Brett Favre retired... sports pundits (who are of about the same value as political pundits) have spent tons of hot air on the subject and finally get what so many have asked for (a good football story after the Super Bowl and before March Madness)  I have to admit I was hoping for something more along the lines of the day Cal Ripken Jr. took himself out of the Orioles starting line-up (and finished out the season). My personal hope was that Brett would 'retire' to the role of backup early in a future season - help the team and Aaron R. along for that year and fill in if needed - since most first year QB's need some help along the way... 

So another streak ends, but as I listened to the clip I realized that Brett was in this voicemail also illustrating personal motivation and the role it plays for those at the top of their game.  Often  people who are put in charge of an organization forget that the best and only real motivator for your top performers are the expectations they set for themselves.  Listen to the clip, it isn't that Brett couldn't or wouldn't like to play but that his expecation that anything less then a Super Bowl victory would be a disappointment.  Brett recognized what his expectations for performance for the coming year were -which brought him to the conclusion that it was time to leave while he was (based on his performance last year) at the top of his game - plus a team that had a great year.

My remaining question - since Fox broke this story before literally anyone else including the Packers let it out - what is Brett's role when he comes to work for their network?  Lets face it they were so sure of the story - it was like well if he hadn't already signed - they were deep enough in negotiations that the deal was considered done.

This is a combination of humor and warning of lessons learned...

The Heroes Happen Here (http://HeroesHappenHere.com) launch event for Visual Studio 2008 happens this week.  As with the Visual Studio 2005 launch event this is a shared launch that includes Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008.   Visual Studio 2008 actually released back in November of 2007 and since then we've all had a chance to start building applications.  The new features in Visual Studio 2008 are very powerful across the board, but those associated with Visual Basic and LINQ happen to be particularly powerful.  I'm sure the the launch will do a great job of showing off the new features, after all it seems like just last week at the Office Developers Conference that we were showing off several of the features related to created solution based on the Office 2007 products. (There was a truly awesome demonstration of the built in debugging capability of Visual Studio 2008 with custom MOSS workflows during the ODC that I happen to know a little about.)

I don't want to steal any of Microsoft's thunder related to Wednesday's launch event in LA, but instead to look beyond the current release.  Not way into the future (ie. Hawaii - a future version (next?) of Visual Studio) but something much closer - the coming updates to Visual Studio 2008.  That's right we haven't even gotten to the launch and of course the focus is already shifting to the next set of features.  This makes more sense when you consider that SQL Server 2008 - which is part of this week's launch event isn't actually releaseing until sometime in the 3rd quarter of 2008.  Thus I'm going to point out some things which it certainly appears will be releasing for Visual Studio 2008 at the same time as SQL Server 2008 releases.

Why do I say that - well the first example is a set of updates to ADO.NET to support the new features of SQL Server 2008 - http://blogs.msdn.com/adonet/archive/2008/02/21/coming-soon-to-linq-to-sql.aspx Yes as part of the release of SQL Server 2008 ADO.NET will be getting updates to support the new data types which are going to be available.  The nice thing about that post is that it helps clarify those new SQL Server features which are most likely to be used by application developers right out of the gate.

On the other hand a single blog post really doesn't firm up that those enhancements have to arrive with SQL Server 2008 -  they might not arrive until say October or November or even later, rather it is the fact that we also have word on several other new Client features which are going to be releasing "this summer."  Scott Guthrie outlines several new enhancements to Visual Studio 2008's client model http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/02/19/net-3-5-client-product-roadmap.aspx 

I personally am very interested in some of the new deployment enhancements, but lets get real there is no way Microsoft is making more then one release of enhancements this summer so the combination of the two blog posts gives us a pretty good idea of when to expect the next set of developer tool updates (http://www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/98161/sql_server_98161.html).

It's nice to see that new tools and enhancements to Visual Studio 2008 are on the way even if as some at Microsoft admit the new tools are coming at a breakneck pace: http://blogs.msdn.com/rbarker/archive/2008/02/04/test-post-from-windows-live-writer.aspx  (btw, I'm planning to download the Live Writer SDK as soon as I get caught up and have some free time...)

A couple years ago there was a huge crisis since Microsoft was bringing an end to mainstream support for VB6.  At the time some people felt the sky was falling.  The reality of course is that applications still worked but the available support for unexpected behavior stopped.

Well it's that time again. The end of support for .NET 1.1 has been announced - October 14, 2008.  A little over 5 years after .NET 1.1 was released.  This isn't the end of support, just end of mainstream support.  Support will continue until 2013 - if you are like me your next question is what's the difference.  Microsoft provided the following table to explain:

What is the difference between Mainstream Support, Extended Support, and online self-help support?

