Reading Notes #43

Cloud

• Readers: What’s Your Cloud Strategy? - Learn more about some cloud services offered and that are or will be open source.
• Return Empty Set Instead of ResourceNotFound from Table Storage (Wade Wegner) - Great catch. This little thing is easy to forget, but if you don’t want throwing exception when querying Azure Storage you should read this post.
• The Rising Value of Cloud Computing - Nice post that talk about the future of the cloud provider and what those companies needs to stay in the race.
• Microsoft's answer to Amazon's CloudSearch - The fight continue and this is good for the users. Its mean more products for cheaper.
• Outside-the-Box Pizza, Part 4: Social Integration with Twitter (David Pallmann) - I never thought that a pizzeria could be on Twitter or any social network. This post proved me wrong by explaining the why and the very simple how.
• Comparing IAAS and PAAS: A Developer’s Perspective - Nice post very clear. It explains all the differences between the two more popular cloud «as a service» model.
• What's New? Introducing AWS Marketplace - Nice this 1-click deployment button in the brand new AWS Marketplace.
• Logging in Azure: Part 1 (Tyler Doerksen) - Very nice post that show how to implement, with a simple twist, how to log with Log4Net (or transform an application using it) in an Azure Blob storage. Part 1 of a series.
• Logging in Azure: Part 2–Table Storage (Tyler Doerksen) - Second post of a series that explain how to implement a solution so that Log4Net write in an Azure storage table. This leverage the search for a particular type of error.
• Scale Data Applications with Sql Azure - Short post that hi-light the advantage of using SQL Azure and Sharding to scale out your application.

Programming

• Need A Cloud Monkey? Netflix Unleashes Simian Army - Monkeys is the name of all those programmes or applications that are used by Netflix to watch their system. This post report that Netflix announce they will give the code as open source.
• Outside-the-Box Pizza, Part 3: Mobility & Responsive Web Design (David Pallmann) - In this post all the CSS tricks to support the Responsive web design will be explains. The goal is to support the army of different mobile devices.
• Why you need to learn async in .NET (weblogs.asp.net) - Nice post with a code sample that illustrate the advantage of using the async framework. Let’s the code represents “the what” of what you want to do not “the how”.
• WCF-SQL Adapter and permissions - Well explain. I got this once, and I remember spending few minutes trying to understand this error message... It's a shame that it's not the good one that is display first...
• Lowering the Barriers to Code Generation with T4 - If you are not already using T4 or if you think code generation is only for "big project", this post is for you. This very nice tutorial shows how to use T4 to improve the quality, the stability and the readability of your code. A must for all serious .Net developer.

Miscellaneous

• Defining Your Personal Brand as a Developer (Part 1 of 2) (Jonathan Rozenblit) - Interesting, let’s see what append in part 2.
• Most Valuable Professionals? Give Me A Break. (Davy Brion) - It couldn’t be that bad! I agree that like in any sphere some people are lazy or surf on some appearance but I hope that not reflecting the majority.
• What Microsoft MVP means to me « Inviting Epiphany - I don't know if this post is the answer to the other one, but in my head this is more likely what is a real MVP.
• Introducing Iris: A Big Leap Forward in Drawing Meaning from the Web (Chris Dary) - I'm using Readability for a long time now. I but tools using their API. I ask them a lot of questions. And one thing keeps coming back: improved. They always answer my questions. They are listening the developers, trying to make the API or their tools better. A big thumb up to Readability. Try it by yourself you'll see.
• How to Attend a Conference as Yourself (Peter) - Interesting point of view. When you are at a conference, who are you?

Reading Notes #42

Cloud

• MCSE is Back–and Better Than Ever!! - Important new from Microsoft this week: certifications for the cloud. This post is a good summary of this new reality.
• An Up-Close Examination of the Microsoft RDP Vulnerability (Guest Author) - Important RDP vulnerability was fixed in the March patch. Since in Azure the remote is disabled by default and that some firewall rules protect some connections, if you use Azure you are now safe and probably you were never really in danger. But if you are using an image on AWS you probably should apply you Windows Updates...
• Announcing the Refresh of Service Bus EAI & EDI Labs (Harish Agarwal) - The Windows Azure team listened to our feedback and new features and a lot of performance improvements in the updated version of the EAI & EDI labs.

• Illustrating the CQRS Pattern with Windows Azure and MVC4 Web API (David Pallmann) - Nice sample to understand the advantage of the pattern CQRS over the more common CRUD.
• What The Cloud Doesn’t Do (Alexander Haislip) - Nice post explaining why on-premise computer are not obsolete since the cloud arrives. Nice comparison with the evolution of the radio and the TV.

• What is Azure Subscription and How to Setup a Windows Azure Subscription? (Arun Rakwal) - Nice post that gives a way to structures your Windows Azure subscription.
• Using the Windows Azure Content Delivery Network - This is the perfect post to get started with windows Azure CDN. It’s also providing some best practices when using Azure CDN.
• Let Power Users Create Their Own oData Feeds (Julie Lerman) - What a amazing tool! The Data Explorer is still in CTP but if you are like me go to Azure Labs and try it now.
• Azure Service Bus Pusher (Roman Kiss) - An amazing post from Roman. Everything is explained from the model to how to test your Azure Service Bus.

• Three cloud models; three very different risks - A different way to present the difference between SaaS, PaaS and IaaS: the security/ risk.
• Azure Deployment hangs with Status "Preparing to upload, please wait" (Arun Rakwal Arun Rakwal Microsoft MSFT 10 Points 2 0 0 Recent Achievements First Forums Reply New Blogger View Profile) - Good to know before we got this type of issue.
• There’s no need to be a one-cloud company (Switch Mark Thiele) - Nice post. Being in the cloud with one provider is easier but it's like putting all our eggs in the same basket. Do we have other options?

Programming

• Why NoSQL Equals NoSecurity - Great post with a lot of information about many different NoSQL databases. It also suggests some best practices to get a correct level of security on your NoSQL database.
• Dynamic Image Generation, ASP.NET Controllers, Routing, IHttpHandlers, and runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests (Scott Hanselman) - Nice tips about the dynamic element generation in web development.

