Kent's thoughts

OK OData

kent.sharkey@apptius.com — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:17:00 GMT

Microsoft is attempting (again) to help us get to our data. This time it's OData providing us our data via Internet standards. Is it the "new ODBC"?

Obligatory New Year Predictions

kent.sharkey@apptius.com — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:03:00 GMT

In my ongoing role of attempting to get everyone to prove me wrong, I've decided to write down a few predictions this year about where I think our little corner of the industry will be this year. Then, in December, I can either brag about the no-brainers that I got right, or ignore this entirely as I got too many wrong.

A look at PDC, 2009 Edition

kent.sharkey@apptius.com — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:05:00 GMT

Well, now that we really know for certain that Visual Studio 2010 won't be launching at PDC, it's time for my annual look at what we can learn from looking at this year's PDC session schedule.

On the dangers of analogies

kent.sharkey@apptius.com — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:39:00 GMT

Say what you will about Joel Spolsky, one thing he is really good at is starting a discussion.The latest discussion is about Duct Tape Programmers vs. Architect Astronauts. While the discussion is valid, many are getting confused by the analogy, so I dare to join in.

An interesting development: Oxite

kent.sharkey@apptius.com — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:15:00 GMT

It used to be that a sample from Microsoft was guidance that would be copied into thousands of programs. Now, not so much.

What's next: Spelunking the PDC session list

kent.sharkey@apptius.com — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:00:00 GMT

With this year's PDC (Professional Developers' Conference) only a few days away, I decided to go looking at the session list to see the topics. PDC is traditionally Microsoft's future-looking conference, as opposed to TechEd, which traditionally is intended to help developers and IT professionals understand currently shipping software.

Microsoft TechDays coming soon

kent.sharkey@apptius.com — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Mark your calendar: Dec 4 marks Winnipeg's episode of TechDays 2008. For only $124.99 (until Oct 15), you get a full day of in-depth coverage on the products you use (or should be using), and enough software to build your future.

Winnipeg gets a new user group: Biztalk

kent.sharkey@apptius.com — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:41:00 GMT

Winnipeg has a long history of great participation in User Groups, so it's good to see a new Biztalk User Group forming in the city. Details are a little sparse at the moment, but stay tuned to this blog and http://www.winnipegdotnet.org/ for details.

Respect yourself, protect yourself

kent.sharkey@apptius.com — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:46:00 GMT

Like a lot of other people lately, I've been having a botnet play with my Web site. I decided to take a closer look at the attack, and how I can minimze its effect using the free tools LogParser and URLScan.

Free chapters on ASP.NET MVC

kent.sharkey@apptius.com — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:00:00 GMT

I have to admit that I really like the upcoming ASP.NET MVC ("It will ship in a month ending in -ber") Web framework. It's not as mature as the existing Webform model, but I like how it gives more control over the pages, and navigation of the site. Now, to prepare, Microsoft has negotiated five free chapters out of some of the upcoming books on ASP.NET MVC. Definitely worth taking a look at if you're planning (or developing) a site using that technology.