I am no longer fighting off a cold and am looking forward with connecting with the Study Group again to see how everyone is progressing through the book.

I do apologize for not getting the topics posted, but with the lack of response on last weeks post I wanted to make sure we had a review of the Code Access Security Chapter before moving on to our next section. If you have already read ahead, that is excellent, Thank you for your dedication.

“There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience and that is not learning from experience.” – Archibald McLeish

This week we have been learning Services, Threading, Configuration, and Diagnostics. You can learn more about our progress on the Forum.

Our next meeting which takes place on September 30th we will be having a discussion on the topics listed above, feel free to join our conversation even if you aren’t part of the group. The more questions we have leads to a better discussion, and a better understanding of the topics that were covered.

User Group Meetings

Canada’s Technology Triangle .NET User Group

The Red Brick doesn’t reserve spots (I tried, it sucks), so if you are the first to arrive, try to save a spot large enough for the group.

This session will include: a discussion about the topics studied, a Code review from our first assignment, and a conversation with thoughts on timing study & next topics to be covered.

With that being said, I think I have come up with a way to offer knowledge, a goal, a purpose and this will actually help advance your career! So I ask you one Question:

The Proposal

For those of us that are Microsoft Developers [sorry Open Source folks, feel free to create your own movement and join our adventure]

I propose that we continue to meet for Coffee and Code events which will be extended to 6pm – 9pm. The first hour of the event will be social, this will allow some de-stress time, keep up the networking aspect, and allow time for consumption of food. This leaves 7pm – 9pm for Presentation, Discussion, and Hands-On Labs.

The First Topic

Considering our youthful group, I believe the logical first topic would be starting at the entry level [don’t take entry level lightly] Certification Platform, Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist [MCTS].  We can have break out groups to cover different competencies however I believe the Visual Studio and Microsoft .NET Framework.

The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – Application Development Foundation self paced training kit for MCTS Exam 70-536 is the first stepping stone towards an MCTS Certification for the .NET Framework.

Candidates for this exam work on a team in a medium-sized or large development environment that uses Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, or Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. Candidates should have at least two to three years of experience developing Web-based, Windows-based, or distributed applications by using the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0, the .NET Framework 1.1, the .NET Framework 2.0, or the .NET Framework 3.5. Candidates should have a working knowledge of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008.

The Application Development Foundation book is exactly that the Foundation of the MCTS Certification, in order to become Certified you have to select One Additional Exam [70-561,70-562,70-503,70-505,70-502,70-504].

The Second Exam is where the break-out groups would come into effect. As the majority of the group are Web Developers, my recommendation would be the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – ASP.NET Application Development self paced training kit for MCTS Exam 70-562.

Candidates for this exam use Microsoft Visual Studio in a team-based, medium-sized to large development environment. Candidates should have a minimum of two to three years of experience developing Web-based applications by using Microsoft ASP.NET. Candidates should also have a minimum of one year of experience with web services, state management, ASP.NET configuration, monitoring web applications, debugging, page life-cycle management; security, membership & roles, JavaScript, and Internet Information Server (IIS). Candidates should be very familiar with Visual Studio 2005 or later and the .NET Framework classes that are related to ASP.NET and ADO.NET. In addition, candidates should have a good grasp of ASP.NET AJAX.

The Cake

Prometric and Microsoft have a pretty sweet deal on right now, which gives extra incentive to start the process now and this cake is not a lie.

The Lettuce

In the end everything always comes down to money. Unfortunately this is no exception, however I am trying my best to get funding to help us out along the way. I will not be able to pay for your exams, but I am looking to comp the Literature [I have submitted my plea, and will comment on this post when I receive the answer].

A Microsoft Certification Exam costs $125.00 USD [Source: Prometric’s Website] in Ontario, Canada.

If you get a 2-exam pack you save 20% 15% and have the safety of the second shot.

The last item that will cost money is food, if we meet at our typical location, The Albion Hotel, they have been nice enough to allow us to have our meetings without a venue cost. We should be sure to eat a meal in good faith for them hosting our Study Group for 3 hours. Just be sure to include food in your budget.

The Challenge

Earlier today I contacted Microsoft Canada on twitter asking if they would be willing to put up 2 Certification Vouchers if we could get a group of 10 Certification Study Members. I will be following up with Microsoft Canada via Email [seems more appropriate] to see if they would be able to provide the prizes.

Track the list of interested Study Members on the MS-Cert-StudyGroup Twitter List [we’re currently at 6].

Mix and Match the sessions you attend out of the Five Tracks, which span various topics including Development, Development Fundamentals, Collaboration, Deployment, Management and Security. This year Microsoft is introducing a Sixth track which is a Community Track called “Local Flavors”, which is meant to give local developers that are passionate about sharing their knowledge and expertise showcase a topic that they are passionate about in their region. You can Register for a Community Session for a chance to show off your expertise during the Conference in your area!

 One of the best things about Tech Days is Microsoft selects knowledgeable Speakers from your region [if available], so you have the ability to connect with the speakers after the Conference.

