If you need a look at Longhorn, but you couldn't make the PDC (or you're just dying for *another* look at Longhorn), WinHEC in May is the place to be. Of course, it's also the place to be if you're a PC h/w vendor, but then, you guys already know that. : )

In the most recent Microsoft Architecture Update newsletter, David Hill defines just what the heck Microsoft means when the sling around the term “smart client.” Worth reading for the Ven diagram alone.

Rory has graciously allowed me to volunteer as his code/slide monkey at his Portland Area .NET User’s Group meeting talk on Thursday, 2/26 at 6:30pm. The topic, in his words: "2/3 'Stuff you can use right now' and 1/3 'When pigs fly (Longhorn)'." I miss monkeying with my DM brethren, so I'm looking forward to this very much.

Steve Maine has written a very nice piece on anonymous delegates and higher order procedures in C# Whidbey. Enjoy. I know I did.

Jason Nadal posted a description of the DataTransformer. A DataTransformer is a handy way to transform data-bound data into another format, like a number into a formatted string or a string into a background color. Make sure to download the B sample, which shows things a little more completely.

If you haven't gotten the Indigo bug yet, Benjamin Mitchell lays out a nice, easily digestible Indigo intro on what all the fuss is about. I especially like the picture showing all communications roads leading to Indigo while maintaining the advantages of multiple styles of programming. Looking forward to reading more, Mr. Mitchell.

Adam Kinney is at it again, this time with a sample RSS Aggregator that uses Avalon's adaptive flow layout and some WinFS. Things are starting to get interesting...

In this post, Stan Lippman writes about the syntax for Param Arrays in VC++ Whidbey. And while I don’t do much C++ anymore, I’m reading his piece with rapt attention, just like I read all of his writing. However, one throw-away statement in this blog entry spoke to me particularly:

“If I had felt a larger space of available time, I would have motivated the presentation, pointing out the analogy with the existing uses of ellipsis, pointing out alternative designs and the associated problems, and in general leading the reader to an appreciation of what was chosen.”

When I write, I’m always striving to motivate, point out analogies, point out the alternatives and the associated problems and lead the reader to an appreciation of what was chosen (although I never could have stated it as clearly as Stan did w/o even trying). Apparently, I’ve been a Stan Lippman wannabe for years. Who knew? : )