Andrew's Blog

VBUG Newcastle – W2008R2 and Windows 7 - Links

Andrew Westgarth — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:45:25 +0100

Thanks to Richard Fennell for stepping into the breach this evening and covering the content for us so well. As soon as I have a link for the slides from the event, I’ll publish it here on this post.

In the meantime here is the link for you to be able to get a key for the Windows 7 Release Candidates you may have picked up at the event - http://technet.microsoft.com/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=clminis

Keep an eye on this blog and Jon Noble’s for more information on forthcoming events for September onwards – enjoy the summer!!

UPDATE! – Here’s a a link to download a pdf of last night’s slides - http://www.blackmarble.co.uk/ConferencePapers/2009/VBug%20Newcastle%20-%20Key%20features%20in%20Windows%207%20and%20Server%202008%20R2.pdf

Monkey Decides to Go On His Travels!

Andrew Westgarth — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:01:24 +0100

Nope not me, although I am planning a three week trip to Australia later this year to visit friends, but Timmy my partner in crime. A couple of Friday’s ago I got to work and noticed that he was missing from his place on my desk and all that was left was this note:

Well he returned to my desk on Monday, so I guess he’s had a bit of fun and is back for a while. I suppose I’d better take him on my travels a little more often then! Some pictures of his travels have appeared online:

Awarded Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award for 2009

Andrew Westgarth — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:53:42 +0100

Today I received an email from Microsoft to tell me I’d been awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award for 2009, to follow the award which I received in 2008. I am very pleased, and once again extremely humble to be associated with a great group of very clever people around the globe. I hope I can continue to server the community in the best way possible over the next year! First thing on my list is more blog posts as I’ve been neglecting my blog over the last six months and I have lots of content to cover!!

WebDD ‘09 – Saturday 18th April 2009 – Registration Open!!!

Andrew Westgarth — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:47:56 +0100

Yes folks, WebDD is on Saturday 18th April 2009 and REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for this great community event, it’s free to attend and held at Microsoft’s UK Campus in Reading – register now - http://developerdeveloperdeveloper.com/webdd09/Register.aspx

I’ll be delivering a session on the Web Deployment Tool and there is a great line up of speakers and sessions – http://developerdeveloperdeveloper.com/webdd09/schedule.aspx

There are limited places so don’t miss out – register now!!!

VBUG Newcastle: PowerShell 0-60 in One Evening – Tuesday 24th March 2009

Andrew Westgarth — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:09:43 +0100

Damn, just noticed this has been sat in my blog drafts folder :( Hope this catches people in time.

The next VBUG Newcastle meeting will be held at Newcastle University on Tuesday 24th March 19:00-21:00 (18:45 registration) and will be delivered by Jonathan Noble who will be doing a session on PowerShell:

Windows PowerShell has been around since 2006, but now that version 2 will ship on the desktop in Windows 7, as well as being in Microsoft's Common Engineering Criteria and several 3rd party products, PowerShell is becoming increasingly compelling. While it is based on the .Net framework, you don't have to be a .Net Developer to use it; PowerShell is relevant to the GUI-based sys admin, the scripter and fully-fledged developers too. This session will go from dipping a first toe in the water, to productive use of PowerShell, via a collection of free tools and resources that will help you get up to speed quickly.

Jonathan joined Newcastle University's Computing Service in the summer of 1999, just in nice time for an early migration from NT4 to Windows 2000. One of his early challenges was to deal with the provisioning of user accounts in the new Active Directory, which led to a lot of work with scripting and eventually a fully-fledged identity management system running on SQL Server, with an ASP.Net interface. Being a scripter in the world of Windows hasn't always been easy, with everything exposing different interfaces, be they COM, WMI or something altogether more wild and wacky, which is why he immediately fell in love with PowerShell - a single language he could use to manage AD, Exchange, IIS, SQL and even VMWare! Jonathan has recently presented on PowerShell to the UK powerShell User Group and SuperMondays.org. When he's not PowerShelling, Jonathan enjoys watching NBA Basketball with his Son and Twittering (@JoNoble).
Venue: Room 118, Claremont Tower, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU, GB
Start Time: 18:30
Price: FREE
More Info: click here

To register (it’s FREE!!!) go to http://www.vbug.co.uk/Events/March-2009/VBUG-NEWCASTLE-Windows-PowerShell-060-in-One-Evening-with-Jonathan-Noble.aspx

24 Hours of Firsts

Andrew Westgarth — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 04:45:46 +0100

The 24 hours I'm currently writing this post in are all about firsts. First I've just got back from my first ever live gig, and first ever experience of Metallica live! I've been to the Sheffield Arena for the latest leg of Metallica's Death Magnetic tour, it was f***ing AWESOME!!!! Can't wait to do it again! Note to self - why has it taken 28 years for this to happen???? WTF!!

