Episode 910

Paul DeCarlo on How Agentic AI Unleashes Creativity

Paul DeCarlo talks about how AI has made his work more efficient and freed his time to do some creative projects - often involving AI!

What is it that keeps me coming back to see the same band over and over?

Friday night at Berwyn's Fitzgerald's Night Club, I saw Los Lobos live for at least the fourth time - the third time in the last five years.

Is it their high-energy performance, their excellent musicianship, or their song catalog? For me, it is all of the above.

As always, Los Lobos played a set that spanned blues, ballads, roots rock, and rock & roll. Of course, the band is famous for its Latin rock. The original members met in the heavily Hispanic neighborhoods of East Los Angeles, California, where they bonded over their love of music. Amazingly, most of the original members remain in this group more than five decades after its founding.

Unlike most national acts that play at Fitzgerald's, this show took place on the patio on a warm summer evening. It felt like a small festival, with the band rocking on a stage in the corner, the crowd standing and dancing to the music. The crowd cheered as they saw the musicians walking along the sidewalk to and from the stage, their car, and their dressing room.

They played many of my favourites - "Let's Go," "Don't Worry Baby," "Volver Volver," "I Got Loaded," and an extended version of "Kiko and the Lavender Moon." The band closed with "La Bamba," the song that introduced most of the world to Los Lobos when they recorded the soundtrack to the Richie Valens biopic. This time, they turned it into a medley, mixing in The Rascal's "Good Lovin'." The crowd went wild, singing along before the quintet departed the stage for the final time.

The evening's entertainment should tide me over until the next time I see Los Lobos.

Jacob Jankowski is so old he cannot remember if he is 90 or 93. His recollections of his time working in a circus as a young man form the bulk of Sara Gruen's 2006 novel, "Water for Elephants."

Shocked by the sudden death of his parents and the loss of their home, Jacob ran away from Cornell Veterinary School in the middle of his final exams. He soon discovered that the train he hopped on belonged to a traveling circus, so he accepted a job caring for their animals.

August, who ran the circus, was charming toward Jacob. Still, his paranoid schizophrenia periodically caused him to fly into a violent rage, at which times he abused animals and people - sometimes fatally. He was known to order men thrown off the train for causing trouble or even to prevent having to pay their salaries. The economic devastation of Depression-era America fuels the chaos of living as a transient in a traveling show.

Through the chaos, young Jacob falls in love with August's beautiful wife, Marlena, one of the show's stars. The two share a passion for animals, and Jacob tries to protect Marlena from her abusive husband.

The story switches between young Jacob and the old man, contrasting the stressful adventures of his youth with the frustrations of old age and neglect. The arrival of the circus triggers old Jacob's memories as he looks forward to his family taking him out to share an important part of his life. For me, one of the most poignant scenes occurs when Jacob learns that his son has forgotten to come, meaning he cannot leave the nursing home to attend the circus without supervision. The son has no idea that Jacob has been looking forward to this excursion more than anything he has anticipated in years.

Gruen does a masterful job of building tension. She begins with a scene in which the animals escape from their cages to stampede through the crowd, wreaking havoc. She describes a killing that takes place during the pandemonium, but leaves the reader wondering who the killer was until we return to the same scene 300 pages later.

"Water for Elephants" is a tragedy, a comedy, an adventure, and a love story. I enjoyed it from start to

"Iceboy," currently playing at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, is  alternately titled "The Completely Untrue Story of How Eugene O'Neil Came to Write 'The Iceman Cometh'." It stars Nick Offerman, who plays O'Neil with the same deadpan humor he brought to his character Ron Swanson on TV's "Parks and Recreation." Nick's real-life wife, Megan Mullally, co-stars as fictional starlet Vera Vimm.

Offerman/O'Neill opens the play by describing to the audience the writer's block he experienced in the late 1930s and how the discovery of a 40,000-year-old Cro-Magnon skeleton frozen in Antarctic ice inspired him to write his next great play. Vera spends her life savings to buy the frozen caveman, then mothers him when the ice melts, and he awakens after thousands of years of sleep. Grey Henson is delightful as the unfrozen troglodyte who reveals that his real name is "Jeff." Jeff/Iceboy quickly learns modern English and displays a talent for musical theatre, which makes his adoptive mother, Vera, jealous.

According to the story that unfolds, a rival playwright promises to write a play about Jeff, titled "The Iceboy Comes," which inspires O'Neil to counter with a new play - "The Iceman Cometh," which features the seedy barrooms and prostitutes with which he is familiar. Of course, it is all nonsense, as you can guess from the play's subtitle. Farcical nonsense abounds in this musical, including Vera's two servants - Lambert (Sarah Stiles), who suffers from a condition that inhibits her health and her self-confidence; and Frankenstein (Alex Goodrich), who remains in full Frankenstein monster character, including lat head, neck bolts, and speaking in grunts.

The play is filled with great music, courtesy of Mark Hollman and Jay Reiss, and laugh-out-loud moments, thanks to Erin Quinn Purcell.

"Iceboy" is a great finale to the Goodman Theatre's Centennial season

GCast 220:

Creating a Workflow in Microsoft Foundry

Microsoft Foundry allows you to create AI Agents. The Workflow feature of Foundry allows you to create more complex applications that combine multiple agents and provide programmatic features without writing code.

Episode 909

Jeff Fritz on Copilot for App Modernization

Jeff Fritz discusses the challenges inherent in upgrading a .NET or Java application. He then dives into the GitHub Copilot Modernization Agents, which uses AI to analyze an application, plan an upgrade strategy, and execute that plan.

7/5
Today I am grateful to celebrate Independence Day with a family of Polish immigrants.

7/4
Today I am grateful that I was lucky enough to be born in America.

7/3
Today I am grateful to see "Water for Elephants - the Musical" last night!

7/2
Today I am grateful two attend two retirement parties yesterday
- a virtual celebration for Daniel Egan
- a celebration at the Berghoff Restaurant for Scott Hermes

7/1
Today I am grateful to successfully make it through another Fiscal Year with my current company.

6/30
Today I am grateful for dinner and drinks with Mike last night

6/29
Today I am grateful to sit at an outdoor cafe yesterday afternoon, talking, reading, and watching the world go by.

6/28
Today I am grateful to attend a housewarming party yesterday for Tim and Natale.

6/27
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with my sons for a late Father's Day / birthday celebration.

6/26
Today I am grateful for lunch with Glenn and Lana yesterday

6/25
Today I am grateful to attend the Accelerate Chicago conference yesterday.

6/24
Today I am grateful to Scott for a great presentation at the Cloud Computing Meetup Group last night!

6/23
Today I am grateful for dinner with Mike last night!

6/22
Today I am grateful for an excellent Father's Day dinner last night in West Town, courtesy of my son and his wife.

6/21
Today I am grateful:
- for the privelege of being a father to two amazing young men
- to Michael for leading an AI workshop yesterday

6/20
Today I am grateful for a successful #JuneteenthConf yesterday

6/19
Today I am grateful to Brad for delivering an excellent presentation on Chicago and the Quantum Age at my user group last night!

6/18
Today I am grateful to enjoy drinks at an outdoor Cuban cafe last night with Mary, Bruno, and Jacob

6/17
Today I am grateful to run a successful student event yesterday and to those who volunteered for the career panel I hosted.

6/16
Today I am grateful to see Amy Grant in concert last night!

6/15
Today I am grateful to see an exciting Calder Cup Finals overtime ice hockey game in Rosemont yesterday.

6/14
Today I am grateful to United Airlines for correcting a flight with no hassle.

6/13
Today I am grateful to see Jeremy Piven perform last night in Schaumburg!

