(Warning, geek content ahead!)

Microsoft SharePoint (tm) is a collaboration platform that enables quick collaboration setup and usage within the MS Windows platform. It is built upon .net, and integrates MS Office, and can often be deployed and customized without any code.

Sample sites built on SharePoint include Viacom, Canon Technology Solutions, Florida’s Orange County Public Schools, and Spinebreakers.

Custom “web parts” – the sections that make up a page – can be created, including many codeless solutions. Searching across diverse sources – including databases, excel files, word docs, pdfs – can be set up.

Collaboration – shared work – is a cornerstone of SharePoint, and its major selling point. If you’re doing a significant amount of collaborative work within MS Office, SharePoint may be a boon to your productivity.

My 3^rd and final package from my knitting secret pal arrived today. And, since I found the camera last week, here are some yarn pR0n pictures for your drooling pleasure:

Oooh, blue. And Soft. This will be something for ME, most likely.

Blue cotton. Destined for my kitchen. The ball with green is called Sea Mist, the other three are Faded Denim.

Katia Diana. Very Soft, and made with a hint of Angora.

And the non-knitting goodies?

The 4 yr old and I hit the chocolate already. I’ll share the Neccos with the kids, and the fruit lifesavers. But the butter rum will be stashed for purely selfish moments.

And the secret pal? Why, it was Cassandra! She also has three daughters – hopefully less monstrous than mine.

And my final package will go in the mail tomorrow – between having to purchase a new car, and getting a new job, things were crazy around here.

I went to Code Camp on Saturday, and won a license to JetBrains Resharper, and Dot Trace Profiler. Retail value 6 hunnerd bucks. All cause I had tivo'd and watched Hackers recently, and could identify the soundtrack.

Anyhoo, I started a new job on Friday, and so far, so good. Lots of good stuff to learn and do. I may be posting geeky bits more and more. My goal is to learn enough about something interesting to be able to give a presentation at the next code camp in March.

A new topic here. Questions from a four year old.

“Mommy, why do birds build nests?”

And the monsters got up extremely early. Still working on adjusting the time clock. We’re up, had breakfast, and the kitchen has been cleaned. I cleaned the microwave, and hand washed the glass plate. Hubby is now cleaning off the formal dining room table – the repository for all the stuff we don’t want to put away since pretty much Easter (or even last Christmas).

I finally decided that until I was happy with the knitwhit prototype, I wasn’t going to port it to the web. Also, whatever job I end up having, the web version will be my practice area. Currently, there are four web versions, all using different methods of programming, with pretty much the same database. So, it’s in Access for now, until I get the pattern database stuff finalized, and then I’ll make it multi-user, then I’ll port it to the web and start asking for beta users. It WON’T be another ravelry – purely a project management app, not a social one.

I have two packages to get in the mail between now and Monday – one for my knitting secret pal, and one for my sister.

I’ve made a little progress on my NaNo project, but I’m behind, and I’m actually using it as a reward for my must dos, rather than the other way around. Otherwise no laundry would get accomplished.

I’ve lost ten pounds, also – mostly by not eating or eating one or two of the one-hundred calorie snack packs. And drinking gallons of iced tea.

Well, the clock is chiming the hour, so the girls have to be given their cleaning instructions. We’re all working this morning.

According to the recruiters, nearly everything is a “Hot Opportunity” or a “Perfect Match to your skill set”. And yes, it seems this is a good time for me to be looking, right now. Govt contracts have been awarded or enhanced (thank you, taxpayers). People here in the DC area are in a state of transition. (Which, for this area, is the norm, but it’s a little high right now, since it’s after the school year has started.) My particular skills (and an odd mix of geekiness they are) are not necessarily the norm, so when some recruiter sees my resume on Monster, or Dice, or Washington Post Jobs, they gravitate. I’m even getting identical job descriptions from competing recruiters, which always makes me chuckle, whether I’m interested or not.

So, I’ve been on one real interview, and two meetings with “Recruiter/Staffing firm” people. Not bad for 7 days out of work. And I could have done more, if my personal requirements weren’t so limiting.

My biggest challenge is looking business-like. The phrase “bull in a china shop” is very close to my awareness outside of my home, not the least because I get clumsy when I get nervous.