• A geek with a hat » What Refactoring is, and what it isn’t - Nice quick post that explain perfectly the difference between refactoring and ... other things ;)
• Becoming A Better Developer - This is definitely a good question and the author of this post takes the time to give a good answer.

[…] Are people who speak at conferences speaking because they are the best, or are they the best because they are speaking…[…]

[…]The best way to learn is to teach.[…]

• The Big Glossary of Open Source JavaScript and Web Frameworks with Cool Names (Scott Hanselman) - Wow so many open source projects that look awesome... take a peek.
• Professional WCF 4: Windows Communication Foundation with .NET 4 – With a lot of code samples this great book explain all the facets of the Windows Communication Foundation WCF. The authors put all pieces together so block by block we are prepared to build a Service Oriented Application SOA.

Miscellaneous

• Succeeding with Agile - Nice tip that look simple and efficient.
• My car ships with crapware (Scott Hanselman) - Hilarious and true, why we can have a super dual-core computer in our pocket but our car come with a so crap old "computer"?
• 5 Presentation Apps to Try - Quick list of nice tools helping us to pass through a presentation or after to share some files.
• 12 Ways to Attack Any Challenge - Facing difficulties is good. It's mean you are challenging yourself. That you try to become better. This nice post is refreshing your memories about ways to overcome those challenges.
• More of What You Came For (Michael Desmond) - The team of the MSDN Magazine are since ... forever trying to always offer more. This time is by giving more content (some exclusively) on their web site. Like the column Azure by Bruno Terkaly.
• 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done (Peter Bregman) – A great book that explain a lot of little think that we could do every day to help to focus on the thing we want to accomplish. Nothing magic but it help to take better decision. Peter use a lot of personal story to explain is thoughts and that improve a lot the comprehension. It was my first experience with audio book, and I really like it. It was done by Peter Bregme himself.

~Frank

Reading Notes #41

Cloud

• Single-Tenant Vs Multi-Tenant SaaS Invoicing Models (David) - Describe both single and multi-tenant architecture and explain the real power of the multi-tenant in the cloud.
• Quantifying and Avoiding Risk on the Windows Azure platform (Richard S. Parker) - Great post that identifies different types of risk and help to understand each of them. It’s also explained how you should manage the risk by not being dependant of Microsoft SLA.
• HTML5, CSS and Browser Compatibility (David Pallmann) - Second of a series, this post describes the HTML structure of the main page.
• Microsoft Research and Windows Azure Partner to Influence Discovery and Sharing (Himanshu Singh) - Nice post that introduces three projects of Partners have done in Windows Azure.
• Microsoft offers free cloud backup beta for Windows Server "8" (Sean Gallagher) - Great idea. I hope this service could be used by the other windows version.
• Transactional Messaging in the Windows Azure Service Bus - Really nice post that explains how could works a resequencer, why one could be needed and how to test it.
• Windows Azure Dev Fabric (Rodrigo De Castro) - Good tips using a ip:port mapper tool to access remotely to a compute emulator.
• Protecting Your Data in SQL Azure: New Best Practices Documentation Now Available (Gregory Leake) - Well best practices are always welcome, a must.
• Cloud Tip #5-Secure your settings in Web.config with Encryption (mbenkov) - Nice quick tip! Add a little more security to your config file.
• Announcing SQL Azure Data Sync Preview Update (GregoryLeake) - This is a great news! not being able to update sync group was REALLY painful... Otherwise Azure Data Sync is a great application.
• How We're Using Amazon Web Services - Moustach.io is sharing their experience of the cloud by showing how they use the AWS. Nice true story.
• Exploring Cloud Architecture - A really nice recap of different architectures in the cloud. Putting them in context with cost efficiency.

[…]cost efficiency doesn’t equate to cheap or even free. You can determine the cost to be efficient when the equation can’t be changed to reduce cost without also reducing the services or functionality—meaning[…]

• 4 Cloud Computing Pain Points That Still Hurt - Interesting post. Contain other post references and important cloud facts.
• Why (or Why Not) to Migrate to the Cloud - Great post that hi-light the pros and cons of the cloud migration.
• Migrating an on-premise database from SQL Server to SQL Azure using SSIS (zafarx) - Really well done tutorial using SSIS instead of the other tools to migrate a database to SQL Azure. By doing it that way you have the possibility do more with your schemas before moving them.
• Getting Acquainted with NoSQL on Windows Azure (Bruce Kyle) - A real good post. It compares different noSQL databases and explains how they work. A lot of other good posts and tutorials are also referred. Definitely perfect to get started.
• Announcing SQL Azure Data Sync Preview Update (Gregory Leake) - This is a great news. Not being able to edit the sync group in my previous projects was really painful. I can’t wait to try the new version...
• Announcing New Datacenter Options for Windows Azure (Cameron Rogers) - Always good to have more and more options. Maybe, some day one will be in Canada. We have a good temperature and plenty of water...
• An Up-Close Examination of the Microsoft RDP Vulnerability (Guest Author) - Important RDP vulnerability was fixed in the March patch. Since in Azure the remote is disables by default and that some firewall rules protect some connections, if you use Azure you are now safe and probably you were never really in danger. But if you are using an image on AWS you probably should apply you Windows Updates...

Programming

• Why You Should Be Excited About Garbage Collection in Ruby 2.0 - Garbage collector is not the more glamour feature, but it's nice to go under the hood and see that some innovation are going on. Very well explain.

