The Guide of a MOSSLover

Kansas City Office Geeks October Meeting

SQL Server 2008 and Office

Presented: Brian Laird Sponsor: Power I.T. Corporation- Food Provider for the Meeting

Date: Thursday, October 2nd(Each meeting will be on the 1st Thursday of the month)

Time: Food at 5:45pm; Presentation from 6:15pm - 7:00pm

Location: Centriq Foss Training 8700 State Line Road, Suite 200 Leawood, KS 66206

Phone: 913-322-7000

Description: Discussion regarding performance and functionality enhancements in SQL Server 2008 and how they affect Office applications. Examples will show new reporting services features and office integration.

Bio: Brian has been working with Microsoft applications since the dirty days of ASP 3.0 and SQL Server 6.5. He's played nearly every role in the project life cycle but prefers code over anything else. He currently contracts with Power IT corporation for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County / Kansas City Kansas.

Sponsor Information: Power I.T. Corporation is a leading provider of strategic staffing for the Information Technology community in the Kansas City metro area. We leverage our ability to attract and recruit the top talent in the industry to offer a wide array of I.T. services including contracting, contract for hire and permanent placement to the communities we serve. With over 40 years of internal experience providing and exceeding expectations of both clients and employees, Power I.T. has become the staffing firm of choice for many of our clients the past 5 years. Power I.T. is very proud of its record of customer service. We regard our quality search philosophy and quick response as the first important measure of our service.

So above is the really generic information and now I'm going to explain why you guys need to come to this meeting.  Brian is awesome and smart and it's his first talk.  He needs people to root him on.  He's talking about SQL Server 2008 and Office Systems.  Some stuff about Reporting Services and some stuff about SharePoint.  It will be good content for those of you looking to move from 05 to 08.  Not convinced yet? 

<subliminal messages> Come to KC Office Geeks Meeting </end subliminal messages>

Also if you want to plan ahead we have a great talk next month about SharePoint Patches by the infamous JD Wade from St. Louis.  The next month after WSS MVP, Darrin Bishop will be talking about ECM...That should about cover the year.  I hope to see all you Kansas and Missouri Devs.

posted @ Sunday, September 28, 2008 8:51 PM | Feedback (0) |

The Clover Green Dress Wedding has Come and Passed...

posted @ Wednesday, September 24, 2008 10:16 PM | Feedback (2) |

Vista and VPC 2007: Bug or No Bug?

I was using VPC 2007 on Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit for the first time last week.  I was creating some user documentation for my new job.  I noticed that even with sharing turned on for my C Drive I could not save any files from the VPC to my C Drive.  I heard there was really no Vista and VPC 2007 support, so I decided to start experimenting as per usual (don't try this at home I have broken more VPC's than anyone within the SharePoint Community I bet).  So I found this Public area on the C Drive under the Users.  I saved the file in that directory and it actually worked.  I am assuming that there is some kind of security issue with Vista and Virtual PC 2007.  I know the security is a little wacky.  I hope this helps someone out there.  I will try to post little snippets from my trials a bit more in the next few weeks.

posted @ Tuesday, September 23, 2008 8:02 PM | Feedback (2) |

Hectic Week

posted @ Friday, September 19, 2008 9:32 PM | Feedback (0) |

Last Days and First Days

It's been a crazy ride over the past year and a half working at Terracon as the SharePoint Guru (that's what they started to call me because I fulfilled so many different roles).  My last day was a little hectic yesterday, because I decided to stay and hang out with my friend Julie F.  I like clothes shopping every so often and I heard there was this awesome JCPenney Outlet on 75th street.  She had some insane ticket, so I figured if I wait until 5 p.m. everything would get straightened out.  It turns out the wait cost me my freedom for another hour.  There was a Tornado Warning and one of the managers told us we all had to go down to the basement.  So I ended up in the basement sitting with a bunch of Terracon and Garmin Helpcenter Employees, until 6 pm rolled around and tornadoes decided to head elsewhere.  One hour later we finally ended up eating and hitting up the outlet plus Kohl's.  Needless to say by the end of the day my pocket book was about $250 lighter....

So some of you know where I am heading next and some of you have no idea.  If you don't know I am going to work mostly remote from Kansas City for B&R Solutions, where Chris Regan, Jason Medero, Bob Fox, and my favorite person, Michael Lotter work.  I have talked to both Chris and Michael and it sounds like I'm in for something very different than the usual.  I don't know if I will regret this move later on, but who cares.  I get to stay in charge of the KC Office Geeks and I get to work with SharePoint and travel to the east coast without actually moving.  I finally made a decision outside of my comfort zone.  It looks like little Becky is finally growing up and entering the big leagues.  Look to blog for more interesting posts starting next week (I hope)...

