What's latest @ CNUG

The student chapter of CNUG was launched yesterday. We had a two day event at PEC and approx 300 students from around 6 colleges were invited.

Day 1, we had sessions on .NET and on Day 2 we had Hands-on labs on .NET, ASP.NET and Webservices. We had a pretty decent pullout and people were pretty enthusiastic, particularly about the labs. Ashwani and Tejas from MS were here for the event. Hope CNUG Student chapter gets rolling now on.

UG CORE MEET - DELHI

Well we are gearing for ITPro meet in Delhi so a high time to get the things in order.
Lots of things in agenda but still the milestones need to be marked on this highway.

MoreOver the coordination is a big challenge in Delhi as we span across from Gurgaon - Haryana till ghaziabad UP through the corridors of Delhi(3 states 4 NCRs).

So meeting up to face the challenge we will be there at South Extension Barista at 6 Pm sharp on Wednesday ,23rd Feb 2005.

For any details please do call me up 9818197061 (veeru)

MSDN @ Campus Report

Hi!

I am Sunil Jagadish, Assistant Manager of BDotNETStudent. Further to Sabarish's post about MSDN @ Campus, I would like to present a report on the same.

MSDN @ Campus was a technical event held at National Institute of Technology (NITK) (formerly REC – Regional Engineering College), Surathkal and Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal, aimed at providing a launch-pad for students interested in .NET, Windows Embedded and Windows Mobile technologies. The event was organized by The Bangalore.NET Student (BDotNETStudent) user group in association with Microsoft India.

The technical sessions that were covered included - Next Generation Computing with .NET, Common Language Runtime Internals, Developing Applications in .NET, XML Webservices and Embedded Computing with WinCE and XP Embedded.

Number of attendees in NITK: 200+
Number of attendees in MIT: 190+

• The Head of the Dept. of Computer Science at NITK voluntarily came up with the idea of including .NET as an elective subject for students of any branch in their engineering course.

• The Heads of the Department of Computer Science and Information Science at MIT expressed their interest in Microsoft technologies and their close interaction with Microsoft as one of the Academic Partners.

• Various resources including books on C# and Visual Basic.NET, MSDN India Magazines and development tools like Visual Sudio 2005 Beta DVDs, VS 2005 Express Editions etc were presented to both the institutions.

• The students who attended the sessions came up with a lot of queries for the speakers and showed special interest in Webservices and Windows CE.

• All the attendees were given .NET Academic Resource Kits, VS 2005 Express Editions, Windows Mobile Development Kit and ASP.NET Webmatrix CDs.

• Adding taste to technology – Samosas and Tea/Coffee was also arranged

We are planning to cover more places in Karnataka.

msdn @ campus

Microsoft and BDotNETStudent

presents

msdn @ campus

An exclusive introductory session to Microsoft .NET and Windows Embedded

- Bangalore & Mangalore -

..........................................

Bangalore: 5th February 2005

Venue: MSRIT

Time: 10:00 AM

.

Mangalore: 12th February 2005

Venue 1: National Institute of Technology, Surathkal (REC)

Time: 8:30 AM

.

Venue 2: Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal

Time: 3:00 PM

ASP.NET Caching & TDD grace BDOTNET UG Meet

3 Feb: It was a special UG meet this time, because BDotNet was privileged to have Alexi Vorontsov, co-author of Test-Driven Development in Microsoft.NET, speak about the principles of Test Driven Development. Alexei, a great speaker I must say, started off on the basic philosophy of unit testing and explained why test driven or "test first" development could produce software of better quality and more amenable to changes in requirements. Owen Rogers and Alexei then demoed TDD in action by showing how Nunit framework could be used for writing and executing unit tests, taking the example of a simple Stack class. Alexei was also more than happy to take up questions the attendees had on test driven development.

Saravana, took the other session, Caching in ASP.NET. It was a good, informative session explaining in detail all the modes of caching that ASP.NET 1.1 provides. The session was accompanied by a lot of simple, easy to understand code samples. Saravana also explained various 'under the hood' details of caching. The session ended by a discussion on SQL Dependency implementation and a mention about Whidbey's caching improvements.

