News & Announcements

No June (6/10/2009) Meeting

zachbonham — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:07:00 GMT

I apologize but we need to cancel the meeting the June 10th meeting.

We will have our officer elections next month as well.

Thanks,

Dallas TechFest 2009

zachbonham — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:07:00 GMT

Don't forget that Dallas TechFest 2009 is June 19th! You can still get in for the Early Bird price until Friday, May 15th! That's right around the corner.

Use code "dotnet" to claim your discounted rate!

Dallas TechFest 2009

Date:
Friday, June 19, 2009 at 8:00 AM (CT)

Location:
Westin Stonebriar Resort
1549 Legacy Dr
Frisco, TX 75034

05/13/Meeting - Silverlight and WCF

zachbonham — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:03:00 GMT

We will have FREE food, drinks, and there will be a prize drawing for those who attend - courtesy of Sogeti! The pizza will arrive by about 6PM and which gives plenty of time to socialize before the event start time at 6:30PM. See you there!

Presentation: WCF and Silverlight
Date: Wednesday, May 13th 2009
Time: 6:00PM
Where: Microsoft, Las Colinas LC1 (7000 HWY 161, Irving TX)
RSVP: rsvp@dfwcsug.com or via Codezone (new users use Access Code 'BizTalk2006' - see Join Us On Codezone for more info!)
Maps: Google | Yahoo | Mapquest | Microsoft

Summary

Please join us as Amir Rajan walks us through the following topics:

Silverlight crash course
Walk-through of a simple Silverlight application using WCF
Pros and Cons of using WCF with Silverlight
Walk-through of a more complicated budgeting application that leverages Silverlight and WCF

Speaker Bio

Amir Rajan is a Senior Consultant for Sogeti.

04/08/2009 Meeting - Microsoft Entity Framework

zachbonham — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:51:00 GMT

Presentation: Microsoft Entity Framework
Date: Wednesday, April 8th 2009
Time: 6:30PM
Where: Microsoft, Las Colinas LC1 (7000 HWY 161, Irving TX)
RSVP: rsvp@dfwcsug.com or via Codezone (new users use Access Code 'BizTalk2006' - see Join Us On Codezone for more info!)
Maps: Google | Yahoo | Mapquest | Microsoft

Summary

Please join us as Zeeshan Hirani gives us an in depth look at Microsoft's Entity Framework.

Speaker Bio

Zeeshan Hirani is a senior developer at http://CheaperThanDirt.com. He specializes mainly in ASP.NET, AJAX, and leveraging OR-mapping solutions like LINQ and Entity Framework in business applications. He has written several articles for http://CodeProject.com and is an active member in the user-group community in Dallas/Fort Worth.

The State of .NET in Dallas (FREE)

zachbonham — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:10:00 GMT

The State of .NET in Dallas (FREE)
When: Tuesday, May 5, 2009 - 1:30 - 4:30 PM
Where: Microsoft - Dallas Offices - 7000 SR-161 (George Bush Turnpike)

A free, unbiased look at the current and future development with .NET.

Join Markus Egger, the Publisher of CoDe Magazine and CSA of EPS Software Corp. for an afternoon of free and independent information about current Microsoft development technologies! What is the state of .NET today? Which of the many .NET technologies have gained traction? Which ones can you ignore for now? What is new in .NET 3.5 and the coming .NET 4.0? What other Microsoft technologies should you include in your development efforts?

For this free event, industry renowned expert, author, speaker, MVP, President of EPS Software Corp., and Publisher of CoDe Magazine, Markus Egger provides an unbiased and independent look at the current state of .NET development. This event is completely free of charge. It is designed for developers as well as (IT) decision makers. Specific prior knowledge is not required.

