I found out about a great piece of Mockup software to quickly generate a mockup screen for your applications called Balsamiq Mockups. The software is distributed as an Adobe Air application that you can install locally to your PC.

Mockups For Desktop allows you to work on your UI wherever you are, regardless of your Internet connection. It works on planes, at coffee shops, and wherever you like to do uninterrupted work. Import and Export features ensure seamless integration with all the other versions of Mockups, for when you get back online. Plus you can load and save multiple mockups files, use all keyboard shortcuts and lots more.

Here is an example screen mockup that you can create in the software:

I was able to quickly create a web page template as a demo for a project that I am working on in only a few minutes of work. The Balsamiq Mockup software has many templates to use to create mockups. You can even create your own templates or download more at http://www.mockupstogo.net/.

I have not had any problems with the application so far and would recommend you trying it out on your next project as a quick way to mockup a screen for a presentation to your customers or to be used by your developers to create the real screen.

As Jay Smith mentioned, if you haven’t already registered for the Nwa Code Camp you need to get with it.  The event is schedule for April 25 and space is limited.

To register please visit http://codecamp.nwadnug.org and click on the register link at the top of the screen.

This is the first attempt to have a regional event in Northwest Arkansas and we will be closely monitoring attendance to determine if we should continue to create events of this nature in this area.

There will be 3 tracks with 12 sessions on various topics, everything from SharePoint, Windows Communication all the way to iPhone development. This event is being sponsored by the local Northwest Arkansas .NET Users Group.

Please forward this information on to everyone you know that would be interested and encourage them to attend. Think of this as free training in a time where training and travel budgets are being cut daily.

We need your help making this an event a huge success in our area.

The School of Dev 2009 Conference is coming up soon on Saturday, March 28th 2009 is going to be bigger and better than ever!  This year the School of Dev is joining efforts with the first ever SharePoint Saturday Tulsa!

Offering something for everyone! SharePoint End Users, Developers, Administrators and Architects.  Of course, the School of Dev content will continue to deliver for everyone from beginner to advanced developer!

You think you already know it all? Show up and you'll feel like you should be a contestant on "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?".

Registration will be open soon, so keep your eye on the School of Dev 2009 site for more details.

Microsoft came through with its promise to put the Release Candidate of MVC out by the end of January. They barely made their promise, but the new version is out and ready to go. You can check out Scott Guthrie's great overview of the ASP.NET MVC Release Candidate 1. Phil Haack has posted his review of the release as well.

There was a bug that Phil discusses that was found after the release with the head section of a web page. This issue should be corrected soon.

There are some great videos and tutorial on the ASP.NET MVC website that will help you get started using the MVC project type in Visual Studio.

Here are some of the great tutorials from the MVC website:

• ASP.NET MVC Overview
• Creating a Movie Database Application
• Understanding Models, Views, and Controllers
• Understanding Controllers, Controller Actions, and Action Results
• Understanding Views, View Data, and HTML Helpers
• ASP.NET MVC Routing Overview
• Preventing JavaScript Injection Attacks
• Creating Unit Tests for ASP.NET MVC Applications
• Using ASP.NET MVC with Different Versions of IIS
• Creating Custom HTML Helpers
• Creating Model Classes with LINQ to SQL
• Displaying a Table of Database Data
• Creating Page Layouts with View Master Pages
• Passing Data to View Master Pages
• Understanding Action Filters
• Improving Performance with Output Caching
• Creating Model Classes with the Entity Framework
• Authenticating Users with Forms Authentication
• Authenticating Users with Windows Authentication
• Adding Dynamic Content to a Cached Page
• Providing Website Navigation with SiteMaps
• Understanding the ASP.NET MVC Execution Process

Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of Silverlight 2, one of the industry’s most comprehensive and powerful solutions for the creation and delivery of applications and media experiences through a Web browser. Silverlight 2 delivers a wide range of new features and tools that enable designers and developers to better collaborate while creating more accessible, more discoverable and more secure user experiences.

