I just listened to episode #344 of DotNetRocks, that was released last week. This episode is on the topic of Building Communities, and the benefits of user groups. Normally each episode is very informative and top notch, but this episode is really rather interesting. Even though this is really not so much tech related, I really encourage anyone interested in user groups and dev/tech communities to take a listen.

Building Communities at Dallas TechFest

Deeper in .NET 2008 is less than a day away. It's tomorrow already! I am probably more excited about DiDN this year since we didn't have one last year, but it's still going to be awesome.

Do you want to learn about some really awesome stuff?  

Do you want to meet and talk with some of the best developers in the community?

If you said yes to either of the above questions, then you wont want to miss out. If you haven't signed up yet, that is ok, you can still sign up at http://deeperin.net. And remember, it's FREE!

You wont only be learning about some really awesome stuff or be able to meet and talk with some of the best developers in the community... You may even be able to win FREE stuff (door prizes), or even meet (in person) the presenters.

There is also an Attendee Party that will be held after the event. I don't know if you can still register; there is very limited seating at this one. But if you would like to attend this as well, just go to http://deeperin.net and see if you can register. Never mind registering for the Attendee Party; registration for it is now FULL. But, you can still register for Deeper in .NET!

I can't wait!

Here's a link to the Wisconsin .NET Users Group LinkedIn Group I just created. Anyone can join this group on LinkedIn, and it's a nice way to show your affiliation with the WI .NET Users Group within your LinkedIn profile.

http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/77233/49CA3D077B3C

Also, heres a link to the Facebook group for the Wisconsin .NET Users Group:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2875089211

It was a great night, with a really great turn out. I'm not sure the exact number of attendees, but I think it must have been over 150! A few volunteers got up and gave some great demo presentations of new features in VS'08 and .NET 3.5. There was even a 360 setup with Halo 3 for people to play. Don't forget about all the great prizes that were given away: a couple Zunes, an XBox 360 Premium, an XBox 360 Elite, and alot of other games and software.

Oh, and don't forget about all the toys that were donated, and the 360 Elite was given at random to one of the people that donated a toy. There were actually a few that donated multiple toys.

The above pictures are only a few of the 42 pictures I took last night. Go here, to view the full set of pictures I took at last nights WI .NET Users Group Holiday Party 2007 InstallFest!

The WI .NET Users Group Holiday Party and Visual Studio 2008 InstallFest has been rescheduled for Tuesday, December 18th at the same location and time.

more info...

The WI .NET Users Group Holiday Party '07 has been Cancelled due to weather and will be rescheduled. The new date for the party will be announced as soom as possible.

Here's the announcement that went out to all registered attendees via email:

Update Dec. 11, 2007: The WI .NET Users Group Holiday Party has been cancelled due to weather, and will be rescheduled.

On Dec. 11, 2007, Microsoft is teaming up with the Wisconsin .NET Users Group to throw a special holiday part. There will be Free food and prizes, just like at every other group meeting.

Do you want to get Visual Studio 2008 Free? Just bring in your computer and install it at the party. Those that install VS'08 at the party will get a full licensed copy of Visual Studio 2008 mailed to them within a couple weeks. This is so awesome; I know I'll be bringing my laptop! I wonder how many people who don't have laptops will be bringing in their desktops? C'mon don't be shy...

The full details of the party have yet to be announced, but make sure you go register for the meeting. And, remember membership to the Wisconsin .NET Users Group is Free!

For more info: http://www.wi-ineta.org/holiday

This months Wisconsin .NET Users Group meeting (and the last one of the year) is tommorow (Nov. 13th) night. This month Casey Chesnut will be presenting on "Augmented Reality with .NET".

On a related note, Casey has an article titled "/wpfAugReal: Augmented Reality with Windows Presentation Foundation" that he posted back in the beginning of October. I don't know any details of what he'll be presenting (other than the below meeting description), but I'm assuming he'll be covering some of the stuff in this article.

I've seem some of his presentations in the past and they are always very informative. He's always very knowledgable in the area being presented. I encourage anyone that can make it to go check it out.

Here's the full description of the meeting:

"Augmented Reality is a future technology being researched which combines real world data with computer generated (virtual) data. A recent example is the 'Eye of Judgment' turn-based card game for the Playstation 3, which uses a camera to recognize real world playing cards and animate the virtual battle on a TV screen. This presentation will look at creating an Augmented Reality (AR) application in .NET using DirectShow, WPF 3D, and ARToolKitPlus. We'll look at how DirectShow is used to capture camera data, how AR Library is used to track real world markers, and how WPF 3D is used to render virtual objects.

About casey chesnut
casey chesnut is an independent developer that specializes in .NET and ubiquitous computing. He has received the Microsoft MVP award in a number of different categories : Tablet PC, Compact Framework, Web Services, Media Center, and Office Communications Server (current). His blog and development articles which can be found on his website: http://www.brains-N-brawn.com "

For more information about this meeting and future meetings, Click Here.

There is a definition of exactly what Augmented Reality is over at Wikipedia, just in case you're wondering.

The October 2007 meeting of the Wisconsin .NET Users Group is falling on the third Tuesday this month. There has been some scheduling issues; mainly in regards to finding a meeting location. If you would like to host a meeting, please contact the group.

This months meeting (on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007 at 7:00 PM) we will be having Brennan Stehling presenting on Code Generation, Software Factories and Visual Studio Extensibility. See the description of what will be covered below:

Productivity can be enhanced by automating as much of the routine coding that is necessary with every project. Much of the software we work with is boilerplate code that is often created manually. Tool improvements now allow us to skip all of this mindless typing. With a little work you can automatically generate the boilerplate code using features built into the .NET framework such as CodeDom and then integrate the code generation features with Visual Studio directly as a custom tool. For example, the code that makes DataSets and ASMX web services work is generated with standard custom tools included with Visual Studio. We will walk through the creation of a custom tool to generate code to support the composite pattern which will work with C# or VB projects. Then we will look into the advanced software factories created by the Microsoft Patterns & Practices team and the extensibility features provided by the Visual Studio SDK, such as creating a custom editor for file format used by the composite custom tool.

About Brennan Stehling
Brennan Stehling is a senior .NET developer working in Milwaukee. He's worked with .NET for several years, particularly with web applications. He develops reusable tools in C# and makes them available to developers at SmallSharpTools.com. Brennan is also the author of "Pro SQL Server High Performance: High-speed ASP.NET Data Access" which will be published in October. You can find out more at his blog, http://brennan.offwhite.net/blog/.

Go check out the Wisconsin .NET Users Group website for more information and to find out the location of the meeting. Remember, membership to the group is completely Free, and so is attendance to each meeting.

In a nearly last minute announcement, I recieved the usual Wisconsin .NET Users Group meeting announcement email late list night (although I didn't see it until this morning.) This months meeting (July 10th) is on Silverlight (buzz, buzz buzz...). As the WI .NET UG site states "Silverlight is the topic, but the rest of the details are coming soon"; so I don't know who's going to talk or what exactly about but I do hear a loud "BUZZ".

If you're interested in attending (and it's completely free) go check out the Wisconsin .NET User Groups site at http://wi-ineta.org

See you there and let the buzz words fly...

buzz... buzz... SILVERLIGHT... buzz... buzz...