March 14, 2006
Topic: SQL Reporting Services

Our next event will be held on Tuesday, March 14, 2006.  Chris Craft, from Taylor Data Systems, will be giving us the scoop on SQL Reporting Services.  At our last event Doug Turnure brought us lots of stuff to give away, so don't miss our next event!  As usual, the meeting will be held at the McLeod Plaza Classroom in McLeod Medical Plaza.  We will kick things off at 6:00 PM.  A tentative agenda is posted below:

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

Typically you speak of syntax errors and logic errors. For the most part logic errors are the worst, but there is a special case of syntax errors that can really wreak havoc on one's day.

These types of syntax errors have a certain "smell" to them, and almost always have the trait of compiling just fine, but producing what at first appears to be an almost nonsensical error. With 20/20 hindsight they are perfect error descriptions, but that is after the pain and suffering is over.

Take the following for example:

Unhandled Exception.

System.StackOverflowException: Exception of type System.StackOverflowException was thrown.

At first look it appeared to be caused by the following:

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."

One of my favorite tv shows was Firefly. I would absolutely love to see the Browncoats rise again.

"We plan on raising enough money to fund 24 new episodes of Firefly – a whole new season of shows. Every cent of this money (minus credit card fees) will go directly to Joss Whedon to use as he sees fit to continue the trailblazing story of Firefly."

Click HERE to donate!

I think a lot of tv shows are written for the "lowest common denominator" and to appeal to the masses. Firefly had depth and quality that was uncommon to say the least for network television. If Firefly could make the jump from network-supported to fan-supported we'd really have some must-see tv.

Firefly:

Five hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small, mobile, spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them.

Serenity:

Captain Malcom Reynolds finds himself running from a skilled Alliance operative who wants River Tam, and who will stop at nothing to get her; meanwhile, River's capabilities become more clear to the crew of Serenity.

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

I have been using Microsoft Streets and Trips 2006 since its release. Overall it is a great new version with many enhancements at a great value. I picked up my copy for less than $30 new.

For some reason the Pocket Streets and Trips has not been updated and there was real opportunity for improvement and value here.

My favorite new features is the night map mode, driving guidance with voice prompts, and rotate map to follow travel direction.

Microsoft has a good overview here.

One question I have is how the heck do you label stops in the route planner. I like the number system, but I would at least like tool tips or something other than a number and an address to identify a stop. I'm hoping I'm missing something...

I ran across a great illustration of why pair programming works on the agile blog here and I wanted to be sure others see it as well:

Clear, quick, and concise, I think I like it.

The illustration is by NetObjectives. Here's the original.

From day one Microsoft has had a central focus on software development, and in programming especially.

With the XBox 360 release quickly approaching, I noticed one important oversight in the XBox 360 platform...

If you look back to the Atari 2600, one of the cartridges Atari released was Basic Programming. This allowed the end user to create their own applications and games for the Atari 2600, albeit very limited ones.

Microsoft has released dozens of programming languages for almost as many platforms, everything from desktops, pda's, tablet pc's, smartphones, and even watches.

I think there is a huge untapped pool of possibilities for end user created content.

Maybe something like a .NET Compact Framework for XBox 360. It seems like an absolute winner to me. I'd think Microsoft could port Windows CE to XBox 360 even if it required an emulator to run. I also think it is a move in and of itself that could push XBox 360 to the lead in the console wars.

Now the question is how to make it happen...

The company I work for Taylor Data Systems has just recently become a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner.

Gold Certified Partners represent the highest level of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies, and have the closest working relationship with Microsoft.

We specialize in Windows Mobile solutions for enterprise level applications. We've worked very hard to make it to where we are and it is nice to have a little lime light now.

We're having our next geek lunch on Friday, December 2, 2005. The time and place are 11:15 am at El City Grill in Florence, SC. Please feel free to attend if you are able to make it.