The Smackdown

Clark Sell, Mark Nichols podcasts

Mark Nichols and Clark Sell use their consulting experiences as a base for discussing how software is designed and created. The whole software development lifecycle is fair game and they won’t hesitate to smack down common practices and push forward a better way to develop software – in their eyes anyway!</

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Episodes

Musing #64: Good Bye Brandon Satrom, Hello Brandon Satrom
2/16/2012
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Duration: 1/1/0001 1:02:30 AM

Brandon and Clark rap about careers and how’s Brandon’s has lead him to Kendo UI. Oh yea, did we mention he’s leaving Microsoft.
Musing #63: Organizing a Conference with CodeManiacs Ian Randall and Ben Gracewood
12/15/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM

In this episode, Clark and Mark talk across a lot of time zones to Ian Randall and Ben Gracewood about how to set up and organize a technical conference. Ian and Ben are creating “CodeMania” which is a developer’s conference slated for March 2012 in Aukland, New Zealand. This is an interesting behind-the-scenes view of what goes through the minds of organizers trying to create the ultimate technical discussion and learning environment.
Musing #62: Arduino and Netduino with a Couple of Microcontroller Geeks
10/26/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 1:06:23 AM

In this version, we grab a table at the local pub and talk microcontrollers. Brothers, Min and Lwin Maung walk us through the Arduino and Netduino revolution. By the end of the show, we decided to hack Clark’s garage door. We will save that for another show.
Musing #61: Live from HTML5.tx: Drifting Creatives destroys the DeveloperSmackdown.com website
10/13/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:49:54 AM

We’re live from Austin TX at the epic HTML5.tx conference. In version 56 we asked the warriors from Drifting Creatives to blow up the DeveloperSmackdown.com site. They did exactly that! They walk us through what’s wrong, why they would change it. Of course they served us that plate of humble pie in front of 100 of our closest friends. After that Brandon and Clark talk about where the site should start adopting HTML5.
Musing #60: Talkin Twilio and Telephony with Keith Casey and John Sheehan
9/7/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:35:43 AM

In this version Mark and Clark talk to Keith Casey and John Sheehan of Twilio. Keith and John are Twilio evangelists who talk to developers and help them create reliable and scalable voice and text messaging apps with Twilio technology.
Musing #59: Building HTML5tx.com with FrogSlayer's Sam Hooker
8/31/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:37:28 AM

In this version Mark and Clark sit down with FrogSlayer’s Sam Hooker. We talk to Sam about how he took the creative built by Drifting Creatives and built HTML5TX.com.
Musing #58: A few beers and JavaScript with Brandon Satrom
8/24/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:46:49 AM

What do you do when your on the road at 1AM? Easy, talk about JavaScript after after imbibing on a few cocktails. Clark and Brandon explore the resurgence of JavaScript today and talk about a number of populate JavaScript tools. Brandon even decides to show off his beat boxing skills.
Musing #57: Turning on the LightSwitch with Jay Schmelzer
8/17/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:40:41 AM

In this version Mark and Clark sit down with Microsoft Director Jay Schmelzer and talk about the newly released Visual Studio LightSwitch. Jay flips on the LightSwitch for us as he walks us through just what exactly Visual Studio LightSwitch is and how it all works.
Musing #56: Creating the HTML5tx.com design with Drifting Creatives Gavin Braman and Martin Hooper
8/10/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:46:52 AM

In this version Clark and Mark sit down with Gavin Braman and Martin Hooper, founders, owners and warriors of Drifting Creatives. Gavin and Martin were the designers behind html5tx.com. Listen to us as we try crawling into their heads and see just how they came up with such badassery.
Musing #55: Kinecting with the Cosmos with Jonathan Fay, Dr. Mark SubbaRao & Michelle Yehling (Part 2)
8/3/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:43:00 AM

