Due to overwhelming demand, we ve added another Hiring Manager Session at Tech Ed: Thursday May 14 @ 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Room 518 LA Convention Center
Lunch will be provided, and you ll get the chance to win an HP Mini! Seats are filling fast, so register NOW: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032415649&Culture=en-US The Product Marketing team will be sharing valuable tools and insight on Getting the Most from Your Microsoft Technology Investment: How to Find, Identify, and Retain Exceptional IT Talent. More info: http://www.microsoft.com/events/TechEd2009/
Many of you know about the coming-soon Windows Internals, Fifth Edition, by Mark Russinovich, David Solomon, and Alex Ionescu (Microsoft Press, 2009). And some of you know about Microsoft Learning’s MCTS Exam 70-660 (TS: Windows Internals).
The book delivers in-depth, kernel-level insights into the Windows OS, and you might also find it helpful when preparing for Exam 70-660. Toward that end, we’ve created a short document mapping the exam’s objectives/skills to the book’s topics/coverage.
You can download that document (PDF) here.
If you’re planning on taking Exam 70-660, we hope you find this mapping useful!
We’re happy to announce that Programming for Unified Communications with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, by Rui Maximo, Kurt De Ding, Vishwa Ranjan, Chris Mayo, Oscar Newkerk, and the Microsoft Office Communications Server team, shipped to the printer today! (It follows closely on the heels of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit.)
Book excerpts to come in the not-too-distant future. You can preorder the book here and here.
This is one very eagerly awaited Microsoft Press Training Kit. I know. I’ve been getting email and calls for the past few months asking when it would be available. So it is with great pleasure (and relief) that we’re announcing publication of MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-562): Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5—ASP.NET Application Development (ISBN: 9780735625624).
Mike Snell is the lead author of the Training Kit. As a foundation for his work, he used the very popular MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-528): Microsoft® .NET Framework 2.0 Web-Based Client Development authored by Glenn Johnson and Tony Northrup.
Mike gave us permission to reprint a post on the new book from his blog, along with a picture of the author (and a very frightening looking fish).
From Mike’s blog:
I hope [the new 70-562 Training Kit] finds a useful spot in your current library. The book helps developers learn about the many features of ASP.NET 3.5 including web sites, controls, AJAX, WCF, globalization, and much more. The book is focused on the certification exam. However, those looking to dig into ASP.NET 3.5 will hopefully also find it very useful.
The training kit is focused on developers looking to pass the Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist Exam 70-562 (Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Application Development). For those looking to take the exam, the book includes:
The chapters (study guide): each chapter includes lesson review questions and case scenarios.
Labs: each chapter has one or more labs with sample code included on a CD (in both VB and C#)
15% off exam discount voucher is included with the book
Practice tests: the book’s CD includes a test engine and over 300 sample questions
Trial edition of Visual Studio 2008 Pro is included with the book
An eBook is included on the CD for searching the book
You can get more information on the book from Microsoft’s Learning site:
Exam preparation guide
Link to details about the book (including purchase options)
To add to Mike’s post, we’re including a few samples from the book:
This training kit is designed for developers who plan to take Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist (MCTS) exam 70-562, as well as for developers who need to know how to develop applications using the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 and ASP.NET. We assume that before you begin using this kit, you have a working knowledge of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Visual Basic or C#.
By using this training kit, you’ll see how to do the following:
Mike Snell
A good Web application developer needs to know a lot more than just his or her favorite development language to be effective. In fact, C# or Visual Basic is just the starting point. You also must know how to handle page layout with HTML. You need to know how to create, manage, and implement interface styling with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). JavaScript will also be required if you intend to write your own client-side functionality for your Web pages. You might also need to understand Extensible Markup Language (XML), Web services, and database programming. Of course, you also need to know how all of these things work together to form a single solution. The modern Web developer needs to know more technologies (and be able to easily switch between them) than any other developer in history. I think this is one of the reasons Web development is such a challenging, fun, and rewarding experience.
