Episode 343

Rob Fletcher on Team Building and Charity

In a previous article, I showed how to create a sample .NET client application to connect to your Azure Mobile Service. In this article, I will show you how to add authentication to this sample application.

Azure Mobile Services supports a number of different methods of authentication. A couple of them you would expect from a Microsoft platform - User can be authenticated against Active Directory or they can be directed to log in with a Microsoft account (formerly known as a "Live" account.) You would expect Mobile Services to support these authentication methods because they are created and/or maintained by Microsoft. However, Mobile Services is designed to accept authentication tokens that adhere to the OAuth standard and it is built to support Facebook, Twitter, and Google authentication - all of which conform to oAuth.

In order to use an Authentication Provider, you must enable support for that provider. You can enable support for one provider and instruct all clients to use that provider; or you can enable support for multiple oAuth providers and clients will be able to offer a choice to users, allowing them to log in with their favourite service.

Setting up each of these oAuth providers is pretty similar, so the best way to show you how is to walk through an example. I'll enable Twitter authentication but the process is not much different for other providers.

Creating An App on Twitter

In order to allow users to log into your app via Twitter, you need to create an app in Twitter. You can do so by navigating to http://dev.twitter.com and signing in with your Twitter credentials (you may need to create a Twitter account first. If so, you may be the last person on Earth to do so.) At the bottom of the page is a "Tools" section. Click the "Manage Your Apps" link in this section, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1

On the "Twitter Apps" page, click the [Create New App] button (Figure 2).

Figure 2

The "Create an application" page (Figure 3) displays. The first 3 fields are required.

 
Figure 3

At the "Name" field, enter a name for your application. I usually use the same name I gave my Azure Mobile Service.

At the "Description" field, enter a brief description of your app.

At the "Website" field, enter your Mobile Service URL. You can find this URL in the Azure portal on the DASHBOARD tab of your Mobile Service (Figure 4)

Figure 4

Scroll down the "Create an Application" page (Figure 5), read the Developer agreement completely (in this case, you are likely the first person ever to do this), check the "Yes I agree" checkbox, and click the [Create your Twitter application] button to create the app.

Figure 5

A page displays for your newly-created app with a tab menu across the top as shown in Figure 6.

 
Figure 6

Click the "Keys and Access Tokens" tab to display the Application Settings as shown in Figure 7.

  
Figure 7

You will need the Consumer Key (API Key) and the Consumer Secret (API Secret) so keep this web page open and open a new browser or browser tab and navigate to the Azure Portal.

In the Azure Portal, select your mobile service and click the IDENTITY menu option as shown in Figure 8.

 
Figure 8

On the IDENTITY page, scroll down to the "twitter settings" section. From the Twitter "Application Settings" page, copy the API Key and the API Secret and paste these values into the corresponding fields on the Azure Mobile Services IDENTITY page, as shown in Figure 9.

 
jFigure 9

Click the SAVE icon (Figure 10) at the bottom of the page to save these changes.

Figure 10

Your Mobile Service now supports Twitter authentication.

Force clients to login before accessing your service by setting permissions on the service actions. This is done at the Mobile Service table's PERMISSIONS page. (To access the PERMISSIONS page, select your Mobile Service in the Azure Portal; click the DATA tab; select the table you want to secure; and click the PERMISSIONS tab.)

Change the permission of each action to "Only Authenticated Users" by selecting "Only Authenticated Users" from the dropdown next to each action, as shown in Figure 11. Click the SAVE icon to commit these changes.

Figure 11

Now any client app that calls your service has no choice but to force users to log in with Twitter in order to use your app.

CLIENT APP

Open the client app that we created in an earlier article and open MainPage.cs in the Shared project.

Add the following code to the class.

   1: MobileServiceUser user = null;

   2: private async System.Threading.Tasks.Task AuthenticateAsync()

   3: {

   4:     while (user == null)

   5:     {

   6:             user = await App.MobileService

   7:                 .LoginAsync(MobileServiceAuthenticationProvider.Twitter);

   8:     }

   9:  

Listing 1

Then call this method by adding the following line at the top of the OnNavigatedTo method

   1: await AuthenticateAsync(); 

Listing 2

When the user navigates to the MainPage, she will be redirected to the Twitter login page where she must successfully login before proceeding. The MobileService will remember the user and pass this information in a token with each request to the REST service. If you configure another authentication provider, such as Google or Microsoft, you can direct the user to that provider's login page by changing the MobileServiceAuthenticationProvider enum, which is passed as a parameter to the MobileService.LoginAsync method.

In this article, we saw how to configure single sign-on for our Azure Mobile Service.

In previous articles, I showed how to set up a new Azure Mobile Service and how to generate a sample application.

By default, the service allows anyone with the Application Key to access this Mobile Service. This Application Key is generated automatically when the service is created. You can view the key by clicking to the "Manage Keys" icon (Figure 1) at the bottom of the Mobile Service Dashboard to display the "Manage Access Keys" dialog (Figure 2).

Figure 1

Figure 2

In the generated sample application, this access code is automatically passed to the constructor of the MobileServiceClient object that is instantiated in App.xaml.cs (Listing 1)

   1: public static MobileServiceClient MobileService = new MobileServiceClient(

   2:     "https://giard.azure-mobile.net/",

   3:     "MqJSWTxyZlOTRHdABCGOuDcQcTVqvR41"

   4: );

Listing 1

If you have created a table for your Mobile Service, you can click on the service's Data tab and manage the Permissions of that table by selecting the table and clicking the Permissions tab.

Here, you will see 4 dropdowns (Figure 3) - one for each operation you can perform on the table (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and READ). For each of these operations, you can set one of the following permissions:

• Everyone
• Anybody with the Application Key
• Only Authenticated Users
• Only Scripts and Admins

Figure 3

Below is an explanation of each Permission option

Everyone

The service is not secured. Anyone who knows the URI can access the service operation. Set this on the READ PERMISSION and you will be able to open a browser, navigate to the table's URI and view the data in the table.

Anybody with the Application Key

This is the default permission. Any request must contain the Application Key in the HTTP Header of the request. The format is

X-ZUMO-APPLICATION:key

where key is the Application Key of this Mobile Service.

As described above, the .NET MobileServiceClient class handles this automatically if we pass the Application Key into its constructor.

Only Authenticated Users

An authentication token from a trusted authentication provider must accompany the HTTP request to this REST service. In a future article, I will show you how to set up single sign-on with trusted authentication providers so that this token is added to each request.

Only Scripts and Admins

This allows an operation to be performed only by Administrators logged onto the Azure portal or by PowerShell scripts running directly on the Virtual Machine on which the Mobile Service is running.

You are free to set different permissions for each operation. For example, you could allow anyone to read data in your table; require the Application Key for updates; authenticated sign on for inserts; and only allow Admins and server scripts to delete data from the table.

In reality, you will likely pick a single security mechanism for the table and set all operations to this. You can then write server-side code to handle any differences between the services (allowing a user to only delete his own records, for example).

Conclusion

The permissions are for a given combination of endpoint (which, in this case, points to a table) and action (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and READ). If you like, you could set a different permission for each action on this endpoint. For example, you could declare that anyone can read data; only those with the Application Key can update data; only Authenticated users can Insert a row; and Deleting data is reserved for scripts and Admins. To me, it makes more sense to keep the same permission for each action, unless you have a specific reason for changing it for a given action.

In this article, we showed how to set permissions on each action for a given Azure Mobile Services endpoint.

In my last article, I described how to use the Azure Mobile Services wizard to create a sample client application. In this article, we will look at the code created by this wizard.

I'll focus on the C#/XAML version of the sample app but all the principles apply for the HTML5/WinJS version as well.

Figure 1 shows the solution, which includes a Windows 8.1 project, a Windows Phone 8.1 project, and a project with files that are shared by the other two projects.

Figure 1

I always compile this app before running it, because that ensures that all NuGet packages are updated.

Because this is a Universal app, it contains both a Windows 8.1 and a Windows Phone 8.1 project. The two projects do pretty much the same thing but each has a user interface appropriate to its own platform.

A screen shot of each running app is shown in Figure 2 (Windows 8.1) and Figure 3 (Windows Phone 8.1). As you can see, this app keeps track of a  user's To Do List. The list of "To Do Items" is stored in an Azure SQL Database, which is exposed via Azure Mobile Services.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Most of the interesting stuff happens in the Shared project.

TodoItem.cs

Let's look first at the Model. It is in the Shared project because both apps use the same model. You can find it in the TodoItem.cs file in the DataModel folder (Listing 1).