6/12
Today I am grateful to sit on my balcony with my son last night, watching a storm rage across downtown Chicago.

6/11
Today I am grateful to study languages on Duolingo every day for the past 2 years!

6/10
Today I am grateful to present last night to the Chicago Data Professionals for the first time.

6/9
Today I am grateful for this view

6/8
Today I am grateful for front row seats to see Lyle Lovett in concert last night at a small club in Chicago!

Sara Gruen's 2006 novel, "Water for Elephants," tells the story of an old man reminiscing about his days in the circus seven decades earlier.

"Water for Elephants - The Musical" brings this story to life, complete with circus workers, acrobats, and animals.

At its heart, WfE is a love story. Zachary Keller (Jacob) and Helen Krushinski (Marlena) have enough chemistry to pull off this story. But this is about more than their romance. It is an adventure story, set under a big top and on a moving train with chaos all around and the threat of violence ever present. The shifting, changing sets brought this tension to life.

The play's story is lighter than the source material, omitting some of the racier sections, and darkening the set in the moment before the most violent acts occur. Robert Tulley portrays an older Jacob, who is much younger and more spry than the jaded old man of the novel, whose walk has become a shuffle and who can no longer remember his exact age. This old Jacob goes beyond reminiscing and serves as a narrator for much of the show, interjecting himself into his own flashbacks.

The music and lyrics, credited to The PigPen Theatre Co., are good, although no song stood out as particularly memorable.

The most entertaining parts are when the cast shifts into circus mode. Athletic acrobats enhance musical numbers by providing impressive feats of balance to augment the dancers around them. Tyler West, as pint-sized Walter, steals the show whenever he is on stage.

But a major star of this production is the costumes and puppetry that made the menagerie of animals come to life. Most impressive is a life-sized Rosie the Elephant, which at least three puppeteers man. Rosie appears on stage in the first act as a pair of ears, then as a trunk. In the second act, she reveals herself in all her glory, complete with moving eyes.

The acrobatics and the puppetry visuals make this play worthwhile, even without the moving love story.

"Water for Elephants - The Musical" is a delight to all our senses

On June 19, 1865, Union troops marched into Galveston, TX, to announce that all formerly enslaved people were now free. This announcement was issued more than 18 months after the Emancipation Proclamation and a month after Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army. This date is now celebrated as Juneteenth, a Holiday Observed every June 19, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

To commemorate Juneteenth in my industry, Michael Brown started JuneteenthConf - a conference that celebrates African Americans in the Information Technology field. JuneteenthConf began as an online conference, but we held it in person at the Microsoft office in downtown Chicago on June 19 and 20, 2026. June 19 consisted of five presentations and an interview - all featuring African American tech leaders. On June 20, we held a hackathon to learn more about building apps with Agentic AI.

Day 1

Here are some notes on each presentation:

Pierre DeBois

Pierre DeBois, Founder & CEO of Zimana, presented "Owning Our History in the Age of AI."

He addressed the opportunities and challenges presented by artificial intelligence. He encouraged attendees to understand and preserve the historical context of Black innovation while thoughtfully engaging with emerging technologies. His session underscored the importance of ensuring that AI development and adoption reflect diverse perspectives and experiences.

Ramatu Kandakai

Ramatu Kandakai, Founder of My Hyphen, presented "Betting on Yourself: Don't Trade Your Values for a Seat at the Table."

She emphasized that success should never come at the expense of personal values or authenticity. Ramatu challenged attendees to evaluate opportunities not by their prestige or visibility, but by whether they align with the person they want to become. Her key message was that values are not just personal principles; they are a strategic guide for building a meaningful and sustainable career.

Ashley Janelle

Ashley Janelle, Founder of Empathive UX Bootcamp, presented "Building a Business When No One's Hiring."

This was Ahsley's second time speaking at JuneteenthConf. She shared how she transitioned from her corporate role at Amazon to running her businesses full-time. She provided practical advice on validating ideas, building side projects while employed, and gradually creating alternative income streams. Her message encouraged attendees to stop waiting for perfect conditions and start building opportunities for themselves, especially during uncertain job markets.

Hamdi Hassan Shahid Jr.

Hamdi Hassan Shahid Jr., Founder & CEO of Lamma+, presented "No CS Degree, No Permission, No Problem".

He shared his unconventional journey into technology, proving that a computer science degree is not the only path to success. Drawing from experiences as a youth worker, musician, community organizer, and single father, he described the persistence required to transition into engineering and entrepreneurship. His story highlighted the resilience needed to overcome imposter syndrome, financial challenges, and barriers often faced by underrepresented professionals in tech.

Clarene Mitchel

Clarene Mitchell, Founder & CEO of TCM Communications, presented "LinkedIn Power Moves to Grow Your Business."

She demonstrated how entrepreneurs can use LinkedIn as a powerful platform for business development and relationship building. She explained how consistent engagement, strategic networking, and effective use of LinkedIn's features can increase visibility and credibility with potential clients. Attendees left with actionable tactics to strengthen their professional brand and generate new business opportunities.

Madison Butler

Madison Butler, Founder of Blue Haired Unicorn & Black Speakers Collection, delivered the Keynote address to close the conference.

Her keynote challenged attendees to stop performing expected versions of themselves and instead lead with authenticity. Drawing from her experiences promoting psychological safety and navigating the tech industry as a visibly different leader, she argued that authenticity is a strategic advantage rather than a soft skill. In a candid closing conversation, she explored identity, resilience, and self-care, inspiring attendees to embrace their full selves both professionally and personally.

Day 2

On Saturday, about a dozen people returned to the Microsoft office for an AI workshop. After a brief introduction to vibe coding, we began designing and building an application by issuing prompts to an AI engine. The application we chose recorded activities and output them into a weekly status report. We asked the AI to create business objects based on our description; then to build a UI to capture data; and business logic to handle the data. Although we did not finish the application, we made more progress than we likely would have if we had coded it ourselves.

Conclusion

The event was not without challenges. A canceled flight, a speaker who canceled at the last minute, and a glitch in the registration page all presented challenges. But together we adjusted - sometimes on short notice. Pierre stepped up to act as MC until the flight arrived. We adjusted the schedule to fill in gaps.

Those who attended the presentations on Friday enjoyed what they heard. Those who attended on Saturday learned something new. JuneteenthConf was not large event, but it was a successful one.

Success is often a combination of preparedness, opportunity, and work. Scott Hanselman's presence at a local user group last week proved this.

Inspiration

I discovered an opportunity when my friend Michael Blumenthal emailed me that Microsoft Vice President Scott Hanselman was scheduled to deliver a keynote presentation last week at the Chicago Accelerate conference, to be held in the Willis Tower. Michael suggested we organize a community event the same week and invite Scott as the featured speaker. I immediately recognized a great idea and leaped into action.

I emailed Scott the next day. If he was willing to speak at a community event, I was happy to organize one. He agreed, and we settled on Tuesday, June 23. We went into action, planning, promoting, and executing on the event.

In this article, I will talk about the evening, Scott's presentation, and how a group of volunteers made it happen.

Scott's presentation

I will begin at the end with Scott's excellent presentation.

He titled his talk "AI for Normal People Who Aren't Totally Bought In" and covered a variety of topics, including Artificial Intelligence, Apprenticeship, and Knowing How to Drive a Stick Shift.

It was entertaining, thought-provoking, and full of memorable analogies.

Scott described himself as an "AI vegan." He uses AI extensively but has little interest in image or video generation. He also pointed out that AI-generated websites and content often have a recognizable look and feel. In one example, he joked about LLMs' apparent love of text gradients.