Miscellaneous

• I'm Sure It Will Only Take You A Few Days To Code - Interesting, I didn't think our usual or natural sensor to estimate the complexity of something cannot be use when it comes to estimate software... but it makes senses!
• What geeks need to tell our parents about shopping online safely and securely (Scott Hanselman) - Nice post. read this post than go talk to your parent, uncle, brothers and sisters all those people that call you when they did nothing but the PC doesn't works anymore... ;)

[…]HTTPS (SSL) doesn't mean "I can trust this site," it means "this conversation is private." You still might be having a private conversation with Satan. - Scott Hanselman Trust[…]

Reading Notes #40

Cloud

• Best practices for migration to the cloud - Nice post that contain all the link you need in one place to read all the best practice and useful information on migration to the cloud.
• A Must-Have for Most Organizations (Gartner) - Learn all the benefits to have a cloud service brokered (CSB) in your cloud strategy.
• Take Your Cloud Like Your Coffee–Half and Half (Jonathan Rozenblit) - Good analogy between coffee and cloud solution. Different mixtures depending of the context.
• Windows Azure Storage Emulator or Service? - Useful tips to fix some problem/limitation when working locally with Windows Azure storage.
• How to Make the Private Cloud More Secure - Nice post that introduce some products to help maintaining the security of your cloud solution.
• A Social, Mobile, and Cloudy Modern Web Application (David Pallmann) - First of a series, this nice post present a well done application that combines HTML5, mobility, social networking and cloud computing.
• Inside SQL Azure – Self-healing, Self-governing, Massively Scalable Database service in the Cloud. (Cihan Biyikoglu) - A great presentation that explain a lot about SQL Azure.
• Microsoft Reinvents its Cloud Strategy (Martin Tantow) - Nice post comparing the new cloud positioning strategy o Microsoft with the majors players when looking for CRM
• Best practices for building Windows Azure service (Qingsong Yao) - Nice post with best practices to develop and to test. It also introduce briefly great MSTest framework.
• Protecting Windows Azure Web and Worker roles from malware (maartenba) - Not long time ago Microsoft release the Microsoft Endpoint Protection for Windows Azure Customer Technology Preview (EP for friends) and in this great post you will know how to install it, configure it and how to use it.
• Microsoft Endpoint Protection for Windows Azure Customer Technology Preview Now Available For Free Download (Elyasse_El_Yacoubi) - A vey complete post about the Microsoft Endpoint Protection for Windows Azure (MEP). Everything you should know about it, and even more.
• In cloud computing moves, money isn’t everything (Barb Darrow) - Explain the result of a survey about the reason why companies are moving (or not) to the cloud.
• An Amazon Web Services primer (Matthew Braga) - To know all Amazon Web Service AWS products this post is a must.
• A Comprehensive Introduction to Cloud Computing - I did already mention is great introduction post in some Reading Notes, but at this time the author was rebuilding is blog and the article was removed. So if you didn't have the time to read it the first time, here is your chance.
• Cloud Tip #1–How to set a connection string in Web.config programmatically at runtime in Windows Azure (mbenkov) - Great tips that will save times to many developers.
• Auto scaling and Endpoint Protection in Windows Azure (Wade Wegner) - This Cloud Cover Show Episode explain in detail the great Wasabi. Azure developer this is a must.

Programming

• A use of Enumerable#chunk - Explain with different examples the #chunk method that was added in Ruby 1.9.2
• How to Test External APIs (Jared Carroll) - Nice post that explain good strategies to execute unit tests on our code that is using external API.
• How to Use Bundler Instead of Rvm Gemsets (Stephen Ball) - Great post that show few tricks about the really useful bundler.
• Ruby Style guide - A good quick start to code respecting style convention.
• 10 Best Practices of Code Commenting & Formatting (Bio Website) - 10 simple tips to keep the code clean and clear. A good way to help the maintainability.
• ASP.NET MVC 4, ASP.NET Web API and ASP.NET Web Pages v2 (Razor) now all open source with contributions (Scott Hanselman) - Amazing news! All the details about the release of Asp.Net as open source project.
• ASP.NET MVC, Web API, Razor and Open Source (Scott Gu) - The post by The Scott Gu announcing the release of Asp.Net MVC as open source project and some features of the version 4.0.
• Introduction to Ruby code optimization - Nice post that present few tools to help when you need optimization. Those tools are good specially if you don't know where is the bottle neck.
• I wish I knew about string.Join a long time ago (Carlos Figueira) - Nice refactoring. As Carlos is saying looking into the code you write on year ago is good. Some mistake wear done, but at least we learn.

Miscellaneous

• 10 Good Reasons to Get a Mentor - Interesting thoughts. I'm sure a lot of people would gain a lot by having a mentor. Starting with me!

~ Frank

Just release: Azure User Management Console - AUMC

This week, Matricis just release open source tool to help us managing the Azure Sql Users and Logins.

Since only T-SQL commands are available for Azure SQL in SQL Server management Studio, a friendly interface was missing. The AUMC is simply converting your action into T-SQL commands and execute them in the Azure SQL Database.

You can find the Azure User Management Console on CodePlex at:http://aumc.codeplex.com

Read the complete post on Matricis blog.




~ Frank

Reading Notes #39

Cloud

• Amazon data center size - Interesting post that gives an opportunity to put numbers on the cloud architecture, in this case AWS servers.
• Using Import-Subscription in WAPPSCmdlets 2.2.2 - Explains quickly one of the new features of Azure PowerShell Cmdlets last release: caching the Azure subscription by importing it.
• Windows Azure Security Best Practices – Part 7: Tips, Tools, Coding Best Practices (Bruce Kyle) - Again a lot of really good advices about security with Azure and many good references.

[…]shows a friendly face to customers and still provides the detailed technical information developers will need in his article Rich Custom Error Handling with ASP.NET. […]

[…]Wade Wegner describes the steps he recommends in his post Using ELMAH in Windows Azure with Table Storage. […]
[…]To learn more about ELMAH, see the MSDN article Using HTTP Modules and Handlers to Create Pluggable ASP.NET Components by Scott Mitchell and Atif Aziz.[…]