   1: public class TodoItem

   2: {

   3:     public string Id { get; set; }

   4:  

   5:     [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "text")]

   6:     public string Text { get; set; }

   7:  

   8:     [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "complete")]

   9:     public bool Complete { get; set; }

  10: }

Listing 1

The three properties (Id, Text, and Complete) will map to columns in the SQL Server table.  Text and Complete are decorated with the JsonProperty attribute, which is found in the Newtonsoft.Json library and tells .NET how to name these properties when an object is transformed into the JSON format. Strictly speaking, this is unnecessary, but JSON objects tend to follow the
JavaScript convention of Camel casing.

App.xaml.cs

The shared App.xaml.cs takes care of some basic processing when an app starts up, suspends, or has a problem.

As far as Azure Mobile Services is concerned, the important line is the MobileService field declaration (Listing 2)

   1: public static MobileServiceClient MobileService = new MobileServiceClient(

   2:     "https://giard.azure-mobile.net/",

   3:     "MqJSWTabZlOTRHeFXPRBADoQcVtqvE41"

   4: );

Listing 2

The second parameter of the constructor is the application key generated by your Mobile Service. Passing the Application Key to the constructor of our MobileServiceClient is necessary if we set permissions to only allow calls to the mobile service by clients that provide the Application Key. Whenever we call the REST service with this object, the Application Key will be passed in the header of HTTP calls to the mobile services endpoints.

This static class is available throughout the application and contains methods to communicate with your mobile service. Its main use is to create an IMobileServiceTable by calling the static object's GetTable() method, which is done in the MainPage.

MainPage.cs

Notice that all three projects contain the MainPage class, which derives from the Page object. In both the Windows project and in the Windows Phone project, this class is in the MainPage.xaml.cs file, while the class is in the MainPage.cs file in the shared project. Notice also that these are all "partial" classes and that each is in the same namespace. At compile time, both the Windows and Windows Phone projects will pull in the class from the Shared Project and use its code.

At the top of the MainPage class is the creation of two sets of our model (Listing 3).

   1: private MobileServiceCollection items;

   2: private IMobileServiceTable todoTable = App.MobileService.GetTable();

Listing 3

MobileServiceCollection items is simply a collection on the client that is used to bind to a ListView control in our XAML named ListItems. 

The IMobileServiceTable interface has methods to interact with the REST API specified when the MobileService was created (which is our Azure Mobile Service API). So, the todoTable object has implementations of these methods specific to our service.

For example, the InsertTodoItem method makes a call to todoTable.InsertAsync() and passes an instance of the TodoItem. This calls our Azure Mobile Service REST endpoint (in this case, that endpoint is https://giard.azure-mobile.net/Tables/todoitem), using the POST Verb and passing

We can use Lync extension methods of todoTable to retrieve specific data into the todoTable object as in Listing 4 (from the RefreshTodoItems() method), which retrieves only todoItems for which the Boolean field Complete is false.  

   1: items = await todoTable

   2:     .Where(todoItem => todoItem.Complete == false)

   3:     .ToCollectionAsync();

Listing 4

The shared code takes advantage of the fact that the events fired in Windows and in Windows Phone are very similar and that the similar objects with similar names and events are created in the MainPage.xaml of each project. Because of this, the shared project can even contain event handlers that are appropriate for either project.  For example, Listing 5 is the event handler when you click a checkbox next to an item on either the phone or your Windows PC/Tablet to mark that item as "Complete".

   1: private async void CheckBoxComplete_Checked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

   2: {

   3:     CheckBox cb = (CheckBox)sender;

   4:     TodoItem item = cb.DataContext as TodoItem;

   5:     await UpdateCheckedTodoItem(item);

   6: }

Listing 5

This event handler passes the checked item to the UpdateCheckedTodoItem method, which uses the todoTable object to call the REST endpoint (Listing 6).

   1: private async Task UpdateCheckedTodoItem(TodoItem item)

   2: {

   3:     // This code takes a freshly completed TodoItem and updates the database. When the MobileService 

   4:     // responds, the item is removed from the list 

   5:     await todoTable.UpdateAsync(item);

   6:     items.Remove(item);

   7:     ListItems.Focus(Windows.UI.Xaml.FocusState.Unfocused);

   8: }

Listing 6

The entire MainPage class is shown in Listing 7.

   1: sealed partial class MainPage: Page

   2: {

   3:     private MobileServiceCollection items;

   4:     private IMobileServiceTable todoTable = App.MobileService.GetTable();

   5:  

   6:     public MainPage()

   7:     {

   8:         this.InitializeComponent();

   9:     }

  10:  

  11:     private async Task InsertTodoItem(TodoItem todoItem)

  12:     {

  13:         // This code inserts a new TodoItem into the database. When the operation completes

  14:         // and Mobile Services has assigned an Id, the item is added to the CollectionView

  15:         await todoTable.InsertAsync(todoItem);

  16:         items.Add(todoItem);

  17:     }

  18:  

  19:     private async Task RefreshTodoItems()

  20:     {

  21:         MobileServiceInvalidOperationException exception = null;

  22:         try

  23:         {

  24:             // This code refreshes the entries in the list view by querying the TodoItems table.

  25:             // The query excludes completed TodoItems

  26:             items = await todoTable

  27:                 .Where(todoItem => todoItem.Complete == false)

  28:                 .ToCollectionAsync();

  29:         }

  30:         catch (MobileServiceInvalidOperationException e)

  31:         {

  32:             exception = e;

  33:         }

  34:  

  35:         if (exception != null)

  36:         {

  37:             await new MessageDialog(exception.Message, "Error loading items").ShowAsync();

  38:         }

  39:         else

  40:         {

  41:             ListItems.ItemsSource = items;

  42:             this.ButtonSave.IsEnabled = true;

  43:         }

  44:     }

  45:  

  46:     private async Task UpdateCheckedTodoItem(TodoItem item)

  47:     {

  48:         // This code takes a freshly completed TodoItem and updates the database. When the MobileService 

  49:         // responds, the item is removed from the list 

  50:         await todoTable.UpdateAsync(item);

  51:         items.Remove(item);

  52:         ListItems.Focus(Windows.UI.Xaml.FocusState.Unfocused);

  53:     }

  54:  

  55:     private async void ButtonRefresh_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

  56:     {

  57:         await RefreshTodoItems();

  58:     }

  59:  

  60:     private async void ButtonSave_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

  61:     {

  62:         var todoItem = new TodoItem { Text = TextInput.Text };

  63:         await InsertTodoItem(todoItem);

  64:     }

  65:  

  66:     private async void CheckBoxComplete_Checked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

  67:     {

  68:         CheckBox cb = (CheckBox)sender;

  69:         TodoItem item = cb.DataContext as TodoItem;

  70:         await UpdateCheckedTodoItem(item);

  71:     }

  72:  

  73:     protected override async void OnNavigatedTo(NavigationEventArgs e)

  74:     {

  75:         await RefreshTodoItems();

  76:     }

  77: }

Listing 7

Conclusion

Notice how much of the application logic was moved into the Shared project. This isn't surprising because both the Phone app and the Windows app do the same thing - but with different user interfaces. It should be your goal to push as much of our app as you can into the Shared project.

When you build your own app, you will almost certainly use a different model and a different user interface. However, the samples code in this generated application should provide you a template for how to do basic operations on your mobile service, such as Read, Write, Update, and Delete. Make sure you understand the sample; then copy the appropriate code into your application and modify it to fit your model.

In the last article, I showed how to create a new Azure Mobile Service in the portal. In this article, I will show you how to use the wizard to create an application, consisting of a new table, an HTTP endpoint to access that table, and a sample client application to access the data through that endpoint.

Log onto the Azure Portal and select the MOBILE SERVICES icon in the left menu. Figure 1 shows the Mobile Service we created last time.

Figure 1

Click the arrow next to the service name to display details about the service (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Notice the choices you have next to "CHOOSE A PLATFORM". The Platforms listed are the various client platforms explicitly supported by Mobile Services. Remember that Mobile Services exposes data via standard interfaces such as HTTP and JSON which can be used by a wide variety of platforms and languages. For this demo, click the "Windows" button; then expand the "CREATE A NEW WINDOWS APP" link. This will reveal the 3 steps to get you started building an application around Azure Mobile Services (Figure 3).

Figure 3

Get the tools (Figure 4) allows you to download a free version of Visual Studio. If you already have any version of Visual Studio 2013 installed, you can skip this step.

Figure 4

The "Create a table" step (Figure 5) allows you to create a sample SQL Server table. Click the green button to create a new table named "TodoItem" in your database with columns to keep track if the tasks you need to do today and whether you have completed each task.

