Last night Microsoft Update prompted me to install an update. I thought it was the updated definition files for Windows Defender and told it to go ahead. A little while later I was being prompted to restart my machine. I thought “What in the world? I haven’t ever had to reboot after a Defender definition update.” After the reboot I looked and saw that it was a patch to IE. I realized it was out of band and therefore probably very important. Today I have had several e-mails that look like the one below. Microsoft seems to want us to patch our machines.

Download urgent security update for Internet Explorer

Today Microsoft released an urgent security update for Windows Internet Explorer. Because the flaw may expose computers to remote code execution, the severity rating for this security update is critical.
From the moment we learned of the issue, Microsoft has been working around the clock to respond to this situation and provide a security update that helps protect our customers.
If you have turned on Automatic Updates, your computer will install the security update automatically. If you don't use Automatic Updates, go to http://update.microsoft.com. This update might cause your computer to restart.
For more information on this update, see the bulletin summary. For more information on how to protect your PC, visit the Microsoft Security At Home site.

Today’s e-mail had some different news about conferences. There was an announcement that Apple will not be giving the keynote or exhibit at Macworld.
I also had a call for speakers for MIX (actually it came yesterday but I was behind in e-mail).
I had another message asking if I want to present in a virtual conference.

I can somewhat see Apple’s point that they are reaching consumers in their stores and on the web. I also suspect that with the economy, availability of high quality training on the web, and slow maturing of the industry they may see the need to be at conferences as somehow diminished. I would tend to disagree. Although the number of people attending in-person events might be shrinking they tend to be the people who have a passion and can really help to drive your solutions forward.

I like the idea of virtual conferences because it allows me to present topics that are important and that I am passionate about and gives people the time to attend at times convenient to them. It reduces the interruption in their day-to-day duties and doesn’t incur the costs for travel.

The biggest reason I like live conferences is the ability to talk to the other people there. I may be different but I like to ask people at lunch what they learned and what they think. Getting a totally different perspective and having the ability to respectfully exchange views is something that I don’t usually find in the on-line learning venues.

It will be interesting to see how many people agree with me that there is a great value in being at the conference in person and will continue to support conferences or if they will go the way of the punch card.

According to the article Microsoft Releases Open-source Content Management App from PC World Microsoft has released a new open source content management tool called Oxite. It is designed to show how to use ASP.NET MVC and is for developers but I found it interesting that they are "dogfooding"it on the MIX site. I know MIX is supposed to be about the latest and greatest in Web technologies but it seems very bold to go with something built on an alpha release of the code for such a public site. I guess that means that Microsoft is confident in their technologies.

I hope to be able to go to MIX this year to learn more about the web technologies that are coming out. I think the most important thing I get from conferences is the ability to talk to the speakers and other attendees to find out what their perspectives are. I tend to hang out and interact with people who have a similar view as I do so it is always refreshing to hear from someone else who has a totally different opinion on things and to try to find out why. I have learned a lot of new things this way.

I was looking at http://www.msteched.com/teched/default.aspx and noticed that registration for TechEd has opened already. It will be May 11-15 in Los Angeles. You can save $300 by registering by December 31. This might be a good time to ask your boss for a Christmas present or year end bonus and get registered for the conference.

It hasn't really been a secret that Microsoft was going to change http://home.live.com to be more of a social network. There were more than just the two articles I reference below 

Sweeping Changes At Live.com: It’s A Social Network!

 http://windowslive.com/ComingSoon?ocid=EML_PROED_HM_Acq_WL_getbetter_112008

Now that I have had a chance to see it for myself and to be invited to some of my friend's networks I am not really sure how I feel about it. I like the look and feel but when I started digging into the settings for my profile I saw that the default was that everyone could see my network. I understand that social networks are built on sharing and for that reason I don't know that I have a problem with the default but it would have been nice to have been told that.

Another issue is that a lot of the invitations to join a network are coming with just the first name of the person. I understand this is also a setting in the profile but it is a little annoying to have to go and look to see which John or Andrew is inviting me to their network. I did find that if I go into my profile I can see the invitations and there it had the full name of the people who had invited me.

I already maintain contacts on Plaxo, LinkedIn, and Facebook besides my e-mail contacts so I am not sure how many other web sites I want to use for social networking but I will give live.com a try if for no other reason than I am always checking my hotmail accounts and it isn't that much more work to add in people to my network.

I got back from a very relaxing Thanksgiving yesterday and I tried to catch up on e-mail. While responding to a message in my primary Hotmail account I got the message "This account is currently blocked from sending messages. If you don't think you've violated the Windows Live Terms of Use, please contact customer support". There were links to the terms of use and to customer support. I reviewed the terms of use and since I hadn't been on Hotmail for 3 or 4 days I was pretty sure that I didn't do anything. The only thing I thought might have remotely happened was that somehow a lot of spam was spent using my address as the from address and going through the Hotmail systems. Since I wasn't getting a lot of e-mail telling me that my message could not be delivered I figured that wasn't it.

I filled out the form on the customer support link. Today I got back a message with a Microsoft case number, and a message that "I have determined that we need to engage additional resources to address your issue.  I will take the responsibility in making sure that your concern will be given priority.".

Wow, I hope I didn't break anything major while I wasn't using the service. I am still receiving messages and can send and receive from my other Hotmail accounts so I don't think it has anything to do with me personally (or they haven't connected all my accounts). If you are trying to send me something realize that I am getting it but having problems sending replies. If I ever find out what went wrong I will post here so everyone will know what not to do.

