 |
 |
 |
The September 2007 edition of the WARDY IT Solutions SQL Server Newsletter has been released and can be viewed at http://www.wardyit.com/newsletters/sep2007.htm.
In this issue we cover:
TechEd-Developer and TechEd-IT Forum are only a month away so I've started putting together a rough schedule of the sessions I'd like to attend. The great thing about TechEd Barcelona is that Developer and ITPro sessions are separated into two conferences which means that I can attend most of the sessions I want without having to sacrifice Dev for ITPro and vice versa. The only thing that usually plays havoc with my schedule is Proctoring and Ask-the-Experts duties; however Ronald is pretty good and will modify (within reason) your work schedule if there are some sessions you really don't want to miss.
This year I'm going to concentrate on SQL Server Compact Edition 3.1/3.5 and SQL Server 2005/2008. Here are the sessions I'm hoping to attend:
TechEd-Developers
Richard Costall has created a group on Facebook called Microsoft TechEd Developers 2007 Barcelona.
So far there are 82 members and lots of resources about some of the things happening at the event; including a discussion board where people are discussing everything from accommodation, competitions and what parties are being organised.
Check it out!
Rob Tiffany has nearly completed his book titled "Windows Mobile Data Synchronization with SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server Compact 3.1". Chapters 1 to 4 (Installing and configuring Web Synchronization on your IIS server) are now feature complete and Rob has posted PDF versions of these on his blog for review. Chapter 5 (Programming the device to sync with SQL Server 2005) should be finished shortly.
PDF versions of the first 4 chapters, including a SQL Server backup file of the database used in the examples, can be downloaded from here.
PLEASE NOTE: Telstra have now released their official upgrade for the Treo 750.
If you're a Palm Treo 750 owner who's phone was purchased from a Telstra dealer and you're sick and tired of waiting for Palm/Telstra to release the Windows Mobile 6 upgrade; wait no more.
Last night I downloaded the 3 Mobile Windows Mobile 6 upgrade from Palm and successfully used it to upgrade my Telstra branded Treo 750. The only thing I've noticed missing is all the annoying Telstra branding, however the benefits of now having a super fast Windows Mobile device with embedded SQL Server CE 3.1 and .NET Compact Framework, not to mention enhancements such as:
was well worth the sacrifice.
For information on how to do this, read the following threads:
BTW, if you follow these steps you'll also end up with an unbranded and unlocked Treo 750.
Enjoy!
Two TechEd Barcelona Facebook Events have been setup to enable members to discuss the Developer and IT Forum events and form friendships. Here are the links for each event group so come join us and meet some of your fellow attendees:
TechEd-Developer
TechEd-IT Forum
Well, that didn't take long.
Just got confirmation that I've been selected to work as a MCT proctor for the hands-on-labs (HOL) for Tech.Ed Developer Barcelona (Spain) from 5th-9th November 2007. Same deal as per TechEd-IT Forum.
November is going to be one hell of a month :-D
Got confirmation today that I've been selected to work as a MCT proctor for the hands-on-labs (HOL) for Tech.Ed IT Forum Barcelona (Spain) from 12th-16th November 2007.
As an MCT proctor we are expected to assist attendees with the hands-on-labs PLUS work one shift at the Ask-the-experts (ATE) booths. Yet to find out what HOL or Booth I'll be responsible for but they will probably relate to SQL Server given my involvement in the SQL Community.
Fingers crossed that I'll get selected as a MCT proctor for Tech.Ed Developer Barcelona from 5th-9th November 2007.
Microsoft have kicked off the Australia 2008 Wave Launch Blog which is aimed at helping Aussie Partners get ready for the 2008 Wave Launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and the next version of Visual Studio.
There is already some great content on this site like the "2008 Global Launch Wave" countdown gadget for your Vista Sidebar and a link to the Windows Server 2008 Faces website, and you can also subscribe to a RSS feed to keep up-to-date with what's going on with the 2008 launches.
Drop on by and check it out for yourself.
On the 12th September 2007 I blogged about Microsoft's change in heart with scheduling events in Canberra. Well, it's only been two days and it's happened. The SBS 2003 Partner Readiness Training for Australia is coming to Canberra on 18th October 2007. This is great news.