Figure 5

The “Download and run your app” step (Figure 6) will generate client code that will connect to your application.

Figure 6

Select a language (C# or JavaScript) and click the Download button to download a ZIP file containing a Universal App that includes a Windows 8.1 project, a Windows Phone 8.1 project, and a Shared Code project. Depending on your language selection, these projects will either contain a user interface written in XAML and C# code-behind or an HTML5 front-end with a WinJS code-behind. Figure 7 shows the results of C#/XAML project generated by Azure Mobile Services.

Figure 7

Compile and run this app to see it in action. Figure 8 shows a screen shot of the Windows 8 app. You can enter a new task in the textbox and click Save to send data to the mobile service telling it to insert a row in the todoitem table. A list on the right displays all tasks that are not yet completed. Click the checkbox next to an item to send data to the mobile service telling it to update the todoitem table, setting the Complete column to FALSE.

Figure 8

Figure 9 shows the Windows Phone project running.

Figure 9

You can see that the apps look similar because they have the same functionality. The differences are related to the size, layout, and other considerations of the specific platform on which they run. Play with each app and you will see that they function about the same, thanks to the large percentage of shared code.

In this article, we saw how to run the Azure Mobile Services wizard to generate a sample table and client application.

With Azure Mobile Services, developers can quickly create a REST interface to read and write their backend database.

The Azure portal provides a wizard for creating a sample solution built around mobile services in just a few minutes. In this article, I will walk you through the steps to create a new Azure Mobile Service.

Log onto the Azure Portal and select the MOBILE SERVICES icon (Figure 1) in the left menu.

Figure 1

Click the NEW button at the bottom of the screen (Figure 2).

 
Figure 2

This exposes a menu (Figure 3).

Figure 3

With COMPUTE and MOBILE SERVICES selected (which should already be the case) click the CREATE button.

The "Create a Mobile Service" dialog (Figure 4) displays.

Figure 4

Give a name for the service. The full name will be whatever you type in the URL textbox, followed by ".azure-mobile.net" and it must be unique. The portal will let you know if someone else has chosen the same name. Select an existing database or create a new one; then select the Region where the Mobile Service will live. It makes sense to create the service in the same region where the database resides.

Finally, select the language in which to build the backend service. If you select JavaScript, the server-side solution will be hosted in Node.js. If you select .NET, you can create a solution in Visual Studio and deploy it to Azure, where it will be hosted in IIS.

Click the arrow (Figure 5) at the bottom right of the dialog to advance to the next page, where you can specify database information.

Figure 5

Figure 6 show the page if you elect to connect to an existing database. Select the database connection string; then enter the login name and password with which you will connect to this database.

Figure 6

Click the check button to create the Mobile Service. After a few seconds, the service will show up in the portal as in Figure 7.

Figure 7

In this article, we saw how to create a new Azure Mobile Service. In the next article, we will add a table and allow clients to retrieve and update data in that table, using this service.

Storing data in the cloud allows your application to remember information between launches and to share data among other users, applications, and devices.

Exposing that data via a REST interface makes this data accessible to applications running on a variety of platforms and written in a variety of languages. REST is an architectural pattern for allowing clients to read and update server data through a consistent API. The current implementations of REST uses an HTTP endpoint (a URL) to expose functionality and the features of HTTP (verbs, response codes, and header data) to exchange data between the client and the server.

Azure Mobile Services (ZuMo) makes it easier to expose your data as a REST endpoint by handling the "plumbing" code for you so that you can focus on your data model and your business logic.

With just a few clicks, you can create a service and map it to a database table. ZuMo will create an HTTP endpoint; map HTTP verbs to Create, Read, Update, and Delete methods; create those methods for you; and handle the transformation from JSON data into objects that map to rows in your database table. This isn't impossible code for you to write, but it can be a lot of code. And wouldn't your time be better spent writing the code that makes your application unique?

Azure Mobile Services will even generate a client application to call your new REST service and pass data to and from it. You can use this application as a starting point or you can copy and paste code from this app into your own client app. ZuMo is capable of generating a sample client application for Windows 8, Windows Phone, HTML and JavaScript, Xamarin, PhoneGap, Android, or iOS.

Azure Mobile Services is a true cross-platform solution that is simple to implement because it handles much of the plumbing code for you.

Episode 342

MHacks User Stories

11/2
Today I am grateful for the friends I have kept for decades. They've known me at my best and at my worst.

11/1
Today I am grateful I finally caught up editing all my videos and photos.

10/31
Today I am grateful for dinner with my niece Amanda last night.

10/30
Today I am grateful for a home-cooked meal last night.

10/29
Today I am grateful for a chance to speak at the Motor City Software Testers last night & to all who came to hear me.

10/28
Today I am grateful I attended an exciting Monday Night Football game in Dallas last night.

10/27
Today I am grateful for some authentic Texas BBQ last night.

10/26
Today I am grateful for the students at TAMUHack who show energy, imagination, and passion and built so many great projects this weekend. I'm also grateful for the Michigan State Spartans, who drove through the michigan wolverines like a spike through grass yesterday!

10/25
Today I am grateful for my first trip to College Station, TX.

10/24
Today I am grateful I was invited to speak at the inaugural meeting of the Local Variables user group in South Bend, IN yesterday.

10/23
Today I am grateful for a long hot shower on a chilly morning.

10/22
Today I am grateful to God, who helped me through the difficult times in my life.

10/21
Today I am grateful for a day with few responsibilities.

10/20
Today I am grateful for a weekend in Indiana watching football with Tim Giard

10/18
Today I am grateful for lunch yesterday with Corey Haines

10/17
Today I am grateful for an unexpected gift from the Madison Mobile .NET Developers Group .

10/16
Today I am grateful for a successfully completed trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin.

10/15
Today I am grateful I completed 1 year at the best job I've ever had.

10/14
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with Brent Stineman

10/13
Today I am grateful for the open Wi-Fi that suddenly showed up when I'm in my apartment. I'm not sure if the apartment complex added a repeater or if I have a new neighbor, but I appreciate it.

10/12
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was published 35 years ago today! I am fortunate to have met the book's author before his passing.

10/11
Today I am grateful for dinner and drinks last night with Patricia and Gary.

10/10
Today I am grateful to the folks a the Schaumburg Microsoft .NET Technologies Meetup for inviting me to speak last night

10/9
Today I am grateful for a great audience yesterday at the first Azure Dev Camp in St. Louis.

10/8
Today I am grateful that my son called me yesterday just to say "Hi".

10/7
Today I am grateful to Velichka, who brought me chicken soup when I was sick.

10/6
Today I am grateful for 12+ hours sleep last night that I desperately needed.

10/5
Today I am grateful for dinner with friends, a ticket to the Nebraska game, and a Spartan victory!

A few months ago, I migrated this blog to Azure Web Sites.

I was aided by the fact that I use Das Blog as a blogging engine. This gave me two advantages:
1. I could select a Das Blog template from the Azure Web Site gallery, automatically configuring the appropriate settings for my site; and
2. Das Blog uses XML files instead of a database to store blog posts, so I was able to xcopy my entire blog to Azure.

The only real work was changing my DNS settings to point to Azure, which took a few minutes. I set the site to user the SHARED hosting plan, which lets me point a custom domain to it. More popular blogs (like yours) may need to use the BASIC or STANDARD Web Hosting Plan, but I stuck with the cheap one and it works fine for me.

The story here is what a non-story this migration was. My site was down less than an hour and most of that was because I messed up the DNS settings the first time. It is servicing requests just fine and I am saving money because this hosting plan is cheaper than what I paid to my old provider.

Currently, I'm not using any advanced features, such as Scaling, Autoscaling, and Web Jobs but those are available to me if I need them.

I love the simplicity of Azure Web Sites. If you are considering using Azure, this is a good place to start.

Episode 341

Sam Basu and Michael Crump on the Telerik Platform

Episode 340

Sam Basu and Michael Crump on New Features of App Builder

What is Demand Elasticity, how does it affect my apps, why should I care, and how does Azure address this?

Demand Elasticity is an issue because almost no app has a constant demand over time: Some apps are used primarily during business hours and very little during the night; some apps have abnormally high demand during specific events, such as the launch of a new product or while NFL games are broadcasting; some businesses have peak seasons when they do nearly all their business (I once worked for an electronics retail store that earned over 80% of their revenue between Thanksgiving and New Years Day.)

Each of the above examples describes demand variability that you can plan for. An even more difficult problem is unexpected changes in demand. Imagine if a popular TV show recommends your online service. Demand would likely skyrocket. Could your services handle this extra, unexpected load?

