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Updated 01/10/2010 |
To Member: |
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 Stay
connected --
follow me on Twitter!
No "Pointless
Babble!"
Get updates of our Denver Visual Studio User Group meetings, labs, events,
activities, and more. |
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Next Meeting
No Registration Required
for this Event |
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Feature
Presentation
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Managed
Extensibility Framework (MEF)
with
Kathleen
Dollard, Coder,
Consultant, Writer, Speaker |
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Composable applications are made of building blocks – like
Legos. Composability is an extension of many ideas that have
fueled architecture evolution in the last twenty years,
including isolation, the creation of tiers, and testable
applications.
Silverlight and .NET now contain the Managed
Extensibility Framework or MEF to provide
composability. MEF is available in .NET 3.5 and Silverlight
3.0 via downloads and in the box for .NET 4.0 and
Silverlight 4.0.
In the first part of this talk, I’ll cover what
composability is and the three broad categories –
extensions, fully composed applications, and architecturally
composed applications. The second part of the talk dives
into the technical aspects of MEF and how to use it. MEF
itself is fully extensible with many possible models for
defining composition parts. I’ll skip the theoretical
approaches and stick with the mainstream attributed model.
You’ll learn how to incorporate this attributed model into
your own applications to define and retrieve parts. The end
of the talk will briefly cover the challenges of debugging
MEF, including an introduction to stable composition and its
implications.
You’ll leave understanding when MEF might be a good fit for
your applications today and insight into how profoundly MEF
is likely to change architectures in the relatively near
future.
 FMI,
see
MEF Community Site on CodePlex. |
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Updated 11/30/2009 |
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Notes from
Feature Presentation |
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Contributors: Martin
Buchanan
and Chris Wallace.
lKathleen Dollard, Chief
Technologist for AppVenture, popular writer on .NET topics, and
frequent INETA and DVSUG speaker introduced us to MEF, the Managed
Extensibility Framework. MEF may be the most important technology in
years.
MEF is available on
Codeplex and
is also in Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2, but the Codeplex version is
more recent. Quoting the MEF documentation on Codeplex:
"MEF presents a simple solution for the runtime
extensibility problem. Until now, any application that wanted to
support a plug-in model needed to create its own infrastructure from
scratch. Those plug-ins would often be application-specific and
could not be reused across multiple implementations.
• MEF
provides a standard way for the host application to expose itself
and consume external extensions. Extensions, by their nature, can be
reused amongst different applications. However, an extension could
still be implemented in a way that is application-specific.
Extensions themselves can depend on one another and MEF will make
sure they are wired together in the correct order (another thing you
won't have to worry about).
• MEF offers a set of
discovery approaches for your application to locate and load
available extensions.
• MEF allows tagging
extensions with additional metadata which facilitates rich querying
and filtering"
Kathleen is enthusiastic about MEF,
saying "Composability (MEF) is the most important change in coding
since object orientation" and "Because MEF itself is extensible, we
can't imagine all the possibilities."
An extension (a MEF ComposablePart) exports the
services it offers and imports the services it depends on. MEF-specific
attributes are used to indicate what is exported and what is
imported, because not all types or classes in your assembly may be
exported or imported. Catalogs are used to discover the extensions.
Visual Studio uses MEF to implement some of its editor
and user interface capabilities.
See Kathleen's
Visual Studio magazine
columns. They include three recent columns on MEF.
See her
blogs
here
and
here. |
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Kathleen
Dollard
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Meeting Sponsor
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Sogeti – Open for business
with Marty Brann,
Microsoft
Practice Manager / Managing Consultant, Colorado Unit |
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Marty
will give an overview of Sogeti, USA, what Sogeti offers to
their employees, and what positions are now available.
Marty will follow up with plenty of time for Q and A about
Sogeti.
Sogeti has vast IT solutions that span multiple
technologies—ensuring our customers that they get the
services they need. With flexible solutions, Sogeti has what
it takes to best meet our customers’ business goals.
Sogeti provides a competitive and compelling environment for
application developers to practice their knowledge and build
on their skills. Our local touch – global reach approach
ensures that our customers and consultants are working in a
common local environment, giving the consultant a chance to
build a meaningful business relationship with the customer.
This, paired with our worldwide Gold Partner status with
Microsoft, exclusive training programs, and the like make an
ideal place for consultants, both junior and senior, to
build their careers.
FMI,
see
Sogeti.
Contact:
Katina Lundberg, Recruiter,
303-256-2500 |
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Marty
Brann
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Marty Brann is an I.T.
veteran with over 15 years of pertinent development and
infrastructure experience.