Event Details
This technical training focuses on the Small Business Server 2003 Release 2 and will be delivered in two sessions, with each session focusing on a different aspect of SBS Server 2003 R2. The sessions will run for approximately three (3) hours with a lunch break in between the sessions. The session’s outlines are:
Session 1 - Microsoft SBS 2003 R2 – Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003 SP2 Features
This session introduces the new features on SBS 2003 R2 in regards to Exchange 2003 SP2 and Outlook 2003 SP2. After completing this course, you will be able to:
Session 2 - Microsoft SBS 2003 R2 – Windows SharePoint Services V2.0\V3.0 Features
This session will introduce WSS v2.0, however it will be mainly focused on WSS V3.0. Students will learn the advantages of using Windows SharePoint services in their SBS 2003 R2 environment. After completing this course, you will be able to:
REGISTER NOW : https://www.local.microsoft.com.au/australia/events/register/home.aspx?levent=400723&linvitation
This series is being presented by Michele Leroux Bustamante (Chief Architect, IDesign Inc, Microsoft Regional Director for San Diego, MVP XML Web Services) and author of Learning WCF (O'Reilly, 2007) and touches on the fundamentals and practical approaches of WCF development.
This session covered:
Some of the key points from this session (this was a hard one to summerise as it contains lots of demo's that really need to be watched to understand the concepts of extensibility) :
This webcast is available for download from here along with a copy of the Powerpoint deck.
That was the last webcast in this series (phew!) and I'd like to thank Michele for writing such a brilliant book and delivering such an excellent webcast series.
It seems that my previous post on Canberra being snubbed by Microsoft has set off a few alarm bells within Microsoft as I have had numerous emails from those associated with event scheduling assuring me that events will now be coming to Canberra.
Sharmilla Gosai (Partner Development Manager : Readiness, Microsoft Australia) has advised that they are currently working on a delivery schedule with a select group of Canberra based Microsoft Partners to make it happen (hint hint!). I also have a meeting scheduled with Microsoft next Thursday to discuss 2008 launch events etc (thanks OT).
Really hoping that all the promises eventuate as I know I'm not the only person who's feeling neglected and we really need to do something to liven up the Microsoft Community in Canberra..
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition (SQL Server Compact Edition) is the rebranding of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition (SQL Server Mobile 3.0) without the desktop restriction.
SQL Server Compact extends the SQL Server Mobile technology by offering a low maintenance, compact embedded database for single-user client applications for all Windows platforms including tablet PCs, pocket PCs, smart phones and desktops. Just as with SQL Server Mobile, SQL Server Compact is a free, easy-to-use, lightweight, and embeddable version of SQL Server 2005 for developing desktop and mobile applications.
In this session Jeff will cover:
When: Wednesday, 12 September 2007
Where: Canberra Microsoft Office, Level 2, 44 Sydney Avenue, BARTON
Duration: Pizza & drinks from 5:00 pm for a 5:30 pm start. Finish approximately 7:30pm
Registration: www.sqlserver.org.au
Hope to see you there
Cheers
Jeff
Whilst reading through the description for the Facebook group Windows Mobile Data Synchronization with SQL Server 2005 and SSC 3.1, I discovered two more books that cover SSCE. One is still being written by Rob Tiffany and is titled "Windows Mobile Data Synchronization with SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server Compact 3.1" and the second, titled "Microsoft Mobile Development Handbook", was written by the Windows Mobile MVP "Dream Team" of Andy Wigley, Peter Foot and Daniel "The Moth" Moth (now at Microsoft).
I had the pleasure of meeting Andy at Tech.Ed Developers Barcelona last year and completely forgot that he told me he would be releasing a Windows Mobile book in mid 2007. Sorry Andy, will make it up to you at Tech.Ed Barcelona this year :-D
Windows Mobile Data Synchronization with SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server Compact 3.1
This book is for the IT Professional and according to the tentative chapter list will cover:
The great thing Rob is doing with this book is making each chapter available as a PDF download prior to the books release. The idea behind this concept is that Rob is giving people a jumpstart in their efforts to implement a mobile data replication strategy. At the time of writing this entry, Chapters 2, 3 and 4 had been released.
