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October 2003 - Posts

Upgrading Business Contact Manager 2003 from Beta

Posted Friday, October 31, 2003 5:42 PM by lauraj
A warning to users upgrading from the Office 2003 Business Contact Manager Beta: Export your contacts using the Beta software , and then once RTM is installed, import them back in.  The db isn't compatible between Beta and RTM.  We unfortunately learned Read More...
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What's the buzz?

Posted Thursday, October 30, 2003 1:52 PM by lauraj
Everywhere I've been this morning, I hear people talking about Lili Cheng's Social networking demo on Wednesday morning. I'm sad I missed it. Read More...
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All wound up

Posted Thursday, October 30, 2003 11:49 AM by lauraj
Warning: I'm all wound up today, so beware . I'm excited today. The exhibition part of the show is over, so I don t get to work the booth and do get to go to sessions and just hang out and talk to developers. I'm also really looking forward to getting Read More...
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Planning for Thursday

Posted Thursday, October 30, 2003 3:47 AM by lauraj
My plan for Thursday:   8:30 Real World Innovation panel with, among others, Lili Cheng (MSR) and Katie Drucker (New Markets, Incubation) in 501ABC   Talking to customers   1:45 Rocking the Web with ASP.net Whidbey panel with, among others, Read More...
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JuliaWhoCodes

Posted Thursday, October 30, 2003 2:54 AM by lauraj
Julia Lerman is amazing.   Everywhere I turn, there she is, talking to someone, hooking this person and that person up; she has apparently boundless energy. Then I read her blog, and she's been to all the sessions, too.  And then dinner with Read More...
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Misbehaving.net

Posted Thursday, October 30, 2003 2:01 AM by lauraj
Somehow I missed the launch of misbehaving.net !      misbehaving.net is a weblog about women and technology. It's a celebration of women's contributions to computing; a place to spotlight women's contributions as well point out new opportunities Read More...
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Missing the party

Posted Thursday, October 30, 2003 1:28 AM by lauraj
Tonight I'm skipping the PDC Attendee party at Universal Studios.  How could I even think of doing such a thing?  Frankly, I just need some alone time.  I'm over stimulated.   I know I'm not alone in this feeling, since G. Andrew Read More...
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California news

Posted Wednesday, October 29, 2003 7:26 PM by lauraj
Fires continue, the sky is pretty grey here today.  LA Times has good coverage if you're looking for information on what's been happening.  Apparently we also just had an earthquake  (although I didn't feel it) and I think I saw a Read More...
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More ASP.net Whidbey

Posted Wednesday, October 29, 2003 7:03 PM by lauraj
Dang, I should have looked a little more deeply on MSDN and included this download in my previous post: http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/whidbey . Kent has some really great content up there, as usual. Read More...
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You *must* check out MSDN

Posted Tuesday, October 28, 2003 8:17 PM by lauraj
Over the last several months, everyone at MSDN has been working really hard to present a wealth of features and content for the PDC.  Of course you’re probably already been to the Longhorn Developer Center and the PDC Central site, but have Read More...
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Slides and demos from the ASP.net Whidbey presentations

Posted Tuesday, October 28, 2003 6:50 PM by lauraj
If you're as excited as I am about ASP.net Whidbey, be sure to stop by http://www.asp.net/whidbey to see lots of great content.  You can even download slides and demos from the talks at PDC. Read More...
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Oh look, it's me!

Posted Tuesday, October 28, 2003 6:45 PM by lauraj
Okay, this is a really really bad picture, but if you see me walking by, stop me and say hello :) Read More...
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Working the MSDN Booth

Posted Tuesday, October 28, 2003 6:44 PM by lauraj
Wow, the time is going by so quickly here at PDC.  I've been working the MSDN booth a lot.  We had some pretty cool swag, which was fun, but somewhat frustrating as well. Lots of folks are interested in how much cool stuff they can collect.  Read More...
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Want to see what I'm seeing?