Because of this change in demand, you need to decide how much hardware to deploy for your application. If you deploy too much hardware, you are wasting your money, but if you deploy too little, you will miss out on potential users and revenue. And in the fact that hardware is not easy or quick to deploy - It may take your organization weeks or months to respond to a sudden, unexpected increase in demand. And what do you do with that extra hardware when demand falls? For most organizations, it's not practical to buy and sell hardware as demand goes up and down.

Ideally, as demand increases and places higher load on your servers, you would increase the amount of hardware to which your application is deployed. Then, you would remove that hardware (and stop paying for it) as demand and workload decrease.  If you are managing and deploying the hardware yourself, this is not really practical. There is no quick market to buy and sell servers and most organizations take days – if not weeks – to provision a new server.

But Azure allows you to deploy more servers to your application and it automatically deploys them for you in a matter of minutes. Most services in Azure have a setting that allows you to change the number of running instances. This can be the number of web sites, web roles, mobile service, virtual machines, or dozens of other service instances available.

Below is the setting for configuring the number of instances of an Azure Web Site.

figure 1

Some services even allow you to automate this process. For example, you can configure Azure to monitor the CPU used by your web sites and automatically deploy a new instance of your site when CPU rises above a certain percent and remove an instance when it falls below a given percent. You can set a minimum and maximum to keep the number of instances within this range.

For Azure Web Sites, this Auto-scaling feature is available if we select the "Standard" hosting plan. Below are the controls that allows you to set these configuration.

Figure 2

Scaling up helps your service deal with extra usage (planned or unplanned), while scaling down helps you save money. The quicker you can do both, the more agile you will be.

Azure allows you the flexibility to scale up and down to meet changing demand.

Yesterday was my 1-year anniversary at Microsoft.

The year has flown by. I remember being at a customer site in Toledo last summer when the recruiter called and offered me a job pending a background check. I remember standing outside the speaker room at Dev Connections in Las Vegas when my new boss Scott Fuller officially offered me the job. I remember how hard it was to tell my old boss I was leaving. I remember how excited I was to tell my friends the news. I remember feeling giddy that first day as I drove to Southfield for my orientation.

I had been trying to land a job as a Microsoft Technical Evangelist for years - ever since I first met Josh and Jennifer and Brian and Jeff and saw what they did and how smart they are and how how much good they were able to accomplish and how much fun they had doing it. But this job was only available in other parts of the country and family obligations kept me from moving. But last year, both my sons moved out of state and a Jennifer Marsman told me about an opening in Chicago and I jumped at the chance. A few months (and many interviews) later, I was in.

I spent the first week shadowing Jennifer, watching her work and learning as much as I could. I traveled to Chicago the next week and met with my new boss Scott and shadowed Dave Bost and Martin Schray, learning all I could from them.

Many people describe working at Microsoft as "drinking from a fire hose" and that is an excellent metaphor. There is so much to learn and so much to do and often it's not obvious what you should be doing or learning. My time management skills are honed sharper today than they ever have in the past.

I'm really happy in my role as an Evangelist, which consists of a lot of teaching people how to build apps on Azure, Windows 8, and Windows Phone. I love the opportunity to learn and I love the impact I have on a number of different communities. Coming in, I was focused on the developer community, spending time at user groups and code camps. But I've discovered that startups have their own community and they bring their own kind of passion to what they do. And I've spent a lot of time with student groups on campus and gained a new perspective into the American higher education system. I've met so many people who are passionate about what they do, which inspires me to excel at my tasks.

One challenge of this job has been the large amount of travel. Shortly after I joined, I was asked to cover both the Midwest and the Heartland Districts - an area stretching from Wisconsin to Tennessee. I'm proud to say that I scheduled multiple events in each of these 7 states. But it did involve a lot of driving and more than a few nights when I did not get enough sleep. I’m writing this article from a hotel room in Edina, MN. In a few minutes I’ll drive to Madison, WI to speak at a user group before driving down to Chicago tonight where I have 3 events planned for tomorrow.

After a year, I can say that I've learned a lot, I've done some good, I've lost some sleep, I've made some friends, and I've loved it.

Now I have a new boss, new metrics, and a new home (I've moved to Chicago). The future is filled with challenges. But it's very bright. I'm excited for the next 365 days and beyond!

Episode 339

Mina Markham on SASS

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Episode 338

Michael Perry on Cryptography Ghost Stories

10/4
Today I am grateful for a weekend in Michigan.

10/3
Today I am grateful for time spent yesterday with Tim Giard. We shared a couple meals and he even attended my App Studio workshop at IU last night.

10/2
Today I am grateful for a great group of students who showed up for my first event at Purdue last night.

10/1
Today I am grateful for the gift of Life, which has been granted to me for yet another day.

9/30
Today I am grateful I finally made it home after numerous airport delays this weekend.

9/29
Today I am grateful for breakfast this morning with Josh Holmes

9/28
Today I am grateful I was able to write my first-ever Java code for Android yesterday.

9/27
Today I am grateful I finally made it to Redmond after multiple canceled flights yesterday.

9/26
Today I am grateful for an invitation to a Home Automation hackathon in Redmond.

9/25
Today I am grateful for my first trip to Rockford, IL and a great audience for my Azure Mobile Services presentation last night.

9/24
Today I am grateful I have a job that pays me to help others.

9/23
Today I am grateful for the past 9 days in which I saw many old friends, met lots of smart people, learned a lot, traveled to Colorado and California, & had a blast.

9/22
Today I am grateful to attend #FalafelCon and to all who came to my sessions yesterday.

9/21
Today I am grateful for an excellent steak diner last night and excellent company to share it with.

9/20
Today I am grateful for a weekend in San Francisco at #falafelcon

9/19
Today I am grateful I had a chance this week to meet and connect with so many of my peers from across the country.

9/18
Today I am grateful for the opportunity to assemble wheelchairs for ALS victims yesterday.

9/17
Today I am grateful for a chance to meet so many people on my team across the country.

9/16
Today I am grateful for a walk yesterday along Colorado mountain trails.

9/15
Today I am grateful for 1. Being pampered in first class for the first time in >5 years 2. Visiting Mile High Stadium for the first time and seeing an exciting football game.

9/14
Today I am grateful for my first trip to Colorado in almost 2 decades.

9/13
Today I am grateful I saw an exciting game at Miller Park last night. The Brewers won on a walk-off RBI in the bottom of the 9th.

9/12
Today I am grateful I was able to pay off some sleep debt last night.

9/11
Today I am grateful for the kind words from my boss during my first MS annual review.

9/10
Today I am grateful for a walk to the lake last night with Velichka.

9/9
Today I am grateful that the handyman I hired completed so many home repairs this past week.

9/8
Today I am grateful to spend this past weekend with a bunch of hackers and experience their passion for technology.

Here is my interview with Todd Gardner of Track:js, describing his company and how they used BizSpark and Azure to grow.

Often, it is better to show us how to do something than to tell us. Samidip Basu’s Real World Windows 8 Development does both.

Basu begins the book by describing the basics of a Windows 8 application – controls, navigation, data binding, etc. Next, he covers more advanced features, such as remote debugging and accessing the hardware features on your PC or tablet.

Along the way, he demonstrates each concept by adding features to his sample – a book catalog application.

I found this book educational – in large part because both the code and the writing are straightforward and free of clutter. I learned more from downloading and exploring the sample code than I did from the text.

This book serves as a solid introduction to Windows 8 development and as a reference for intermediate developers to use.

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Episode 337

Robert Jacobi on Joomla on Azure

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Episode 336

Carson, Babker, and Hurley on Joomla

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Episode 335

Bill Fink on Kinect for Windows

Episode 334

Adam Grocholski on Azure Command-Line Tools

9/6
Today I am grateful to wake up to a house filled with the smell of chocolate chip cookies, fresh baked by Brian Sherwin's kids.

9/5
Today I am grateful for:
-Jennifer unexpectedly inviting me to 3 events in the East Lansing area last night
-Being there for Jennifer's first experience of MSU Dairy Store ice cream.
-A private, late-night tour of the Lansing Maker Space by Betsy and Nick.

9/4
Today I am grateful for all the books I've read in my life and the joy they brought me.

9/3
Today I am grateful for my son Tim Giard, who joined us 20 years ago today!

9/2
Today I am grateful for the tasty homemade fudge that Susan brought me yesterday.

9/1
Today I am grateful that, following recent surgery on her leg, my mother is now free of skin cancer.

