And The Winner Is ...

A huge thanks to all the designers who put in the effort to submit their ideas – we were not only impressed with the quantity but with the quality of the designs as well.  With that said, there can only be one winner. Ant that winner is Cinpies (www.cienpies.net)!

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SourceMeet: New Logo Needed

It’s contest time again.
While none of us here are Graphic Designers, we do know that there are a lot of great artists out there better than we are, and just waiting to be discovered. So, how about it? Are you an artist or graphic designer?
So, what are you waiting for?
 

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InstantReview soon to be SourceMeet

Even though it might look as if the InstantReview scene has been fairly quiet in the past few weeks, and we haven't released a new version since February, this definitely doesn't mean that we have stopped working on InstantReview. In fact, the opposite is true.
We were totally overwhelmed by the initial feedback we received. Without any major PR overhead we succeeded in attracting developers and development teams from dozens of countries who have made sensational contributions, demonstrating much patience and putting in some really hard work in the process.

We would like to say a big thank you to everybody right now! We have learned a great deal from your feedback!

The most important realization for us was that InstantReview is not used as originally intended for real-time code reviews, but has instead found a niche for itself in team-based software development - and that things like fast interaction capabilities within a team and context-dependent features are more important than review sessions with n documents or a change history. Unfortunately, and despite our very agile process, these changes took more time and resources than we originally planned.
This realignment means that "InstantReview" is not exactly the ideal name for the product, so we decided to make a change here, too. Because we are all snowed under with work, and because developers can't always tap into their full creative potential to come up with a new name, we asked the 12designer  community for some help here and launched a name finding competition. From around 200(!) suggestions, we fairly quickly agreed on SourceMeet as the new product name, and we are proud to be able to announce it today for the first time:

InstantReview will soon become SourceMeet

Over the next few days and weeks, the "InstantReview" label will be disappearing step by step to be completely replaced by "SourceMeet" when the next major beta is released.

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Wir suchen .NET Software Engineers zur Festanstellung in Karlsruhe

Du bist Softwareingenieur mit Leidenschaft und Charakter. Hast einen persönlichen Stil, Du bist kompromisslos Ehrlich, spielst nicht den Experten wenn Du es nicht bist, gibst Fehler zu und machst realistische Zeitpläne. Du hast ein Gespür für gute Zusammenarbeit und Kommunikation im Team. Bist wissbegierig und immer am Weiterbilden. Du hast schon etliche Zeilen Code geschrieben und weißt dass Planung das A und O ist.

Darüber hinaus hattest Du schon Kontakt mit .NET, verstehst das Prinzip dahinter, bist nicht unbedingt nur überzeugt sondern erkennst auch die eine oder andere Schwachstelle. Du hast Dich schon mit den zukünftigen .NET Technologien beschäftigt, hast auch hierzu eine Meinung und Interesse diese Technologien in Projekten einzusetzen.

Dich erwartet:

  • Eine verantwortungsvolle und herausfordernde Aufgabe in einem stark wachsenden Unternehmen mit Perspektive
  • Einsatz neuester Technologien, Erkenntnissen und Ansätzen
  • Arbeit in einem dynamischen Arbeitsumfeld, flache Hierarchien, offene Kommunikation
  • Fixe monatliche Weiterbildungsbudgets zur freien Verwaltung
  • Reizvolles Arbeitsmodell

Interessiert? Dann sollten wir schnell einen Termin vereinbaren und über Deine Zukunft bei NISE sprechen!

Sende einfach Deine Bewerbunsunterlagen per E-Mail an s.heimberger@nextiteration.de oder ruf an unter 0721 9766 884. Dein Ansprechpartner ist: Sven Heimberger.

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Instant Review for Visual Studio: 0.9.7.1 Released

Yesterday, we released an update of Instant Review for Visual Studio. We fixed the following issues:

  • Participant status will now be displayed correctly when participant left an Instant Review Session
  • Sign-in mode will now be saved correctly
  • Shift + Left Arrow will now be synchronized correctly
  • … and a few more minor bug fixes and improvements.

 New feature highlights are

  • Deleted source code will now be marked as deleted (strikethrough text)
  • Configurable Instant Review Session Requests behavior

A more interesting release is the upcoming major release with improved IntelliSense and Search Support within the Instant Review Editor. Stay tuned! 

For more information about changes and fixes in this release, check out the version history at http://www.instantreview.de/download.aspx#0.9.7.1
To download version 0.9.7.1, go to the download page at http://www.instantreview.de/download.aspx
How to update: http://www.instantreview.de/faq.aspx#section4 

Thanks to all early adopters who contributed to this release!

