As I posted earlier, cerulean studios is working on the next release of Trillian, of which I am a huge fan.  Just went throught the product tour, and there are certainly some features I am looking forward too.

The serverless IM looks very cool.  Will be nice to be able to IM to co-workers without going through a server.  I really like what they have done with the history, that looks like a huge improvement.  I also like that the windows will automaticlly turn interesting words into what looks like links to wikipedia, very, very cool. 

There are too many new features for me to talk about them here, and I haven't even touched the product yet.  Looks like it is a closed alpha, of which I did not sign up to participate, so I will be waiting on the bench.  Guess it's time to finally renew my membership.

Saw think link over on Scoble's link blog, and wanted to post about it so I can at least find it later.  Biztalk is something I have been wanting to jump into for a while, but of course never have the time.  When and if that time comes, it looks like this chm might be a terrific starting point.

Check it out here

[UPDATE]
GDN seems to be having issues.  Here is a direct link to the blog of the person who is aggregating this great info.

Check it out here

 [Edit] Added biztalk category.

Just saw the the CT Dotnet developers site is updated, and the next meeting will be Robert Hurlbut speaking on CAS. 

Nov 23rd (5:30pm - 8:00pm)
@ Farmington MS Site

Details here

Was just browsing my bloglines, and saw a post from Bill Evjen about a concept he has dubbed Code Brew.  Basically, 4 developers sitting around a table knowing they have about 30 minutes of lead time to either show something off, ask questions, or work through a problem. 

This is a fantastic idea.  Not only in the context of usergroups, but I could see alot of value for this in development teams too.  It would be nice for a ui person, middle tier person, db person, and architect to talk in this context.  This could facilitate knowledge transfer between groups in small personal pieces, as long as it didn't become one long bitch session. 

I wanted to post this to try to keep the word moving on gatherings like this.  I am yet to go to a CT .net developers sig (partly my laziness, partly because its being restructured), but if anyone in the CT area would be interested in one of these, drop me a comment and we'll see if we can get it organized.

And yes, I do plan on attending the next CT sig  :)

Oh this hurts.  This cuts down to the bone.  I knew refactoring in vb.net whidbey would be limited compared to c#, but now, well, it's just out.  /me sheds a tear.  I'm sure I am in the very small minority, but I would even rather have refactoring then e&c.  Oh well, no point in ranting about it, we all know how features can get cut when it comes crunch time.

So, onto the real subject.  Those of us that are stuck in vb.net, (stuck is relative, from a c# guy  :), and still want to refactor, we still have some options.  Hopefully these options will grow in time, but so far I have only seen these.  If anyone knows of a comparison, please post it up.  Or if there are other tools that also target vb.net, or will be targeting it soon, drop a comment.

Net Refactor
Refactor!

I'm interested to see what kind of response I get from this.

We are looking for a network admin/engineer.  Candidates should be well versed in windows technologies, cisco knowledge is a plus.  This is a perm position for a dedicated software company with a healthcare focus.  You will have the opportunity to work with the newest of technologies with a (small and growing) fantastic team. 

If you are interested in more details, please contact me using the link on the left, or email tranqy at gmail dot com. 

The position is in the Hartford area, approximately 20 minutes out of Hartford.

Core technologies :

Windows 2003
Biztalk 2004
SQL 2000 (Very large databases)
All new stuff, on a new infrastructure.

 [EDIT]

Got some more details from mgmt.  Here is the official job. (Word doc)

Just over a month ago, I purchased the new MS wireless notebook mouse.  I figured it was time to update the blog with my thoughts.

In a word, this mouse is awesome.  I still find it to be very comfortable, and in fact now I wish I had one on every PC I own.  My old Logitech and MS wired optical mice just don't feel right anymore.  I love the shape and the feel of the mouse. 

Performance wise I couldn't be happier either.  The response time is very good (much faster then older wireless products I had tried).  I like my mouse fast.  I set the speed to the top end, and acceleration about 3/4's the way up.  Most people that try to use my mouse or trackpoint take have to take a second to get used to it.  The amazing part, though, the mouse keeps up.  I am yet to even feel like it's lagging behind me, at all.  This is also on any surface because I use the mouse on the couch ALOT.