He illustrated the importance of clear communication. Scott also referenced research showing AI can optimize for passing tests without actually solving the underlying problem. One example involved fixing a race condition by adding a sleep statement that made the test pass while leaving the real issue unresolved.

A recurring message was that software development with AI is becoming less about writing code and more about sculpting it. The engineer's role shifts from authoring every line to shaping, validating, and refining what AI produces.

My favorite analogy compared AI to Uber and engineering fundamentals to driving a stick shift. Uber is convenient. But knowing how the machine works is what helps when something breaks. The engineers who matter most in the future won't be the ones with the best prompts. They'll be the ones who understand what's happening beneath the surface and can recognize when AI is confidently wrong.

One theme that resonated with me was Scott's distinction between mentorship and preceptorship. Mentors give advice. Preceptors work alongside less-experienced engineers and pass along judgment, context, debugging instincts, and engineering taste. As AI takes over more routine coding tasks, this transfer of knowledge becomes more important, not less. Scott argued that AI will not eliminate the need for junior developers. Instead, we'll need better systems for helping both people and AI agents become trusted contributors. Junior developers and AI agents share one thing in common: both can be capable and confidently wrong.

Scott closed with a personal note: he announced that he has 941 days until retirement and wants to use that remaining time effectively. Despite grouping himself with an older generation of IT professionals, he peppered his presentation with Gen-Z jargon. "AI output is mid," he quipped, indicating that LLMs gravitate toward the average, while humans are more likely to explore ideas outside the norm.

Preparing for the Event

We pulled this event off in a short period of time, thanks to the hard work of a small group of individuals.

Scott, Michael, and I are all passionate supporters of the tech community. In fact, I know the two of them because of my involvement in this community. I emailed Scott the day after hearing from Michael.

Eric Boyd and I run the Chicago Cloud Computing Meetup Group, which meets once a month at the Microsoft office in downtown Chicago. We had already scheduled a June meeting, so we decided to hold a rare second meeting during the month. I reserved the Multipurpose rooms at the Microsoft office for Tuesday, created a registration page, and began promoting the event.\

Promotion proved to be a challenge because the event was not far off and because I was helping to organize two other events within a few days of this one: our group's regularly scheduled monthly meeting (June 18) and JuneteenthConf (June 19-20). Recognizing that oversaturating a message can yield poor results, I left some time between promoting each event. I promoted via the following channels: Social Media posts; word of mouth; emails, texts, and private messages; and internal Microsoft Teams channels. Some of those who heard from me spread the word to others. The strategy worked: over 80 people attended a meetup despite the short notice.

Money was another challenge. Because our user group meetings take place in the evening, we always supply dinner - typically pizza and salad. Food is the primary expense for our meetups, and Eric's company, ResponiveX, has been great about covering our food costs at most meetings. Not wanting to burden them with another large expense, we reached out to potential sponsors. Progress stepped up, agreeing to buy all food and drinks for the meeting. In exchange, we displayed Progress's logo prominently, thanked them multiple times during the meeting, and played a 5-minute video at the start of the meeting.

The Meeting

The meeting was excellent.

We began with Progress's video and a lightning talk from one of our members. We allow members to give a 10-minute presentation at the start of each meeting to gain experience in public speaking.

I introduced Scott by telling the audience, "They say you should never meet your heroes, but I have very real evidence that this is not true," before explaining that I was a fan of Scott Hanselman for years before we finally met. I learned what a genuine person he is and how much effort he puts into helping others.

The Aftermath

I attended Scott's keynote presentation the next morning, where he gave a talk similar to the one he delivered at my group. When it was over, he flew back to Portland - two more presentations in the books. He will soon be on the road for another conference, another keynote, and another audience. But this one will remain with me.  It is an example of how a talented speaker and a group of passionate individuals can quickly put together an event that  provides value to the community.

NOTE: Pete Rodriguez contributed to this content

Episode 908

Mike Amundsen on AI Coaches That Amplify Expertise

Mike Amundsen is building an AI tool that can act as a coach to help you improve long-term skillfhs. He talks about issues with AI and creativity, and the book he is currently writing for O'Reilly Press.

GCast 219:

Working with Models in a Microsoft Foundry Agent

Learn how to change, work with and manage models within an Agent created in Microsoft Foundry

The title of Conrad Richter's 1950 novel, "The Town," refers to an Ohio village and follows its growth into a metropolitan center during the first half of the nineteenth century. Moonshine Church changed its name to Americus, hoping to be named the county seat. The strategy worked, people moved in, and the village grew into a thriving city.

This story focuses on Sayward Wheeler and her family, whose lives are affected by the rapid growth of Americus. Sayward's husband, Portius, embraces the city's changing face and becomes an important citizen there. The family rises in stature and wealth, eventually moving from their humble home to a large house in town. Their son, Chancey, rejects the mores of modern society and edits a radical newspaper.

Along the way, we see family members reunited and lost, extramarital affairs, and a doomed relationship between a young couple.

The characters are born, evolve, fall in love, grow old, and die. The town evolves as they do. It is an interesting story about the ways individuals can influence their environment and how a town's environment can affect the people living within it. The author questions whether progress always leads to improvement and whether growing up in a privileged environment can lead one to take things for granted.

Although "The Town" stands well on its own, it is the third and final book in Richter's "Awakening Land" trilogy, which follows the history of the region's settlement and of Sayward's family. I have not yet read the first two books - "The Trees" and "The Fields" - but I am inspired to do so after enjoying "The Town".

Amy Grant smiled broadly at the sold-out City Winery in Chicago's West Loop Monday evening, and announced: "Music has never let me down!"

Ms. Grant has reinvented herself multiple times during her musical career. She initially emerged as a contemporary Christian music singer. Amy opened this evening's show with a song from that era, "Father's Eyes," from her second album, released in 1979, when she was still a teenager. Although Ms. Grant's faith still runs deep, her musical style has embraced country and pop music over the years. Amy announced the setlist would "jump around through the years," and she delivered on that promise in the first half of the show, playing selections spanning different genres and eras.

In the second half of the concert, her band played the latest album, "The Me That Remains," in its entirety, performing each song in the same sequence as it appears on the record. Like her career, this album spans multiple musical genres. Some songs tackled serious issues, such as "How Do We Get There From Here" (gun violence) and "The 6th of January" (society's lost innocence), but others were more lighthearted or romantic. "Friend Like You" is a love song she wrote for her famous husband, Vince Gill.

This tour was her first time with a small 4-piece band, and the quartet filled the intimate space really well.

Kim Keyes (percussion), Jonathan Hamby (keyboards), and Gene Miller (guitar) complemented Grant's guitar and vocals perfectly.

Amy closed the show with a rousing version of Jackie DeShannon's "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," which brought the audience to its feet.

Amy Grant is a delight to see perform. She combined talented musicians, great songs, a strong voice, and an engaging smile and personality that charmed the audience. While her husband Vince plays much larger venues, Amy keeps things simple with a small venue and a personal concert.

Episode 907

Fabio Padua on Using AI to Increase Productivity

Microsoft Partner Solution Architect Fabio Padua shows how he uses AI tools like Copilot, OpenClaw, and Scout to create reuasable agents that make him more productive.

I have loved Lyle Lovett's songwriting, musicianship, and singing for decades. I had the chance to see Mr. Lovett perform with a full orchestra years ago in Minneapolis.

Sunday night, I saw him perform again - this time with a trio at the intimate City Winery in Chicago's West Loop. I logged on as soon as tickets went on sale to grab front row seats.

The lanky Texan opened the evening with a version of "Here I Am," a song originally arranged for a big band (which Lyle referred to as his "Large Band"). But tonight, he accompanied himself on guitar with help from James Harrah (guitar) and Victor Krausse (upright bass).

