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End of 2007 Roundup

December 31st, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in ASP.NET

Well it’s been a fantastic year for me and mine so I’m just going to welcome a new year ( Liverpool Capital of Culture 2008 no less )  in with a bit of a recap and a few 2007 highlights.

Books of the Year
Programming WCF Services is the most authoritative textbook on Microsoft’s latest communication methodology. A great resource book that I have returned to again and again.

Non-Tech Books of the Year
Lexicon Devil: The Short Life and Fast Times of Darby Crash and the Germs is a fantastic word of mouth recount of the early days of the LA punk scene.
House of Leaves: Spooky shape shifting architecture story told in experimental prose. Most innovative book I’ve read for years.

Album of the Year
Panda Bear – Person Pitch is hands down winner. Super tight Beach Boys style harmonies over clever loops makes for a seductive mix. No hiphop in my end of year list. It’s been the worst year EVER for rap in my mind – even the new Wu, or Big Doe Rehab just don’t make the grade.

Booze of the Year
Both Makers Mark and Knob Creek have been well received around my way!

Event of the Year
The arrival of my daughter Kitty has been the most life affirming thing I have ever experienced. She is so clever and surprises me with new stuff every day. I’m so proud!

Next Year
I work with some pretty cool and clever people at Qire, it’s a great environment to make software in. We are doing cutting edge IVR stuff and gaining more prestigious clients every day. Next year we have some pretty tough targets to meet, but I’m going to do my damndest to make sure we get there. Also, I’m going to get right into VS 2008 and attempt to pass a couple more Microsoft certs.

That’s it! Have a happy new year!

Microsoft Exam 70-547 : Passed!

December 17th, 2007 | 2 Comments | Posted in ASP.NET

I took the Microsoft 70-547 Designing & Developing Web-Based Applications Using the Microsoft .Net Framework examination today and passed with a score of 900 out of 1000. I’m pretty chuffed to be honest. This is the first MS cert I’ve taken, but it has given me the bug to take a few more. I would recommend it to anyone.
If you are googling this page and want some tips on how to pass this exam, I would say that the MCTS training kit from Microsoft is a must: the entire content of the exam was explained in this book. I studied for a month, about 2 hours a day, and cleared the exam in about 20 minutes.
It’s my birthday later on in the week, and Christmas is just around the corner. Passing the exam has put me in a celebratory mood!

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