If you’re interested in the World Cup in Germany this June and July you might like to know that Microsoft have a free utility for keeping track of events, scores, teams and everything to do with each game. You can download it from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=df6a6e6e-21af-4786-ad1d-a38e8bfda82f&displaylang=en.

One of the cool features in MS Scoreboard is the fact that it can alert you when goals are scored or red or yellow cards are given.

At present it has a problem where it displays GMT time and not BST time so all of the times are one hour ahead if you’re in the UK. However, it has an auto update facility built in and they intend to fix this bug before 9th June so your copy will be automatically updated by then.

If you don’t know me well then you might have been wondering why I started a blog and then went quiet for many months. The answer is that I was writing a book.

The book is called .NET Internationalization and is published by Addison-Wesley in the .NET Development Series. It is in the final stages of production and should be available in July 2006. Addison-Wesley lists the book at http://www.awprofessional.com/title/0321341384.

The book is a manual for the development of internationalized Windows Forms and ASP.NET applications. It covers both the .NET Framework 1.1 and 2.0 and Visal Studio 2003 and 2005.

The book’s website is http://www.dotneti18n.com. ("I18N" is a common abbreviation of "Internationalization" because "Internationalization" starts with an "I" has 18 more letters and then ends in an "N"). You can download the source code for the book from the website. The source code is free so you don’t have to buy the book to get it. The source code includes numerous internationalization utilities and code solutions. The website will be updated with new code and information on an on-going basis.

Now that my role is almost complete with regards to the production of the book you can expect to see more internationalization content on this blog with information available both here and on http://www.dotneti18n.com.

The slides for Ian Griffiths’ WPF presentation on Wednesday are available on the VBUG South West portal. Login first (otherwise you won’t see the Meeting Media link), select VBUG Events and then Meeting Media and the slides are under the heading "May 06 - WPF/Avalon - Ian Griffiths".

I am delighted to announce that I will be presenting a webcast for MSDN on the subject of Deploying Internationalized Applications Using ClickOnce. This is a slightly updated version of the same presentation that I gave at SDC in Holland this month. In a nutshell, the presentation describes how you go about deploying an internationalized Windows Forms 2.0 application using ClickOnce. It covers the problem from two points of view: (1) what are the pros and cons of the different deployment strategies and (2) how do you localize the ClickOnce UI. I think this is a fascinating subject with lots of new information that is barely available anywhere else.

Date: Wednesday 28th June 2006
(There are no World Cup matches on 28th June.)

Time: 6:00pm GMT (10:00am Pacific Time)

Duration: 1 hour

Description: ClickOnce is a smart client deployment technology in the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 that brings the power and ease of Web deployment to Windows Forms and console applications. Although ClickOnce is a powerful and compelling model with many options, deploying internationalized applications requires special consideration. This webcast presents what you need to know to successfully deploy internationalized applications using ClickOnce. We illustrate different models for deploying internationalized applications, and explain how to localize each part of the ClickOnce user interface used during deployment and installation. We also discuss the limiting factors that might influence your deployment decisions.

Prerequisites: Knowledge of Windows Forms development, basic knowledge of .NET internationalization, basic knowledge of ClickOnce.

To attend you need to register by going to http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032299365&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US and clicking on the "Register on the Web" link.

If you were planning on coming to Ian Griffiths’ WPF presentation on Wednesday you’d better be quick; There are 34 people registered with a maximum of 35 places. After that VBUG will put people on a waiting list because there are often cancellations.

See you there.

The Problem
DDD is a great free event held twice a year at Microsoft’s UK Campus in Reading. It provides 4 simultaneous sessions from non-Microsoft speakers and promotes home grown talent whilst providing the usual excellent Microsoft food. The problem is that it is very popular. It is always sold out and the latest DDD3 is no exception. It is so sold out that typically even the waiting list is full. This is a great problem to have. DDD wants a problem like this. But it is a problem all the same. So we need a solution.

The Solution
The solution is a bit tricky because at 400 attendees (including speakers and staff) Microsoft is at capacity. So increasing the number of attendees whilst keeping the same location doesn’t work.

It is a free event because Microsoft foots the bill but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t cost Microsoft anything. If the event were moved to a different location someone would have to pay for the location and the food. The likelihood is that it wouldn’t be free then.

So here’s my solution: repeat DDD on another day. In other words run the whole event twice. The second day could either be the next day (i.e. the Sunday) or the following Saturday. Attendees would sign up for one specific day.

It’s a simple plan but it might work. I welcome everyone’s opinions on how to solve this problem so don’t be shy in piping up.

I’m back from the Software Developers Conference (SDC) 2006. Each year this conference is a treat to attend and this year lived up to SDN’s high standards. 400 attendees (of which 390 were Dutch) descended on Papendal in Arnhem in The Netherlands. Some fantastic speakers from Europe and the US (including fellow Chap From Blighty, Brian Long) spoke at this event with an approximate language ratio of about 70% English to 30% Dutch. Here’s a picture of The Netherlands Most Wanted on the traditional Holland Tour after the conference:-

Thanks to everyone who attended my sessions and I hope to see you next year with some new internationalization and non-internationalization related subjects.

Friend and co-founder of 4 Chaps From Blighty, Brian Long is coming to the Bristol VBUG meeting to present .NET Debugging Without Visual Studio.

Date: Wednesday 12th July 2006

Time: 6:00pm for networking and Problem Clinic; 7:00pm for the presentation

Venue: The Bristol Golf Club, Blackhorse Hill, Almondsbury, BS10 7TP

Registration: email emma@vbug.com or call 01753 649 681

Outline: Visual Studio’s debugger does fine job of day to day debugging. But from time to time you bump into really tricky problems that it can’t help with. This is where lower level debuggers come in, and Microsoft make a variety of them readily available. This session looks at a number of low level debugging tools, focusing on WinDbg and SOS, that can help you squash the most resilient bugs and get back on with your day to day coding. We look at several common problem areas and see how these tools can be applied to help gain insights on the problems and expedite solutions.

Brian is a fantastic speaker with all kinds of accolades. He has spoken at European and US conferences for over a decade and been consistently rated highly.

Brian has an excellent sense of humour which he uses to make his in-depth presentations bright and accessible. You’ll enjoy this one.

Great news! Ian Griffiths is coming to the Bristol VBUG meeting this month to present a session on Windows Presentation Foundation.

Date: Wednesday 24th May

Venue: The Bristol Golf Club, Blackhorse Hill, Almondsbury, BS10 7TP

Registration: email emma@vbug.com or call 01753 649 681

Outline: The talk will discuss why we need Windows Presentation Foundation, & will show how to work with it. Along the way we will look at key features of WPF such as XAML, composition, layout, animation & data binding.

I have seen Ian Griffiths’ WPF presentation and I have to say that you should stop what you are doing and immediately sign up for this one. Not only is Ian a fantastic presenter but his command of this subject is absolute. If you only attend one meeting this year attend this one. Even if you don’t do Windows development.

See you there.

Run, no, sprint to the DDD3 site and click on the Registration Open button now! Don’t read the rest of this entry - go! The previous two events were sold out so register immediately if you want to go.

As you are probably aware by now DDD3 is on Saturday 3rd June 2006 at the Microsoft Campus in Reading. Registration on the day starts at 8:45am and the day finishes at 5:00pm. There is also a Geek Dinner afterwards. See you there.