Willy-Peter Schaub's Cave of Chamomile Simplicity

Visual Studio Tean System - Join Microsoft Experts for an Online Chat (Additional Session)

Okay, the TFS team has decided to run another session for the chat for Asia and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, etc): Join the chat on Friday, April 27th, 2007 from 4:00pm - 5:00pm Pacific Time. Add to Calendar | Additional Time Zones

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Join members of the Visual Studio Team System product group for a chat to discuss features available in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, Team Editions for Architects, Developers, Database Pros, and Testers. In addition, discuss what’s new in the latest Community Technology Preview (CTP) on Friday, April 27th, 2007 from 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific Time | Add to Calendar | Additional Time Zones

Redmond Sabbatical - Day 11 (D-Day ... or FiFi Day)

We have practically conquered the beachhead and "FiFi" is about to be beaten ... the "Find It Fix It" system checking initiative. This brings the first phase of a very interesting and eventful sabbatical to an end and we can look forward to many more victories in due course q;-)

So where does the "beachhead" actually come from? Well, what I refer to as paradise ... a place my wife and I spend the best holiday ever ... is a lonely atoll in the Pacific, named Truk Lagoon. For the historically interested, the paradise was once a place of frenzy, activity and sheer terror. On February 17, 1944 the American Navy, Task Force 58, unleashed a naval and aerial bombardment for two days, destroying countless aircraft on the ground and in the air, as well as around 60 ships. The result is what we know today as the "Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon", which has remained undisturbed on the bottom of the lagoon.

When starting a project I normally envisage the 2 days of what must have been sheer hell, followed by what we know today as probably the most secluded and beautiful place on Earth. While the pictures at the beginning of this blog highlight the dark times, the last photo, made by us on our 3 week wreck diving excursion, demonstrates a typical IT solution as the chaos, the terror and the activity dwindles, as the tenacious bugs are driven home and as the expected functionality magically begins to mature and blossom.

Well, "FiFi" is definitely in the blossoming stage and while we will have to invest a lot more passion, effort and commitment in the initiative, it is great to see the true value of the tool starting to show.

Enough of the waffle ... as my Geography teacher used to say ... I need to digest the "huge" steak I enjoyed with Bill Essary the exceptional TFS "guru", “mentor” and "guide", tonight and I still have to pack for tomorrow.

Why do the cases always seem smaller on the return trip?

Top seven memories of the sabbatical:

1. The passion and expertise hovering at Microsoft Corp.
2. The friendly and very competent warmware, i.e. Bill, Jeff, Brian, ...
3. FiFi q:-) ... and TFS BPA
4. PowerShell
5. Windows-Live and Desktop Search
6. The game played with a round bat and by men in tight pants ... baseball.
7. The walks from the Homestead Suites, through the beautiful Redmond campus to building 25, and back.

Redmond Sabbatical - Day 10

It is T-2 (2 days before starting the long trip home again) and the TFS sabbatical is sadly coming to a close. I met with a colleague from SA today, Zlatan, a SQL/WSS guru+geek, enjoying a really interesting chat and a tasty gourmet burger from Red Robin. It is great to see the passion and the quality of IT people we have working in South-Africa and I am looking forward seeing Zlatan getting involved in the communities, driving amongst many other things WSS, BizTalk, WF, ...

For those battling with the Orcas downloads ... I am bringing the ISO images and VM images on my external drive. All done! Get your external drives and DVDs ready! Also brace yourself for hearing a lot about PowerShell and TFS/BPA when I return ... both these technologies, especially the latter, are "very" exciting!

If you every hear "FiFi" checks ... it stands for "Find It & Fix It" ... I pondered for a long time what the "FiFi" thing was all about. Oh, these FLAs ... four lettered acronyms.

New Team Foundation Server (TFS) Quick reference posters available on www.drp.co.za

Two new quick reference posters were uploaded to http://www.drp.co.za, based on the TFS best practice guidelines from VSTSGuidance and focused on version control structuring and branching/merging concepts.

The two new posters are called:

• 0202 Microsoft Team System Source Structure
• 0202 Microsoft Team System Branching

PowerShell Quick Reference Posters now available on www.drp.co.za

The two PowerShell Quick reference posters "0070 Microsoft PowerShell Scripting" and "0070 Microsoft PowerShell Scripting Cmdlets" have been removed from the BETA store on http://www.drp.co.za and published in PDF and high-quality JPG format under Media-Posters.

Are you still using the CMD Shell ... stop! Consider PowerShell!

If you are still using the CMD Shell and developing administrative command and batch files, please have a look at the Microsoft Windows PowerShell command line shell and scripting language, which is tightly integrated with .NET, delivering immense productivity benefits.

Some useful site are:

• Microsoft PowerShell Site
• Microsoft powerShell Script Center
• PowerShell Analyzer & PowerShell IDE

Have fun!

0202 Microsoft Team System Branching poster (BETA2) posted on www.drp.co.za

A new version of the 0202 Microsoft Team System Branching poster is available on www.drp.co.za. The poster was revised after a discussion with John Jacob and now clearly highlights key branching recommendations as documented in the VSTS Guidance paper on http://www.codeplex.com/VSTSGuidance.