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Beta Feedback: Instant Review vs. Desktop Sharing

English Version | German Version

It may only be a couple of days since Instant Review Public Beta was released, but it's already generated some pretty exciting responses and feedback. One of the recurring topics of debate is what exactly the differences and advantages are compared to "traditional" desktop sharing combined with an instant messaging tool. Given that this is a highly dynamic and extensive issue, we've decided not to answer the question in just a few sentences in our FAQs, but instead we're going to address the issue in more detail here in the blog.

Probably the most significant difference lies in the fact that, with Instant Review, software developers no longer need to exit their working environments. All of the services are integrated directly into Visual Studio, the developer's working environment. This direct integration means that communication and collaboration among project teams is quicker and more transparent. Each member of the project team is provided with information directly in Visual Studio about the other project members involved, and is just "one click" away from them. Developers can start the shared real-time editing of source code directly from the Solution Explorer or Visual Studio Editor's context menu. All the developer has to do is select the colleagues he or she wants to work with and invite them. The invitation is delivered automatically via Instant Review and the recipients are displayed directly in Visual Studio. Text messages can be sent straight from Visual Studio via keystroke combinations. In this case, everything is based on keyboard inputs, which means that the integrated instant messaging can be performed without any need for a mouse.

This direct integration only gets really exciting, however, when context-dependent information is combined. For example, it's possible to link project groups to Visual Studio solutions and consequently automatically define availability for other project groups and members. If a Visual Studio solution is opened, for instance, the right configuration could set up a connection to the assigned project group and indicate to all project members that work has recommenced on the solution. It's also possible, for instance, to reject incoming Instant Review session requests directly if the developer is currently in another session, for example.

Another important advantage is the extended Visual Studio Editor, which is used to edit documents on a shared basis. With Instant Review Editor, we've enhanced the standard Visual Studio features, such as syntax highlighting, with additional features for shared document editing. All participants are assigned a color, which then highlights all their changes within the documents: This is ideal if you later want to track who's made what change. So to sum up, we've taken the good points and bad points from our experiences of instant messaging and desktop sharing and brought them together to create Instant Review. Our work has always been inspired by the goal of optimizing collaboration in software development teams through the simple, rapid and smooth transfer of knowledge and information.

 

Die Public Beta von Instant Review ist zwar erst einige Tage veröffentlicht hat aber schon für einige spannende Reaktionen und Feedback  gesorgt. Ein Thema das immer wieder angesprochen wird ist worin genau die Unterschiede und Vorteile gegenüber dem "traditionellen" Desktop Sharing in Verbindung mit einem Instant Messaging Tool liegen. Da dies ein sehr spannendes und umfangreiches Thema ist haben wir uns entschieden diese Frage nicht nur in 1-2 Sätzen in den FAQs sondern etwas ausführlicher hier im Blog zu beantworten.
 
Der wohl eindeutigste Unterschied liegt darin dass bei Instant Review der Softwareentwickler seine Arbeitsumgebung nicht mehr verlassen muss. Alls Services sind direkt in Visual Studio - der Arbeitsumgebung des Entwicklers integriert.
Durch diese direkte Integration kann die Kommunikation sowie Zusammenarbeit innerhalb von Projektteams schneller sowie übersichtlicher erfolgen. Jedes Projektmitglied erhält direkt in Visual Studio Informationen über die beteiligten Projektgruppenmitglieder und ist nur "einen Klick“ von Ihnen entfernt. Die gemeinsame Echtzeit Bearbeitung von Quellcode kann direkt aus dem Kontextmenü des Solution Explorers oder des Visual Studio Editors gestartet werden. Es müssen nur noch die gewünschten Kollegen selektiert und eingeladen werden. Die Einladung wird automatisch über Instant Review zugestellt und den Empfängern direkt in Visual Studio angezeigt.
Textnachrichten können direkt aus Visual Studio per Tastenkombination versandt werden. Alles basiert hierbei auf Tastatureingaben so dass für das integrierte Instant Messaging nicht einmal die Maus als Eingabeinstrument benutzt werden muss.

Richtig spannend wird die direkte Integration jedoch erst richtig mit der Kombination von kontextabhängigen Informationen. So ist es beispielsweise möglich Projektgruppen an Visual Studio Solutions zu koppeln und hierdurch automatisch die Verfügbarkeit für andere Projektgruppen und Mitglieder zu definieren. Wird bspw. eine Visual Studio Solution geöffnet, könnte bei entsprechender Konfiguration  automatisch eine Verbindung zu der zugeordneten Projektgruppe aufgebaut und somit allen Projektmitgliedern signalisiert werden dass man wieder an der Solution arbeitet. Auch ist es beispielsweise möglich eingehende Instant Review Session Anfragen direkt abzulehnen sollte man sich bspw. aktuell in einer anderen Session befinden.