What are you waiting for! Be sure to Register Now for the early bird price of $349.99 [+ applicable taxes] which is available up to 6 weeks prior to each event. After that the price nearly doubles to the full Conference price of $699.99 [+ applicable taxes].

Not only do you walk away with an incredible amount of knowledge from the conference, but you also get an excitement kit, which traditionally gives you all the tools you need in order to leverage all the information you have absorbed in any of the sessions you attend [Excluding Local Flavors].

John will be leading a PHP application to bring an open data feed from Vancouver, or Edmonton and overlaying it on a Google or Bing Map.

If you’d like to join in on the PHP Project here are the details:

Venue: The Albion Hotel
Location: 49 Norfolk St. Guelph, Ontario
Date: Thursday May 13, 2010
Time: 5:00pm – 8:00pm

Witness the Power of OpenData

If you’re not too sure what OpenData is watch this TEDTalk, “The Year Open Data went World Wide” by Tim Berners-lee on how Open Data helped the search teams in Haiti after the earthquake.

Packt Publishing

If you love the .NET Framework and would like to venture into the world of writing, contact Packt at author@packtpub.com with your book idea. If you don’t have a book idea, but would still like to give writing a book to try Packt would still like to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming an author, check out what they are looking for and submit your ideas.

Quick Links

Contributors

Contributors are a vital part of the Toronto Code Camp, and provide the funds and infrastructure for executing a successful event! If you are interested in participating, download the Call for Contributors form, and contact them. They definitely want to hear from you!

Speakers

The Toronto Code Camp is now accepting submissions for speakers! Download, fill out and submit the Call for Speakers form. Keep in mind that the spots are limited therefore sign up as soon as possible.

What is a Code Camp all about?

The answer is actually very simple. A Code Camp must follow these rules:

1. By and For the Developer Community
   Code Camps are about the developer community at large. They are meant to be a place for developers to come and learn from their peers. Topics are always based on community interest and never determined by anyone other than the community.

2. Always Free
   Code Camps are always free for attendees.

3. Community Developed Material
   The success of the Code Camps is that they are based on community content. All content that is delivered is original. All presentation content must be provided completely (including code) without any restriction. If you have content you don’t want to share or provide to attendees then the Code Camp is not the place for you.

4. No Fluff – only Code
   Code Camps are about showing the code. Refer to rule #1 if you have any questions on this.

5. Community Ownership
   The most important element of the Code Camp is always the developer community. All are welcome to attend and speak and do so without expectation of payment or any other compensation other than their participation in the community.

6. Never occur during work hours
   We understand that many times people can’t leave work for a day or two to attend training or even seminars. The beauty of the Code Camp is that they always occur on weekends.

This month’s speaker is Marcel Bradea from Infusion Development. Here’s a little bit about Marcel and his presentation.

Bio

Marcel Bradea is an eccentric, young, energetic software consultant who is passionate about technology and its impact on the world. With a UX-driven philosophy to developing technologies, this approach to software is all about sophisticated simplicity. A proponent of TDD/BDD, collaboration, creative atmospheres, grassroots innovation; Marcel enjoys influencing the social factors that produce phenomenon’s within organizations. A former Google employee and aspiring serial entrepreneur, Marcel sees the world of software as ripe with opportunity. His past work includes multi-touch technologies (Microsoft Surface), social networks and distribution systems, and his outlook towards the future promotes the evolution of computer interaction, of software development, and the inter-weaving of software outside the traditional uses of desktop computing.

Abstract

What is new in the world of Visual Studio extensibility? With a completely rebuilt editor at its core, a brand new Extensions Manager to deliver extensions straight through the IDE and the recently released MEF add-in framework to support it all, Visual Studio 2010 unlocks a new direction for the development experience on the .NET platform. We will be exploring the extensibility options available and taking a first-hand dive into building a Visual Studio 2010 editor add-in. Bring your curiosity. Bring your long-awaited wishes and ideas!

Registration

Event Date: Wednesday March 31, 2010.
Event Time: 6pm – 8:30pm
Additional Information + Registration: http://www.cttdnug.org

We’re going to try something a little different to see if we can attract more attendees by moving the event to 6pm. This will enable Developers, Designers, QA Specialists, IT Pros and other Technologists to venture directly from work to join in. This means that food and beverages will be provided at the event.

Another change is that we will be using another location as we hope to attract a larger crowd. So for this special event we will be meeting at the freshly renovated Red Brick Cafe at 77 Westmount St, Guelph, Ontario.

Cory Fowler, Guelph Coffee and Code Founder and Innosphere Employee, will be giving a brief presentation on SQL Azure to demonstrate its flexibility with PHP, Ruby (Ruby on Rails), Python (Django), and ASP.NET. After the presentation there will be an opportunity to socialize and collaborate with your peers.

Be sure to Register for the event.

Venue: Red Brick Cafe at 77 Westmount St. Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Date: March 18th, 2009
Time: 6pm – 8pm