Not all applications require abstracted data layers and re-usable frameworks. I’ve seen many simple business applications that suffered from overengineering. Many of these smaller applications can take advantage of the simple data-binding techniques built into the Visual Studio ASP.NET tools. These applications can be created quickly, typically do not require as much testing, and allow developers to focus on solving business problems rather than building frameworks and reusable components. Applications that can benefit from this approach often have a common profile: They typically have a compressed schedule, are meant as Web applications from beginning to end, and might fill a somewhat temporary need. When optimizing for these considerations, you might find that building data-bound applications using the server controls in ASP.NET is faster, easier, and cheaper.
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Where s the Born to Learn crew? Track the Career Express as we travel across the USA!
Thanks to Developer Evangelist Jason Mauer for the cool app!
So we have made a bit of noise about Windows 7 eh? Well great news as we make the Release Candidate available today. Want to see what the fuss is all about? Get that RC and install it, you ll be thankful you did!
Windows 7 RC is now available to our TechNet/MSDN subscribers, and on May 5th will be available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows7 for partners, IT pros, and tech enthusiasts to pilot Windows 7 RC at work and at home.
Enjoy!
Hello – welcome to our new home! :)
Joanne
Whether you need to organize your photos, summarize your data or create exciting presentations, Microsoft Press offers tools to help you succeed at work and at home. This free offer will deliver some of the best tips and tricks for Office and Windows directly to your inbox. Sign up today to receive free chapters of favorite Microsoft Press books.
Whether you need to organize your photos, summarize your data or create exciting presentations, Microsoft Press books offer the tools to help streamline your digital life.
In this free offer, you ll be able to download full chapters of favorite Microsoft Press books. Get some of the best tips and tricks for Office and Windows delivered directly to your inbox!
Click here for more info and to sign up!
Thanks to my colleague Erica Thomas for this info! :)
If you’re a developer headed to TechEd (on the bus or otherwise), Trika is passing along an invite to a party on Tuesday night. Bowling, drinks, music, food and general swankiness for the developer and embedded communities—hosted by Windows Embedded at Lucky Strike Lanes. Here’s more:
Bowl with Embedded: Windows Embedded: Community Party at TechEd
What: An evening of bowling, drinks, music, food and general swankiness for the developer and embedded communities—hosted by Windows Embedded
Where: Lucky Strikes Lanes.
When: Tuesday, May 12th 7 PM to 11 PM
Who: The Windows Embedded team, partners, and customers; plus special guests the Microsoft Certified developer community (MCPD, MCAD, MCSD, MCTS).
Why: To celebrate all that Windows Embedded and Microsoft Certified developers have in common: demonstrated skills using our platform and development tools, commitment to Microsoft, and a love of…. bowlng. We want to mix it up and introduce embedded development to the top Windows developers and for Windows Embedded developers and partners to get to know the outstanding Windows development community.
How: You’ll need to register online in advance (registration URL in development) and then show your printed confirmation to pick up your blue wristband, which is required to enter the party, at the Windows Embedded Technical Learning Center. Party is for Windows Embedded community and Certified Developers; be prepared to show your MCP ID or a transcript when you pick up your wristband.
Thanks for the invite, Trika—see you in LA!
First things first: we’re still on track to ship in late May for our publication date of June 17. (Availability via online retailers trails that by about a week.)
Also, in case you haven’t noticed in online descriptions, Windows Internals, Fifth Edition, by Mark Russinovich, David Solomon, and Alex Ionescu (Microsoft Press, 2009), will be significantly longer than Windows Internals, Fourth Edition. The fourth edition was 976 pages and the fifth edition will be 1264 or 1280 pages, so the book will contain either 29.5% or 31% more content. :-)
In other words, the authors are not only significantly revising but also significantly expanding this classic. Windows Internals, now more than ever, is the key text for understanding the Windows kernel.
Preorder the book here or here. And read some reviews of the book’s previous edition.
I need your help. I’m creating a presentation for our “Get On The Bus” tour focusing on tips and tricks for exams and while I’ve got quite a few to share, I know that some of you are true experts with your exam strategies.
Just to be clear, I’m not talking about anything that violates the NDA or cheating in any way.
I’m talking about marking questions that you’re not sure about for review later. I’m talking about taking your specialty exam in the MCPD track before you take 70-536 (because we all know that you want an exam under your belt that focuses on the things you’re really strong in before you tackle the entire .NET framework, right?). That kind of stuff. So help a girl out, won’t you? Come on, give up the goods and let me in on your smart exam strategies. Thanks!
