Explore articles and content from this author
372 articles published
I’ve received a few comments from folks after my observations on the Scripting Games Event 1. In those observations, I noted how much I loved: [ValidateScript({Test-Path $_})][string]$path As a way of testing to make sure your -Path parameter got a valid value, I love this. I’d never thought of it, and I plan to use it in classes. I may write a book about it someday, or maybe even an ode.
Tobias Weltner offers some “don’ts” from his review of Event 1 entries: http://www.powertheshell.com/scripting-games-advanced-1/
There’s been a lot of dismay floating around the community about the state of “community voting” in the Scripting Games. Some folks are voting without leaving comments (we’ve expanded the comment field to 2000 characters, hopefully that’ll help), and some disagreement about scores. Disagreement is natural. For example, stick a Write-Host in your script and I’m likely to score you lower. You may disagree, but it’s how I feel in many situations… and I’m seeing a distressing amount of it.
As of right now, we’ve got almost 1900 votes on entries in the Scripting Games. Remember that each vote is a “pointlet” (see the PowerShell tie-in we did there?), which is basically a raffle ticket in our prize lottery. But… there’s a secret about the lottery. It’s weighted based on how many entries you’ve voted on. The algorithm is a bit complex, but for example, if you’ve voted on 90% of the available entries, you’re something like 30% more likely to win a prize.
June Blender is was a senior programming writer on the Windows PowerShell team at Microsoft from Windows PowerShell 1.0 ““ 3.0. You see her work every time you type Get-Help for the core modules. She’s now working on the Windows Azure Active Directory SDK team, and she remains an avid Windows PowerShell user and a passionate user advocate. She’s a guest blogger for the Scripting Guys and she tweets Windows PowerShell tips on Twitter at @juneb_get_help.
As of Monday at 5pm Pacific time (which is Tuesday morning, 00:00 hours GMT), the 2013 Scripting Games’ first event will conclude. That means the first event is open for community voting - so get on it! Remember, some of the best prizes - including a free pass to the 2014 PowerShell Summit - are reserved for folks who offer their votes and comments. Incoming new registrations for the Games will not be able to compete in Event 1 at this point, but they can jump in with Event 2 (and subsequent events) if desired.
Here’s the schedule for our Forums migration: From Now until May 4th, the old forums will remain online and in-use. However, you should consider creating an account here on the “new” site (distinguishable by the different visual theme). Your new account will have no connection to the old one, and may be a Twitter, Facebook, Live, or other login. To create an account, just click “Login” at the top-left of any site page (in the dark gray toolbar).
So, we did have one enterprising fella use his Webcam to record the Summit sessions he attended. Once he gets with me, we’ll get those online so you can see. We are trying to think really hard about formal recordings for next time. It depends a lot on what folks want. For example: Pointing a camera at the front of the room is easy and cheap. We worry that the audio might suck and that you might not be able to read on-screen code - although many presenters make their code/slides available for download.
Ed Wilson is the Microsoft Scripting Guy and a well-known scripting expert. He writes the twice daily Hey Scripting Guy! blog (the number 1 blog on TechNet). He has also spoken at TechEd and at the Microsoft internal TechReady conferences. He is a Microsoft-certified trainer who has delivered a popular Windows PowerShell workshop to Microsoft Premier Customers worldwide. He has written 11 books including 8 on Windows scripting that were published by Microsoft Press.
At our first annual Shareholders Meeting (shareholders will receive an e-mail from me later this week about that meeting), we will be voting on our Board of Directors. Our corporate articles permit our existing Board members to serve indefinitely, and so all are automatically re-nominated. The current Board includes: Myself (Don Jones) Kirk Munro Richard Siddaway Jason Helmick Jeffery Hicks The Board is responsible for appointing a CEO (which is currently myself) to run the company; the CEO then appoints other officers as needed to conduct the corporation’s business.