I know many of us are visiting friends and relatives for the Thanksgiving holiday and many more will be doing the same for Christmas. As the unofficial IT support person for my family there are several things that I try to do when I am with my family to make sure that they are protected.

1. Remove the useless programs on the computer. I spent some time yesterday removing all the trial and crippled versions of software from my parent's machine that they do not use. Some of the programs they didn't like, others they didn't understand, and some were installed by my nieces and nephews and they didn't want them any more. After freeing up some disk space I always defragment the hard drive.
2. Update the firewall and virus protection. I make sure the firewall is turned on and that they have good virus protection. On my parent's machine the free trial of the anti-virus software had expired so I removed it and installed AVG free from http://free.avg.com.
3. Run Microsoft Update. My parents rarely leave their computer on all night so the default time of 2 A.M. to install Windows Updates means that they don't all get installed in a timely manner. I make sure that I run through the update until there are no more high priority updates to any of their software.
4. Update other software. If Acrobat, Java, or other programs are reporting an update I will update them as well.
5. Prepare old machines for a better life. Well, I don't know that recycling is a better life but occasionally someone will have an old computer that they want to donate to charity or recycle. With the data on the hard drive being worth more than the machine itself I make sure that I clean off the hard drive. The tool I use for that is Darik's Boot and Nuke available at http://www.dban.org. It will erase the disk so bank accounts, tax returns, and other data that shouldn't be read by others is gone.

I am sure you have other tasks that you perform regularly. If you think I have missed something leave me a comment to let me know. I might just add it to my list of things to do next time I am visiting relatives.

With PDC completed Microsoft has started to look to MIX as its next major conference. I was e-mailed about this contest. The cool thing is that it is open to developers and designers both. If you have a passion for writing small tight code then this might be the contest for you.

Inspire the world with just 10K! 

What could you create for the Web if you only had 10 kilobytes of code? It’s time to exercise your minimalist creativity and get back to basics – back to optimizing every little byte like your life depended on it.

GET WITH THE PROTOCOL

- Non-compiled source files and embedded images for your web application cannot exceed a size of 10 kilobytes.

- Your web application must either use Microsoft® Silverlight™ or Windows Presentation Foundation, running as an XBAP.

- Your web application cannot include third party source code, libraries, or assemblies.  Data from third-party web services is permitted, provided that you have obtained all consents, approvals, or licenses required to use the data and submit it into this Contest as part of the web application that you create.

- Entries will be judged on originality, graphic design / user experience and functionality.

- Send your submissions to Adam Kinney including the following:

1. Entry Title

2. Entry Description

3. Gallery Image (size 194x142)

4. Source Code zip file

The grand prize winner will live large at MIX09 with a free pass to the MIX09 event, three nights at The Venetian Hotel, and a $1,500 Visa gift card. The community choice winner will receive a USD $1,500 Visa gift card. And, three runners-up will each receive a $500 Visa gift card. Winners will be notified after the close of community rating on February 13, 2009. All participants that have their entry accepted into the gallery will receive a limited edition MIX 10K t-shirt.

Don’t wait to create! Learn more, view the official rules page, and submit your entry at http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKGallery.aspx.

According to my Outlook calendar tomorrow is the anniversary of my blog. Perhaps it was the realization of that anniversary or something else but today I have been thinking about what I have learned over my career. By no means do I feel that I am finished or even that I have reached my pinnacle but as I have reflected on what I feel I did right and what I have done wrong I came up with the following items that I hope everyone gets to experience.
1. A great success There are a lot of great feelings in this world like seeing your children born or when accomplishing a goal that you have set for yourself. I have also felt a great sense of satisfaction and joy when a project I have worked long and hard over has been successfully finished. It is that feeling of accomplishment that keeps me going.
2. A great failure There are many sports analogies about how you can learn more from loosing than from winning. While life shouldn't be a zero sum game where for every winner there has to be a looser, I also realize that everything will not always go our way. I think back to some of my early projects that failed and the lessons I learned. Early on in my career I learned that the people paying for my services do not want to hear about my personal problems or how I skipped class the day a concept was explained and that is why I didn't complete the work on time. I also learned that the correct solution is no good unless the people who will be using it can understand it and how it will benefit them.
3. A good mentor I don't believe that I am a good mentor. When I have been placed in situations where I should be mentoring I find that I tend to either slip into "instructor" mode where I start to tell people what to do or I get impatient when they don't know what to do like I think they should. I am working hard on this because I see this as a great way to ensure that the great failure that someone has only has to happen once, and possibly it doesn't have to be as spectacular or painful as some of mine have been.
4. The joy of learning There are so many things to learn in life that if you can cultivate a joy of learning you will never lack for something interesting to do. I am sure you have heard many people talk about the need to learn a new programming language each year. Beyond just having more skills I think it gives you a different perspective and helps you to "think outside the box". As my children have gotten older I have the chance to relearn algebra, geometry, and in the near future I will be studying trigonometry and calculus again. I find that I am enjoying them more now because I can see them as a chance to exercise my brain and not a chore that needs to be done.
5. A job that you love so much you would do it for free So much of our time is spent at work. Most of the time that work is done in teams and the makeup of the team seems to have a big influence on the way you feel about your work. Several times in my career I have told people that I don't really like what I am doing but I like the people I work with. There have been other times when the team and the work have both been interesting and everything seems to be working well. It is times like that when I think that I would do that job even if they weren't paying me.

I know this is a little off the path of technology that I normally blog about but I have been thinking a lot about this today and wanted to get it in black and white. If for no other reason than to help me when I am not in such a pensive mood. Hopefully you have experienced most of these items and if not perhaps you will some day. I promise to get back to talking about more technical topics in the future.