Ein weiterer wichtiger Vorteil ist der erweiterte Visual Studio Editor über welchen die gemeinsame Bearbeitung der Dokumente erfolgt. Mit dem Instant Review Editor haben wir die Standard Visual Studio Features wie bspw. Syntax Highlighting mit zusätzlichen Features zur gemeinsamen Editierung von Dokumenten angereichert. So werden u.a.  alle Teilnehmer einer Farbe zugeordnet mit welcher dann alle Änderungen innerhalb der Dokumente markiert werden. Ideal wenn im Nachhinein nachvollzogen werden soll welcher Teilnehmer welche Änderung vorgenommen hat.

Zusammenfassend kann man sagen dass wir die Vor- sowie Nachteile aus unserer Erfahrung  beim Einsatz von Instant Messaging und Desktop Sharing benutzt haben um Instant Review zu entwerfen. Immer mit dem Ziel die Zusammenarbeit in Softwareentwicklungsteams durch einfachen, schnellen und reibungslosen Wissens- und Informationsaustausch zu optimieren.

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Instant Review for Visual Studio: Public Beta Out, Download Now

After months of hard work, we're very excited to unveil the public beta of Instant Review for Visual Studio. The beta is available for Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008 (every edition).
You can download it here: http://instantreview.de/download.aspx

Your support is highly appreciated. If you find any bugs or have any feature requests, then we would very much like to hear about the issue. Please use therefore the provided toolbar buttons, http://bug.nextiteration.de or send it to bug@nextiteration.de.

In addition, we also updated our product page with brand new content. A good way to learn more about how Instant Review works is to spend some time viewing the brand new "How do I" Screencasts at http://www.instantreview.de/howto.aspx

More about Instant Review for Visual Studio:
Overview: http://www.instantreview.de
Background info: http://www.instantreview.de/info.aspx
Typical Use Cases: http://www.instantreview.de/usecases.aspx
Features: http://www.instantreview.de/features.aspx
Technical details: http://www.instantreview.de/details.aspx

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Instant Review for Visual Studio: work continues ... public beta is just around the corner

Our development team has been really working hard incorporating all the suggestions and ideas from our closed beta testing.  Currently we are in the final phase of release testing and hoping to get there in the next days.  

For all curious here is a short list of all the changes and improvements we have included in this release.

  • Improved & clear navigation (e.g. own main menu entry, shortcut for nearly every command)
  • Improved shared editing (e.g. edits highlighted in contributor’s colors, infinite undo/redo …)
  • Configurable merge & save tools for all shared documents
  • Improved Instant Text Messaging within Instant Review Sessions

 So stay tuned, and come back again.

             
Click here to download:
Instant_Review_for_Visual_Stud.zip (662 KB)

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NISE Now a Member of Microsoft BizSpark

We are happy to announce that NISE is now a member of the Microsoft BizSpark program for startup companies.

BizSpark is a program which offers new software businesses and entrepreneurs access to Microsoft design, development, and production tools with no upfront costs for up to three years. Members can also connect with a nationwide community of Network Partners - investors, incubators, service providers, and entrepreneurial organizations - who are keen to help.

We will work hard and do our best to make sure we are one of those successful startups Microsoft is looking to foster.

More About BizSpark
http://www.microsoft.com/BizSpark

NISE @ BizSparkDB
http://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/bsdb/search.aspx?id=3000

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Not any longer the Unidentified Publisher

Every program is checked for a Digital Signature before it runs and if there's no valid signature present a security warning dialog (Screenshot2) appears. To me, that's just look a bit unprofessional. That's not what I want. I don't want to be the Unidentified Publisher. I don't want that my customer get's the advice "Don't run the program unless you know where it's from or you've used it before". What I want is to assure the integrity and authorship of my app (Screenshot1). So I have to sign it.

To sign files you need two things, you need a program to perform the signing operation and a code-sign certificate from a trusted CA vendor such as Thawte, Verisign or others. For Windows platforms you can use a tool named Signtool.exe which is shipped with MS Platform SDK (VS2008 Team Edition includes the latest platform SDK). To perform the signing operation, type the following command into the cmd shell: 

Signtool sign /f codesigncertificate.pfx /p <certificatepassword> / <url_to_timestamp_server> <all_your_files_to_sig_in_one_line>

 
That's it, but only if you want to sign your files manually.
For strong proponents of automated builds in one step (like us) you can wrap it up in an MSBUILD Exec task.

 

<Exec Command="signtool.exe sign /f $(codesigncertificate) /p $(certificatepassword) /t $(url_to_timestamp_server) @(files_to_sign, ' ')"/>
 
Now, you are not any longer the Unidentified Publisher.

   
Click here to download:
Not_any_longer_the_Unidentifie.zip (43 KB)

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