Just as I predicted - I missed the fact that my friend Willie and his wife just had a baby! Only a week ago. Congratulations!!! It wasn't in his blog...but still...

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

Have you ever accidentally double clicked on the task manager and lost all means of closing it? I did this the other day and could not for the life of me figure out what had happened to it and where the control bar went and what to do to make it go away! Somehow, I managed to double click on it again in my frustration and realized what was going on.

As far as I can tell, it is impossible to close the task manager once you have done this. But really all you need to do is double click on it again and the control bar comes back and all is normal again.

I can't understand why this would be a "feature". It's awfully confusing.

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

Very coincidentally, there is an art exhibit by Vermont artist, Sally Linder, from her visit to South Africa in 2002 that is on display through the end of this week. I read about it in Seven Days and  went to see it a few days ago. We passed by some of the tin house shantytowns at 60+ miles per hour as we went from the bustle of the airport to the fantasy of Sun City (with it's not so fantastic past). Sally Linder went to South Africa and straight to the shanty towns as part of the Ark of Hope project. She visited the well-known Soweto and two other towns, Zandspruit and Diepsloot where she met and painted portraits of the residents and their life there. Although I am very excited by the potential of what I saw at TechEd, what she shares in her paintings and words reflecting her experience there is a reminder of how far there is to go. My hope is that the impact of the developer community in South Africa benefits all of South Africa's citizens and this only builds on my desire to work more closely with the SA Developer community, which began while I was there.

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

One of the things that I am looking forward to at DevConnections in Las Vegas (besides the conference, besides the sessions and besides to my return to Coral Reef where I Kathleen Dollard and I ate 3 nights in a row last year...) is seeing my friends that I only see from one conference to the next. Although I'll definitely miss Alex Homer and Dave Sussman (and didn't see them in October as i didn't go to the MVP Summit), there is a whole host of friends and people who I admire and really enjoy a chance to chat with, who are speaking at Connections (too many to list) that really make these events extra special. Take a look at the speaker list for VSConnections, ASPConnections, SQLConnections and the special 20th anniv C++ Connections (which is bringing together the C++ elite - many academics as well as practioners).

This is of course only enhanced by all of the conference attendees as well. Last spring, I had a great time hanging out at the INETA booth in the exhibitors hall and helping people find user groups in their area or even encouraging them to start one! Getting a chance to "expand" on the sessions is also great - there is only so much you can cover in the time frame of the sessions - and it's fun when people are interested in digging further into a particular area over lunch or a beer or just hanging out in the common area.

When it gets close to time to leave home, leave my beautiful little state, leave my pets and hubby behind, I start getting sad and wondering why I have chosen to do this. But as soon as I arrive at the conference hotel and am immersed in the buzz of so many people with the same passions as myself, there is no question as to why I am there.

One new entry to the Connections conference is Charles Petzold who is going to talk about ink as a new medium for developing applications. You should have seen Charles doing his tablet pc talk last winter at Windows Anywhere. It was a rare opportunity to actually watch him think as he demonstrated how one experiment led him to another and then another. I sure hope his talk is not scheduled at the same time as any of mine.

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

Probably all that I need that is not in current shipping subscriptions is Visual Studio6 and the MSDN Library for VB6... A project for another day.

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

Wonder why I didn't know you had a baby? Wrote a book? Released your product? Changed jobs? So many blogs, so little time....  How do you keep up with your own blog list? [Read more ...]

[A DevLife post]

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

Here's a job on monster.com that someone pointed me to:

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

Small Dog Electronics in Waitsfield - Vermont's coolest Mac shop (hardware & software) in one of Vermont's coolest towns

Small Dog Electronics is a non-smoking environment, smokers need not apply. We are a member of
Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility.
Small Dog Electronics, Inc. is an equal employment opportunity employer. Employment decisions are
based on merit and business needs, and not on race, color, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry,
gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, political affiliation, or any other factor protected by law. Small Dog Electronics complies with the law regarding reasonable accommodation for handicapped and disabled employees. Join us for a fun, fast-paced time. Small Dog Electronics seeks experienced website and network programmer for full-time position. Required skills: PHP, MySQL, Mac OS.

Desired skills: Perl, sys admin, Linux/Unix experience, Flash, C/C++. Experience: BS in CS and/or 3+ years related work experience. Please email your resume to Don Mayer at: Don@smalldog.com, no phone calls please.

 

(found in www.sevendaysvt.com)

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Green Mt. Logic

Join our growing team of software professionals, located in Montpelier, who are developing and installing a dynamic new software product for life science laboratories.
Software Engineer Position
Degree in computer programming with minimum two years experience in software design and development. Ability to understand complex applications. Excellent understanding of programming principles and data structures. Familiar with HTML, XML, XSL, Java, JavaScript, and VB. Familiar with Oracle or SQL server. Good writing and verbal skills.

Software Tester Position Experience in testing, can create and execute test plans. Technical experience in configuring test servers. Maintain focus, document findings, and provide meticulous, verbal and written detail in an active work environment. Can-do attitude. MS Suite knowledge.

Please email cover letter and resume to our HR department at hr@gmlogic.com.

