I've just started playing with SQL Express and I'm pleasantly surprised to find that the new sqlcmd utility has the ability to use parameterised queries. Minor thing but very useful!

UPDATE: Now I just need to find out how to test whether a parameter has been supplied or not...

I thought it's about time to give some screenshots of our Imagine Cup entry. But in a special bonus offer, Doug dug out (haha, what a pun!) the first revision submitted into our source control. I'd already done some work before we decided to enter the Cup so don't go thinking we created this in a day or something.

I'll try to get some screenshots of our Pocket PC and Smartphone clients up soon as well. All I can say is I'm glad Doug was on the team to make these things look good. And in case you're wondering, I think we spent more time on functionality than GUI, so this isn't just a pretty interface.

UPDATED Here's the Smartphone and PocketPC images I promised.

If you want a demo of any of this Doug & I will be at TechEd Australia so just catch up with us there.

TVP Version 0.00.000000000000001	Mobile TVP
TVP Current Version	Pocket TVP

Joseph Cooney gave a presentation on WSE the other night at the local user group. The talk was great, Joseph did well and I hadn't looked into WSE myself. In fact it was so good that it gave me the wish to go play with WSE (that's how you rate a tech talk isn't it? How much it generates an urge to waste time looking into technology you probably don't need to.)

Anyway, one thing it brought up (and the question Joseph refers to in his blog) is whether WSE (and the upcoming Indigo) have any equivalent to Remoting's Client Activated Objects. This is particularly interesting to me since my PhD relies on CAOs to distribute work on a P2P network network using the (not so) friendly Remoting infrastructure.

Now I haven't looked into the WS-* specs much, but I tend to find if I choose a random word and prepend WS- to it I generally find a valid specification. I was wondering whether something like WS-Conversation would fill in for CAOs. Basically we need something that will maintain some state (sorry Mr Greg "Haskell" Neverov) through a series of messages. Now's the time for somebody to jump in and tell me that WS-Conversation exists (or at least exists under a different name) and would fit the bill here.

PS: I'm thinking of starting a thing where I have to include a link to a Jazz CD in every blog post. I think it's the web equivalent of subliminal messages.

OK. I'm finding it a pain to read blogs because I sometimes read at home, and sometimes at work. What I really want is some centralised RSS server which tracks which items I've read so I don't reread them. I found http://era.indecorous.com but I don't want my RSS items coming to my email box (blogs.msdn.com would kind of overwhelm me...) So I think I'm going to write one myself. Additionally I want a Pocket PC client so I can move my blog reading away from productive desktop PC time into less productive times like bus rides (they're only less productive, not totally unproductive since this is still the best time to really listen to my multitude of Jazz CDs)

Anyway, before I started this I thought I'd throw it out in the wild so hopefully somebody will point me at an existing solution (though admittedly this would remove the pleasure of developing it myself, but I've plenty of other projects... can anybody say Rikxtensible C#?) Unfortunately I believe I've already spoken about this to both of the technical readers of my blog (sorry Rod I'm assuming that you won't be able to help here) so I won't receive any feedback I haven't already got. But then again, perhaps I'm lucky enough to have a wider audience than I think...

Well the Imagine Cup is over now. We didn't make it to the final 12 so not much more to say there. Not much more to report really. I'll try to get back to more interesting posts soon. I could provide you with more photos, but frankly the XDA does a pretty awful job in the photo department. Go check out Doug's blog instead. I'll give you photos once I develop the ones on my real camera.

Well we've finished our 2 presentations now for the 2nd round (this round is actually judged). I've managed to take some photos on the XDA for Ruro.

That's our presentation room behind Doug along with some of the Japan team, and of course the second photo is Tyson doing his modelling strut.

This post is also my first off the XDA.
In a few hours we'll find out who the final I 2 teams are...

Well the Imagine Cup is underway, but Doug has beaten me in the blog posting competition. That's Iguacu falls in the background which we visited this morning. I took a pile of photos too, but of course I have a film camera so you won't be seeing the results of those for a while.

We just did our first presentation, but it's just an intro, not a judged thing. Other than that, we've managed to spend 24 hours in Miami... it was tough! I've confirmed that I don't sleep on planes very well, even after almost 20 hours of travel.