MessageCast, the service that drives .NET alerts for many-a-weblog (and other services), has announced they've been acquired.

So, if you subscribe to MSN/.NET alerts through for this or other weblogs, they're offline for a bit and will apparently be announcing more shortly.

In an email from the company:

As part of the transition, we need to have you review new licensing terms. Our service will be temporarily disabled in preparation for this.

A follow-up email will be sent shortly which will allow you to re-enable alerts.

Interesting - Hmmm, I wonder who acquired them? I can guess...

UPDATE: Ah - just as I guessed - MessageCast was acquired by Microsoft:

"We have an important announcement: The MessageCast LiveMessage service has been acquired by Microsoft Corporation."

I'm in the greater Seattle area for a few days at Microsoft for an event. It's all covered under non-disclosure, so no blogging about the content is allowed, but if anyone's around and wants to catch up, send me an email [greg(a)greghughes.net] and let me know.

Judging from what Jason Calacanis has to say (as well as from the early reviews of a few others), the newest Star Wars film, Revenge of the Sith, should be great. In fact, Jason says it's the best one of them all:

"Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith is the greatest Star Wars film of all time.

As any Star Wars fan knows the most accepted ranking of the films is:

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Episode IV: A New Hope (the original Star Wars)
Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Episode II: The Clone Wars
Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

You can now put Revenge of the Sith as number one, although I suspect some small percentage of folks might put it in the second position after The Empire Strikes Back."

Jason has also posted a podcast (MP3 recording) review of the film, so check it out if you're interested.

Even Kevin Smith (yes, that Kevin Smith) loved it (Caution - contains Plot Spoilers, so don't read it if you want to be surprised when you see the film! - link):

"...this flick is so satisfyingly tragic, you'll think you're watching "Othello" or "Hamlet."

"Look, this is a movie I was genetically predisposed to love. I remember being eight years old, and reading in "Starlog" that Darth Vader became the half-man/half-machine he was following a duel with Ben Kenobi that climaxed with Vader falling into molten lava. Now, twenty six years later, I finally got to see that long-promised battled - and it lived up to any expectation I still held. I was sad to see the flick end, but happy to know it's not the end of the "Star Wars" universe entirely (I've read stuff about a TV show...). "

(in part via Scoble's LinkBlog, in part via all that is Google)

College students Craig Zboyovski and Jamie Berryhill have taken a old concept to a new medium, and actually it's a pretty cool idea.

Their web site, craigandjamiearepoor.com, tells the story:

"As the title says, we are poor. We need your help to be not poor, and you can do this by donating to our cause! Why donate to a charity when you don't know exactly where your money is going to? All proceeds given to us will be used, by us, to live the college life."

When someone donates $5 or more (PayPal is the main option, or they can choose snail mail), the pair creates a sign for use in a thank-you photo and posts it on their web site.

"The whole idea came from another Web site we were looking at," Zhoyovski recalled. "They were demanding money from people as a joke. That's when we both thought: Why not try it ourselves? We're both broke."

It seems to be working - they've made back the $40 they spent registering the domain name, plus another couple hundred bucks. Not too shabby for a couple of college kids.

I remember all too well what it was like when I was in school - Mac and Cheese and lots of potatoes and Top Ramen ruled my world. I discovered five bucks can go a long way in the right hands.

Perhaps the best part is the pair's promise to "pay it forward," to help some other college kids financially, once they get on in life and are able to do so.

By the way guys - next time there's no need to spend $40 to register a domain name - you can do it for under $10 nowadays.

Here's Me (right), my mom, my brother Dave and his daughter, Dara. All together in one place for Mother's Day 2005.

A couple days ago, I planned a bit of a scheme to surprise my mom on Mother's Day this weekend.

Today I flew from Portland to Denver and then got a car and drove up to Boulder. Only my brother knew I was coming, because I called him and told him a couple days ago when I got the tickets.

