotline, and then told me that all of their representatives were busy, and that I would get the next available rep. I then proceeded to sit on hold for the next 10 minutes, at which point I said "Screw it."

Here's my question regarding this experience:

1) If those lines are so busy that I have to sit on hold (while remembering the license number), does that mean that there are THAT many bad Lowe's delivery drivers?

2) If case #1 isn't true, then that means that Lowe's only has like 2 people manning (or womanning) the phones, which would indicate that they don't really care that their drivers are driving safely anyways. I mean, a 10-minute wait to complain about their driver seems a little excessive.

3) If cases #1 and #2 aren't true, then I'm assuming that Lowe's is probably outsourcing their call center on this one. Either way...this was a horrible experience.

With any of these choices, I think it's fair to state that Lowe's doesn't really care about the driving habits of their delivery personnel. Looks like I'm headed to Home Depot.