.NET Valley News

Typemock Becomes a .NET Valley Sponsor

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:30:00 GMT

Typemock has recently joined .NET Valley as a sponsor. Typemock develops software that makes unit testing easy. Our tools support all .NET technologies and help development teams improve code integrity and ship quality code on time.

For more information about Typemock, be sure to visit http://www.typemock.com/proxy/redirect.php?id=099001.

Also, each month we will be giving away a free license of Typemock Isolator.

A local nonprofit needs your help

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:00:00 GMT

Ready to connect with the local tech community for a good cause? GiveCamp needs your support. For one weekend in June, we’ll take on the technology wish lists of 20 non-profit organizations, and we’re looking for about 100 volunteers, both technical and non-technical, to help us do it.

A typical GiveCamp draws 75 to 100 volunteers. Individuals can work with their colleagues in company teams, or they can opt to be matched with fellow volunteers who have complementary skill sets. Everyone is welcome to head home for the evenings – but there are always the diehards who work from Friday kickoff straight through Sunday afternoon. Food and drinks, especially of the caffeinated variety, are provided, along with game systems for breaks.

Technical volunteers

We're looking for graphic or UX designers, developers with .NET/Java/LAMP/Open Source/CMS experience, project managers, system/network administrators, DBAs, and non-profit technical consultants and web strategists.

Non-technical volunteers

Beyond the technology, there are many other aspects that make GiveCamp a success. We need non-technical volunteers to run errands, help with setting up and cleaning up, and everything in between. Whether you can offer a couple hours of your time or join GiveCamp for a couple days, your support is needed.

When & Where

Philly Give Camp will be held at the Microsoft Office in Malvern, PA

June 4th - 6th

Great Valley Corporate Center
45 Liberty Blvd., Suite 210
Malvern, PA 19355

Register Here

MSDN Adds Additional Ramp Up Courses

Wed, 27 May 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Ramp Up is a free, online, community-based learning program, with a number of different tracks that will help you build your portfolio of professional development skills. Ramp Up has a solid foundation of premium technical content from subject-matter gurus, and provides easy-to-access content in a variety of forms that guide you in learning the important skills.

DevExpress Becomes a .NET Valley Sponsor

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:30:00 GMT

Today we are proud to announce that DevExpress has become a .NET Valley sponsor. More information about DevExpress can be found below.

Build Your Best – Without Limits or Compromise

DevExpress engineers feature-complete Presentation Components, Reporting Systems, IDE Productivity Tools and Business Application Frameworks for Visual Studio .NET. Our technologies help you build your best, see complex software with greater clarity, increase your productivity and create stunning applications for Windows and Web in the shortest possible time.

Join our Twibe

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:30:00 GMT

We have setup a Twibe for .NET Valley. Be sure to join it by following the link below. A twibe is a grouping of members that follow a common interest by tying in their twitter accounts. Check it out!

http://www.twibes.com/dotnetvalley

Rachel Appel to Speak at DevConnections

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Rachel Appel, the Vice President of .NET Valley, will be providing two talks at ASP.NET Connections in Orlando, Florida. One of her talks is "Creating Responsive User Interfaces with ASP.NET AJAX." The other is "Technology Toolbox: Building a Web Application with ASP.NET 3.5's New Features." If you'll be at Connections, be sure to sit in on Rachel's talks and support her!

New Year, New Technologies

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:00:00 GMT

First of all, we'd like to wish a happy new year to everyone. Each year, we take a look at the technology advancements that were made in the previous year and what's to come in the new year. The same occurs on a global scale at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). This year was no different.

As a reminder, .NET Valley continues to look for topics and presenters in a wide array of technologies. If you are interested in presenting or hearing a particular topic, please let us know through the feedback form located on our website.

Thank You!

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Thanks to all that participated in our Toys-For-Tots toy drive. We've topped off the bins and took the overflow to Wegman's in Wilkes-Barre. If you'd still like to participate, you can drop your toys off at your local Toys'R'Us store. You may also check the official Toys For Tots website to find other drop off locations near you.

