MikeFitz with overflow bit set…

OK, so after ignoring many “Friend Requests” over the past few months, I’ve finally caved in and joined Crackbook Facebook.  It appears some people use that other name for it because it’s possible to waste a lot of time in there.

What tipped me over the edge was the fact that the upcoming Australian Blogging Conference has a Facebook page.  This, I had to see.

As it turns out, I’m glad I had a look.  What caught my eye was the “Developer” link at the bottom of each page.  Here I discovered excellent documentation on the Facebook Platform, the API used to develop Facebook Applications.  As one who is always interested in new ways of delivering data to the masses, I paid attention.

Now imagine that I had access to some data that a large number of people were interested to see (eg, the World Championship Marbles League, the Southern Oscillation Index, the countdown to Mrs Fitz’s next birthday).  I’d be keen to publish this as widely as possible.

First, I would publish a web service to supply this data.  Then I would distribute

• a Vista Gadget
• a SharePoint web part, and now
• a Facebook Application.

Here’s a link to my Facebook Profile.

This month’s QMSDNUG meeting looks at Workflow Foundation.

One impression of the .NET 3 uptake is that Windows Workflow puzzles a lot of people.  They are not quite sure about how it can apply to them.  Microsoft has focused on the “sexy” features of workflow such as “driving ASP.NET web site navigation” or the “Designer Rehosting capablities”.  Developers are asking “How does it apply to me?”

First-up, Michal Postula from Citect will explain how Workflow can help developers in their day to day application development.  He will show how this powerful architectural tool can reduce code coupling and increase development agility.  Specifically he will show how WF can apply to small and day-to-day projects.

Then, Joseph Plant will go into more detail focusing on the Pitfalls of Windows Workflow.  Joe will use demonstrations and code samples to hilight the things to watch out for in the current release of WF.

About the Presenters

• Joseph Plant. Senior Developer with Citect on Ampla, the Manufacturing Execution System. Joe has been with Citect for more than 10 years starting as a electrical engineer in their services department and then moving into software more than 5 years ago.
• Michal Postula. Technical Architect on Ampla. Diverse background ranging from startups to engineering applications to government departments. Key interest includes straddling the divide between business decision makers and geek satisfaction.

These details are also available on our QMSDNUG website at www.qmsdnug.org.

RSVP
All invited; attendance is free; pizzas, drinks supplied.  An immediate rsvp by email to mike@fitzsimon.com.au will help with planning.

Huniii
Photo courtesy Aurelius

I am re-creating the blog of a good blogging friend, Huniii, who, as far as we can tell, passed away in May 2007 after a long battle with cancer.  Via her blog (huniii.wordpress.com), Huniii’s words touched the hearts of many as she expressed her hopes, fears, desires and aspirations.

As Huniii’s readers, we laughed at her antics; we cried with her on the dark days; we soared when her son did well on the football field and we feigned shock at some of her language.  Read some of her comments; Huniii could banter with the best.

What happened

Sadly, in recent weeks someone has cracked her password, broken into her blog and even boasted about it, writing some immature posts in Huniii’s name.  Some commenters politely queried the wisdom of this action and met even more immature responses.  Two days ago, I noted that Huniii’s blog has been taken down.

What I have done…

I immediately tried to recover whatever I could from Google’s cache before it fades.  Then, as best I could, I have recreated Huniii’s blog at a similar but different address (hunii.wordpress.com).  The only exception is that I am trying not to post any information that might identify her family.

It has been painstaking work, recreating not only Huniii’s posts, but her readers’ comments as well, taking care to get even the dates and times right.  In many places, I have only fragments from syndicated blogs to work with.  As I write this, the job is probably about 50% done.

…and why.

Note that I am not pretending to be Huniii and this new blog is not Huniii’s original blog.  It is my recreation of her blog as a trubute to a dear friend.

I have placed only one post on Huniii’s new blog.  While my name appears on that one post, the rest of the words are Huniii’s.  I wouldn’t censor a syllable.

———————
Update 6 Sep 07
Lori has just come back with a sensible suggestion: we should publish Huniii’s blog as a book with proceeds to either cancer research or a trust fund for Bugalugs. Any thoughts?

———————
Update 11 Sep 07
Aurelius, a good friend of Huniii’s in real life has documented what he knows of the last weeks of Huniii’s original blog.  It’s an interesting read.

But more importantly, Aurelius has put his finger on what we learned from Huniii;  that it is possible to truly love our friends despite their flaws;  even “Big Gaping Flaws”.

I am /looking for an excuse/wondering if I can afford the time off/keen/ to attend the upcoming 1-day Australian Blogging Conference.

The schedule features an interesting range of blogging topics, including:

• The Politics of Blogging
• Business and Corporate Blogging
• Legal Issues
• Blogs, Creativity and Creative Commons
• and more.

Location: Creative Industries Precinct at QUT’s Kelvin Grove Campus.
Date: Friday, 28 September 2007
Time: 9:00 - 17:00

The conference is hosted by
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation and
- QUT Faculty of Law
and is sponsored by
- our good friends at Microsoft and
- GetUp! (getup.org.au).