Secondly I'm currently sitting in the departure lounge at Newcastle Airport waiting for my flight to Amsterdam and then onto Seattle for my first MVP Summit! Looking forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones in what looks to be a packed week ahead!!

Alt.Net ‘In the North’ Conference – Registration opens at Noon!

Andrew Westgarth — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 09:47:30 +0100

Last week Richard Fennell sent through details about an Alt.Net Open Space Conference he has helped organise in Bradford on 17th/18th April 2009.

The event will be hosted by Black Marble at their office in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and there will be space for 50 attendees. The format will be the same as previous UK Alt.net conferences.

A planning session on Friday the 17th April from 7pm to 8:30pm, followed by a trip to a bar to socialise

The open spaces sessions from 9am to 4:30pm on Saturday 18th April.

Registration opens at noon today so if this is something you are interested in find out more at http://www.altdotnetuknorth.info

VBUG NEWCASTLE : REARRANGED Parallel Programming in .Net (VS2010) with Eric Nelson Now 24th February

Andrew Westgarth — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:52:07 +0100

I’m pleased to announce that we have rearranged Eric Nelson’s session on Parallel Programming in .Net (VS2010), which was unfortunately cancelled due to the poor weather, and the event will now be held on TUESDAY 24th FEBRUARY at the same venue. Please register for the event, even if you had register for the previous date, at http://www.vbug.co.uk/Events/February-2009/VBUG-NEWCASTLE-REARRANGED--Parallel-programming-in-NET-VS2010-with-Eric-Nels.aspx I look forward to seeing you there!

EVENT CANCELLED: VBUG Newcastle 3/2/2009 Parallel Programming in .Net

Andrew Westgarth — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:25:00 +0100

Unfortunately due to the adverse weather conditions we are experiencing across the UK at the moment, we have had to cancel tomorrow night's event. Unfortunately Eric is not able to make the trip up at this time due to being grounded at the Airport tonight. We hope to rearrange the event as soon as possible.

VBUG Newcastle Future Roadmap Ideas

Andrew Westgarth — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:22:50 +0100

Over the course of the next four to six months, I have decided to change the regularity/format of the meetings for the usergroup in the North East. I had been speaking with a fellow Twitterer, Jonathan Noble, about desires for usergroups in the North East. It was mentioned that there are few very IT Pro events occurring in the North East of England, barring the occasional visits by the TechNet Team.

Therefore in order to help with my planning and provision of events, with Jon’s help, I’ve decided to look at putting on bimonthly developer themed events and alternate month’s running. In February we are pleased to welcome Eric Nelson, from Microsoft UK’s Developer and Platform Evangelism team, who will be covering Parallel Programming in .Net using Visual Studio 2010. We hope to announce our March Event in the coming weeks.

Longer term, dependant on popularity we may change the format of these events, possibly two, 1 hour sessions on and IT Pro and Developer topic, or even two two hour sessions run concurrently. This will depend on the popularity of the events and the feedback we receive. We look forward to seeing many old friends and meeting lots of new friends over the coming years.

VBUG Newcastle: Parallel Programming in .Net (VS2010) with Eric Nelson – 3rd February 2009

Andrew Westgarth — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:22:32 +0100

VBUG Newcastle kicks off 2009 on Tuesday 3rd February with Eric Nelson, Microsoft Developer and Platform Evangelist, visiting to cover Parallel Programming in .Net using Visual Studio 2010.

Session Overview:

The next version of the .NET Framework will come with new classes that start to remove the difficulties in building multi-threaded applications that are able to take advantage of the modern multi-core processor architectures and the future many-core architectures that are coming over the next few years. In this session, we will look at why we will all need to start thinking about parallelism and drill into what is available in the current previews for managed code development.

Eric Nelson:

After many years of developing on UNIX/RDBMS (and being able to get mortgages) Eric joined Microsoft in 1996 as a Technical Evangelist (and stopped being able to get mortgages due to his new 'unusual job title' in the words of his bank manager). He has spent most of his time working with ISVs to help them architect solutions which make use of the latest Microsoft technologies - from the beta of ASP 1.0 through to ASP.NET, from MTS to WCF/WF and from the beta of SQL Server 6.5 through to SQL Server 2008. Along the way he has met lots of smart and fun developers - and been completely stumped by many of their questions! In July 2008 he switched role from an Application Architect to a Developer Evangelist in the Developer and Platform Group. Currently Eric’s interests include digging into LINQ to Entities, ADO.NET Data Services and switching from C# to Visual Basic development. At home, he battles rat infestations, comes second to the family dog and uses any spare moments he has after 10pm to team up and play online with and against friends - keep an eye out for 'erknel' and say 'hi'.

