Spent the morning trying to figure out why my Application Block help file (.chm) was not displaying content. Needless to say, I went down several rabbit holes on the Internet (web pages that did not yield a solution).

If you download a help file (.chm) and then open the file you may get a warning message - but this is not a clear message to what the problem is. When the application comes up, the content pain says something to the effect that it cannot display the page. There is nothing to indicate how to fix the problem.

So, here it is. CHM (help files) that are downloaded are blocked - and you have to "unblock" them. They were blocked by a security update. So, downloaded CHM files have the blocked attribute set. If you select on the file's properties you can change this behavior by selecting the "unblock" button.

Rob Caron has short discussion with screen shots here.

On Saturday, March 29th, software developers from around the Metro DC area met to listen to presentations by over a dozen software experts. The presentations included a range of topics from new technologies being released by Microsoft to practices to improve quality and delivery management.

This event was free to the public and was hosted by Strayer University in Woodbridge, Virginia. Attendance was over 80, with some attendees coming from as far away as York County.

John Morales at Nova CodeCamp Event discussing AJAX Development

Jeff Schoolcraft and I coordinated this event, but it was the volunteers and speakers that donated their time that made this event a success. We were fortunate to receive sponsorship from several companies and organizations.

You can find out more about Nova CodeCamp at www.novacodecamp.org.

If you attended one of the many Microsoft InstallFest events, then you received a copy of Visual Studio 2008 Profession, but it was a trial copy with a time limit on it (mine was 90 days).

When your permanent copy comes in, use the following steps to upgrade your VS2008 to a licensed version.

To upgrade the Trial Edition:

1. On the Start menu, choose Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel, choose Add or Remove Programs.
3. Choose Microsoft Visual Studio Codename Orcas Professional and then click Change/Remove.
4. On the Visual Studio Codename Orcas Maintenance screen, enter the product key in the section Upgrade to Visual Studio Codename Orcas Professional and then click Upgrade.

Note: Product keys are found on the sleeve of the DVD or CD, or if you ordered a product key online, sent to you in email.

Working with Microsoft MVP, Jeff Schoolcraft, we have organized a wonderful developer learning event on Saturday, March 29th at Strayer University in Woodbridge, Va.

CodeCamp SOUTH

Speakers include:

• Brian Noyes, Microsoft MVP
• Jonathan Cogley, Microsoft MVP
• Sahil Malik, Microsoft MVP
• Frank LaVigne, Microsoft MVP
• Antonio Chagoury, DotNetNuke Team Lead

and many more.

Topics to be covered include a host of new technologies along with some introductory courses. Here is a sample (you can see the rest at the NovaCodeCamp site).

• Visual Studio 2008
• SQL Server 2008
• SharePoint 2007
• DotNetNuke Module Development
• Office 2007 Development
• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Development
• Ajax
• Silverlight

For you developers, this is a golden opportunity to see presentations that would typically be presented at high priced conferences like Microsoft TechEd and VSLive. And it is FREE. However, registration is limited to the first 100 that sing up - so make your reservation today!

The combined groups: Capital DotNetNuke, Capital Area .NET, and NovaSQL are hosting a Microsoft VS2008 Install Fest event on December 12th at 7pm at the Microsoft Reston offices. Developer additions of the new Visual Studio 2008 will be provided (90-day licenses), with vouchers for the full additions. Unfortunately, if you have not yet registered, then you are out of luck. In just 3 days, the 100 seat event was filled.

It is a testimony to the hard work of the user group managers, and the active nature of developers in the Metro DC area that such an event would reach capacity so quickly. Those seats were almost as hot as tickets for a Hanna Montana concert.

If any additional seats become available, we will announce it on all three user group sites and through their respective emails.