SQL Server BI day in Bangalore

Jan 22, Saturday:

Let me take this opportunity to say a couple of words about our UG and then talk about the event. SQLBang is a SQL Server SIG (Special Interest Group). We are recognized by the PASS (Professional Association of SQL Server) and INETA (International .NET Association). This is a unique and special opportunity for us in a way. This group primarily concentrates on SQL Server initiatives. With the start of the year our goal was to start with a Bang. And yes, we did it. We had our first big Event SQL Server BI Day.

The concept of SQL Server BI day was to get industry experts from the BI arena right to the UG stage. And this was quite tough to find. And to help us get the best to our Usergroup we asked INETA for help. This is where we met Dr. Nitin Paranjape (MD of Maestros (Mediline) and INETA Speaker). He is a prolific writer, trainer and orator. He is a Certified Information Systems Auditor. He has written over 750 articles in popular weekly column called ‘TechForum’ for “Express Computers” magazine. He has conducted more than 500 knowledge transfer sessions covering 6000+ professionals on various technical and medical topics. We had Dr. Nitin deliver a introduction session on OLAP and how it works in the present day ...

Our next focus was to get a speaker from the next generation technologies. This is where we had to ping Microsoft for help. And to our surprise we found Dr. Nat Natarajan (Technical Program Manager at Microsoft), he is responsible for driving Business Intelligence (BI) ISV ecosystem strategy and enabling Microsoft ISV partners in this space. Nat Natarajan has over 10 years experience in the IT industry with the last 6 years being at Microsoft. And this was a boon trip for us from an Usergroups perspective.

The session had a strength of around 120-140 people. The registrations started at around 1:30 at the Microsoft Center near Airport Road. And we had the speakers ready to start their sessions ... At sharp 2:00 we had Dr.Nitin start his talk. Nitin started the session with understanding the OLAP world, how it works, how we generate reports, analyzing reports, extensive use of how Excel can be used to generate amazing useful reports. During the presentation he mentions "Learn Excel and then learn OLAP :)" Nevertheless this introductory session on the basics of OLAP went for around 2 hours. It had to be restricted as Dr. Nitin had to fly back to Mumbai. Thanks INETA to facilitate the same.

We had a quick break and then we started the second session. This was from Dr. Nat Natrajan. Nat started his introduction to SQL Server 2005 BI features and how it can be mapped. He gave a feel of Reporting Services,Analytical services and performance management and how effectively this is being managed in the SQL Server 2005 world. He also took the opportunity to talk on the T-SQL Enhancements and the extensibility features of SQL Server 2005. DTS a.k.a SSIS was one of the hot topics and many questions did come up during the session. Even though 2 hours is too small of a window to talk even one feature completely, Nat did his best is making the audience realize to what is in store in the next upcoming version of SQL Server. To keep it short and sweet - "Yukon rocks!!!"

Dr. Nitin in Action:

Dr. Nat's Presentation:

And to add spice, excitement and more fun. I distributed some goodies at the event. We had short quizzes and lots of take-aways. Before I conclude I also wanted to add we are thrilled to conduct and see responses for such events. This has given me enough energy to have more sessions like this in the future too. Incidentally, Jan 22 also marks the second anniversary day for Bangalore .NET Usergroup (BDotNet). Hold on guys. We will celebrate it in a big way :) ...

Windows Services for UNIX Session by Gaurav Daga

---- Services for UNIX

January 6th 2005 we had a nice UG session (www.mugh.net) on Windows SFU by Gaurav Daga. It is really nice and good stuff for the IT people and students...... Even though the crowd is around 35+, it was an interactive and useful session.

Many people told me that the session was very useful ….Gaurav also covered about the Interix (a windows subsystem for compiling and running unix applications), Interix Tools and Utilities. Interix tools help us a lot in easy application migration and scripts from UNIX to Windows.

The session was very informative and after the session, I thought.... Wow.... Is Windows seamlessly interoperate with UNIX to this extent? !!!

I would say: SFU is the core thing in the Microsoft’s UNIX migration strategy and allows enterprises to deploy Windows based solutions in existing UNIX based environments.