Location: Room 118, Claremont Tower, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU, GB – Map - http://www.ncl.ac.uk/travel/maps/navigator.php?type=&bldg=16&go.x=12&go.y=10

Price: FREE

To Register - http://www.vbug.co.uk/Events/February-2009/VBUG-NEWCASTLE-Parallel-programming-in-NET-VS2010-with-Eric-Nelson.aspx

I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new friends at our first meeting of the year!

New Year – New Challenge #1 – Project 365

Andrew Westgarth — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:58:17 +0100

In my last post, which wasn’t intended to be my last of 2008, I mentioned that I was looking for new challenges. Well one of those got underway in December when I changed jobs and started working for Hydratight in their Software Engineering Team. However the next challenge which I have embarked upon started today. I have taken my first steps into completing Project365 on Flickr!

What is Project365?

Essentially Project365 is about having one photo for every day in a year. There are different groups and ways of achieving this on sites such as Flickr, you can choose what you want you pictures to depict. As this is my first attempt I am taking a photo of what’s happened in my day or selecting a photo which depicts what I’ve been up to. My first photo, taken and uploaded today was a reflection of issues I’ve been having while installing Adobe CS4 Web Premium today onto a fresh HDD.

My First Picture of Project 365

I hope that this, the first of many, will become a great way of seeing what happens in my life in 2009. I also hope to see my photography skills get better and better as I learn more about setting up photographs and learning more about the capabilities of my camera. I am starting off with my Fuji FinePix S5600 but will soon be stepping into the world of DSLR’s with a Nikon D40!

Keep up to date with my Flickr Stream and maybe even add me as a contact if you wish and see how my year pans out.

BUPA Great North Run – Done – Next Challenge Please!

Andrew Westgarth — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:47:43 +0100

I’m very late posting this but I want to say a big thank you to all of those who have supported me and sponsored me in my efforts to complete the BUPA Great North Run and raise some money for the Guide Dogs for the Blind.

On Sunday 5th October, on a beautiful sunny morning, where conditions were perfect! The atmosphere on the Metro into Newcastle and at the start line was great. The BUPA Great North Run was a wonderful experience and I really enjoyed the whole day. I managed to complete my first ever half marathon in 2:15:10. I’ve now got a time to beat and watch this space to see if I enter next year, I’m still mulling it over, I will do the GNR again but… :). I’ve managed to raise over £500 so far and money is still coming in – keep an eye on the JustGiving counter on my blog for latest information. I know the money will go to a great cause!

Big thanks to the people at the Guide Dogs for the Blind charity for looking after their runners so well after the Great North Run!!!

As you’ll remember from my previous BUPA Great North Run postings, this started off as a challenge and has left me enjoying running and the level of fitness I’ve achieved and will maintain. Now I’m looking for new challenges and experiences! Next up maybe snowboarding, western riding, who knows – suggestions on a comment please!!!

VBUG Newcastle: Introducing OpenXML with Craig Murphy – Wednesday 29th October 2008

Andrew Westgarth — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:36:51 +0100

I’m very pleased to be able to welcome Craig Murphy to VBUG Newcastle on Wednesday 29th October to give us his introduction to OpenXML. Craig has this to say about the topic:

Overview
With the release of Office 2007, Microsoft moved their document formats over to XML-based formats. This text-based format has many advantages, including, but not limited to readability, good compression and ease of reconstruction.

However, as developers [responsible for report creation], OpenXML has significant benefits for us. We now have a consistent object model across all Office applications. More importantly, we no longer have to understand the intricacies of the Component Object Model (COM) in order to create an Excel spreadsheet (for example) from our applications. This in itself should be reason enough to consider looking at OpenXML!

Looking at costs, OpenXML can bring savings. Server-side creation of Word, Excel, etc. documents can be performed without an Office license being purchased - these files are little more than text-based files. Similarly, if you are using a brand-name reporting engine, the cost of its license could be saved by using Excel or Word as your reporting medium.

Over the course of 60-75 minutes Craig will introduce OpenXML and will demonstrate how he is incorporating it into one of his line-of-business applications. Code examples will be written using C#.

For more information and to register for this free event please visit the event page on www.vbug.com

Developer Developer Day 7 – Agenda Live!!

Andrew Westgarth — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:21:32 +0100

Yes folks, all the votes have been counted and verified and the Developer Day Team have now published the Agenda for the 7th Developer Developer Day on Saturday November 22nd 2008 at Microsoft’s Reading Campus. There is a great deal of variety and what is most exciting is that there are a number of new speakers taking the plunge, including VBUG’s very own Phil Pursglove! It looks to be yet another cracking day! best of luck to all new speakers!!

For latest registration information keep an eye on the Developer Day Website and if you’re on Twitter, follow @DeveloperDay for latest information