Note A hotfix is a modification to the commercially available Microsoft product software code to address specific critical problems.

This might have other impacts, for example SharePoint 2.0 (2003) is built using .NET 1.1 for customization, so the impact of this on the SharePoint community and custom web parts could be significant.  Of course since SharePoint 2.0 mainstream support ends around 7/2008 (less then 6 months from now) that probably won't be a problem... at least on the .NET side - not sure about those actually using the product who haven't migrated to SharePoint 2007 (3.0) (Note: I was actually expecting the reverse (.NET 1.1 support ending first) when I started this post...)

At any rate I think it's safe to say that you shouldn't even consider starting a project on .NET 1.1 or SharePoint 2.0 (2003) at this point.  Of course in my opinion anyone not working on VIsual Studio 2008 is behind the power curve.

So it's a new year... and time to get working on getting back on my bike again.  I managed some riding this past year which was good - but not nearly as much as I'd hoped.  I've fallen about 2,400 miles off my target annual mileage... oh well, hopefully I'll hit or exceed my target this year - although in all honesty I think it'll be difficult to hit my target again this year.

On the plus side my light is working again, I was unable to ride to and from work for most of Dec. because when I pulled out my light it stopped working.  I have a very nice Flamethrower from NiteRider (www.niterider.com).  (The flamethrower was the 1st generation the current generation is the Flight: http://www.niterider.com/prod_flight.shtml) This light puts out more light then most car headlights - which is good because when I'm riding at night I want to be seen and this isn't a headlight that you can miss.  Unfortunately on my first ride home this winter; when I fired it up - the LEDs powered up but each time I tried to get my main light to start it failed.  I made it home, after all the 3 LED's do provide minimal light - but not an acceptable situation.

So I used the NiteRider website and gave them a call.  Their service was well coordinated and they gave me a Return Maintenance Authorization (RMA) number to track my repair.  So I sent them my light, at the height of the Christmas season...  A couple days after FedEx showed my package had been delivered I gave them a call to check on the status.  Note I didn't send them my battery because they charge $20 for each returned item (light, battery) and since my LED's worked, my taillight worked and my light was trying to fire up I felt the battery was solid.  When I spoke to the maintenance rep he mentioned he was preparing to call me... the problem was a bad ballast and the light had been given some free maintenance beyond the ballast.  So I paid for the light's bench test and parts.

I got it back a few days later and set up a test at home (no sense repeating my last ride).  Well I fired up the light - and same results.  Now I have no doubt that they tested my light before shipping it back to me so I called them back.  Of note I didn't start screaming or looking to kill the phone guy, I just said hey - got my light but it still doesn't work.  We talked a few minutes and we agreed I would send my light and battery back and they would waive the bench fee on the battery as long as it checked out (we all knew it would) and (still in the Christmas season) they put a rush on the work order.

A few days later I got my light and battery back - no charges, apparently something else related to the starter in the light or the light itself had failed (probably took a hit in shipping) and they had repaired my light and gotten it back to me in a matter of days.  Overall although it did take two trips (for the FedEx guy) they did a great job getting my light back online (although I was on vacation by then). 

Today I hooked up the light and rode into work - yes I had tested it previously. The goal is to get to ride in 3 days a week, and I'd ride tomorrow but it looks like the rain really will arrive tomorrow so I'll wait till next week to ride in again, but my thanks to the folks at NiteRider who did a great job with my light's repair and now I just need to get in a couple thousand miles...

Many years ago there was a common pattern for Office Workers.  Essentially before the true abundance of desktop systems and printers it was common to have a paper form.  Copies of this form would be used for any number of tasks (fax cover sheets are a common example most people can relate to) and then when there weren't any copies left you would make a new set of copies.  The cardinal sin for the admin staff was of course the person who took the original and used it instead of copying it.  Want to really get on the Admin staff's bad side wipe out 3 or 4 originals and they will hunt you down...

At any rate now that we have PC's and easy access to printers the separate set of file folders containing originals hidden from non-admin eyes is pretty much a thing of the past.  These documents are typically stored on a central Intranet server like SharePoint.  However, in many cases a limited version of the same problem still exists.  Now people will take the copy that is on the server and open it for customization.  Then without thinking they save that copy and it goes right back to the server.  In minor cases they've just poluted the baseline copy that's sitting on the server - but in extreme cases they could so modify the original that its almost useless as the original.  The solution of course is to make such original copies read only, except now instead of having them under lock and key in a big old file cabinet - they sit online marked read-only or checked out to the one trusted individual who won't overright them...  It's the same solution to the problem, just implemented with 21st century technology instead of physical copies.