And I’m definitely not in the market for the constant increase in wages, which causes disbelief in many. So many of the recruiters automatically add 5 to 10 K to what I just made as a starting point, and that’s not the kind of image I want to present.

So, this may take awhile (hey, I’m catching up on the dreaded laundry), or I may get the “Perfect Match” sometime next week. Either way, I’m trying to make the most of it. I’m volunteering for the book fair next week (yummmmm, book fairs), and I’m doing plenty of decluttering and catching up on house work that I would otherwise ignore, and I’ve started NaNoWriMo, and I’m catching up on sleep. I’m knitting a little bit – I’m actually using knitting as a reward for getting the unpleasant housework done.

To finding a job closer to home, doing work I want to do.

To Shenandoah Sheep and Fiber Festival.

To Halloween with Spider Girl and the Vampire Queen (I found my camera, pictures will be procured and posted).

To getting rid of lots of clutter and getting a craft room for me.

To trying to eat right, once again, or just giving in and doing the gastric bypass.

To wrapping up the year on a positive note.

Michelle had her baby! Yay!

I got a package, but since I still haven’t found the digital camera, there won’t be any pics until I do. Little bit of everything in this package.

Inside, I found:

• 2 rolls of Lifesaver ButterRums – yum. The trick is to make them last.
• 1 ball Patons Bumble Bee in lime green – cotton dk weight, but machine washable
• 1 ball Bernat Miami in sky blue – looks like tube cotton, and it may go well with the stuff from Stitches
• 1 ball Berroco Candy FX in pink/white mix – this is a knit along, so while I like the looks on the ball, I gotta find something to use this with
• 1 ball Berroco Plush in Pink – very, very soft. I almost like this in the ball too much to make something.
• 1 supersize ball Sugar n Creme in Over the Rainbow (mix of fuschia, yellow, lime, orange, white) – Not my usual color mix, but I like the way these go together. I never would have bought this myself, but I think I’ll enjoy making something with this.
• 2 balls Bernat Handicrafter cotton, same color name and scheme – I just finished making a dishcloth with one of the previous Bernat balls she sent me, so all three of these may make a nice set to give to someone. The texture difference between the two brands is slight, but there.
• 2 balls Cascade Pearls (in another bright mix (fuschia, aqua, lavender) – I’ve recently been acquainted with Cascade Yarns, so this is good quality. This is a boucle type yarn.
• 2 balls Schaechenmayr nomotto Rainbow in lavender – this is a worsted cotton yarn, wrapped with a variegated single strand of rainbow cotton. Interesting. This will definitely be an interesting knit.
• 2 balls Wendy Shimmer, in purple – girls loved this one the best. It’s a feathery novelty yarn. It looks good next to the Candy FX, since they’re both metallic. This will prolly become a doll blanket or something for the girls.

My design juices are flowing, and my fingers are itching, but I need to finish Ellen’s sweater, and Cailin’s green sweater first before I tackle any other time intensive project. Now, to add all these into Ravelry, and see what others have done with them – the biggest feature of Ravelry, IMHO.

So, yesterday, I parked the littel monst– girls, and waved at the husband, and took off to Baltimore to Stitches East. Just for one day, to check out the vendors.

Takeaway – knitters need big wallets. Seriously. Yes, it was all nice, and custom dyed, and fantastic quality, and almost nothing machine washable (other than superwash wool, which we all know I can’t touch). So, I saw some knitting gurus – I spotted Lily Chin there, and I bought a book from the Cabin Fever ladies, but other than that, I had to shop real hard to justify any other purchase.

I did buy 10 balls of Lucci tube cotton – 4 bucks a ball. This was a low price booth – the manufacturer/distributor booth. White and mint green, 5 each. Prolly a layette set for the boss, or a spring time thing for a monst– girl.

And I had to pay 9 bucks just for the priviledge of entering the market, and 20 bucks to park. And 5 bucks for a pretzel and a 20 oz bottle of diet soda.

Takeaway – I’d rather spend my money on machine-washable, affordable yarn, than the good stuff. I’d prefer my stuff to get used, not put away. But hey, that’s just me. I’ll just stick to Lion Brand, and whatever’s on sale, thanks (except Vanna’s Choice. Don’t like the feel or the colors).