November 6, 2009. New York City. City Winery, Tribeca. Ted^XEast, (x=independently organized TED event). Forward thinking New Yorkers gathered this afternoon at the City Winery, another center for innovation that leverages state of the art technology to pour premium hand-crafted wines.  Technology, great minds and wines. What could go wrong? This post is two of a two part series on the event.

“Obsessions Make My Life Worse and My Work Better”

(Stefan Sagmeister, TED conference)

Scott Heiferman

Scott Heiferman is CEO and a co-founder of Meetup. He opens up with speaking about the story behind the “I have a dream speech” from Martin Luther King. Apparently, the speech was completely unscripted where Dr. King was being asked by a colleague what he is passionate about and Dr. King starts getting worked up and passionate and the guy tells him “ Tell him about your dream!” And this is when Dr. King goes on stage to speak the speech that you know now.

But how do we do this when we are surrounded with a “I have a nightmare speech” – he shows the poster ad for 2012. Then he shows the ad for “Trauma” which launches on TV soon.  And then the Cloverfield ad where the Statue of Liberty is chopped in two. Then he shows a recent NYTimes article that shows a gripping horrible headline about the war in Iraq and at the top banner ads read “There Will Be Blood”.

How do you form a vision of a future with this kind of prophesy?

Then he shows a photo from his apartment of the twin towers on fire during 9/11.

What happens when apocalypse becomes reality? Local communities sprung up immediately afterwards. “There’s a lot more small going on. A lot more local communities going on. It wasn’t happening so much a few years ago and now it’s happening more and more. Meetup has turned in thousands of local community groups that are brand new that are being held every week or so. Cherokee Count Asberger’s Symptoms Parents Support Group, for example.“

Will 2012 be like the movie 2012? Or will be living your dream?

Paul Steely White

Paul is the Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives in Manhattan. He speaks about the Livable Streets Movement: Why we battle to reclaim the urban commons from the car. He highlights how much traffic congestion limits idea growth in the city. “The definition of a city is density. Lots of buildings. And the space between the buildings are limited. Then why do we choose the lowest density mode of transportation?’ How can we reduce the role of the car in the city?

If you have heavy traffic in the city, you reduce the quality of life and social opportunity between people that live in the neighborhoods with high traffic.

He shows a picture of Einstein riding a bike with the quote “E=mc². I thought of that while riding my bike”.

“Take ownership of your streets. Think of it as you do your living room. Live in it, embrace it”

November 6, 2009. New York City. City Winery, Tribeca. Ted^XEast, (x=independently organized TED event). Forward thinking New Yorkers gathered this afternoon at the City Winery, another center for innovation that leverages state of the art technology to pour premium hand-crafted wines.  Technology, great minds and wines. What could go wrong?

TED events have 50 million viewers all over the world, aligned with their mission – “ideas worth spreading”. The concept is to have key speakers surface important life changing ideas through presentations, and then networking ensues for the attendees to discuss how to implment . Ted^X provides the opportunity for local communities to take the mission of TED into their personal, professional and family networks.

Suzy Welch

Former editor of Harvard Business Review and author, Suzy Welch’s most recent book, 10-10-10 uncovers decision making for life changing. She opens the Ted^X  conference by first she asking you for introspection with some questions she calls “scary”:

• Fast forward to our 70th birthday party – what would make you cry with regret? (living deliberately)
• What do you want people to say about you if they knew that you were living your truth? (refining character)
• What do you love about your upbringing and what do you hate? (defining value system)

“Live is pretty empty unless you live it with your values and you develop those values by asking yourself these questions”. This is when you start making “value driven decisions” and you start living a more authentic life.

Rachel Stern

Rachel Stern speaks about the evolution of news and the risk defragmentation brings to democracy. The new “news” comes from social media organizations like Wikipedia and Huffington Post.  Although this empowers regular citizens to contribute with opinion and events; “transparency trumps neutrality” in the sense that the channels respect individuals that are transparent, versus neutral. Consider the handful of citizens empowered as Wikipedia delegates and Huffington Post’s pre-approved comments– Rachel quotes Esther Dyson and indicates “we are all fact checkers now”.  What are the implications of these new news systems in altering public opinion?