• Building Hybrid Applications in the Cloud on Windows Azure (Ferglo) - The third book of a series about Windows Azure. A lot good information, scenarios and details about hybrid application.
• Do We Need A Desktop OS Anymore? - A nice reflection about our future.
• Azure Storage and its Various Abstractions (Chris Clayton) - Nice post that explain how to configure and use local storage in an Azure WebRole.
• Versioning SQL Azure Schemas by Using Federations - Wow this is a really good idea. Using Azure SQL federation to maintain different schemas version in a single or multi-tenant scenario.
• The Hidden Risk of a Meltdown in the Cloud - Interesting post that explain why companies should think about moving to the cloud to see if they saw (and understand) all the pros and cons.
• 'Personal Cloud' to Replace PC by 2014, Says Gartner - This nice post talks about the emergence of the "personal cloud" and is progression against PC.
• New Tools for Windows Identify Foundation and ACS (Wade Wegner) - Great show (Cloud cover Show) again this week, with Wake and David that present a lot of nice functionalities of the Windows Identity Foundation (WIF).
• Windows Azure™ and X509 Certificates (Chris Clayton) - A very useful post from Chris that specify all steps you need to do (screenshots and code snippet) in order to setup your X509 certificates.
• My Disappointments with Amazon DynamoDB - DynamoDB is a pretty young product, but still some of the limitations look disappointing. However I think that is this king of database binaries, images and big files shouldn't be in. They should be in storage and the url/path is in the db.
• Leaving Microsoft (Wade Wegner) - Another big evangelist of Windows Azure is leaving Microsoft. Wade is someone to follow.
• Using CSPack and CSRun With a Worker Role (Jason Haley) - Nice post where Jason try to fix a result discrepancy between using Visual Studio or CSPack-CSRun to create a Azure project. But the question remains...
• How Do I Get Started On My Developer Workstation? - Nice tutorial to get started with Windows Azure. Or to setup a new clean VM.
• Beware Fake Clouds - Good post that help to demystify what the cloud is computing and what is not be by hi-lighting the differences.
• Why do I need two Instances in Windows Azure? - This is a really important fact to understand when planning/developing a project with Windows Azure. A clear answer for a good question.
• The Microsoft Private Cloud whitepaper (Nikosan) – A reference to a PDF document that contains a lot a info about all the options you have if you planning to go with Private cloud.
• Best practices for migration to the cloud - Nice post that contain all the link you need in one place to read all the best practice and useful information on migration to the cloud.

Programming

• Improving Launch Performance for Your Desktop Applications (Brandon Bray) - See how the and witch new tools in Visual Studio 11 will improve the launching speed of our application.
• EF Code First Migrations, Update-Database outside of Visual Studio - Nice! This post introduces a great console tool that gives the opportunity to update a database using PowerShell.
• EF Code First Migrations Update-Database Parameters Documentation? - Useful information about all the parameters of the EF Migration tool.

Miscellaneous

• 3 Great Things My Mentors Taught Me - Great thought. Simple and efficient.

~ Frank

Reading Notes #38

Cloud

• Amazon data center size - Interesting post that gives an opportunity to puts numbers on the cloud architecture, in this case AWS servers.
• How I work with Live Mesh, SkyDrive, and Office Live Workspace (Buck Woody) - Good post that explain one setup you can use to get your files synchronize and available on many device.
• 4 Azure milestones Microsoft must hit — and soon (Barb Darrow) - Interesting post that point out 4 milestones that Microsoft Azure should reach ASAP to stay in the cloud race.
• Can we pronounce “The Cloud” hype over yet? - Nice post that raise some objection that the cloud is for everything. Some people seem to still think this way, but its true cloud is not the answer to all situations.
• Learn The Cloud, Make A Difference, @home with Windows Azure - Great initiative! A good way to learn Winnows Azure and an easy way to get free Azure account for 3 months!
• How to Share a Local Drive when Remoting into Windows Azure Instance (Jason Haley) - Nice quick tips that is very useful when debugging.
• Multiple Sites in Single Role Running Local (Jason Haley) - This post is a time saver, if you plan to put more than one web site in the same web role... read this.
• Optimizing apps for cloud (Tim O'Brien) - Great post that explain few principles of cloud architecture to be able of building a more structured application.
• Why So Many Azure Storage Transactions? - Nice advice! Good think that since last release, when you are busting your limits they just deactivate the web application instead of giving a big bill.
• Windows Azure Security Best Practices - Part 2: What Azure Provides Out-of-the-Box (Bruce Kyle) - Amazing post that describes perfectly the architecture of Windows Azure and the security in it. It also explains what we should do to keep a good security level. This is the second post of the series a third one is already out... more to come.
• Windows Azure Security Best Practices – Part 3: Identifying Your Security Frame (Bruce Kyle) - Part 3 a is bout pattern in the ms document.
• Windows Azure Security Best Practices – Part 5: Claims-Based Identity, Single Sign On (Bruce Kyle) - A lot of information about windows Identity Foundation (WIF).
• Windows Azure Security Best Practices – Part 6: How Azure Services Extends Your App Security (Bruce Kyle) - Great post that talk about the strength of Windows Azure Active Directory, Azure Connect and Service Bus. The 3 options that you have to extend your security on Azure.
• Big Data and the case for IT relevancy - This post explain why big data will not "kills" IT jobs but in fact probably it will actually create more.
• HTML5 + Cloud = Personal Cloud (David Pallmann) - Nice post (the fourth of a series) explain the cloud is personal and why HTML5 could be a better tools to present this personal cloud.
• Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets (v2.2.2) (Michael WashamMS) - Present the new features of the last release of Windows Azure PowerShell. A lot of great new functionalities, but before downloading it be aware of some breaking changes.
• How to Download Windows Azure Blob Containers - We often found code sample to upload files to the cloud but here it is to download. This is well done demo to replicate the structure of an Azure Blob Container on premise.
• What Size VM Should I Go With? - Point a article here this question is answered by 2 authors well presented in this article.
  

  […]questions Joel & Stephen attempt to answer in the article. […]

• Book Review: Just for fun (Jan Van Ryswyck) - That look like a book that will easily find a place in my to read list.

Programming

• C# Reflection Performance And Ruby (Tim Kellogg) - Interesting test to compare the speed of different methods to access a property.
• 5 Tools to to Run a Small Business in the Cloud - 5 online very useful tools are presented in this post.
• EF Code First - Tips and Tricks - Nice tips. I never thought of putting extra safeguard code in this section... but I like it, so i will.

