I've been re-awarded my BizTalk MVP - so a big thanks for allowing me to be part of the program for another year (at least :)

A focus of mine is the community - sharing and bettering information sources around the technologies we work and play with. So thanks guys hope you're getting value out of my efforts, and thank you for being part of our growing community.

This year should be a fantastic year in the SOA/ESB/BizTalk/Oslo/WCF/WF/MOSS/BDC/RFID (did I leave any off?) as we're going to see the emergence of several of these technologies play beautifully together.
(we saw this in the last .NET 3.5 Framework - with WCF/WF Services.....stay tuned...for one of my favourite pieces - Windows Workflow)

So for me lots of things to focus on, but one main area is doing more information integrating MOSS/SharePoint with BizTalk/InfoPath/RFID....... and of course workflows.......

Stay tuned......

Thank you linesman and thank you ball boys for your hard efforts and major participation!!!!!

Life is short!

Mick.

Folks - it's been one of those weeks (I know it's only Tues :)

I just got to a point where I was just opening up tooo many RDP connections, managing them - some using Terminal Services Gateways, others not.

Configuring BTS boxes/SQL Servers/MOSS/Indexers/Search..... and the list goes on.

From client to client or even our network internally - my head was rapidly filling up with these random ip addresses that I wished I didn't have to remember.

So I wanted to have a way simply to manage all these windows (a crude version I wrote some years back was simply to drop 6 RDP ActiveX controls onto a web page an knock yourself out).

I needed:

- to work on Vista and Win2008 as well as the other list of usual suspects.

- be able to set Terminal Services Gateway on some.

They panned out as follows:

1. Remote Desktops - found in Win2K3 Admin Tools SP1, which is OK as it presents a simple tree view and you're away.
2. Terminals (currently 1.7) - SENSATIONAL!!! I almost wanted to get VNC etc just to use those bits.
   It's got - network tools, port scanners just absolutely brilliant, a well polished application with a very very handy toolbar.
   Only ONE problem for me......no TSG support :-(   - forums state this is planned..... :)
   
   
   Check out TERMINALS HERE
   
3. Royal TS - Supports RDP Terminal Service Gateway Connections :)
   So this one for the moment is one that I'm going with, just downloading .NET 3.5 SP1 as we speak and about to fire this up on Vista (x86).
   
   Does a very good job at managing RDP connections, it doesn't support any of the other clients.
   
   Presents a TreeView allowing groupings of connections (although I had to 'Create a Document' first)
   
   
   Check out Royal TS HERE

Conclusion:

Terminals *would* be the one I'd go for if it supported TSG connections......have to check back shortly.

Proof is in the popping - http://labmylife.blogspot.com/2008/06/you-can-cook-your-brain-with-cell.html

Think of your ear/brain/head/eye in this space.......

On the lines of mobile phones - a while ago I decided to check out my latest phone and how much 'energy' it gave out
(you know - hot handset, hot ear etc after been talking on it for a while)

As I found out - as part of Govt. regulations there's some one who set a number/limit on this energy at 1.6. (for Australia)
The 'energy' reading is known as 'Specific Absorbtion Rate' (SAR) rating.

Check more out here:

http://www.sarvalues.com/what-is-sar.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/07/12/1152637733291.html

Lately here we have several top neuro surgeons throwing their mobiles out, due to the amazing increase in the number of brain tumours they treat - especially on the 'preferred ear'.

When this stuff comes out - there's always the 2 main camps, ones that say 'yes' it does and others that say 'what a joke'.
(we then recite - high voltage power lines, lukemia and the classic was smoking ads back in the 50s that state all the medicinal benefits of smoking. Big full page ads but a few years later we know more about smoking...)

So I figured that I'd go looking.....

...I went to the manufacturers website and I was able to get 63 properties and details about the phone. Battery life; bands; standby; talk time; features; dimensions etc.......

....but.....

....NO SARs number.....

....after doing a couple of web searches.....my phone comes out at 1.4 (the website also tells me that in the current phone market, 95% of all mobiles are better than mine!!!)

Interesting to say the least!

http://blogs.msdn.com/webdevtools/Default.aspx

Some pretty cool features as I've previously posted

From my perspective I'm particularly interested in the supported 'WCF Dual HTTP Binding'.......more on that later :)

(updated**)

SILVERLIGHT 2.0 BETA 2 SDK is now available!!!!

Grab it here from the Getting Started section

Also get the videos, hands on labs, training material from HERE

Hi folks,

While freezing in NZ (this week) I came across this this great MSDN article discussing some of the lower level implementation details around .NET 3.5 Framework.

The part that interests me is the Presence information (right at the end of the article) where once a connection is setup, you can get presence information about the other party - right from the .NET 3.5 framework.

If you've ever had to try and develop for that other ways i.e. by talking straight to communicator, or messenger or... etc.

You'll realise that they each have a slightly different API set, (some accept SIP, some don't, some require it, some don't...) and it's opening up trouble - cause on the target deployment machine...can you imagine the production guys when you say "hang on, I've just got to go and download Messenger (from Live)...."

Anyway - here's the article.

Enjoy - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163356.aspx

It's a page that's hidden away and difficult to land on from a Search....so I thought I'd list it here for us all

http://www.pc-ap.fujitsu.com/support/drv_lb_vis64_t4215.html

After much trialling and not much success.....Skype would install on my Windows Server 2008 x64 no problems, but at the sign-in screen the app would crash.

This happened in many different ways over many different Skype install permutations.

I think I've cracked it with an older version being the goods:

http://www.oldapps.com/download.php?oldappsid=SkypeSetup_3.0.0.190.exe

Cheers,

Mick.