My mom and stepdad just moved to Colorado from New Mexico this past week, and when I arrived at the new house and snuck in the front door, Mom was putting dishes in cabinets. I stood behind her as she was talking to my stepbrother's wife, Kate, and put a hand on her shoulder. She just kept talking to Kate, and after a few seconds stood and turned around to see who has placed a hand on her.

She was (to say the least) surprised. The look on her face was more than worth the place ticket and the fact that today I flew on my ninth airplane in the past six days, and tomorrow I'll have to add one more to the list.

Next trip - dad's place in California. Need to plan that one soon. He reads this now and then so it won't be a surprise, but I'm overdue to pay a visit, for sure.

From now til June 8th, you can do your best to hack an IIS 6.0 server, and if you're successful, you'll win an Xbox. WindowsIT Pro has issues their Hack IIS 6.0 Challenge.

If you think you've got what it takes, head on over and hack away!

• May 2 - Challenge begins with very basic static HTML web site to focus hackers on hacking IIS code
• May 16 - ASP.NET web site put up to give more potential hacking angles
• June 8 - Contest ends
• June 9 - Winner (or lack of winner) announced at TechEd in Orlando.

All the details are here, and the rules are here.

Microsoft recently opened the Beta program for Service Pack One for Virtual Server 2005.

SP1 provides support for 64-bit host operating systems including 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP, performance enhancements, built-in support for network installations of guest operating systems, and several other features.

If you're a user of VS 2005 and want to enroll for the beta, visit the VS2005 SP1 information page. For information about Virtual Server 2005, go to the product page or read the whitepaper.

I haven't done a whole lot of traveling recently, so when I did eight airplanes in three days earlier this week, it threw me for a bit of a loop. I think I was in Salt Lake City yesterday...

How do you really know when you're disoriented? I mean, if you're out of it, can you really judge whether or not you're out of it?

Here's one clue: I dutifully checked my calendar this morning and went to a 10am meeting. Only one problem. I was 24 hours early.

Yeah. Disoriented. Uh huh.

Dave Bettin was right - it was worth the trip to Charleston in Omaha for a steak lunch. Wow. Much better than back in Oregon, for sure. It's been more than 15 years since I was last here. Now I see what they're all talking about.

Interestingly, the locals also say the best steaks get shipped out of Nebraska to people who will pay more. Hmmm... How do I get on that list??

There's this really, really bright thing in the sky, and when I go outside my eyes involuntarily squeeze shut. Anyone have any idea what that is?

Fast trip (too fast), nice people, heading back home this evening.

Lots and lots of SharePoint Portal Server related live webcasts coming up - here's a list of all the sessions (many are repeated):

