Back in business...

I haven't blogged for some time now.  This in large part has been due to heavy workload, close deadlines, and the fact that I was alone in my workload.  Over the past few weeks, I've been able to get my head above water.  While our open position on the team is still "open", we've filled our contractor position. Not only have we "filled" it, we've actually brought in one of our old contractors who is more than capable.  He is definitely helping to alieviate my workload already.  I've finished my Vista RTM handoffs and that has taken off some more pressure.  I've also completed my first review at Microsoft and, while I definitely see much room for improvement in the process, I was pretty pleased with the outcome.

All three of these events have helped me free up time to start blogging again.  In fact, this new found freedom has given me some time to start taking some classes at Microsoft. As we speak, I'm typing this blog post up during a break of a class on managed code threading.  Those of you that know me may be saying, "Didn't you write books on threading? Why would you sit in a class on that very topic?"  Well, I'm attending for two reasons. The first of these reasons is that the class is being taught by Jeffrey Richter.  No matter how much you think you know about anything, I guarantee you that Jeffrey Richter can make you feel like a "n00b". OK, there may be a small percentage of you out there that know more about obscure printer driver hacks, but even there, I'd defer to Mr Richter.  If you ever get a chance to sit in on one of Wintellect's classes, I recommend you take advantage of that opportunity.  If you can't afford it, I'd recommend you read the many books published by Wintellect employees.  The second reason I'm sitting in this class is because I think threading is increasingly important. When I co-authored my first book on this topic, I believed that the multi-core and multi-processor industry would be growing by leaps and bounds making threading knowledge extremely valuable.  This is proving true as Intel has just announced that they will have 80 core processors by 2011.  If you don't know how to use multi-threading techniques PROPERLY, I highly suggest you start learning.  Despite my involvement in three books on the topic of threading, Richter's class, in my opinion, is one of the best means to get solid, current multi-threading advice today.

I hope you'll forgive the silence on my blog from the past few months.  I also hope you'll come back often and trust me to provide you with some relevant articles on a more regular basis.