Microsoft announced the release of MVC 3.0 earlier today. To learn more about the new features in MVC 3.0, read Scott Guthrie’s blog post.
Can you use MVC RC on your DiscountASP.NET account?
While we have not installed this assembly on our servers yet, our tests indicate that MVC 3.0 is bin deployable. So you can simply upload the MVC 3.0 dll to the application’s bin directory.
On November 13, from 8am-5pm, the Desert Code Camp will be held at Chandler – Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Arizona. The first Desert Code Camp was held in 2004 and attendance and speaker participation has increased every year. It is estimated that the attendance for this Desert Code Camp will exceed 500. This FREE, one-day event is presented by the local Phoenix community to help promote software development.
Currently, there are over 50 sessions scheduled that cover such topics such as .NET Development, Cloud Development, Game Development, Android and iPhone Development and much more. In addition to the various presentations, lunch will be served at no cost.
If you are a web developer in the Phoenix-Chandler, Arizona area, then please show support for your local developer community and attend the Desert Code Camp. Attendance is FREE but registration is required. To register, please visit: http://nov2010.desertcodecamp.com/register
Earlier this morning we began to see an influx of customers who used IE8 complaining of security warnings when they tried to log in to their web mail. Initially we thought perhaps one of our mail servers had been reported to Microsoft due to someone reporting incoming phishing or spam emails. Our mail admin got on the phone to try to contact someone at Microsoft, but in the mean time we started to check in to the SmarterMail forum and other sites, and it turns out these inaccurate security warnings affected a lot of providers, not just DiscountASP.NET.
There are hundreds of Tweets about the problem, as the word is spreading quickly that something was very wrong with IE’s SmartScreen function today.
It seems that the problem has been remedied now, as we are not seeing the warning on customer sites. Let’s hope Microsoft can get to the bottom of this and save us all a lot of angst in the future.
Here is Microsoft help’s Twitter feed.
I am pround to announce that DiscountASP.NET won the Merit Award for “Best Web Hosting” in Visual Studio Magazine’s 2010 Readers Choice poll. Thank you for your continued support!
Takeshi Eto
VP Marketing and Business Development
On November 6, from 8am-5pm, the Triangle .NET User Group presents the RDU Code Camp to be held at ECPI College of Technology in Raleigh, North Carolina. The RDU Code Camp is a FREE one day event full of sessions related to software development. Presentations will be presented by various members of the .NET development community.
Currently, there are over 25 sessions scheduled that cover a wide array of topics such as Windows Phone 7 Applications, MVVM, ASP.NET 4.0, ASP.NET MVC and much more. In addition to the various presentations, breakfast bagels and coffee will be served, as well as lunch (yes FREE food!). Also, an after-party is scheduled so you will be able to network with other .NET developers. If that still isn’t enough, there will be raffle giveaways
If you are a .NET developer in the Raleigh-Durham area, then please show support for the Triangle .NET User Group and attend the RDU Code Camp. Attendance is FREE but registration is required. To register, please visit: http://rducodecamp10.eventbrite.com/
I just returned from PDC 2010 which was held in Redmond on the Microsoft campus last week of October. You can check out all the keynotes and sessions streamed off the PDC site. Microsoft is using the same Silverlight technology they use to stream the Olympics for the PDC sessions. The focus of the keynote was mainly on Windows Phone 7, Microsoft Azure, and IE9.
But the highlight of the event? Microsoft gave one of these to all the PDC attendees. Score!
Takeshi Eto
VP Marketing and Business Development
DiscountASP.NET
I generally stick to writing technical stuff and shy away from industry related, opinion posts. But, between the feedback we have been getting from customers, and the recent whitepapers our research team has been publicly releasing, I thought if there was ever a time to do one of these, it is now.
Just as with every consumer electronics device that is released, the reviewers will soon start to compare the Windows Phones to other similar devices, evaluate its position in the marketplace, and make their recommendations and critiques. This is important and a large part of the story, but I don’t think it’s the whole story.
What isn’t visible when you pick up a phone and play with it, is how powerful the software running on it is, and the developer base that comes along with it. Silverlight adoption is strong. In addition to computers and the Xbox, you can even see it being used at gas station pumps and in new cars. Given the low barrier to entry when coming from a .NET background, as demand further grows, even more developers will add Silverlight to their toolbox.
The developer base directly impacts how compelling an offering the Phones will actually have. Each developer base has its strengths. For example, the Apple crowd is fantastic when it comes to industrial design and creating user-friendly interfaces. The mind set of fun, cool, gadgets and software are really reflected when you look at the kinds of applications that are popular on this list.
Our geeks however, are serious – and serious all the time. While I’m sure we will have our share of novelty software, I think it’s a safe bet that some very interesting applications will come to life. It’s this serious attitude and proficiency in writing data driven applications that will play a big role in the overall tone of the applications that are available.
So while the phones themselves are indeed important. And while I admit they are probably the most important part of the equation, I think it’s important to look beyond the phone and see the power of hosted web services and a developer base capable of harnessing them into their applications.
To put this into perspective for the non-developers reading this, there are several people in this office that could, within a day, re-purpose some internal software and write an application to stop over 40,000 web sites dead every time they reached a red light in their car, then start them back up again when the light turned green. Or how about translating the text on those sites into the predominant language spoken in the restaurant we go to for lunch?
While these examples are useless and silly, I use them to illustrate how powerful the software stack is, and to point out what the average .NET developer is capable of.
Michael Ossou
The weekend is fast approaching and this weekend there are TWO, not one, but TWO fantastic code camps scheduled.
For those on east cost, specifically Florida, the Capital City .NET User Group of Florida is pleased to present the 6th Tallahassee Code Camp, this Saturday, October 23, 2010, from 8am to 5pm, at the Shores Building on the campus of Florida State University. The Tallahassee Code Camp is a FREE one day event for developers to learn and network.
Currently there are over 200 registered attendees and over 40 seminars scheduled. These seminars are for developers of all skill levels. There will be seminars targeting those developers who are just “getting started” in development and there will be seminars for those seasoned veterans to discuss advanced programming techniques and architecture.
Don’t think that the Tallahassee Code Camp is only about seminars. Free breakfast and Free lunch will be provided so there will be plenty of opportunities to network with other .NET developers. There will also be a book swap so you are encouraged to bring your old tech books to swap out at the code camp.
For more information and to register for the Tallahassee Code Camp, please visit: http://www.tallycodecamp.org/Attend
Secondly, for those on west coast, specifically the Southern California area, the two day Los Angeles Code Camp will be held this weekend, October 23 and 24, 2010, on the campus of the University of Southern California (Fight On Trojans!) and DiscountASP.NET will be in attendance.
The Los Angeles Code Camp is a rather large code camp as currently there are over 100 sessions scheduled. You are encouraged to get there early (around 7:45am on Saturday), as the first 150 who check in will gain admittance to the Saturday Geek Dinner at Casey’s Bar & Grill in Downtown L.A. In addition, there will be a huge raffle this year with over $270K of prizes and giveaways. Because this year’s raffle is so large, there will be two raffle drawings instead of one.
As mentioned, DiscountASP.NET will be at the Code Camp, both days, live and in person. We are there to support our local .NET community and answer any questions people have regarding our ASP.NET hosting services and our newest hosting product – Team Foundation Server 2010 Hosting
We encourage all .NET developers in the Southern California area to come out to the Los Angeles Code Camp and learn new skills, network with other .NET developers and meet DiscountASP.NET. For more information and to register, please visit: http://www.lacodecamp.com/
Mark Medina