SharePoint Daily for February 24, 2009

Top News Stories
Planning Global Enterprise SharePoint Deployments (SearchWinIT)
To distribute or not to distribute? The more centralized your SharePoint deployment is, the better it works— but your remote users might not be very happy. Before making any decisions about deploying your enterprise SharePoint globally, consider the priorities and preferences of your stakeholders.

How MOSS Can Help Improve Business Processes (CMSWire)
As one of the most widely used document collaboration tools, it is no wonder organizations want to understand how to build better business processes in SharePoint. Of course, not all documents are electronic. Organizations still deal with a vast amount of paper-based information. So you look for document imaging software to help you get those documents into SharePoint easily. But once they are there, how can you leverage the SharePoint environment to improve your business processes?

Latest Market Study Shows SharePoint Requires More Effort and Dollars Than Expected (PR-inside)
A recently released market study conducted by Information Architected (on behalf of AIIM and Oracle), found that half of the organizations using SharePoint experienced more effort and budget than expected in development of the SharePoint solution, and point to integration issues as among the greatest challenges to deployment.

Digital Asset Management in 2009: Trends, Features and SharePoint Integration (CMSWire)
Digital Asset Management is an important part of any organization's content management strategy. Whether it's used to support web content management or enterprise content management, the requirements for a DAM solution have gone far beyond just a solution for storing digital assets.

Microsoft’s MashupOS leaps like a Gazelle (ZDNet)
Tracking Microsoft Research projects is a tricky business. Take “Gazelle,” for example. Gazelle, according to a new Microsoft technical report, is a “secure web browser constructed as a multi-principal OS.” I’m betting Microsoft will show off Gazelle at its TechFest ‘09 research fair, which opens in Redmond on February 24. (The first day of TechFest is primarily for the press and analysts; the rest of the week, it is geared toward Microsoft employees.)

When Good Browsers Go Bad -- And They All Do (ComputerWorld)
Jeffrey Zeldman must have thought he'd never live to see the day. Ten years after he co-founded the Web Standards Project, all of the major browser vendors have shown renewed commitment to supporting World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards in the last few years -- and they're following through.

Microsoft Hopes To Train 2 Million In IT By 2012 (InformationWeek)
Microsoft launched a new program this week called Elevate America that aims to provide technology training to as many as 2 million people during the next three years, often with free training that until now would have cost budding IT and information workers money. As part of the program, Microsoft will work with state and local agencies, partners, nonprofits, and community organizations to identify people interested in acquiring Microsoft certifications or taking basic technology training courses in class or online. The company also will maintain a Web site where people can get started with their training.

Does Cloud Computing Eliminate Complexity? (InfoWorld)
Some cloud computing vendors are selling the cloud as a way to eliminate complexity, but that's simply not true.

Windows 7 Will be "Great for Games" (GameIndustry)
Microsoft's VP of the Interactive Entertainment Business for the EMEA region, Chris Lewis, has told GamesIndustry.biz that the corporation's next major PC operating system, Windows 7, will be a positive step over and above Vista with respect to gaming. "Windows 7 will be great for games, undoubtedly," he said. "It's all good news - it's even more robust, it's quicker relatively, and the early testing cycles are proving very promising overall.

Around the Blogosphere
The Ultimate SharePoint Development Tool and the New release of VSeWSS 1.3 CTP and STSDev 2008 v2.0 (Jeremy Thake)
What is STSDev? STSDev codeplex project originally started by the Ted Pattison Group David Mann is currently the lead on this although there have been no updates for a long time. STSDev v1.3 is a stable product which is widely used across the community, along with WSPBuilder. I won't repeat what has been compared already on the Wiki (definately worth a read!).

My Second Interview on the SharePoint Pod Show – This Time with Colleague Ted Pattison (Andrew Connell)
Last week while we were both in Nashville, TN working on different projects, Ted Pattison and I sat down with Rob Foster for an interview for the popular SharePoint Pod Show… episode #17! In this interview Rob talked to us about different development techniques and tools… and just some random banter. As you can see from the photo, it was a very intense interview… and it was just the start of a fun evening.

7 Ways to Leverage SharePoint for Project Management Success (EndUserSharePoint)
My good friend Dux Raymond Sy is giving a free online presentation on  Friday. If you’ve got time, definitely worth a quick listen.

SharePoint and Forms Based Authentication - Where is Client Integration? (SharePoint Buzz)
Recently, I have been helping a client enable Forms Based Authentication.  I tweeted earlier today that I was working on a draft version of this post and the SharePoint Twitter community immediately chimed in with some helpful tweets:

The One Best-practice to Rule Them All - Part 3 (Clever Workarounds)
This is the third post in a series that focuses on what I think is the Holy Grail of project success - particularly SharePoint projects. Like everybody else, I am a product of my experiences, and one of these experiences was a project that included one of my greatest career teachers - "SharePoint-vs.-Skype guy". If you have not yet heard of this luminary of SharePoint folklore, then I suggest you go back to Part 1 of this series and start there. Starting here at part 3 really makes no sense at all…seriously.