Windows Services for UNIX 3.5 also includes more than 300 UNIX utilities and tools that behave as they would on UNIX systems, plus a software development kit (SDK) that supports more than 1,900 UNIX APIs and migration tools, including make, rcs, yacc, lex, cc, c89, nm, strip, gbd, as well as the gcc, g++, and g77 compilers.

Here the poster: UG Session on Microsoft Windows Services For Unix

Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX (SFU) 3.5 allows Windows–based and UNIX–based computers to share data, security credentials, and scripts. Windows Services for UNIX enables Windows and UNIX clients and servers to share network resources, integrates account management, simplifies cross-platform management, and provides a full UNIX scripting and application execution environment that runs natively on Windows.

For more info:

White Paper: Introduction to Windows Services for UNIX 3.5

Windows Services for UNIX 3.5 New Features Guide

White Paper: Windows Services for UNIX 3.5
Frequently Asked Questions

Whats up Bangalore?

Hi,

This is Sabarish from the Bangalore .NET Student User Group. Like CnugStudent - even we are in the midst of a 'Student Champ Recruitment Drive' although it hasnt really been very succesful (so far) here because our final exams are in progress. But we should see the drive getting some results when colleges reopen in February.

Similarly it is real bad timing for us with regard to the Imagine Cup 2005 - thanks to our exams we aren't able to concentrate on IC 2005 and not many students are taking active part in it here in Karnataka - atleast until February - but by then it might be too late for some invitationals.

Last semester (from August to December '04) BDotNETStudent conducted a lot of activities including our big event - The Date with .NET v2.0! We have lots of exciting events planned for next semester (starting February) - and I will post about them soon. Like Sriram is planning a trip to Coimbatore - we are planning a trip to Mangalore/Manipal to deliver sessions at some of the top colleges in Karnataka (NITK, Surathkal; MIT, Manipal, etc..) All of us are very excited about this!

Oh and before I forget - our first anniversary is coming up on January 31st!! We are planning on having a blast!! (most probably along with our parent UG - BDotNET - who also have their anniversary around the same time)

This blog is a great forum for all of us UG leaders to see what the others are doing and exchange ideas and ultimately ensure that the community at large benefits. I think this blog has a very apt title, because Indian Microsoft UGs sure do Rock!!

Student Champ drive over. Now, its time for the Imagine Cup

The most difficult aspect of blogging is the 'getting started' part. I'm yet to see a good 'first post', so let me just dive right in.

I run the Chennai .NET Student User Group which is one of the largest in India with over 1100 members. I have a techie blog which I update frequently.

For the past 2-3 weeks, we (the Tamil Nadu student champs) have been in the midst of a 'Student Champ Recruitment Drive'. The goal was to go out and get as many new student champs as possible from colleges where we don't have any student champs yet. This drive has proved a resounding success - our numbers have almost doubled.

Yesterday, I was at the Chennai Student Champ meeting with all the new champs and the conference room,usually half empty, could barely contain all the people in it. The air-conditioner definitely couldn't handle it. Instead of freezing as usual, all of us were fanning ourselves. I guess we all have to make a few sacrifices with the new additions to the family.

If you're from a college in Tamil Nadu and your college doesn't have a student champ yet, you should consider being a student champ. All you need is passion. Being a geek helps too.:-)


We launched the Imagine Cup drive yesterday with the objective and going out and getting people to sign up for the Imagine Cup. We already have over a 1000 registrations from India but the goal is to make that number closer to 10,000. If you're a student who loves technology, head on over to http://imagine.thespoke.net and press the big red button.

The next month or so should be quite exciting as we have a lot of activities lined up in Tamil Nadu. In particular, I'm very excited about travelling to Coimbatore in the first week of February for a big event there.

A roundtable meet with Gaurav Daga, Program Manager, SFU

Last week, MVPs in Bangalore got an opportunity to meet Gaurav Daga, Program Manager of SFU (Services for Unix). Till then, I was not really aware of what SFU really was and where it could be used. Gaurav gave a good presentation of SFU, covering both the benefits from the IT pro and the developer perspectives. The session basically dealt with version 3.5 of SFU, the latest and the greatest version so far. Of the many features of SFU, what appealed to me most is Interix, a windows subsystem for compiling and running unix applications, giving unix application developers an easy migration path to windows and thereby leverage the best of Windows and .NET functionality.

