Why oh why did I wait so long to set up source control to use for myself? It was so easy to set up and makes perfect sense to use even in a non-team environment. Read more...

{A DevLife Post]

Listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, I got a good laugh this morning. The quote of "I'll order 4000 lattes to go please" was the clue and the question was what was being launched that this was the first crank call from? Of course we know it was Steve Jobs on the new iPhone which was front page headline news everywhere. The contestant said "oh, that new ummm... Microsoft, ummmm..." to the ooohs and boos of the audience. Kinda funny.

What's in the Jan CTP for people looking for ADO.NET Orcas goo? It's basically the same as the October bits except the documentation is there. I actually sat here going back and forth between three VPCs this morning, comparing the August, October and January CTPs, just to be sure. Here's what I found...

[A DevLife post]

I hadn't, so when I needed a calendar I could put info onto in a web app (like the one on your wall), it took me a while to realize that all I needed was right at my fingertips. Read more ...

[A DevLife post]

Egad - not snakes on a plane, but scorpions on a plane....

The "Ready for a new day" Launch 2007 Event for Vista, Office 2007 & Exchange 2007 is starting this month.

I'm sure many people will be interested in the fact that attendees will receive free copies of Office Pro 2007 and  Groove 2007.

Events "near" Vermont are

• Albany Feb 15th
• Nashua  Feb 15th
• Boston Jan 24th

More info here: http://www.microsoft.com/business/uslaunchevent2007

Last night's VTdotNET meeting was a blast. We did something that we have never done before. Rather than have one person do a session on a .NET topic, 6 members from the user group demo'd tools that they love to use when they are programming. Some were Visual Studio Add-Ins, such as ReSharper. Others were apps help create .NET code such as CodeSmith and Code Charge Studio. Other's were tools that work hand in hand with Visual Studio, such as XMLSpy. And then there were a whole bunch that were not really related to coding: SnagIt, pureText, TimeSnapper, NotePad++, ExamDiff, Toad Free Modeller and a bunch of Windows XP PowerToys.

I have the links to all of the tools demo'd in a power point on the Past Meetings page under the Jan 8th meeting.

The tools also ranged from free to shareware to commercial.

We were happy to have licenses to ReSharper and Altova's DiffDog to raffle off at the end of the meeting.

It was a lot of fun because so many of these tools were useful to everyone and many people had never seen most of them before. Amusing to me was how each person told me "oh, I won't need all of the time allotted to me" and everyone of them got buzzed in the middle of a sentence and was shocked that they had already used up their allotted time. Dave Burke wrote about that on his blog. I used a little shareware stopwatch program called XNote StopWatch to keep track of the time and tied an obnoxious wav file to the "time's up" event. Then I was able to pay attention to the demos and not worry about the time. Nobody got the hook of course. This just helped us know when it was time to wrap up.

A huge thanks goes to Altova who sponsored the meeting in a big way with money for pizza & soda plus VTdotNET.aspx">gobs of swag.

Altova is sponsoring tonight's VTdotNET meeting in a big way.

They are paying for the pizza and soda, plus they sent a big box o'swag. Check this out. The bags are for the winners of the 5 DiffDog licenses. They ahve in them a hat and a 128 MB thumbdrive with all of the Altova evals on them.

In addition they sent piles of hats and t-shirts (really nice colors!) , pens and lit about their products. This was really generous of them and will make the meeting like Christmas all over again.

When it's 35 degrees and raining slush, that's PJ Day around here. Almost every day, I start the day by walking the dogs. But today was so nasty, I just came downstairs in my pj's and let the dogs out to pee and "do the doo" and then right back in.

I think people assume that since I work at home, I do this quite often, but it is a true rarity - maybe twice a year!

I just realized it's nearly noon and here I am still in my pjs. Just need to remember to change into street clothes before I head to the VTdotNET meeting tonight.

Resource Systems Group, Inc is an employee-owned consulting firm with offices in Vermont and Chicago, IL. We are seeking talented, motivated individuals to join our White River Junction office.  From this location we serve a committed base of regional and national clients. The following position is available:

Associate: Software Development

This position involves working in the Technology Group, supporting the firm’s software and analysis needs. The primary focus will be developing fully dynamic web-based solutions from interface to business logic to back end database design. We are looking for someone who is organized, resourceful, and analytical to join our team.

·          Bachelor’s or Masters degree with emphasis in computer science or a related field

·          Practical experience in the following areas:

o         Web Development in ASP.NET or Java

o         Database Design and Query Development and Analysis in SQL

o         Strong Design and Development Skills

Please email resume and cover letter to employment@rsginc.com      

We are an equal-opportunity employer.

http://www.rsginc.com/employment/

We have a fun session coming up on Monday.

Six VTdotNET members will show off some of their favorite productivity tools. Some of these tools are free, some are shareware and some are commercial. The demos will be fast and furious. Here’s the skinny:

·         Mike Soulia: XMLSpy (xpath features)   

·         Chris DeGuise: ReSharper

·         Dave Burke: CodeSmith  

·         Rob Hale: Beyond Compare

·         Bret Griswold: Code Charge Studio

·         Julie Lerman: SnagIt, PureText, TimeSnapper & 2 PowerToys 

·         Bob LoCicero: NotePad++, ExamDiff, SyncToy, XmlNotepad & Toad Free Modeller

PIZZA & SODA will be sponsored by ALTOVA, makers of XMLSpy.

Please rsvp for a pizza count! rsvp@vtdotnet.org

We got a big box of swag from Altova including:

Date: Monday, Jan 8th

Time: 6:00 – 8:30

Location: Vermont Tech, Williston Campus

More Info at www.vtdotnet.org

Are these really pictures of Vermont in January? Yes. I just took them in my front yard. Bah. I think ALL of the snow for planet earth is in Colorado right now.