Please note that you have to be registered on www.drp.co.za to see the BETA posters, under the Media -> Posters node.

Looking forward to constructive criticism, so that we can release the branching and source layout posters in the near future.

Visual Studio Team System - Join Microsoft Experts for an Online Chat

Join members of the Visual Studio Team System product group for a chat to discuss features available in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, Team Editions for Architects, Developers, Database Pros, and Testers. In addition, discuss what’s new in the latest Community Technology Preview (CTP) on Friday, April 27th, 2007 from 10:00am - 11:00am Pacific Time | Add to Calendar | Additional Time Zones

Note: Hyperlinks fixed from OWA links to http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/chats/default.aspx based links. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Redmond Sabbatical - Day 7

The flags are still flying at half mast in the Redmond campus, showing that the senseless Virginia Tech massacre has left deep scars. Yesterday's shooting at NASA and the fatal F-18 Blue Angel crash this morning seems to indicate that this country has some more wounds to mend.

What is truly amazing about this nation is how the people stand together in times of hardship, how the traditions have been maintained... even noticeable in the Baseball game ..., the respect for the constitution and the patriotism which is highlighted with the flags, banners and bumper stickers proudly flying the stars and stripes.

... if only is was a bit warmer and Kudu Biltong was available at the local food store or 7Eleven q;-)

Windows PowerShell - Quick Reference Poster in BETA depo

 Two new quick reference posters have been deposited in the technology readiness BETA repository for comment, one ocusing on the PowerShell syntax and common tasks, and the other listing the standard PowerShell cmdlets.

The posters can be viewed/downloaded from http://www.drp.co.za, whereby you will have to be registered to gain access to the BETA posters.

The following posters are available in the BETA store, whereby we are planning to release all four at the end of this month:

• 0070 Microsoft PowerShell Scripting
• 0072 Microsoft PowerShell Scripting Cmdlets
• 0202 Microsoft Team System Branching
• 0202 Microsoft Team System Source Structure

Your comments and constructive critique will be appreciated!

Redmond Sabbatical - Day 6

 The daily picture for my dear friend Grant, who has been trying to download the Orcas CTPs for us over a "couple" of weeks ... I downloaded the entire list of Orcas images within less than an hour, including dashing down to the canteen to buy some Pizza :)

And yes, that's MB per second again and if I do the maths the total throughout with just two dialogs up is mind boggling for us in South-Africa ... >8MB/Sec.

The analysis work is done, I am ramping up on PowerShell and plan is for us to write some code next week, add the meat to the bones! A side product of my preparations is a PowerShell poster, which I am planning to release with the two TFS posters (branching, version control layout) during the course of next week.

During this short week I have literally fallen in love with three technologies:

• TFS BPA
• Windows PowerShell
• Windows Live Search

I would like to add that the download technology and bandwidth should be part of the list, but I am still a bit paranoid with the throughput ... in fact, I must be careful with the images I include, because back home these posts will most likely choke many networks.

Weather is warming up ... it is now cold instead of freezing ... and if all goes well I can do some serious walking through Redmond  this weekend and enjoy the scenery, the forests, the wooden houses, the take-away's ... in short, the American dream.

Redmond Sabbatical - Day 5

The quest to analyses the TFS BPA tool and requirements continues and will most likely continue through most of tonight ... thanks to the jet lag and associated confused brain, this should be no problem.

However, the highlight of the day was when Bill too me to the Seattle Safeco Field to watch the Twins and the Seattle Mariners battle it out on the baseball pitch.

Used to gentleman's game of cricket from back home, the "men in tight pants" (as JP calls them), the round bat and the tactical rules had me baffled for a while. Looking at balls traveling 90+ miles per hour was amazing ... this is not a game for the feint hearted. The atmosphere in the stadium was truely amazing!

Thank you very much Jeff, for enabling this excursion and thank you very much Bill, for taking me with you to the game and sharing the fun!

Mariners ... who unfortunately lost 5-6 against the visitors.

Top Mariners player, Kenji Johjima ... wow, this guy is not only an amazing batsman, but is as fast as a bullet on the field.

Visual Studio ** Orcas ** Beta 1 Ships

If you want to take a look at the next generation of Visual Studio and TFS, then you will find the bits and pieces at msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700831.aspx. The bits are trickling in.

For my colleagues in South-Africa, please do not despair of waste your time trying to download the Gigs ... I will bring the downloads with me and make them available to the saArchitect community on my way back from the Microsoft mother-ship in Redmond. I have been working with the Beta-1 since Tuesday and am very, very, very excited.

Check Brian Harry's blog for the roadmap and what's in and what's out.

Cowabunga ... Ernst achieved (Certified for Vista) certification

 Good old Ernst, a "VB" technology evangelist and ISV has just achieved the "Certified For Vista" logo and was the first in South Africa to reach this milestone. Well done Ernst!

Visit his company on http://www.ejm.co.za/ or catch him at the next saArchitect event.

Technology Readiness Events (Revision April Schedule)

See www.drp.co.za events move post for details on the readiness program. The revised schedule for April and beyond is as follows:

Note that the Orcas/Rosario, the .NET Bootcamp, the WCF and WF drill-downs are all new additions.