Miscellaneous

• Agile Adoption Success Factors – Nice quick post about why Agile adoption pass or fail base on a survey result.
• Touch, Not the Mouse - Nice editorial from MSDN Mag that kind of contest that popular idea of touch is for everything.
• You’re Working Too Hard to Make an Impact (Study Hacks) - This short post illustrate we should prefer be valuable than busy.
• A geek with a hat » The one book that gets me offline - Editorial about people reading habit today, and a nice book suggestion... can you resist?

Reading Notes #37

Cloud

• Enableing gzip compression with Windows Azure CDN through Web Role (Avkash Chauhan) - Because compression is not supported by default here a nice tips about how to implement it.
• Working with SSL certificates on Azure and IIS7 (Iain) - Nice post where few "gotchas" are explained with their workaround/solution.
• Cloud Comments .net - Discuss about the new price drop of AWS and the lack of tools to help to calculate the cost, or to compare it with the usual on premise solution.
• Doing a Multi-Cloud Deployment of an ASP.NET Web Application (James Urquhart) - Great article that deploy a simple Asp.Net application in three different cloud environments: Azure, AWS, Iron Foundry then compare the effort.
• Announcing Reduced Pricing on Windows Azure Storage and Compute (Steven Martin) - A fantastic news! we can now have a instance 24/7 with a database for less than 20$.
• Moving SQL Azure Servers Between Subscriptions (R Syam Kumar) - It's now eaiser than ever to move a database between different Azure subscription. that all possible to a new feature that been add:Server Move in the database section. be aware that price may be different in each subscription.
• My Experience as a Developer at Startup Weekend (Saturday and Sunday) (Jason Haley) - Nice post about true experience at start-up weekend.
• Logging best practices - Good post to re-align our logging practice. What to log, or what to not.
• Using Cloud9 IDE to Deploy to Windows Azure - As usual nice show. this week is a lot about Node.js.

Programming

• How I work with Live Mesh, SkyDrive, and Office Live Workspace (Buck Woody) - Good post that explains one setup you can use to get your files synchronized and available on many device.
• How to access NuGet when NuGet.org is down (or you're on a plane) (Scott Hanselman) - Nice one... be sure to take note of this because when the network will be down... it will be too late.
• 10 web development concepts designers should know - Nice tips that apply more for designers but developers should found some of them really useful.

  [..] Beanstalk also have a brilliant guide to version control for those who are using it for the first time.[..]

• Maarten Balliauw {blog} (maartenba) - Nice short post on how you could "improve" your works with MyGet using less feeds.
• 3 Simple Things to Make Your jQuery Code Awesome (Joseph Zimmerman) - Great tips that will take only 5 minutes to read/ learn and that will save a lot of time and memories at runtime.
• Visual Studio Magazine (Eric Vogel) - This nice article explains clearly the strategy pattern by refactoring a simple scenario.

Miscellaneous

• Castle Death! A Dead Simple RPG for Kids and Parents, Part 2 (Chatty DM) - Part 2 of a series about Dad and son playing RPG.
• Castle Death! A Dead Simple RPG for Kids and Parents, Part 3 (Chatty DM) - Part 3 of a simple RPG game to be the best dad ever!
• Why I really love SCRUM - Nice post to learn more about Agile Scrum, the idea of icebox and pivot tracker, a nice tool.
• Dark Matter Developers (Scott Hanselman) - Nice post where some analogies between Dark Matter and some developer is made. Funny and true.

Frank

Reading Notes #36

Cloud

• Microsoft Private Cloud Part 1 - Nice first post of a series comparing Azure with private cloud. This one is more about being prepare to the real comparison and define what is private cloud.
• Windows Azure Storage and Concurrent Access (Larry Franks) - Known a to read/write in Azure Storage is not enough when doing multi-instance. Learn how-to manage this situation in this post.
• Cloud Needs Application Architects To Understand IaaS - Great post explaining how Amazon build the great platform they are and why it work.
• Come for the PaaS Functional Model, stay for the Cloud Operational Model - A really complete post about all those "things" that cloud provider are talking about and how it should be see by customer.
• Uploading Big Files in Windows Azure Blob Storage using PutListBlock - A really great tutorial to upload files in Azure Blob Storage. Two technics are presented with the code, pros and cons for each of them.
• Cloud computing and the “me versus you” problem - An interesting discussion about different cloud's structures and the pros and cons of each. Also a nice idea of what could be the future.
• SignalR powered by Service Bus (clemensv) - Nice post about using the SignalIR with Azure Service Bus, with all the reference you need to get started.
• If you're using Node.js, you're doing life wrong - A really specific opinion about Node.js. if thinking about picking this server... then should read that.
• Is uptime the wrong metric for cloud service-level agreements? - Really interesting thoughts about what more important for cloud SLA, elasticity or reliability?
• Full Version of AdventureWorks database for SQL Azure and and SQL Azure Federations - Now available the classic AventureWorks database for Azure SQL and Azure Federation. More advanced version is coming soon.
• Everything you need to know about Windows Azure Blob Storage including permissions, signatures, concurrency, … - Amazing post that contain really EVERYTHING on Azure blob storage. It's documented, well explain and complete.

  The only reason you would not be interested in the Windows Azure storage platform would be if you’re called Chuck Norris …

• A few things you should know about EC2 - Quick post about some less know EC2 facts.
• Azure deployment stuck Preparing node (ASP.NET Debugging) - Nice to know this tips can save a lot of time.
• Exploring Cloud Architecture - Nice article that present different cloud architecture to follow your cost/efficiency strategies.
• BizTalk in the Cloud, One Step Closer Part 1 (Jean-Paul Smit) - Great post (first part of series of two) that present the new interface of schemas and mapping in the new CTP release of Azure Service bus EAI and compare them to the BizTalk ones.
• BizTalk in the Cloud, One Step Closer Part 2 (Jean-Paul Smit) - A really great post that continue to pass all the functionalities of the new (still in CTP) Azure Service Bus EAI and making the correlation with the BizTalk equivalence.

