Last weekend (April 23rd and 24th) was the first Code Camp Oz. The event was fantastic, great and excellent, and well worth attending. Well done to all the organisers and speakers. I have started writing my thoughts on the weekend in my “Code Camp Oz 2005 Diaries“ articles section. Of course I'm not the only one blogging this - Frank Arrigo has collated some of the blog entries on Code Camp. Once again, it was a great weekend.

This is more a mental note for me...I finally decided to take the time to add a new template (based on an Inherited User Control) to the Visual Studio “Add New Item” dialog. Here's what I wanted, and eventually got (note: I work in VB.NET, so what you see may vary): First off I got the new item, icon, and positioning in the list (2nd, next to Windows Form) working by fiddling around in the “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003\Vb7\VBProjectItems“ and “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003\Vb7\VBWizards“ folders, copying and amending the existing “WinForm” items. This is pretty straightforward...

I thought perhaps a better title for this post was “You'd have to be an idiot not to read blogs“, but realised that's probably offensive (even though anyone who read it would not be an idiot, because they'd be reading a blog anyway). I had a thought today that blogs are becoming integral to my world as a developer, and I'm wondering if the same sort of content can even be found through other “channels“. There's a couple of good ways of spreading information that I've been part of: conferences or other events (might include hand-outs or sample ware) personal websites (here I...

I'm a software guy, no question about it. I just don't “get” hardware. I struggled at Uni with the classes on computer architecture and still can only barely tell my ROM from my RAM. So when our new-ish 2nd-hand home computer began playing up, I went through various emotional & mental phases. I reasoned that I got such a good deal on the PC (a private sale), that I didn't want to take it back (this is a mistake; you should always get what you pay for, and not be emotionally attached!). I also believed that somehow I'd caused the problem so I...

Maxim Karpov does a good write-up of what a Code Camp is. I'm looking forward to the Oz version. Got me some transport, and a place to stay. And I'm all ready to sing around the campfire...

When I was a kid I was huge fan of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series of books. What if there was a "Choose Your Own Tech Blog Post"... This week I noticed that everyoneMicrosoftthe Australian Governmentmy long-lost relative had put up an interesting and relevantitemisedemu-shapedapple-flavoured8 x 4 footanonymous bit of news regarding the new Visual Studio.NET betaVB6 petitionblogging policyOlympic-size swimming poolplan for world dominationsolar-powered mouseedible solar-powered mouseedible leather solar-powered mouse that's been doing the rounds. I've only been developingdeveloping a colddeveloping a cold and an aversion to my own sense of humourin the loopout of the loop for an underground organisationkicks5...