He is currently responsible for managing the relationship
between Microsoft and Sogeti USA’s Colorado Unit.
In addition, he is now leveraging .NET 3.5 and MOSS 2007 at
his current client, a major NASCAR manufacturer. |
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Contact:
Marty Brann.
Contact:
Katina Lundberg, Recruiter,
303-256-2500 |
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Meeting
Sponsor Refreshments
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Pizza and drinks for you provided by our meeting
sponsor
For your light
dinner / snacks and drinks during our Informal Networking and Refreshments
before our meeting begins.
Quantities
Limited
- Come early, 5:30 -
6:00 |
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Meeting
Agenda
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5:30 p.m. -
9:00 p.m.* PLEASE silence your electronic devices during
our events.
5:30 - 6:00 (30 min) Informal Networking and
Refreshments (come early)
You may arrive at or after 5:00 p.m.
Meeting
starts
PROMPTLY
at 6:00 p.m.,
entry after that is not
guaranteed.
You
must arrive before 7:00 p.m., when
access is scheduled to be locked.
If you
leave the 4th floor after 6:00 p.m., return entry is not
available.
See FAQ.
6:00 -
6:15 (15 min) Welcome and Announcements with
Chris
Wallace
plus Open "Mic" Time - Member Announcements and
Job Talk, your
time to speak!
6:15
-
6:45
(30 min)
Sponsor Presentation
Sogeti Overview,
Open Hiring Positions, Q and A with
Marty Brann
6:45
-
7:00
(15 min) Networking Break
7:00 - 8:30 (90 min) Feature Presentation
Managed
Extensibility Framework (MEF)
with
Kathleen
Dollard
8:30
- 8:50
(20 min) Closing Thoughts, Door Prizes,
and Wrap-up
with
Chris Wallace
* All times are approximate and
subject to change.
Please note: we need to vacate
the room no later than 9:00 p.m.! |
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Meeting Door Prizes
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To
qualify to win any of our door prizes, follow the
complete door prize requirements and details.
You must be a qualified
group member and you must be present to win -
Include your name and current e-mail address on your ONE (only) business card
entry per meeting. All door prizes are subject to change. Other door prize qualifications may be required by third
party sponsors, check with them.
Winners agree to send a business-like thank you by e-mail to
your door prize
provider (you will be given the name and e-mail address to send your
thank you). Accepting a door prize obligates each winner to
send a thank you note to their door prize provider.
Previous
winners who have not sent their thank you note are not eligible to
win again! Thank you for your participation!
Most
door prizes are NOT listed here (if you have attended
before, you know)!
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From
Sogeti
Our monthly meeting sponsor! |
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From Softpro
Books
Your User Group's Preferred Bookstore! - See their
new web site! |
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Celebrating 6+ years of
support from Softpro Books to our user group! |
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1 –
$20 gift certificate
to
Softpro
Books
-- Winners: Check
expiration
date !!!
6862 S. Yosemite St., Centennial, CO (near DTC, SW of Arapahoe Rd & I-25)
An independent computer
bookstore -
wide selection of the best computer books available anywhere!
303-740-7751 |
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From
JetBrains
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4 –
ReSharper full licenses -- The Most Intelligent Add-In To
Visual Studio |
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From
Nevron
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From
PrimalBits Software
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1
–
SQL Sets
--
full license --
Quickly capture and organize query-based
snapshots of your SQL Server data into a single, self-contained file
called a Portable Data Set Document. |
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From A
Variety of Developer Book Publishers and Software Vendors
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Selected from developer
software, books, and
other items! |
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From Microsoft
See all Microsoft Press Books and Upcoming Titles! |
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Selected from developer books, software, hardware,
t-shirts, mugs + other cool stuff!
(subject to availability) |
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FREE
Book Offers |
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"FREE Book in Exchange for a Book Review." |
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If
selected, you agree to write a
review which the user group will post to our web site and provide to the
publisher, then you get to keep the book! |
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How to claim your F R E E book
and write your review:
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1.
Select one of the books currently offered for
review (one outstanding review per member, please): |
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 Murach's
C# 2008
(Murach) by
Joel Murach,
ISBN: 978-1-890774-46-2, Published 2008,
25 chapters, 796 pages, 341
illustrations |
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2.
Be the first to send an e-mail message to
Chris Wallace.
State that you will write a review of that book within 60 days of
receiving that book and that you understand and agree to follow the book
review process and submit your review as described in our
“How To Review.” |
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Do Not Participate - Unless you agree to follow our "How To Review"
Steps! |
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3.