(found in www.sevendaysvt.com)

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Let your talent shine at Verilux?, The Healthy Lighting Company?. Located in Waitsfield VT, Verilux, Inc. has three immediate openings for dedicated and talented, team-oriented professionals. Office relocation to the Burlington area planned for summer, 06. Web Developer Develop and maintain the Verilux Websites. The following activities are involved with this exciting position: Site Architecture, Navigation, and Content Development; Site Analytics, Security, Data Management, and List Management. This position will report to the Ecommerce and Online Marketing Manager. The ideal candidate will have an AS/BS or equivalent, 5 years experience and be proficient in ASP, JAVA, HTML, XHTML, XML and Flash. Excellent organizational skills, a can-do attitude and the ability to be an effective team player are required for this position. Qualified candidates please send a specifically targeted cover letter, resume and electronic portfolio (as appropriate) in Word or PDF formats to: Kwesthelle@verilux.net.

(found in www.sevendaysvt.com)

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Montpelier-based web development cooperative seeks well-rounded Developer to assist in design, coding, and project management. Experience with XHTML, CSS, PHP required, Javascript, AJAX, Drupal, Perl, and OSS a plus. Part-time to start, full-time possible. Send resume to: info@eggplant.coop, PO Box 160, Plainfield, VT 05667. 877-272-7552.

(found in www.sevendaysvt.com)

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

lots of buzz about the MS Live announcement. When .NET came out the message was all about web apps and web services. THen for the last few years it has been all about smart client. Now with AJAX and ATLAS on the horizon, web apps are getting richer and competing with Smart Clients again. Now there is windows live and office live - but somehow the repetetive them that kept jumping out at me when reading the press release was "advertising".

"Windows Live will primarily be delivered free to users and supported by advertising, "

Office Live Basics helps a small business establish an online Internet presence including a domain name, a Web site with 30 MB of storage and five Web e-mail accounts at no charge through an advertising-supported model.

Advertiser Opportunities The addition of Office Live and Windows Live services enables advertisers to reach an even larger, more engaged audience. Today Ozzie outlined Microsoft’s vision for an advertising network powered by MSN adCenter, where advertisers will have access to tools that provide them with control, insight and intelligence to create more meaningful connections with customers. The advertising network will be open to partners over time so advertisers can connect with a broader audience through traditional media as well as new scenarios such as Internet Protocol television (IPTV) and mobile communications products.

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

As I leave for DevConnections in less than a week, it's time to put my head into Las Vegas now, though it's difficult to extract it from South Africa. DevConnections is going to be awesome. I already love this conference but with the addition of having a launch party, it will be that much more fun. Tuesday is all Microsoft sessions and then Wednesday and Thursday are the rest of us. I have two talks on Wed and two on Thursday - lots of different topics as usual!

Wed 8am: Customizing the Debugging Experience in Visual Studio 2005 with New Debugger Attributes
Wed 2pm: Leveraging SQL Server 2005 Query Notifications in ASP.NET 2.0 and ADO.NET 2.0

Thur 8am: Deciphering C# for VB Developers
Thur 2:45pm: A Look at WSE 3.0

Another event that will make this trip special for me is that my husband is coming out and we will be going to the desert for five days afterwards. I will be returning to the beautiful Zion National Park and then we may check out Bryce Canyon, the Hoover Dam and some other sites as well.

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How cool is this. Microsoft After Dark

Five Microsoft V.Ps (not MVPs, but Microsoft Vice Presidents) and the one and only Michele "I'm gonna crush you" Leroux Bustamante play poker to send their favorite developers to Launch in San Francisco. Totally check this out. Wait till you see who wins.

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

There is only one computer left in my quiver that does not have some flavor of VS2005 on it. The one I call my "daily driver" that I sit in front of about 15 hours a day doing most of my work. That will soon change.

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

Note that the js controls (and commercial controls) for Virtual Earth will be moving. Here are the details.

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

Want to find out who is mucking with your computer? Would you believe it is one of the biggest corporations on the planet? Thank goodness for brains like Mark Russinovitch! [Read more....]

[A DevLife post]

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

Okay so nobody from Microsoft made the list, but EBay, IBM, HP and Oracle are represented. Though of course these are business women, not I.T.

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

I have thought about getting one of these for a while but didn't do anything about it. When I read Dave Sussman's blog post about his experience with it, I knew I had to have it. I just set it up and I love this. It will really save me when I'm paying bills and logging into lots of different websites. Dave says "Very, very useful, for both the terminally forgetful (me), and the lazy (me again)." Me too!

Don't Forget: www.acehaid.org

I still have to get the pic of Hilton and me that Kate took, but here is a photo of me with Thea, Ernst and Armand - not only bloggers but user group leaders as well.

Here are some from Thea's blog

This is Thea, me, Armand and Ernst

Armand and Ernst petting the cubs while they were very busy working on a cow's leg. It was a big leg but they are really on it like glue. That's me, Kate and Oskar's foot. Oskar was great - gave us a tour of the lion park.

I also learned how to pronounce my friend's names properly. To translate for us Americans: Thea is "tee-a", Ernst is "Air-enst" and Armand is Armand, just the way we thought!