I Jumped on the Evernote Bandwagon
For years I’ve been keeping my notes in Microsoft’s OneNote app in Office. It’s worked just fine, sync’s across two machines (via SkyDrive) and as of the last few years I could even start accessing …
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Contents Tagged with Testimonials
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Switching from Lenovo w520 to Apple MacBook Pro
I’m going to leave the comments open on this post, but as with all comments on my blog, they are moderated. Just a fair warning: flamers & haters will not be approved. I’m all for a constructive …
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My Favorite SharePoint Development Utility: Postman (Chrome Extension)
A few months back I switched over to using Chrome as my primary development browser of choice. There are two characteristics that make it stand out from all the others that I really like as a browser …
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Review: Monitoring your SharePoint Farms with SmartTrack by BinaryWave
Recently my good friend Eric Shupps asked me to take a look at a new product his company, BinaryWave, had released. Their product, SmartTrack, aims to help SharePoint Farm administrators gain insight …
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Thoughts on the MacBook Air
Recently I posted an entry about my thoughts on the Windows Surface RT that I have been using for over 8 months. Many took that as me complaining about the Surface so I posted another entry a few …
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Finding that Device Sweet Spot
Desktops, laptops, ultra portables, tablets, mini tablets, phones… with so many choices out there it's hard to find your device sweet spot. Over the years I've tried just about everything and I think …
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Working Smarter, More Efficiently & Being More Productive
A few months ago I tweeted a brief comment about investing some time in changing the way I was working and introducing a few new techniques to my work life. That tweet spun up a dialog with a handful …
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Moving my Phone from Office 365 to Skype
As someone who works from home but spends a solid amount of time on the road, one thing I've wanted to have is a good business phone solution. I don't like giving my cell phone out to every single …
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After 8 Months, My Thoughts About the Surface RT
It's now been roughly 8 months since I got my 64GB Surface RT last October and I thought now would be a good time to provide some perspective after it's had some serious usage. In recent days there's …
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My Thoughts: InfoPath 2013 & the Future of InfoPath
"What's your take on InfoPath 2013... do you recommend it?" Man I get this question a ton. Yesterday I got it again on Twitter and finally decided I needed a place to point people. If you want the …
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Microsoft SurfaceRT Review 3+ Months Later (Even After Using a SurfacePro)
First some context... I preordered a SurfaceRT 64GB model when they were first available with the Touch keyboard. After getting it, my wife liked it so much we got one for her as well. We both also …
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A Tale of Atrocious Office 365 Customer Support
I'm a big believer of customer testimonials and ratings in how it helps other customers make great decisions and also how it hopefully can help make a better service. A few weeks back I blogged about …
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Product Review: Microsoft Surface RT
Disclaimer: This is not a provided device from Microsoft. This is my device that I bought. I got an iPad (first gen) a few months after it came out and never upgraded to a more current one because I …
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Product Review: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
Disclamer: This is not a provided device from Amazon. This is my device that I bought. I feel like I have to say this with so many bloggers now being paid to do product reviews which, IMHO, is absurd. …
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Amazon Kindle Fire - It just isn't for me
It's now been a few months since I got one of the first Amazon Kindle Fire's (see previous review posts here & here) and I've come to a conclusion: it just isn't for me. I've switched back to my iPad …
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Amazon Kindle Fire - 2 Months Later
When I saw the presser months ago with Jeff Bezos, someone I highly respect in this business and one of the few true visionaries, I jumped and did what I try not to do and make an impulse purchase on …
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Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review
This was easily one of the most impulsive purchases I've ever made... a $200 device preordered within hours of the press conference announcing it. Granted, it helped I had about a $150 credit with …
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Microsoft has really nailed it with Windows Phone 7.5
I've never looked back and wished "man I miss that" since I switched from my iPhone to a new Windows Phone 7 (WP7) when they came out in November 2007. As many know Microsoft recently released a big …
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New SharePoint Book: Developing SharePoint Applications Using Windows Azure
I recently had the chance to preview a new book that will be published in just a few weeks. The book, Developing Microsoft SharePoint Applications Using Windows Azure, by Steve Fox, dives into the …
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WP7 - 7 Months Later
The week after it became available on the AT&T network, my wife and I abandoned our iPhones (she had a 3GS, I had a 3G) and got the new Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7 devices. After seven months of …
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Verizon's 4GLTE Speeds Just Blew Me Away
As someone who travels quite a bit, a few years ago I signed up for the Verizon 3G mifi device that acted as a 5-port WIFI hotspot. This came in quite handy when traveling and saved money overall as …
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Critical Path Training Excited to Sponsor the SharePoint Pod Show
Over the last few years I've been a big fan and participant in the SharePoint Pod Show. This is an effort put on by Rob Foster, Nick Swan and Brett Lonsdale where they interview some great people in …
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THE definitive resource for all things BCS in SharePoint 2010
Having other books by Scot Hillier, I had high expectations for the book Professional Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010and it blew those away. I teach SharePoint 2010 development and …
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Big props for Laurent's Silverlight 4 Unleashed book
A week or so ago I picked up a new book on Silverlight development by one of the top thought leaders out there in the Silverlight space. Laurent Bugnion is one of the best Silverlight guys out there …
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I love my Windows Phone 7
There's really no other way to say it, I love my Windows Phone 7 (WP7) after a week of solid use. Is everything about it perfect? Absolutely not... there are still places that need to be, and I trust …
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MVVM: Why I like it and how I learned it
Over the past year I've spent a lot more time working with Silverlight and WPF (XAML) in building applications and samples for demos or for my own internal utilities. While cutting my teeth and …
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A nice upgrade to my virtualization rig - look ma... no fans!