Posted Monday, October 27, 2003 6:33 PM by lauraj
If you want to see what I'm seeing, check out my moblog (at least when I remember to use the camera).  I'm also posting to the pdc moblog . Read More...
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At PDC, Sunday night

Posted Monday, October 27, 2003 1:00 PM by lauraj
This is the post that I would have made last night if I had not crashed my blog.  BIG thanks to the wonderful Tina for fixing it! Tonight, those of us who are helping to staff the booths had a mandatory pre-conference meeting.   We got some Read More...
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LAX closed due to smoke?

Posted Sunday, October 26, 2003 1:41 PM by lauraj
There are several MSDN folks at the airport right now, and they've reported that LAX may be closed due to smoke.  If you're headed to LA and PDC today, best to check with your airline to see if your flight is delayed. Read More...
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Ignore this entry

Posted Sunday, October 26, 2003 1:28 PM by lauraj
This is the entry that crashed my blog.  I can't seem to delete it, so just ignore this, will you? ;-) Read More...
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Forecast: 87 degrees and smoke

Posted Sunday, October 26, 2003 1:28 PM by lauraj
I’m in Orange County and this morning we woke up to an Orange sun.   Everything carries a thick coating of other people’s lives, in the form of ashes.   Kids out riding their bikes wearing medical masks. The grocery store picketers have them Read More...
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Dialing up

Posted Sunday, October 26, 2003 1:20 PM by lauraj
I hate not having a connection to the internet.   I’m doing a thorough scan of my parents ‘puter and am bored to tears.   Can’t use that system, scan will restart.   Although don’t know why I’m bothering, the dang thing restarts again and Read More...
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Wrapped up and on the way

Posted Saturday, October 25, 2003 5:39 PM by lauraj
Well, I’m in route to LA.   A day early, but I’m going to squeeze in a quick visit to my parents.   Saturday morning appears to be the travel time of choice for people with kids, on the way to Disneyland .   To think that I’m Read More...
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Quick updates

Posted Thursday, October 23, 2003 8:55 PM by lauraj
I got my t-shirt , yay!  Thanks to Jeff! I know you already know this, but bring your laptop to PDC, there's going to be great WiFi access. The new http://blogs.gotdotnet.com home page is live!  How do you like it? If you got to this page by Read More...
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What's the deal with...

Posted Thursday, October 23, 2003 2:14 AM by lauraj
This morning, as I was driving my 11 year old son to school, one of the morning show announcers said "And after our break, the dark side of viagra." Even as I'm reaching for the tuner, this prompts, of course, "So what's the deal with viagra?"  Read More...
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Hey, it's Betsy!

Posted Thursday, October 23, 2003 1:48 AM by lauraj
Hey, Betsy Aoki , our (not quite so) new Community Manager at MSDN, is blogging. Those of you who are GDN fans have already met her on the message boards. Betsy's going to be my roommate at PDC, and she told me the other day that her personal goal Read More...
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Blogger Hoodie

Posted Thursday, October 23, 2003 1:24 AM by lauraj
Today my {Thank you | I'm sorry} Blogger Pro hoodie sweatshirt arrived.  I feel so much better about the dumbing down of Blogger now.  ~sigh~   Read More...
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Tick, tick, tick

Posted Thursday, October 23, 2003 1:20 AM by lauraj
We're getting very very close to wrapping up (about time, I bet you're thinking) with everything we're doing for PDC.  We can track all the issues on a single whiteboard now (both Andy Oakley and Sean, who you'll have the opportunity to meet in Read More...
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I'd be happy to take a picture

Posted Tuesday, October 21, 2003 11:41 AM by lauraj
With my new t-shirt on the way to PDC , if only I had one. ~sigh~ Read More...
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Wow, record rainfall

Posted Tuesday, October 21, 2003 11:34 AM by lauraj
Knew it was wet, but yesterday's rainfall broke all kinds of records .  Over 5 inches at the Seatac airport! Looking forward to sunny and warm in LA.   Read More...
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Bad things about the Treo 600, or I'm annoyed as hell

Posted Tuesday, October 21, 2003 1:50 AM by lauraj
Okay, just to be "fair and balanced", I have to tell you about 2 things that I find extremely annoying about the Treo 600.  1) Download a ringtone, just one ringtone, and your system sounds are toast.  Apparently you have to download Read More...
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New Office Developer Center on MSDN

Posted Monday, October 20, 2003 1:13 PM by lauraj
Check out the rockin' new Dev Center for Office  on MSDN!  Letter from the editor here . Read More...
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Blog To Do

Posted Monday, October 20, 2003 1:28 AM by lauraj
Figure out what the description box in BlogX is good for. Update my blogroll.  I should be able to export from Sharpreader. Do something about my categories.  This is what happens in Outlook, too.  I start off with grand plans for a few Read More...
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The rule of 3

Posted Monday, October 20, 2003 1:21 AM by lauraj
Remember to apply the rule of three with decision-making. If you don't have three valid options, (one of which might be to continue on) you don't understand the problem. If you think your only option is to maintain the status quo, you're not working to Read More...
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Warning: This is NOT an accurate representation of how the project will unfold

Posted Monday, October 20, 2003 1:10 AM by lauraj
(True North pgs, Inc.) has long proposed getting a stamp for every documented plan or schedule that says "Warning: This is NOT an accurate representation of how the project will unfold." Every really experienced project manager knows this -- yet somewhere Read More...
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When to outsource

Posted Monday, October 20, 2003 12:59 AM by lauraj
David Anderson quotes an answer by his boss on outsourcing at an all hands meeting.  We will outsource when there is no knowledge associated with an activity, such as repetitive execution of test plans. We will not outsource where there is knowledge Read More...
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Agile methods for assessing progress

Posted Monday, October 20, 2003 12:42 AM by lauraj
Robert Martin  points out that the important thing about Agile methods is that they produce real data, and data is what you need in order to really know where you are.  Compare that to how most software projects are run. They begin with Read More...
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Outsourcing

Posted Monday, October 20, 2003 12:30 AM by lauraj
I've been thinking about outsourcing a lot recently.  The difference in the apparent project costs is very appealing, from a management standpoint, but I wonder if outsourcing large chunks of development can really be successful over the long term.  Read More...
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The potential costs of blogging

Posted Sunday, October 19, 2003 9:25 PM by lauraj
John Dowdell talks about the potential costs of blogging.  I'm finding this discussion particularly timely, as I'm following an internal discussion alias email thread about blogging at MS. Me, I'm not likely to blog about anything controversial Read More...
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BOF schedule grid

Posted Sunday, October 19, 2003 1:05 AM by lauraj
If you are trying to figure out your BOF sessions at PDC, check out the grid that Jeffrey McManus put together. It makes it easier for me to plot my course, seeing it this way, so thanks Jeffrey!   I sure hope they do the overall PDC schedule Read More...
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Liberating Chris

Posted Sunday, October 19, 2003 12:25 AM by lauraj
Scoble suggests, in the comments to this post , that we liberate the cardboard Chris (cC).  I'm totally game, should be easy to nip right in during dinner or late night snack one night this week -- I'm guessing there will be some late nights.  Read More...
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Treo 600 initial impressions

Posted Sunday, October 19, 2003 12:09 AM by lauraj
So far, as expected, I love my new Treo 600.  There are so many improvements in the user interface; you can easily get anything from anywhere, and you hardly have to use the touchscreen to do it.  And it feels good in my hand.  The keyboard Read More...
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Lifesize Chris

Posted Saturday, October 18, 2003 11:40 PM by lauraj
Okay, this is too funny.... A ChrisAn post that links to a picture of ChrisAn practicing for PDC in Don Box's office, and you can easily see a life-sized stand-up of Chris Sells.  And Don talking about the impact that the cardboard Chris has Read More...
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Oops...

Posted Friday, October 17, 2003 11:54 AM by lauraj
The red x here is *not* a beautiful thing.  I'm begging Betsy to upload it to GDN for me.  In the "I believe in magic" category, I thought just because this BlogX BlogEditor client let me add it, it would show up. Hey, it showed up when *I* Read More...
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Looking for a job...

