The details of my session at TechEd in Orlando are posted here

Hope to see you there!

Go to here for details.

Hope to see you there!

It turns out that I have come to a couple of conclusions that I will surely post more about in the future, but for now here is the overview.

First there were several Windows Azure announcements that have swayed me from skeptic to seeing a real chance for Azure to be a contender. Chief among my concerns was the fact that I just didn't see companies doing a big rewrite just to leverage a cloud solution. Now it is much easier to port an existing application to Azure and there is the option to customize the hosted image. I also saw a demo that no one else seems to have noticed (or I was imaging things). I could have sworn I saw a demo where SQL data hosted behind the company firewall was opened up for consumption by an Azure hosted application. I plan to watch that keynote again to make sure I know what I am talking about so consider this a disclaimer.

Second, I am now confident that Microsoft will not abandon either WPF nor SilverLight developers since there were already announcements to make both able to run with the same assemblies. A small step, but when coupled with the fact that VS2010 is built with WPF I think the two technologies are both valid for development (I was worried about the future of WPF until recently).

There was of course more, but those will have to wait for other posts.

The thesis is that we are seeing a steady stream of over hyped security "issues" that tend to remind me more and more of the ads for the evening news that say things like "Your water could be killing your children, details at 11". We plan to discuss how this trend is hurting actual preparedness for the real threats.

Hope to see some of you there.

I spent this last week teaching a class on SQL Server 2008 at Blended Solutions in Manchester, New Hampshire and I found myself telling many old school stories about how back in SQL 4.2 we had to do pretty much everything ourselves and how Replication made its debut in SQL 7.0, but alot of people didn't discover it until SQL 2000.

It got me thinking that while you hear it alot you have to keep learning and work pretty hard to stay up to date, which brings me back to PDC. I know it is really hard to get away these days, but Microsoft has been really good about putting content online so watch the web and pay attention. Even dropping out for a few months can really hurt your abilities to get caught back up.

Code Camp 6 is tomorrow at the MS office in Waltham and this is the first one since the original world premier Code Camp that I am going to miss.

With Thom Robbins moving on to Redmond and the rush of business that everyone seems to be seeing, this 6th edition didn't come together nearly as early as previous editions.

I apologize for not making it, but since it is slimmed down to a single day this time and I specifically have a conflict tomorrow, I won't be there.

I expect we will do a better job for Code Camp 7 and provide much more advanced warning and I will do my best to defend the date ;)

Microsoft has released a 12 step plan to help its image and communicate their intent to prevent the kinds of lawsuits like the one going on with the EU.

While I think the plan will work on a number of levels, I am disappointed that it had to happen this way.  I am not of the belief that Microsoft has never acted in the name of profit or that sometimes there have been less than the fairest of practices employed, but is this any different than any other company?  I would prefer that the oil and gas companies were held to such high standards or even just the cable companies.

The Twelve Tenets to Promote Competition are outlined on the MS site and should make anyone who has dealt with Microsoft in the past feel a bit better.  The reason for this is that in all my dealings with Microsoft the staff there have been zealots about dogma.  If it is a defined part of the company culture (as these tenets are sure to be) then it is embraced pretty thoroughly.

I have no doubt that this will help Microsoft by actually influencing the internal culture and that it will help competition.  I just wish the pressure it took to make a single software company do this were either applied to the industry instead or better yet to an industry that actually needs it.

Tonight at TechEd in Boston there is the Panel discussion.  This is an event by pretty much all the user groups in the area and I will be one of the panelists. 

The room (251 at the Convention Center, not the Hynes) is open at 6:00 PM with the meeting starting at 6:50 PM.  The room should be packed based on current registrations so get in early if you want to go.

Details are here.

At Code Camp 5 in Waltham this past Sunday I was delivering my session entitled "All you need to know about Membership", when I learned that I didn't know everything I need to know about membership.

Someone asked if the scripts were available that aspnet_regsql.exe uses to create the membership table.  My answer was that I hadn't seen them so I assumed they were baked into the exe.  WRONG!  Our good buddy and fellow Code Camp presenter, Dan Krhla, pointed out that in the same directory that you find the aspnet_regsql.exe (namely C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727) you also find the scripts that the tool users including InstallMembership.sql.  There are a bunch of them and you have to install them in order (installcommon.sql first, etc.).  They offer some good insights and I have already spent a bit of time on them myself.