We've now got official Management Pack support for R2 and the newer things in R2 such as EDI and RFID.

I've had many students come up to me and say "Mick - what in the world are you talking about?"
(mind you I get that at home as well - but let's not go there)

Have you ever asked the question:
I wonder how our BizTalk (et. al.) servers are going?
(this is where you could send the work experience kid around to all the servers gathering details and report back to you by lunch.....but not all of us have work experience kids)

The answer to this is relatively complex - as you'll need know things like:

1. Services - stopped, started, uptime. BizTalk Services, SQL Services, WCF/IIS Services etc.
2. Database sizes, Spool table lengths
3. Queue Lengths - disk etc.
4. Memory details
5. BizTalk Orchestration details
6. Messaging Details
7. .... and the list goes on.
   

SCOM2007 with the management pack gives you that - in near enough realtime with all sorts of graphs and charts.

One of the *best* things I like about SCOM2007 is that you install the Management Pack(s) only on *one* machine - usually the SCOM2007 Central Administration machine, and as more applications are installed on servers on the network, the appropriate management bits are 'auto-deployed'.

Grab it here -

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=389FCB89-F4CF-46D7-BC6E-57830D234F91&displaylang=en&displaylang=en

I came across this Microsoft Page while on my travels which lets you browse for your VHD by product!!!!!

e.g. SQL 2008, BizTalk, SharePoint, VS2008 etc etc. Grab the VHD for your needs.

They are public domain VHDs so I'm guessing they're 'limited' in some way (probably time) - which means don't go building your VOIP/RFID Corporation on them :)

Have fun!

BizTalk RFID 'v2' is in early TAP (Technology Adopter Program/phase) and runs on Windows Mobile Devices...pretty cool!

Now Microsoft have moved RFID not only into the common household framework, but also provided the reach with Mobile devices.

Rather than in the classic RFID model where tags move and Readers are *fixed*. We now can have Readers that move and tags that are *fixed*.
(lots of ideas for this one!)

Check out a stream of RFID 'stuff' from YOUTUBE

RFID goes Mobile...

What is RFID....

Future Supermarket!

I get alot of questions about this - for those of you who have been mentally scarred with early editions of BizTalk (haven't we come along way since then there was a BizTalk Partner Edition (lower priced for hub/spoke type implementations) which was limited in some way with the number of Orchestrations/Tradining Partners etc etc. (like 10 Orchs, 2 partners from memory).

With BizTalk 2006 R2 we have the Branch Edition which retails for approx USD$1500 and it gives you........

- BizTalk Business Rules Engine (alot of people are wanting to use the BRE as a centralised rule store in a cost effective manner, until now it was BizTalk Standard at least that you needed to get, as the BRE is not available separately)

- BizTalk RFID (what can I say here!!!)

A perfect application of the Branch Edition is to drop this in on your trading partner's site typically meaning less time to get up and running (for the price, if consultants are spending more than 1.5 days trying to establish communications with the other end, then you should be considering the Branch Edition as it understands all the classic forms of comms with BizTalk 'proper'. By no means is it limited to just BTS)

I thought I'd also give you the more formal description of what the Branch Edition has/has not under the hood:

---------------------------------------------

BizTalk 2006 R2 Branch Edition

BizTalk Branch Edition is a specialty version of BizTalk Server designed for hub and spoke deployment scenarios including RFID.

Scenarios:

1.     Hub-Spoke Deployment. In this scenario the Branch edition is located in the regional / or point of sale locations and communicate with the hub (BizTalk Enterprise Edition).

2.     RFID Deployment. In this scenario the BizTalk Edition applies rules and business process to the raw data and communicates with the hub (BizTalk Enterprise Edition) to send aggregated business data.

3.     Standalone Deployment. In this scenario the Branch Edition is used to execute a business process, execute rules on the business data but not communicate with any central or hub.

Supported Capabilities:

1.     General Transport Adapters like FILE, HTTP, HTTPS, MSMQ, FTP, SMTP, POP3 are available

2.     RFID Manager and RFID Adapter

3.     Host Integration Adapter

4.     Remote or local SQL Server database is supported. SQL Server Databases may be installed on a failover Windows Cluster providing high availability of the BizTalk Databases.

5.     BizTalk base capabilities like Messaging, Orchestration, BRE, BAM, Management & Operations and Development Tools are available

Limitations:

1.     No Line of Business Adapters are available.

2.     No Accelerators are available.

3.     Only one BizTalk Application can be deployed.

4.     BizTalk Server Group supports only one BizTalk Server. This means there is no fault tolerance, no scale-out, and no failover clustering

5.     A maximum of 2 – Processors are supported

6.     No Virtual Processor is supported. This means the dual core is not leveraged in dual core processors

7.     Two or more Branch Editions separately deployed in different locations cannot communicate with each other

References:

1.     http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/editions/default.mspx

Hot off the 'Hot-Cross Bun' RFID Conveyor belt (Happy Easter all also!!!) - myself and local Sharepoint MVP funny man - Ivan Wilson will be delivering the sessions...
(How do you have a conversation with more than 3 MVPs in the room??? you don't- they all talk about themselves - that's mine, not Ivan's)
which will be great news....just have to get the content together...shhhhh...you didn't hear me say that

MS Partner Training Schedule in the land of MOSS

This is for an Instructor Led 'Chalk & Talk Session' designed for Pre-sales Technical Consultants, Technical Consultants, Technical Project Managers, Architects and Business Analysts 

Dates First:
Brisbane – April 3 & 4
Melbourne – April 7 & 8
Sydney – April 10 & 11

REGISTER HERE

What is being covered is: