Reading Notes #118

Suggestion of the week

• Windows Azure: General Availability Release of BizTalk Services, Traffic Manager, Azure AD App Access + Xamarin support for Mobile Services - New Windows Azure features walkthrough by Scott Gu.

Cloud

• How much data can you put on VSOnline? (Brian Harry MS) - Interesting numbers and calculus about estimating the quantity of code we can put before having issues.
  
• Windows Azure Cache: Feature Comparison Matrix (Ashish Goyal) - Ashish did a great job here by bringing all the features of the Azure Cache side by side so we can compare them easily.
  
• Windows Azure IaaS Host OS Update Demystified (Pradeep M G) - Important notice. If you are an Azure user, you should have received an e-mail about it... There is a Windows Azure maintenance that is coming...
  
• SaaS, PaaS, IaaS… que choisir? (1/2) (Pour consulter tous les articles de Nadia Bourha →) - Very interesting article about where the cloud comes from. (in french / en fancais)
  
• SaaS, PaaS, IaaS… que choisir? (2/2) (Pour consulter tous les articles de Nadia Bourha →) - Second part of a serie that explain, in French, what are the advantages to use the cloud for a business.
  
• Free ebook: Microsoft System Center: Cloud Management with App Controller (KimSpilker, Devon Musgrave karsz) - Free e-book in different format: pdf, epub and mobi.
  
• Understanding NoSQL Technologies on Windows Azure (David Chappell) - White paper on nosql with azure. The paper focuses on what these technologies are and why you'd use them, rather than how to use them.

Programming

• Visual Studio 2013 Launch Highlights (Jonathan Rozenblit) - This post highlights some moments of Visual Studio presentation.
  
• Introducing node.js Tools for Visual Studio (Scott Hanselman) - It's pretty incredible how Microsoft technologies is evolving these days, and here is another example of that.
  
• Microsoft Launches Node.js Tools For Visual Studio (Frederic Lardinois) - Another post that lists some of the best features included in the brand new Visual Studio tool.
  
• Test Cases with NUnit - I love that! I didn't know... Get how I will write my next tests?

Miscellaneous

• Software Architecture (Paulo Zemek) - Interesting post about "home-made" framework.

~Frank

Reading Notes #89

Suggestion of the week

• Pinching pennies when scaling in The Cloud (Scott Hanselman) - Great example of code optimization, and all that in the cloud.
• Mobile Services and Windows Azure Storage (Chris) - Great tutorial that explains how to change the usual SQL database to Azure storage with Azure Mobile services. The client parts are also available for iOS and Android.

Cloud

• Optimized Windows Azure IaaS Disk Mobility with Save-AzureVhd (Michael Washam) - Another quick post that demonstrates how to upload a VHD in Azure storage using the new Azure cmdlet feature.
  
• What Does Your Cloud Disaster Recovery Plan Look Like? - Nice post that explains how you can use Azure Data Sync to backup your database.
  
• Running SSL with Windows Azure Web Sites Today - The perfect workaround to have a SSL Azure Website today is explained in this post. Using a web service to forward the traffic this is a good solution until SSL is supported.
  
• Put Your Windows Azure SQL Database on a Diet! - Nice post of a real case, real data and real prices.
  
• A Quick Guide to Getting Started with New Relic - Perfect starting point with a lot of information and reference on deeper tutorials.
  
• Three gotchas with the Azure Service Bus - Very interesting post that goes deeper than usual and explains clearly some details of the Azure service bus.
  
• Cloud Cover Show: Episode 103 - Windows Azure HDInsight (Nick Harris, Nathan Totten) - Don't miss this show, it explains what big data, why it is useful. What's the difference between it and HDInsight and in bonus, you got a demo.

 

Programming

• The Repository Pattern - Nice example of dependency injection. Really useful pattern.
  
• Problems with Copy Pasting Code - And Modifying Slightly... (Jason Singh) - Wow! I'm always impressed by tools that are available to get better code. That one is a must.
  
• Understanding Javascript Prototypes - Very clear post that explains what is a javascript prototype, what is not and how to use it.
  
• Why 30% of App Deployments Fail (Victor Cruz) - Interesting post that share result of a survey on deployment strategies.
  
• App Building Made Easier–Step 3 (Jonathan Rozenblit) - Great post. Start coding, you are not alone. Note that even if Jonathan didn't say it help is also available in French...
  
• Getting started with AngularJS - With all those JavaScript framework available it's difficult to know with one to pick or where to start looking. This post is a good place to start.

 

Integration

• BizTalk Anti Pattern – Don’t over complicate your maps (Michael Stephenson) - It is sometime difficult to find the limit of functoids to use in map to get the job done. But we shouldn't be afraid to .Net code.