On the series finale of this Memorial Day Trilogy, I will reveal the final phases of our process. (Find a diagram of the entire process and details on first three phases here and details on phases 4-6 here.)
The results of the beta exam are analyzed to determine which items should be included in the live item pool. I had a four part series on how we make these decisions. To learn more, see:
Item Selection Part 1
Item Selection Part 2
Item Selection Part 2.5
Item Selection Part 3
Phase 8: Standard (Cut-Score) Setting
Once the final item pool has been established, the cut score is set using industry recognized methodologies. Regardless of the method used, the cut score is always based on SME input of some kind—cut scores for MCP exams are never set in an arbitrary manner.
After the item selection and standard setting meeting, the final item pool and cut score information are used to assemble forms, or instances, of the exam. If an exam has multiple forms, these forms are designed to be psychometrically equivalent in terms of difficulty, meaning that one form is not harder than another.
This phase is self explanatory. Prometric publishes the exam, and it becomes available for candidates to take.
Localization is handled by an external vendor. Our exams are typically translated into French, German, and Japanese; additional languages are added based on market research, reach, and/or other strategic initiatives.
This is technically not a phase of exam development. Rather, it’s a phase of the exam lifecycle that is critical to maintaining the quality of the exam, which is why I like to include it as part of our process.
Exams are psychometrically analyzed at least annually. We also review the results of our candidate satisfaction survey (the survey you are invited to complete via email after you take an exam—your feedback drives change, so take a minute to complete it the next time you take an exam) and other sources of candidate feedback to identify ways to improve our exams.
So, that’s the long and short of our exam development process. Each of these phases will be described in more detail in a future blog if they haven’t been already.
What else do you want to know? I’m partial to trilogy blogs… will work for blog ideas.
We just found out who used the Career Express just before us: David Copperfield.
At the Microsoft Learning Windows 7 portal, you’ll find links to numerous training resources related to Windows 7, including links to five free chapters from upcoming Microsoft Press books. You can grab these chapters now:
All of these books are forthcoming in 2009. Enjoy the topic and the coverage!
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA Current Home: Bellevue, WA Microsoft Certification: MCAS Favorite Road Food: In-N-Out cheeseburger animal style, fries extra crispy; but is content with cashews & coffee when travelling in the 46 states where, like WA, they has no cheezeburgers (at least, not from In-N-Out) **sigh**. Most Likely to Get Kicked Off the Bus for: Loud, proud show tune abuse and overuse of the word “dude”. Also, I talk in my sleep, which is kind of disconcerting when travelling on a bus equipped with WIFI, video cameras and teammates with a penchant for prankery.
As a Business Administrator for Microsoft Learning I keep busy making sure that Chris Pirie (our GM of Sales & Marketing) gets to the right place at the right time, in the right country. I’m also responsible for making sure business operations run smoothly in the background so that these creative marketing types can focus their attention on doing awesome stuff like planning free trips to TechEd and other bright shiny things.
I can’t *wait* to meet you folks out on the road! It is a rare opportunity for me to get out of Redmond and out in front of all of you fine folks in our community – I’m really looking forward to it!
Sweet! A website where you can meet the people that are building and/or working on Windows 7. What, why, how; check out www.talkingaboutwindows.com!
The last Live Meeting in our current Microsoft Certification Coaching series takes place tomorrow. Please join Bob Reinsch, Microsoft Certified Trainer, as he reviews key exam topics including installation and configuration of Microsoft Exchange Servers, configuring recipients and public folders, as well as monitoring, reporting and troubleshooting.
April 28: Preparing for your Exchange Server 2007, Configuring exam (70-236)
Register Now: 10:00 A.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?) Posted by Deborah Grauer
Register Now: 10:00 A.M. Pacific Time (What time is this in my region?)
Posted by Deborah Grauer
Join us and find out the value of SQL 2008 in your IT environment and how you can jumpstart and upgrade your skills to SQL 2008. IT Professionals take opportunity to expand and upgrade their skills to SQL 2008. (Asia)
“In this current economic situation, it’s a good time to go and renew your certification, get knowledge of new products and when the economy turns around you’ll be ready to jump into new opportunities, get a new job or progress in the one you already have.” Sarbjit Singh Gill (Speaker)
Live Meeting : Jumpstart SQL 2008 Skills - May 26, 2009 (12:30pm – 1:30pm Singapore time) : Register now if you are new to Microsoft SQL technology. (What time is this in my country?)