Posted Friday, October 17, 2003 2:31 AM by lauraj
A friend and former co-worker of mine is interviewing for a release PM job on the Indigo team.  She's a kick-ass PM, and one of those people who I'd love to work with again. I wish we had an opening here at MSDN.  I have to admit, Read More...
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Rainy day

Posted Friday, October 17, 2003 2:06 AM by lauraj
Today it rained all day.  Parking around our building genearlly sucks.  On rainy days it really SUCKS.  If you get to work past 9, which I did today, it can be brutal.  I got soaked walking in to the building, but at least Read More...
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It's a beautiful thing...

Posted Friday, October 17, 2003 12:36 AM by lauraj
My new Treo 600... And I have too much work to do right now to play with it.  But it's a beautiful thing. Read More...
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It's shipped, Woo Hoo!

Posted Thursday, October 16, 2003 12:38 AM by lauraj
Dear Laura John, Thank you for shopping with Handspring! We're pleased to let you know that your order has been shipped. We appreciate your business and hope you visit our site again soon to see the latest Handspring products. WOO HOO, it's on it's way Read More...
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PDC, Oh My...

Posted Wednesday, October 15, 2003 7:27 PM by lauraj
I was planning on blogging tonight about how pervasive the pseudo-word "Post-PDC" has become in my vocabulary.  I don't have time for anything else in my schedule unless it's PDC related, so I've been saying things like: "maybe we Read More...
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What I wonder about FOO camp

Posted Wednesday, October 15, 2003 2:06 AM by lauraj
FOO camp sounds pretty amazing... and also unreal, really, to a peon like me ;-)  I've read several of the write-ups, and I'm intrigued by the way the sessions got organized (no surprise here).  A couple of people alluded to it, and Jeremy Zawodny Read More...
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Data and statistics

Posted Monday, October 13, 2003 2:03 AM by lauraj
If you're ever looking for stats on the web, this site is a great place to start.  Unless it's Internet stats you're looking for, then I'd start here . Read More...
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Surf camp

Posted Monday, October 13, 2003 1:21 AM by lauraj
My brother is surfing in Fiji, or at least he was late last week.  I'm only a little bit jealous. I can't even imagine what it must be like at Tavarua , considered one of the best surfing spots in the world.  He seems to enjoy it every Read More...
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Wouldn't it be nice

Posted Sunday, October 12, 2003 5:39 PM by lauraj
This morning I spent some time drooling over this multi-monitor configuration.  A bit out of my league, but as long as I'm dreaming, the 2x23.1" digital will do just fine.  Read More...
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Sleeping on it

Posted Saturday, October 11, 2003 2:45 PM by lauraj
Sometimes sleeping on it makes all the difference in the world.  In a few short days it will be in my hot little hands. I hate the arms length thing between Handspring and the service providers, though: By proceeding with purchase, you agree that Read More...
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Only 19 decision making days left

Posted Saturday, October 11, 2003 12:24 AM by lauraj
The Treo 600 is out, complete with an upgrade offer for us 300 owners, and you don't even have to give up your old Treo!  (Although if the Serial Number entry works as poorly as it does in the support/download area, I'd be out of luck.)  Offer Read More...
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On the road to Yukon

Posted Saturday, October 11, 2003 12:08 AM by lauraj
A public step on the road to Yukon . Read More...
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The road map to peace is dead

Posted Friday, October 10, 2003 11:47 PM by lauraj
The one thing that causes me despair in what is otherwise a pretty damn good life is the Israel-Palestinian conflict.  Too many times I've seen intelligent and reasonable people that I love and respect stop just short of blows in passionate discussions Read More...
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Rock, paper, scissors

Posted Friday, October 10, 2003 10:52 PM by lauraj
Wow .  Who knew?  (Well besides John Dowdell , that is!) Read More...
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Ad hoc and Random

Posted Friday, October 10, 2003 5:50 PM by lauraj
Just when I thought they were starting to feel the love, Duncan and Kent , two of our most prolific content strategists, have taken the aliases Ad Hoc and Random.  I already said I was sorry for my comment, I guess I'll just have to try harder ;- Read More...
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Thayer's visit

