tech·nic·al·ly agile

Blog: Technically Agile. Deep diving into Scrum, Agility, & DevOps!

Helping companies navigate the realities of business agility and not just be technically agile! Regular content on Scrum, Agility, & DevOps!

Technical Leadership

NKD Agility provides hands-on guidance to empower teams with the skills and best practices needed to deliver high-quality, scalable solutions that align with business goals.
details...

Engineering Excellence

We embed quality into every phase of development, ensuring that testing, architecture, and engineering decisions drive excellence and maintainability from the outset.
details...

Business Focus

By aligning technical leadership with strategic business objectives, we help teams streamline processes, ensuring software development supports long-term growth and organizational success.
details...
Trustpilot
Returning an Anonymous type...

Returning an Anonymous type...

  In VB.NET it is actually possible to return an Anonymous type from a function and use it somewhere else. In VB.NET you need to use late binding so you can’t change the “Option strict” compiler option to true as I have always done in the past. This option, that defaults to “Off”, is the main reason that C# developers scoff at VB, but this feature is now available, controversially in C#.

My first Extension method...

My first Extension method...

I decided as part of my .NET 3.5 learning curve to rebuild Duncan Mackenzie  ’s Xbox to Twitter application  just for fun… When you call his web service you get a XboxInfo class back that contains all of your Xbox Live Information. I wanted to be able to add a method to this called “ToInstanceString” that I would use to both display your Status, and to detect when it had changed.

I always like a good Serenity plug...

I always like a good Serenity plug...

Your results: You are Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic)75%Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command)70%Wash (Ship Pilot)70%Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)65%Jayne Cobb (Mercenary)55%Inara Serra (Companion)40%Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)40%River (Stowaway)40%Derrial Book (Shepherd)20%Alliance20%A Reaver (Cannibal)5%Medicine and physical healing are your game, but wooing women isn't a strong suit. Click here to take the “Which Serenity character am I?” quiz… 

Xbox Live To Twitter

Xbox Live To Twitter

I had been trying to find an application that provided updates to twitter from my Xbox. There is such an application written by Duncan Mackenzie  , but I could not get it to work. I tried everything and ended up decompiling the application to see what was wrong. Well, it seamed that the guts of the application was missing! The source code has all of the UI elements, but none of the bit to do the updates.

SharePoint 3.0 and MOSS 2007 Service Pack 1 Update

SharePoint 3.0 and MOSS 2007 Service Pack 1 Update

I had a number of problems installing SharePoint 3.0 Service Pack 1  and then Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 1  . In fact, I managed to put my server completely out of action and I have been trying to fix it off and on for a couple of weeks (I have been on holiday). This being my only day in for the rest of this year, I thought I should give it another go, as I did not want the server down for another week…

Festive holiday studying

Festive holiday studying

  I am sorry to tell you all that I am now (as of Friday past) off for the holiday period. With a little luck and some saved holidays I will not be back in the office until the 3rd January 2008 :) I will be in the office for damage control on the 31st, but apart from that I am a free man…

Silverlight cream, kinda, but it is interesting!

Silverlight cream, kinda, but it is interesting!

Well, I was browsing the Microsoft downloads site looking for SP1 for SharePoint and a wee popup asked if I would like to see the http://download.microsoft.com  beta…

No love between McAfee Enterprise and MOSS 2007

No love between McAfee Enterprise and MOSS 2007

Well I think I have found the root of the problem with my Microsoft office SharePoint Server 2007 dev box! It was McAfee plain and simple. Event Type: Error Event Source: Windows SharePoint Services 3 Search Event Category: Gatherer Event ID: 2424 Date: 13/12/2007 Time: 09:36:06 User: N/A Computer: GLA1VS09 Description: The update cannot be started because the content sources cannot be accessed. Fix the errors and try the update again.

MOSS SP1 Install Notes

MOSS SP1 Install Notes

I thought I should create this blog as I am going along because I usually forget some critical item that gubs my server if I try it again

Installing Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Installing Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

wssv3sp1-kb936988-x86-fullfile-en-us.exe http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4191A531-A2E9-45E4-B71E-5B0B17108BD2&displaylang=en#filelist    Not realy installing updates, more like unpacking…  

Installing The 2007 Microsoft Office Servers Service Pack 1 (SP1) ...Again...

Installing The 2007 Microsoft Office Servers Service Pack 1 (SP1) ...Again...

So far it is exactly the same show as with the WSS update. Installing updates before moving onto the main feature… And it did not ask me to install WSS SP1 this time.. That is another one of those mixed signs…

Information Sync

Information Sync

  Over the past year of using the Windows Mobile Device Center  on Vista as well as ActiveSync 4.5  I have become increasingly disillusioned with them both and searching for another tool that would do the job better.

The new ClusterMaps: NeoWORX

The new ClusterMaps: NeoWORX

I came across this amazing new service which is very similar to ClusterMaps  , NeoWORX  . It is a bit of a pain in Flash as the system resources required for flash these days seams a little excessive, but I would like to see it running as a WPF XBAP.

Mozy update

Mozy update

Well, due to my campaign to get lots of free bandwidth I now have an additional 2.3 GB on top of my initial free 2GB bringing the grand total to 4.3 GB of online storage with Mozy  !

It's nice to be appreciated!

It's nice to be appreciated!

A few months ago I found a cool site called Community Credit  . I did not understand the premise at first, but after seeing the prizes page, I thought, what the heak! Community Credit is the brain child of one David Silverlight, and yes, it is quite possible that “Silverlight” was named after him :). What is this wondrous site you may ask…Well, its part bragging, part recognition, and part prizes :)

Community Credit and GeeksWithBlogs up a tree...