Microsoft Mobile Development Handbook
This book is "one of the first books to cover the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 and SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition, it even gives the reader coverage of Visual Studio 2008, and .NET Compact Framework 3.5 technologies such as WCF, LINQ, Compression, and 'on-device' Unit Tests" (Rob Tiffany, 2007).
It has over 600 pages and contains the following chapters:
Enjoy!
Jeff
I seem to be getting a lot of requests from people about when I will be presenting my SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition DBA/Developer Primer presentations so thought it would be far easier for me to list them here and then point people to my blog. So, here are the session details:
Screencasts of a DBA and Developer Primer session will been uploaded to http://wardyit.com/resources.aspx by mid October 2007.
This series is being presented by Michele Leroux Bustamante (Chief Architect, IDesign Inc, Microsoft Regional Director for San Diego, MVP XML Web Services) and author of Learning WCF (O'Reilly, 2007) and touches on the fundamentals and practical approaches of WCF development.
This session covered:
Key points from this session:
This webcast is available for download from here along with a copy of the Powerpoint deck. The next Webcast (session 15) has already been presented and is titled "Extensibility". A schedule on the complete series can be found here.
This series is being presented by Michele Leroux Bustamante (Chief Architect, IDesign Inc, Microsoft Regional Director for San Diego, MVP XML Web Services) and author of Learning WCF (O'Reilly, 2007) and touches on the fundamentals and practical approaches of WCF development.
This session covered:
Key points from this session:
This webcast is available for download from here along with a copy of the Powerpoint deck. The next Webcast (session 14) has already been presented and is titled "Message Queuing". A schedule on the complete series can be found here.
This series is being presented by Michele Leroux Bustamante (Chief Architect, IDesign Inc, Microsoft Regional Director for San Diego, MVP XML Web Services) and author of Learning WCF (O'Reilly, 2007) and touches on the fundamentals and practical approaches of WCF development.
This session covered:
Key points from this session:
This webcast is available for download from here along with a copy of the Powerpoint deck. The next Webcast (session 13) has already been delivered and is titled "Transactions". A schedule on the complete series can be found here.
After much delay, the full webcast of this session has been uploaded.
This series is being presented by Michele Leroux Bustamante (Chief Architect, IDesign Inc, Microsoft Regional Director for San Diego, MVP XML Web Services) and author of Learning WCF (O'Reilly, 2007) and touches on the fundamentals and practical approaches of WCF development.
This session covered:
Key points from this session:
The seventh webcast has already been delivered and is available for download from here along with a copy of the Powerpoint deck. I will blog about it shortly. The next Webcast (session 8) is scheduled for 13th August 2007 and is titled "Instancing Modes". A schedule on the complete series can be found here.
Today Palm Australia finally commenced rolling out their Windows Mobile 6 upgrade for the Treo 750 after advertising it on their website for the last 2-3 weeks. At the moment the upgrade is for 3 Mobile devices only but their technical support centre advised that other carrier updates should start rolling out next week. When I asked if the Telstra upgrade would be rolled out next week, I was given the same reply; "Other carrier upgrades should start rolling out next week".
Not sure whether they rolled out 3 Mobile first due to its smaller subscriber base or whether they are having issues getting the Telstra upgrade out. Telstra has the largest subscriber base and were the first carrier to release the Treo 750 in Australia. Either way, it looks like the upgrade will by available very very soon.
Micth Denny has put together an excellent post on using Certificate-based Authentication and Protection with Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).
One thing to point out is that using x509FindType=’FindBySubjectName’ doesn't guarantee uniqueness as it uses a case-insensitive string compare and finds all certificates with the subject name containing that string, regardless of other subject values. It is recommended to use ‘FindBySubjectDistinguishedName’ or ‘FindByThumbprint’ to guarantee uniqueness.
Also, ‘FindByThumbprint’ should be used if you are using SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) v2.0) as 'Thumbprint' is one of the values supported by SAML as guaranteeing certificate uniqueness.