Applied Visual Studio Team System

Surface

If you have any interest in User Interfaces, you must watch - immediately.

, a coffee-table shaped computer with some unique UI characteristics. The coolest of these is the ability to respond to multiple "touches" simultaneously.

The obvious question is: How long before this screen technology makes its way to other touch-based devices (handhelds and tablets)?

:{> Andy

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Surface coffee-table computer GUI User Interface

TFS Guide Beta 1

Check out J.D. Meier's post on the TFS Guide Beta 1!

This is a cool document!

J. D. describes it as Microsoft's playbook for TFS. That's a fair assessment. The document is part of the Patterns and Practices Library, and it certainly belongs there.

From the document:
Why We Wrote This Guide
From our own experience with Team Foundation Server and through conversations with customers and Microsoft employees who work in the field, we determined there was demand for a guide that would show how to use Team Foundation in the real world. While there is information in the product documentation, in blog posts and in forums, there has been no single place to find proven practices for the effective use of Team Foundation Server in the context of a development project under real world constraints.

Required reading for anyone using or considering using Team Foundation Server!

:{> Andy

Technorati Tags: Team Foundation Server TFS Guide

Service Release 1 CTP for Team Edition for Database Professionals

Apologies - should have caught this earlier (but I was writing!): There's a Service Release CTP for Team Edition for Database Professionals available.

:{> Andy

Technorati Tags: Service Release 1 CTP Team Edition for Database Professionals Data Dude

On Getting Older

Maybe I should title this post "On Growing Up"... but I don't think I've grown up yet, so I will let it stand.

I am getting older. The Christian Apostle Paul wrote "When I was a little child I talked and felt and thought like a little child. Now that I am a man my childish speech and feeling and thought have no further significance for me." (1 Corinthians 13:11, Phillips). My (44th) birthday's not for a couple months so I don't know why I'm thinking about this now. But I bet Paul figured this out before he reached my age...

I remember telling a good friend in high school (circa 1979) we would know we were getting old when Rush albums were sold by K-Tel Records.. That happened about a decade ago, so there's now plenty of evidence to convict me in a court of law of "oldness".

But the oddest thing about it is - it's all good. I don't feel bad about getting older at all. Today I'm pondering why...

I entered my 30s all full of piss and vinegar - ready to take on the world and thinking "Finally I've arrived." I now think that thinking "Finally I've arrived" is an indication of trouble ahead. So I don't feel that way about anything any more.

My 30s are second only to my teens on the list of Worst Decades Of My Life (So Far). Don't get me wrong - things weren't that bad, it's just the other decades were much better.

Surprisingly, my 40s have already blown the doors off all the other decades combined in the coolness category. Why?

• If all goes as planned in a couple months, my beautiful bride Christy is going to give birth to our second son, "Wee" Leonard.
• Classical music is cool, but so is Van Zant.
• Sleep is optional. I've caught myself slipping into alternate universes to avoid contact with melatonin molecules.
• I'm patient.
• I'm a better planner.
• I can still learn new things. The current new thing is (WPF).
• Landscaping is bunches of fun. I've been truncating trees, decorating bush classes with mulch descriptors, and instantiating new grass objects.

Ok, I seemed to have confused my last two items there... but you get the point.

Life is good at 43 and I'm thankful. I hope your life is good too.

:{> Andy

Technorati Tags: Life Love The Universe Children Getting Older Van Zant Classical music friends Rush