In this episode (part 2), we complete the interview on location at Adler Planetarium. Mark and his guest cohost sister, Michelle (Nichols) Yehling talk to astronomer Dr. Mark SubbaRao of Adler Planetarium and Principal Software Architect Jonathan Fay of Microsoft Research about the details of developing the Worldwide Telescope, the conversion to Silverlight, Kinect in the WWT and future plans at Adler.
Musing #54: Kinecting with the Cosmos with Jonathan Fay, Dr. Mark SubbaRao & Michelle Yehling (Part 1)
7/27/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:46:03 AM

In this episode (part 1), we are on location at Adler Planetarium, Mark and his guest cohost sister, Michelle (Nichols) Yehling talk to astronomer Dr. Mark SubbaRao of Adler Planetarium and Principal Software Architect Jonathan Fay of Microsoft Research.
Musing #53: Building CTA Watch for Windows Phone with Matt Hidinger
7/20/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:48:53 AM

In this show, Mark and Clark sit down with Matt Hidinger and talk about the building CTA Watch for Windows Phone 7. Matt discusses his experiences over this past year and shares a great deal of passion about the platform.
Musing #52: Application Security with Glenn Leifheit
7/15/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:41:05 AM

In this episode, we talk to Glenn Leifheit, a Senior Information Security Consultant at FICO in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota about security – what to think about, where to start, approaches and best practices.
Musing #51: TDD with Keith Burnell
6/30/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:43:57 AM

In this episode, we talk to Keith Burnell, a Software Engineer with Skyline Technologies in Green Bay, Wisconsin about a topic near and dear to all three of us: Test Driven Development.
Musing #50: Developer Smackdown is 2 and we just hit show #50!! How do you learn?
6/17/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 1:11:22 AM

Thank you for the support, Developer Smackdown is 2!?!? Yes you heard it right. 50 shows in 2 years. Clark and Mark start the show musing a bit and then dive into how might you learn using NuGet as an example.
Musing #49: Solus: Technology to Help with Peace of Mind
5/21/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:45:35 AM

In this episode we get a little serious and talk to Nick Pearson, Mike Price and Nishanth Samala about an application they are working on to help friends and loved ones use targeted communications when a medical “situation” make things exceedingly difficult.
Musing #48: HTML5 Labs with Craig Kitterman
5/10/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:34:24 AM

In this episode Mark and Clark sit down with Craig Kitterman, Senior Technical Ambassador in the Interoperability Strategy team at Microsoft . Craig schools us on HTML5 Labs and what it brings to web developers.
Musing #47: WCF Web API with Glenn Block and Scott Seely
5/5/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:39:25 AM

In this show Mark and Clark sit down with Glenn Block and Scott Seely and talk about the new release of WCF’s Web API.
Musing #46: Unicorn Rhinos, Mexican Martini's, and 2 My Style Community Tacos
4/8/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 1:33:41 AM

WARNING * WARNING * WARNING, this is a LONG show which is RAW and unfiltered. If you have small children present, you’ve been warned. During SxSW Clark sat down with Keith Casey, Jeff Blankenburg and Brandon Satrom and talked community. Each of us represent different technical communities and different areas across the United States. Clark attempts to get to the heart of what does and doesn’t work in their respective communities.
Musing #45: Assert.OhNoHeDidn’t( BDD with Brandon Satrom and Sara Summers );
4/1/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:45:14 AM

Live from the SxSW show floor, Clark talks with 2 native hipsters, Brandon Satrom and Sara Summers about Behavior Driven Development or BDD for short.
Musing #44: Umbraco with Warren Buckley
3/30/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:26:06 AM

During SxSW Clark had a chance to sit down with Warren Buckley, front end developer with Umbraco. Clark and Warren muse everything Umbraco.
Musing #43: Chewy Chong serves us some IE9 humble pie.
3/28/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:37:19 AM