Harrah has an impressive resume; he has accompanied everyone from Madonna to Herbie Hancock. Krausse is less famous than his sister Alison, but he has been playing with Lyle for decades. Both musicians excelled at their craft. Between songs, Lyle asked his bandmates questions about their musical upbringing and their philosophy. The respondents seemed less comfortable in their role as interviewees than when playing music, but the Q&A gave the audience a chance to experience Lovett's wit and charm.

The band showed up without a set list. The trio played whatever Lyle felt like. When an audience member shouted "LA County," Lovett tuned his guitar and performed that song. When another in the crowd asked, "What if you had a boat?", he responded, "We'll work up to that one." Sure enough, they played "If I Had a Boat" a few songs later.

Other highlights of the evening included the emotional "If I were the Man you Wanted," "Nobody Knows Me," and "Waltzing Fool." He mixed these tearjerkers with upbeat tunes like "Give Me Back My Heart" and "She's No Lady." At one point, he paid tribute to Steven Fromholz, one of his early influences, by playing a set of Fromholz's compositions.

The trio entertained for over two hours.

They closed the set with Lovett's ode to his home state, "You're not from Texas," and returned to the stage to sing "Waltzing Fool" as his only encore.

Lyle Lovett is my favorite living country artist. On this night, he reinforced that opinion.

More Photos!

I did not know what to expect Saturday night when I saw Christian McBride in concert at Garcia's in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood.

The bassist's music spans multiple genres. With Joshua Redmond, he recorded some excellent smooth jazz. He accompanied many great singers, such as Peabo Bryson and Ann Wilson, as they crooned torch songs. He has jammed with legends like Chick Corea and DeJohnette, playing everything from bebop to avant-garde jazz.

Friday night at Garcia's, McBride brought his new band, Ursa Major, which consists of himself and 4 young musicians - Ely Perlman (guitar), Nicole Glover (saxophone), Mike King (piano), and Savannah Harris (drums). The set consisted primarily of straight-ahead jazz with delightful melodies, interrupted by instrumental solos and improvisation.

The strength of this young crew made the evening special. McBride is a brilliant musician, but he served as the glue on this night, allowing his proteges to shine. When the bassist did take a solo, it impressed as much as you would expect.

Christian McBride continues to innovate as his career matures. This tour shows his willingness to pass that innovation spirit on to the next generation of jazz musicians.

GCast 218:

Analyzing Contracts and Other Legal Documents with Legal Agent

Legal Agent is a Copilot service that works with legal documents in Microsoft Word. It is currently in preview. In this video, you will learn the perquisites for using this product, sample prompts to analyze a contract, and how to integrate it with a playbook.

Episode 906

Peter Laudati on The Eat Jersey Challenge

Peter Laudati and his wife decided to eat a meal in every city and town in New Jersey. Then, they decided to create a video and share the experience on social media. Finally, Peter created a web site that visualizes this journey.

Peter talks about the technologies involved in this project, his issues when deciding whether to use AI, and the challenges he faced.

Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatjerseychallenge/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569640546791
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@eatjerseychallenge
Interactive Map: https://eatjerseychallenge.com

GitHub Project for the map website: https://github.com/jrzyshr/eatjerseychallenge
GitHub Project for the workflow tools (very much in progress): https://github.com/jrzyshr/ejc-tools

6/7
Today I am grateful for front row seats to see Christian McBride and Ursa Major in concert last night.

6/6
Today I am grateful for a successful event yesterday hosting university students from the Discovery Partners Institute Summer Intern Program.

6/5
Today I am grateful to see "Catch as Catch Can" starring Gary Cole last night at the Steppenwolf Theatre.

6/4
Today I am grateful to those who expressed empathy when I spoke of a toxic manager from my past.

6/3

6/2
Today I am grateful for all the folks who show up to play pickleball at the local park.

6/1

5/31
Today I am grateful for a visit to the Space Center in Houston yesterday

5/30
Today I am grateful for:
- My first time firing a gun yesterday. I fired 4 different kinds, including a machine gun.
- Texas BBQ lunch with Paul yesterday
- Seeing Tim Meadows perform last night at the Houston Improv

5/29
Today I am grateful:
- to deliver a presentation at the AI Camp in Houston yesterday
- to attend a reception hosted by Long View last night

5/28
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with Fabio, Cherry, Juan, and Donna.

5/27
Today I am grateful for conversations yesterday with James and Peter.

5/26
Today I am grateful to celebrate Memorial Day weekend with friends and good food this weekend.

5/25
Today I am grateful to all those who gave their lives in defense of our country.

5/24
Today I am grateful to my friend who invited me to the cemetery to pay my respects to some of her family.

5/23
Today I am grateful to see comedian David Koechner last night in Wicker Park

5/22
Today I am grateful to see Spamalot last night for the first time in over 20 years!

5/21
Today I am grateful to Husam for helping me prepare for my presentation yesterday.

5/20
Today I am grateful for a phone call from Debbie yesterday.

5/19
Today I am grateful to see Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera last night in Evanston!

5/18
Today I am grateful:
- to hear Walter Isaacson and Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel speak at the Chicago Humanities Festival yesterday
- to watch a documentary about Heart's Ann Wilson, followed by Q&A with the singer last night

5/17
Today I am grateful to see comedian Matt McCusker last night on my first visit to the Riviera Theater.

5/16
Today I am grateful to see "Covenant" at the Goodman Theatre last night.

5/15
Today I am grateful for:
- a company happy hour in the Aon Center tenant lounge
- a successful workshop at my user group last night

5/14
Today I am grateful for coffee with Michael this morning.

5/13
Today I am grateful to ADPList and Jantzen for some new professional headshots

5/12
Today I am grateful for some good news from my blood test results.

5/11
Today I am grateful to relax at home last night, watching silly movies.

5/10
Today I am grateful to celebrate Mother's Day yesterday with three wonderful mothers!

5/9
Today I am grateful to attend the annual "Switch on Summer" event for the first time, seeing the city activate Buckingham Fountain for 2026!

5/8
Today I am grateful to see Brendan Hunt's one-man play, "The Movement You Need" last night at the Goodman Theatre!

5/7
Today I am grateful to mentor a successful workshop yesterday.

5/6
Today I am grateful to speak at the ChannelPro DEFEND conference yesterday in Schaumburg

5/5
Today I am grateful to arrive home before the rainstorm last night.

5/4
Today I am grateful to see the SATCHVAI Band in concert last night, featuring Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

Thursday was the opening night of "Catch as Catch Can" at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. The lights came up on Gary Cole and Tim Hopper sipping tea in a kitchen. I was immediately confused. Why were they referring to one another as "mother," and why did they sound like women? After a few minutes, I realized the two men were playing the characters of elderly women. Audrey Francis came on stage later, playing an elderly man.

Confused yet? It gets stranger.

Three actors also played six different roles – the parents and the children of those parents. Gary Cole (a man) stars as Roberta Lavecchia (a woman) while Audrey Francis (a woman) plays Roberta's husband, Lon. But the pair also play the couple's adult children - Gary as Robbie (a man) and Audrey as Daniela (a woman). Similarly, Tim Hopper portrays both mother Theresa Phelan and her son, Tim. The actors took a chance by embracing these roles. Each of them plays one character of the opposite gender and one character of a different age. It can be confusing at times, but it mostly works.

Early in the play, costume changes signaled a transformation; later, an actor would walk off stage and return a minute later as the alternate character. Still later, the transitions occurred without the actor exiting the stage. The audience needed to be alert to changes in voice and personality to detect the switch.