The best part is the battery.  I am still using the battery that came with the mouse, the single, included AA battery.  And don't think that I use this thing for a couple minutes a day.  This battery has lasted through a month of continuous pounding, at least 10 hours a day, sometimes more.  I have even forgotten to put the base back in the mouse to “turn it off” a few times over night.

In the end, I have been very happy with the purchase, and would highly suggest this mouse to anyone looking for a wireless mouse.  You won't be disappointed.

Our management team all run around with these sexy little treo devices, and I absolutley love the size and functionality they have.  The one thing that has always stopped me was that it's palm.  I'm not bashing palm by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm an MS guy.  Now even a managed Ms guy, so unless it has the CLR, I don't want it.  :)

I was surprised to see this, and very excited.  Although I thought the new audiovox was my next phone, I would much prefer a treo with windows mobile.  Counting the days..

Smartphone thoughts link

I just can't get enough wiki.  I was first introduced to a wiki about a year ago when an old client showed me one they had for their product.  My initial thoughts were yeah thats a cool way to build documentation, whoo hoo. 

In the past year, though, I have noticed that I started using onenote alot to organize things.  Then, I started to not use it.  Not because I didn't like it, or it didn't meet my needs, just that it was cumbersome.  It would take longer to open onenote, get to the tab I wanted to enter the notes into, and enter the notes then it would take for me to drop a notepad doc on the desktop.  So old habits returned.

So then I saw flexwiki was released.  So I figured I would install it and see what I can do with it.  I first started using it to organize some thoughts on some home projects I was working on, and quickly found it way to easy to create new content.  As things progressed, I started using the damn wiki for everything.  So now at this point, I am pretty much organizing my life in my wiki.  I also have some old sharepoint portals that I am going to port the content into my wiki.  I love the damn thing. 

So first off, if you haven't played with a wiki yet, you should at least take a look.  Setting up flexwiki took all of about 5 minutes, and learning the basics took a whole 10 more minutes.  Time well spent in my opinion.  I also wonder how many people are running local wiki's to organize their life?  I know the wiki culture is “open to everyone”, but I also find it has great value for a personal organization tool.

Who doesn't like something for free?  If you haven't seen any of these sites yet, there are a number of promotional sites that give out free stuff if you get others to sign up.  After doing a bit of research, these look like the real thing, so I am going to post a couple of my referer links up to see how it goes.  Once I get the referals I need, I will start swapping out the url's with urls for other people.  If you would like to have your referal url posted, please drop me a comment.  Any referal links posted in the comments will be deleted.  If you have a referal link for one of the sites I didn't sign up for, send me a comment and I will swap those out right away.

Free ipods
Free personal video player
Free flat screen

Others I didnt sign up for

Free desktop computer
Free mp3 player
Free Handbags
Free DVRs

Info links I found in my research

Info on the deals
A success story
Another success story

I'm not going to rant and rave.  As I have said to a few select friends, this years election, much like the past one (and maybe even the past few), is a lose lose choice.  I'm a coder, not a politician, but I can see when something is broken, and right now our system is broken.  Only the best puppets make it to office (be it senate, house, or president. and even most state offices), and to be a best puppet you had damn well better be in the upper echelon of society.  Maybe one day we can hope for a government for the people of the people, but that has been gone for quite some time.  I don't want joe homeless in the senate, but maybe someone who understands the majority of the population would be nice. 

I am also politically under-educated, to my own fault.  I hardly read what they say, or read the analyst's take on what they say.  It's all part of the problem.  Puppets I tell you, but in this instance the puppets are puppeteering the next level of puppets.  Bleh, the whole system is fucked.

Anyway, to get back to the point, a few things have moved me in the past couple weeks, and I wanted to share them.  They are of course the same things that a lot of people have already spoken about, but I will say them again anyway. 

Go watch this interaction between Jon Stewart and the CNN show Crossfire.  It's really good stuff.  I have always been a huge fan of Jon Stewart, but this may be a defining moment for him.  I have never had more respect for him then after watching this.  His followup here is pretty good too.

Speaking of Jon Stewart, go get America the Book.  I was even reading this while watching Ken Jennings last night, so yes, it is that good.  My friends and family will tell you I don't read, unless it's related to code/computers.  This is true, but I won't be touching any of those MS Press books till I'm done with this one.

