Microlau's Blog

November 2009 UG Meeting

This month’s UG meeting is held on 17th November 2009, at Level 22 CF12, NTUC Building from 1845 – 2115 hrs. Light Refreshments will be served before the session.

Introducing Windows Workflow Foundation 4.0
Maung Maung Phyo. MVP (Security)
1900 – 2000 hrs
Programs coordinate work. The code for coordination and state management often obscures a program's purpose - making it hard to maintain and enhance further.  Join us in this user group meeting to learn how programming with Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) 4.0 provides clarity of intent while preserving the functional richness of the .NET framework.  See how easy it is to build workflows with the new Visual Studio 2010 workflow designer and learn how WF integrates well with other Microsoft technologies. If you've looked at WF before, come and see the changes to data flow, composition, and new control flow styles. Significant improvements to usability, composability, and performance make Workflow a great fit for a broad range of solutions on both the client and the server.

Speaker Profile
Maung Maung Phyo currently works as a Developer Tools Technical Specialist in Developer & Platform Evangelism team, Microsoft Singapore.  Prior to joining Microsoft, he worked for NCS Pte Ltd where he architected and implemented numerous business solutions using .NET tools and technologies.  He was awarded Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) in Visual Developer - Security category.  Maung Maung, being passionate about technologies, loves getting his hands dirty with latest Microsoft servers and technologies, enjoys sharing his knowledge with others.  You can catch Maung Maung at the various Microsoft events, such as MSDN TechTalk, TechEd SEA, MEDC, TechFest, Mix-it-up, and also at the community events.

ASP.NET MVC 2
Alvin Lau, MVP (ASP.NET)
2015 – 2115 hrs
Developing applications with ASP.NET MVC 2 is going to be more productive than with ASP.NET MVC 1.0 with the improvements being made in this version such as the Templated and Paging Helpers. Additionally, those working with ASP.NET MVC 2 in the enterprise will find that some of the unique needs of their environment will be addressed via the new Areas and AsyncController features.

To register for the event, drop an email to microlau_at_sgdotnet_dot_org. Note that there’s currently no email confirmation for the event.

Directions to the venue can be found here

Trimming down of distribution list

In an effort to be more mail server friendly and also to trim down our distribution list, we'll not be sending out any newsletter if you've not had any online activity with SGDN from 1st January 2009. If you still want to receive the newsletter, you're strongly encouraged to either leave a post on the Coffee Table area.

Alternatively, if you don't want to receive newsletter, please log onto http://community.sgdotnet.org, Click on 'Edit' on the top right hand control of your browser, select 'Site Options' tab, scroll down to 'Email Configuration' and look for 'Receive Emails'. 

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This is a notice that we're further trimming our distribution list. You will only receive email notifications if you fulfill all the following criteria:

1. Any online activity from 1st January 2009 (i.e. logged in)
2. Made at least 1 single post since 1st January 2009
3. Configured your account to receive emails 

SGDN August 2009 UG Meeting

This month’s UG meeting is held on 13th August 2009, at Level 22 CF12, NTUC Building from 1845 – 2115 hrs. Light Refreshments will be served before the session.

SOLID Humors
Justin Lee, C# MVP
1900 – 2000 hrs
S.O.L.I.D. principles are a collection of best practices within the Object-Oriented Design. This session will cover all 5 principles: The Single Responsibility Principle, The Open Closed Principle, The Liskov Substitution Principle, The Interface Segregation Principle, and The Dependency Inversion Principle. It will also cover when and how to use these principles to create flexible, robust and reusable code.

What’s Brewing in Microsoft Innovation Center
Tan Chung Siong, Kah Meng Cheong, Huang Sile
2015 – 2115 hrs
Chung Siong will discuss the Sensor framework in Windows 7 and mapping control. 
In 20 minutes, Meng Cheong will be showing a demo on Speech Server 2007 and how to write a Speech application using Windows Workflow Foundation. 
With the Windows Azure coming out let’s take a look at what you can take advantage of right now. Sile will be discussing table endpoints as well as blobs on Windows Azure.

To register for the event, send an email to microlau_at_sgdotnet.org. Note that there’s currently no email confirmation for the event.

Win7 – Shortcuts in Virtual Windows XP

For those of you who’re following Windows 7, you would have noticed that there is a Virtualised Windows XP which you can run on your machine. I love the fact that I still have access to XP since some of my corporate applications ‘insist on running only in XP’ (notice my cynism :P). I only recently noticed that when you’re searching for programs which your start menu, it actually also searches for applications installed inside your Windows XP! Small but neat feature!

The above image shows a search result when I typed ‘Colligo’, which shows up 3 results – The last entry found as an application installed on my Virtual XP.

SGDN July 2009 UG Meeting – Recording and Slides are up

Here's the recording and slides for SGDN Jul 2009 UG Meeting

1) Data Access Layer for ASP.NET - Click here

2) Data Access Layer for SharePoint - Click here

SGDN July 2009 UG Meeting

This month’s UG meeting is held on 23th July 2009, at Level 21 Auditorium, NTUC Building from 1845 hrs – 2130 hrs. Light refreshments will be served before the session.

Data Access Layer in ASP.NET and SharePoint
Alvin Lau, ASP.NET MVP & Kit Kai, SharePoint MVP
1900 – 2130 hrs

Learn about design concerns and decisions (with demoes) on both ASP.NET and SharePoint

To register for the event, kindly drop an email to microlau_at_sgdotnet_dot_org, with the subject: [SGDN] Register me for Jul 2009 UG Meeting, indicating the following details:

User Name:
Full Name:
Email Address:
Contact No:

Directions to the venue can be found here. 