The story follows two families and the stress caused by Tim's homecoming as he tries to reconnect with his mother and friends, but reveals his internal struggles. Each character grapples with the challenges in their lives, their decisions, and the effects of those decisions.

Playwright Mia Chung's dialogue is both humorous, poignant, and authentic. Her characters talk like real people. When trying to define his relationship with his ex-wife, Robbie begins a half-dozen sentences, but is unable to complete any of them. Tim asks Robbie, "Do you know who you are?" and Robbie struggles to answer. But when Tim asks, "Do you like who you are?" Robbie responds, "No," without hesitation.
"Catch as Catch Can" is a story of generational conflict, family dynamics, and mental health struggles. It is confusing, but the strength of this trio of actors makes it work.

This run marks Gary Cole's return to Steppenwolf after an absence of many years. I remember him best as horrible boss, Lumbergh, in the quirky comedy, "Office Space." So it is appropriate that he return in such a quirky production.

Microsoft held its annual Build conference last week in San Francisco.

I always make a point of watching the keynote to see what the company is announcing, emphasizing, or most proud of this year.

Here are the announcements that stood out to me in this year's keynote.

Microsoft introduced 7 new AI Models, branded as MAI(Microsoft AI)

- MAI-Thinking-1 – reasoning model

- MAI-Code-1 – coding-focused model integrated with GitHub Copilot

- MAI-Image-2.5 – advanced image editing/generation

- MAI-Transcribe-1.5 – speech-to-text across 43 languages

- MAI-Voice-2 – multilingual voice generation

A GitHub Copilot app dedicated to using the AI tool to write, review, and manage code.

New features in GitHub Copilot

- Agentic workflows

- Multi-step autonomous coding tasks

- Session orchestration

- Deployment-oriented workflows

New Windows enhancements:

- They seemed excited about the Vertical taskbar, but I don't see this as an enhancement

- AI-powered Intelligent Terminal

- More on-device support for AI

New chips for more powerful machines to run models locally

Microsoft Foundry

- Support for thousands of models

- Better Fabric integration

Rayfin SDK and CLI allow developers to build AI applications and deploy them to Microsoft Fabric.

NOTE: This is what I heard and what resonated with me, so take it all with a grain of salt. Check the official Microsoft Build page and watch the video to decide for yourself.

I accepted an invitation to speak at the AI Tour in Houston on May 28, 2026.

Microsoft organized this tour, held in cities around the world, to promote its suite of AI technologies. This was my fourth time working at an AI Tour event, and my first time delivering a presentation.

Over 3,600 people attended this sold-out event.

Fabiao Padua of GCPS - LATAM also attended, proctoring one of the workshops.

My Presentation

183 people attended my presentation titled "GitHub Copilot as an AI agent in the developer workflow." It was a 200- 300-level presentation showing how Copilot tools can increase developer productivity and velocity while maintaining consistent quality, and how to extend Copilot with MCP Servers, Cloud Agents, GHCP CLI, and other tools. The presentation included many demos - a challenge when working in front of an audience and relying on the wifi in the room. But it went well, and I received some good questions and positive feedback afterward.

Partners

Many partners sponsored the event, setting up booths in the exhibition area to connect with potential partners and showcase their offerings.

Because I am on the Partner team at Microsoft, I took the opportunity to talk with the folks at Microsoft partners Long View, SHI, Insight, CDW, and Improving. I asked them about their relationship with my employer - what are we doing well and how can we improve?

Post-Event Reception

Immediately following the tour, Microsoft partner Long View hosted a reception at a local restaurant. I took the opportunity to meet with more people from Microsoft and the partner to learn what they are doing and discuss opportunities to collaborate.

Conclusion

This event was a great experience. The attendees appreciated an opportunity to learn more about our technology.

I appreciated the chance to teach them and to connect with colleagues from around the world.

Links

https://aitour.microsoft.com/

https://aitour.microsoft.com/flow/microsoft/houston26/landingpage/page/cityhome

More Photos

https://giard.smugmug.com/Tech-Community/AI-Tour-Houston-2026

Episode 905

Sailaja Mantripragada on AI Governance

AI tools can enable users to access data to which they do not or should not have permission, revealing security problems in an organization.

Sailaja Mantripragada describes the Just in Time AI Governance framework she created to address these issues.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The statement above is the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence. Historian Walter Isaacson believes it is the greatest sentence ever written, so he titled his 2026 book "The Greatest Sentence Ever Written" and analyzed it.

He broke the sentence into words and phrases. He spent a chapter analyzing each - discussing the authors' intent in their choice of language, the context and society in which it was written, and revisions from the original draft.

Isaacson breaks his analysis into seven chapters, each of which breaks down a fragment of the historical sentence.

- We
- Self-Evident Truths
- All Men
- Created Equal
- Endowed by Their Creator
- Certain Inalienable Rights
- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Each chapter spans only a few pages, but the fact that he devotes an entire chapter to the word "We" should tell you the thoroughness for which he strives.

Some chapters speculate on the meaning of words. When discussing the phrase "All men," it is natural to ask whether eighteenth-century authors used it to include all humanity, including women. A letter from John Adams to his wife Abigail indicates they did not.

Some chapters describe changes to the text from the first to the final draft. The phrase "self-evident" replaced the original "sacred," for example. Jefferson's first draft contained a condemnation of slavery. Southern delegates successfully lobbied to have this section removed.

Some chapters examine the origin of ideas. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as human rights evolved from the writings of John Locke, who wrote of the rights to "life, liberty, and property."

Walter Isaacson is known for writing massive biographies. His biographies of Kissinger, Franklin, Einstein, Jobs, da Vinci, and Musk each weigh in at over 600 pages. By contrast, "The Greatest Sentence Ever Written" is less than a hundred pages. He added a few appendices to beef it up to over 50 pages.

Now is a good time to reflect on the Declaration of Independence as we approach the 250th anniversary of its signing. Despite feeling more like a pamphlet than a book, this volume is an enjoyable read.

GCast 217:

Using Copilot Prompt Files in Visual Studio Code

Copilot prompt files allow you to create shortcuts for reusable prompts. In this video you learn how to create a prompt file and pass parameters to it.

Episode 904

Cory House on Generative AI Coding Tools and Processes

Cory House experienced significant productivity gains when he began using generative AI tools to help him write code. He talks about Claude Code and other Gen AI tools, how he uses them, and how you can decide the best tool for your coding style.

The title of Andy Weir's 2011 novel, "The Martian," refers to Earthman Mark Watney, who is stranded on Mars when a sudden sandstorm blows him from the sight of the rest of his crew, leading them to believe he is dead. They leave Mars without their crewmate, who survived with only minor injuries. With only a few months of provisions, Watney must rely on his wits to survive. The next planned Martian expedition is scheduled to arrive in four years, and Mark is likely to die of exposure, starvation, thirst, lack of oxygen, or accident well before then.

But Mark is an experienced botanist, engineer, and problem solver. His ingenuity, perseverance, and resilience led him to grow food, maintain the oxygen and water machines, and survive. Sometimes, his plans go awry (he survives an explosion and a leak in his habitat's airlock), but his ingenuity (and sometimes a bit of luck) always finds a way to resolve the problem.

The book begins with Mark's journal, detailing his struggles to adapt to the planet, grow potatoes, and maintain a positive outlook. It later switches to a narrative, as we look inside NASA headquarters when they learn that Mark survived, and inside the returning spaceship as they return to Mars to rescue their abandoned comrade.
NASA directors wrestle with politics and public relations, while the returning space crew struggles with the guilt of inadvertently leaving a man behind.

