Mills’ Place Indexing Life.

We’re Back!Posted by Mills on October 23rd, 2006

From the best vacation ever. More later. But for now, here’s the concise (I’m not kidding) version:

Next Stop: AtlantaPosted by Mills on April 5th, 2006

Orlando, you’ve treated me well. But it’s time to pack everything up. Tomorrow morning I head out for Atlanta. TomTom says it should only take seven and a half hours, though I’m thinking traffic is going to make it closer to nine. We’ll see.

I guess I should get back to stuffing all my phat lewt into the suitcase…

Microsoft Origami PrototypePosted by Mills on April 5th, 2006

I know I said no more videos till I get back to RI, but this one was too good to put off. I got to play with a prototype of Microsoft’s new Origami device today! This thing really peaked my interest when some details were first leaked a couple months ago. I was able to get a quick demo on video and then play with it for a few minutes.

First impressions? It’s a little heavier than I expected, though certainly not uncomfortable. The mouse nub would take some getting used to… but there’s not many things you’d actually need the mouse since the Origami features an awesome touch screen. The display was sharp and everything felt quick. The handwriting recognition feature is surprisingly accurate, given my chicken scratch. Battery life seemed low, but the pack is pretty small and it would be easy to carry an extra.

All in all, it seems like a great device. There will be different models coming out in a few months, but this one is set to launch in just a couple weeks. If I was a big mobile user, I’d probably give Origami some consideration. Even if the price to hardware ratio is a little dissapointing, in my opinion.

• $900
• 512MB RAM
• 40GB HD
• 3 Hour Battery Life

In other news, I got to play with Visual Studio 2005 on a tablet PC with the latest build of Windows Vista! That was pretty intense. Video is forthcoming.

Our Connected World - AKA: Technorati RawksPosted by Mills on April 5th, 2006

A couple days ago, I went to Technorati and searched for devconnections. Perhaps it was my own naivety, but I was actually kinda surprised when I got results. In about two seconds, I had a list of everyone at this conference who had been writing about the experience on their blog. Each night since then, I go back and check again so I can find new entries and read up on everyone else’s day. I’ve found blogs from event goers, sponsors, and even presenters. In fact, one of the presenters from my second video, Keith Smith, wrote about the experience on his site, noting that it was his first time doing that kind of presentation.

Well, I sent him a quick note letting him know that I enjoyed his talk and directing him to the short video clip I posted. He thought it was great! So much so that he even wrote about it on his site! Very cool! And a true testament to kinds of things that are now possible in our ultra-connected society.

So to kick of the day the right way, I’m adding a new wordism to my personal repertoire: Connectified.

Laptop Woes and Harley HoesPosted by Mills on April 4th, 2006

Well, there won’t be any video from devconnections today. And it’s not because I didn’t take any. In fact, I got some cool footage from a demonstration of a soon to be released, shared source, web based SQL server management suite. But alas, my laptop blows.

I put up a good front while I hang with the geekiest of the geeky down here in Orlando. But back at the hotel, I’m sporting a six-year old Toshiba Satellite 2755DVD brick… err, notebook. It’s got a speedy 600Mhz Pentium III with a whopping 64MB RAM and 6GB of storage. Editing video on this thing is like using a Dodge Neon to tow an 18-wheeler. Up a mountain. During a blizzard. Without wheels.

So, videos from today and tomorrow will have to wait till I get back to a real computer in RI. Sad. And I was just getting good with Windows Movie Maker 2 - which, as a side note, held up amazingly well on this less than capable machine.

In other news, I didn’t win the Harley-Davidson they were giving away. heh. Some chick who planned to give it to her boyfriend did. Upon hearing this, the entire room let out a collective groan.

This conference has me all sorts of excited about ASP.NET 2.0. When 2.0 first came out, I avoided looking at it because I knew we didn’t have the time to migrate everything over. But now I’m convinced that there are too many great enhancements to keep putting it off. A presentation on the Wizard control nearly knocked me off my chair. Ok, no it didn’t. But it did leave with a stupid smile knowing that it’s exactly the kind of thing that will make our online applications a million times more manageable. Master pages? Woohoo! It’s about time on that one. I’m also happy to see that Microsoft is commited to making .NET’s featureset work properly with browsers other than IE.

Anyway, I’m rambling now. One more day of conferences, then off to Atlanta.

DevConnections - Day 2Posted by Mills on April 3rd, 2006

Here’s a couple short clips from today’s devconnections sessions. Topics include themes and asynchronous processing considerations in ASP.NET. It’s crazy to be learning from the very guys who make these products.

And after seeing a few demonstrations, I’m super psyched about Atlas - their new, free AJAX framework for ASP.NET 2.0.

It’s a blog! It’s a video! It’s a videoblog!Posted by Mills on April 1st, 2006

I decided to try my hand at videoblogging. May the laughing begin…

Flow RitaPosted by Mills on March 28th, 2006

I’m leaving for sunny Florida tomorrow night! My father flew into town on Sunday and he’ll be accompanying me on the drive down in the Element. I’m spending a couple days with him in the Tampa area… probably relaxing and recovering from the drive. Then on Saturday, it’s over to Orlando for for the devconnections conference.

I’m really excited about the whole thing. Not only because the conference looks interesting, but also because it’s the first time my job has had enough invested in me to send me to Florida for this kind of thing.

And it looks like I’m going to learn quite a bit while I’m there. The conference focuses on Visual Studio 2005 and ASP.NET 2.0, which is great since we’re getting ready to upgrade everything at work. This will be a nice introduction to the changes, straight from the people who made them - Microsoft.

I’m not entirely sure what to expect, but there are so many different sessions available, I doubt I’ll be bored. If you’re curious, check out the schedule to see what topics will be covered:

DevConnections: April 2-5 Schedule (PDF)

After that, I’m heading up to Atlanta to spend the weekend with some friends. All in all, it should be a very fun time. There’s a looseness about the whole thing that’s quite refreshing. No plane to worry about. No set schedule. I’m not even bringing a map. I’m just going to put Tampa, Orlando, or Atlanta into TomTom and drive.

The only downside is that I’ll be missing Dee. We haven’t spent this much time apart since I went to Brookhaven for the summer. But on a positive note, she’s older today. Twenty-four to be exact.

Happy birthday, sweetie. I love you!

Oh, Cana… Wait a Minute!Posted by Mills on February 15th, 2006

Ok, so we’re not going to Canada. heh. We instead decided to take the money we would have spent and put it towards a new puppy for our anniversary/valentines day! Dee saw this little guy at Rumford Pet Center late last week and fell in love. When she made me go in and play with him, I was done for. We picked him up Monday.

His name is Elvis. Yes, we picked it. No, we’re not Elvis fans. He just has a funny little hairdo that reminded us of the guy. He is a Havanese/Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mix and was born on October 31, 2005.

He’s extremely smart and seems to be learning about his new home quickly. And while I couldn’t believe it at first, he’s actually smaller than the cats, which I’m sure is one reason they’re getting along (as in, not fighting). Check him out!

Oh, Canada!Posted by Mills on February 7th, 2006

Cool! Dee and I are going to Montreal February 17-19 for our 5 year (yep, FIVE year) anniversary. The hotel is one block away from the intersection of Peel and St. Catherine, so we’ll be right in the center of downtown. Hopefully it’s not too chilly!

Oh… and the exchange rate? Total ball suckage. $100 US = $115 CA. Bah. So much for the days of play money.