8/31
Today I am grateful for
1.) Dinner last night with my friend Mike whom I haven't seen in months.
2.) Visiting my former next door neighbors Carl and Susanne, whom I haven't seen in years.

8/30
Today I am grateful to John Kellar and his team for all their hard work that resulted in an excellent DevLink conference.

8/29
Today I am grateful for my first visit to the Chattanooga Aquarium.

8/28
Today I am grateful for dinner with DevLink crowd last night and ice cream afterward.

8/27
Today I am grateful to be back in Chattanooga for the first time in 3 years.

8/26
Today I am grateful for the hospitality and generosity of Patricia Desmarais and Gary Desmarais.

8/25
Today I am grateful I was able to send so much furniture to a better home this past week.

8/24
Today I am grateful for a second burst of energy yesterday after I felt completely drained.

8/23
Today I am grateful for 1.) Dinner last night with my friend Mike whom I haven't seen in months. 2.) Visiting my former next door neighbors Carl and Susanne, whom I haven't seen in years.

8/22
Today I am grateful to God, who has always stood by me even during the times I tried to push Him away.

8/21
Today I am grateful for an evening with the folks at the Great Lakes Area .NET User Group

8/20
Today I am grateful for time spent with my boys this summer before they headed out of state to college.

8/19
Today I am grateful for my first time speaking at the Detroit Mobile .Net Users Group

8/18
Today I am grateful my son came to visit me multiple times on his last day in town.

8/17
Today I am grateful I could cook fried rice for all the meals I was able to prepare for my sons in this kitchen.

8/16
Today I am grateful for the chance to celebrate the marriage of Shelly and Jason last night.

8/15
Today I am grateful I was able to find parking right next to my building 2 days in a row.

8/14
Today I am grateful to the organizers, volunteers, and speakers, who make That Conference bigger and better every year.

8/13
Today I am grateful for water parks.

8/12
Today I am grateful for the chance to see so many old friends yesterday.

8/10
Today I am grateful I was able to fix my shower and my bed. Mornings will be far more comfortable from now on.

8/9
Today I am grateful to attend my first ToastMasters meeting yesterday - something I've been hoping to do for years.

8/8
Today I am grateful for the helpful customer service at Target this morning.

8/7
Today I am grateful to be heading back to Chicago for a few days.

8/6
Today I am grateful that, after owning this car for a year and a half, I finally figured out how to use Ford Sync.

8/5
Today I am grateful that Jason Follas found me a place to stay during That Conference, even though it was more difficult than expected.

8/4
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with my son Tim Giard for the first time in weeks.

In The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley tackles the legend of King Arthur. Bradley breathes fresh life into the story by focusing on the women of Arthurian Britain, who tend to be marginalized in other tellings of  this story. Arthur, Lancelet, Merlin, and the Round Table knights appear in this story, but only as minor characters.

Avalon is a magical land that exists slightly outside the world of mortal men - surrounded by water and hidden by mystical mists. Only certain people can pass through the mists from England to Avalon and they can pass through only at certain times. Avalon is a matriarchal society ruled by Druid priestesses; the high priestess holds the title "Lady of the Lake". Avalon obeys most of the laws of the natural universe, but it does not exist on a map and the Druids appear to have limited magical powers. At the beginning of this story, relations are good between Britain and Avalon and Avalon is still connected to the world of mortal men. By contrast, the Fairy Lands have become so disconnected  with the physical world that time moves at a different rate there and they interact very little with the men and women beyond their borders.

The primary conflict of the story arises because Arthur gains the crown of Britain helped, in part, by the Avalon priestesses, who gave him the powerful sword Excalibur and its magical scabbard that prevents protects him in battle. A few years after gaining the throne, Arthur resolves to make Britain a Christian country, ignoring the Druids who helped him rise to power.

Primarily, the story focuses on Gwenhwyfar, who is Arthur's wife and queen, but who is in love with Arthur's best friend Lancelet; and Morgaine, Arthur's half-sister and father of Arthur's only son Mordred (the child was conceived during a pagan ritual at which neither sibling recognized the other).

The story follows the relationship of Morgaine and Gwenhwyfar, who begin as close friends but later become rivals and finally hateful adversaries, bent on the destruction of one another.

It is Gwenhwyfar who convinces Arthur to reject the Druids and declare Britain a Christian country and it is Morgaine who takes the most offense at this betrayal.

Morgaine is the most interesting character. She is a Druid priestess, eventually rising to become Lady of the Lake - the highest rank among the Druids of Avalon. She comes to hate Arthur for rejecting the Druids; She hates Gwenhwyfar for influencing Arthur to do so; and she hates The her former lover Merlin, who does not act to stop Arthur.

As time passes, Morgaine sinks toward madness, conspiring with her new lover Accolon in a disastrous assassination attempt; and capturing and executing the Merlin. Eventually, she softens her stance and accepts the direction in which the world is moving. Near the end of the story, Avalon has become far less relevant in the politics of Britain and - not coincidentally - it becomes far less physically connected to the real world surrounding it. At the end, an aged Morgaine accepts the fate of Britain and of Avalon as it slips deeper into the mists.

Ms. Bradley adds depth to characters that are marginalized or one-dimensional in earlier tellings of the story. Morgaine becomes a living, breathing person under Bradley's pen, rather than the spiteful witch painted by tradition. Gwenhwyfar is much more than the beautiful object in a love triangle - she is a strong politician and she knows how to bend Arthur to her will.

Whether or not you are a fan of the Arthurian legend, you will enjoy The Mists of Avalon.

Episode 333

Rachel Appel on The Challenges of JavaScript

Episode 332

Rob Gillen on Security for Developers

When you install Visual Studio, you are prompted to opt into a program to help improve Visual Studio. If you answer “Yes”, Visual Studio will send information back to Microsoft about errors that occur and features that are used. The information is sent during installation and later during your normal course of using Visual Studio. The Visual Studio team uses this information to learn how their product is used, how often the product is used, and where errors are occurring. All this information is helpful as they improve the product.

If you have already installed Visual Studio, you can select from the menu:
Help | Customer Feedback Options

The following dialog (Fig. 1) displays:

Click the radio button next to "Yes I am willing to participate" and click the [OK] button.

Of course, you can also opt out of the program by selecting the “No” radio button, but then you are not helping to improve the product. Those who opt out of this often do so because they fear for their privacy; but no personal information is transmitted, You can read about the privacy of your information here.

Microsoft makes it easy for you to share information about Visual Studio usage because they want this information to help to improve Visual Studio.

Episode 331

Gaines Kergosien on Self-Marketing for Developers

Episode 330

Eric Potter on ScriptCS and Arduino

The Thrawn Trilogy consists of 3 novels: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. The books tell a story that takes place in a galaxy far away, a long time ago. But it is not as long ago as the events of the 6 Star Wars movies. The story begins a few years after the the Rebel victory at the Battle of Endor at the conclusion of Return of the Jedi. Although the Endor conflict and its aftermath left the Empire weakened and resulted in the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, The Empire still maintains a formidable navy commanded by Grand Admiral Thrawn, a brilliant military tactician.

Han Solo and Princess Leia are now married and Leia is pregnant with their twins. Thrawn, in his quest to re-establish the Empire, enlists the services of Joruus C'baoth, the insane clone of a dead Jedi master, who is intent on enslaving Luke, Leia, and Leia's twins (the last of the Jedi line) and establishing himself as galactic dictator.

The rebels match wits with Thrawn across multiple planets, the battles flowing in favor of each in turn. Both sides try to enlist the help of neutral parties, such as a guild of smugglers led by Talon Karrde and the Noghri, a race tricked into decades of servitude by Darth Vader and the Empire. In the final book, our heroic rebels face off directly against Thrawn and C'baoth for control of the known galaxy.

These books are part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU), the name given to books, games, and other media that describe the events of the Star Wars universe. Although LucasFilms recently announced that expanded universe stories are no longer considered canon, it is still fun to follow the further adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, C-3PO, and R2-D2. Zahn stays true to the characters created by Lucas. He also introduces fascinating new characters, such as Karrde, Thrawn, Mara Jade, and others, who appear in later EU stories.

Along the way, Zahn weaves an exciting tale of action and intrigue, loyalty, and betrayal. It's not the most intellectually stimulating tale but it is loads of fun. Like an unexpected visit from old freinds.

Episode 329

Sam McClanahan on MakerSpaces and HackerSpaces

8/3
Today I am grateful I was able to complete a lot of work around my house yesterday.

8/2
Today I am grateful for a few days without the pressure of driving hundreds of miles.