Exact information to be disclosed is under NDA until after Microsoft TechEd, however anticipated topics include:

Silverlight 2.0 and 3.0
WPF and Visual Styles
Windows Azure and Cloud Services
Expression Blend 3
How to make sure your website is IE8 compliant
ASP.NET MVC
Preview of .NET 4.0 with "Dev10" (Visual Studio 10)
Windows 7
Microsoft Surface

Attendees of this event will come away with a clear understanding of which technologies to use for various technical challenges. Questions? Please e-mail info@eps-software.com or call 832-717-4445 x32.

Note: This event is co-hosted by EPS Software Corp. and Microsoft Corporation. EPS is responsible for all content presented at this event.

Click here to sign up! (Link will take you through our VFPConversion signup page)

Securing Your Applications and Web Services with the Geneva Framework Downloads

zachbonham — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:42:00 GMT

Jim Lavin gave us a great presentation on claims based security with the "Geneva" Framework this month! Get Jim's slide deck and sample code here.

Thanks, Jim!

03/11/2009 Meeting - Securing Your Applications and Web Services with the Geneva Framework

zachbonham — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:28:00 GMT

Presentation: Securing Your Applications and Web Services with the Geneva Framework
Date: Wednesday, March 11th 2009
Time: 6:30PM
Where: Microsoft, Las Colinas LC1 (7000 HWY 161, Irving TX)
RSVP: rsvp@dfwcsug.com or via Codezone (new users use Access Code 'BizTalk2006' - see Join Us On Codezone for more info!)
Maps: Google | Yahoo | Mapquest | Microsoft

Summary

Jim Lavin will introduce the concepts and terminology to help developers understand the benefits and concepts behind the claims-based model of identity and how the Microsoft© Code Name “Geneva” Framework can be used to secure your applications and web services using the claims-based identity model. Topics covered:

Claims-Based Identity Concepts
Building a simple Passive Security Token Service for Identity purposes
Securing your ASP.NET Web Application with the Geneva Framework
Securing your WCF Web Services with the Geneva Framework
Calling secured Web Services using the Geneva Framework
Building a simple Active Security Token Service for Delegation purposes
Using Delegation to access secured Web Services in a federated environment

Speaker Bio

Jim Lavin is a Technical Lead for Electronic Data Systems’ Transportation Industry Consulting Services. He is responsible for providing technical leadership, development best practices and processes for the EDS Transportation SOA Project. Jim specializes in Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow and Software Factories.

Sponsors

We would like to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of this event!

DFWCSUG on 02/11/2009

zachbonham — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 19:25:00 GMT

I entered the wrong date for this February's meeting when posting to the communitymegaphone.com event site. This is the site that aggregates events for your area and then publishes them in the MSDN Flash. Unfortunately, I don't have a way to update that date - its hit the presses so to speak.

I apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to seeing you all on this Wednesday (02/11/2009)!

You can get more information about this months meeting on Microsoft's Managed Services Engine.

Thanks,

02/11/2009 Meeting - Managed Services Engine

zachbonham — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:31:00 GMT

After a scheduling snafu last month, we will get to welcome Chris Tullier presenting on Microsoft's Managed Services Engine for this February's meeting.

Presentation: Service Virtualization with Managed Services Engine
Date: Wednesday, February 11th 2009
Time: 6:30PM
Where: Microsoft, Las Colinas LC1 (7000 HWY 161, Irving TX)
RSVP: rsvp@dfwcsug.com or via Codezone (new users use Access Code 'BizTalk2006' - see Join Us On Codezone for more info!)
Maps: Google | Yahoo | Mapquest | Microsoft

Summary

Do you know SOA? This session is sure to bring new tools and ideas to your understanding of effective SOA.

Service Orientation has become a very popular and useful way for organizations to build composite and agile software systems. However when it comes to implementing a service oriented system, making the theoretical benefits real can be very challenging. This session will present solutions to the following challenges.

