December 2006 - Posts

Dr. Neil's Notes

Another week another podcast. In Dr. Neil's Notes this week I talk about: Relaxing between Christmas and New Years celebrations how Google broke my blog :( SportSPeak.NET a new project. Plans for the new year Enjoy... Read More
posted Friday, 29 December 2006 11:56 AM by drneil | 0 Comments

Happy and safe Christmas!

Hi Folks, Just a quick note tonight to wish all readers a happy and safe Christmas period. Mai and I are going to get to spend a few days up in Brizzie during the next few weeks (airlines permitting). It will be good to catch up with the rest of the Read More
posted Friday, 22 December 2006 9:11 PM by drgreg | 0 Comments

Merry Christmas

As this busy week draws to a close I would like to wish you all a fantastic Christmas. I hope Santa brings you all the gadgets you asked for. If you don't participate in Christmas then have an awesome time what ever you are doing and whichever gods you Read More
posted Friday, 22 December 2006 5:05 PM by drneil | 0 Comments

Another Dr. Neil's Notes

Just a quick FYI: I have uploaded the latest edition of Dr. Neil's Notes. A show where I get distracted and disturbed. Read More
posted Thursday, 21 December 2006 10:18 AM by drneil | 0 Comments

SQL Server 2005 SP2 December CTP now available

Hi Folks, The title pretty much says it all but the December CTP of Service Pack 2 for SQL Server 2005 is now available for download from: http://www.microsoft.com:80/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d2da6579-d49c-4b25-8f8a-79d14145500d&DisplayLang=en Read More
posted Wednesday, 20 December 2006 3:30 PM by drgreg | 0 Comments

La LA La

Dr. Greg is spot on, I need the music in the background to get things moving in my head. I do however hate the headphones at work, something Adam discussed recently in a mail out he does. with headphones on I cant hear what other people are saying or Read More
posted Wednesday, 20 December 2006 1:45 PM by drneil | 0 Comments

Do I listen to podcasts while working?

I've also had a number of people ask me about whether I listen to podcasts while doing other things like writing code, books, articles, blog posts or responding to emails? The answer is a resounding "no". I find that I cannot listen to someone talking Read More
posted Wednesday, 20 December 2006 9:21 AM by drgreg | 2 Comments

Why don't penguins feet freeze?

In an earlier post, I mentioned I like the New Scientist podcast. Since then, I've had a few people ask me what on earth I find interesting about it. While they cover some really excellent areas of science research (and some not so excellent), the part Read More
posted Wednesday, 20 December 2006 9:15 AM by drgreg | 0 Comments

What is an RD?

With the three Australian Microsoft Regional Directors posting on this blog, I expect some of you are still trying to work out what the role of Regional Director actually means.Jonathan Goodyear a regional director in Florida, USA has put together a really Read More
posted Wednesday, 20 December 2006 4:30 AM by drneil | 0 Comments

New local scientific podcast from the CSIRO

In a recent post, I mentioned the podcasts I listen to. I've added a new one today. Great to see the scientists at the CSIRO now podcasting. They've only posted a few short shows so far but it's a really good start. Greg Read More
posted Tuesday, 19 December 2006 9:22 PM by drgreg | 4 Comments

The evil cousin: a black Zune

So Dr Neil got a brown Zune and Adam has a white one. I thought I was safe having the evil looking shiny black model but my new wife already has her eyes on it. Even though it's larger than the iPods, Mai thinks it just looks great and loves the screen Read More
posted Tuesday, 19 December 2006 8:58 PM by drgreg | 0 Comments

Zune Baby - My New Toy Doesn't like Vista

 Like Dr Neil I managed to get my hands on one of Microsoft's new Zune's - apparently we were one of the first in Australia. It's the MS answer to the infamous iPod. I'll tell you what, these things look cool! I got the white one, so it unfortunately Read More
posted Monday, 18 December 2006 7:25 PM by adamcogan | 2 Comments

Dr. Neil's Zune arrives

Today my brown zune arrived. I have to say I am way more impressed than I thought I was going to be. As a long time iPod user my first impressions are that this could easily remove the iPod from my travel bag.Firstly I was impressed by the packaging, Read More
posted Monday, 18 December 2006 2:23 PM by drneil | 1 Comments

Blogging about to peak?

