With all the troubles I’ve had with hosting plans throughout the years, I’ve always wondered how to avoid those same problems for a second time.  Of course, I’d love to avoid them for the first time, so I Google them first.  No, not the problem, but how to avoid problems doing something “odd” with my service.  Let’s say I want to do something really strange like cancel a server or hosting service.  I know, it’s way out there, but please bare with me…I ask the Service Provider what I need to do, after starting with the on-line FAQs, help, forums, etc.  and they say go to this “special” site for canceling service.  OK, it must be “intuitive” or they would have given me more details, right!?  The stand-up comic in me wants to draw this out to its proper conclusion…lots of laughs; but the software developer, architect, infrastructure novice and business owner in me wants to lend a hand.

What Problem was actually resolved?

There are way too many scenarios to list in one sitting, but I can probably link to them from here later, or answer specific questions in comments if I see them.  But my most recent issue was due to the fact that I wanted to upgrade a 1and1.com VPS account to one that was half the price I was paying (for 3 months…and I highly recommend this.)  That wasn’t the deal maker though. More...

Received this e-mail today, it speaks for itself:

I just wanted to let you know that Markus Egger will be doing a free 4 stop upstate NY User Group tour Monday July 6 - Thursday July 9.

Markus will be discussing "The State of .NET":
What is the state of .NET today? Which of the many .NET technologies have gained traction? Which ones can you ignore for now? What is new in .NET 3.5 and the coming .NET 4.0? What other Microsoft technologies should you include in your development efforts? This event is It is designed for developers as well as (IT) decision makers. Specific prior knowledge is not required.

Topics will include:

• Silverlight 2.0 and 3.0
• WPF and Visual Styles
• Expression Blend 3
• Microsoft Surface
• Windows Azure and Cloud Services
• WCF
• SOA

Markus Egger's Bio:
Markus Egger is the President and CSA of EPS Software Corp. and its associated brands and companies, such as CODE Magazine, CODE Online, Xiine, Tower 48, EPS Austria GmbH, JockTock, and others. EPS is a custom software development and consulting firm located in Houston, Texas (USA) and Salzburg (Austria). He specializes in consulting for advanced business applications built on the Microsoft platform. EPS does most of its development using Microsoft Visual Studio (.NET) and SQL Server (among other technologies). EPS has worked on numerous software projects for Fortune 500 companies including Philip Morris, NEC, Qualcomm, Shell and Microsoft. Markus has also worked on campus as a contractor for the Microsoft Visual Studio team.

Venues:

Buffalo - Monday July 6th, 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM: http://wnydnug.org/2009Meetings/tabid/54/Default.aspx#July.
                Address:  Daemen College, Schenck Hall, Room 210 - 4380 Main Street, Amherst, NY  14226-3544
                To register, send e-mail to:  events@wnydnug.org (Please include your first & last name by 12PM on Monday 7/6)

Rochester - Tuesday July 7th, 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM:  http://www.vduny.org
                Address:  Microsoft Office 100 Corporate Woods, Rochester, NY 14623
                To register, send e-mail to:  BobNims@vduny.org

Syracuse - Wednesday July 8th, 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM:  www.cnydevelopers.net
                Address:  New Horizons, 6711 Towpath Road, East Syracuse, New York, 13057
                Register at: www.cnydevelopers.net, or send e-mail to:  andy@beaulieu.com

Albany - Thursday July 9th, 6:30 PM - 8:30PM: www.tvug.net
                Address:  VersaTrans Solutions, Inc., 4 British American Blvd, Latham, NY   12110
                Register at: www.tvug.net, or send e-mail to:  president@tvug.net

Download details: SharePoint Designer 2007
SharePoint Designer 2007

And I Quote:

SharePoint Designer 2007

Brief Description

SHAREPOINT DESIGNER 2007 IS NOW FREE! Be sure to watch the video (read more below) to learn more about details and future direction. Office SharePoint Designer 2007 provides the powerful tools you need to deliver compelling and attractive SharePoint sites and quickly build workflow-enabled applications and reporting tools on the SharePoint platform, all in an IT-managed environment.

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with Service Pack 2

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 x64 with Service Pack 2

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 Service Pack 2

For anyone who tried to figure out where to purchase or acquire SharePoint Designer (aka: the new version of FrontPage) it’s even easier, and cheaper than ever.  I may actually support FrontPage extensions on my web server again…if I can get it to work.  And, maybe SharePoint itself.  Enjoy!!!

Or that’s the idea at least.

More...