Scott Hanselman posted an awesome music video a friend of his, Matt Hempey, did with his band, The Richter Scales. It's really, really good.

Corporate Comedy by Corporate Comedian Don McMillan.

This is a great PowerPoint presentation on how NOT to do PowerPoint presentations . It's about 4 minutes of pure PowerPoint wisdom, plus its hilarious.

How NOT to user PowerPoint by comedian Don McMillian

Get accepted into Windows Home Server Beta 2.

Windows Home Server
https://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer

Install TVersity on WHS.

TVersity is Release 0.9.9.1 (November 26, 2006)
http://www.tversity.com/download.html

TVersity QuickStart Guide
http://tversity.com/support/quickstart/

DivX - XBox 360 Guide
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1002/2

Install DivX Windows Media CoDec on WHS

DivX Windows Media CoDec
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/ACE_Mega_CoDecS_Pack.htm

Since Windows Home Server runs on a modified version Windows 2003 Small Business Server, you can install the Windows Media related codecs from the Ace codec pack instead (this is because WMP 11 is not currently available on this systems).

Connect to WHS from XBox 360

Enjoy the show!

I think I now know how badly Ralphie Parker wanted an "Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle" in A Christmas Story.

Coding4Fun's 2006 Holiday Gift Guide

Coding4Fun's 2005 Holiday Gift Guide

Maybe if every day was Christmas then I'd be set with my list of what to ask for. Right now it's hard for me to find things to mark off. Pretty good list, most things on there I have seen before but there were some items that were new to me.

I needed a little eye-candy this morning, and this looked like a good possibility.

It's your standard Web bandwidth speed tester, except it has a Web 2.0 interface. Well, almost it is flash based and not AJAX, but close enough I think.

I think I did well. How'd you do?

http://www.speedtest.net/

A useful tool for keeping on on what and when Webcasts are happening.

Interactive Microsoft Webcast Calendar

This interactive calendar will quickly help you find live webcasts that fit your schedule as well as on-demand webcasts to view at your convenience. You can choose your time zone and filter this list by intended audience, webcast series, product or topic, and presenter. Select "Filter Webcast Listings" below to access the filters.

I found this the other day on digg.com. It's almost a screensaver for your desktop.

"Desktop Earth is a wallpaper generator for Windows. It runs whenever you're logged on and updates your wallpaper with an accurate representation of the Earth as it would be seen from space at that precise moment."

CodeFromThe70s.org

"Images are created from high-resolution textures (2560x1280) so it's perfect for that QSXGA display - but they work on anything, even on SVGA.

There is an image for every month to accurately depict snow and foliage changes, and the night view is simply stunning.

The imagery is based on NASA's Blue Marble Next and Earth's City Lights."

January 2006
Topic: Our First Meeting / Web Security

We are proud to announce the details for the first Pee Dee Area .NET User Group meeting. The meeting will be held on January 10, 2006 at the McLeod Plaza Classroom in McLeod Medical Plaza. We will kick things off at 6:00 PM.

            The big prize for the night will be a brand new copy of Halo 2 for the Microsoft XBox!

Here is the tentative schedule:

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Socializing / Dinner
7:00 PM - 7:10 PM Introduction and Sponsor Time
7:10 PM - 7:15 PM News Items & 1st Drawing
7:15 PM - 7:55 PM Presentation
7:55 PM - 8:00 PM 2nd Drawing and Wrap Up

Click Here for Driving Directions

Directions to the Classroom
Enter the McLeod Medical Plaza using the 800 Cheves St. entrance (Bottom Right-Hand Corner of Map)
Take a left and look for room (PC - Plaza Classroom) it’s on the first floor.

Contact Information:

Chris Craft
843.230.4620 [cell phone]

Thanks,
The PDANUG Team