IT News carried an interesting story today. They report Gartner as saying that blogging and community contributions online are likely to peak in 2007. They note that folk like Technorati are already reporting a slow-down. I've seen a lot of people start Read More
posted Monday, 18 December 2006 11:07 AM by drgreg | 0 Comments

Which podcasts do I listen to?

http://channel9.msdn.com/rss.aspx?ShowID=13&format=mp3Given I've been presenting a podcast for some time, I often get asked which podcasts I listen to. It's actually quite a few and they aren't all technical: Dot Net Rocks Hanselminutes Dr Neil's Read More
posted Monday, 18 December 2006 9:22 AM by drgreg | 4 Comments

SQL and Vista

Earlier today, Dr Neil posted about the idiotic article on CNNMoney.com regarding SQL Express not running on Vista. The argument was that somehow that would give IBM or Oracle a big help along. Neil correctly pointed out how silly the article is in many Read More
posted Sunday, 17 December 2006 4:16 PM by drgreg | 1 Comments

ASP.NET MVP Doug Reilly not at all well

Doug Reilly hosted an interesting session at TechEd US this year. It was on "geeks with cancer and other serious diseases". DonXML (Don Demsak) today is pointing out that Doug is now seriously ill. The story is at: http://donxml.com/allthingstechie/archive/2006/11/28/Thoughts-and-Prayers-for-Doug-Reilly.aspx. Read More
posted Sunday, 17 December 2006 4:11 PM by drgreg | 0 Comments

Author flaw could haunt CNNMoney.com

In an article entitled Vista flaw could haunt Microsoft in CNN Money, author Owen Thomas makes a mistake that highlights his ignorance and a lack of research.My take away from reading this article is that Owen is telling us that because the RTM (and Read More
posted Sunday, 17 December 2006 10:56 AM by drneil | 2 Comments

Hello World

Hi all, Well now it’s my turn to say hello to you all. I’m Adam "the blogger" Cogan and I’m the third of the Australian RD’s to jump on board here. I’m new to the world of blogging so I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to write about in the upcoming Read More
posted Friday, 15 December 2006 4:09 PM by adamcogan | 4 Comments

Printer Compatability Library for VB

Hi Folks, For the VB folks, worth noting that the Printer Compatability Library 1.0 has just been released. You can get it here: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vbasic/bb219077.aspx. It provides a library of printing functions that make migration from Read More
posted Friday, 15 December 2006 10:54 AM by drgreg | 0 Comments

Imagine….

I would like to take you through an imaginary scenario before I get to the point of this post.   Imagine you need some new plumbing installed in your house so you can put a shower downstairs. You call a few plumbers who come over so you can show Read More
posted Friday, 15 December 2006 8:01 AM by drneil | 2 Comments

PDC has been announced

The Professional Developers Conference is the main conference that Microsoft holds every couple of years to let developers see where they are heading with their internal projects. It is very much a futures conference. PDC 2007 has just been announced. Read More
posted Thursday, 14 December 2006 4:39 PM by drgreg | 2 Comments

Dr. Neil's Notes

While we wait for Adam to catch up with the fact it is nearly 2007 and the world reads web content via RSS feeds, I thought I would point you towards the latest Dr. Neil's Notes, a (mostly) regular podcast I publish. The topic for the show (after some Read More
posted Thursday, 14 December 2006 2:14 PM by drneil | 0 Comments

And another "hello"

Hi Folks, Frank had the idea that this month, the three local RD's would share the host role. Dr Neil has already said hi. I'm saying hi in this post so then it's over to Adam. Just a quick intro on myself. I've been working as a developer since about Read More
posted Thursday, 14 December 2006 10:29 AM by drgreg | 1 Comments

Greetings TechTalkBloggers

A huge thank you to Mitch Denny for his contributions on this blog. In this first post I will introduce myself, in case you have been fortunate enough to have avoided me in the last few years (or just hiding under a rock) My name is Neil Roodyn but Read More
posted Thursday, 14 December 2006 7:45 AM by drneil | 1 Comments

Farewell TechTalkBloggers!

I got an e-mail from Frank Arrigo this afternoon letting me know that he has a new guest editor for TechTalkBlogs waiting in the wings ready to take over from me and that it is time to write my final post. I started guest blogging on TTB over a month Read More
posted Wednesday, 13 December 2006 9:30 PM by mitch | 1 Comments

Blog Clippings #4

Here they are: It looks like computers have finally got it over the humans with the defeat of Vladimir Kramnik by Deep Fritz in a 4-2 chess match (source Engadget). The post indicates that it might be the end of the road for chess playing computers Read More
posted Sunday, 10 December 2006 8:26 PM by mitch | 0 Comments

Check out the new Channel 10 site!

I've noticed on Frank's blog a link to the on10.net site, titled as Channel 10. It looks like a more consumer orientated version of Channel 9, possibly inspired a lot by Engadget but with a more Microsoft-centric focus. Read More
posted Saturday, 9 December 2006 8:36 PM by mitch | 2 Comments

Blog Clippings #3

I am cross posting my latest Blog Clippings to TTB - you can visit my blog if you want to see the first two (#1, #2). Brad Abrams asks the question "Mix07: What do you want to hear?". For those of you who don't know Mix'06 was a successful conference Read More
posted Friday, 8 December 2006 7:30 PM by mitch | 0 Comments

Mark your calendars! The first Canberra Visual Studio Team System user group meeting has been scheduled!

Nils has got the scoop - the inaugural meeting of the Canberra Visual Studio Team System user group has been set for 8:00am on Wednesday the 24th of January next year. This is going to be a community of practice where people can share kind of knowledge Read More
posted Friday, 8 December 2006 7:10 PM by mitch | 0 Comments