Weir frequently switches from scientific explanations to adventure to Mark's lighthearted cynicism. The adventure and cynicism make the story fun, while the science makes it believable. I cannot speak to the veracity of Weir's calculations and scientific assertions because I am neither a botanist, an engineer, a physicist, nor an astronaut. But all the science sounded plausible to me, and the details added an element of reality to the book.

"The Martian" is a fun ride that successfully balances science, drama, excitement, and humor.

Before Spamalot became a hit on Broadway, where it won multiple Tony Awards, the musical began life at Chicago's Schubert Theatre. I happened to be working in Chicago at that time, so I bought a ticket and witnessed the original production. That impressive 2014-15 cast included Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, and Hank Azaria.

Two decades later, I returned to the same theatre (since rechristened the CIBC Theatre) to see the current touring company of Spamalot.

The Thursday evening performance was a joy to behold. While the set featured upgraded video screens, the thrust of the play remained the same - a musical adaptation of the classic film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which is an irreverent interpretation of the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

The audience - including me - was familiar enough with the "Holy Grail" movie that they began laughing at the start of a scene before the actors revealed their jokes. The recognition of a black knight or knights saying "Ni" or a cart filled with plague victims was enough to inspire chuckles. It did not matter that we had heard the jokes before. We loved them, and we could not wait to hear them again.

Major Attaway was marvelous as King Arthur, and his barely competent knights (Sean Bell, Chris Collins-Pisano, Leo Roberts, and Ellis C. Dawson III) had us all rolling with their antics. Amanda Robles played the Lady of the Lake completely over the top, effectively hamming up her performance in every scene in which she appeared.

While lacking the star power of the original cast, this version of "Spamalot" was hilarious and delightful.

Episode 903

Harald Fianbakken on Microsoft Sovereign Cloud

Microsoft PM Harald Fianbakken discusses a new Azure offering: Microsoft Sovereign Cloud. He describes the private, public, national options and what issues each option is designed to address.

Links:
https://www.microsoft.com/sovereignty
https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-sovereign-clouds/

Olivia Pentland felt trapped in a loveless marriage to her husband, Anson. Anson was so proud of his family's history that he decided to write a book about his ancestors. His book celebrated their place among the New England elites and ignored any failings. The Pentlands were among the earliest European settlers in Massachusetts and still retained high status in the Durham, MA, community. But that status was challenged when Irish Catholics and immigrants moved into Durham and began to achieve financial success.

Louis Bromfield's 1926 novel "Early Autumn" tells the story of the Pentland family as they deal with the changes in society and their place in it. When Anson's son dies, it signals the end of the Pentland name, but the family has already been fading for years.

Anson's father, family patriarch John Pentland, admires Anson's wife, Olivia, more than his own son, placing pressure on her to hold the family together. She feels conflicted when Irish immigrant and politician Michael O'Hara begins to court her.

A series of events during the autumn begins to disrupt the family; but they serve only to reveal problems that already existed.

When divorced cousin Sabine returns from Europe, her free attitude shakes the conservative family; but their values began to shatter years before.

When the last male descendant dies, it signals the end of the Pentland family name; but the family has been fading for decades.

Dark family secrets are revealed; but the changing social structure doomed the family more than any scandal could.

"Early Autumn" is the story of societal change as the American Dream replaces the older values of aristocracy. It is the story of a family bound by tradition, doomed to lose its status to those they consider inferior.

The myth of Robert Johnson inspired playwright York Walker to write "Covenant," a play that centers on a bluesman of extraordinary talent in the early nineteenth-century Deep South. I witnessed Director Malkia Stampley's production of "Covenant" on Friday evening at The Goodman Theatre.

Johnson, who died at the age of 27 (allegedly, a jealous husband poisoned him), was such an excellent musician and songwriter that a local legend claimed he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his talent and success.

In Walker's play, Johnny James (played admirably by Debo Balogun) returns to his southern hometown after two years of touring. Townsfolk speculate that his newfound musical talent is the result of a Faustian bargain. James reconnects with and courts Avery (Ashli René Funches), and the two run off together to play music on the road and elope, much to the displeasure of Avery's mother, played with extreme coldness by Anji White. The couple's departure also troubles Avery's sister, Violet (Felicia Oduh), and her best friend, Ruthi (Ashli René Funches). When Avery returns home with a severe brain injury, this reinforces everyone's belief that the Devil is involved.

Multiple times throughout the evening, the actors broke the fourth wall to tell a story of "a man" or "a woman" who had experienced something significant. The audience learns late in the show that each story ties into the plot, providing significant backstory and clues to what is going on in the present.

Parts of "Covenant" are laugh-out-loud funny, parts are suspenseful, parts are touching, and parts are terrifying. One scene was clearly intended to be terrifying, but the laughter of a group seated to my left spoiled the effect.

Balogun plays a charming, likable Johnny, but leaves the audience wondering whether he is hiding a dark secret. In fact, everyone hides a dark secret, which is revealed little by little. Ultimately, it is Funches who steals the show as layers are peeled back from the mystery.

"Covenant" is a dark and fun ride.

GCast 216:

Adding Guardrails to a Microsoft Foundry Agent

Guardrails prevent harmful or unwanted inputs and/or outputs to be used in an Agent. This video shows you how to create and assign guardrails to an agent created in Microsoft Foundry.

Episode 902

Vlad Avesalon and Alex Nova on world.org and the World App

The world app offers a way to use biometric data to identify someone as a human when logging onto an application. Vlad Avesalon and Alex Nova explain its uses and how it works.

Links:
https://world.org/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksstefanova/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vlad-avesalon/

Brendan Hunt was relatively unknown until 2020, when he co-created and co-starred as Coach Beard in the popular Apple TV series, "Ted Lasso." Despite the enormous popularity of "Ted Lasso," Hunt's path to success was far from a straight line. He grew up in Chicago, the child of divorced parents, graduated from Illinois State University's Theater program, and joined an improvisational comedy troupe in Amsterdam.

This week, Hunt returned to his hometown to tell his life story at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater. Brendan drew the title of his one-man show, "The Movement You Need," from a line in the Beatles' hit song, "Hey Jude." Hunt's obsession with the Beatles was a large part of his life and of the stories he told in this show, which I saw Thursday evening.

Some of the actor's stories are happy (he had a chance to meet Paul McCartney); some are tragic (his mother was an alcoholic and his father's Vietnam War experience left him with PTSD); many are relatable (he shared embarassing details of his attempts to meet girls during his awkward high school and college years); and some are bizarre (trying to find his friends while tripping on acid at a discoteque on the outskirts of Amsterdam). But he told them all with a combination of humor and sensitivity.

He enhanced the stories with musical interludes, humorous anecdotes, a bit of ad-libbing, and old photographs.

"The Moment You Need" made us feel joy and sorrow as we listened to an eventful life and the lessons learned from it.

I first learned of Joe Satriani in the 1980s when a friend gave me a copy of his album, "Surfing with the Alien." Although I loved Satriani's blazing guitar work, it took almost four decades for me to see him in concert.

Saturday night at the Chicago Theatre, Satriani joined forces with his friend and former student, fellow guitar legend Steve Vai. Together, they form the band "SATCHVAI," a name derived from the co-leaders' last names.

A SATCHVAI concert is like three concerts in one. On some songs, Vai stepped offstage, allowing Satriani to show off his skills; Satriani spent other songs in the wings while Vai took control. But for most of the evening, the two shared the stage and the spotlight, impressing the crowd with their lead guitar skills. At times, one of the pair would step to the fore for a burning solo; other times, they played almost the same notes simultaneously. But they were at their best when their guitars called and responded to one another.

