So I am back at Winnipeg now. DevTeach went well, as my previous posts imply. But the end of the conference was interesting too....

Friday Daytime

This was the Silverlight session from Rod Paddock and Jim Duffy. Was a great intro to all aspects of Silverlight and what it is capable of right now. Although I have seen a ton of writeups of bits and pieces here and there, I am the kind of person who needs to see something in action first to learn it - I cannot learn from a book alone. This was great, though - a brief but thorough overview, and teasers of where things may be going. Now, it was said that this is Microsoft's replacement/answer to Flash. If so, it has a bit of a ways to go (which is true - this is still a beta after all). But looking at it, here are some initial comments:

• There are only a limited number of fonts allowed. This is because if it is not cross-browser compatible (eg. the mouse wheel working) then it is not included. This does not bode well for those of us who have to use specific client fonts that cannot be given away to all customers. What about including embedded fonts, like Flash? That would be ideal for such a situation.
• How much of a subset is it of WPF? In Silverlight, labels are called Textblocks. In WPF it's still a label (at least according to Expression Blend). Could we not get some consistency there?
• It's a real pain to not be able to drag controls onto the form/grid/canvas in VS 2008. Yes, you can drop into the XAML, but it's not the same. A basic button could still be added by a developer who may or may not know XAML that well, but full designs should be done by a designer using Expression Blend (I fully agree there).

Overall, though, a great session.

Friday Night

Started out with drinks and dinner with my aunt and uncle who I hadn't seen in a year. So, one plate of chicken fingers and 5 Strongbows later, I got into a cab to meet up with a friend of mine for drinks. We found a martini place and went there and met up with a few more friends. 7 martinis (and one shot) later, we all proceeded to head out somewhere else. An Irish pub with a live band, which was great. BUT, another 5 beers (not Strongbow, but something comparable). After that... to bed, massively drunk, after like 5 glasses of water. Now, this meant getting back to the hotel around 5 AM... so no longer Friday night. And checkout was at 11 AM.

Saturday

Got up massively hung over. Got ready to check out of the hotel. Had a nice long shower and drank about 5 more glasses of water. Went down to the lobby, checked out, and went to the airport. Now, my flight didn't leave til 6 PM and this was around 11 AM. So, hung around TO airport all day (didn't have the strength or will to go ANYWHERE else). Hung out there, read a lot, and relaxed until my flight back.

So, the flight. Got on the plane. Found my seat and sat down as one is wont to do on a plane when you board. Well, most people at any rate. About 15 minutes after the plane was SUPPOSED to leave, we get an announcement apologizing for the delay but that there is a luggage issue. OK, so we sit back and relax. Then, we watch as passengers are moved from the back of the plane to first class. Again, sit back and relax. First class was empty when I boarded, and many of them are seniors so all appears well. I went back to my book. When I look up, 3 cops are walking past my chair. NOW I pay attention. They go to the back of the plane, where the individuals were moved up to first class from. There is a "discussion" with an individual back there. Not of North American heritage, as the accent (and eventually seeing him gave away) gave away. This was an individual whose accent I would place as being from India (this is due to the fact that i have some friends from India and the accent was very similar - not 100% certain, but fairly certain). They started escorting him off when he turned around and started to walk back to his seat. The officers behind him asked what he was doing and he said he needed his things, which the cops had in hand. He reluctantly turned around and went out with them, another officer with his bag and passport. About 5 minutes later, the individuals moved up front went back to their seats. The captain made an announcement, indicating that the individual refused to listen to the attendants, was not sitting down but was causing a ruccus (I think some other passengers complained), and was causing some red flags in them. It turns out that not listening to an attendant is an offense and gets you arrested. Now, keep in mind, WE HAVE NOT LEFT THE TERMINAL YET. So, an eventful show there right from the get-go. They offered us a free drinkn to compensate... but I was having none of that in my hung over state. Hot tea it was (also to soothe my throat).

But there we have it - another fun-filled, eventful conference attended. I can honestly say that the flight back was the most interesting flight I have ever had. At any rate, time to go back to reading and then crash and catch up on my insomnia-riddled trip.