SADev

I download a lot of PowerPoint presentations and recently I am seeing more and more are stating they need repairs when opened!

Unfortunately repairing does not work and downloading them again doesn't help either! What is happening is that Windows is detecting that these files are from the Internet and enabling a block on them for your protection. To remove this block, you need to right click the file, select Properties, click the Unblock button and click OK.

You will then be able to open them successfully.

Thanks Joseph for spotting the type-o in the original post.

[Note: See the series index for a list of all parts in this series.]

A few people have battled with getting all the bits of code scattered in the series together to actually work. This is not only due to the fact they are scattered, but part III for example was not showing the code correctly and there was a bug in part IV. I have gone back and fixed those issues and to help further here is the full code in one big view (click read more if needed to see it).

S.A. Architect will be offering FREE training covering Visual Studio and TFS in both 2008 and 2010 versions! This will be done in real life, so you will need to travel to somewhere in Johannesburg and so to figure out where, all you need to is click Yes on the S.A. Architect home page.  Once some numbers have been worked out a venue can be found and it can be arranged!

The only catch is you will need to give up a Saturday for this, and myself and fellow Team System MVP, Zayd Kara, will be there to help or annoy you ;)

DevRally is an event which has been bubbling in my head, and the heads of many others for a while, most importantly Willie Roberts. The idea of this event is that developer focused event which is not run by a vendor, so that open discussion between developers who would never meet about technology can come about. It is also not centralised – it is distributed using conference technologies so that the best speakers can be brought easily (and cheaply) to the audience.

A while back myself and Willie decided to see if we could pull off arranging it and, as usual for this sort of idea, the first thing we did was put up a website and a survey to see what would interest people. Yesterday marked the second step in the process: Sponsors! Both BB&D and Mr. Price have come on board with venues and infrastructure help for the event! Still need a few more sponsors and we need to nail down the dates, speakers and so on – but what this space this event should be a great deal of fun!

DevDays, one of the premier Microsoft software developer is starting this month with events in Johannesburg and Cape Town and will be in Durban next month! Not only does it have great local guys presenting but Bart de Smet and Brian Keller will be there too!
Most importantly I will be there, just admit it you want to see me more than Bart and Brian ;), and will have prizes and giveaways at the BB&D stand!

To see the session list head over to: http://www.microsoft.com/southafrica/devdays/sessions.mspx and once you are sold signup at: https://secure.mseventssa.co.za/DevDays/Landing.aspx

[The series index can be found here.]

Considering Zayd Kara, Rudi Grobler, and I were in Seattle we took a few days extra to sightsee around the town and so here is some of the highlights from the camera:

First thing we did was find the Needle – since it was the only thing Rudi wanted to see.

[The series index can be found here.]

As with any conference event you can expect to fill you bag with trinkets to bring home. You know the stuff which is interesting but basically you would never pay for it yourself and Summit had some of that, but that Visual Studio jacket I got I would’ve paid for :) However this is not about those things, this is about two VERY special shiny things I got to bring home.

Towards the end of last year I was awarded VSTS Rangers Champion award however at Summit I got my “trophy” – it’s a Visual Studio 2008 Team System box, personally signed with a message from Jeff Beehler!

The second special item was a big surprise in that internally in the Team System MVP’s there is an award for the best MVP (think of being called the Tom Cruise of Top Gun), which Ed Blankenship deservedly won! Not to be outdone, I won the MVP in Residence award for spending a ridiculous amount of time away from home and doing stuff for Microsoft. The trophy for this was a photo frame with a certificate signed by Brian Harry!

[The series index can be found here.]

The welcome banner goes up at MVP summit!

“Remember this is NDA, no talking about it, posting on the internet, tweeting or sharing in any way” – That message I think is the MVP Summit slogan because it was told to attendees so many times, and for good reason. MVP Summit, for those who do not know, is an invite only conference which Microsoft runs yearly at their head office in Redmond, Washington (near Seattle). The conference attendees are made up of Microsoft staff, MVP awardees, and regional directors which means that the depth of knowledge is massive. I was comparing it to TechEd, except every session is interactive and starts at least at level 300 (Advanced) and most of the audience has the knowledge that they could present it too. I cannot go into the details of the sessions because of the NDA’s but what I can say is that all the sessions were direct, open and honest communication between MVP’s and the product teams.