Posted Friday, October 10, 2003 2:32 PM by lauraj
Yesterday evening Thayer came to visit me. My office has tons of candy and snacks sitting on a table, and Thayer knows well where they are. As he stands staring at the candy on the table... Hi Thayer, would you like a candy? Yes. Which one would you like? Read More...
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Johanna Rothman on Agile techniques

Posted Friday, October 10, 2003 2:27 AM by lauraj
Johanna is one of those people who, if I'd never met her, I would hold her in awe. She has great insights, really gets managing product development, and is an all-round good person, too.  Plus, she works amazingly hard.  Today she was talking Read More...
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H2O: CyberPrivacy

Posted Friday, October 10, 2003 1:56 AM by lauraj
Today I signed up for CyberPrivacy , a seminar/discussion thing hosted on H2O out of Berkman .  What, if any, information should be shielded from snoopy marketers, government agencies or database-keepers? Do individuals have a right of informational Read More...
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One of my favorite reads these days: Rebecca Blood

Posted Friday, October 10, 2003 1:44 AM by lauraj
One of my favorite reads these days is Rebecca's Pocket .  I love her style, she finds all kinds of interesting things to link to, she writes well and tells us what she thinks rather than just linking, she cares about a lot of the same things I do, Read More...
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Yeah, what Brian said!

Posted Friday, October 10, 2003 12:03 AM by lauraj
Brian Johnson says he wants to meet MVP's at PDC. Yeah, what he says ;-)  But not just MVP's, I want to meet all types of developers!  Feel free to email me or come to the Women who Code BoF. I'll also be at the MSDN booth a bunch, Read More...
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I work with the funnest people!

Posted Thursday, October 09, 2003 11:37 PM by lauraj
Or is that the most fun?   Whatever.  This made me laugh almost as much as Sean and Chris dancing together at the last MSDN BBQ, but I guess it would be rude to post pictures of that without permission ;-) Read More...
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Hotel came through

Posted Thursday, October 09, 2003 1:01 AM by lauraj
Oh, and one more thing, my hotel came through for the 4th night .  Thanks for all the offers of couches and floors ;-) Read More...
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Boggled

Posted Thursday, October 09, 2003 12:57 AM by lauraj
It's been a long day.  The tension around deliverables for PDC builds, and sometimes clashes with the enthusiasm and passion that everyone has for what they are doing.  Things get said, people react, more things get said, feelings get hurt and Read More...
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Unsolicited email

Posted Wednesday, October 08, 2003 11:57 AM by lauraj
I stayed at the Westin last Saturday night.  When I made the reservation, they asked for my email address so they could send me a confirmation.  I asked at the time if they would use my email address for anything else and they Read More...
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People at Microsoft

Posted Wednesday, October 08, 2003 1:28 AM by lauraj
John Pocaro has several fab posts today -- great insights as always. He also points us to a new entry on DianeR's blog , which was new to me -- some amazingly personal insights, very inspiring. She's officially on my list of future recipients of my "Hi Read More...
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Sharepoint Alerts

Posted Wednesday, October 08, 2003 12:41 AM by lauraj
Sharepoint Alerts are pretty cool. One of my challenges is managing all of my potential inputs... email, voicemail, wiki, rss feeds, and internal Sharepoint sites, to mention just a few. ( And that's just at work.) By setting Sharepoint Alerts for the Read More...
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Not on CorpNet

Posted Wednesday, October 08, 2003 12:30 AM by lauraj
The one bad thing about RPC over HTTP in Outlook is that it teases you into thinking that you're on the corporate network when youre not. Most of the links in email don't work. So, should I go get my smart card? Nah, guess I'll just have to read instead Read More...
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One recall down, apparently

Posted Tuesday, October 07, 2003 11:10 PM by lauraj
At least according to the exit polls. The talking heads, and five minutes is enough, are talking about the strengths he brings to the office: the discipline of long term body building, and being in the movies. Any bets on how long it will be until the Read More...
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Women who Code (and the rest of us too!)

Posted Tuesday, October 07, 2003 11:17 AM by lauraj
If you're a woman who codes or is involved in technology and you're going to PDC, you should check out this proposed BoF session: A lot of programmers are women - perhaps 10-20% of the industry, but it' s