Comments Published @ Dawn

Thanks to Zeeshan Muhammad my comments on IT scene in Pakistan and its comparison with that of India got posted in Daily Dawn.

Clemens Vasters joins Microsoft

I just read about Clemens Vasters (famous Architect and conference speaker) joining Microsoft's WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) Team. Its a good news and I am sure Clemens will add a lot of value to an already excellent platform.

BizTalk Server 2006 Launch [funny] :)

From TheServerSide.NET:

VSTS Subcription + Card Holder

Last night recieved three VSTS Subscription Cards to be shared with community members. I also recieved along with subscriptions an awesome card holder :)
I will be sharing these VSTS Subscription Cards during my next VS Launch Event.
cheers!

SharePoint Team is blogging!

I just came to know that SharePoint Team has started blogging on MSDN. So for all those who build solutions for Information workers and are interested in knowing about next release under the umbrella of Office 12.

Eid Ul Azha Greetings!

Eid Greetings to all of .NetWizards!
cheers!

Another Launch Event

On 3rd January, 2006, I was invited to speak at Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Launch Event at University Of Engineering and Technology TAXILA. This was a Microsoft Event and UET TEXILA is one of the Microsoft partner universities in Pakistan. I being an INETA Speaker and MVP was asked to do this presentation and every thing was arrange for me by Microsoft. I had to catch a PIA (PK 300) flight that departs at 7 AM and reaches ISB at 8:55 AM. The event was scheduled to begin at 10 AM. Due to fog in Islamabad and other parts of Punjab, my flight got delayed. When i reached airport early in the morning i was told that flight is delayed till 11 AM. Then at 11 it was further delayed till 11:30. In the mean time i had passed the information to UET Taxila guys (specicifically, student ambassador, Arham Muslim). Believe it or not PIA waited for 30 minutes to get passengers on board.And caused the further delay. And finally plane took off at 12:45. Plane landed at around 3 PM in Islamabad and I had Mr. Farhan (Network Admin, UET TAXILA) waiting for me at the airport. He was at airport since 1 PM. Anyways finally we header towards Texila and reached there around 4 PM. I offered Zuhr/Asr prayers first. Event started at 4:15. I had moderate audience. I'd say some 75 students + faculty members were peresent. I presented the regular VS Lanch introduction and followed it with a discussion on Web Services and Service Orientation. In the end i showed a small demo, using ASP.NET's ASMX Web Services and SQL Server 2005's HTTP Endpoint. Audience liked the demo. But what they liked the most was goodie distribution. Thanks to Microsoft Pakistan we had enough goodies to pass on to the audience. I believe i got the audience going throught out the event and they were attentive to listen to whatever i had to say. I left the campus at 6 PM and had to catch a flight that was scheduled to depart at 7 PM. Needless to say i wasnt able to cover 47 Km distance in one hour. Thanks to some traffic jams at Tool Plaza. I missed the flight and waited for some 4hrs to catch the next flight. And believe me Islamabad was freezing cold. So i had a couple of cups of tea, kept reading Paulo Colheo's Fifth Mountain.Mobilink wasnt working at Airport so I had to use a calling card to inform folks back home. I also tried calling some one but couldnt really got through. Any ways finally i got onboard and had a nice sleep during flight. I reached home at 2 AM almost and then slept at around 3:15 AM. And the next morning I was at office :(. So at the end of the day, thats how a life of a Developer Evangelist is like. And yes it was my 5th Launch Event in a month or two.