Doug Seven's Blog

Get Ready for GeekFest 2009 @ TechEd

2009-04-03T15:10:35-07:00

Let’s face it, going to a technical conference is good for your career…

…but it’s not a whole lot of fun.

You need an outlet. You need to have fun.

Cheap beer and lousy pizza.

We are bringing back GeekFest! Join us at Lucky Strike for a night of pizza, beer, and bowling. There is limited invitations available, so what are you waiting for? If you are attending the TechEd 2009 conference and you are a developer, you are invited. To register pick up your "duck" ticket (and wristband) in the TechEd Technical Learning Center (TLC) at the Developer Tools & Languages (DTL) information desk.

You must have wristband to get in.

Monday, May 11, 2009 from 8pm – 11pm
Lucky Strike Lanes at LA Live
800 W. Olympic Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90015

You must have a wristband to attend the party. Pick one up Monday
at the Developer Tools and Languages TLC Info Counter.

Follow Visual Studio Team System on Twitter

2009-02-26T10:56:05-08:00

Want to keep up on news from the Visual Studio Team System team? Want to get updates from live events and presentations? Want general pointers to valuable content? You can do so in real time by following MicrosoftVSTS on Twitter. Follow our account today at www.twitter.com/microsoftvsts.

Of course you can follow me too, but I’m not as exciting.

Technorati Tags: microsoft,vsts,twitter

Oracle Support Announced for Visual Studio Team System 2010 Development

2009-02-24T12:47:14-08:00

Today it was announced Oracle support will be available for Visual Studio Team System 2010 Development through a Database Schema Provider (DSP). Quest, a provider of Database Management Solutions, is developing the Oracle DSP for Visual Studio Team System. For those working in heterogeneous database environments this is BIG news!

The Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR introduced a new product architecture that provides a model representation of a database schema and extensibility points to expand support for other database platforms. Third parties can develop DSPs which implement models to expand the support for specific database platforms and versions. Quest's Oracle DSP will add support to Team System Development for Oracle and will provide the following Oracle based database project features :

Offline Schema Development
Import Schema
Schema Compare
Data Generation and Unit Testing
Refactoring
and more...

Teams that have benefited by using Team System Database Edition to manage their Microsoft SQL Server database development will also be able to manage their Oracle database's with the same tool and process integration.

You can read more about Quest's upcoming DSP product here.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,VSTSDB,Quest,Oracle

Fit in February Developer Challenge: My Plan

2009-02-01T06:13:00-08:00

Caleb Jenkins told me about his plan to sponsor the “Fit in February Developer Challenge” and I immediately got on board – both as a sponsor (VSTS donated a Zune 80GB with the VSTS logo on the back), and as a participant. To me this made perfect sense – because I already have a plan.

Recently, BrianKe, GrantH, Mike Iem and I all signed up for a Basic Alpine Mountaineering course through The Mountaineers organization. In this course we are learning all of the skills to climb both rock and glacier summits. This includes rock climbing, belaying, rappelling, traversing glacier, ice axe assistance, self arrest, and crevasse rescue and escape. We need to be able to spend two days climbing 5-10 miles, gaining 4,000 –6,000 feet in elevation a day, while carrying a 30-60 lb pack. Knowing that, you can imagine that I need to do some conditioning.

So, here’s my plan (part of it compulsory):

Run three times a week for 30 minutes
Walk twice a week in mountaineering boots, with a 30-lb pack for 2-3 miles
Weight training twice a week (focus on core, arms and legs)
Training and real climbs as part of the course:
- Belay, rappel, and crevasse escape training (31-Jan)
- Belay escape training (10-Feb)
- Winter Climb – Guye Peak (15-Feb)
- Rock climbing practice (indoors) - (22-Feb)
The guys and I are going to try and work out schedules to do another one or two rock climbing practice sessions as well – not sure that will work out though.
Ignore all healthy responsibilities on Sundays and eat whatever I want and don’t do any exercise.

There it is – my plan, which has already begun. I’ve been running and walking in climbing boots for the past few weeks. Yesterday BrianKe, GrantH, Mike and I completed the 31-Jan training (above). This was 8-hours of consistent training (with short periods of rest). I personally did three rock climbs and rappels, I did several belay drop-tests (stopping a 200-lb concrete block from falling), and a Texas Prusik escape (see below) with and without a pack (one of the most physically demanding things I have ever done). It was an exhilarating day that left us all exhausted and I’m sure I will feel some muscle aches in the next day or two.