I wrote a blog post a few years ago around the options for where you could put configuration settings in BizTalk (Click here).

• BizTalk 2013 worldwide launch events by Impack - Learn more about this important event that you shouldn't miss.

System Management

• BizTalk Monitoring Solutions (SCOM vs BizTalk360) white paper by Kent Weare (Saravana Kumar) - Nice intro to the white paper about monitoring BizTalk solutions. And of course, the reference to the white paper.

Miscellaneous

• The 3 Biggest Resume Mistakes - Few tips to get your social "you" more appealing. Because to have new contracts you need to demark yourself.
  
• How to: Add a ‘Copy Code’ Link to Your Blog Post and Colored Code Blocks (Jeff Sanders) - Simple tips to improve the code visibility and accessibility in your post.
  
• Surviving legacy code - Very complete article about legacy code and why the trash for person is the treasure of another.

• Move your Hotmail.com account to an Outlook.com account (Greg Shultz) - I use outlook.com for few months now, and I love it. This post explains how to migrate, what era your options and what will happen if you do nothing.

~Frank

Reading Notes #88

Cloud

• Avoid these five cloud storage pitfalls (Rick Vanover) - Good advices that will help thinking through a cloud migration.
• Tips for a successful submission to Windows Azure App Gallery (mksunitha) - Great tutorial that explains every step to create and submit a Windows Azure application, so it can be part of the Azure app Gallery.
• Windows Azure Mobile Services - for Organizations and the Enterprise (Channel 9)(Clemens V) - Nice video that focuses on the business capability of the services.
• 10 reasons to outsource your cloud (Jack Wallen) - Nice post. These are really the top reasons.
• New blob storage cmdlets in Azure PowerShell 0.6.12 (Abhishek Anand) - This post lists the great new features included in the new version of Azure PowerShell.
• 12 reasons why public clouds are better than private clouds | ZDNet (Joe McKendrick) - Aaah Musphy's law; I was talking about that just yesterday with a client. Nice post.
• Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets Now Supports Storage! (Michael Washam) - Yeah! they finally been integrated (and more polish) in the Azure PowerShell cmdlets! (before only available in azure command line, and less friendly)
• Optimized Windows Azure IaaS Disk Mobility with Save-AzureVhd (Michael Washam) - Another quick post that demonstrates how to upload a VHD in Azure storage using the new Azure cmdlets feature.

Programming

• Taking It to the Next Level(Jonathan Rozenblit) - Nice post that explains how to can use the Ads from Microsoft to get more from your developer's skill training.
• TFS as perfect tool for Scrum (Part 1) - Introduction in Scrum and TFS - A promising series about Scrum methodologies and how it could be used with TFS.
• A Month of PowerShell – Day 6 (Exporting and Importing) (Wayne Sheffield) - Ah. What if I want to full text in one variable?
• A Month of PowerShell – Day 7 (Script Input/Output) (Wayne Sheffield) - Very useful cmdlets in this one to improve trace and user experience: interacting, getting feedback, etc....
• Changing ASP.NET web.config inheritance when mixing versions of child applications (Scott Hanselman) - Nice catch! A good trick to know.
• Nice Tool for Presenters who use Visual Studio 2012 - Great! I'm already using the productivity tool, but I didn't know about this feature.
• A Month of PowerShell – Day 8 (Working with Snippets in the ISE) (Wayne Sheffield) - Presenting snipetsType and their utilities.
• Understanding method lookup in Ruby 2.0 – Interesting post that goes under the hood of Ruby Language.
• A Month of PowerShell – Day 9 (Getting Started with SMO) (Wayne Sheffield) - This post focuses on MsSql tools (SMO).
• Building Single Page Apps on the Microsoft Stack (Stephen Walther) - Nice post and presentation to get started.

Database

• Diagnosing differences between production and development - Get a better ideas of what are your options to compare database schemas.
• The ODataLib Dependency Issues in the Storage Client Library for .NET are Now Resolved - Learn why you should be happy about this new version.

System Management

• But what can I do with Windows Azure? Backups (Buck Woody) - Know better your options when it comes to backup using the cloud (Azure).

Miscellaneous

• The 30 Minute Meeting (Janine Popick) - Interesting thoughts about long meeting.
• Introducing: The New Readability for Chrome and Tags in iOS (blog.readability.com) - Wow the speed improvement of the new chrome extension is amazing.
• //BUILD 2013 Announced (David Jung MSFT) - Time to plan... ;)
• How to Use Temptation to Strengthen Your Willpower - Interesting post. Try to rest eating while reading it...
• The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (Charles Duhigg) – I was very impressed by this book. I learned a lot about the brain and how it’s possible to re-program the brain.

