theSpoke.net

Last Quote of the Day for Year MMV
Saturday, December 31, 2005 9:18 PM

The last quote of the day for Year MMV and to bring it to Year MMVI Life is not holding a good hand; Life is playing a poor hand well.-- Danish proverb Happy New Year, Everyone!

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Free SQL Server 2005 E-Learning Topics Listings
Saturday, December 31, 2005 5:12 PM

The following free e-learning SQL Server courses are available worldwide for a limited time: Course 2936: Installing and Securing Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Course 2937: Administering and Monitoring Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Course 2938: Data

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Free Visual Studio 2005 E-Learning Topics Listings
Saturday, December 31, 2005 5:11 PM

The following free e-learning courses and clinic are available worldwide for a limited time: Clinic 2551: Introduction to Visual Studio Team System Course 2913: Creating Your First Microsoft® ASP.NET 2.0 Web Application Course 2924: Building Data

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Web services thrive, but failures outrage users
Saturday, December 31, 2005 11:27 AM

As we find ourselves using more web services (I'm not referring to .asmx; for example in social computing scenarios), system reliability and admin communication becomes vitally important. Check out this article from News.com ("Web services thrive,

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Brit Jew Marries Dolphin
Friday, December 30, 2005 10:40 AM

Unusual wedding: British woman marries her beloved dolphin in Eilat ceremony Joe Kot Till death do us part? An unusual wedding ceremony was held in the southern resort town of Eilat on Wednesday, as Sharon Tendler, a 41-years-old Jewish millionaire

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Swag Update
Friday, December 30, 2005 10:05 AM

Here is an update for the swag situation. Jasper has taken the internal VB team t-shirt ("Your Productivity, Our Passion - VB"). Good on him ;) Still up for grabs, a Hive.net t-shirt, Indigo (WCF) t-shirt, Channel 9 figure, TechNet Plus Subscription

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Is Gmail Out of Its Beta Program
Thursday, December 29, 2005 8:06 AM

I wonder if Gmail has concluded its closed beta trial and opening it up to the general public? Right now on it's Singapore home page (http://www.google.com.sg/), there is a public link to register for your own Gmail account (https://www.google.com/accounts/SmsMailSignup1?loc=SG)?

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posted by Bernard with

(nah) - Goat
Tuesday, December 27, 2005 4:40 PM

Just picked this up from Windows Live Messenger team blog. There are actually some "hidden" emoticons like this . Find out the origins of and other hidden stuff inside your fav IM client - Messenger from "Emoticons, smileys, and egoaticons

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Community Launch Pictures
Tuesday, December 27, 2005 4:40 PM

SGDN has posted the pictures taken during the recent community launch. Check out the pictures. It's is really great to see so many people in Singapore are keen in Visual Studio and SQL Server 2005 and to actually turn up for this event on a Saturday.

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SWAG, Anyone?
Tuesday, December 27, 2005 3:57 PM

Anyone for some swag? Some of them are soft, some are hard and rigid, some are useful while others are playful things. Trust me, they have not expired and are still current and relevant. Hey, I don't want to ruin my name here on theSpoke. One condition,

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US educators ponder degrees of dumbness
Tuesday, December 27, 2005 11:46 AM

(Washington Post) LITERACY experts and educators say they are stunned by the results of a recent adult literacy assessment, which shows that the reading proficiency of college graduates has declined in the past decade, with no obvious explanation. (read

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Thomas Friedman - The Other Side of Outsourcing
Sunday, December 25, 2005 11:50 PM

(Via Consumption Junction) We have often heard and read about job cuts/ loss in our own backyard, now let's take a (seldom explored) look from the other side of outsourcing. See how these new job opportunties are transforming thousands of lives in India

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Track Santa Live!
Saturday, December 24, 2005 10:46 PM

Information provided by NORAD (a US government military agency), using four high-tech systems to track Santa - radar, satellites, Santa Cams and jet fighter aircraft and powered by Microsoft Virtual Earth (Windows Live Local) technology.

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Online Classical Radio Stations
Saturday, December 24, 2005 12:22 PM

Christmas is one of the most enjoyable period to enjoy classical music. Listening to all these amazing Christmas classical pieces and choral works really prepares you in the mood to celebrate the coming of Emmanuel this Christmas. My favourite online

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Managing Your Career
Saturday, December 24, 2005 9:17 AM

This morning, I came across this useful article "Managing Your Career" from Gen-M. Gen-M is a recruitment agency in Australia specialising in Microsoft technologies related recruitment opportunities. Recently I have finally realised what do people are

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Merry, Jolly Christmas Everyone (Take 2)
Friday, December 23, 2005 10:33 PM

Hope everyone get lots of holiday treats! - Bernard PS: Wonder if anyone actually noticed, I got a soft-spot for dogs big time.

