Blankenthoughts

CONDG is having their last meeting of the year on Thursday, December 6th. Though their site is experiencing "technical difficulties," it contains all of the information about their meetings. Since it's down, I'll post the information here as well:

CONDG Meeting
http://www.condg.org
12/6/2007 6:00 PM
Microsoft Building
8800 Lyra Ave
Columbus, OH 43240

The reason I am promoting this is severalfold.

1) I think it's important that developers participate as a community. There is so much to learn from your fellow developers that you would be hard-pressed to figure out on your own. Much like Wikipedia, it only truly works when everyone is participating.

2) It's going to be a fun night. We'll have a speaker talking about Visual Studio 2008 and the 3.5 framework. We'll have XBoxes with Guitar Hero III and Halo set up. We'll have food to eat and beverages to consume. And a room full of developers with the smarts to teach you something you didn't know before you got there.

3) I'm going to be giving away copies of Visual Studio. Everyone that comes to the meeting will get a copy of a 90-day trial of Visual Studio 2008 Professional. Everyone that REGISTERS AND ATTENDS will be given a code to redeem for a full license of Visual Studio 2008 Pro when it is available.

So the next question you may have is...HOW DO I REGISTER? Well, readers, here's how. Click on the link below to be taken to the registration site. That's all.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032361590&Culture=en-US

Also, don't be discouraged if you find out the registration is closed. I will also have a waitlist, because it's certain that some of the folks that register won't be able to attend. We'll take names at the door of those individuals that were unable to register, and those will go on a first-come, first-served basis.

I look forward to seeing all of you at the event. It's going to be a fun night.

Labels: CONDG, orcas, visual studio

So some of you may have heard rumblings about some piece of software being released recently, and some of you even chided me for not having a super mega blog announcement about it.

Visual Studio 2008 has RTMed!


Now, in other news, we have put together a few events to give away copies of Visual Studio 2008 Pro to y'all. (I'm currently in Texas...my apologies.)

We will be holding a Holiday Bowl-O-Rama & InstallFest event in Nashville, TN on December 3rd, and another one in Detroit, MI on December 7th. These events MUST be registered for in order to get the free bits, so here's the links to these events:

Nashville, TN - December 3
Detroit, MI - December 7

We will be handing out Visual Studio 2008 Pro (90-day trial) disks to everyone that attends. However, we are only able to give away a full version (available in early 2008) to those individuals that register using the links above, AND attend. Registration alone is not going to be enough.

As some of you loyal readers know, I went bowling a few weeks ago, and declared myself the best bowler that reads this blog. This is your opportunity to prove me wrong. These events will be held at bowling alleys, and we'll be picking up the costs of bowling and shoes, and food will be provided as well. All you need to do is show up, and hurl that ball down the alley.

If you can beat my 2-game average, I will have a special gift for you. (This is above and beyond the Visual Studio software you're going to receive). I'm not going to be promoting this contest at the events, so you'll have to come find me with your proof of score. It's one of the many benefits of being a regular reader of this blog.

So, go register for your event. Tell your colleages to register. It's gonna be a blast. We'll also have XBoxes with Guitar Hero III and Halo 3 available for playing.

Labels: .net, jeff blankenburg, microsoft, visual studio

I had the opportunity to spend this past weekend in Memphis, TN. I was attending/speaking at the Memphis Day of .NET.

It started innocently enough. I arrived in Memphis (MEM), and drove to my hotel room. There, I joined up with Josh Holmes, where we headed to the speaker's pre-game dinner. It was at a location chosen by Colin Neller (the primary organizer of the event, though he had a very efficient team). We got to eat Memphis-style BBQ at a place called Central BBQ. It was outstanding. Seasoned, homemade potato chips, and some BBQ sauce to lick from your fingers. Excellent choice.

The next morning, I arrived at the FedEx Institute of Technology, and was immediately blown away by the facility. Open spaces, curves, glass & metal. Gorgeous. Then I got to see the room that the Charles Petzold's keynote would be delivered in (as well as my talk on Silverlight.) It's called The Zone, and it absolutely is. I was so inspired by what a conference facility should be that I took a short video just to show it off.


Click here to see my video tour of The Zone



Finally, after my talk, there was a GOURMET lunch provided. We're not talking about upscale sandwiches here, either. It was roast beef, potatoes, vegetables...in short, excellent.

