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August 2006 - Posts

Day 6 and 7 of SSRS Videotaping

Posted Sunday, August 27, 2006 12:17 PM by plitwin
Saturday (day 6) of the SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services courseware taping went slower than planned. We were supposed to spend the morning taping the last 1.5 chapters and then the afternoon doing "head" shots where we tape all of the on-camera Read More...
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Day 5 is Over

Posted Friday, August 25, 2006 9:20 PM by plitwin
Day 5 (Friday) of the taping of my SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Class went pretty well. We were able to slog though 2.5 chapters of material. The plan is to start again early on Saturday at 7 AM, finishing the Snapshots and Subscriptions chapter Read More...
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Day 4 of SSRS Videotaping -- Tornados and Other Large and Small Disasters

Posted Thursday, August 24, 2006 11:21 PM by plitwin
Today was ripe with small disasters and a looming but avoided large disaster. The little disasters: We had to demo installing an SSL certificate on a Windows Server 2003 box that took forever to setup and configure properly We had to get from the VMWare Read More...
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New Advertisements in Blog Posts Kinda Sucky

Posted Thursday, August 24, 2006 11:19 PM by plitwin
Do we have to have the same ad at the end of EVERY post on the same page? I'd say that's kind of sucky. Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it! Read More...
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Day 3 of SSRS Course Taping is Done

Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2006 4:55 PM by plitwin
Day 3 went pretty well. We were able to make it through 3 chapters. So we are officially half way through the material. If we can continue at the 3 chapter per day pace we should be okay. Nothing too exciting to report other than this is hard work. Today Read More...
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Showering for Success

Posted Tuesday, August 22, 2006 8:27 PM by plitwin
Many years ago, Ken Getz, Mike Gilbert, Mike Gunderloy, Greg Reddick, John Viescas and I (and a few others) came together at work on a development project in a converted farm house somewhere in Virginia (in fact, today, I have no recollection where it Read More...
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Day 2 of Recording of SSRS Course

Posted Tuesday, August 22, 2006 6:58 PM by plitwin
We were able to record 2 chapters worth of material today I spent about 9 hours of time in the studio. It's tough to go much faster but I am going to have to get into a groove if we are going to get this all done this week. I got a huge headache when Read More...
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Why You Should Use & in SSRS Expressions

Posted Monday, August 21, 2006 7:15 PM by plitwin
In SQL Server Reporting Services you can use the almost identical string concatenation operators: moe and curly, er. I mean + and &. Unlike in VB./vBA, the difference has nothing to do with Nulls since Nulls don't exist in SSRS textboxes (they Read More...
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First Day of Reporting Services Courseware Recording

Posted Monday, August 21, 2006 6:42 PM by plitwin
Today we started the videotaping of my SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services courseware that I am writing under contract for AppDev . The recording is being done at AppDev's offices in Eden Prairie, MN . In general, I thought things went very well. My Read More...
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Sunday Evening: SSRS Courseware Taping Begins in a Few Hours

Posted Sunday, August 20, 2006 8:59 PM by plitwin
Well here I am in Eden Prarie, Minnesota finishing up my slides for the first day of taping of my SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services course I am writing and recording for AppDev . I visited the AppDev recording studio where I will spend many an hour this Read More...
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Courseware Countdown Update - Saturday

Posted Saturday, August 19, 2006 4:00 PM by plitwin
I just finished chapter 9 which means I have 3 left but I have a good chunk of chapter 10 already written. I hope (fingers crossed) to get chapter 10 done tonight and then I leave on a 6:00 AM flight for Minneapolis. Paul Share this post: email it! | Read More...
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SQL Server 2005 Courseware Count Down

Posted Friday, August 18, 2006 9:22 PM by plitwin
The march towards recording my new SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services videos continues. Still have about 3 chapters to do (about because I currently am working on 2 chapters so it's an estimate). For those interested, the videos and courseware books Read More...
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Brain Dead Microsoft Decision #1 - Label as the Text of Labels

Posted Thursday, August 17, 2006 10:38 PM by plitwin
Many could rightly accuse me of being a lackey of sorts for Microsoft. But every so often, I have just have to scream "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???". This is the first in a series of posts (unless I get bored with it) on stupid, bread-dead Microsoft decisions Read More...
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Courseware Count Down

Posted Thursday, August 17, 2006 6:02 PM by plitwin
I start the recording of my SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services course for AppDev on Monday, August 21st. Currently, I have 3.5 chapters left to write. To be perfectly honest, it's brutal but I have cranked out 8.5 chapters already and the tunnel is Read More...
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A Quick One: Pulling Items Out of the Web.config

Posted Thursday, August 17, 2006 5:55 PM by plitwin
Okay, this one is simple but frankly I always forget it because I don't use it that much AND because there are so many similar sounding classes, properties, and methods that it's not obvious. To pull a connectionString out of the web.config by its name, Read More...
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Writing Courseware Sucks

Posted Tuesday, August 15, 2006 10:28 PM by plitwin
I just got back from visiting the Vermont .NET Users Group today. The flight out this morning was early and I mean early! 6:00 AM which meant I had a wake up call at 4:15 AM, giving me about 3.5 hours of sleep. I rolled into the office about 1:30 PM-ish Read More...
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ASP.NET 2.0 Data Controls Tips & Tricks Talk at VT .NET UG

Posted Monday, August 14, 2006 9:06 PM by plitwin
I presented my new and improved talk on ASP.NET 2.0 Data Control Tips & Tricks tonight (August 14, 2006) in Burlington VT at Julie Lerman's wonderful VT .Net User Group . (Post-script: Julie has also blogged about the meeting and includes a photo Read More...
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How Do I Blog to My Community Server Blog from a Mobile PC Phone?

Posted Monday, August 14, 2006 9:02 PM by plitwin
I wouldn't think it would be so hard how to figure out how I can blog from my Sprint 6700 (Mobile PC 5.0) phone. I mean I don't exactly live on the bleeding edge. Is anyone else blogging from their mobile PC phone? Who do you do it? I am very surprised Read More...
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Flying Out of SeaTac

Posted Saturday, August 12, 2006 9:40 PM by plitwin
Just wanted to let everyone know that I flew out of SeaTac this morning at 8 AM and the lines were non-existent. It took me about 15 minutes to get through security for a United flight to Chicago. My destination was Burlington, Vermont. I am headed there Read More...
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Community Server is Mobile PC Hostile for Blog Posting!

Posted Saturday, August 12, 2006 9:25 PM by plitwin
Community Server 2.0 is Mobile PC Hostile Read More...
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