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

Sorry for the long delay and somewhat sparse posts over the last few weeks (OK Months) but I've been a little busy with the latest version of the Professional Visual Basic book to go along with Visual Studio 2008 and VB 9.  However, I reached a milestone last night - OK theoretically it was early this morning.  I caught up with my publisher.  I've turned in all my draft chapters and returned all of the edited chapters that were returned to me to date.  I'm not yet done because there are more edits that need to be returned to me - of course the fact I turned in the draft late might be impacting that... but for tonight at least I don't have any authoring commitments... except I'm supposed to start that magazine article...

So one of my biggest pet peeves with the release of VS2008 was the fact that if I created a WPF project in VS 2008 or even converted it to work in VS2008 - then I was stuck - no more taking that project into Blend to work on the graphics.  This to me was a significant issue.  Fortunately Soma announced that this issue has been resolved and Blend SP1 which supports the VS 2008 project files is now available. Here are the links:
Soma: http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2007/11/30/designers-and-developers-working-together.aspx

Blend SP1:  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a07196d1-971b-4710-99c8-d3d9603ccfcb&DisplayLang=en

Once I installed Visual Studio 2008 it was time to add the Team Explorer for Visual Studio 2008.  The Team Explorer aka Team Foundation Client is found on the Team Foundation Server installation DVD.

So I took the .ISO file which I downloaded from MSDN and copied the TFC folder which contains the Team Explorer installation onto an actual DVD.  This gave me a copy of just the Team Foundation Client 2008 which I could install onto my development machines.

I put the DVD into my Vista/Office 2007 machine and kicked off the install.  The install ran and after things were going I moved onto another machine.  When next I checked I found that the installation had failed.  So I reported the failure via the automated process that the install package provided and tried again.  The install failed again - which left me... concerned.

So I took the DVD out of my Vista machine and moved to my Windows XP / Office 2003 machine and ran the installation.  While that was running I started searching the web for any known installation errors with Team Explorer 2008.  I finally found a note in the Microsoft MSDN Forums that mentioned someone else was having an install problem and found that it went away when they used the install from a DVD which had all of the TFS products, as opposed to a CD with only the TFC folder.

Now what was interesting is I found this as my Team Explorer install on Windows XP with Office 2003 completed successfully.  In other words on an XP machine running Office 2003 you only need the TFC directory to install Team Explorer.

So I went to my .ISO file and burned a DVD of the entire image this time and put it into the Vista/Office 2007 machine.  I must admit I really like the updated install package for the TFS product, having the different product options available is a nice way of handling the different install packages.  At any rate I clicked on the Team Foundation Client and started the install.  The first and subsequent screens to start the installation looked just like the stand-alone DVD's and the install started with the same packages.  However, in this case the installation ran to completion.

Thus if you are using Windows XP with Office 2003 you can install a standalone installation package for Team Explorer however, if you are running Vista or Office 2007 and you get an installation error - then make sure you get a copy of the full Team Foundation Server (TFS) DVD and run the install from that media.

So for those who weren't aware Visual Studio 2008 released on Monday November 19th.  I got my download started early while the downstream transmission speeds were still above 300KB and it finished late yesterday afternoon, early evening when the transmission speeds were down under 70KB.

So like many who have been using Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2, I made the decision to install Beta 2 on my main desktop (physical machine).  This was a good decision as I've been using Beta 2 for projects for the past 4 months.  However, now it was time to face the music - would I need to rebuild my box to get the release version installed?

As part of working on the next Version of Professional Visual Basic for Wrox, I have a virtual environment which was configured for my authoring and screen shots.  So it became my test platform.  I started the uninstall of VIsual Studio 2008 Beta 2, I uninstalled MSDN, and as I looked at the list of other products some of which hadn't uninstalled I found several that were from 7/27 the day I installed VS 2008 B2 and I could tell they were related, so I uninstalled them as well.  I then took a couple minutes to rename my old projects directory to "B2" since I plan to rebuild the projects from scratch and I made sure other directories that VS would target were also clean. 

So I took a fairly conservative approach to minimize the risk that it would fail.  I rebooted and connected my VPC to the ISO which I downloaded and kicked off the install with crossed fingers.  The installed started no problem.  Nearing the end of .NET Framework version 3.5 was install my Vista machine asked me to reboot and restart my installation, which I did.  The installation then ran to completion and asked for another reboot.

I then installed MSDN locally and again everything went fine.  So for those wondering installing the release version of VS 2008 on a machine which previously ran VS 2008 Beta 2 seems to a non-issue.  So get out there and get the latest bits and start working there are a ton of new features to explore.