My hat's off to the organizers of this event. Very well done. I wish you future success in next year's event as well. (Please let me know how I can assist, if you'd like.)

Included in this post are links to the slide decks and demos that I used during the presentation.

Thanks to everyone that attended!

Silverlight 301 Deck & Demos

Innovative Microsoft Stuff Slide Deck

Labels: fedex institute of technology, memphis day of .net, Silverlight, the zone

Several of you have had an opportunity to catch the first couple of episodes of my video series that I am calling JUXtapose. I'm working on the next few videos here, and was thinking that I'd like to make some of you famous.

If you've done something cool, something innovative, something that when you built it, you thought, "Man, that's awesome!," then I'd like to get you on camera talking about it.

I want to capture your passion on film. I want to help you tell the world about your ideas. If it has a user interface, let's talk about it. If you found a way to take an action in your application from 32 to 2 clicks, perhaps you've been hiding in the shadows too long.

Call me, email me, comment on this blog. Whatever. Just remember, if nobody raises their hand, I'm going to start calling on people.

JUXtapose Episode Guide
11/02/2007 - Episode 1: Simple Animation Using Expression Blend
11/05/2007 - Episode 2: ComponentOne Sapphire Interviews
Coming Soon - Episode 3: HTML Controls As Silverlight Tools
Coming Soon - Episode 4: Getting Web Service Data Into Your Silverlight App
Coming Soon - Episode 5: Expression Studio Overview (Design, Blend, Web)

Labels: jeff blankenburg, JUXtapose, Silverlight, user experience, user interface

1) Keynotes by Steve Ballmer and Scott Guthrie.
2) 3-4 days in Las Vegas, at the Venetian Hotel and Casino.
3) An opportunity to immerse yourself in the technologies that make up "The Next Web," and participate in a 72-hour conversation about the future of web technologies.

OK, since I'm sure that list appeals to very few of you, I'll be brief.

I'm describing Microsoft's MIX 2008 conference. I had the good fortune to attend last year, as an attendee, and had an amazing time. Silverlight was announced, for one. I had an opportunity to meet some incredible speakers, technologists, and Microsoft influentials those days. I had an opportunity to give over $200 of my own, hard-earned money to complete strangers at the poker tables.

In short, it was the best conference I have been to. My expectations are riding pretty high that v2008 will not disappoint. With that, registration is now open.

So, mull it over with your Manager. Blackmail your Boss.* Persuade your Project Manager. Discuss it with your Director. I'd love to have a posse to hang with in Vegas this year.

Are you going? Let me know!


* I do not, in any way, actually endorse blackmailing anyone. Please take it for the alliteration it was meant to provide, and nothing more.

Labels: microsoft, mix 08, mix conference, Silverlight

So for those of you I haven't already told...

Live.com email addresses and accounts are now available. Here's the steps you need to take:

1) Go to any "Passport" site and sign out. I recommend http://www.passport.com.

2) Go to http://get.live.com/getlive/overview and create your new Live account.

You're all set! "But Jeff, wait a second...how does that help me? If I want to use this for Messenger, etc., how do I do that easily?"

Here's the rest of the steps:

3) Go back to http://www.passport.com.

4) Sign in with either your new @live.com address, or your old Passport address.

5) Click on the "Settings" section on the left side of the page.

6) Click on "Linked IDs" in the Other Accounts section.

7) Click "Link an existing Windows Live ID"

8) Enter the password for the account you're logged in as, and the email and password for the account you want to link up. Here's more information on linking IDs.

9) Only a few steps left...go to MSN Messenger, and log in as your "old" account. In the Menu Bar, choose Contacts > Save Instant Messaging Contacts.

10) Save the file to your desktop or something.

11) Log out of messenger.

12) Log into messenger with the new account credentials.

13) Choose Contacts > Import Instant Messaging Contacts... and choose the new file we created from your desktop.

14) Change your tagline for a few days to let your messaging contacts know that you're now on their list twice, and that they can delete the "old" account. For example, my tagline currently reads: "I'm on your list twice. Delete the HOTMAIL one."

Ta-da! You now are using a new @live.com address, and you have access to all of your old settings, etc. that you had through your old passport account!

Labels: live services, live.com, microsoft

So almost 2 years ago, in one of my first posts, I talked about a night I spent bowling. This past weekend, I went again. Man, am I consistent.

Consistently getting better, that is...