~Frank

Reading Notes #76

 
Suggestion of the week

• Subscribe! (Clement Vasters) - An amazing new series about the Windows Azure Service Bus, really good video.
• Getting Started with Service Bus. Part 1: The Portal
• Getting Started with Service Bus. Part 2: .NET SDK and Visual Studio
• Getting Started with Service Bus. Part 3: Service Bus Explorer
• Getting Started with Service Bus. Part 4: Queues
• Getting Started with Service Bus. Part 5: Topics
• Getting Started with Service Bus. (Final) Part 6: Relay

Cloud

• New Windows Azure PowerShell Update – December 2012 (Michael Washam) - Nice update to the Azure PowerShell tool that gives more options to manage Virtual machine and Service Bus.
• Table Storage 2.0 (Tyler Doerksen) - Nice post that explains the new structure of the namespace in the library and gives some samples of code how to use it.
• Practical Azure #5: Windows Azure SQL Database - Perfect get started video about Azure Sql Database.
• Storing user uploads in Windows Azure blob storage (Maarten Balliauw) - Great solution to a simple real word question. Easily scalable and secure. I really like it!
• Azure Remote PowerShell (Dustin Metzgar) - This post explains how the author managed to get more information from an instance running in Azure. The code sample is also available.
• PaaS not cheap enough? AppFog has a deal for you! (Barb Darrow) - New lower prices for Cloud Foundry.
• Applications are now open for the Microsoft Accelerator for Windows Azure – 2013 (Scott Gu)- Great opportunity for business to start using Azure with a lot of resources.
• Cross-Post: Announcing Windows Azure Media Player framework Preview for iOS (Craig Kitterman) - Great new for iOS developers that can now enjoy the awesome Azure Media Services.
• Deploy an on-premise VM to Windows Azure with App Controller (John Joyner) - Hurray! A lot of people were waiting for this feature!

Integration

• BizTalk360 Deployment and Configuration best practices (Saravana Kumar) - Use must read/bookmark the great post. It explains all the best practices related to BizTalk360, all in one single post.

Database

• Windows Azure Import/Export Service and External References - Important notice that can save you a lot of time when exporting a database in Windows Azure.
• Available Today: SSDT—December 2012 - New updated version of Sql Server Data Tool (SSDT) now support unit testing.
• Getting Started with SQL Server Database Unit Testing in SSDT - Nice post that explains how to get started with the new testing features available in Sql Server Data Tool. From converting the 2010 test projects to customization.

Programming

• 10 skills for developers to focus on in 2013 (Justin James) - Developers if you didn't see these coming, here is the top list of what you should learn/ improve in 2013.
• Why All The Lambdas? - This post explains very clearly how the lambdas are so useful by using a well use sample of code in Asp. Net MVC @Html.TextBoxFor(Model.Rating).
• Use Big Data to gain insight about small business customers (David Gitonga) - Interesting post that explains how BigData could be you in your business... even if you are in a small company.
• What Refactoring is, and what it isn’t - According to Kent Beck and Martin Fowler (Jim Bird) - While doing some refac****. I mean re writing in a project I found this post to be really interesting... and actual.
• 10 Tools To Get Kids Excited About Programming (Saikat Basu) - Wow those are great! I'm exited to show some of these to my kid. It's always good to transit passion ;)
• Essential Command-Line Tools for Web Developers - Interesting tools that can saves a lot of times doing repetitive tasks, specially during web development.
• JQUERY 1.9 BETA 1 RELEASED - Nice jQuery 1.9 is coming. Learn all about the new features ex: the multiple getter. Since big structural changes are maid in this version the jQuery team is providing migration tools. Learn where to find these and how-to uses them in this post.
• Recreate a VM .. over and over again (Priyo Lahiri) - Nice script that is a time saver. I would have liked to have it one month ago when I was testing deployment... Let's keep it for the future.
• So long and thanks for the all the Expression... Expression Design & Web are End of Life'd (but now free) [oh, and the rest of the Expression Suite is dead too] - If you still using VS2010 it's a good time to download Blend now. Also I wonder what application will replace/take the lead instead of SuperPreview (in Expression Web)?

Miscellaneous

• 15 Social Media Mistakes that are Strangling Your Success (Georgina Laidlaw) - This post suggested simple "rules" that are easy to follow, and that will make you more likeable on social media.
• Surface & iPad Collision Course  - Nice post that compares what could be compared between an iPad and a Surface... Nothing unexpected put still something to read.
• Backing Up WordPress? Don’t Make These 9 Mistakes - If you are a developer, you probably backup your machines and your code. That good. Do you do the same for your blog? You should, here is how-to do it the good way.

~Frank