Tim Heuer

i'm surprised how much is going on in the month of december...usually it is pretty idle...but this is my largest travel month.

after just visiting the and the (thanks to both for hosting), i'm off tomorrow to redmond for the silverlight firestarter event.  i come home just in time for our annual festivus party which i'm super excited for.  i've been storing some prizes that i've gotten throughout the year and am stoked for this weekend.  i'm pissed at myself for not getting t-shirts made this year...argh...oh well, i hope everyone enjoys themselves nonetheless.

after that i'm heading to los angeles all next week to chill with the Phizzpop Design Challenge folks.  i just got a new hd camera and am hoping to talk to some design folks throughout the week (side note: any suggestions for software for vista that can edit hd content from an xh-a1 are appreciated).  i hear master chief might even make an appearance out there!  in the middle of the week i'm heading down to irvine i think to hang with woody for their installfest.

i won't be at the phoenix barcamp, but if you are in the area and want to share something, you should head over to the barcamp phoenix...a great group of peeps putting that free event on as well!

i then come home for the weekend, breathe (maybe), hug my kids, wash some clothes and then head out to riverside for the for some chatting.  i hope you all show up for this one and heckle me...i'll be tired enough so my guard might be down ;-) -- i am also bringing a new zune to give away -- perfect timing for the holidays.

i'll have some downtime after that and then we have a full day of .NET-ness in phoenix on 20 DEC with the MSDN power series event and another installfest.  whew!  just maybe i'll have some time -- in between that i have some "use it or lose it" vacation time i need to squeeze in.

if you are in any of these areas the same time i am, let me know and maybe we can hook up a nerd dinner or something.

the team over at have just launched .net 3.5 hosting platforms in their offerings!  that's right, you can host your .net 3.5 web apps with them!  if you need a space just head on over there and they'll give you 3 free months as well.

in addition, they've enabled cardspace integration so you can login to your control panel using one of your personal information cards.  pretty cool, i'm going to have to check that out.  thanks to discountasp.net for continued support to user group communities as well as being an early adopter hoster so that early adopter developers can benefit!

[UPDATE: I added other US cities I am aware of, any not listed here, I'm not aware of them.  Reminder that these are being hosted by user group communities in partnership with Microsoft.  If you don't attend the user groups sponsoring these events, you have them to thank and you should start attending and getting involved!!!!

These events are made possible by the commitment of user groups.  You should absolutely participate in them, show your support, be an active member and get to know your local developer contact at Microsoft :-).]

want the latest IDE toolset and start developing solutions in .net 3.5 using asp.net ajax, , LINQ, astoria and all the good stuff?

what are you waiting for?  there are various visual studio 2008 installfests around the country.  my team in the west is no different, but maybe you've been having a hard time finding them?  here's a list for all those happening in the west!  please feel free to blog and spread the word.

we're providing a location, install dvd's (these will be evals because the finals aren't pressed yet), and food/drinks.  this will be a good time to get some questions answered, get vs 2008 installed, play around, and hang out with your peers.  each registered and attended individual will receive a special code to receive the fully-licensed visual studio 2008 professional copy sent to them when the full package product is available to ship.

don't miss these events!!!  registration is limited, so get in now and mark your calendars!

the events in the west are:

in the central area are:

in the east are:

please feel free to linkback to this blog post when you spread the word for the links, etc.  pay attention to the details for each location as venue and times may differ.

sure enough as i told the denver visual studio user group last night that the only reason i was still running visual studio 2008 beta 2 was because the tools had not been updated yet.  check my email later...they are updated :-).

the silverlight tools for alpha have been updated to work with visual studio 2008 release version (now available).  you can download the updated bits here. 

i'm headed up to redmond for the silverlight firestarter event on thursday and maybe to heckle jesse a bit :-).  if you are going to be in town, drop me a line (my number is on my contact page).  i'm not sure what we are doing thursday night, but i'm sure it will involve something with my comrade jason.

i just saw this pop in my inbox as a note (not to me) to one of the local user groups i belong to:

I have been a member of this group now for some time, and while I am not yet
at the level of many in here, I have greatly benefited from the help I have
received. I just wanted to say, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, thanks to
all those who have answered my numerous questions, and made my programming
experiences all the better. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

this is great, this is exactly the type of feedback that validates all the hard work from the leaders in community in gathering like-minded people together.  if you aren't involved in your local community...do it now.  look at www.codezone.com to see if there is a .net community near you or reach out to your local microsoft office to find out who the community evangelist is in your area.

it isn't just for softies as well...interested in learning new technologies or broadening your network of talent?  find a ruby user group, find a php user group...bottom line: get involved.  even the silent ones involved benefit.  this note above came from a list that has grown over the past 9 years from about 20 to hanging steadily at about 1800.  it is one of the groups i'm most proud to be a member.

happy holidays!