Scott Hanselman has a write up on the Grok Talks at Tech Ed this year. You can read it over here. The basic idea is to distill down the best of a long presentation into something that you can "grok". It reminds me of what a high school teacher of mine used to say about tests. "They should be like mini-skirts, long enough to conver the subject but short enough to keep them interesting". There will be several talks during the break out sessions so if you have a few minutes and want to drop by to see what these are all about and how much fun it will be to "grok" a topic or two.

I haven't written for a while. Part of it was due to the preparation for the 2005 Betas Unleashed conference and part of it is becuase I finally bit the bullet and formatted my machine which means that I have been very busy trying to get it back to a state where I can do my job. In any case I am happy to say that the conference was a success. From the feedback that I heard everyone was very happy with the content and more importantly excited to learn about SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005. I have sent my slides and demo script off to be posted on the site at http://www.2005BetasUnleashed.net so very soon you should be able to retrieve them from there and try out all of my demos for yourself.

Now to get ready for TechEd (I am especially looking forward to the GrokTalks) and seeing more demos of the 2005 stuff. Then after that I will be busy teaching a class and developing some other courses so it will be a busy summer for me.

I blogged earlier about 2005 Betas Unleashed. I have some more information now.

We have over 100 people registered to attend. We also have more information about the giveaways (not that you wouldn't attend just for the information but lets be realistic, if you can get some really cool stuff then it makes it even better).

Every person who attends will get a copy of Visual Studio 2005 Team System (Beta). This comes with Beta 2 versions of Visual Studio 2005 and Team System as well as the April CTP of SQL Server 2005. You will also have access to a web site where you can download the slides and other conference materials.

In addition there will be several sponsors with booths and giveaways. I know that Keane will be there giving away prizes. There will also be general drawings with some pretty cool prizes. These include:

• An XBox
• An Ogio laptop backpack
• Streets and Trips
• Gift Certificates

 

So click on over to http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/eventdetail.aspx?culture=en-US&eventid=1032273553 and register today.

I found this press release on the release of Visual Studio(r) 2005 Beta 2, Microsoft (r) .NET Framework 2.0, and SQL Server(TM) 2005 April Community Technology Preview (CTP). If you can't wait to deploy your applications you can apply for a Go-Live license to put you apps in production while the product is still in beta.

If you can't make the Northern Utah .NET User Group or if a couple of hours with the new products isn't enough then we have a treat for you. On May 18^th we will be holding a full day event on Visual Studio .NET 2005 and SQL Server 2005.

Description

Microsoft has been working hard on the next generation of development tools and database technologies. Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 are two of the most anticipated technologies to be released by Microsoft this year. There are many changes in both Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 that promise to make it easier to develop high quality code. Come attend this day long event where we will drill down into some of the new technologies in both Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005. We will have two tracks that will cover the major features of each product.

Location

Date: May 18th 2005 – 8.30 am – 5pm (registration and breakfast starts at 7.30)
Venue: Miller Free Enterprise Center (http://www.slcc.edu/miller/Buildings/Building3.htm)
SLCC-Miller Campus
9750 S 300 W
Sandy, UT 84070

Registration

Please register at the following link http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/eventdetail.aspx?culture=en-US&eventid=1032273553

Visual Studio .NET 2005 Track:

The release of Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework 2.0 will make strides in all dimensions of application development. Visual Studio 2005 will set a new bar for developer productivity by tailoring the software development experience to the needs of the individual developer. This "personalized productivity" will deliver features across the development environment and .NET Framework class libraries to help developers overcome their most pressing challenges in minimal time.

 

We have put together a comprehensive training for free to help our customers understand the power and value of Visual Studio 2005. This session will cover the core features of -

• Web Development Platform - ASP .NET 2.0
• Smart Client Development Platform – Windows Forms, Mobile Development
• Visual Studio Team System

SQL Server 2005 Track:

SQL Server 2005 is the most anticipated database release in Microsoft’s history.  With significant improvements in the areas of infrastructure, development, and business intelligence SQL Server 2005 represents a huge leap forward for a wide variety of applications.

 

As we get closer to the launch of SQL Server 2005, we want you to have a full appreciation for what this powerful platform can do for your database projects.  As such, we’ve put together a free in-depth developer training event and invite you to take advantage of this opportunity.

• SQL Server Developer Platform – SQLCLR, TSQL Enhancements
• Business Intelligence Platform – Reporting Services, Analysis Services, Data Warehousing
• Infrastructure Platform – Availability, Management, Database Mirroring

 

I will be speaking at the innagural meeting of the Northern Utah .NET User Group on Tuesday, May 3. It will be at Eagle Gate College starting at 6:00. I will be speaking on the new features of .NET. I can only cover so much in a couple of hours but am planning on hitting the highlights of the new technology. If you are planning on coming please go to their web site at http://www.nunug.org and complete the survey to let them know you are planning on coming. They really need the headcount to make sure they have enough pizza. Also you might think about volunteering to help out in the user group. I know that having good leadership can make all the difference in how sucessful a user group is.

Scott and Rory have created the 4th (and sadly last) video in their series on TechEd. I have enjoyed the videos. I am planning on being there and hope to see Scott, Rory, and you there too.

OK, before you rush to comment and tell me that there is no such date as March 46th I know that. What I was referring to is a comment made at VS Live! in San Francisco that the next betas for Visual Studio and SQL Server would ship in March even if it was March 32 or March 45. Well by my math today would be March 46 and I just checked the MSDN downloads site. There are entries for Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2. Be prepared to download for a while and possibly incur the wrath of your ISP. The ISO image for a DVD of Visual Studio 2005 Standard Beta 2 is 2.85 GB. The estimated download over a T1 is 4 hours and 22 minutes. It looks like there will be a lot of people very busy this weekend downloading and installing the latest bits.

[16 April 2005]

I didn't see the betas for SQL Server 2005 last night but I assumed that they would be posted and up tonight. I checked and not only are they not there, the Visual Studio 2005 betas are not showing up either. I am now wondering what happened to the downloads?