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posted by Bernard with

Secure Holiday Viewing
Friday, December 23, 2005 2:11 PM

This Christmas if you are looking for some interesting security related web cast, you might be interested to download these tracks from Tech Ed Australia 2005. Debunking Security Myths Session Part 1 - Jesper Johansson and Steve Riley Debunking Security

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What is DNN?
Friday, December 23, 2005 10:14 AM

Recently, there was a posting issues on the aus-dotnet mailing list about using Access and DNN? What's DNN, I wondered? Naturally I "searched for DNN" and realised it's short for DotNetNuke. DotNetNuke is an open-source Web Application Framework

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冬至 - Winter Solstice Festival
Thursday, December 22, 2005 9:40 PM

Today, millions of Chinese around the world celebrate 冬至 (Winter Solstice Festival). It is a family oriented festival where everyone tries to get home to share a meal together and have tang yuan (glutinous rice dough balls). Check out this blog entry

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posted by Bernard with

2 years and 20 days old!
Thursday, December 22, 2005 10:19 AM

How fast time flies! I just realised that this blog is more than 2 years old! So much as changed since my first posting in Dec 2003. Happy belated birthday, my blog :)

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posted by Bernard with

Free VB 2005 and ASP.NET 2.0 Training!
Thursday, December 22, 2005 10:07 AM

MSDN and Microsoft Learning got together this festive season and is now offering free VB 2005 and ASP.NET training opportunties. Get more details from this blog entry "Free VB 2005 and ASP.NET Training" (or go straight to the registration site on MSDN)

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Merry Christmas to Everyone
Thursday, December 22, 2005 8:11 AM

Dear readers, I am very glad to have known this community. I truly thank each and everyone of you for your comments, support and prayers especially during my darkest times. I have made some really good friends from this community. Let's keep this good

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posted by Bernard with

Want Santa to Visit?
Tuesday, December 20, 2005 9:39 PM

(Image taken from Christmas in Australia - Thanks Will) It sure look a lot like Form 48R (see Pg 7) ...

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posted by Bernard with

MSDN TV: Favorite v2.0 Features in the Base Class Libraries
Monday, December 19, 2005 11:07 PM

Kit George and Ari Weinstein give a rundown of their favorite Base Class Libraries (BCL) features new to the .NET Framework 2.0. Some are larger items which you may have heard of. Others are smaller "hidden gold" items that may be hard to find out about

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posted by Bernard with

Managing Your Favourites
Monday, December 19, 2005 9:42 PM

Does anyone here have a tool recommendation or a personal system how they manage their Favourites (bookmarks) in Internet Explorer. My current list of Favourites is simply getting a bit out of control. Maybe I should just switch to del.icio.us

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posted by Bernard with

Development with My (MSDN2)
Sunday, December 18, 2005 11:57 PM

(Via Development with My (MSDN2)) Visual Basic provides new features for rapid application development that improve productivity and ease of use while delivering power. One of these features, called My, provides access to information and default object

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posted by Bernard with

.NET FX 2.0 SDK Tools
Sunday, December 18, 2005 8:51 PM

Ok! Let's take a break from Visual Studio 2005 and re-focus on .NET Framework 2.0. Have you ever wondered what are tools are shipped with the SDK and what they are used for? Don't forget Visual Studio is essentially an IDE that makes development easier

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posted by Bernard with

Blog of the Week - Karen VS Blog
Sunday, December 18, 2005 8:32 PM

Karen VS Blog - is a great blog to subscribe (RSS) to because she does a fantastic job linking to the latest and most comprehensive resources (beyond just MSDN related) on Visual Studio development.

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posted by Bernard with

Drink it up this Christmas!
Sunday, December 18, 2005 5:17 PM

News from Monash Health benefits of a Christmas brandyDrinking a shot of smooth full-flavoured brandy this Christmas could actually benefit your health.

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posted by Bernard with

What's New in Visual Basic (MSDN2)
Sunday, December 18, 2005 5:06 PM

This MSDN Library ("What's New in Visual Basic") article is a great gateway for you to explore ALL the new functionalities and enhancements in Visual Basic 2005. It is very comprehensive and contains many links for you to find out what's new in detail

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posted by Bernard with

The Program Manager Role at Microsoft
Sunday, December 18, 2005 4:16 PM

Steve Sinofsky recently wrote a very detailed description of the Program Manager role in Microsoft ("PM at Microsoft") on his blog. For all who are interested in Program Manager positions within Microsoft (including myself), I think this entry is a great

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posted by Bernard with

A Short Lap Around Visual Basic 2005
Sunday, December 18, 2005 1:11 AM

Here are the presentation slides ("A Short Lap Around Visual Basic 2005", 453KB) deck which I used for Saturday's Visual Studio Community Launch.

