Ruari (Chuck's) Mind

Spaces Spaces Spaces

ruari — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 08:43:00 GMT

After a year at Microsoft I eventually decided to do some work on my MSN Spaces account.

Not to shabby this MSN Spaces. So if you want to keep track of me check out my spaces as well.

http://ruariplint.spaces.msn.com

Country Tour :-)

ruari — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 15:07:00 GMT

I’m doing a cross country trip towards the end of April.
Here is my current schedule if any of you would like to arrange a sadeveloper saarchitect visit please let me know. (my mail is rplint@microsoft.com)

24th March:                   Bloemfontein
26th - 28th March:          Western Cape
29th March:                   George
30th March:                   Port Elizabeth
31th March – 2nd April:   East London
3rd April:                     Grahams Town
4th April:                     East London
5th   April:                    Durban
6th   April:                    Harrismith

see you then
Ruari

Cool Birthday Gift

ruari — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 10:32:00 GMT

Ye, I'm getting older in body - BUT not in mind. Growing up is optional.
My wife is sooo great, check what she gave me for my birthday Whahooo.

Durbs Here I come

ruari — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 23:15:00 GMT

So where will I be on the 7th March.
I am presenting at the HEICTA conference hosted by Mangosuthu Technikon in Durban.

What is HEICTA?

"HEICTA is a national organisation which transformed from TECLA (Technikon Computer Lecturers Association). TECLA was established in the late 1980s and hosts an annual conference focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on curriculum development, research and related matters in the discipline of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT). It ensures that syllabi offered by all Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s) in South Africa are relevant and up-to-date. <more...> "

.Net Juniors JHB - 4th March 2006

ruari — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 23:10:00 GMT

The .Net Juniors will be running an event on the 4th March 2006

When: 4th March 2006, 10:00 - 12:00
Venue: Microsoft, Bryanston (Map)
Presenter: Malcolm Wilkinson
Topic: Where Goes What?
Objective: A discussion based session around where to put what code in a system.
RSVP: Forum post

Looking forward to seeing you all there!!!

Custom membership DB

ruari — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 22:39:00 GMT

Whahooo.

I guess for those who still code everyday this is second nature, But I'm chuffed I got it working.
My ISP upgraded my domain to run on framework 2.0, but I'm still on SQL 2000.
I wanted to start playing with ASP's membership providers, which meant I had to get it to talk to a remote SQL 2000 DB.

Thanks to ASP Alliance I got it working.

Wow this stuff is really great.

Life goes on

ruari — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 22:28:00 GMT

Phew have I been away for that long. Dotnet has gone through some major upgrading!
I’ve just started realigning my image links – this could take some time.

So where have I been? looong story but since about November I have been on a serious road of recovery. Needless to say that since October I made myself very scarce – and I need to apologies to you all.
I believe an explanation is well overdue for my absence from the social circle.

How to begin? Hmmgph not easy this one – lets just say in October 2005 I developed some serious health issues. According to the doctor a chemical imbalance in the brain caused the neuron transmitters to sever. (Huh – ye that’s what I said)
Well this in turn caused the brain to shut down some functionality of my overall system, which resulted in symptoms exactly the same as that of a heart attach for starters.
I then went into a rather depressive state and wanted nothing to do with anything, especially people (sorry again).

Good news is I’m on the mend and have started reintroducing myself into society again (I’ll be back!!) The road to recovery is proving slow but worthwhile, as I’ve learnt a wealth on knowledge around human nature during this adventure (rocky adventure)

Maybe I’ll write a book or at least an article, who knows, but it’s good to start feeling like me again. See you all soon!!

New Web Deployment Projects Add-in

ruari — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 09:01:00 GMT

Been some time since a post, well a lot has happened in the last month, of which I won't go into much detail. Needless to say I think I'm gonna live after all. ;-)
This morning I received an interesting bit of info I thought worth sharing.

Check it out at http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/reference/infrastructure/wdp/default.aspx
It's a web deployment add-in for VS2005, Yes I know that VS2005 has awesome web deployment technologies built in. But for the extra complicated scenarios, this add-in will be just the thing. Check it out, the link will take you to a beta preview download.

It does not alter VS2005, only enhances the web deployment functionality.
Well worth exploring - Enjoy.

Dr David Woods farewell concert

ruari — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 21:43:00 GMT

What a treat, tonight my wife and I were honoured to be able to attend the farewell concert of DR David Woods, Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University, who retires early next year.