If you haven’t yet, consider getting in on the Fit in February Developer Challenge.

The Texas Prusik

Check Out Visual Studio Tips and Tricks

2009-01-22T11:20:11-08:00

Scott Cate has started a Video Blog showing Visual Studio Tips and Tricks. Starting with Tip of the Day posts originally done by Sara Ford over 2007 and 2008, the Video blog is a great way to see Visual Studio in action.

Scott already has the first 20 tricks posted.

The site is also mobile enabled for Windows Mobile, and if you browse the site from your phone, you'll see a nice mobile layout, as well as a mobile version of the video trick.

Check out the Scott's blog and subscribe to the RSS feed if you like what you see.

Blog: http://ScottCate.com/VSTricks

RSS: http://feeds.ScottCate.com/VSTricks

I'm a PC...on TV

2008-11-12T17:36:55-08:00

Last week I found out that I was included in a nationally televised commercial for the "I'm a PC" campaign. You can watch the video on SoapBox.

Happy - I'm a PC

Check it out!

Were you a PC for Halloween?

2008-11-03T21:26:12-08:00

I took my 2 1/2 year old daughter trick or treating on Halloween night. She had a blast. Along the way we came across these. Thought I'd share.

My friends, I'm voting for That One!

2008-10-08T00:11:29-07:00

Note to self: Start a new company. Seven Shirts, perhaps. First product, a "Vote for Obama" shirt that is not so in- your-face. Perhaps it could play off of some of the things said in the recent debate. Rule of marketing #1 - find something people already know, want, like, or are already talking about, and sell it to them.

That is where my new t-shirt idea came from. With the number of times McCain said "My friends" (23 by my count), and his off the cuff reference to Obama as "That One" I thought a shirt was appropriate.

OK, I'm not really making a t-shirt, yet, but I could.

User Group Session: A Lap Around Visual Studio Team System 2010

2008-10-07T16:12:25-07:00

On Monday, 13-Oct I will be presenting a session at my local (and favorite) user group, the .NET Developers Association. For this session I will be providing a demo-filled tour of the next release of VSTS - Visual Studio Team System 2010. This is your chance to come and see some of what we will be showcasing at the upcoming PDC 2008 later this month.

Tell your friends, tell your boss (heck, maybe you'll get paid to come). One lucky attendee will walk away with a fully licensed copy of Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite.

A Lap Around Visual Studio Team System 2010
In this session you will witness a demo-intensive tour of the upcoming release of Visual Studio Team System. This session will walk-through an example development iteration and highlight some of the advancements, that way you see the new capabilities in context. Expect to see new capabilities being delivered across Team System, including the new Architecture Explorer, architecture layer diagrams, gated check-in, build workflow, branch visualization, historical debugging, test case management and execution, improved work item tracking, and improved support for agile planning. This will be a fast paced, exciting session, filled with demos.
Time and Location
Monday, 13-October, 7:00 PM (networking begins at 6:30 PM)
Microsoft Campus, Building 41, Steptoe Room
http://maps.live.com/?v=2&where1=Microsoft%20Building%2041%2C%20WA&encType=1

Technorati Tags: VSTS,Visual Studio Team System,VSTS 2010,User Group,Speaking,Microsoft

VSTS Development Edition + Database Edition

2008-09-29T09:01:27-07:00

This morning we made the official announcement (general info and press release) of the next release of Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. This includes Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio Team System 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0.

In the next release of Visual Studio Team System we will be merging the feature sets of the Development Edition and the Database Edition into a single product. The new product – part of Visual Studio Team System 2010 – will include all of the features in the Development Edition and the Database Edition as well as new capabilities delivering even more value in a single product. This will provide a more complete set of capabilities for building software in today’s data-driven environments.

Bringing these two feature sets together enables you to take advantage of the core tools for application development as well as the necessary tools for database development, including performance profiling, code analysis, code metrics, code coverage, database refactoring, Schema Compare, Data Compare, and more.

If you have VSTS 2008 Development Edition or Database Edition with MSDN Premium you are eligible to get both products through MSDN Downloads. This is an exclusive offer for MSDN Premium subscribers with these products -- we want you to realize the benefit of this merged feature set now.

Beginning October 1, 2008 eligible MSDN subscribers will have access to both the Development Edition and Database Edition through MSDN Subscriber Downloads. This change also applies to customers who purchased Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers with MSDN Premium Subscription and Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals with MSDN Premium Subscription, who's subscription is still active.