Uncle Bob – Principles of OoD

During my recent conversation with fellow mate, Icelava, we were discussing about development practices and design philosophies. He pointed Uncle Bob – Principles of Ood as a good guide for inexperienced developers to understand the fundamentals of a Object Oriented design. Definitely a worth-while read even if you’re a seasoned developer – We all know that our brain doesn’t retain all the information it has absorbed over time ;)

SGDN June 2009 UG Meeting

Date of Event: 4th June 2009
Venue: Level 22 CF-12
Time: 1845 – 2030 hrs (Light snacks will be served before the session)

Parallel Computing in Visual Studio 2010(beta 1)

Dewi Maya, C# MVP
1900 – 2030 hrs

Microsoft's Parallel Computing Platform (PCP) is providing tools enabling developers to leverage the power of Multi core processors in an efficient, maintainable, and scalable manner. Parallel Extensions to the .NET Framework brings several important concepts into this toolset. In this presentation, you will see how to parallelize an existing algorithm by using the static Parallel helper class, create and run Tasks, use the Future class to create and run Tasks that return a value and use Parallel LINQ (PLINQ) to optimize LINQ queries to execute in a parallel environment.

To register for the event, drop an email to microlau_at_sgdotnet_dot_org with the subject: [SGDN] Register me for June UG Meeting

Winners of CTU 2009 MSDN Subscription – Please ping us

This post is going out to the 4 winners who’ve won the MSDN Subscription from CTU 2009 – Kindly contact us (look inside your envelope) in order to ‘redeem’ your MSDN Subscription. As the expiry date to register the MSDN Subscription is drawing near (31st May 2009, I think).

So far, 3 of the 4 winners have responded. There’s one more winner out there… Please contact us asap.

Extreme Overnight and CTU

So you survived Microsoft { one } Nation 2009

Can you survive Community Technology Update?
http://ctu.geeksengaged.com

Seats are filling fast!

22^nd May 2009 & 23^rd May 2009

From the Communities to the Communities

FEATURING:

• 3 sessions of Extreme Hardcore (Code Extreme, Lab Extreme, VSTS Extreme)
• 4 Tracks of Contents (IT Pro, Developers, MOSS, SQL)
• 20 Sessions to hear and learn from the Experts
• Windows 7 Load Festival
• Special bundle offers!

It's an event no IT professional or Developer should miss! Join Microsoft User Communities in Singapore, following { one } Nation 2009, in a 1 day event to learn about new and future technologies. You will unlock the full power of the Microsoft server platform.

This is your chance to register! Don't miss out!

Register at http://ctu.geeksengaged.com

‘Better’ Practices on SQL Server Reporting Services

I’ll be presenting about SSRS on coming Thursday’s SGSQLUG User Group meeting on the following topic:

Ever felt that SSRS is behaving slightly below your (or your customer's) expectations? Come and join me in sharing some of the 'better' practices of using SSRS. Don't just listen to me, chip in with your very own good practices, tips or tricks

To sign up for the event, send an email to sqlugsingapore_at_mvps_dot_org with the subject: RE: [SGSQLUG] April User Group Meeting.

Learn, Network and Party with Singapore's User Groups at Microsoft { one } Nation 2009!

First time in Singapore, 5 DAYS only! 18th – 22nd May 2009

Come down to Microsoft Singapore and celebrate the birthday of Singapore's favorite server! The Microsoft User Communities in Singapore have put together an awesome week-long event to help you unlock the full power of the Microsoft server platform - culminating in a spectacular Microsoft { one } Nation celebration on the final day!

It's a festival that no IT professional or Developer should miss! Take part in live training, hands-on labs, demonstrations, and sessions to prepare you for your certification exam. Then, it's time to kick back, relax, and celebrate with the Singapore IT community! There will be contests, prizes, special discounts on products and training, and lots of giveaways!

Don't miss out! Seats are limited!

18th - 21st May
(Mon - Thu)
Hands-on Labs, Demos, Seminars, Training, SERVER showcase
9am - 4pm

22nd May (Fri)
USER COMMUNITY GRAND CELEBRATION
6:30pm till late!

FEATURING
Training and Networking opportunities!
Unbelievable SERVER hardware and software discounts!
Special bundle offers!
Lots of prizes and giveaways!

To register, click here

To find out more about the event, click here

Using Web service to get data from SQL Server and updating the local database cache

Some time back, my long time pal Apurva presented creating occasionally connected applications (aka Smart Clients). While he was preparing some materials for another purpose, he’s kindly uploaded his video and a pdf document which shows you step by step on how to build such an application.

Be sure to check it out!

Possibilities for Surface

I was at the newly renovated Liang Court and saw the interactive mall directory which understands some flicking actions. The first thought that came to me is 'Surface'? But after interacting with it, I could firmly saw that it is not - There's no 'throwing' action, no zooming (and un-zooming), and the flicking reaction is sluggish. Surface came to my mind, and I thought about how it can be combined with a bunch of Microsoft technologies to give shoppers a more interactive experience. 

Imagine this, a shopper comes to the interactive mall directory, and looks up for the product or service that he/she wants. Before actually going into the shop, the shopper can take a 3D look of the product, look up for reviews and comments (from online services such as HungryGoWhere for food), all before stepping into a shop.

Flipping back into my own world context, I can see how Surface (when pricing is economical) will bring endless possibilities for the household. Just imagine having it as a coffee table, and being able to entertain your family and friends right in the heart of your house - Music, videos, games and even surfing, all within Surface.

However, I simply cannot imagine how Surface can replace my good old keyboard when it comes to basic computing needs such as churning proposals, writing code and drawing diagrams.

Photos of my Phuket Trip

My family of 3 recently went on a short trip to Phuket. Here's the online photo album.