Category
Development
65 posts
Spec-Driven Development Needed a Rewrite
Last post I talked about finding out that [what I've been doing has a name](https://thesaltykorean.com/building/ai/development/2026/03/03/specdrivende…
Apparently What I've Been Doing Has a Name
Specdriven development. Who knew that was a thing? I did, apparently — I just didn't know what to call it. Turns out I've been doing it this whole tim…
VSTS with code signed PFX certificates
While using VSTS, one of the most common questions is how to code sign your application. It’s extremely problematic, because there’s no easy way to im…
Performance Tuning in Azure SQL Data Warehouse
(This was originally posted on 01/09/2016 on another site and has been moved here) Yesterday I spent over an hour with John Huang ([Azure SQL Data War…
Power Pivot & Power BI training in Bentonville at Walmart Intl Building
Here are Harvest, we’re proud of our partnerships. Last year we were fortunate to help Walmart International bring in Rob Collie who wrote the book on…
DAX calculation for local time versus UTC
[DAX](https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/677.powerbidataanalysisexpressionsdaxlanguage.aspx) is Microsoft’s powerful language…
Use VS Code to create PowerShell scripts to move files into folders by date
Recently while cleaning up a bunch of old hard drives and getting ready to sell / give them away, I found a ton of old photos. Unfortunately I found t…
Continuous Integration with VSTS – Tips #1
Now that the blog is officially announced and released, I thought I’d show you a quick tip in how we were able to update our main website through cont…
Continuous Integration with VSTS – Tips #1
Now that the blog is officially announced and released, I thought I'd show you a quick tip in how we were able to update our main website through cont…
Microsoft MVP Award
Normally April 1st is filled full of practical jokes and funny stuff with Google being the most notorious about the scams they try to pull. This year …
Fun & Games–Microsoft’s new AoE Online
As most of you know, Microsoft gives MVP awardees access to some great benefits. I’ll admit, this is the first time I’ve used it to have access to som…
Microsoft LightSwitch
[http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/enus/lightswitch](http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/enus/lightswitch "http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio…
Microsoft’s new technical computing initiative
I made a mental note from earlier in the year. Microsoft literally buys computers by the truckload. From what I understand, it’s a typical practice am…
Windows Installer – InstallAware (coupon)
Here’s another one of my tools in my toolset for deploying software. I’ve used their product for several years with great success. They make use of a …
How ReSharper saved the day
The Back Story: As a Microsoft MVP awardee, one of the many benefits is free software, books, and various products. Some of the producers/manufacturer…
Microsoft 2010 Product Tour
I’m proud to announce that two Microsoft employees, Sarika Calla and Kevin Halverson, who works on the Visual Studio Product Team will be visiting var…
Retail Link data storage requirements
I was asked today about how much data an average Retail Link analyst (Walmart vendor) would consume. I thought I would write this small post for futur…
Free CodeSmith License!
The catch? Attend the [Ozarks .Net User Group](http://www.odnug.org/) meeting on April 1st. Here’s a list of the other prizes for the event GRAND PRIZ…
Microsoft BizSpark for technology startups
I love it when someone else writes up my blog postings for me! Microsoft BizSpark is a global program designed to help accelerate the success of early…
Microsoft no longer marketing Windows Live OneCare
Just received an email that as of Nov 23, 2008 (below), Microsoft will no longer be marketing Windows Live OneCare. It’s unknown what that means, othe…
Letter from Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft
I occasionally receive letters sent out to the Industry Executives from the top dogs at Microsoft. Here’s the one I just received outlining their newe…
Microsoft congregates it's ads under one flag Microsoft Advertising
Exactly two months ago Microsoft sent me an email introducing it's new branding called "[Microsoft Advertising](http://advertising.microsoft.com/)" (n…
NBC Olympics site goes live with Silverlight 2 streaming
Over the past year, Microsoft has broadly touted their partnership with NBC and the video feeds they will provide for the Olympics. So on July 4th, I …
RegEx tools for Visual Studio & the Social Web
You might want to skip this first paragraph if you are just looking for the RegEx Tools portion. I still find it amazing how the web can create an onl…
Microsoft Certification Exam Voucher Giveaway
I've recently come into several Certification Exam Vouchers and have decided to host a giveaway. Just post a comment to the blog, and I'll randomly se…
Writing to .Net Config Files
I've been working with config files for quite some time. I was recently reminded that I needed to finish my original article and share my final findin…
Tell Internet Explorer 8 Beta to show your site properly using IE7
For those that want your website to render correctly on IE8, the recent newsletter gave a great example for enforcing IE7 compatibility via a Meta tag…
Microsoft adCenter needs a workshop?