Attend our Meeting described in this e-mail to see if
you are a winner of your book choice! Get your book at our Meeting.ou must be present at that Meeting to pick up your book, no exceptions. If
you are not present to obtain your book at the time during the Meeting when<><><>
it is offered, it will go to the next person who submitted an e-mail in the
order received. |
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4.
Start reading and writing! |
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Next
Lab
No Registration Required for this Event |
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User Group Lab (usually
monthly on
Friday
before our Meeting, check here for updates)
Friday,
November 20,
2009,
7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
L a b -- t h i s
F r i d a y
Location:
LeaderQuest,
Directions and Bing Maps
Address:
6825 South Galena St., Englewood,
CO 80112,
Phone: 303-832-4665 |
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Introduction to ASP.NET MVC
with Joe Wilson,
President and
CEO, Volare Systems |
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What is ASP.NET MVC and how does it impact YOU? Let’s
discuss what ASP.NET MVC is and isn’t, how it compares to
Web Forms, and when you should consider using it.
Previews of ASP.NET MVC were introduced two years ago
at the Alt.NET conference in Austin. The 1.0 version has
been out for six months. It is time for your introduction to
MVC.
We’ll create a simple MVC application to submit a contact
form and we’ll play around with this new framework.
Bring your MVC questions and problems, and we’ll try to
answer them together.
This lab will be a simple introduction. If there is
enough interest, we will plan for a more advanced MVC lab.
FMI,
see
Microsoft
ASP.NET MVC. |
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Updated 11/22/2009 |
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Notes from
Lab |
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Here’s the link for
downloading
the presentation materials with slides, labs, and code! |
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Joe Wilson
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Joe
Wilson is president of
Volare Systems, a Microsoft Partner creating custom software
applications in the mid and enterprise business markets in
the Denver, Colorado area. His latest project tools have
centered around C#, ASP.NET MVC, LINQ, jQuery, NHibernate,
NUnit, Rhino Mocks, and AutoMapper.
Joe spends his free time with his wife
Darien and kids Zoe and Clark. He also enjoys spending time
outside hiking, biking, camping, rowing, and trying not to
get hurt playing basketball. |
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Contact
Joe Wilson.
Blog.
Volare Systems,
303-532-5838, X101. |
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Lab Sponsor
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Updated 11/22/2009 |
Architect
Council - 2010: A Cloud Odyssey Registration Required
for this Event |
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Architect Council - 2010: A Cloud Odyssey
with David Chou,
Microsoft Technical Architect and
Joe Shirey,
Microsoft Senior Architect Evangelist |
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The forecast for 2010 is looking very
cloudy, with every technology company delivering some
type of cloud offering, and analysts estimating that almost
everyone will try some form of cloud computing. But from a
practical stand point, how should organizations leverage
cloud computing effectively? Is it to simply host existing
and legacy assets somewhere else, or to create
next-generation applications that enable differentiated
capabilities? In addition, what role does SOA play in the
age of cloud computing? And does this impact the way we
manage and interact with data?
Facilitated by Microsoft, the premise of this half-day
event is to provide an open forum where architects can meet
to discuss technologies and insights with peers. This forum
will provide first-hand experiences and best practices
intended to help the community to collectively discover and
generate knowledge. Please join us for this
opportunity to learn, share and network with your peers and
other thought leaders.
FMI,
details, agenda, and host information - click to
REGISTER. |
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Updated 01/10/2010 |
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Notes from Architect Council |
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Contributors: Martin
Buchanan
and Chris Wallace.
See
blog
for content and see
blog
for additional information.
Contact
David Chou,
read his
blog.
Contact
Joe Shirey,
read his
blog.
Microsoft's cloud computing services, Azure, were described
at this event by Joe Shirey and David Chou, both Microsoft
Architects.
1. Azure is production-ready and commercially available; billing
begins on 1 February 2010.
2. Azure has an impressive physical infrastructure based on 40-foot
shipping containers each with about 2,500 servers. Connect power,
networking, and water and your data center is up and running in any
location. Administration is remote and hands-free. Microsoft plans
100 globally distributed data centers. The geographic locations of
your data can be constrained.
3. SQL Azure: "95% feature parity" with SQL Server. This is a new
part of Microsoft's cloud that is the key differentiator for many
developers. We are nearing the point where you can modify the
connection details and have a database-oriented application run
against data in the cloud or run against data in a traditional SQL
Server instance.
Some SQL Server data types are not yet supported by SQL Azure
including the XML and geospatial types; support for more data types
is expected, though not at the January 2010 release of Azure.
Other non-supported features that may not be supported for a longer
time: using the CLR within SQL Azure, distributed joins, distributed
transactions.
SQL Azure only supports SQL authentication and not Windows
authentication. Every table must have a primary key. There is no SQL
Agent or service broker. Log shipping is not supported.