Member Challenge: Help Out This Holiday Season

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 07:00:00 GMT

User groups, blogs, and community forums exist because of the community. Our User Group, .NET Valley, alone has received thousands of dollars worth of software, books, food, and more over the years to attract members and thank them for coming to our events. It’s time for us to collectively do our part.

For our next .NET Valley meeting on December 18th, we're planning on collecting toys or donations for Toys For Tots. Please don't feel obligated, but at the same time, if you'd like to bring something, we'll graciously accept on behalf of the Marine's Toys For Tots program. If you can't attend or would rather make a monetary donation, that's fine too. You may do so online at the Toys For Tots website.

On behalf of the board, sponsors, and members at .NET Valley, we'd like to wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday season!

SQL Server 2008: Can You Wait?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:00:00 GMT

SQL Server Magazine is coming to Philadelphia in December and they have offered us a special discount on their 1-day roadshow training. I wanted to make sure everyone has the information as this will provide a great networking opportunity as well as a chance to get anwers to all your questions about SQL Server 2008. Following you will find some more information about the event.

SQL Server 2008 is finally here! Why should you care? How do you know if this version offers real value to your business? Should you even consider the leap from your current version now?

Get answers to these questions and more at SQL Server 2008: Can You Wait? This four-city roadshow series will provide you with answers to all your questions about if or when to make this critical upgrade decision.

COST: Early Bird Price $59 Per Registrant; Special User Group Offer After the Early Bird $79. User Group members should use the discount code: SX218CP7

REGISTER HERE

SQL Server Magazine and Windows IT Pro bring the experts to a city near you. Our Roadshows are highly-focused, in-person events featuring industry-recognized speakers who dissect and discuss the topics you care about most.

Synergistic Networks Acquires Penn Software and Technology Services

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:30:00 GMT

(Wilkes-Barre) Synergistic Networks, Inc. located in downtown Wilkes-Barre, recently acquired Penn Software and Technology Services, a division of Penn Millers Insurance Company, in a move that creates one of the largest IT consulting firms in Northeast Pennsylvania. Long considered competitors, the purchase allows for greater efficiencies, expanded services and a broader geographic reach. The purchase and integration of clients has been completed with Synergistic Networks, Inc. finalizing the merger of systems earlier this month.

"We are thrilled to add PSTS’s book of business to our organization," noted Christopher O’Brien founder, President and CEO of Synergistic Networks. "They were our largest and most similar competitor and we are very pleased to be able to join forces and continue to grow in the marketplace," he continued.

Synergistic Networks, Inc. was founded in 2003 by O’Brien, taking up residence in the Innovation Center business incubator in downtown Wilkes-Barre. It has grown from a one person start up to a staff of seven with over 100 clients in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The firm offers services that include computer network design and analysis, VPN, WAN, electronic and physical security recommendations, spam, anti-virus and internet management among others. Synergistic Networks is one of the area’s few Microsoft Gold Certified Partners and largest Dell resellers as well as a Barracuda Networks Certified Partner and a Cisco Systems Partner.

Synergistic Networks is located at 7 South Main Street, Suite 217, Wilkes-Barre, PA and can be reached by phone at 570-408-9888. For more information visit their website at www.synergisticusa.com or email questions to sales@synergisticusa.com.

MSDN Freedom Roadshow in Scranton, PA on November 14th, 2008

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Microsoft and .NET Valley would like to invite you to come to the MSDN Freedom Roadshow in Scranton, Pennsylvania on November 14th, 2008. The event will be held at Scranton University in Room 405 of the DeNaples Student Center and will begin at 9am. A schedule of events can be found below.

To register for the event, you can go direct to the MSDN registration page here.

Event Schedule

8:30 to 9:00 – Breakfast and Registration

9:00 to 10:30 – Windows Presentation Foundation Demystified

Today’s applications need to do more than simply work. They need to draw in the user, and provide a differentiated experience. This means moving beyond battleship gray forms, boxy UIs, and providing a positive user experience. Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) provides powerful capabilities to develop a compelling user interface, the kind that makes an application stand out. In this session, we’ll examine the core concepts of WPF such as layout panels, data binding, styles and control templates, and we’ll use them to develop an application UI from the ground up.