Thanks again Dan and I am happy that the question came up so I could learn something too.  This is why I really love the Code Camp.

As promised, but fashionably late as always, here are the slides from this Saturday's Mini Code Camp Security Edition.

I want to thank everyone that attended and the feedback has been great (no death treats so far)!

Membership.ppt (752 KB)
Security Best Practices.ppt (579 KB)

Check Duane's blog at www.cyberspacesamurai.com for his slides.

See you at the next Code Camp!

Thanks
Patrick

Thom Robbins of MS is introducing a really cool competition called the "Launch 2005 Screencast Contest".  The concept is that you get a free 30 day copy of Camtasia and record one or more demos with audio.  The entries will be screened and the winners in the major launch cities will win some useful stuff.

Thom breaks it all down on his blog here.

I did one of these during the break at the last Code Camp and it was actually pretty cool.  My demo is up on Channel 9 and I am definitely going to be doing some more (though if I know Thom, I am not allowed in the contest).

New England is where the whole Code Camp phenomenon began and than God that I am not doing 12 sessions in 2 days the way I did for the first one!

But I am doing 3 sessions this weekend at the 4th Code Camp themed "Developers Gone Wild".

Thom Robbins has the details posted as well as a link to register here.

It should be great!  While I will only be there on Saturday due to a conflict on Sunday, I am very glad to be going. 

See you there;)

As I got caught up on the activities here at the PDC in Los Angeles, I fell off the wagon of posting about what has gone on.  Overall it was a good event, but there weren't a ton of surprises.  As I write this I am listening to Michael Howard explain the updated threat modeling thinking that sounds quite good.  The push in threat modeling is to make it accessible to developers who aren't security gurus.  This is a good goal because I can count on one hand the number of clients that I have visited that actually do real threat modeling.  As the tools do more and more for us, this is the high value, non automatable activities that we need to see more in the enterprise.

This shows that MS is making a push on all fronts.  There isn't any complacency that I can find, though occasionally there is some confusion.

I have heard over and over again from people that you just can't keep your hands in everything anymore.  The number of products coming out based on the announcements here this week alone bring this point home.  Lets hope that it doesn't go so far that we ever get to the point where someone narrows their focus so much that they decide to become experts specializing in the File Menu of Word (and all 3487 entries and shortcuts in that menu)...

I am writing this from Bill Gates' keynote at PDC in Los Angeles.  User experience is definitely the message of the day.  Windows Vista is a clear indication of the MS belief that if you build a better interface then they will come (or stay as the case may be).

Atlas, which will allow MS technology developers to build XMLHttp based, google map like, experiences is a prime example that this is the battlefield of this round.  There was a bit of a history lesson that was likely very unneeded given the crowd, but then WinFX (highlighting Avalon), Windows Vista and the supporting technologies were covered.

Windows Vista is supposed to, "Bring clarity to your world". The Vista demo was cool, it is hard to call it anything else.  If you like the UI in Windows XP then you might have a hard time being lured to Vista, but if you have ever envied the Mac interface then you will have to dig a bit to find enough justification to jump.  Control and security are the other motivator.  Phishing attacks have been increasing dramatically and IE 7 goes a long way to allowing you to be much more confident that you aren't being victimized.  The dynamic protection service will let you opt in to view a known phishing site so that you are never really prevented from hanging yourself.  I think this is a good example of MS keeping pace with the hackers, the problem for many people is that they may not want to move, but security will force the upgrade ultimately.

Office 12 was announced and will be released at the same time as Windows Vista.  The biggest changes are to the user interface (basically reinvented) and the intrinsic XML file format. 

More later...

For those of you that haven't heard, I am participating in yet another Ebay auction to raise money for Tsunami relief.  I know the media has moved on, but many people are still in trouble and need help.  If you want to be a puppeteer for an hour with me or some of the biggest speakers at TechEd US this year then click here and place a bid.

I know you typically expect this blog to be strictly security, but I will always make room here for events and efforts like this.

Thanks