One of things I get asked a lot about is how to do Life Cycle management with SharePoint Development - mainly because SharePoint makes it so easy to forget about the line between content and code.

So what do you do when you're working on your custom feature or solution?  Take a look at the post - http://blogs.msdn.com/vesku/archive/2008/07/29/continuous-integration-in-moss-development-using-tfs.aspx - that Vesa Juvonen has up.  He's got some great information on doing continuous integration with your SharePoint code - it just might be exactly what you need.

For everyone that asked me in June "Why didn't we have a startup weekend in <city name here>?", well here's your chance to make sure you get one close to you!  Startup Weekend is looking for votes on which cities the coaches should be heading to over this coming year.  You can go to http://startupweekend.com/cityvote/ and put in your vote (note there is an option for virtual as well.)  Dig in, get your colleges to join up, and I have no doubt that we'll be starting companies all over the map (as if we weren't already.)  I've already got my votes in, jump in and show where you'd like to see it happen!

After a day of unpacking and packing the booth - Maker Faire is just 12 hours away, but it feels like we already are in full swing. I've already heard the Mousetrap song, got to see the hothouse of robo pummeling going up, heard the ring of fire being tuned up and seen the solar panels looming right next to the speaker towers.  Gonna try to get a little sleep and then head back down to finish up the our own robo ring and make sure all the machines are set up to let everyone try their hands at robotics and embedded programming.

If you come by, make sure to say Hi! (Oh and mention the blog and I'll try to get you to the front of the donut line!)

Sorry, I've been a bit slow in blogging - things have been going at a really breakneck pace.  Just got finished talking about our Surface table today (which you can see at Innotech Austin tomorrow) and will be talking there tomorrow on RIA and how this particular client model is influencing software.  Then it's off to Austin Maker Faire!!!!   We've been working on this for a while - and it's all coming together (if it'll JUST stop raining - no I didn't say that.)  We'll be over by the Mousetrap - come by and try your hand (or hands) at building embedded systems or running around a robot.  I'll be acting as one of the robot jockeys over the weekend, but you'll get to meet the whole team as we'll have everyone around the event.  Plus, we'll have some Lego NXT bots that you'll have a chance to win and take home to continue your robotic adventures. 

Oh, and did I mention the donuts?  Come by and try donuts made by C# code - process control doesn't have to be documents or trouble tickets!

On the day where all the talk is around financial bailouts and economic meltdowns, there was one piece of incredible news.  We now have a commercial orbital launch industry in the US.  The Falcon 1 vehicle from Space X became the first privately designed, funded, and operated launch vehicle to achieve earth orbit.  Now THAT's an achievement.  And from what I can see - they're not going to be the only ones for long, there's a good many other companies looking to follow up this momentous occasion.  This is the foundation we needed to get everything from perfect ball bearings to high volume pharmaceutical refining to orbiting solar power plants to resource extraction from off world bodies.  And it starts today - and hopefully will keep expanding.  My fingers are crossed that we can make this new revolution stick and not end up in a Fallen Angels world. 

For our Dallas, attendees, I apologize - I had to juggle a couple of other events and am being slow about putting up the links I mentioned.  For Austin, here's the list - I made it before my deadline. :-)

For the event slides, you can go to http://www.tinyurl.com/ArcReady

For the beta information on Zermatt you can sign up for the program at http://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=642

For a central point for what the Microsoft Architecture group is doing - visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/default.aspx 

For information on what the Patterns and Practices team is doing - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/practices/default.aspx

And for the information on our next ArcReady session - as always, keep an eye on http://www.arcready.com

I'd mentioned the USBizi was being worked on here and at a couple of events.  Well, for those who have been asking me about it, it's now shipping.  And not just with the 2.5 Micro Framework, but there is also a beta version of the 3.0 Micro Framework available.  You can get the official info and ordering locations at http://www.ghielectronics.com/details.php?id=113 

For those that haven't heard me talk about it, you may be asking what's the big deal?  The big deal on this one is that

1. It's small.  Even better, once you use the dev system put together, there is a single chip production version - so it gets even smaller when you want to actually make a run.
2. It's inexpensive - $99 for the embedded dev kit, $199 for an extended dev kit with display, hardware buttons, and ethernet.
3. It's capable.  Most Micro Framework boards have some local storage - but the USBizi also comes with a FAT file system and both USB Host and Micro SD connectors.  So if you need to store gigabytes of data for logging or reporting, it's now easier than ever to support that. 
4. It's got some great samples.  Well, this isn't unique - most of the boards have some great samples, but there's some great projects available at http://www.ghielectronics.com/projects.php

Just a quick blog post between talks down at the Austin convention center.  GDC is going well, and again some of the most interesting developers you'll ever want to meet are out and about.  There's a LOT of cools stuff going on - if you didn't make it this year, you're really missing out!

I just got word that Jared is running a new program called XAMLFest down in Houston in October (October is going to be BUSY!)  If you're planning to be around Houston on the 6th and 7th, here's the details

Dates

Monday & Tuesday October 6^th and 7^th

Attendees

We’re only allowing 40 attendees to this event. First come, first served.

Venue

Microsoft South Central District: Houston, TX

One Briar Lake Plaza
2000 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. S. #350
Houston, TX 77042
Phone: (832) 252-4300
Fax: (832) 252-4545

Agenda

Date

Time

Topic

Monday, October 6^th

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Introduction to WPF, Xaml, Expression Blend

10:30 AM – 10:45 AM

Break

10:45 AM – 12:00 PM

Building Applications to Support Design, What is a Design Integrator?

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Lunch, Mingle, Prizes

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Instructor-led WPF walkthrough and assisted development

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Assisted development

Tuesday, October 7^th

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Introduction to Silverlight, Data Binding, LINQ

10:30 AM – 10:45 AM

Break

10:45 AM – 12:00 PM

Design best practices, Silverlight on the Web

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Lunch, Mingle, Prizes

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Instructor-led Silverlight walkthrough and assisted development

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Assisted development

(Updated - dates were right on the scheduling but weren't correct on the agenda.  Now they're right in both places.)

I just learned from Bil Simser that Patrick Tisseghem passed away on Wednesday.  When I first got into blogging, Patrick was one of those that was leading the way with figuring out what SharePoint was and could do.  I still have great pleasure in handing out/recommending his books.  I managed to meet him very briefly at PDC 2003, and was incredibly impressed by his ability, experience, and approachability.