Have you ever struggled with versioning a service?
Have you ever wondered who would be affected if you turned off a service but didn't have an easy solution to figure this out?
Have you ever struggled with providing the same fundamental service to two clients that require slight alterations to fit their needs?
Have you ever struggled with service performance?
Have you ever struggled with listing available services that can be reused for greater corporate benefit?
Have you ever struggled with writing a service in one technology and consuming it with another?
Have you ever struggled securing your services?
Have you ever struggled with providing a unified way to access services developed using disparate methods like WS-I, POX, REST, non xml over tcp, and almost any other method?

This session will discuss how service virtualization with Microsoft's Managed Services Engine can make operating your services simpler.

Speaker Bio

Chris Tullier is a Principal Consultant with Improving Enterprises based in Dallas, TX. He has been helping clients achieve success through technology for 8 years. He has worked with both Java and .Net platforms to energize legacy systems and create entirely new software assets. Chris believes that effective software development is achieved through understanding the business opportunity, knowledge of current useful technology, and use of appropriate software development processes. Chris has consulted with companies in industries including Communications, Energy, Healthcare, Real Estate, Financial Services, and Retail to propose, design, and implement custom solutions involving enterprise grade messaging, collaboration, and integration. Currently Chris is primarily focused on Application Lifecycle Management. He has worked directly with Microsoft in helping customers understand Team System in then Central United States through both speaking engagements and direct consultation.

Sponsors

We would like to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of this event!

01/14/2009 Meeting - Service Virtualization with Managed Services Engine

zachbonham — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:39:00 GMT

Happy New Year!

For our first meeting of 2009 we have Chris Tullier presenting on Microsoft's Managed Services Engine.

Presentation: Service Virtualization with Managed Services Engine
Date: Wednesday, January 14th 2009
Time: 6:30PM
Where: Microsoft, Las Colinas LC1 (7000 HWY 161, Irving TX)
RSVP: rsvp@dfwcsug.com or via Codezone (new users use Access Code 'BizTalk2006' - see Join Us On Codezone for more info!)
Maps: Google | Yahoo | Mapquest | Microsoft

Summary

Do you know SOA? This session is sure to bring new tools and ideas to your understanding of effective SOA.

Have you ever struggled with versioning a service?
Have you ever wondered who would be affected if you turned off a service but didn't have an easy solution to figure this out?
Have you ever struggled with providing the same fundamental service to two clients that require slight alterations to fit their needs?
Have you ever struggled with service performance?
Have you ever struggled with listing available services that can be reused for greater corporate benefit?
Have you ever struggled with writing a service in one technology and consuming it with another?
Have you ever struggled securing your services?
Have you ever struggled with providing a unified way to access services developed using disparate methods like WS-I, POX, REST, non xml over tcp, and almost any other method?

This session will discuss how service virtualization with Microsoft's Managed Services Engine can make operating your services simpler.

Speaker Bio

Sponsors

We would like to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of this event!

12/10/2008 Meeting - Caching with Windows Communication Foundation

zachbonham — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:31:00 GMT

Todd Stone will present on caching frequently accessed data near a Windows Communication Foundation service. WCF can be a chatty interface and Todd will demonstrate that caching the frequently accessed data near the WCF service will avoid a lot of overhead in accessing it every time from the database. This in turn makes your WCF service more scalable, robust and available.

Since this is the last meeting of 2008, we will take the opportunity to spend a bit more time socializing!

We will have FREE food, drinks, and there will be a prize drawing for those who attend - courtesy of Sogeti!

Presentation: Caching with Windows Communication Foundation
Date: Wednesday, December 10th 2008
Time: 6:30PM
Where: Microsoft, Las Colinas LC1 (7000 HWY 161, Irving TX)
RSVP: rsvp@dfwcsug.com or via Codezone (new users use Access Code 'BizTalk2006' - see Join Us On Codezone for more info!)
Maps: Google | Yahoo | Mapquest | Microsoft

Speaker Bio

Todd Stone is a developer at HBS Systems. He works with communicating with a variety of different platforms including Windows, UNIX, LINUX, and the IBM iSeries (AS/400).