Dr. William Duggan

Dr. William Duggan, author of  speaks of creative spark. “For creative thought you do not imagine something new. You take in things from the outside and  you make a new combination. It’s a new combination of previous elements. The elements are not new. The combination of those elements is new.”  He speaks of Google’s 2 founders – Larry Page and Sergey Brinand says that what they created was innovative.  [ed: Meh]

He then flashes a picture of a Stanford Computer Science professor – Larry and Sergey were his students. “The topic he taught wasn’t search, it was a discussion of portals, like Yahoo, the goal of a portal being that you stay on that page as long as possible. Google took the .13 seconds you get your results and you are on to something else. It’s the opposite of a portal.  Data mining for eCommerce was the original concept that the Google founders worked on.

“They took data mining and eCommerce and came up with a concept called Page Rank, with altavista which allowed you to see ranking. They renamed it Google and everyone on campus used it, and raised tons of capital and used it. But then decided to give it up.

“The problem was, how were they going to monetize this concept? If they can’t make money –how would last. The problem was that ads were too heavy and would slow down the site. What to do?

“Then they ran into a company called overture which display ads in a list based format using search. This is what they combined into Google and they made money.

“Nothing here was invented. It was a new combination of previous elements. The elements were not new the combination was new."

“Now you know how Microsoft started. Now you know how Apple started. But that’s not my topic. My topic about you. Now you know the process for creativity. ” Talk to one another about elements that are not new and combine them into creativity.

October 22, 2009. New York City. Times Square.  NASDAQ celebrates the Windows 7 launch with Microsoft executives and partners ringing the closing bell.  Well ringing the closing bell is maybe a misnomer – pressing the button in a glass studio on a corner in Times Square is more like it.

NASDAQ is a purely electronic exchange, and thereby has no trading floor. Instead, you stand on a small raised dais underneath electronic ticker tapes flashing the latest closing prices centering on the stock being honored. ‘

This entire ceremony is broadcast live on the studio’s external walls…..

…. which also serves to illuminate and entertain the audience in Times Square.

As 4 o’clock approaches, a countdown accompanied with triumphant music begins to blast from overhead and eager faces eye the stock price cheering up ticks and silently glaring at drops.  Picture taking, people shuffling and lots of ceremonies ensue.

Promptly at 4 the bell is rung and confetti falls from the ceiling amongst a rally of cheers.

At one point Bob McCooeylooks around the room noting all the black Window7 shirt wearers. He looks down at his suit and tie “Hey, how come I don’t get a shirt?”  I reach into my bag for an oversized shirt (more later on how to redesign those extra large beltless shirt dresses that all techie companies love to give out) and toss it over to Bob.

“HEY! That was my shirt!” proclaims Caroline. Too late, Bob has already removed his suit jacket and dons the Win7 shirt over his button down.

Bob got to keep the shirt, but not before he signed my Windows 7 shirt which I promptly gave to a now satisfied Caroline.

Find out more about the amazing features of Windows 7 – the greenest operating system that uses considerably less power and resources than any of its predecessors.  And it was all your idea!!

LIght up your applications on Windows 7!

GET:

· Windows 7 API Pack: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WindowsAPICodePack#

· Windows 7 SDK: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bb980924.aspx

· Windows 7 Application Compatibility Cookbook: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd371778(VS.85).aspx

JOIN:

· Channel 9 Windows 7 community, including video tutorials: http://channel9.msdn.com/windows/

LEARN:

· Download the Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1c333f06-fadb-4d93-9c80-402621c600e7&displaylang=en

· Windows 7 Code Gallery: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Project/ProjectDirectory.aspx?TagName=windows%207

· Free videos/training on MSDev: http://www.msdev.com/Directory/SearchResults.aspx?keyword=windows+7

· IT Pro learning via Springboard Series: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd361745.aspx

Light up your web site with Internet Explorer 8!

GET:

· ASP.NET Controls for IE8, including code: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WebAppToolkitIE8

· Microsoft Expression Web Superpreview for Internet Explorer – visual debugging tool that makes it easier to migrate site from IE 6 to IE8: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8e6ac106-525d-45d0-84db-dccff3fae677&displaylang=en

JOIN:

· Join the Channel 9 IE community: http://channel9.msdn.com/tags/IE8/

· MSDN forums: IE Developer Forum: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/iewebdevelopment/threads

LEARN:

· IE8 Developer Center: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/default.aspx

· IE Compatibility Center: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/cc405106.aspx

· IE8 Developer Tools: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd565628(VS.85).aspx

· How Do I Videos: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/cc304683.aspx

· Free videos/training on MSDev: http://www.msdev.com/Directory/SearchResults.aspx?productId=20

· Code gallery: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Project/ProjectDirectory.aspx?TagName=Internet%20Explorer

Come meet your Microsoft New York Metro Evangelism Team!

