Rob Sidlow posted a link to the TechNet SQL Server 2005 Script Repository on the Ausdotnet list. This is so I don’t forget where this great resource is!
Month: July 2007
Age of User Experience: Come on in the waters fine…
A colleague sent me a MS office Groove invitation yesterday evening, so leaving my usual luddite stance behind, I followed the link over to the Microsoft Office 2007 downloads page and was duly asked to sign in via passport. Sounds good thinks I. So I login and get confronted by a completely blank “please enter your details” page. Nothing. It didn’t even have my name filled in. OK, so I’m a bit miffed about that. I start filling in my details and get to the country combo. It says Austria. Close but not quite thinks I! So I drop down the list with the intention of picking Australia:
OK! So where is Australia? I know it should be there, because I’m standing on it.
So much for the age of experience. Sheesh!
PS. I hope it hasn’t been removed because Frank Arrigo is heading back to the US !!! 😉
Certain Certification
Rob Farley raised some very interesting points on the subject of making MS certifications more valuable, namely adaptive exams, a much larger question pool, and the possibility of community involvement in helping to write the questions. I think all three are a great ideas.
A really large pool of questions would obviously make it harder for people to simply rote learn the answers. Of course, creating and vetting questions is time-consuming and expensive. One way of creating a bigger pool is, as Rob mentions, to get the .NET developer community involved.
I started wondering how much profit Microsoft makes from the whole certification thing; the exams, books, courses etc? I guess it must be in their interest to spend money on making the certifications as valid as possible. So come on Microsoft, if you think certifications are a good idea, let’s see some money spent on something innovative! It’s a hard problem, but other certification bodies seem to have solved some of the problems (I’m thinking Cisco…), and if anyone has the resources, Microsoft does
Perth .NET User Group Library
One of the ways we are making the Perth .NET user group a resource for the .NET community in Perth is restocking the existing Perth .NET Community of Practice library with the latest books, and making them easily accessible.
Nick has already set up a borrowing system through HireThings. There are details here on using HireThings to borrow books
The books will be easily accessible from their new location in the centre of the city. When we receive new books we will post an entry to the Perth user group site (http://www.perthdotnet.org/). These will mainly be .NET development books but there will also some design and process books as well.
The user group is currently a member of the O’Reilly user group program and we are in the process of joining the Addison-Wesley program, which is reopening in August.
If there are any books you are particularly interested in reading, let myself, Alistair or Nick know and we will endeavor to get them through one of the publisher user group programs (ISBN please where possible).
Also, if anyone in Perth is interested in reviewing any of the new books we have available just drop me a line. Writing a review is obviously a great way to investigate what a book has to offer and let others know its usefulness, but also helps you explore a technology that you might not have looked at otherwise.
Problems with Blogger?
I’ve noticed that in the last 24 hours or so, if I try to create a new post with Blogger, I’m unable to give the Title textbox the focus by clicking in it. Just discovered that clicking the “Title:” label will give it the focus. Anyone else having this problem?
Judging a Book by its Cover!
A colleague reminded me of this excellent recounting of an episode in the life of one of my heroes, Richard P. Feynman. It originally appeared in “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”, a worthwhile read which is back in print.
SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer (July 2007)
An update to the SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer has been released here.
Perth .NET User Group Meeting, 5th July 2007: Shane Morris
On Thursday, 5th July, Shane Morris will be talking to the Perth .NET user group on the topic of User Experience and Interaction Design. More details here.
This meeting will take place at 5:30 pm at our usual venue of Excom Education, Level 2, 23 Barrack St, Perth.
This is a free event and everyone is welcome to attend. One lucky attendee will be walking away with a brand new, Microsoft backpack!