Clark managed to somehow transfer into the Redmond distortion field and meet up with an old friend, Chewy Chong. Chewy works on the IE9 team inside of Windows organization and serves us a delicious slice of IE9 humble pie. We have an honest conversation about today’s browsers, frameworks and the current state state of IE. Chewy explains what it means to us developers and site owners.
Musing #42: 3 Guys, 3 Helpers, NOT Three’s Company with Brandon Satrom
3/24/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:46:19 AM

Clark and Mark sit down with Microsoft’s Brandon Satrom to talk through three very different implementations of an ASP.NET Helper. We dive into the dirty details of each and how come each implementation is just so different.
Musing #41: http://bit.ly/TheSmackdownTalksToBitly with Matt LeMay
2/16/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:46:51 AM

What’s the first rule of bit.ly?…You can’t bit.ly a bit.ly! Mark and Clark talk to Matt LeMay of Bit.ly about their API’s, the analytics that they provide, how they are used, how they fit in to the internet ecosystem and where they are hoping to go in the future.
Musing #40: I NEED HELP, HELP, HELPERS
2/3/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:41:10 AM

In this version, Mark and Clark muse about ASP.NET Helpers and NuGet. What are they, getting started and of course deploying.
Musing #39: The Name's Matrix, WebMatrix!
1/13/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM

Clark and Mark talk about the release of the new web development environment from Microsoft called WebMatrix. As part of that discussion, they also talk about "Razor", the new view engine syntax. All of this wouldn't be complete without doing a comparison of the WebMatrix editing environment with Visual Studio and how they coexist. Helpers and the Nuget Gallery publishing environment help finish up the session.
Musing #38: The unplugged history of 271447
1/10/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 1:06:32 AM

In this off topic musing, Clark and Mark attempt to chat about Clark's professional career. It really didn't go how we thought it might when we talked about the idea in the first place, so why bother editing? We leave this one basically the way it got recorded. Have a behind the scenes look as we try to look inside Clark's career. Hopefully his badge still works after we publish this.
Musing #37: Talkin ASP.NET MVC with Brandon Satrom
1/7/2011
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:57:12 AM

Clark and Mark talk to Brandon Satrom of Microsoft about ASP.NET MVC. We talk about the old and the very new and how MVC has evolved over the years.
Musing #36: A year in the rear view mirror.
12/2/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM

In this musing Mark and Clark reflect on a bit of history. We explore how Developer Smackdown got started, what we've liked and have a few laughs. One year down, many more to go.
Musing #35: Take 2-Catching Up: Talking Tech and Gearheading
11/3/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:35:29 AM

In this musing, Clark and Mark catch up after a summer hiatus and talk about what's been happening - digital pens, Kinect, Windows Phone 7, cars, upcoming events, and a bunch of other ramblings.
Musing #34: What's that Lync? with George Durzi
10/15/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:43:23 AM

In this musing, Clark and Mark talk to George Durzi of Clarity Consulting about developing within the Lync Server 2010 environment. Lync (not to be confused with Linq) is is the Unified Communications environment formerly known as Office Communicator.
Musing #33: UX with Corey Miller
10/5/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:56:11 AM

In this musing Mark and Clark chat with Microsoft MVP Corey Miller aka The XAML Mammal about everything UX. Corey dives into what it really means to be a designer in today's world.
Musing #32: TFS Migrations with Ed Blankenship
9/24/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:50:20 AM

In this musing Clark and Mark chat with MVP Ed Blankenship. The TFS fan boys sit down and muse about doing TFS migrations.
Musing #31: GUID my @$$, I plead IUnknown with Chris Woodruff
9/17/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:44:16 AM

In this musing Clark and Mark chat with MVP Chris Woodruff. Chris schools us on .NET RIA Services while he reminisces about his DCOM development days in Delphi.
Musing #30: Taking a REST with Scott Seely
9/1/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:57:14 AM

