The Region at MicrosoftRegionalDirectors.com

Welcome to The Region, global hub for the 140 software architects, developers, trainers and other professionals selected by Microsoft as Regional Directors. The first thing to know is that, while we’re officially recognized by Microsoft and often receive inside information about forthcoming technologies, we are completely independent. We are not Microsoft employees. As to The Region, it’s designed to help us circulate insights, information, inspiration and inquiries among RD’s and among the broader developer community. And it's an experiment. We hope you find it useful. We hope we find it useful, too.


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Jim Duffy is founder and president of TakeNote Technologies. TakeNote, a Developer's Choice Award winning training, consulting, and software development company, specializes in helping clients create business solutions with Microsoft enterprise technologies. Jim's expertise is with Visual Basic, ASP.NET, SQL Server and Visual FoxPro-to-.Net conversions. Jim has a BS degree in Computer and Information Systems and over 25 years of programming and training experience. He is an energetic trainer, skilled developer, and has been published in leading developer-oriented publications including CoDe Magazine. Jim is a Microsoft Regional Director, a Microsoft MVP award recipient since 2003 and an INETA speaker. He is an entertaining and popular speaker at regional user groups and international developer conferences. Jim is also a co-host of Computers 2K8, a call in radio show on WRBZ (AM 850), 850 The Buzz, in Raleigh, NC. You can find additional information about Jim, TakeNote Technologies, links to his blog, as well as a public training class schedule, on-site training information, consulting information, and software development services at www.takenote.com.

SQL Server

SQL 2008 Performance Tip: Avoid Local Variables in WHERE Clause

Jim Duffy writes "...One tip among the list of incredibly useful tips Yavor presented was “local variables are bad news for the Query Optimizer and they cause the Query Optimizer to guess”. What that means is you should be avoiding code like this in your stored procs..." Read post »

Editors Picks

Miami322 Citizen Reporting System Runs with Azure - Silverlight - Bing

Jim Duffy writes "...The Miami311 System is a Windows Azure/Silverlight-based solution which enables City of Miami citizens report and track issues reported to city management. The system uses Bing Maps...Citizens now have the ability to easily see the status of the issue...What I found interesting were a couple of benefits..." Read post »

TechTalk

View Content at Increased Play Rate: 2.0 Times Normal Speed

Jim Duffy writes "..I view nearly all off-line content with Windows Media Player...The idea is changing the playback speed you view the content at. With Windows Media Player you can change the play speed from the menu system..." Read post »
North America

Jim Duffy

President TakeNote Technologies Raleigh, NC, US Send email to Jim Jim's blog  »

Technical Expertise .NET Development, ASP .NET, C#, Migration to .NET, Public Speaking, Silverlight, SQL Server, Technical Training, Technical Writer, Visual Basic .NET, Visual FoxPro, Web Development
Years of Experience 25
Certifications METRO-C, METRO-T
Vertical Industries Served Accounting and Financial, E-Business, Sales and Inventory, Manufacturing, Education, Government, Software Industry