Programming

• Mercurial vs Git: Why Mercurial? - Great posts series about source control. Because source control is so important, knowing why to pick git or mercurial is really important.
• WebAPI and Ninject (Shawn Wildermuth) - Nice trick with Ninject...as the author said easy when you know how to.
• JavaScript for C# developers: currying - Nice trick with Javascript to avoid copy/pasting code... looking forward to to the next part.
• PowerGUI 3.2 Released! – Everything is in the title... And it's a good news.
• Differences Between jQuery .bind() vs .live() vs .delegate() vs .on() (Elijah Manor) - Give a simple but very clear description, pros and cons of JQuery .bind, .live, .delegate and the new .on.

Miscellaneous

• The myth of the eight-hour sleep (Stephanie Hegarty) - Nice article talking about sleep and pattern.
• Castle Death! A Dead Simple RPG for Kids and Parents, Part 1 (critical-hits.com) - Another great dad's time with the great Chatty DM.

~ Frank

Reading Notes #35

Cloud

• Moving apps to the cloud - This great post help you to build a check list before, during and after moving to the cloud. Ask the good questions, found your spot in the cloud.
• Start-Up Encrypts Data in the Cloud - A new stat-up is offering THE solution for the safest encryption in the cloud...look promising.
• Deploying Your Applications on Windows Azure (Bruce Kyle) - Nice post enumerating all the possibilities available when deploying and testing your app in Azure.
• Solving SSL Certificate expiration problem with an existing Windows Azure Application (Avkash Chauhan) - Great post that must be kept somewhere you will retrieve it. It will save you a lot of pain when your certificate will expire... and that you will maybe don't have access to the original project.
• Comparing AWS/Box/Azure for Managed File Transfer Provider (R Seroter) - Interesting post that compare the features of 3 different cloud solutions.
• Don’t look now but Microsoft Azure is a kick-butt cloud (Barb Darrow) - Nice post about the fight between how will be the next Dropbox between Google, Amazon and Microsoft.
• Windows Azure service bus messaging with publish/subscribe pattern using topics and subscriptions - A fantastic tutorial that build a Azure service bus messaging application using topics.
• Part 1 Introduction and Architecture (Dave Crook) - A really nice post that demystify what are the part of the Azure architecture and what is the impact of each of them in a developer life.
• Windows Azure Blob Upload Scenarios (Avkash Chauhan) - Think to know before coding application that will upload file into Azure blob storage. Different scenarios are possible with pros and cons for each of them.
• Microsoft's Windows Azure Active Directory plans takes shape - Quick post that talk about recent Azure's news like the WAAD (windows azure active directory).
• Node.js, Windows Azure (and socket.io) (Neil Mackenzie) - A great post about Node.js in Azure. All the features, requirement are discuss.
• 4 Things to consider when researching an assignment for Saas - Nice post about 4 keys points to think of when looking for a Saas (software as a service).
• Migrating a SQL Server database to SQL Azure - A good story of someone doing a migration of an "old" MS SQL 2005 database to Azure SQL using multiple tools.
• Implementing MERGE command using SQL Azure Migration Wizard (Cihan Biyikoglu) - Quick post to introduce what should be Merge At command in an Azure Sql Federation database. Also this post refer to a lot more detail article on the how-to.
• Free samples that help you get started with Azure - Great group of link to get started with Azure.
• The Evolution of PaaS (davidchappellopinari) - Nice post that compare the features of the "usual" PaaS with some "new" version of this like Cloud Foundry.
• Microsoft Private Cloud Part 1 - Nice first post of a series comparing Azure with private cloud. This one is more about being prepare to the real comparison and define what is private cloud.

Programming

• Structurez votre code Ruby (Bruno Michel) - This nice post introduce the unused Struct. A simple but power class in Ruby.
• Soyez unique, utilisez des Sets (Bruno Michel) - Wow I didn't know the Set class in Ruby. I got to edit one of my script immediately.
• Asp.Net MVC 4 beta - Nice post that quickly present some of the main new features in the brand new ASP.Net MVC 4. Also video and slide reference.
  

  Spending limits are a new feature we added to Windows Azure last month, and ensure that you never have to worry about accidentally going over the resources included in a free offer and being charged.

  You can learn more about the spending limit feature here.

  The ASP.NET MVC 4 Beta release works with VS 2010 and .NET 4.0, and is side-by-side compatible with prior releases of ASP.NET MVC

  Bundling and Minification

  Database Migrations – ASP.NET MVC 4 includes the new Entity Framework 4.3 release,

  Web API

  new support for building mobile web applications and mobile web sites,

  Razor Enhancements – ASP.NET MVC 4 includes V2 of our Razor View engine.

  Async Support and WebSockets

• Fun with Ruby Block Parameters - Nice post going dipper in Ruby's Blocks capabilities...

Miscellaneous

• How to Master Any Skill - Nice post that will help to make a checklist when trying to masterize a new skill.
• 11 Easy Ways to Make Work Fun - Quick tips/ideas how to change the office in a more agreeable and more productive place.

~ Frank

Reading Notes #34

 

Cloud

• Which is less expensive - Good post. Well explain. How to compare or understand the price different between a cloud solution and on premise.
• Grouping and Sorting in the New Azure Transform Designer (jmoons) - Really great post. Azure IEA can do what BizTalk 2010 cannot by grouping and sorting easily without XSLT.
• Evangelism for Microsoft ISVs, BizSpark Startups & Network Partners (SanjayJain369) - Nice the training kit January edition now contain labs on federations and use the new look.
• Amazon S3 Price Reduction - A reaction to a post that was comparing price between cloud and on premise solution. The cloud could be even more attractive by taking those advices.
• Connection Pool Fragmentation: Use Federations and you won’t need to learn about these nasty problems that come with sharding! (Cihan Biyikoglu) - Good post that explain what Azure SQL Federations manage for us.
• Review your SQL Azure security issues and Attack surface, Check out “SQL Azure security services” - Description of a great tools. An Azure labs that must by try.
• Windows Azure ISV Blog Series: sociobridge, by ReedRex (DavidMakogonMS) - Nice post to learn more about a good architecture when planning multi tenants structure.
• Announcing Reduced Pricing on SQL Azure and New 100MB Database Option (StevenMartinMS) - Great news a price drop for the SQL Azure.
• "Building Hybrid Applications in the Cloud on Windows Azure" free ebook and code (RC) - The third eBook from a series about Azure, this one about building a hybrid application. That exactly what most application will be today. And it's free.
• The Cost of Living in the Cloud - The author make a list of all the service that are need for is ideal setup being in the cloud.
• Keys to understand relationship between MapReduce and HDFS (Avkash Chauhan) - Well explain improve the relation between mapreduce and hdfs.
• Using Data Transaction Commitment Models for Design (BuckWoody) - In this nice post the author present different ways to store data in Azure. Depending on the situation one type of architecture could be preferred.
• Moving apps to the cloud - This great post help you to build a check list before, during and after moving to the cloud. Ask the good questions, found your spot in the cloud