10:30 to 12:00 – Implementing RESTful services with WCF 3.5

This session will focus on the new capabilities in WCF 3.5 for implementing REST architectures. We’ll examine the new webHttpBinding and see how to build services as resource endpoints, as well as how to map HTTP verbs onto WCF services. We’ll also see how to specify the format of data exchanged with the service and consume these services is Microsoft technologies like ASP.NET AJAX and Microsoft Silverlight.

12:00 to 1:00 – Lunch

1:00 to 2:30 – Exploring the ADO.NET Entity Framework

Abstraction in software development can improve flexibility, independence, and the ability to compose higher-level concepts. The ADO.NET Entity Framework, now shipping as part of Visual Studio 2008 & .NET 3.5 Service Pack 1, helps you create models of your data that enable a familiar object-oriented programming experience. Entities map flexibly to data sources while providing insulation from schema changes at the same time. LINQ makes an appearance as well, using the familiar syntax we’ve seen with LINQ to Objects, SQL, and XML to query entities.

2:30 to 3:15 – A Developer’s Guide to Internet Explorer 8

The next version of Internet Explorer 8 is now in beta. This session will examine all the new consumer features, but also cover additional points that are specific to you as a developer. We’ll see how accelerators and web slices can be a differentiator for your company, see the new wave of compatibility features and options, and unearth the tools available for developers designed to aid in the confusion that is web development.

3:15 to 4:00 – UI, UX, U Confused?

One thing not missing from Microsoft’s development offerings is a choice of options. In this session, we’ll compare and contrast the various .NET technologies available for building client experiences (Windows Forms, WPF, XBAP, ASP.NET, Silverlight, and Windows Mobile) to give you some insight in to making the best choices for reaching your applications’ target audience.

4:00 – Wrap Up and Raffle

Free Training for Microsoft ASP.NET 3.5

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Download the first four modules from your choice of our new 16-module ASP.NET 3.5 courses. Each download includes approximately four hours of step-by-step instruction by experts Ken Getz and Don Kiely, plus hands-on lab exercises, printable courseware, sample code and pre/post exams.

Job Posting: .NET Software Engineer

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:15:00 GMT

Currently seeking .NET developers to design, modify, develop, write and implement Web and Windows applications using .NET 2.0 - 3.5 and C#. Position requires a bachelor's degree in computer science or related field and 4-6 years of experience in .NET and Web development. Strong knowledge of object oriented programming and the software development lifecycle required. Familiarity with open source projects like NHibernate, Bugzilla, CruiseControl.NET a plus. Please submit resumes to jobs@stellarfinancial.com with the job title as the subject.

Limited Time Only: A FREE Second Shot at Microsoft Certification

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Starting August 5^th, you will be able to get a free second chance to pass your Microsoft Certification Exam. Limited offer, plan NOW!

Free Seminar - Microsoft Surfs at Camelbeach with Business Continuity

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Business Continuity is the HOT buzz term these days. In a nutshell, it refers to the concept of providing a business with continued operations given some form of catastrophic event. A catastrophic event could range from a hurricane totally wiping out an entire building to an employee who accidentally looses a laptop in a coffee shop.

.NET Valley to take a Summer Break

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Since we are in the height of the vacation season, we've decided to take the summer off from our monthly meetings. We'll look to resume normal meetings on September 17th. From all of us at .NET Valley, have a safe and enjoyable summer and we look forward to seeing everyone again in September.

Job Posting for June 19th

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:00:00 GMT

We have received another job opportunity for the area.

This opportunity is a 3 month contract to hire opening in the Allentown area. The position requires Microsoft Access programming and the knowledge of Oracle SQL. If you or someone you know is interested, please forward a cover letter and resume to Janet Hand at jhand@microsolutions.com.

.NET Valley Now Has a Facebook Fan Page

Thu, 29 May 2008 06:00:00 GMT

.NET Valley is now a fan page on facebook.com. If you have a Facebook account, be sure to sign-up for the fan page which can be found at http://www.facebook.com/pages/NET-Valley/23494336060.

Job Postings for March 23rd (4)

Fri, 23 May 2008 10:45:00 GMT

There are 4 job postings that we've received:

More information about these positions can be found on their respective websites.