Community Credit and GeeksWithBlogs up a tree...

It is fantastic news that GeeksWithBlogs.net  and Community Credit  have now both said their vows and are now fully integrated with each other. Awww, so cute.

TFS Event Handler gets 3 stars from Accentient

TFS Event Handler gets 3 stars from Accentient

All be it it is only popularity, but they are stars non the less… Willy-Peter Schaub  brought and update of the Team System Widgets  page to my attention  and I remembered that I had submitted the TFS Event Handler  I built and headed over to take a look.

Identity crisis

Identity crisis

I am having a look at Microsoft’s Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007  as a solution to our disparate user identity problem. Some of the bigger companies out there have solved this problem, and in many of the smaller companies it just does not exist, but we have many system that hold meta data about our employees. From HR systems to Active Directory and custom web based address books. Because of Aggreko’s unprecedented growth these systems have outgrown our capacity to maintain the consistency of the data, with small groups responsible for each repository and everyone not knowing where ALL the repository’s are or who controls them.

Mozy Backup Space Gathering update

Mozy Backup Space Gathering update

Well, I currently have two referrals :) Thanks to Garrett Hoofman  and Andrew Stifora  who got their fingers out and got backed up  ! Hopefully the others that have signed up with my referral link will complete a backup as well so we can all benefit (well me!) from the extra space.

Mozy Backup

Mozy Backup

I was looking for an online backup solution and Scott Hanselman  provided it for me: Thanks Scott and good luck with all the new stuff  :).

Event: MSDN: SharePoint for Developers (Edinburgh)

Event: MSDN: SharePoint for Developers (Edinburgh)

Better late than never, but I attended  a MSDN event  on Tuesday night in Edinburgh. Although I eagerly signed up for it, I did not expect to learn a lot:

VS2008 Update

VS2008 Update

Well it seems that Microsoft took the generally felt community suggestion and bundles Team Explorer with Visual Studio 2008 team Suit. I don’t know if they did the same with VS2008 Pro or the other version, but it would seem a good idea.

Hold on lads, I have an idea!

Hold on lads, I have an idea!

Something occured to me after seeing the Family Show  application from Vertigo  . If you have not seen this application it is definitely worth a look. What I want to achieve would be to display and allow the edit of company Higherarchical data through a similar interface to the one presented in Family Show.

AD Update-O-Matic

AD Update-O-Matic

In my quest to play with test VB 9.0 and it very cool features I created a little application to update Active Directory. I was asked by my boss (Andre) to get some sense of order into Active Directory for the users that will be involved in the proof of concept for MOSS 2007. So I immediately thought of an application to automate this.

RTM Confusion

RTM Confusion

I am a little confused by the RTM release of VS2008. I cant find a copy of the Team Explorer RTM or wither it is bundled with Team Suit. This would be a problem if I uninstalled everything only to find that I can’t get my source control…

Get your RTM here!

Get your RTM here!

Well, its official. Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5 went RTM this morning…. So I will be spending the next wee while moving to the full release. if I can ever get the MSDN site to load. At the moment I have been waiting a couple of minutes for it, and no sign yet… That’s everyone in the UK and probably European development communities hitting the site mercilessly. I know I will be…

Where am I?

Where am I?

I decided that I should have a go at this LINQ thing, so as .NET 3.5 will be RTM at the end of the month I am using LINQ and .NET 3.5 in my new Locator project.

Proxy server settings for SharePoint 2007

Proxy server settings for SharePoint 2007

Well this was fun… All the examples  of how to connect through a proxy from SharePoint are missing a crucial piece of information! <system.net> <defaultProxy> <proxy usesystemdefault = "false" proxyaddress="http://proxyservername" bypassonlocal="true" /> </defaultProxy> </system.net> This is the accepted route, with an exception to e added to the proxy to use anonymous authentication…

Why Integrated Authentication does not work with host headers!

Why Integrated Authentication does not work with host headers!

You receive error 401.1 when you browse a TFS  Web site that uses Integrated Authentication and is hosted on IIS 5.1 or IIS 6 This little problem occurs when you have Windows 2003 SP1 or later installed and you try to change your Team Foundation Server to a friendly name, like say tfs01.[intranet].[company].com.

Installing TFS 2008 from scratch

Installing TFS 2008 from scratch

Well, setting up TFS 2008 is pretty easy. I have done an upgrade before, but I have now deployed my first pure TFS 2008 server to a clean environment. I have Reporting Services, SQL and TFS on one box and SharePoint 2007 in my Farm. Word of warning:

Connect with Martin Hinshelwood

If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.

Our Happy Clients​

We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.​

Boxit Document Solutions Logo
Bistech Logo
Microsoft Logo
Philips Logo
Xceptor - Process and Data Automation Logo
ProgramUtvikling Logo
YearUp.org Logo
Cognizant Microsoft Business Group (MBG) Logo
Genus Breeding Ltd Logo
Deliotte Logo
DFDS Logo
Trayport Logo

NIT A/S

SuperControl Logo
New Signature Logo
Capita Secure Information Solutions Ltd Logo
Schlumberger Logo
Healthgrades Logo
Ghana Police Service Logo
New Hampshire Supreme Court Logo
Washington Department of Enterprise Services Logo
Royal Air Force Logo
Washington Department of Transport Logo
Nottingham County Council Logo
Milliman Logo
Big Data for Humans Logo
SuperControl Logo
Bistech Logo
Hubtel Ghana Logo
Graham & Brown Logo