Programming

• Selecting files that don’t contain specified content (tobint) - Quick script that could easily find a place in anyone's toolbox.
• Thinking LESS of this blog - This post present the open source project LESS that generate some css base on pre-compile instruction. It could run server or client side.
• So You Want To Be a Developer (Part 1) - Most of the developer I know love games. I'm sure part of it already at one point thing of joining this to "passion".

Miscellaneous

• Why we love our MVP’s (Paul Laberge) - Good post to learn more about our Canadian MVP and about the MVP programme.
• Know Your Limitations; You'll Lead Better (John Baldoni) - Nice quick post that remember us that the perseverance is the key of success

~Frank

Reading Notes #33

Cloud

• Using Windows Azure Access Control Service (ACS) from a node express app - A well done tutorial that explain all the steps to setup your Azure Access Control Service (ASC) in a Node.js environment.

  If you want to know how it works and how it was implemented read Implementing Windows Azure ACS with everyauth

• Amazon Web Services Blog - Amazon announce new edge location.
• Cloud Data Services - This is definitely a series to follow. A thru story with all learning steps put in evidence.
• Amazon Web Services Blog - Another price reduction for Amazon Web Service AWS, does it mean that Azure is doing some damage.
• Mastering the Cloud.. with Windows Azure Curricula Resources (Lee Stott) - What needed to by prepare to be a cloud designer.
• 4 ways Microsoft can make Azure better for startups (Marcelo Calbucci) - Things that Microsoft is doing and should do to help startups to jump in Azure.
• Cloud Architecture Series – CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation)– Part 01 (Bruno Terkaly) - First of a series, this post explain the evolution of the architecture...
• NEW! Wiki launched for Apache Hadoop on Windows Azure (Michele Hart) - This is a great news documentation is always welcome.
• How many copies of your blob is stored in Windows Azure Blob Storage? (Avkash Chauhan - MSFT) - Well explain when multiple copy don't rime with backup.
• Outbound ports that have to be opened for Azure development (Bruno Terkaly) - The page MUST be bookmarked. The list of port by Azure application.
• Introducing Microsoft Research’s Excel Cloud Data Analytics (Roger Jennings) - Great idea that use the calculation power of Azure through excel to analyze your data. This project is still in CTP.
• Windows #Azure Caching – Performance considerations - Great post to demystify the different caching options with Azure. then everything you need to get started and learn even more.
• Windows Azure Demos with Steve Marx (Wade Wegner) - Last cover cloud show of Steve Mark, so they pass through all is demos.

Programming

• A Few of My Favorite Things... in the Entity Framework 4.2 DbContext - Present three features: Find, Local and AsNoTracking include in the EF Code first DbContext.
• Alexander Beletsky's Development Blog - Present three really good tools to add to test toolkit

  FluentAssertions

  NSubstitute

  NCrunch

• Windows Phone developer leaves for Amazon's Kindle team - Amazon is working hard to keep is part of the cake.
• MVP is not an excuse to make shitty software - Minimum viable product is more about the V then the M
• Why You Should Build Your Website Using Static .html Files - Using only static HTML page solve some regular issues: speed, portability,connections. Hera a project on Github try to push this idea as far as possible.
  
  
  

~Franky

Reading Notes #32

Cloud

Let The Clouds Make Your Life Easier - Geek and poke

• Is VMware the new Microsoft in the PaaS World? - Nice post that talk about the story of .Net framework and Java. What they where, what they are and what there fighting for.
• 8 Essential Best Practices in Windows Azure Blob Storage - Great post explaining clearly 8 best practices when using Azure Blob Storage.
• Managing environments in a distributed, Azure, or other cloud based Visual Studio solution (Igor Papirov) - Nice Visual Studio solution structure, that once it's done could save a lot of time.
• an opportunity to get application security right - Nice post discussing about in the beginning of the Internet where enterprises didn't taken seriously the security menace. Today with a lot of people going to the cloud we shouldn't make the same mistake.
• Tips and Important Steps for Migrating Apps to Windows Azure - Great check list to move an application in the cloud. I would add to check if you need https at some point and take a look of your database collation.
• Taking specific Windows Azure Instance offline (Avkash Chauhan) - Those cmdlets are amazing. do what you cannot do with the management portal in only few line
• Windows Azure Toolkit for Social Games Version 1.2.2 Released - Announce of the new release of the Toolkit with some explication about how-to get started with Github
• Before jumping into cloud, learn from the SOA experience - This post explain how having a service object architecture (SOA) could help to be more ready when moving to the cloud.
• Visual Studio Achievements - Remember Kids They're Just For Fun (View blog authority) - Achievements in Visual Studio... pros and cons.
• Handling two known issues with Windows Azure node.js SDK 0.5.2 (Avkash Chauhan) - Nice workaround to be able to debug with the Azure emulator when using node.js and to be able to deploy with a MongoDB enabled
• NougakuDoCompanion: A “Ruby on Rails” companion for Windows Azure (Avkash Chauhan) - Introduce a ruby companion package available on codeplex, it look nice.
• Amazon Web Services Blog - Amazon announce a new free product/feature the cloudWatch Metrics that will help to visualize how your part of the cloud is use.
• Utiliser SSIS pour pousser des données vers SQL Azure (Benjamin GUINEBERTIERE) - Good work explaining step by step how to use SSIS for a data migration.

