I got a bug in me to do a Vista Gadget and created a gadget that will allow a Shrinkster URL just with the ending “code”. Here is the links to the gadget are here: Windows Live Gallery This gadget is very basic but if you think of any other gadget ideas I am up for at least attempting them.

I have a problem with books. I buy them, keep them and in general will not get rid of them. I have books that I have never looked at for years on my shelves and in boxes. So this weekend I put about 60 books on Amazon Marketplace to see if I can make a few dollars. Not that I want to get rich but I just want to see what the result will be. My Personal Marketplace is up and you can see my past reads (or at least wanted to read). I still love books but I want to free myself of the old and bring in the new. I just do not buy as much I as I did in the past (before kids and a house).

http://www.devexpress.com/Products/NET/IDETools/RefactorASP/ From the DevExpress site — “Refactor! is freely available to all ASP.NET 2.0 developers and offers a comprehensive suite of tools that enable you and your team to simplify and shape complex code and HTML markup – making your web applications easier to read and less costly to maintain. Note to customers who have Refactor! Pro installed: this product is incompatible with your existing Refactor! Pro install.” Included Refactorings:

• Add Validator
• Extract ContentPlaceHolder
• Extract Property
• Extract to User Control
• Introduce Constant
• Move Declaration Near Reference
• Move to Code-behind
• Replace Temp with Query
• Simplify Expression
• Create Overload
• Extract ContentPlaceHolder (create master page)
• Extract Style (Class)
• Flatten Conditional
• Introduce Local
• Move Initialization to Declaration
• Rename
• Reverse Conditional
• Split Initialization from Declaration
• Encapsulate Field
• Extract Method
• Extract Style (id)
• Inline Temp
• Introduce Local (replace all)
• Move Style Attributes to CSS
• Reorder Parameters
• Safe Rename
• Split Temporary Variable

I am still riding the adrenaline rush from yesterday. The last few weeks have been crazy getting ready for the event. At 7:00AM when the organizers and volunteers showed up to set up, I was just hoping that a few people would show up. I slipped back to get the food out and when I came back to the registration area there was a line over 30 people long. One thing that was disorganized was the registration. We had printed out 2 lists of name tags and it was difficult to get people quickly through the line. That will be solved next year. But after we got through the bog rush all settled down and things went as smooth as I had hoped. We had so much great help and even some of the attendees (especially NuSoft coworkers) lent a hand to keep things moving along. Brian Partin did an excellent keynote on the future of software development and architecture. His idea of adding another layer into the traditional layers of software architecture (data, business logic, presentation) to allow collaboration was very interesting and one area that I will begin researching. Before and during the keynote we had muffins from Costco. They were excellent and a big hit. I did not get a change to attend any of the sessions. I did pop my head into a few and see the numbers for attendance. From the feedback we received, all the sessions were great and the speakers did an excellent job teaching and also entertaining. I even had a difficult time recommending to people the sessions they should attend. If I was attending I would have a hard time choosing. Lunch went well. We went on the cheaper side and bought pizza. To save a little more cash, we even went and picked the pizzas up. Makes a difference on the food costs. Lunch went smoothly and people got a breather and networked. The afternoon sessions also were attended well and the hours flew by. I did get to talked to many of the speakers in the room we set aside for them to hand out. Final numbers were around 140 people total. Great turn out and I thank all the people who came out and enjoyed the day with us. We will definitely have a second annual West Michigan Day of .NET in the late winter. We will be working closely with the Day of .NET in Ann Arbor team to make an organization that covers all Day of .NET events in Michigan. I want to thank the following people: Organizers: Bruce Abernethy, Doug “Mac” Fowler and Kim Welch Volunteers: Shane Jordan, Kevin Shultz and John Hopkins Speakers: Brian Partin, Jim Holmes, Drew Robbins, Josh Holmes, Chris Brandma, Martin Shoemaker, Dan Woolston, Craig Lutz, Dave Truxall, Joel Ross, Steve Schofield, Brian Cecile, Joe Kunk, Josh Holmes, Dan Hibbitts, Jim Wilt, Paul Kimmel, Patrick Gryzan, Brice Abernethy, Brian Anderson Sponsors: Kforce, N-VINT, telerik, NuSoft, Palm

I spoke this weekend at the Day of .NET in Ann Arbor on Historical Database Patterns. I has several attendees ask if I had a website that I spotlight my database patterns. I am writing a whitepaper on the subject and so I am including a new area on the new CloudSocket site on Database Patterns. Surprisingly I cannot find much content in the cloud about database patterns so I will pick the ball up and deliver some expert content for the database developer community. So keep an eye out for the new CloudSocket site and Database Pattern area.

Man I am so excited with the time I spent here in Ann Arbor for the Day of .NET.  My talk on “Databases Need to have Memories” went very well and I even had a few laughs from the jokes I tried.  I met a ton of people and connected with some I have not seen in a while.  I will get pictures up soon but if you live within driving of Ann Arbor you need to make the next Day of .NET.  I will post a wrap up entry tonight after the raffle and speaker dinner.  I will be tired but I have tons of ideas, dreams and new friends.  Thanks until later…

I had TechQuik and I think it ran its course as a blog. I think we all need to inflict change on ourselves from time to time in order to grow. That is what CloudSocket and this blog will be for me. I needed to have a place to post my views but also a place to grow my new venture CloudSocket. It is just me dreaming but I hope one day that it becomes a place where my dreams for the technology, services and products take shape and change the world.