The session was very informative and though SFU does not apply to the kind of applications I am developing currently, it was good to understand it from the technology enthusiast's viewpoint. I am therefore looking forward to more such interactions.

For more information on SFU, visit here.

DNUGHs is now one year old

DNUGHS celebrations happened today at the Chip Auditorium from 2:30 to 4:30.A detailed agenda is also included.


Chief Guest: Mr.Vineeth Madhusudan, Groups Manager-SIT.
Guest of Honor: Mr.Abhishek Mathur, Development Manager-SIT.
Other Guests: Mr.Janakiram, Academic Evangelist.
Mr. Mark D’Souza, Developer Lead.
Mr.Vipin.S, Test lead.
Mr.Ambaprasad.

Agenda:

2:30-2:45 DNUGHS: Past Present & Future (Introductions Goals and achievements)
2:45-3:00 Chief Guest talks and Cake Cutting Ceremony.
3:00-4:00 Tech Talk -Express Editions(Mr.Janakiram).
4:00-4:30 “Raffle”: A contest of Talents (a goodies giveaway).
4:30-5:30 Xbox Community Launch.

I would like to thank Mr.Abhishek kant,Mr.Janakiram,Mr.Vineeth,Mr.Abhishek M for the support and for making this event a success.

But above all Thank you Microsoft.

My First Community Chat : VB 2005 Language Enhancements

A bit of tension, a bit of apprehension, a bit of uncertainty, great crowd - my first community chat!

Today, I got an opportunity to host a technical communities chat on the new language enhancements of VB 2005, for the first time. The response was pretty good with about fifty people and more than two dozens of questions to attend to. Being my first chat, I lacked the experience of conveying succinct information in little time. So, I ended up not answering a lot of questions. Nonetheless, I hope the chat was useful, for at least, I had a good set of links to share towards the end! The Chat Manager tool, I must say, is pretty user friendly and I didn't have any problems during the course of the chat.

Overall, I think it was a great experience to say the least, and I am looking forward to more in the future.

CNUG-IT Session on SFU By Program Manager Gaurav Daggan - SFU from Microsoft - Seattle

One of the best times in the history of CNUG-IT was that it had a Program Manager Gaurav Daggan - SFU from Microsoft - Seattle as speaker. This shows the great interest Microsoft has in the user group and shows how it extends itself to spreading the passion of community around.

The presentation was scheduled for 17th November and it was hosted in Microsoft Regional Office in Chennai. All regular members turned out for the presentation and they were all excited and keen to hear from Mr. Gaurav Daggan. The presentation started off with a discussion between Mr. Gaurav and the members who had already arrived. The members evinced interest in SFU and wanted to know all about SFU since this is one of the most exciting interoperability tool from Microsoft to bridge its famous Windows operating system with that of with one of the other leading competitor in the Operating System Market to say Unix as well as Linux.

Mr. Gaurav started with an introduction about the existing scenario of the server platform in the market and also discussed about the other platforms viz Unix and Linux. Then he spoke on how important it was for the customers of Windows to have access to Unix so that they could have access to both OS in the heterogenous market. He also gave demos on using SFU and how to access the unix volume from & within NT. There were a lot of discussions from the users and they had a lot of queries on SFU.

Myself and Mr. Gaurav discussed and shared our views with examples and case scenarios. The most surprising thing was that the meeting was planned for just 1 hour but it went on for 2 hours and finally late night the presentation got over and themembers were all excited at having listened to the Product Team demonstration of SFU.

As part of the group incentive, copies of evaluation software like windows,exchange server, MOM, etc were distributed to the members.

Why are we here?

UGs in India rock! With so many activities buzzing all over India, we need a common space to share all those wonderful activities. Blogging, happens to be the most popular channels to share information, providing an easy means of syndicating too. So, here we are!