8/1
Today I am grateful for
Finally getting my electrical account straightened out
Finally getting my parking pass at my new apartment
Random Packer fans who showed me around Lambeau yesterday.
7/31
Today I am grateful for the chance to visit 3 great user groups in northern Wisconsin over the past 3 days.

7/30
Today I am grateful for drinks at The Lazy Monk, lunch at Taco Juanita, and conversation at The Green Mill - 3 great places to hang out in Eau Claire, WI.

7/29
Today I am grateful for my first trip to Eau Claire, WI.

7/28
2 nights ago, I slept on the floor and got very little sleep. Today I am grateful for the air mattress on which I slept last night.

7/27
Today I am grateful for my new home.

7/26
Today I am grateful to be invited to my first MGX conference and for the free Lady Gaga concert last night..

7/25
Today I am grateful for free lattes and free Dove bars.

7/24
Today I am grateful for all the people I met on my team at the DX dinner last night.

7/23
Today I am grateful for a visit to the amazing Georgia Aquarium last night.

7/22
Today I am grateful I attended my first Atlanta Braves home game last night.

7/21
Today I am grateful for my first trip to Atlanta in about 10 years.

7/20
Today I am grateful for a fresh start. And a chance to take back control of my life.

7/19
Today I am grateful that I found my drivers license, which has been missing for a week.

7/18
Today I am grateful for 2 great user group audiences in Indiana this week.

7/17
Today I am grateful to see young people getting excited about software development.

7/16
Today I am grateful to spend time with my mother for the first time since the death of my father.

7/15
Today I am grateful that I am starting to get rid of all the crap I've accumulated over the decades.

7/14
Today I am grateful for: 1. Attending the 125th anniversary Mass at St. Henry - my old church in Kentucky. 2. Lunch with Gary Desmarais and Patricia Desmarais. 3. Visiting my cousin Susan Jean Kight. 4. Surviving 2 severe thunderstorms on the drive home.

7/13
Today I am grateful to the organizers of #Codestock, who put on a great conference and allowed me to be a part of it.

7/12
Today I am grateful for the 50 years my sister Denise spent with us before she passed away, 5 years ago today.

7/11
Today I am grateful for my first #Codestock in 4 years and for time spent with old friends last night.

7/10
Today I am grateful for: 1. Great sandwiches and amazing potato pancakes at Izzy's in northern Kentucky. 2. A great audience at the Nashville Microsoft Azure Users Group. 3. Seeing Kent Fehribach for the first time in a year 4. Dinner and sidewalk music in downtown Nashville last night with Brian Sherwin and Kent.

7/9
Today I am grateful for lunch with Jeeva and for watching soccer with my son Tim.

7/8
Today I am grateful for an unexpected extra day at home between trips to help me recharge.

7/7
Today I am grateful to spend the holiday weekend with family in California.

Recently, I recorded an interview with Greg Levenhagen about the Beerology Windows 8 app he helped build. This interview is available on the DevRadio podcasat and below.

Episode 328

Kevin Griffin on MasterMind sessions

Episode 327

Kevin Hazzard on Technology in Schools

Episode 326

Rob Gibbens on Xamarin 3.0

Episode 325

Laura Eagin and LeeAnn Drees on Girl Develop It

7/6
Today I am grateful for the hospitality and generosity of my cousin Sharon and her family, who shared their San Rafael home with us this week.

7/5
Today I am grateful for an afternoon watching the Oakland A's win in walk-off fashion yesterday with Tim Giard and cousin Billy.

7/4
Today I am grateful for my first trip to California in 6 years.

7/3
Today I am grateful for a successful apartment search yesterday.

7/2
Today I am grateful for:
1. Running into old friends yesterday
2. A good night's sleep last night
3. Staying close to home most of June before the crazy travel month of July.

7/1
Today I am grateful to my friend Mike for taking the time yesterday to teach me about Azure Notification Hubs.

6/30
Today I am grateful for a strong end to the first Fiscal Year with me on the inside.

6/29
Today I'm excited that I've had the chance to meet so many entrepreneurs the past couple months. Their energy is contagious!

6/28
Today I am grateful for a few hours hanging out yesterday in my hometown of Grosse Pointe, MI.

6/27
Today I am grateful I could spend yesterday evening with my son Tim.

6/26
Today I am grateful I had a chance to spend yesterday afternoon with Nick Giard before he returned to Florida this morning.

6/25
Today I am grateful for my teammates, who often go out of their way to support one another.

6/24
Today I am grateful I have the opportunity to work from home when it makes sense.

6/23
Today I am grateful by the overwhelming choice of videos I can watch whenever I have free time.

6/22
Today I am grateful for some extra sleep this weekend to make up for the last few weeks.

6/21
Today I am grateful for a combined birthday/Father's Day dinner celebration last night with my boys.

6/20
Today I am grateful I finally got my car fixed after being unable to open my trunk for a month.

6/19
Today I am grateful for the Great Lakes Area .NET User Group. Volunteering the past 6 years has been a great experience! I will miss you guys!  #‎MIGANG‬

6/18
Today I am grateful for a week full of user groups and other dev community stuff!

6/17
Today I am grateful to all those who missed the USA-Ghana World Cup game last night to hear me talk about Azure Mobile Services at the Windows Developer Group in Columbus.

6/16
Today I am grateful I could spend Father's Day with my 2 favourite people - Nick Giard and Tim Giard - at the Tigers game yesterday. (and a walk-off RBI)

6/15
Today I am grateful for
1. The example set and the lessons taught by my father.
2. The privilege of being a father to my 2 boys who have grown into excellent young me.

6/14
Today I am grateful for
1. Sushi with my boys
2. Technical assistance from a friend.

6/13
Today I am grateful my son found a summer job yesterday.

6/12
Today I am grateful for a successful Dev Day yesterday in Columbus - our final first-party event of FY14.

6/11
Today I am grateful I could spend time yesterday with my boys and I got to meet Nick's girlfriend for the first time..

6/10
Today I am grateful my son's car trouble was easily repaired.

6/9
Today I am grateful for the network of smart people I find myself surrounded by.

6/8
Today I am grateful to the organizers and attendees of the Pittsburgh TechFest for making me feel welcome here. ‪#‎pghtechfest‬

6/7
Today I am grateful for dinner and an evening with Randy and Pam in Pittsburgh. It has been too long.

6/6
Today I am grateful to see my son Nick yesterday for the first time in months and to share dinner with both my boys last night.

6/5
Today I am grateful for a full day yesterday and a chance to meet so many new people.

6/4
Today I am grateful for
1. Lunch with an old friend I haven't seen in years
2. A chance to clear the air
3. The enthusiasm in the audience last night for my Azure talk at The Factory Co-Working space in GR.

6/3
Today I am grateful to my brother Doug, who found and fixed up a used car for my son.

6/2
Today I am grateful to Peter Ritchie and Susan Yount, who said nice things about me in public.

Episode 324

Wolfgang Goerlich on Security Development Lifecycle Security consultant Wolfgang

Here is the chronicle of my recent trip to Romania and Hungary.

• Romanian Rhapsody – Part 1: Arrival and Sibiu
• Romanian Rhapsody – Part 2: IT Camp
• Hungarian Rhapsody – Part 3 of Romanian Rhapsody
• Romanian Rhapsody – Part 4: Final Thoughts

You can view photographs of my trip at these links:

• Photos of Romania
• Photos of Budapest, Hungary

I’ve been home from Romania for a few weeks and I’m really glad I made this trip. I hope I can go back next year and I hope I can schedule multiple European conferences during the same trip.

Here are a few final thoughts about the trip

International Travel is much easier for Americans

To travel to Romania, I had a passport, an airline ticket, and a hotel reservation. After I arrived, I decided to go to Hungary. I rented a car and was at the border crossing 12 hours after making that decision. I didn't need to call anyone in Hungary to let them know I was coming.

Europeans have it different. To travel to the US - even for vacation - a Romanian must apply for a Visa. Visas are granted by lottery, so chances are he will not get one on his first application.

I speak only English fluently and know only a few phrases in other languages - none of which are common to eastern Europe. Yet I had very little problem communicating in Romania and Hungary. Why? Because Europeans grow up learning multiple languages and guess what the most popular language is? Nearly everyone in a large city's service industry speaks passable English, as does nearly everyone under 30. It was blind luck that the language I grew up speaking is the common language for these countries.

Hotels

I was surprised that most Romanian hotels did not have an alarm clock – something that is now standard in American hotels. Some hotels also did not provide a washcloth. I looked and was surprised not to find one.

In the Cluj-Napoca hotel, there was a low sink about the size of a toilet next to the toilet. I don't know what it's for but I did not wash my face in it.