Lastly, go watch Eminem's new video here (wmp, real, lyrics).  Thanks Miguel De Icaza for posting these links, I wanted to look for them last night.  Caught a few seconds of this video on TV, and knew I had to find it.  I have been a big fan of Eminem for quite a while, so of course when he puts out a moving track like this I have to endorse it. 

So the moral of the story?  Go next Tuesday come hell or high water and do your civic duty, and write in Jon Stewart.  :)

Since when can you register a domain, and have it ping through later that day?  Thanks zoneedit and dotster.

Deadline came and went, and with a tremendous effort from everyone on the team, our release was a success.  Hopefully now it's time to relax and reflect on the project a bit while we plan for changes moving forward.  Yay, good times.

Code camp 2 schedule has been posted here.  Now it's time to get excited for this.  Theres a couple times spots that I am torn on where to go.  Also a friend of mine wants to go with me, but can't get in.  Anyone have an extra registration?  :)

I hate that saying.  Today is def one of those days though.

Knee deep in code, deadline thursday.  Couple quick bits.

Any locals (boston/hartford/nyc) should be looking to go to code camp 2.  The list of speakers is pretty impressive.  I've been too busy to get excited, but since it's 2 weekends away now I'm really getting excited.  Nothing beats a good nerd weekend.

Also, logged into gmail this morning, and found a couple new things.  First off, a new contacts section.  Thats nice and all, but what was really impressive was the new ATOM syndication link.  I use a gmail desktop sidebar panel for notifications, but could see some great uses with ATOM.  Go google!

PS : Expect more posts after deadline.  Will be nice to have some time again.  I'm really hoping to get better acquainted with Whidbey past deadline.

I ordered the ms wireless notebook mouse a couple days back, and a shiney new cardboard box was waiting for me today. 

After I open it up, the first thing I notice is there's no CD.  I was a bit surprised to not have a intellipoint CD in the box.  No big deal, I would have probably checked for a newer version anyway.  The mouse is definitely small, but it is a little bigger then I expected.  It's very comfortable though, which easily makes up for its size.  Light too. 

After I put in the included battery, it's time to do the install.  The initial install is a breeze.  I plugged in the USB connector, adjusted it up, and within a few seconds the mouse was working.  I was immediately impressed with the response time, especially since it's on the couch. 

I browsed around for a bit, and decided it was time to try to track down intellipoint.  I'm pretty surprised when the microsoft site does not list the “Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse” as an option in the downloads.  I figure that intllipoint is pretty standard, but was pretty upset to see no windows 2k3 driver.  A bit of searching and all I net out with is some unhappy posts about not being able to install intellipoint or intellitype on 2k3. 

Also of note, this means your bluethooth mice and keyboards won't work with 2k3.  Not something I had really thought about in the past, but something I'll keep in mind for the future. 

In the end, even without intellipoint, this mouse rocks.  It will be even better if it lives up to it's battery claims. 

As I've said before, I'm a c# guy stuck in a vb.net world.  That being said, I really want a refactoring product for vb.net.  So far, I am yet to see one.

I had heard Mark Miller talk about one a couple of DNR's ago, and was excited.  Just saw over on larkware that they have an official product page up now.  Still in beta, and only available to devexpress subscription members, of which I am not, but I will be anxiously awaiting the day I can get a trial. 

A while back I upgraded my thinkpad to 2k3.  Details here.  I've been working with it for a while now, and well, I love it.  I love having full sql, iis6, azman, etc, with me all the time.  It also allows me to test things in win2k3 before they even go to the sandbox staging environment, which is another side effect/benefit.  So all in all, I doubt this box will ever see XP again, except in a VPC. 

There is 1 glaring side effect of using 2k3 as a workstation, though.  Virus protection.  When I first installed 2k3 the first thing I was going to do was load Nor...  Symantec client protection.  No go.  So then I fell back on an old favorite, and installed McAfee.  I've been running with McAfee with no problems since the install, other then I miss some of the features from the Symantec suite.

After a conversation with a friend last night, I was really interested in trying Panda antivirus.  I'm not going to go into details, but my very security minded friend suggested it, and I take his word as bible when it comes to security.  Thanks bro BTW  :)

Again, though, I was faced with the fact it won't install on 2k3.  To get to the point, I love running 2k3 as a workstation.  One thing to consider when you are thinking about making the switch, though, is protection.  Most AV client's won't install, since they require a “server” package to run on 2k3.