Live Meeting : Upgrade your SQL Skills - May 28, 2009 (12:30pm – 1:30pm Singapore time) : Register now if you plan to upgrade your SQL skills. (What time is this in my country?)
Hurry—the first batch went in an hour, and these will go fast too…
Every day now I hear more cool Windows 7 stories. Apparently, there is a competition in Finland as ‘who can install Windows 7 on the oldest PC’. The main challenge seems to be ‘how to get that DVD on a machine with no DVD player’ :-).
And then this morning, I saw this story;
“Microsoft Corp. will unveil an add-on to Windows 7 that lets users run applications designed for Windows XP in a virtual machine, the company confirmed Friday -- the first time Microsoft has relied on virtualization to provide backward compatibility.
Dubbed "Windows XP Mode," the add-on creates an XP virtual environment running under Virtual PC, Microsoft s client virtualization technology within Windows 7, said Scott Woodgate, the director of Windows enterprise and virtualization strategy.”
Read the original blog:"All you need to do is to install suitable applications directly in Windows XP Mode, the applications will be published to the Windows 7 desktop, and then you can run them directly from Windows 7."
To my kids: Good news boys, those Bob the Builder games will run on daddy’s PC once again very very soon :-)
Wow—looks like our Win7 beta exam slots sold out (if you can say that about something that’s free) faster than a Springsteen concert!
Just wanted to let you guys know that I’m aware of the situation and have escalated to my team back in Redmond to see if there’s anything we can do—but since they’re probably just waking up now, it may be a couple of hours before we have any more information.
Keep checking back! (or subscribe to our RSS feed, and you’ll know as soon as we do)
“Welcome to Philadelphia! The City of Brotherly Love, City of Sisterly Affection, Home of the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies, Home of the Soon to be World Champion Philadelphia Flyers, Home of the Philadelphia 76ers—what are you gonna do?”
All of this with 3 cars behind me at the Avis Car Rental exit gate, and all before the attendant even glanced at my license, which I hold expectantly out the window as I drove up.
“Washington? I’ve been to Washington. Man it’s cold there—I’ve never been that cold before. Bet you can guess why I was there, huh?”
Um, nope.
“The Inauguration!”
Ah. I’m from Washington state actually, not Washington D.C.
“Washington state! Well, I think we drove through it on the way to the inauguration, so that still counts, right?”
Sure…
“Man, what a cold day that was!” (still holding my license)
I bet… must have been pretty cool to see history being made though.
(Horns honking behind me)
“Oh yeah…. oh yeah. Wouldn’t a missed it. Cold though. Let’s hope he does a good job—lotta work to do.”
Yep. I should let you get back to your work in fact.
“Gonna watch the game today?”
What game?
“The Flyers—big game! Gotta watch the game.”
(Horns insistent now, while the attendant tells me a bunch of stuff I can’t remember about the current state of a sport I don’t follow)
I don’t really follow sports, sorry. Hey, can I have my license back?
“Why is everyone in a hurry all the time? Yeah, here you go. Shouldn’t be in a hurry all the time.”
Thanks, I’ll try to slow down—enjoy your weekend!
Left turn out of the gate, and a glance in the rear mirror just in time to see the car behind me speed past the attendant, fishtail into the road, then blow past me (and two stop signs) in a race to get to wherever—probably New Jersey, since he showed me the state bird as he passed.
Turn on the Sirius radio in the car, and Bruce is singing “My Lucky Day,” E Street Radio left programmed on the preset from whoever had the car last.
Those were my first few minutes back home in Philadelphia—and they were about as epitomic as can be.
I’m spending a few days here doing final preparations for our bus tour (and okay, maybe I’m here to see a couple of Springsteen shows, too), and I’m surprised by how much I miss the local attytood.
Didn’t keep me from having a “When Worlds Collide” moment though:
Drove 25 minutes from my mom’s house to the closest Starbucks (a shocking enough statement by itself for a nor’wester) and ordered my usual double-tall 120-degree cappuccino.
