January 2008 - Posts

• Bringing the World Closer By Contributing to the Development Community

  This month is starting out to be a pretty exciting one.... Not only were Microsoft MVPs announced this month, but so were CodeProject MVPs.  In an earlier post, I mentioned adding a CodeProject MVP Category.  I can foresee right now that this will be a very competitive month, with alot of hard-core contributors joining in on the fun.  One very interesting thing that I noticed as I was reviewing the top point earners is that among the top 20, there are people contributing from at least 7 different countries. (actually many more than 7 if you count parallel universes, but I digress)  Although community credit has been going strong for almost 3 years now, it never ceases to amaze me at how we all have something in common.  We love technology and as a result, we give back to the development community.  Why?  Because we like to. It is just what we do.  The funny thing is that while you are writing articles, answering questions in forums, blogging or contributing in your own way, there are people all over the world doing the exact same thing that you are.  It is truly amazing how small this world is getting. Below are the countries listed from the top honors this morning (see left): United Kingdom (FareHam and Glasgow) Bangladesh, The Country Of Georgia Italy, Sri Lanka, Malta United States On a semi-related note.... Although we can not help but notice that we live in a global environment, brought right to our desktops every day,   just think about how about amazing that really is. I wonder how many people reading this blog often find themselves chatting with people from different countries, in different chat windows at the same time.  The first time it happens, you think, "Wow, I am talking to somebody from (insert country on other side of the world here)".  After a few times, you take it for granted.  I guess the world is just a chat window away. Share this post: Email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted Jan 04 2008, 10:42 PM by DavidSilverlight with 1 comment(s)

• New Category - CodeProject MVP

  Karl Shifflett, last month's 1st prize winner just submitted an entry showing his recently being recognized as a CodeProject MVP.  Nicely done, Karl!!!  I also see the name of another regular contributor to Community Credit, Scott Dorman.  Scott has also received his first Microsoft MVP this year so he is getting recognized big time (as well he should be).   Congrats, also, to the other contributors who were awarded CodeProject MVPs. In processing Karl's submission, I just added a category for CodeProject MVP, worth 7,500 points, which is a pretty decent amount(worthy of such a title).  CodeProject is a tremendous development community and to be named MVP must mean that you are realy worthy.  Congrats to all!!  Now, you can log credit for that accomplishment.  Remember, nothing says recognition like an iToilet - IPod Docking Station Toilet Paper dispenser. The list of this years CodeProject MVPs can be found here: http://www.codeproject.com/script/Awards/ListMemberAwards.aspx On a semi-related note, I was perusing the site and came across a "Temporarily unavailable" page.  If you look at the message below, you can see why it made me crack up.  It is by far one of the funniest error message screens that I have come across.  Big thumbs up on style points there.  I also like the 3D CodeProject guy holding the beer (I think it is a beer) and wrench.  That is classic! Temporarily unavailable Due to technical difficulties, upgrades, server issues, a burst water main, swarms of locusts, or something really, really good on TV this page is temporarily unavailable. We (or at least, someone competent) is working on fixing whatever the problem may be.   Other Community Credit news... See what else is happening at Community Credit Largest Collection of Geek Humor that can be found anywhere... Share this post: Email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted Jan 04 2008, 09:07 AM by DavidSilverlight with no comments

• Community Credit welcomes two very talented WPF Moderators - Marlon Grech and Karl Shifflett

  Over the last month, I have exchanged a number of emails with our two new WPF Moderators, Karl Shifflett and Marlon Grech, highly respected members of the C# Disciples. They both were awarded prizes last month due to their contributions to the development community.  When I say that these guys really know their stuff, that is an understatement.  They are pure hardcore WPF Machines.  I have not only had a chance to review their articles and examples, which are among the most well written I have seen (and I have reviewed many), but I am actually using some of their published content in projects that I am working on.  Needless to say, we are very happy to have them moderating our discussion board.  If anybody can post a WPF question that these guys can't answer, I will eat my mouse.  To give you a little bit of info about their backgrounds, I will include their bios below....       Karl Shifflett Karl Shifflett has been designing & developing business applications since 1989 and transitioned to .NET in March of 2003. In April of 2007 he joined the list of WPF and Microsoft Expression fanatics & evangelists. A Microsoft .NET MCAD, currently the .NET Architect on emGovPower’s new full featured City Government and Utility Billing WPF product. On the weekends he is developing a cool multi-player WPF game for release 1st quarter 2008 and is a member of Team Mole, authors of Mole For Visual Studio. Karl is a senior Information Technology Professional with proven expertise in computer software design, programming and project management. He is well known to fellow Charlotte Developers Guild members for technical excellence, strategic thinking, creative solutions, strong analytical skills and sound business logic. Excellent at soliciting requirements form stakeholders and users alike. He has extensive experience with multi-platform heterogeneous environments (UNIX, VMS, MAC, DOS, Windows workstations, NT Servers, W2K Servers, W2003 Servers, and Vista). You can also read his technical articles and mentoring thoughts on his blog. p     Marlon Grech Marlon is a .Net Specialist at Uniblue Systems. On his spare time he likes to blog on WPF technology. Marlon is an addict of cutting edge .Net technologies and he tries to get his hands dirty with all new .Net stuff. Share this post: Email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted Jan 04 2008, 08:35 AM by DavidSilverlight with 2 comment(s)

• Dhaval Faria is our new Geek Humor Moderator

  I would like to say both thanks and congratulations to Dhaval Faria for taking on the role of being our new Geek Humor Moderator.  Dhaval, an MVP who happens to be one of our newest members is also one of our most active members, being rewarded with a prize in his first month of participating.  On top of that, he did an impressive job of demonstrating his knack for identifying the lighter side of working with technology.  As a result, he was the perfect fit as our new Geek Humor Moderator.  So, everybody give a warm welcome to Dhaval.  As he takes on this new role, you can expect that if you see something on community credit that brings a smile to your face, it is probably going to have his name on it.  Welcome, Dhaval!  We look forward to your contributions to our fine discussion board.   Share this post: Email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted Jan 04 2008, 06:59 AM by DavidSilverlight with 2 comment(s) Filed under: geek humor

• Received an MVP Award? This is a great time to participate in Community Credit.

  For those who have recently been awarded an MVP designation, this is a great month to participate.  The MVP award category is one of the most valuable categories.  If you add the value of the MVP award, along with your blogging, writing articles and everything that you normally do that caused you to earn the MVP, you stand to do pretty well.  Besides, where else do you have a chance to turn your MVP award into a prize of an iToilet (the IPod Toilet Paper dispenser docking station)?  Actually the iToilet is the 1st prize.... the Grand Prize is a Podcasting studio which you will love if you do any podcasting or have always wanted to do Podcasting.  It is USB based too, which makes it extra special.  The best prize of all, IMHO, is the talking Homer Simpson Cuckoo clock. (4th prize).  You can see all 16 prizes this month on our Stupid Prize Page.  Good Luck everybody.   Share this post: Email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! Posted Jan 02 2008, 08:06 AM by DavidSilverlight with no comments Filed under: Prizes