SQL Server 2008 R2 Management Studio can be used to manage SQL Azure
instances.
SQL Azure has hard limits on database size: 10 gigabytes maximum for
about $100 per month or 1 gigabyte maximum for about $10 per month.
It is likely that Microsoft will add at least one additional tier
that supports a greater database size in the future, though nothing
specific is committed.
SQL Azure pricing is per database and not per instance / per server!
So if you have 100 databases that are each 100 megabytes, you will
pay about $1,000 per month rather than $100 per month.
SQL Azure stores data with triple redundancy, so your database
contents are quite safe from accidental loss. However backup and
restore are not supported. This means that if you hose your database
yourself (for example, a junior developer runs an update and forgets
a key condition in the where clause) you have no backup unless you
implement it yourself.
4. Much cheaper but less functional storage is provided by Azure
simple data storage, schema-less key-value storage for tables
containing rows with up to 252 data properties (255 minus partition
key, row key, and timestamp) and allowing up to 8K bytes for each
property value.
5. Azure can also store BLOB's of up to 200 GB along with associated
metadata (up to 8K bytes of metadata).
6. Azure provides message queuing and delivery of messages up to 8K
bytes.
7. REST-style access using URL's is supported to simple data
storage, BLOB's, and message queues.
8. For computation, Azure runs a Windows application within a
virtual machine (VM) instance, typically either to service web
requests (web role) or do other work (worker role). For a web
application that is always available using a single VM (without
separating business logic into a separate VM), the cost is about $90
per month for the VM plus database, storage, or transfer costs.
9. Standard pricing for services other than SQL Azure (described
above): $0.12 per hour per running VM, $0.15 per month per GB stored
outside of SQL Azure (simple data storage, BLOB, or queue), $0.01
per 10,000 operations (or $1 per million operations) against stored
data, $0.10/GB transferred in, and $0.15 per GB transferred out.
10. As usual there is excellent support for developers. The Azure
Tools for Visual Studio allow you to develop locally with a local
developer version of the Azure fabric. There is a Windows Azure
Platform Training Kit.
Start here.
11. Joe and David talked about reasons to use the cloud, which I
believe most of us are now familiar with: capital savings and
economies of scale (Microsoft provides the data center); on-demand
scaling of applications as needed; redundancy, fault tolerance, and
security handled by Microsoft.
12. Azure is not yet PCI-compliant (Payment Card Industry standards
for credit card processing) but is SAS-70 compliant.
Azure already has major and successful commercial users, like
Kelley
Blue Book and RiskMetrics group (very large scale
computations done in the cloud, now running about 2000 VM's and
expecting to scale to 10,000 VM's this year).
The following article about Azure is worthwhile:
Re-Architecting Azure
by Kathleen Richards 11/01/2009 Visual Studio magazine.
Note: Azure CTP accounts to be disabled on 1 February if those
accounts have not been upgraded to commercial accounts (if I read
this correctly) plus other Azure info.
Click here.
Note: Microsoft is saying that data in Azure trial accounts not
upgraded by 1 March will be deleted, a point worth highlighting.
Click here. |
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Events
Coming Soon
- check back for more information -
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 No lab
or meeting in December -- Happy Holidays!
Friday,
January 22, User Group Lab:
Introduction to F# and Functional
Programming
with Brad Wood
Monday,
January 25, User Group Meeting:
SharePoint 2010 for Developers - What’s
New and Why YOU Should Care!
with Roy Ogborn |
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BizSpark
and WebsiteSpark
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Do you have a software development business
start-up? |
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Visibility, support and software for professional
early stage software development business startups - at no upfront
cost!
Decide
if BizSpark works for you, see:
BizSpark;
then contact
Joe Shirey.
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FREE and
Discount Training
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Certification
Study Group
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Jobs Group
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Get Your FREE Developer Web Site
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Free Developer Web Site
for
your educational Microsoft .NET developer needs |
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Build your
first .NET website, stage a website, test code, and try Visual
Studio,
Expression or Silverlight on your site! Free to our members, no
obligations.
FMI
and to sign up, see:
Get Your FREE Developer Web Site
For
services offered details, see:
Verio Free Web Site Hosting Program.
These free services will be available through January 31,
2010 - LAST CHANCE -
after which your free site will NO longer be accessible!
Don't wait to start yours! |
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Magazines
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FREE at our user group meetings
(when available)!
CoDe Magazine
get your personal
complimentary subscription,
click here |
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Copyright © 2000 - 2010
Denver Visual Studio User Group.
All Rights Reserved. Please see
Notice. |