Microsoft also announced further support of open source communities by funding advanced Silverlight development capabilities with the Eclipse Foundation’s integrated development environment (IDE) and by providing new controls to developers with the Silverlight Control Pack (SCP) under the Microsoft Permissive License.

“We launched Silverlight just over a year ago, and already one in four consumers worldwide has access to a computer with Silverlight already installed,” said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division at Microsoft. “Silverlight represents a radical improvement in the way developers and designers build applications on the Web. This release will further accelerate our efforts to make Silverlight, Visual Studio and Microsoft Expression Studio the preeminent solutions for the creation and delivery of media and rich Internet application experiences.”

Microsoft also will release the Silverlight Control Pack and publish on MSDN the technical specification for the Silverlight Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) vocabulary. The SCP, which will augment the powerful built-in control set in Silverlight, will be released under the Microsoft Permissive License, an Open Source Initiative-approved license, and includes controls such as DockPanel, ViewBox, TreeView, Accordion and AutoComplete. The Silverlight XAML vocabulary specification, released under the Open Specification Promise (OSP), will better enable third-party ISVs to create products that can read and write XAML for Silverlight.

Delivering Features for Next-Generation Web Experiences

Highlights of new Silverlight 2 features include the following:

• .NET Framework support with a rich base class library. This is a compatible subset of the full .NET Framework.
• Powerful built-in controls. These include DataGrid, ListBox, Slider, ScrollViewer, Calendar controls and more.
• Advanced skinning and templating support. This makes it easy to customize the look and feel of an application.
• Deep zoom. This enables unparalleled interactivity and navigation of ultrahigh resolution imagery.
• Comprehensive networking support. Out-of-the-box support allows calling REST, WS*/SOAP, POX, RSS and standard HTTP services, enabling users to create applications that easily integrate with existing back-end systems.
• Expanded .NET Framework language support. Unlike other runtimes, Silverlight 2 supports a variety of programming languages, including Visual Basic, C#, JavaScript, IronPython and IronRuby, making it easier for developers already familiar with one of these languages to repurpose their existing skill sets.
• Advanced content protection. This now includes Silverlight DRM, powered by PlayReady, offering robust content protection for connected Silverlight experiences.
• Improved server scalability and expanded advertiser support. This includes new streaming and progressive download capabilities, superior search engine optimization techniques, and next-generation in-stream advertising support.
• Vibrant partner ecosystem. Visual Studio Industry Partners such as ComponentOne LLC, Infragistics Inc. and Telerik Inc. are providing products that further enhance developer capabilities when creating Silverlight applications using Visual Studio.
• Cross-platform and cross-browser support. This includes support for Mac, Windows and Linux in Firefox, Safari and Windows Internet Explorer.
   

More information and details about Silverlight 2 are available by reading the Silverlight 2 fact sheet at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/silverlight/default.mspx.

Get Silverlight 2

Silverlight 2 will be available for download on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight. Customers already using a previous version of Silverlight will be automatically upgraded to Silverlight 2.

Microsoft Corp. today provided the first look at the next version of its developer tools and platform, which will be named Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0. Microsoft described the next release through the following five focus areas: riding the next-generation platform wave, inspiring developer delight, powering breakthrough departmental applications, enabling emerging trends such as cloud computing, and democratizing application life-cycle management (ALM).

Today’s announcement included an in-depth look at how Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) 2010 (code-named “Rosario”) will help democratize ALM with a unique solution that brings all the members of a development organization into the application development life cycle, and removes many of the existing barriers to integration. Additional details on the other focus areas will be disclosed over the product development cycle.

“With Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0, we are focused on the core pillars of developer experience, support for the latest platforms spanning client, server, services and devices, targeted experiences for specific application types, and core architecture improvements,” said S. “Soma” Somasegar, senior vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. “These pillars are designed specifically to meet the needs of developers, the teams that drive the application life cycle from idea to delivery, and the customers that demand the highest quality applications across multiple platforms. You can expect to hear a lot more about Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0 in the coming months.”

You can read an overview of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 by clicking here.