The pair was joined by three top-flight musicians - Kenny Aronoff (drums), Marco Mendoza (bass), and Pete Thorn (rhythm guitar). Mendoza sang lead on one song, but his voice was unnecessary, as the group's instrumental numbers were far more impressive than the bassist's vocals. Halfway through the show, the band broke into an instrumental version of "Happy Birthday" to celebrate Mendoza's birth anniversary.

The concert opened with a humorous video of a producer auditioning dancers to accompany the duet's music.

They also drew on the substantial song catalogs of both musicians, including at least five songs from the aforementioned "Surfing with the Alien" album. During the title track performance, the giant video screen behind the stage displayed a blurred version of the comic-book anti-hero, Silver Surfer, which had graced the album cover until the copyright expired.

This tour is nicknamed "Surfing with the Hydra," a nod to Vai's 3-neck "hydra" guitar. Vai dramatically unveiled the monstrosity before playing his hypnotic composition, "Teeth of the Hydra." Often, the echoes of one neck continued as he played the other two.

Satriani followed with his "If I Could Fly," an excellent song made famous when Coldplay "borrowed" significant parts of it for their hit, "Viva la Vida."

The concert concluded with a rousing version of Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild," which brought the audience to its feet for a singalong.

From the first note to the last, the outstanding technical skill of these two artists made this a concert to remember.

Photos

Episode 901

Brady Gaster on Squad and a Multi Agent AI

Brady Gaster and his friends have developed Squad an AI tool built on top of GitHub Copilot that spins up multiple agents - each with a different role in the software development process.

Links:
https://github.com/bradygaster/squad
https://bradygaster.github.io/squad/

5/3
Today I am grateful to see the Alexander McLean Project in concert last night at Jazz Showcase.

5/2
Today I am grateful:
- to sing karaoke last night for the first time in my life
- to attend and speak at the #StirTrek conference yesterday for the first time in over a decade

5/1
Today I am grateful to see so many old friends last night in Columbus.

4/30
Today I am grateful to Brian for sharing a ride to Columbus.

4/27
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with the Lacek family

4/26
Today I am grateful to finally complete my year-end self-evaluation.

4/25
Today I am grateful:
- to organize and host my team's first community call yesterday
- to deliver a presentation on Foundry at Microsoft Family Day

4/23
Today I am grateful to Synoptek for inviting me to a Happy Hour yesterday.

4/22
Today I am grateful for the regulars who come to play pickleball at a nearby park.

4/21
Today I am grateful to attend a Cubs game last night in the Bleachers Suite!

4/19
Today I am grateful to see the premiere of "Fault" at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater last night.

4/18
Today I am grateful:
- to see Pat Metheny in concert last night
- for a successful Global Azure event yesterday

4/17
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with Dan

4/16
Today I am grateful to file my taxes on time.

4/15
Today I am grateful to conduct mock interviews with i.c. stars graduates this morning.

4/14
Today I am grateful for a weekend in Utah.

4/13
Today I am grateful for:
- a visit to Cottonwood Canyon yesterday
- dinner with Robert and Colette last night

4/12
Today I am grateful:
- for a visit to the Church History Museum yesterday
- to see an exciting Mammoth - Hurricanes NHL game yesterday in Salt Lake City.

4/11
Today I am grateful to Craig for an autographed copy of his novel.

4/10
Today I am grateful to see "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" at the Goodman Theatre last night.

4/9
Today I am grateful to help coach a successful AI workshop yesterday afternoon.

4/8
Today I am grateful I was able to go without meat and alcohol for 40 days.

4/7
Today I am grateful for my first glass of beer in months.

4/6
Today I am grateful to celebrate Easter with Donna's family!

Fifteen years ago, I attended my first Global Azure event. In those days, it was called "Global Windows Azure Boot Camp." Two years later, I organized a full-day Global Azure event in the Detroit area.

When I moved to Chicago, I discovered that Azure MVP / Microsoft Regional Director Eric Boyd was doing the same thing here. He invited me to help, and I gladly accepted.

Global Azure is an annual event held each spring to promote the education of Microsoft's cloud platform. What began as a one-day event has expanded to three days - April 16-18 this year. Sessions were held on these days in 73 different cities all around the world.

Eric and I decided to limit this year's Chicago Global Azure event to one full day - Friday, April 17! I reserved the multi-purpose rooms at the downtown Chicago Microsoft office, while Eric's company, ResponsiveX, sponsored the event, buying food and drinks for attendees.

Eric kicked off the day with a presentation titled: "Azure Is Now Old Enough to Drive," in which he told the history of Microsoft's cloud platform.

Phanindra Gangina followed with, "Zero-Friction Cloud-Native: Building and Deploying Portable Microservices with Dapr," explaining an approach to building scalable, cloud-native microservices using Dapr as the distributed application runtime.

Brian Haydin shared how he creates, deploys, and maintains AI agents in his talk: "AgentOps for Real: Evals, Tracing, and Regression Tests for AI Agents on Azure."

After lunch (Lou Malnatti's pizza), I delivered a presentation on Observability in Azure, titled "Navigating Cloudy Horizons with Azure Monitor and Application Insights."

Pete Rodriguez delivered the final presentation of the day, discussing how he uses Copilot to support DevOps processes in Azure. Pete's participation was fortuitous because one of the scheduled speakers neglected to show up.

We closed with a Panel Discussion. All five of the day's speakers answered questions on issues in cloud computing. This conversation generated numerous questions from the audience, who stayed well past the scheduled closing time.

The day was a great success. Many attendees told me they learned a lot from the sessions. I am grateful to Eric for organizing the event, to Pete for his flexibility, to the speakers for sharing their knowledge, and to the audience for taking a day to learn and network.

We plan to return next year.

Episode 900

A Celebration of Friends!

Today, I am celebrating the Nonacentennial of "Technology and Friends" with a montage of the last 99 episodes!

Featuring:
Adi Polak
Akash Dubey
AL Rodriguez
Alex Riviere
Alvin Ashcraft
Ankita Guha Biegas
Arunava Majumdar
Barry Stahl
Ben Kotvis
Bill Sempf
Blaize Stewart
Brian Hitney
Brian McKeiver
Burton Smith
Chris Ayers
Chris Woodruff
Christina Aldan
Damian Synadinos
Danny Kim
Dean Schuster
Dee Peterson
Edward Thomson
Esteban Garcia
Fidel Guzman
Glenn F Henriksen
Greg Crist
Guy Royse
J Tower
Jason Bock
Javier Salmeron
Jayson Street
Jeff Fritz
Jeffrey Snover
Jennifer Marsman
Jennifer Reif
Jennifer Wadella
Jeremy Miller
Jerry Nixon
Jimmy Bogard
Joe Guadagno
Joe Sharmer
Justine Cocchi
Karl-Henrik Nilsson
Kathryn Grayson
Ken Versaw
Kevin Griffin
Laurent Bugnion
Andrew Looney
Kristin Looney
Maarten Balliauw
Mads Torgersen
Magnus Martensson
Mark Tinderholt
Michael Eaton
Michael Feathers
Michelle Frost
Michelle Sandford
Mike Shelton
Peter Van Vilet
Prasanna Pendse
Rachel Appel
Raj Krishnan
Randy Pagels
Rhia Dixon
Richard Campbell
Roan Weigert
Robert Bogue
Rob Conery
Rocky Lhotka
Rod Christensen
Sam Gomez
Sam Nasr
Sarah Dutkiewicz
Sarang Brahme
Scott Hanselman
Scott Hermes
Scott Hunter
Stacey Mulcahy
Steve Smith
Sudeep Goswami
Ted Neward
Tim Moore
Tommy Falgout
Trinh Tran
Valerie Gurka
Venkat Subramaniam

Robert Grainier was a loner who spent much of his life working on the railroads built across the American Northwest during the early twentieth century.