This post is actually not about my bowling prowess, but I'll start there. So, because of the lack of record-keeping, I'm officially declaring myself the best bowler that reads my blog. This past Saturday, I bowled two games. 122/184.



This leads me to the point of my post. Why don't more technology events take place in bowling alleys? They're smoke-free (at least in Ohio), it's a good place to hang out with a large group, it's generally a fun thing to do (occasionally), it's relatively inexpensive, and you can drink beer there. I'm not finding the negatives in bowling.

Has your user group ever had a bowling night?

Has your company ever sponsored one?

If I were to put one together, would anyone be interested in attending?

I'm thinking it's a great networking opportunity with the right crowd, and a fun way to spend an evening with technology-mined friends. I'd love some frank feedback...what are your thoughts?

Labels: bowling

So I've been trying to post a few messages over the past few days, and have had little to no luck, thanks mostly to the FTP service offered by Google on Blogger.

Basically, I create and manage all of my posts on the Blogger web site, and then it creates the HTML pages and markup and FTPs all of those pages to my hosted website at http://www.jeffblankenburg.com.

I generally am only good for a post a day (at most), so the load of messages you are getting is a result of my inability to publish.

I don't even know how to describe it. Take your knowledge of Tesla coils, classic video games, and computer programming, and you've got yourself a little Internet magic.

I present to all of my readers:

Super Mario Brothers Theme Song as played on Tesla Coils.



From Gizmodo:
Twin Solid State Musical Tesla coils playing Mario Bros theme song at the 2007 Lightning on the Lawn Teslathon sponsored by DC Cox (Resonance Research Corp) in Baraboo WI. The music that you hear is coming from the sparks that these two identical high power solid state Tesla coils are generating. There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fiber optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programmed into the computer software.

JUXtapose - Episode 2: ComponentOne Sapphire Interviews

Oh, and the timing is perfect...they just released the Alpha version of Sapphire today. Just register on their site, and download the installer!

http://labs.componentone.com/Sapphire/

Labels: componentone, jeff blankenburg, JUXtapose, microsoft, sapphire, Silverlight

Labels: animation, expression blend, JUXtapose, microsoft

So I'm sure I'll be posting these everywhere, but I want my blog to at least be the starting place.

JUXtapose is the name of my new webcast series, and it will be primarily focused on the technologies I am most passionate about. This includes user interface technologies like Silverlight and WPF, as well as more general stuff like Javascript and CSS. It will also feature interviews from notable (and soon to be notable) developers in the field that have an opinion to lend on user experience.

The name JUXtapose comes from the subtitle: Jeff on User Experience.

Please leave comments, I'd love your initial thoughts on this, as well as recommendations and volunteerism for future shows.

Labels: expression blend, jeff blankenburg, JUXtapose, microsoft, Silverlight

Hotels have actually made it possible to make their internet experience less appealing than talking to someone on the phone.

In my role as Developer Evangelist, I have to travel from time to time. With this travel comes a budget that isn't exactly going to have me calling the Four Seasons regularly. My needs usually revolve around these three things:

1) A bed.

2) Wireless internet access

3) Inexpensive rates, but not "cheap hotel."

Because of this, I am always on the hunt for a good rate. Now, having the name Microsoft behind me certainly helps, and if not that, I can rely on good ol' AAA. But when talking to the hotel's website, I never, ever get a rate that I would consider acceptable. For example, I was looking for a hotel in Texas today. The event I was attending had recommended a specific hotel (no names need to be named), and event's organizers told me that the nightly rate was $84. That's my perfect price point. On the hotel's website, even with my AAA discount, the rate came to $109 a night...a little higher than I prefer to pay. So I tried other options. Nothing below $100. Frustrating.

So I called the hotel. I told them when I needed a room, and that I had been told that the rate was $84 a night. The clerk told me that, in fact, the rate was $79. EVEN BETTER! So I've got my room, and a story to tell.

My calling the hotel takes up the time of the person working the front desk. That time = money, in most cases, however small that person's wages are. Alternatively, the website is up and running all the time. 24/7. It doesn't cost them anything more to have me book my room. Zero. Zilch. Nada. So why is it that all hotels have unified in this practice? I can save 20-40% on my room rate by tying up the person at the front desk on the phone. Continue to reward me for that practice, and I will continue to make your web investment lack in ROI.

But don't even get me started on how frustrated I get when I'm checking in to a hotel, and the clerk is on the phone...

Labels: hotel, technology