It's been such a long time since I was at a concert, wow! With pieces by the Johannesburg Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Johannesburg Youth Orchestra I just sat there in awe.

Dr Woods has been Vice-Chancellor since 1996 and has seen Rhodes through the challenging times that Academia has faced the past years, with all the changes brought on by the education department. Dr Woods has over 200 research papers to his name, what an amazing person. I think, to quote him, “We must never be afraid of academic excellence. It is the essence of what a university should be all about” rings true to many of us, just change the words academic and university to your name and then go look in the mirror.

Armadon & Fatal1ty

ruari — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 19:31:00 GMT

Need I say more..... Lucky Fatal1ty..
rAge Rocked and I got to meet soo many big names in the game Dev world. what a great bunch of dudes. I will most certainly spend more time with them!!!

Getting Ready for rAge

ruari — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 20:20:00 GMT

Tonight the sadeveloper members that confirmed their involvement with rAge met at the Dome for a briefing.
This looks to be one killer event. Hope to see you all there.

Encarta 2006 & DotNet

ruari — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 13:16:00 GMT

The other day I went out and bought Microsoft Encarta 2006 for the family. Time to get em educated I thought. Well I should have expected it but still it took me by surprise when the first thing the install did was pop up a message that read “Updating DotNet Framework”.

There you have it, for those that thought DotNet was just a flash in the pan ...... think again it's going to be everywhere....

Best Company To Work For!!

ruari — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 09:05:00 GMT

Every year Deloitte’s runs the “Best company to work for” awards. This morning they aired the awards on Telly. Not sure who managed to get to see it, all I know is that we were glued to the TV.

We came second… Microsoft came second in this year “Best company to work for”, well done!!!
What a company to work for, just come through the doors and you can feel the passion and energy!!!
People that work for this company know they drive their own destinies, do you?

If you want to follow the details (give em time to post it) you can go to http://www.bestcompany.co.za/

UPDATE:
Microsoft took best IT company to work for and placed second overall !!!

Are you a leader?

ruari — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 07:53:00 GMT

Last night we had my sons schools open evening, and as part of this evening there was a presentation by a leading consultant on Discipline.

Now being a parent gets you into interesting situations, and going to school events can be classed as just that. However, one thing that is really great about getting involved is that most times you learn something. Sometimes it’s something new and sometimes its something that awakens a sleeping awareness within self.

The thing that stood out from last nights talk was one phrase, which even though was presented in the context on parenting is very relevant in big business and most groups or organizations:

Quote: (Not word for word, but the message is the same)

“When a leader (or leaders) of a unit does (do) not perform as a leader (or leaders), a power vacuum will be created within the unit or group, causing another (or others) within the group to rise up and take control, by whatever means.”

He then went on to talk about how children challenge boundaries seeking constancy.

But as I lay in bed later on thinking, I was able to recall many situations throughout my existence where in big business, Corporate and other organizations, where I have witnessed the truth of this phrase over and over again.

This then brings me to the question that many have tried to answer but few have truly managed to correctly define: and that is “What qualities make a true leader?”

SQL 2005 Events for South Africa

ruari — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 11:19:00 GMT

Yip, it's happening in South Africa!!
SQL 2005 launch events, check out the details below!!

Durban:
DATE: Wednesday, 28 September 2005
TIME: 14h00-17h30
VENUE: The Hilton, 12 - 14 Walnut Road, Durban
RSVP: To register online click here, or call 0860 2255 67

Johannesburg:
DATE: Tuesday, 27 September 2005
TIME: 14h00-17h30
VENUE: The Forum, DD Campus, Wanderers Building, c/o Sloane Street and Main Road, Bryanston (click here to view map)
RSVP: To register online click here, or call 0860 2255 67

Cape Town:
DATE: Thursday, 29 September 2005
TIME: 14h00-17h30
VENUE: The Table Bay Hotel, Quay 6, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
RSVP: To register online click here, or call 0860 2255 67

Oh the details? you want the details.......
Below please find the agenda: :-)

13:30 – 14:00	Delegate registration
14:00 – 15:30	Session 1 An overview of Integration Services Introduction to the new features and concepts in SQL 2005, Introduce SSIS, Creation of SSIS Packages, look at some components.
15:30 – 15:45	Break
15:45 – 17:15	Session 2 An overview of Analysis Services, Report Builder and Reporting Services Introduce Analysis Service 2005 and the new features. Creation of cubes and the UDM. Introduction to Report Builder, the creation of data models and the functionality of Report builder.
17:15 onwards	Drinks and snacks