“I don’t think we can do that,” said the guy behind the counter (I’m not sure what they call them here, but there’s no way anyone in Philly has a job title of “barista”).
What? Yes you can. I order that all the time.
“Not here you don’t. I don’t think we’re allowed to make it at that temperature. That’s below the kids’ drinks temperature.”
Look—I’m at Starbucks multiple times a day, every day, and I’m telling you: you can make your drinks at 120 degrees.
“Why do you want it that cold anyway? That’s just wrong.”
(Impatient people behind me. Probably the same ones from the Avis rental.)
Not in Italy—espresso is served warm there so you can drink it quickly.
“Why do you want to drink it quickly?”
I don’t—I’m just saying!
“So why do you want it at 120 degrees.”
Dude. Make my drink. The way I ordered it. Please.
“I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to—I think it has something to do with the milk being pasteurized. Or not pasteurized. I forget. But it’s a safety thing. I know somebody just asked for a drink at 180, 190 degrees and we couldn’t do that either. Safety thing.”
That’s a heat thing—you can burn yourself with hot coffee. I’m not going to freeze if I spill 120-degree coffee on me. Make the drink, please.
Chorus of voices behind me: “Make the drink!”
Lady Barista at the end of the bar yells out with exasperation, “I have a double-tall 120-degree cappuccino on the bar.”
I look smugly at my opponent, who says not a word other than the total, which I pay.
I add some honey, walk out of Starbucks, get in the car, take a sip—and it can’t possibly be more than 110 degrees.
But I take my share of victory, and leave them theirs.
It tastes sweet.
Here’s some true-blue Hayden, as delivered by George Kanzler, reviewing Ask Me Now: Conversations On Jazz & Literature (Indiana University Press, 2007; Sascha Feinstein, editor): But some of the most astute comments, impressions and apercus about jazz come from the poets. The reclusive Hayden Carruth, while acknowledging that recording technology has been “a lifesaver for me and for music in general,” says it has “some unfortunate aspects to it. I do think that jazz ... has evolved too fast, and I think in part that’s because of recordings. Musicians can listen to what they’ve done, and listen to what other people have done, too easily. And then the urge for novelty overtakes them.”
Here’s some true-blue Hayden, as delivered by George Kanzler, reviewing Ask Me Now: Conversations On Jazz & Literature (Indiana University Press, 2007; Sascha Feinstein, editor):
But some of the most astute comments, impressions and apercus about jazz come from the poets. The reclusive Hayden Carruth, while acknowledging that recording technology has been “a lifesaver for me and for music in general,” says it has “some unfortunate aspects to it. I do think that jazz ... has evolved too fast, and I think in part that’s because of recordings. Musicians can listen to what they’ve done, and listen to what other people have done, too easily. And then the urge for novelty overtakes them.”
This is, of course, where we live now. But novelty need not mean mass-produced trinket. I remember my arguments for novelty as delivered by Henry Threadgill falling on kindly but deaf Carruthian ears. And Hayden felt this way about Mingus at times. But I take his point. His “too easily” is loaded, underpinning “novelty.” It’s not that creation should be difficult; it’s a question of attention, which is everything for creators and observers of art. Hayden desired and urged better attention.
Here’s the opening of the poem mentioned last weekend. To technology!
Regarding Chainsaws
by Hayden Carruth
The first chainsaw I owned was years ago, an old yellow McCulloch that wouldn t start. Bo Bremmer give it to me that was my friend, though I ve had enemies couldn t of done no worse. I took it to Ward s over to Morrisville, and no doubt they tinkered it as best they could, but it still wouldn t start. One time later I took it down to the last bolt and gasket and put it together again, hoping somehow I d do something accidental-like that would make it go, and then I yanked on it 450 times, as I figured afterwards, and give myself a bursitis in the elbow that went five years even after Doc Arrowsmith shot it full of cortisone and near killed me when he hit a nerve dead on. Old Stan wanted that saw, wanted it bad. Figured I was a greenhorn that didn t know nothing and he could fix it. Well, I was, you could say, being only forty at the time, but a fair hand at tinkering....
Read this poem and others in Carruth’s Collected Shorter Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 1992).