Well, I've been quiet for a while, but my life has not been calm. I worked on a ASP.NET 2.0 project during the beginning of the year.  And for the last two weeks, I've been working on a project in the ProTech MTS division, working with VS2003, C#, and SQL Server 2000.  And, it's been some long hours - but I've really enjoyed the people that I'm working with.  Below is a picture of the team. 

Can you pick me out? 8-> 

From Left to Right, standing: Radhika, Subbu, Me, Hasnain, Satya, and Mahesh. Seated is Aravind.  This is a fantastic group of people.  Each has different strengths - but they all have the characteristics of hard working, intelligent, and giving.  Having worked many hours with these guys recently, I've learned many new facts about India and Pakistan - for example, weddings and arranged marriages, Cricket (versus baseball), their work, their education, the food, about the how and why of working in the U.S., and working in India.  All are from India except "Super Hasnain", my nickname for the quiet, yet highly intelligent one - who is from Pakistan.  Satya and Aravind are my Cricket teachers

One of our highlights of working together was going to a local eatery that has northern and southern India cuisine - and that was a good meal.  Everything was good - but they tell me  not as spicy as back home.  A short list of the good foods: Chautney (a sauce or gravy),  Idli (rice cake), sambhar (a soup), and tandoori chicken.  But one of my favorite parts was the desserts,  Gulab Jamun and Sabu Dana.

Bottom Line:  I consider these folks my friends and value the time that I have spent with them.

On another note, I just received a gift for having the most popular post on http://msdneventsbloggers.net/ in February.  Remember the one on relaxed presenters?

Thanks to Guy Barrette for this info:

FREE for a short time…

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/catalog/itproDev.aspx#sqlServer

Course 2937: Administering and Monitoring Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005
Course 2938: Data Availability Features in Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005
Course 2939: Programming Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005
Course 2940: Building Services and Notifications Using Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005
Course 2941: Creating the Data Access Tier Using Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005
Course 2942: New Features of Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Analysis Services
Course 2943: Updating Your Data ETL Skills to Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Integration Services
Course 2944: Updating Your Reporting Skills to Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Reporting Services

If you've spent anytime lately looking at WinFX and the related technologies and products, it is exciting and overwhelming.  I'm still trying to learn .NET 2.0.  And as I'm learning to apply these 2.0 technologies today, there are so many things in WinFX that I'd like to have today.  But, how in the world can I learn these now?

To keep this in perspective, Billy Hollis recently blogged about this issue.  In his wisdom, he decided long ago to focus on Windows Forms and have conceptual knowledge of ASP.NET - and the rest is history. 

Julia Lerman also blogged about this and with a few similar thoughts.  However, she consider herself a generalist, letting her engagements push her to the areas that she needs to learn.  I guess this is where I am now.  I've been on a ASP.NET 2.0 project for a couple of months and that is where I know the most of .NET 2.0.

Am I positioned well for the next opportunity?  I'm not sure.  Time will tell.  Just consider the acronyms between Billy and Julia's blog entries - there is plenty of ground to cover.  But I also keep reading blogs, reading books, etc.  Hopefully, if the next engagement requires knowledge in some other area, I'll have just enough conceptual knowledge to make the learning survivable.  I also hope that I'll find some informational resources to lessen the curve.

I enjoy asking people in my talks about the .NET framework.  As a presentation technique, a conversational style is always more enjoyable for the audience as well as the presenter.  One frequent question that I use is "How many types are there in .NET?".  This is also serves as an introduction to types (versus a class), reflection, and the vastness of .NET.  A long time ago, I sat with Dan Fox and Dave Wanta as they developed a sample that counted the types in .NET 1.0.  I've been meaning to do this for .NET 2.0 but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Anyway, Kent Sharkey, one of the best people that I ever met at Microsoft, recently talked about his doing this - including how he did it.  The short version is that .NET 2.0 had over 28,600 types.  Kent then wonders if the geometric progression will continue, i.e. will WinFx include over 85,000 classes?  If WinFx encompasses all of Win32 and all of the development technologies, it could be possible...

Now, here is a cool idea - especially when our local school, University of Memphis, is ranked in the top 10.  I can see where this DNN4 module would be popular among college basketball fans.  The module has an interesting UI.  And you can't beat that price either.

NCAA Tourney 1.0 by Module Masters.  $29.95.  The NCAA Tourney module allows you to add a NCAA tournament pool to your portal. You can allow users to record their picks for the tournament and then manage the outcome of the tournament calculating the winner of your tourney based on customizable point system.

Microsoft has announced the pricing plans for Windows OneCare.  I've been participating in Windows OneCare beta for  several weeks now, and I really like it.  You should check it out since it's free.  For beta users who join before April 30th, check this out...

Microsoft Corp. today announced final licensing and pricing information for its soon-to-be-released Windows OneCare™ Live, the all-in-one, automatic and self-updating PC care service aimed at helping consumers more easily protect and maintain their PCs to keep them running well. Now available free to new beta testers in the United States, at http://ideas.live.com, Microsoft^® Windows OneCare Live will be available in June from retailers and via the Web for an annual subscription of $49.95 MSRP for up to three personal computers. To thank its valuable beta customers and offer an easy transition to the paid service, Microsoft also announced today a promotional deal offering the first year of Windows OneCare Live service for $19.95 to beta customers who become subscribers between April 1 and April 30, 2006.

I keep hearing about AxCMS.net.  Based on .NET 2.0, it is a open source CMS and I've seen a few people say it's better than DNN.  That's a big statement!  I have not checked this out so I'd like to know if you know something about it.

They have an interesting list of big name installations.  If this list is for real, then the product must be real.  Watch out DNN!  Competition is a good thing.