Also, I noticed another 10 of you crazy people signed up for my blog...Welcome...

posted @ Saturday, September 13, 2008 10:26 AM | Feedback (0) |

Kansas City Office Geeks Meeting This Thursday

Exploring VSTO with Visual Studio 2008
Presented: Dennis Bottjer
Sponsor: Power I.T. Corporation- Food Provider for the Meeting
Date: Thursday, September 4th (Each meeting will be on the 1st Thursday of the month)
Time: Food at 5:30pm; Presentation from 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: Centriq Foss Training 8700 State Line Road, Suite 200 Leawood, KS 66206
Phone: 913-322-7000
Description: An introduction to the Visual Studio Tools for Office templates included with Visual Studio 2008. This presentation will begin by explaining what VSTO is and where it came from. Next, we will then look at several VSTO code examples. Finally, we will conclude the presentation with additional resources and a look into VSTO's Future. Bio: Dennis J. Bottjer is a Software Solutions Architect, for Microsoft Gold Partner SpringPoint Technologies, in Tulsa, OK. He is a Microsoft ASP/ASP.NET MVP. He previously worked for one of the largest US based Financial Services Companies on the FORTUNE 100. He has an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Oklahoma. Dennis served for two years as the President of the Jacksonville Developers User Group. Sponsor Information: Power I.T. Corporation is a leading provider of strategic staffing for the Information Technology community in the Kansas City metro area. We leverage our ability to attract and recruit the top talent in the industry to offer a wide array of I.T. services including contracting, contract for hire and permanent placement to the communities we serve. With over 40 years of internal experience providing and exceeding expectations of both clients and employees, Power I.T. has become the staffing firm of choice for many of our clients the past 5 years. Power I.T. is very proud of its record of customer service. We regard our quality search philosophy and quick response as the first important measure of our service.

I know a lot of people are intersted in VSTO in Kansas City.  That is why I asked Dennis to come out here.  I know we can fill the room this time.  Seriously come on Kansas City...

posted @ Tuesday, September 02, 2008 5:29 PM | Feedback (0) |

Some Trips and Some Changes

I know I have been really silent and I am not usually this silent.  I have not really had a substantially awesome blog entry in a while.  Well that is due to some trips, some changes, some book writing, and some life events.  First off here is my Flickr Url http://www.flickr.com/photos/mosslover/, so I don't have to embed a ton of pictures.  My New York Pictures will be up tomorrow or the next day, but the Maine/New England ones are already up.  You can see the beauty of Acadia National Park.  I would say those pictures are far superior to the five billion Statue of Liberty and Manhattan/Brooklyn Pictures.  I really have no idea which place I loved better.  Both had there strong points and there beauty.  I would say Maine was kind of that outdoorsy natural beauty that you get due to all the trees and mountains.  Brooklyn just had this vibe that I felt from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.  This was my first New York Trip sans my parents.  The Maine trip was really my first trip where I was heading to just visit a place without necessarily visiting people.  I had to do all the trips that I have done to get to this point in my life.  To realize that if you are not happy with something, then you really need to go out and change it.  So as you know I started out with MOSS Camp in St. Louis, then I ended up at School of Dev in Tulsa and then the Regional SharePoint Conference in D.C.  These are all places that I have been, so nothing really spectacular.  Finally that takes me to Hartford Code Camp and Maine.  That was like a new endeavor a new experience.  It was like a new chapter in my life.  The chapter where I go out and take charge of what I want.  The chapter where I finally go out and travel to places new.  I know that I have been to New York City, but it is an entirely different experience going to Manhattan for a day trip three or four times with your parents as a teenager/early twenty-something.  I am a lot older, 26, and my take on life is a little different.  I had a lot of growing up to do from the age of 16 when I first visited New York to the age of 26 that I am now.  I feel like I enjoy things a little bit more.  I guess getting away from home makes that possible.  There is a lot of baggage that comes with my parents that I won't touch on this blog in detail ever.  Plus it helps to meet a lot of good people.  I met a really cool guy from German over the weekend, Tim, my friend Julia's cousin he told me all these great stories about Germany.  We compared a lot of cultural differences here versus Germany and discussed some stereotypes we each had.  He invited me to visit his home in Germany and I am going to try and do that next year.  I have always wanted to go to Europe and there have been about three times I chickened out.  Johnny and I have decided to fly into London next year and take the train around Europe.  No tour just the two of us, maybe a Frommer's Guide, and the destinations we want to go to on specific days.  But I digress as usual...So I met someone else over the weekend that really affected me.  That made me really think based on her experiences.  I can't really go into detail it was very personal some of the stuff she told me.  I am hoping I get to see her again, but I really will never know like I still have no idea how she will affect my decisions in life in the future.  So from that I can say the people were awesome.  Now for the actual wedding part I will say it was interesting.  My friends got married in a Vegan Restaurant.  It was simple and it was different.  I want that in life.  It kind of made me realize when I do get married in a few years how it's going to be and what it's going to be like.  It's really weird how stuff like that can affect you.  Anyway, so that's the trip part...Overall I had good times in both places...The Maine stuff you can really see in the pictures I won't get into too much details over those.

So here is the big news, I put in my resignation to Terracon and I accepted a new job.  I really don't want to say anything until I start.  I know some of you out there know and others don't.  I'm not trying to mess with anyone's head.  I don't like mind games myself.  I just don't want to jinx anything for the next two weeks.  I start the new job on September 15th, so that is when I will create a blog post.  Anyway, I am very tired and I want to see another episode of House and write some more stuff for the book.  So if you want as usual leave comments, questions, or whatever you want.  I'll try and respond in a timely fashion.  Later guys.

posted @ Monday, September 01, 2008 9:55 PM | Feedback (2) |