A code sample is worth a thousand words.  Here are a few projects to take a look at that go beyond just code snippets to show you how to put key technologies together in the form ofsample applications.  (Note, if you are looking for just code snippets and focused codesamples, you can check out the Microsoft All-in-One Code Framework project site on CodePlex.)

Layered Architecture Solution Guidance
Project Site - http://layerguidance.codeplex.com

”Designing and creating layered applications can be a challenging task to developers. Layered Architecture Solution Guidance is a Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 extension that provides a set of tools and guidance aimed at simplifying the development of layered applications.
Layered Architecture Solution Guidance is a Guidance Automation Extension that integrates with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 to allow developers to easily create and organize their projects in a layered fashion following the structure that is illustrated in the Layered Architecture Sample for .NET. It provides a set of solution templates integrated with a suite of code generators to make developing layered applications much simpler and quicker.

Microsoft Spain – Domain Oriented N-Layered .NET 4.0 Sample App
Project Site - http://microsoftnlayerapp.codeplex.com/

The main goal is to show how to use .NET 4.0 wave technologies implementing typical DDD patterns: N-Layered Architecture, Domain Entities, Aggregates, Repositories, Unit of Work, Domain Services, Application Services, DTOs, DTO-Adapters, etc.

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This project shows how you can use the Netduino Plus to make a tweeting breathalyzer—a standalone breathalyzer that can post messages about the detected alcohol level to Twitter, using an inexpensive alcohol gas sensor.

The Netduino is an open source electronics platform based on a 32-bit microcontroller running the .NET Micro Framework. The Netduino Plus is similar to the original Netduino, but adds a built-in Ethernet controller and MicroSD slot. Since the Netduino Plus can connect directly to a network, it can independently communicate with Twitter’s API without being connected to a computer. read more

Hardware Overview

Skype CEO Tony Bates

Last week, it was Google and Facebook who were said to be purchasing Skype. Today, Microsoft has announced that actually? They’re the ones snapping up the VoIP company. The confirmed price is $8.5 billion; considerably more than what eBay bought Skype for back in 2005.

So what is Microsoft getting out of the deal? Not just the secrets to Skype’s phenomenal success. Microsoft’s said that Skype “will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities.”

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Interested in trying out the support for parallel computing in Visual Studio 2010 or .NET 4,  You can now use the MSDN Virtual Labs site to try these out from the comforts of your favorite browser.  Multiple labs are available:

• Introducing .NET 4 Parallel Extensions
• Introduction to Parallel LINQ
• Introducing the C++ Concurrency Runtime
• Introducing the Visual Studio 2010 Parallel Debugger
• Introducing the Visual Studio 2010 Parallel Performance Analyzer

What?

Zoom.it is a free service for viewing and sharing high-resolution imagery. You give us the link to any image on the web, and we give you a beautiful new way to experience it — along with a nice short URL.

How?

Zoom.it converts your image to the Deep Zoom format, which lets you smoothly and efficiently explore the whole image, no matter how large. Check out Deep Zoom Studio for examples of this technology in action.

Zoom.it runs on Windows Azure and enhances the experience with Microsoft Silverlight when available.

Who?

Zoom.it was created by Microsoft Live Labs, the same folks who brought you Photosynth and Pivot.

So what are you waiting for? Create your own! »

Recently a new requirement came for cancel an async operation.  Being aware of the abortPostBack method the PageRequestManager, I figured that it would be pretty simple to implement this feature.  I added a ‘Cancel’ button to my progress indicator and wired the onclick handler to invoke the abortPostBack method.

Clicking cancel did abort the async postback however, because the OnUpdated animation only runs when the UpdatePanel is updated my indicator was never being hidden and it was appearing as if the application was hanging.   My approach to solving this was to look-up the animation component and invoke the animation myself.  like this:

 function abort(){

        var prm = Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManager.getInstance();
        if(prm get_isInAsyncPostBack()){
            //  abort the postback
            prm abortPostBack();
            //  get the reference to the animation for the gridview
            var animation = $find('animation');
            //  simulate stopping by replaying the animation
            animation._postBackPending = false;
            animation.get_OnUpdatingBehavior().quit();
            animation.get_OnUpdatedBehavior().play();
        }
    }

SOURCE

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SQL Server 2008 R2 Express is now available  for download from the SQL Server Express site.More importantly SQL Server 2008 R2 Express now supports 10 GB of storage per database.