In the second hotel I stayed in Budapest, the pillows were enormous - way bigger than I've ever seen on a bed before. I wonder what sort of creatures usually stay there.

Infrastructure

Romania has only one highway. Major cities are often connected only by 2 or 3 lane roads.

The roads in Romania and Hungary are not as well marked as in the U.S. Often the road names are on the side of a building, rather than close to the intersections. In Budapest, the many road sign are printed with a fancy font, making them difficult to read in a hurry.

Miscellany

Smoking is more common in Romania and Hungary than in the U.S. Smoking is allowed in restaurants and many people smoke while eating. I had forgotten how much that bothers me.

Every single person I met in Romania and Hungary was friendly and willing to try to help. I was lost several times and I received help from complete strangers, who went out of their way for me.

The landscape in Romania is much prettier than in Hungary (at least where I traveled). Transylvania was filled with green, rolling hills, farms, and small towns everywhere I went. But Budapest was a nicer city than any I found in Romania. I liked the Romanian cities but Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited.

This is part 4 of a series describing my 2014 trip to Romania and Hungary.

Photos of Romania

Photos of Budapest

Last month, I wrote about the advantages of the BizSpark program. Here, I will describe how to apply for this program.

There are two ways to sign up: With and without an Enrollment Code. If you don’t have an Enrollment Code, your application goes into a queue and is evaluated by someone at Redmond and you will hear back in a week or two with a message indicating whether or not you were accepted into the program. If you sign up with an Pre-Approved Enrollment Code, you can begin accessing your benefits immediately! I or another BizSpark Champion can provide you with a Pre-Approval Enrollment Codes.

Qualifying startups can contact their local evangelist to receive a Pre-Approval Enrollment Code.

Here is the process for signing up for BizSpark.

1. Navigate to https://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/

You may need to log in with a Microsoft account (formerly known as a Live account). If you use Microsoft services, such as OneDrive or Instant Messaging, you already have a Microsoft account; If not, you can get one here.

Click "Join Now".

2. Select Language

The “Language” page displays, as shown below.

Scroll down
    Select a Language from the Dropdown
    Click the [Next] button.

3. Enter Startup Information

The “Your Startup” page displays, as shown below.

Scroll down (again)
    If you have a Pre-Approved Enrollment code, enter it into the "Enrollment Code (optional)" textbox. If not, leave this box blank. NOTE: Although the Enrollment Code is optional, there is a great advantage to having one: a Pre-Approval code will enroll you immediately, instead of waiting a week; and it will guarantee your acceptance in the program.
    Enter the rest of the form with information about you and your company.
    Click the [Next] button.

4. Agree to Terms

The “Agreement” page displays, as shown below.

Scroll down (again)
    Click the Checkbox to indicate acceptance of the End-User License Agreement
    Click the [I Accept] button.

5. Confirmation

The “Thank You” / Confirmation page displays, as shown below.

At this point, you should be either enrolled in the BizSpark program or have submitted your application. Those who are enrolled can click “My Benefits” to see how to download software and activate their Azure account and immediately beginning taking advantage of the BizSpark benefits.

It only takes a few minutes to sign up.

I have 6 Windows Phone apps to show you this week. I tried each of them and they are all well done.

Applause Light

(Click here to install)

This app displays a big "Applause" button. Hold down this button to hear applause; release the button to stop it. You can choose from Light applause, Standing Ovation, rowdy applause, or Small Crowd. You will probably hear me using this app at the next technical presentation I attend (or that I present at)

My Minutes

(Click here to install)

Enter text notes about meetings you attend; A timer lets you record when the meeting  starts and stops, so it can calculate meeting duration. It even lets you assign notes to a particular time segment of the meeting.

World Flag Quiz

(Click here to install)

This quiz displays the flag of a country. You need to guess the country that represents. You win by correctly identifying flags and by going through the quiz faster.

Motivational Penguin

(Click here to install)

Open the app to see a penguin urging you to "Believe in Yourself!" or "Work hard! Keep fighting!" or "Don't give up your dreams!"
Set the Lock screen to update with one of these Penguin messages and change every hour (or daily or twice daily) so you can get random inspiration throughout the day.

Car Locator

(Click here to install)

Open this app and Save the location of your car; return to the app later for directions where you left your car.

Pandamonium

(Click here to install)

This is a game in which you move a Panda back and forth along the ground, trying to catch fruit as it falls from the sky. Points for catching fruit; You lose when too much fruit hits the ground.

Episode 323

Bill Wagner and Tony Surma on Humanitarian Toolbox

Day 7: Sunday, May 25

From Cluj to Budapest

I woke up earlier than I expected, excited to drive from Cluj-Napoca, Romania to Budapest, Hungary. The front desk called and ordered a rental car, which arrived late morning. Meanwhile I ate breakfast with those conference speakers who remained at the hotel.  The car arrived but without sufficient papers to leave the company, so I had to take the car delivery man to his house (Not his office - his house!), so he could pick up the papers.

I stopped at a shopping mall, hoping to get a card for my phone that would allow it to work in Europe. My phone had lacked the ability to call or receive email or browse the web since I arrived, except when I was connected to the hotel wi-fi. Before I left America, I had called the local AT&T store to ask how I could use my phone in Europe. When I told him I bought the phone at the Microsoft store, he told me it was certainly unlocked and the best solution was to buy a SIM card after I arrived in Europe. I found a shop at the mall that would sell me a SIM card; unfortunately, when she inserted the card into my phone, we received an error message that the phone was locked by a provider. This was a problem because I was counting on using GPS to tell me how to get to Budapest. I had no idea even how to get out of Cluj, much less which road led to Budapest. I found a solution to this problem: I stopped at a Travel Agency in the same shopping mall, where a friendly travel agent printed out a map to Budapest and translated the key directions for me. I was on my way.

I arrived in Budapest about 7 hours later, after only getting lost 3-4 times.

I didn't have directions to the hotel but it was located in downtown Budapest and I assumed that it would be obvious how to get downtown (as is the case in most American cities). Sadly, I found myself driving lost among the outskirts of Budapest. I pulled over to question a few pedestrians but none spoke English. Finally, I found a helpful lady and 2 high-school age girls who were leaving church. They not only found directions on their smart phone, but they rode along with me to guide me to my hotel before taking a bus back to their home. In America, it is almost unheard of for 2 innocent girls to get into a car with a stranger (much less, a foreign stranger), but I'm glad these girls had no qualms about this.

I thought I was late meeting Adam and Magdolna, but I learned that Budapest is in a different time zone than Cluj, so I was actually early.

They took me to a nice outdoor cafe, where we ate plenty of Hungarian food. After dinner, we walked along the river and he advised me on sights to visit the next few days.

Day 8: Monday, May 26

Budapest Castle District

The busy schedule, extreme travel, and lack of sleep from the last week caught up with me and I slept 12 hours before slowly waking up around noon. I spent much of the afternoon in a small cafe sipping a latte, writing, and watching the world go by.

Adam had left town for 2 days to visit his father, so I toured the city on my own.

In the late afternoon, I headed up to the Castle district, which lies across the river on a hill overlooking the city. The palaces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire have been restored and turned into museums. In fact, the entire hill is covered in museums, along with old churches and monuments. The view of the city is amazing from this area. It was dark before I finally climbed back down and crossed the river to my hotel.

My travels were guided in part by suggestions from Adam and from a Walking Tour outlined on a map of Budapest that I picked up at the hotel.

Monday night, I had a chance to do laundry at my hotel and it felt good to freshen my clothes.

Day 9: Tuesday, May 27

Gellert Hill and downtown Budapest

The Marriott I originally reserved was nice (suite of rooms, full kitchen), but far too expensive for my budget, so I reserved an apartment in the Jewish District. I checked out of the Marriott and headed for Gellert Hill, so named for St. Gellert, who - according to legend - was tied in a barrel and thrown from the mountain by pagans to die in the Danube.

The climb to the top of the hill was a challenge, but it was worth it. Halfway up the hill, one finds a statue of Gellert, surrounded by roman columns overlooking the city and a waterfall.  At the top stands a 19th-century citadel and a magnificent statue dedicated to the people of Hungary.

Near the bottom of the hill is a monastery built into stone of the mountain. The monastery is closed to the public, but the associated church is open. The contrast between the stone hideaway of cloistered monks and the bustle of downtown Budapest is startling.