Denis Johnson's novel, "Tran Dream," follows Robert's life. His earliest memory is of traveling on a train to meet his adopted parents. He has no memory or knowledge of his birth parents or even when or where he was born. Most of his life revolves around the railroad - building the tracks or riding the trains. Robert is forever haunted by the memory of the day he helped co-workers try to lynch a Chinese worker. Robert never learned what alleged crime the immigrant committed, but he joined in the attack before the man escaped. Robert meets and marries his wife, Gladys, who bears him a daughter, Kate. While their husband is away working, Gladys and Kate perish in a forest fire. Their bodies are never recovered, and it takes him many months to accept their deaths.

This novella lacks plot twists and an overarching story, other than the life of an ordinary man living a mostly isolated life. It is an episodic novel without a coming-of-age story or a moral. It is the tale of a man navigating the changes of the twentieth century and the struggles of his own life. But Johnson writes simple, elegant prose, and the author develops his main character into a sympathetic outsider.

Banana Yoshimoto's first published novella, "Kitchen", is the story of Mikage Sakurai and Yuichi Tanabe, both of whom lost parents at a young age. Mikage was raised by her grandmother, who passed away at the start of the story. When Yuichi's mother, Eriko, died, his father changed genders and raised him as a mother, while running in a drag bar.

The two young people attended the same university, but did not know each other well. However, Mikago's grandmother became close to Yuichi after patronizing the flower shop where he worked, so he came to her home to offer his condolences and invited her to move in with him and his "mother." The teenagers grow close until Mikage moves out, and reconnect shortly after the murder of Eriko.

The story deals with human relationships, grief, and expectations. The protagonists appear to be moving toward a romance that never occurs; ex-lovers drift in and out of the story; and we get glimpses of relationships through conversations and acts of kindness.

Although death is central to the story, it takes place "off-camera." The grandmother passes away in the first few pages. Neither the reader nor Mikage learns of Eriko's death until well after it occurs. Rather than focus on characters dying, Yoshimoto focuses on the reactions of those left behind.

The title comes from Mikage's comfort in the kitchen. She sleeps there after her grandmother's passing. She finds the act of preparing food therapeutic, so she cooks for Yuichi and Eriko, and eventually enrolls in culinary school.

The volume I read also included a second short story, "Moonlight Shadow," which also deals with death. When an automobile accident kills two young people, it brings together two others. Hiiragi was the sister of the boy killed and the boyfriend of the girl. Satsuki was the boy's girlfriend. Satsuki and Hiiragi connect and deal with their shared tragedy. These two stories do not connect directly, but both deal with death, grief, loneliness, and relationships.

Yoshimoto's style is concise and direct. Usually, this makes it easy to read, but she has the striking habit of revealing a significant incident in a single sentence, as in the death of a major character.

I read the English language version (translated from Japanese by Megan Backus) and enjoyed it very much. This touching story is well worth the time to read.

GCast 215:

Creating an AI Agent in Microsoft Foundry

Learn how to create an AI Agent in less than 10 minutes using Microsoft Foundry.

Episode 899

Eldert Grootenboer on Reliability in Azure Messaging

Azure Service Bus PM Eldert Grootenboer talks about new features in Service Bus and Event Hubs that add redundancy and reliability to these queueing services.

He describes the configuration options of geo-replication and the trade-offs involved to help you decide which configuration to select.

"Fault" is a play that launches directly into farcical theater right from the start. The lights come up on Shaun and Judy having wild sex in Judy's ostentatious living room. Judy (who does not learn Shaun's name until halfway through the show) repeatedly slaps Shaun for not expressing his admiration for her beauty in exactly the way she desires. At the moment of climax, Judy's husband, Jerry, arrives home to find the two together - his early arrival to celebrate an enormously successful merger he closed that day.

The first half of the play keeps the energy high as Jerry chases Shaun, threatens him with a bottle and a sword, and handcuffs him to a chair. Witty dialogue between the husband, wife, and lover enhances the frantic action.

Halfway through the 90-minute play, the action slows, giving way to confessions and lamentations, witnessed by their imprisoned guest, whom the couple asks to judge who is at fault for the failings in their marriage.

Jason Alexander, who famously played George Costanza for years on "Seinfeld," directed this dark comedy. The show transitions from wild laughter early to disturbing tales of marital trauma later, but it always kept me engaged.

Enrico Colantoni is very good as Jerry, and Nick Marini is better as Shaun, but Rebecca Spence steals the show as the emotional Lucy.

I attended the opening night of "Fault" on Saturday evening. I was surprised to see the theater only half full. I expect seats will sell out more quickly as word spreads about this delightful dark comedy.

It is not that Pat Metheny cannot speak to the audience. He addressed us at length after playing for almost an hour, and he sounded comfortable and happy to communicate.

But for most of Friday evening at Chicago's Symphony Center, the virtuoso guitarist chose to let his music do the talking. It is with his guitar that Mr. Metheny is most comfortable communicating. He played his signature jazz fusion - some more jazz and some more rock - to the delight of a sold-out theater. He switched among guitars and drew a variety of sounds from each. Personally, I most enjoyed the Spanish style he played on an acoustic guitar, but his technical proficiency makes all his music enjoyable.

And he assembled a band of top-notch musicians (bass, keyboards, drums, percussion, and (sometimes) vocals) that accompanied his performance admirably. This sextet provided a fuller sound and a different experience from the trio I witnessed in 2021.

But Metheney's excellence made this another excellent show.

Episode 898

Jeffrey Snover on Unifying AI at Harvard

Jeffrey Snover's retirement did not last long. A few days before announcing his new position the Berkman Klein Center for Internet Studies at Harvard University, Jeffrey Snover shared with us what he is planning to do there and how he is preparing for this role. Different AI groups (e.g., accelerators, "safetyists", and skeptics) tend to have their own taxonomy, making it difficult to determine where they agree and disagree. Snover plans to create a taxonomy and tools to facilitate communication and find areas of agreement and disagreement between the camps, which will help to make informed decisions when creating policies.

The Goodman Theatre's production of August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" highlights a single day in the recording studio, giving us a glimpse into the lives of all those involved.

Blues singer Ma Rainey (played by E. Faye Butler) is a prima donna, often throwing tantrums until her demands are met. Her agent, Irv, and studio executive Sturdyvant placate her because they both know she generates more profit for the studio than all their other artists combined.

Conflicts arise within Ma's band as they await the tardy lead singer. Young Levee clashes with his older bandmates due to his inflated ego and differing musical tastes. Al'Jaleel McGhee steals the show as Levee, taking us through his range of emotions.

The show reveals how different people resolve conflict in different ways. Ma, the diva bullies her employers; Irv plays peacemaker, conceding nearly every demand; and Levee lashes out in anger.

Rather than changing sets, Linda Buchanan chose to segment the stage into different rooms and use lighting to highlight the area where the action took place. This kept the pace moving throughout the two-and-a-half-hour performance.

As with all of Wilson's plays, this one deals with race. Ma knows her white patrons would dismiss her based on her skin color if they were not making money from her voice. Levee and the band members distrust their white employees but must work within a racist system, stacked against them.

Director Chuck Smith brought raw emotion and music to this revival.

GCast 214:

Using M365 Copilot to Edit a PowerPoint Image

M365 Copilot has a new feature that allows you to edit an image directly within your PowerPoint presentation. You no longer need to bring it into an external image editing tool.

Episode 897

Ken Versaw on How to Manage AI-First Software Development Teams

Ken Versaw discusses how Artificial Intelligence has changed the way that his team operates, he now manages his team, and the challenges AI brings.