  SSIS package needs an outbound access to port 1433

• The “NoSQL” Gene in SQL Azure Federations (Cihan Biyikoglu) - Great post. A bit old, but it explain a lot of key concept about the NoSql of the new Azure Federation.
• Windows Azure Storage Emulator Account Name and Key - Nice catch. how to manage the different credential of a "legacy" Azure application.

  Microsoft has provided the storage credentials for the local Storage Emulator on MSDN. Here’s a quick place to copy the default name and key: AccountName AccountKey

• Get Started with Node.js + Windows Azure: Resources - Everything you need to get started doing Node.js in Azure. A lot of reference: tools, IDE, database,etc..
• Cloud computing looks to be future of disaster management - A professor is building a system to be help the people to communicate in case of a disaster in the cloud.
• Using Windows Azure Access Control Service (ACS) from a node express app - A well done tutorial that explain all the steps to setup your Azure Access Control Service (ASC) in a Node.js environment.

  If you want to know how it works and how it was implemented read Implementing Windows Azure ACS with everyauth

• Cloud Cover Show - Episode 69 - SQL Azure Federations with George Huey – Recap of the news and discuss how to scale-out with SQL Azure Federations.

Programming

• Using oData with jQuery Hierarchical Grid - Good presentation of the grid control of NetAdvantage using jquery and oData.
• Even Better Git (and Mercurial) with PowerShell (Scott Hanselman) - Nice post, presentation great project using Powershell to leverage git and mercurial source control.
• 24 Extremely Useful Ruby Gems for Web Development - Great list of Ruby's Gems. I will definitely include Bundler in my list on tools to have.

  Bundler is a tool that manages gem dependencies for your ruby application.

• Explaining Include and Extend - Really good post. Go deeper then the usual.

  If you want a more details about what the interpreter is doing I recommend watching Patrick Farley’s talk on Ruby Internals.

Miscellaneous

• How the Kindle replaced my iPad...for book reading (Scott Stein) - I agree completely. When I try the eBook reader... I fall in love.
• Agile Results with Evernote (JD Meier) - Explain how to use EverNote as a simple folder/list structure to manage goals in the Agile Result method
• comment obtenir plus de clics avec vos tweets (Benoit Descary) - Some simple strategies to be more efficient when twitting(fr).
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs of Software Development (Scott Hanselman) - Nice Maslow's pyramid apply to development , event more because it do fit.
• Don't Get Me Started – Ring Around My Neck (David Platt) - A reflection about if thing have gone too far.

~Franky

Reading Notes #31

Cloud

• mszCool's thoughts and cents revealed (mszCool) - Nice post that study a real scenario and explain what could be a good hybrid architecture.
• Adding code that'll run before, during, and after (SeenDaBean) - Great tutorial that give us a lot the options when downloading from Azure blob storage.
• AWS Toolkits for Eclipse and Visual Studio Now Support DynamoDB - A great post that introduce DynamoDB the new NoSQL database of Amazon web services.
• Testing Ruby Applications on Windows Azure (Larry Franks) - Nice tutorial to make unit test under Ruby in Azure server. 
• Making Windows Azure Drive Letter Persistent (Shawn Cicoria) - Amazing post. Great job. Learn how to get Azure drive letter persistent.
• Introducing Microsoft Codename “Cloud Numerics” from SQL Azure Labs (Roger Jennings) - Great post introducing cloud numeric talking about pros and cons and finishing by a tutorial.
• Parallel Uploads to Windows Azure Blob Storage via a Silverlight Control (msdn.microsoft.com) - Really good tool/control to upload quickly files in Azure blob storage in Silverlight. This post explain how the control is working.
• Cloud9 Delivers Cloud-Based IDE Support for Windows Azure (Darryl K. Taft) - Great new! Last January 24 Cloud9 announce our development IDE available in the cloud to develops from anywhere in Node.js
• Cloud Computing – The Democratization of IT (Part 1) (Linda Bernardi) - A good article that show why the cloud is so nice and why start-up should really look at it to see if there business fit.
• AzureWatch vs. Azure Fabric Controller. (Kurt Claeys) - By answering a question about the difference between AzureWatch (a product from Paraleap) and Azure Fabric this post introduce a really good tool to monitor and help to scaleup your system.
• New Azure ServiceBus Demo Available (Briand Loesgen) - Great work. A really good demo. Only few step to make it works in our environment.
• Setting up SSL on a Microsoft Azure application - Good advice and excellent reference.
• Exporting and Restoring a PFX file to IIS - I really well illustrated tutorial to "play" with certificates.
• Announcing SQL Azure Data Sync Preview Refresh (Gregory Leake) - Good news. This will became a great tool. It's already a good one simple and efficient. Don't forget to update your sync agent.
• Improving Performance by Batching Azure Table Storage Inserts (Brian Swan) - Good test. Azure storage table is suppose to be faster... now prove it.
• Throttling in SQL Azure with Scott Klein (Wade Wegner Steve Marx ) - Nice show. explains how to diagnose throttling in SQLAzure.

Programming

• Amazon Web Services Blog - Great new toolkit for vs2010 to play with DynamoDB.
• My love affair with Visual Studio (Susan Ibach) - Nice tip with the Error correction feature.
• The State of NoSQL in 2012 - Nice post that present some of the more popular NoSql database with there pros and cons
• CSS3 is the new Flash (Scott Hanselman) - Nice post about the questioning of Flash vs. HTML5.
  

  It brought us sites like this one and, of course, the greatest flash site in history.

• How to contribute a patch to a GitHub hosted Open Source project like Code 52 (Scott Hanselman) - The message is clear. get involve. you want to improve your skills, make your resume more attractive, get a feature in an application... get involve, it's simple.
• The REST of the Story « Open Sourcery - Nice post that explain clear the structure of a REST

Miscellaneous

• Public speaking for normal people - Nice tips to perform when talking for of public.
• How to get up to speed with a new technology (Frédéric Harper) - Quick tips about where to start when you want to learn a new language or technologies.

~Franky