I walked across the Liberty Bridge and through downtown Budapest visiting (among other sites) the Central Market Hall, where dozens of vendors set up stalls to sell meat, fish, vegetables, and other wares; The Hungarian National Museum; and the Church of St. Michael

I walked back to the hotel to pick up my car and head to my new hotel. Streets in Budapest are not marked nearly as well as in the US (if they are marked at all) and the sign for the hotel was not visible from the street, so it took me a long time to find the hotel and check in. .

When I finally find the it, I was pleasantly surprised. Although the rate was a third what the Marriott charged, I had a suite at least as big as the Marriott’s. And I had free wi-fi. If I return to Budapest, I will first check out All4U Apartments in the Jewish District. My room overlooked a pedestrian area of restaurants and bars

I had to rush to meet Magdolna, who had invited me to dinner. She found me wandering aimlessly a half block from the restaurant, searching for the correct street number. We shared Hungarian fish soup and a Hungarian dessert consisting of pancakes, rum, chocolate, and whipped cream. After dinner, we walked around an old part of Budapest before I dropped her at her subway stop.

I finished the evening with a craft wheat beer at Léhűtő near my hotel.

When I tried to sleep, I discovered the downside of a hotel near so many bars. I drifted off to the (very loud) sounds of a rock band and a techno DJ at bars below.

Day 10: Tuesday, May 28

Last day in Budapest. Last day in Europe

In the morning, Adam returned to Budapest and invited me to a Turkish bath. I walked from my hotel (about a mile) and I was ready to relax when I arrived. A Turkish bath consists of about a half dozen small pools, each set to a different temperature. Nearly-naked men soak in them for a bit, then move on to the next pool. I tried them all - from the shockingly cold water to the shockingly hot water. Spotlights of different colors shine from the ceiling into the largest pool. Supposedly, different color lights will heal different ailments. I'm not sold on this medicine, but I did try it.

All in all, it was a relaxing morning, hanging out and chatting with Adam. 

Afterward, I had lunch near my hotel and drove back to Romania.

I had no trouble getting back to Cluj-Napoca, but I had no idea how to get to my hotel. I stopped at a downtown restaurant, where I received directions that did not help. By some miracle, I stumbled upon the hotel a little after midnight. I only slept about 4 hours before I had to get up and drive to the airport for my flights home.

This is part 3 of a series describing my 2014 trip to Romania and Hungary.

Photos of Budapest

Day 4: Thursday, May 22

IT Camp, Day 1

Up early to hear the keynote. Peter Keller talked about fear in organizations - what causes fear; how fear can hurt us; how to manage fear; and how fear can motivate us to achieve new things.

Mihai Tataran and Tudor Damian gave a second keynote - this one about security. The highlight was Tudor's demos showing how easy it was to hack a user's password in a typical corporate environment. The main effect of this second keynote was to make the audience afraid for the security of their data, so it's a good thing it was preceded by a talk about fear.

Later that morning, I gave my Data Visualization talk. The room was nearly full and it was very well received. I was fortunate that I could give this talk in English, even though English was not the first language of most of the audience.

In the evening, the conference organizers reserved much of the hotel dining room and treated the speakers to dinner and drinks. This was a great opportunity to get to know the other speakers - most of whom were European and most of whom I had never met.

Day 5: Friday, May 23

IT Camp, Day 2

I delivered my second presentation - this one on building a Windows 8 game using Construct 2. The audience was great and seemed to enjoy it.

I recorded 2 interviews with Technology and Friends - one with Peter Keller and one with Tudor Damian. Both of these have been published at http://technologyandfriends.com/.

I took more time today to talk with the conference attendees. Unlike most American developer conferences, this one was attended by nearly 40% women. The industry seemed far less dominated by males here than back home, although I did notice only one female speaker.

In the evening, the conference organizers took the speakers to a local restaurant and treated us to another multi-course meal. Again, it was a great opportunity for me to get to know the speakers. Although most of the attendees seemed to be from northern Transylvania, I met speakers from Romania, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Bulgaria, Norway, England and the United States.

Day 6: Saturday, May 24

Alba Iulia

The conference was over but IT Camp reserves the day after the conference for a cultural outing for all the speakers. This year's outing was to Alba Iulia - a beautiful city south of Cluj. Alba Iulia was the first capital of Romania when it gained independence after World War I.

After the bus ride to Alba Iulia, we stopped for an excellent lunch and set out to walk around the city with a tour guide. Alba was a walled city that was well-fortified against attacks but that was never attacked. The country have spent the last five years restoring the city's historic buildings and monuments and the place is gorgeous. Our tour guide was supposedly telling us about the history of the city, but it was hard to tell as he never spoke above a whisper and there were several dozen of us.

After the bus ride back to the hotel, we were treated to one last dinner. I don’t recall attending a conference that treated speakers as well as IT Camp. From the 5-star hotel accommodations to the food to the conference organization, everything was done well.

After the bus returned to the hotel, the conference treated us to another (excellent) dinner. We hung out in the lobby after dinner talking and I decided I would drive to Budapest in the morning. I had met Adam and Magdolna from Budapest a few days earlier, so I made plans to meet them for dinner.

This is part 2 of a series describing my 2014 trip to Romania and Hungary.

Photos of Romania

Day 1: Monday, May 19

Arrival

I didn't mind the 3 flights; I didn't mind the 15 hours of travel. I didn't even mind the lack of sleep or the oversold flights. But, as I sat in the Cluj-Napoca airport and watched the luggage conveyor belt stop without my suitcase, my heart began to drop.

The good news was that my friend Tibi was waiting outside baggage claim, and a friendly face was what I needed as I headed to the office to fill out the paperwork.

Tibi drove me to his home in downtown Cluj-Napoca, where we picked up his wife Nicoleta and we went out to a nice lunch at a local beer garden. I spent the afternoon at Tibi's house before catching a bus down to Sibiu.

I came to Romania to speak at the IT Camp in Cluj-Napoca (http://itcamp.ro), but it's been 26 years since I've been to Europe and I've never been to Eastern Europe, so planned for a longer trip.

I scheduled 2 days with a tour guide in Sibiu. Although the tour didn’t officially start until Tuesday, Adela was kind enough to pick me up at the bus station and drive me to my hotel Monday evening.

Day 2: Tuesday, May 20

Sibiu and surroundings

Tuesday morning, Adela and I walked around the old city of Sibiu. Sibiu is a walled city, originally built by the Saxons to protect western Europe from invasion by the Turks. The city has a mix of many different architectures, due in large part to the different nations that have occupied Transylvania over the centuries. The Germans built 3 clock towers so one clock would always be visible from anywhere in the city. Roman architecture is evident in the arches.

Our first stop outside the city was Astra - an outdoor museum featuring reproductions of buildings from a great many regions and eras of Romanian history. The Saxons only allowed Romanians to build their churches of wood, so only these reproductions remain.

We made a stop in Sibiel, known for its icons - religious scenes painted on glass. Catholics in this region have been creating these works of art for centuries, but it wasn't until the 1960s that a local priest asked citizens to donate their icons to a local museum, where everyone could view them.

Next, we drove to Cisnadie, which is known in German as Michelsberg. Apparently, many of the cities founded by Saxons have both German and Romanian names. We hiked up to the fortified church at the top of the mountain overlooking Cisnadie. The church was recently restored and the views from the top are spectacular.

Day 3: Wednesday, May 21

Sighișoara

Sighișoara is allegedly the birthplace of Prince Vlad - more popularly known as Count Dracula, so of course we had to go there. Historical records suggest that Vlad's parents visited there at the time of his birth and some documents have even identified the house in which he was born. We had lunch in the restaurant that now occupies this house.

Sighișoara contains an old walled city and a church sits atop a steep hill within this wall. We climbed the hill to see the church and the cemetery just outside. Even at midday in full sunshine, it was a bit spooky.

Following the drive back to Sibiu, Adela dropped me at the bus station, where I was taken back to Cluj-Napoca. The bus dropped me on the city's edge and I took a cab to my hotel. The cab ride cost about $3 - an startlingly low amount for an American taxi.

This is part 1 of a series describing my 2014 trip to Romania and Hungary.

Romania Photos

Roots of Life is a Windows Phone 8 medical application that provides recommendation for ideal body measurements as well as recommended dosages of medicine.

You begin by entering what you know about yourself (or your patience), such as weight, height, and age. The more information you enter, the more and better calculations it can provide. For example, my ideal weight for my height and age is – well, never mind about that (cough, shuffle, look away).

This app is no replacement for advice from a doctor or other health professional, but it does provide the sources on which recommendations are based, which makes it a good starting point for health care or good supplemental information from your health professional.

You can install Roots of Life on your Windows Phone 8 here.

Episode 322

Tudor Damian on Application Security Threats