While I love Microsoft's developer products, adCenter (Microsoft's search advertising / pay per click) makes me want to hide in shame. See the email I…
Northwest Arkansas SQL Server User Group 1st Meeting
I have vastly been neglecting my blogging. So as not to be outdone by [Chris Koenig](http://blogs.msdn.com/chkoenig) .... I was able to meetup with th…
Received Microsoft MVP award
Ok, so my announcement is 6 days late. I'm proud to announce that I received the coveted Microsoft MVP award for Visual Basic (currently the only MVP …
Preferred method for read only Config files
I had come across an article where you can use the following line to read custom section settings from your config file (where SectionName is the name…
Getting more out of SQL Server Reporting Services Charts
Summary: This white paper presents general information, best practices, and tips for designing charts within Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services r…
Join the Microsoft Game Studios Beta Program
If you're interested in joining Microsoft's beta program for games, you'll be interested in the following email I received. We are gearing up for a ye…
SQL Injection article
It's hard to believe that SQL injection is still an issue. My friend Zain Naboulsi gave us a great overview of basic security hacks and how to defend …
SQL Server Reporting Services Licensing Info
After presenting at the [Tulsa SQL Server SIG](http://www.tulsasql.com/) I received the following question: According to all the blogs if you install …
To bug the Microsoft MSDN Evangelist, or not to bug
Excellent times ... […
Free DevExpress .net controls
I ran across an ad today that linked me to where DevExpress is giving away over 40 controls for free. I'm a big fan of two of their products (which un…
SQL Server Management Pack
I found this nugget of a tool today. I haven't tried it out yet, but it sounds like one terrific tool. [http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.asp…
Heroes Happen Here Official Launch boasts Silverlight website
[Participate in Live, Virtual, or Hosted Events](http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8405375) I received this today via email. You will eventually be able…
MSDN access changed for Microsoft Partners
As of March 1st, 2008 Microsoft will force you to use the new way to access your MSDN subscription. This is terrific news! Since I have 3 people acces…
Upcoming March speaking events - SQL Server Reporting Services
For those interested in hearing me speak (or avoiding me altogether ;) I will be speaking at the Tulsa SQL Server Group on March 17th, 2008 and at the…
Microsoft kills off adCenter Affiliate program (paid referrals to their advertising engine)
I received an email (copied below) about Microsoft ending the paid referrals to new subscribers of adCenter. I find this extremely perplexing because …
Securely Sending XML Messages via Digital Signing in .Net
Great video by Will DePalo on how to securely communicate by digitally signing xml messages. Originally found on [MSDN](http://msdn2.microsoft.com/enu…
Video of adding Microsoft Silverlight to an existing website
This video will show you how to add Silverlight capabilities to your website. It first shows you via notepad and then via Microsoft Expression Blend s…
Free Source Code Outliner PowerToy for Visual Studio 2008
[Source Code Outliner PowerToy for Visual Studio 2008](http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8215433) Microsoft released a free PowerToy for VS2008. The Sou…
Free Microsoft Webinars for Partners - Ajax, Silverlight, Exrpression
Microsoft is offering the following free webinars for Microsoft Partners: Web Seminar 1: [Web Development on the Microsoft Platform](http://r.email.mi…
Microsoft Small Business Show & Silverlight fakeout
Microsoft is on their 2nd Small Business Show which features "Solutions for Entrepreneurs". You can view the show [here](http://www.microsoft.com/smal…
More free Microsoft Partner Training
Here are some more FREE Partner Partner Training Labs: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Virtual Training (6 parts) [What's New in SQL Server 2008 for Databas…
MSDN Express Event Take #2 - Feb 27 1-5pm
We've scheduled the next MSDN Express event to take place on February 27th, from 1pm5pm. [Zain Naboulsi](http://blogs.msdn.com/zainnab) (our MSDN Evan…
We Are Microsoft 2008 Event in Dallas
This past weekend seems like a dream. That's probably because it was a sleep deprived coding marathon of epic proportions. Some getting more sleep tha…
Scott Guthrie announces .Net Framework Source Code availability
Thanks to [Josh Ambrose Little](http://dotnettemplar.net) for pointing out that [Scott Guthrie](http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/) has blogged about [ho…
Watch Bill Gates keynote at CES 2008 in Silverlight
I'm impressed by the fact that they used Silverlight to highlight Bill Gates keynote and Microsoft at CES. Note that the intro is a bit long before th…
Participating in the We Are Microsoft Event - Jan 18-20 2008
Please come join us at the Charity event "We Are Microsoft". Throughout the weekend, starting this Friday, we will be working on charity software deve…
Free Partner Training - Windows Server 2008 for Developers
As I've mentioned countless number of times, one of the best benefits of the [Partner Program](http://partner.microsoft.com "Microsoft Partner Program…
Microsoft Changes Satisfaction Index in Partner Program
Just received information that details the changes of the Microsoft Satisfaction Index. This was one of the easiest ways to buildup Partner points and…
Free & Discounted Logo Testing for Windows Server 2008 Certifications
This was originally posted at [http://www.mysoftwarestartup.com](http://www.mysoftwarestartup.com/blogs/general/archive/2007/12/16/freeampdiscountedlo…
Get 2 FREE Vista style Icons
I've always been a big fan of <span class="skimlinksunlinked"AHASoft.com</span products. I recently received an email telling me that for Christmas I …
VB.Net Code Example for a 'Sub Main' Startup for a System Tray Application with an Infragistics Context Menu
It's easy to create an application that uses the NotifyIcon control, you simply add the control to your windows form. There are even code examples out…
Microsoft's Download Center new Beta uses Silverlight
I was very pleasantly surprised when I got this popup while looking for some Vista Power Tools. Low and behold, it does actually use it, however I did…
Free $150 towards Microsoft AdCenter Search Engine online ads
As part of the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Certification program, the Microsoft Partner Program is offering $150 credit to the first 5000 partners w…
Northwest Arkansas MSDN Express Event a Success!
On December 4th, the first inaugural MSDN Express event was a resounding success. We had around 17 in attendance and learned a lot about some of Micro…
Save 50% on the Microsoft Partner Telesales Service Campaign
I received this in the Microsoft Partner eNewsletter: [Save 50% on a Partner Telesales Service Campaign](http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7912597) Are …
Second Shot Program for Microsoft Certification exams
Microsoft has again offered their Second Shot program. They do it pretty often so keep an eye out. The details of the program are to register on their…
Updated MSDN Flash features Zain Naboulsi
The MSDN Flash eNewsletter has been updated with a reorganization of the way it is laid out. One of the most surprising things was a familiar mug at t…
Visual Studio 2008 & .Net 3.5 Training Kit
The Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Training Kit includes presentations, handson labs, and demos. This content is designed to help you learn…