MobilityRedirect (SharePoint Developer Resources)
SharePoint v3 and MOSS 2007 offers a built-in support for mobile devices by using the so called “mobile views“, a feature that permits to a mobile user (Pocket PC or Smartphone for example) to connect to a SharePoint page and interact with its data.

Around Bamboo Nation
Non-IE Browser Limitations & (Lack of) Display Styles in a SharePoint Picture Library (SharePoint Blank)
I'm starting to think I might have to ask EricJ to guest blog for me since today marks the second blog in a row in which I've got him to thank for providing the answer to a question which had been raised hereabouts.  In my blog on Applying a Drop Down Actions Menu to files in a SharePoint Picture Library, I mentioned that there are three display styles (Details, Thumbnails, and Filmstrip) which are associated with the View option for All Pictures in a display library.  In response to that post, piku asked: In my environment I can see the "All Pictures" menu but it does not have the three associated links Details, Thumbnails, Filmstrip. Is this a setting that has to be turned on?

Cross-Application Membership Access Provider (CAMAP) Model (The Bamboo Team Blog)
A while ago I came to a need to instantiate membership providers dispersed across a SharePoint farm where each membership provider is configured to work with separate web application, and recently I stripped the idea out to a component that you can easily reuse for different applications, therefore, Cross Application Membership Access Provider Model (The CAMAP Model, pronounced k-map), as the name depicts, it’s a model you can use to access membership providers across a farm. I will start brushing about Form-based authentication and membership providers in SharePoint as the CAMAP model relates to that, then I will explain the problem matter that lead me to design the model.

Bamboo Theatre Presents - An Introduction to the Bamboo Suites (The Bamboo Team Blog)
Here's the deal -- for those of you who've been following the comings and goings here at Bamboo, you've probably heard about the Bamboo Suites. If you're on the fence about what they can do for you, (or what's in them), we've put together a video showcasing each of them, and some of the benefits. If you're up for it, you can grab some popcorn and dive right in.

This Week in Bamboo (Feb 15th - Feb 21st, 2009) (The Bamboo Team Blog)
While you are having fun celebrating Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day, at Bamboo we continue working hard on bringing you new products and releasing patches with new features and bug fixes. The highlight for this week is the release of User Management Solution Accelerator R2.0. Please see the release notes below for more details. User Management Solution Accelerator (SA01 R2.0.4), User Directory Web Part (HW08 R1.4.86), Password Reset Web Part (HW10 R2.1.40), Password Change Web Part (HW06 R3.2.45) and SharePoint In/Out Schedule Board (SA06 v1.0.35).

Microsoft Updates
Change Your Regional Settings (Windows SharePoint Services)
Every site (both top-level Web sites and subsites) can be customized to use specific regional settings that are used as the default regional settings for all users of your site. Individual users can choose to use the default settings set by the site owner or specify their own personal settings. You can specify the following regional settings:

Introduction to Windows SharePoint Services in International Environments (Windows SharePoint Services)
Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 provides a culture-specific experience that enables site owners to create sites in a specific language and configure the regional settings that are appropriate for those sites. Note that the language that the site uses is determined only during site creation and cannot be changed at a later date. If a server administrator has installed one or more language packs on the server, the site owner or site collection administrator can choose which language to use for the new site, based on the language packs that are currently installed.

SharePoint Events*
February 24, Christchurch, New Zealand, Christchurch SharePoint User Group
February 25, Online, SharePoint Project Management Webinar
February 25, Online, SharePoint Administration Webinar
February 25, Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland SharePoint User Group
February 25, Melbourne, Australia, Microsoft Office System Special Interest Group 
February 26, Phoenix, Arizona, Arizona SharePoint Professionals Group
February 26, Online, What's New from Bamboo
February 27, Online, Create a Master Calendar in SharePoint
February 27, Online, 7 Ways to Leverage SharePoint for Project Management Success

March 3, Chicago, Illinois, The Chicago Microsoft SharePoint Business Strategies Group
March 4 Online, SharePoint Project Management Webinar
March 4, Online, SharePoint Administration Webinar
March 11, Online, SharePoint Project Management Webinar
March 11 Online, SharePoint Administration Webinar
March 12, Online, 'What's New from Bamboo?' Webinar Series
March 14, Boston, Massachusetts, SharePoint Saturday
March 18, Online, SharePoint Project Management Webinar
March 18, Online, SharePoint Administration Webinar
March 22-24, Baltimore, Maryland, SharePoint .Org Conference
March 25, Online, SharePoint Project Management Webinar
March 25, Online, SharePoint Administration Webinar
March 26, Online, 'What's New from Bamboo?' Webinar Series
March 28, Tulsa, Oklahoma, SharePoint Saturday

April 1, Online, SharePoint Project Management Webinar
April 1, Online, SharePoint Administration Webinar
April 6-8, London, England, SharePoint Best Practices Conference
April 6-8, Montreal, Quebec, SharePoint Summit 2009
April 9, Online, 'What's New from Bamboo?' Webinar Series
April 18, Atlanta, Georgia, SharePoint Saturday
April 23, Online, 'What's New from Bamboo?' Webinar Series

* Please contact Chris Dooley (chris.dooley@bamboosolutions.com) to include your event in our listing.

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