Sponsors

We would like to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of this event!

11/12/2008 Meeting - Caching and Exception Handling with WCF

zachbonham — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:27:00 GMT

We have a double header planned for the November 12th meeting!

Zach Bonham will present on the fundamentals of exception handling when working with Windows Communication Foundation. Zach will cover options for communicating exceptions across the service boundary in a distributed system, getting the most out of your exception handling (client and service), working with fault contracts and a look at IErrorHandler.

We will have FREE food, drinks, and there will be a prize drawing for those who attend - courtesy of Sogeti!

Presentation: Caching and Exception Handling with Windows Communication Foundation
Date: Wednesday, November 12th 2008
Time: 6:30PM
Where: Microsoft, Las Colinas LC1 (7000 HWY 161, Irving TX)
RSVP: rsvp@dfwcsug.com or via Codezone (new users use Access Code 'BizTalk2006' - see Join Us On Codezone for more info!)
Maps: Google | Yahoo | Mapquest | Microsoft

Speaker Bio

Todd Stone is a developer at HBS Systems. He works with communicating with a variety of different platforms including Windows, UNIX, LINUX, and the IBM iSeries (AS/400).

Zach Bonham is a developer for Mary Kay, Inc. where he spends his time working with Microsoft Connected Systems technologies.

Sponsors

We would like to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of this event!

VSLive! Dallas 2008

zachbonham — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:20:00 GMT

VSLive! Dallas, December 8-11, 2008

Architecture and Design
Implementing Infrastructure
LINQ
Thin Web Clients
Services and Workflows
Rich Clients
Process, Methodologies and Testing
Database Technologies

Early bird registration deadline is November, 5th!

Looking for an additional way to save? Take advantage of your choice to support your local user group community!

The User Group Promotion price and Priority Code is as follows:

You must enter the following priority code at the time of registration to take advantage of this special User Group promotion: Priority Code - VDAUG

Special Pricing for User Group members:

VSLive! Dallas Registration Package: $1,100 ($395 off the VSLive! Dallas Registration Package)

VSLive! Dallas PLUS Registration Package: $1,495 ($400 off the standard PLUS price)

We'd like to thank our local user group leaders that helped make this possible, THANK YOU!

10/08/2008 Meeting - Real World Example of Synchronous and Asynchronous Messaging with BizTalk Server

zachbonham — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:27:00 GMT

Please join us on October 8th as Don Tian presents on how to create a platform in BizTalk to process messages in an asynchronous, sequential fashion with duplicate detection, error handling, and recovery. Don will utilize a custom orchestration delegator to provide a clean API to users of the platform and test the platform using BizTest. This example is based on the platform created at Countrywide.

We will have FREE food, drinks, and there will be a prize drawing for those who attend - courtesy of Sogeti!

Presentation: Real World Example of Synchronous and Asynchronous Messaging with BizTalk Server
Date: Wednesday, October 8th 2008
Time: 6:30PM
Where: Microsoft, Las Colinas LC1 (7000 HWY 161, Irving TX)
RSVP: rsvp@dfwcsug.com or via Codezone (new users use Access Code 'BizTalk2006' - see Join Us On Codezone for more info!)
Maps: Google | Yahoo | Mapquest | Microsoft

Speaker Bio

Don Tian is a Microsoft consultant for Sogeti. He has worked with BizTalk Server for over four years. He has also created a functional test tool for SOA named BizTest.

Sponsors

We would like to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of this event!

09/10/2008 Meeting - WCF in .NET 3.5 SP1 and MSMQ Follow up

zachbonham — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:26:00 GMT

Thanks to everyone for attending and thanks to Darshan for presenting!

Darshan has provided us with this presentation, and source code, which can be downloaded here:

WCF in .NET 3.5 SP1 and MSMQ Communication Presentation and Source

Once again, great feedback from everyone...keep those ideas coming!

See you next month!