Join my colleague, Peter Laudati and I, for free pre-launch training – This is a big launch year for developers, so let us help you prepare to hit the ground running when .NET 4.0, Visual Studio 2010, and SQL Server come out this year and next. 

Feel free to ask your questions in advance in the comments below and help us customize our talks for you!  Tell us what you want to hear and share your stories on what type of solutions you are building.

For a full list of events, please visit the Community Megaphone.

Formerly known as ‘The MSDN Suburban Roadshow’, the team has changed its name to more accurately reflect where their travels are taking them these days. Join New York/New Jersey Developer Evangelists Peter Laudati and Asli Bilgin as they once again bring you an afternoon of cutting edge presentations and demos to boost your development productivity and skills. 

Learn about Silverlight’s options for Data Access and Networking, new Windows 7 features for Developers, and end the day with a fun and exciting look at the latest on Microsoft’s Mobility platform.

Free admission and a chance to score some surprise giveaways to boot!

Reservations are required, and seating is limited. Register today to reserve your seat.

Agenda:

Data Access and Network Options in Silverlight

Wondering about the most effective way of getting data into your Silverlight application? Trying to sort out the different options available? Then this session is for you. We’ll open up with an overview of the different networking and data access techniques available in Silverlight. Then, we’ll dive into examples of using each of these technologies, and along the way we’ll also examine the role these technologies play in other .NET applications. Finally, we’ll show you the Sample Data feature in Expression Blend 3, and the best method for transitioning from Sample Data to production data in your applications.

Enhancing Developer Productivity with the new Window7 features

Targeted at developers who are new to Windows7, we will focus on demonstrations highlighting the latest and greatest features of the Windows operating system, to emphasize how you can develop applications more productively. We will cover Snap, Shake, Libraries, Problem Recover, and the use of HomeGroups as they pertain to software development, as well as tips and tricks to optimize your applications on the Windows7 operating system.

Windows Phone and Windows Live

Interested in the latest enhancements on the Microsoft mobility platform? We’ll end the day with a sneak peak for developers and consumers alike at the new Microsoft mobility platform, including integration with Windows Live services.

Check the October 2009 NYC events post for the latest updates for the month.  We have now published the streamed links for the ASP.NET Firestarter we ran last week.

ARCast.TV - How to Improve Testability with a Modular Architecture - ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

The latest ARCast.TV show has been released and is available online.

Mario Cardinal and Aaron Kowall discuss how to easily test in an autonomous way an application conceived with modular abstractions such as the "layer". Mario and Aaron discuss how to partition the concerns of the application into layers and best practices regarding application architecture and modularity.

Windows 7: More Happy Is Coming!  Thursday, October 15, 2009  : NYC .NET User Group @ APress – New York City

Subject: 
You must register at https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=142009 in order to be admitted to the building and attend.
By now, you’ve probably heard that Windows 7 is coming. October 22nd is the day it arrives in stores and your friends and family can access it. As developers (with MSDN subscriptions), you’ve had a headstart since August 6th! There’s a lot of exciting new features in it for everyone. But what’s in it for you as a developer? From the new taskbar to jumplists, to sensors, and even multi-touch, Peter will take you through a tour of what’s in Windows 7 for developers.

Speaker: 
Peter Laudati, Microsoft
Peter Laudati, the "JrzyShr Dev Guy," is a Developer Evangelist with Microsoft, based in the New York/New Jersey area. One of his roles is supporting and educating Microsoft customers working with the .NET development platform. Peter supports the community of .NET developers in the NY Metro area by speaking at user group events and Code Camps. Peter is also the co-host of the “Connected Show”, a new podcast covering Microsoft technology with a focus on interoperability. His blog can be found at http://www.peterlaudati.com

Time: 
Reception 6:00 PM , Program 6:15 PM

Location:  
Apress , 233 Spring Street (between 6th Avenue and Varick Street) New York, NY 10013 , 6th Floor

Directions:
C or E trains to Spring Street or #1 train to Houston Street

Innovation Showcase Launch for the Enterprise Developer - ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

The Developer & Platform Evangelism Team that covers the latest and greatest solutions in enterprise has launched a content syndication site and Twitter account called Innovation Showcase.

They are syndicating content from our individual blogs and other reputable locations on topics related to Windows 7, Silverlight, IE8 and Windows Azure. The articles posted are technical drill downs, points of view, news, announcements and customer or partner stories.

Links of interest