I had a wierd problem with tabbed data in a TextBox and need to get around it. WPF offered a solution, but I had to opt for straight .NET 2.0 anyway. Read more...

[A DevLife post]

Dave Burke's Five Things ... listing some interesting personal details of his life that you probably didn't know (and I certianly didn't and was fascinated) has tasked me with trying to the do the same.

The problem is that I think anyone who reads my blog already knows anything that might be somewhat interesting about my deep dark past.

But now I realize that i'm not allowed to bail. I've also been tagged by Andy Beaulieu. So here goes:

1. I have been to a Playmate of the Year party at Hugh Hefner's mansion in L.A.
2. I was a Cosmo Girl for two years in a row - interviewed by Helen Gurley Brown for Cosmopolitan Magazine's annual "what are young, cosmopolitan women thinking about home, fashion, work, romance, money, etc."
3. I have written software for Macs.
4. My first programming experience was on home-built Heathkit computers (by the math profs at my college).
5. For about 10 years, I split my time between programming and pottery. I had space in studio near my apartment in Brooklyn and spent about 20 hours a week there. I hope to pot again someday.

Okay, now who am I going to tag? Hmmm.

1. Mike Gunderloy
2. Kate Gregory
3. hmmm Sam's been there and done that. Apparently, C was not his first language after all!
4. Camey Combs
5. Amanda Murphy

http://www.btobonline.com/article.cms?articleId=30259

There is a lot more info here.

Qualifications

4 year degree within appropriate Engineering/Science discipline or equivalent.

Several years of professional work experience as a software engineer

A proven technical aptitude required. Experience with Microsoft development tools (for example, Visual Studio, Visual Basic 6) and web application development (for example, VBScript, JavaScript, ASP, HTML, DHTML)
Good understanding of current software development technologies and methodologies.

Demonstrated experience on product releases throughout the entire development lifecycle. Practical program/project experience on the whole development lifecycle.

Able to communicate complex technical issues in a clear, concise manner, both orally and in written communication

Authorization to work in the US
Willingness to travel 10% of the time.

Desired

4 years work experience in the Healthcare industry
Experience with object oriented software development and associated technical standards
Experience with relational databases
Experience with .NET, especially C#
Knowledge of design modeling, documentation and communication (for example, UML, IDEF)
Knowledge of data Communication protocols and standards (for example, DICOM, HL7)
Work experience with RIS Imaging products (IDX legacy Imagecast products and/or GE Centricity RIS products) and Healthcare Enterprise products, which integrate with RIS products.
Clinical domain knowledge to include Radiology, Cardiology, Oncology, Orthopedics and related workflows
Familiarity with business planning processes. Demonstrated technical domain knowledge by being current on software engineering design principles, architectures and advancements in engineering concepts and technologies

I needed to use a monospace font in a report but did not want Courier as it looked too different than the rest of the text on the report. I did end up going with Lucida Console, but on the way to that decision, found a nice resource from someone who made a list of 22 monotype fonts along with some details about each and where to get them from.

Today, from IDEP, in Bali Indonesia, with whom I worked very closely during the aftermath of the disastrous tsunami two years ago. This is urgent and not on their website yet:

How you can help…

IDEP is urgently seeking immediate support for family support kits, temporary shelters, field kitchens, water an sanitation supplies as well as distribution and search and rescue logistics.

For emergency supplies IDEP is working with our partners CV Sarawsati (CVS) who helped us with supplies and delivery for the 2005 Tsunami, as well as the Jogyakarta and West Java Quake responses earlier this year. CVS can supply us with aid kits such as the following immediately should support be available...



To make a donation please go to our website: www.idepfoundation.org/idep_donate.php

Currently, IDEP can accept donations by two means:

1) Online Credit Card Donations through the National Heritage Foundation

Visit www.idepfoundation.org/idep_donate.php and select the ‘On-line Credit Card Donation’ option. You will be directed to the National Heritage Foundation website where you can process your donation through their secure site. Donations are accepted on our behalf by the National Heritage Foundation in the USA which is a registered 501-(c)(3) charity. Donation made through NHF are tax deductible in the United States.

Don’t forget, when you register your donation on our website, if you wish to earmark the funds for a particular project please indicate the project name.

2) Wire transfer to our bank account

Our bank account details:


If you are wire transferring funds please notify IDEP by filling in our donation registration form  on-line at: www.idepfoundation.org/idep_donate.php or emailing donate@idepfoundation.org. Please indicate the amount, the originating currency (i.e. US  dollars, UK pounds, etc), bank name and city from which the transfer was made, your name (as you would like to be listed on the donor list), and the date of the transfer. A receipt will be sent once the funds have arrived. Also, if you wish to earmark the funds for a particular project please indicate the project name.

Thank You so much to everyone who can help make this emergency response possible and for any support you are able to  provide.

While Jay Peak, in it's very own weather zone, is boasting snow (only 60 miles north of us) and Denver is getting another 30 inches on top of the coupla feet they got last week, poor little Mad River Glen (the reason we live in Vermont) is finally going to open this weekend with a minimal base and minimal snow on top of that. Most of the other resorts around here are suffereing as well, but now that the cold has set in at least they can confidently make snow. Mad River actually has some snow making equipment as well, but oh, how I hate skiing on that. There are about 2 inches of snow in our front yard and I just can't take it any more. I'm going to put in my old tele "rock skis" and go ski around the yard, grab the mail and then get back to work. No point in going out into the woods as there's never as much snow in there as there is out in the open. For that, I can't even justify snow shoes, though flip flops would be pushing it....

Charles in 3D on WPF on the web! Read more

[A DevLife post]