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An Unusual Saturday 17 Dec 2005
Saturday, December 17, 2005 9:04 PM

1245 hours 1346 hours One hour in a middle of a presentation, next hour headed back my army camp. 1739 hours 2006 hours ... got back home after reported back to reserve unit. I still find it this quick transition rather amusing.

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posted by Bernard with

Once again ...
Saturday, December 17, 2005 9:23 AM

Once again, I find myself in a familiar environment, One Marine Blvd .... having mixed feelings being here to be honest. I really do want to be here working not for awhile as a speaker but for the long haul as an employee.

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posted by Bernard with

.NET 2.0 QuickStart Tutorials
Friday, December 16, 2005 12:19 PM

You can find several .NET Framework (FX) 2.0 QuickStart Tutorials here, including ASP.NET tutorials and other common programming tasks. Samples available in VB, C#, C++ and J#.

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posted by Bernard with

Aeroplane - Bjork
Friday, December 16, 2005 9:33 AM

This is a song taken from my favourite albums - Debut by Bjork. The reason why I mentioned this song because I like the free spirit manner Bjork sings in this song and all her other albums. I can not livePeacefully without youFor even a momentI miss

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posted by Bernard with

Short Videos on Refactoring in Visual Basic 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005 10:59 AM

If you are looking for a short introduction into refactoring in Visual Basic 2005, you will do well with this videos Carl Franklin and Mark Miller show off Refactor support in VB 2005

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posted by Bernard with

Visual Basic 2005 Web Casts Series
Thursday, December 15, 2005 10:42 AM

Recently attended Visual Studio launch in your local community? Amazed by the cool and productivity enhancements in Visual Basic 2005? Want to learn more and in-depth at your own pace? Check out the Visual Basic 2005 Web Casts Series, the previous recordings

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posted by Bernard with

Using My Namespace in Visual Basic 2005
Wednesday, December 14, 2005 9:04 AM

To find out more about My Namespace in Visual Basic 2005, you should check out this excellent resources online MSDN Webcast: Using the My Namespace in Visual Basic 2005 (Level 200) - Mickey Williams MSDN Webcast: My Namespace (Level

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posted by Bernard with

Fear and Courage
Tuesday, December 13, 2005 4:07 PM

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.-- Ambrose Redmoon

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posted by Bernard with

Rate Your Overall Experience of theSpoke 2.0
Saturday, December 10, 2005 9:05 PM

Hey everyone, can you believe it, we have upgraded to theSpoke 2.0 for over 3 months now. I am interested to know what your overall experience of theSpoke 2.0 so far. I have set-up a poll on My Hub, I hope everyone can take some time from their busy

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posted by Bernard with

To SP or not to SP in SQL Server
Thursday, December 08, 2005 8:28 PM

I stumbled upon this interesting article "To SP or not to SP in SQL Server" from DeveloperFusion about whether should all our database access/ transactions be stored as store procedures. I think it's a pretty useful read, I really like the manner they

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posted by Bernard with

Some Career Advice
Wednesday, December 07, 2005 10:01 PM

A professor recently gave me some career advice to me I thought I should share it with you guys. 1. (In the current working world) You contract yourself in and out of organisations, so long as: A) the job allows you to build your base of marketable

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posted by Bernard with

Visual Basic Language Specification 8.0
Wednesday, December 07, 2005 4:30 PM

You can now download the entire Visual Basic Language Specification now online. It provides a complete description of the Visual Basic language 8.0 in a MS Word format. It's only a very small download.

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posted by Bernard with

Public IE7 Beta - Q1 2006
Wednesday, December 07, 2005 9:39 AM

The IE team had posted a entry "I want to try IE7 for XP already" yesterday annoucing that they will post a public beta of IE 7 by Q1 2006. I am pretty certain that many of the members here on theSpoke will try out IE7 once it is released

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posted by Bernard with

Life can be one strange thing
Tuesday, December 06, 2005 10:08 PM

Life can be one strange thing. Soon after I wrote the previous entry, a close child hood friend rang me up to ask about my well-being. This friend doesn't read my blog and seldom call. Naturally I shared with my friend what were the issues I was facing

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posted by Bernard with

You've got to find what you love! True/False?
Tuesday, December 06, 2005 9:30 PM

Follow Your Passion Follow your heart. Achieve your true potential with your passion! You've got to find what you love,' Steve Jobs says. I am sure, we are read such bold statements all the time. But do you truely believe these statements applies

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posted by Bernard with

Science Grads, Where Are You?
Tuesday, December 06, 2005 8:30 PM

This discussion about the dwindling enrolment science and engineering numbers has been brought several times in the year. From what I see, this is not only happening in the US (“Science Grads, Where Are You?” Business Week Online) but in also Australia.

December 2005 - Posts