In June of 2008 I built a custom rig with three things in mind:Super powerful and not requiring an upgrade for a few years Primarily a virtualization rig (hosting HyperV images) Stealthy quietAs a …
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Made the switch back... no longer a Mac guy, now a Lenovo guy
Back in late 2007 I went way outside my comfort zone and bought an Apple MacBook Pro. I loved that machine... fantastic form factor, great screen, fast... you name it... it was a great laptop. I did …
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Get hip to Mesh... it rocks!
I'm surprised how many people aren't familiar or using Mesh yet. I've found Mesh to be one of the coolest and most useful things I've started using in a while. For me, Mesh does two things, and does …
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Two thumbs up on the Amazon Kindle 2 after two weeks
For my birthday two weeks ago, my wonderful wife got me the new Amazon Kindle 2. After two weeks, I absolutely love it... more than I expected. I didn't load it up with a ton of stuff... so far I've …
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Creating a Custom and Quiet Virtualization Rig with Microsoft's Hyper-V
Earlier this year I built a custom server with a few goals in mind: Very powerful & capable of running multiple machines for an extended time Must be quiet Fault tolerant Not requiring a hardware …
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A slick free drive imaging solution
Last week I posted about doing a rebuild of my laptop so that I could run Leopard, Vista x64 and Windows Server 2008 x64 in a triple boot fashion, as well as run Vista virtually in Leopard via VMWare …
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Triple Boot Goodness on MacBook Pro... now running Vista x64 native AND virtual!
[via Spencer Harbar] A while back I posted about how I followed Spence's slick triple boot instructions to setup a MacOS Leopard, Vista x64 & Windows Server 2008 install. I love this setup... finally …
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New version of App Pool Manager out
Last week Spence posted that he updated and released a new version of his awesome Application Pool Manager utility that I've raved about. In this release he completely rewrote it from the ground up, …
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Trying Twitter out again...
OK Joel, I'll give Twitter another shake. This time around, it is easier for me to use & consume thanks to better apps (TweetDeck & Twitterific). So I'm trying it again under @andrewconnell. …
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So what's on your SharePoint development machine?
Occasionally I get a comment from someone who hit an old page on my blog called What's on My PC... an oldie that others were doing at the time. In the last few weeks I've been hit by a higher than …
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Using VMWare Server 2.0 RC1
Last month I blogged my saga of building a rig dedicated just for hosting virtual machines. So far I have been incredibly happy with the hardware. In the last week I've been going through the process …
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Two weeks later with an iPhone...
After my last post on the iPhone, I went out and put an order in for a white iPhone 3G. I've now had it for just over two weeks and thought I'd had enough time to give it a report. First of all, I …
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Apple's iPhone 3G is pretty darn impressive
When the first iPhone came out I dismissed it pretty quick because I was addicted to my AciveSync DirectPush on my Windows Mobile (WM) 6 device and because the ATT network it was tired to is just …
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Customer Service: A Tale of Two Extremes
Over the past week I have had two very different experiences with customer service at two companies. I'm a firm believer in letting the market regulate itself so hopefully these two stories will …
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WHS: Don't you just love it when stuff just works as advertised?
We've got your typical geek household: two Media Centers, a server which acts as a DC-file share-virtual machine host, another older tower used as the home PC, a laptop or two and my wife's work …
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A few new releases for some of my favorite apps
Windows Live Writer (Beta 2) is now available. The user interface is now more Vista-ish... a nice addition. But no ribbon? Sheesh... anyway, love this tiny little app to author posts for my blog ( …
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My Vista beef...
So many folk have come out against Vista... but this won't be another one of those posts. I love my Vista... love it like crazy. Still got a few things I have to iron out, but for the most part I'm …
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Pimping a few products I've started using
XanaNews - NNTP readerReaders of this blog are all to familiar with my displeasure over any and all NNTP news readers out there on the market. Over the last two years, I've settled with Omea Reader. …
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DevExpress' CodeRush and Refactor! Pro... v2.1 is coming soon and a list of all refactorings!
<p>[via <a href="http://www.doitwith.net/2006/12/27/MyNewYear'sResolution100RefactoringsIn2007.aspx">Mark Miller</a>]</p> <p>Not only is Mark shooting for 100 refactorings in Refactor! Pro in …
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Slick new stuff in CodeRush and Refactor! Pro 2.1 (I want it now!!!)
<p>[via <a href="http://www.doitwith.net/2006/12/16/StillLookingForReferences.aspx">Mark Miller</a>]</p> <p>Mark's latest post outlines two new killer features that are being added to …
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Shrink your virtual machines with Invirtus VM Optimizer!
Every once in a while you come across a product that does exactly as it claims, and does is damn well. Right before my vacation, I got a trial copy of Invirtus VM Optimizer and give it a try. Before …
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Finally got VPN setup with the help of June and VPNCaseStudy
Two months ago I expressed my public frustration with Linksys after I went through two of their BESFX41 routers and a terrible experience with their customer support. A few weeks back I finally got …
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A little more on DevExpress' VS.NET Productivity Offerings...
After the JAXDUG meeting the other night, I was talking to a few people who said that while they see value in things like DevExpress' CodeRush & Refactor! Pro, many developers won't care about it …
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Changes to my virtualization/dev tools Tampa Code Camp talk this weekend...
As I previously posted, I'm presenting two sessions at the Tampa Code Camp this weekend... one on WCM (mostly one long demo) and one called "Don't be a Tool, Be a Better Developer Through Tools & …
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