Fri, 06 May 2005	TechNet Webcast: Getting Back to Normal: SharePoint Backup and Disaster Recovery (Level 300)	Live Webcast
Thu, 12 May 2005	See how the Microsoft Office System can dramatically impact work productivity through collaboration	Live Webcast
Mon, 16 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : SharePoint Services and Sites Architecture	Live Webcast
Mon, 16 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Behind the Scenes – Site and List Definitions	Live Webcast
Tue, 17 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Working With Web Parts	Live Webcast
Tue, 17 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Programming with the SharePoint Object Model	Live Webcast
Tue, 17 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : SharePoint Services and Sites Architecture	Live Webcast
Wed, 18 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Behind the Scenes – Site and List Definitions	Live Webcast
Wed, 18 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Working With Web Parts	Live Webcast
Wed, 18 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Programming with the SharePoint Object Model	Live Webcast
Thu, 19 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : SharePoint Services and Sites Architecture	Live Webcast
Thu, 19 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Behind the Scenes – Site and List Definitions	Live Webcast
Thu, 19 May 2005	Microsoft Business Solutions Webcast: SharePoint Portal Server 101 (Level 100)	Live Webcast
Thu, 19 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Working With Web Parts	Live Webcast
Fri, 20 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Programming with the SharePoint Object Model	Live Webcast
Mon, 23 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : SharePoint Services and Sites Architecture	Live Webcast
Mon, 23 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Behind the Scenes – Site and List Definitions	Live Webcast
Tue, 24 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Working With Web Parts	Live Webcast
Tue, 24 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Behind the Scenes – Site and List Definitions	Live Webcast
Tue, 24 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Programming with the SharePoint Object Model	Live Webcast
Tue, 24 May 2005	TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Does SharePoint Portal Server Hosting (Level 300)	Live Webcast
Tue, 24 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : SharePoint Services and Sites Architecture	Live Webcast
Wed, 25 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Working With Web Parts	Live Webcast
Wed, 25 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Programming with the SharePoint Object Model	Live Webcast
Wed, 25 May 2005	TechNet Webcast: SharePoint Performance and Capacity Planning Best Practices and Lessons Learned (Level 300)	Live Webcast
Thu, 26 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : SharePoint Services and Sites Architecture	Live Webcast
Thu, 26 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Behind the Scenes – Site and List Definitions	Live Webcast
Thu, 26 May 2005	See how the Microsoft Office System can dramatically impact work productivity through collaboration	Live Webcast
Thu, 26 May 2005	Microsoft Executive Circle Webcast: Portals in an Adaptive Enterprise	Live Webcast
Thu, 26 May 2005	SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Site Development and Customization Workshop : Working With Web Parts	Live Webcast
Fri, 27 May 2005	TechNet Webcast: SharePoint Portal Server 2003: Best Practices for an Implementation (Level 300)	Live Webcast
Tue, 31 May 2005	Microsoft Business Solutions Webcast: Boosting Corporate Productivity Through Portals and Collaboration (Level 100)	Live Webcast
Wed, 01 Jun 2005	Improving Case Management	Live Webcast
Tue, 21 Jun 2005	Microsoft Executive Circle Webcast: SharePoint Deployment from Test to Production	Live Webcast

Microsoft has a couple of online webcast workshops on secure coding coming up:

• Writing Secure Code (Part 1 of 3): Threat Defense - May 6 at 9:00 A.M. PDT
• Writing Secure Code (Part 2 of 3): Threat Defense - May 13 at 9:00 A.M. PDT
• Writing Secure Code (Part 3 of 3): Threat Defense - May 20 at 9:00 A.M. PDT

Sounds interesting. Secure coding is critical - much more so now than ever. Every developer of any web app should be required to become and stay proficient in secure coding.

Not exactly a predictable couple of cities for me to be traveling to, but I am off on a whirl-wind trip to Toledo, Ohio and Omaha, Nebraska. Lots of IT and security kinds of things to think about, check out and make decisions around on this trip, which makes it fun in a way. I'll be back home on Wednesday night.

I'm not sure the fun actually compensates for a bad back and hours upon hours of airplane time (getting to Toledo is going to be rough), but at least I will have the good fortune to fly on a CRJ aircraft all the way back to Portland. They are smaller than your average airliner (it's a regional jet), yet they tend to be more comfortable, quieter and faster.

And thanks to Mike for feeding my dogs and cat while I am away.

A little something for my developer friends...

Not that I'd recommend doing this in a production development environment or anything (there, that's my IT guy disclaimer), but this is great for goofing around on a play box:

• Jomo Fisher - Hack the Build: Use Whidbey Beta2 to target .NET Runtime 1.1

Of course, you won't get any of those cool generics or partial classes that go along with the v2.0 framework, but you can at least target v1.1 and still use the new VS IDE.

NEC's IT Guy Games: 2005 is underway - so go check it out and play.

You can play as often as you like, and keep working to earn better scores (some of them are freaky amazing high scores). And the end of each competition period, one winner takes home a 61-inch NEC plasma display. The games run April 1 through September 30, 2005 and will be played on the following schedule:

• Hardware Hurl April 1 – May 13
• Projector Protector May 16 – July 1
• Office Obstacles July 5 – August 12
• Cube Luge August 15 – September 30

The IT guy games test the following skills:

• keypad dexterity
• keypad speed
• mouse dexterity
• mouse speed
• visual speed/patterns
• hand/eye coordination

Go play now - play often and play hard - Geeks go wild...