Taking a little REST using .NET WCF. Scott Seely educates us on the use of .NET WCF within the world of REST, POX and URI's, .NET 4.0, REST vs. SOAP, HATEOAS vs. TUK, DataContract vs. XMLSerializable and more religious wars. This recording was done just minutes after a tornado touched down just outside of DS Studio North so as a result, we were all a little excited.
Musing #29: Google IO with Wade Wegner
7/21/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:59:06 AM

In this musing Clark and Mark chat with fellow blue badge Wader Wegner. We recap what Wade took in while attending the 2010 Google IO Conference.
Musing #28: HTML5 with Brian Hogan
7/2/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:41:53 AM

In this musing Clark and Mark chat with Pragmatic Bookshelf author Brian Hogan. We explore some of the different aspects of HTML5 and what it offers.
Musing #27: Application Architecture and PowerShell with Steven Murawski
6/9/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM

In this version, Clark and Mark chat with Steven Murawski and talk a bit about PowerShell. This isn't a show about what PowerShell is but rather why it should be an upfront design tenant of everyone's application. architecture.
Musing #26: Event Driven Architectures with Matt Long
6/3/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:37:25 AM

We're getting deep with a discussion about Event Driven Architecture - what it is and what it can do. We're talking to our friend and Microsoft colleague Matt Long
Musing #25: Multi-Touch with Travis Feirtag
5/26/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 1:01:11 AM

In this version, Clark and Mark sit down with Travis Feirtag and talk multi-touch. We explore the importance of user experience and what role multi-touch plays in applications today. Of course we dive into what that means to .NET. Listen along as we start touching UX.
Musing #24: TFS Team Build 2010
5/13/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:43:22 AM

In this version of The Smackdown, Clark and Mark introduce Team Foundation Server's Team Build 2010.
Musing #23: Intro to OData
4/19/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:35:29 AM

In this version of The Smackdown, Clark and Mark introduce OData. Our goal was to simply bring some awareness to what is this thing called OData and how can you start finding more information about it.
Musing #22: Why Projects Fail!? Wah, Wah, Wahhhhh
4/13/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:49:57 AM

This time we talk about our vast experience with failed projects. Project "X" is the big topic but there were others.
Musing #21: MIX10 - Live from MIX day 4 (Last Day Recap)
3/17/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:19:04 AM

Today the quick update turned into a group discussion with Lance Larson, Travis Feirtag and Aaron Hoffman about what we all saw and heard at MIX10.
Musing #20: MIX10 - Live from MIX day 3 (official day 2)
3/16/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:58:15 AM

Today the quick update turned into a group discussion with Lance Larson, Travis Feirtag and Aaron Hoffman about what we all saw and heard at MIX10.
Musing #19: MIX10 - Live from MIX day 2 (official day 1)
3/15/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:22:12 AM

Today we got to hear an amazing keynote at MIX10 about Silverlight 4.0 and Windows Phone 7 Series. Saw some really impressive demos of applications for the phone that were created in only 3 weeks. Then, went to some sessions talking about the phone, MVVM, app development and more.
Musing #18: MIX10 - Live from MIX day 1
3/14/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:12:58 AM

Today is the pre-conference sessions and we talk about the new Silverlight 4.0 capabilities and a little about ASP.Net MVC 2.0.
Musing #17: Mix10 Smackdown - Were kicking off things.
3/12/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:41:02 AM

In this musing Clark and Mark kick off their trip to the Microsoft Mix 2010 Conference in Vega$. We will explore some of the different techniques they use to navigate such a conference.
Musing #16: Bamboozled in the Office
3/8/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:37:46 AM

It's the first show of the new year and decade. Mark and Clark talk about, well, nothing that they planned on. The show gets bamboozled right from the start and the discussion turns toward where most development is done and that's in your office at home. We talk about what went into the design and what makes the office work from two similar but still different points of view.
Musing #15: Martin Woodward talks about Teamprise
3/7/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:36:02 AM

In this version of The Smackdown Mark and Clark have the awesome opportunity to spend some time with Martin Woodward. Martin recently joined Microsoft as a result of the Microsoft Teamprise acquisition joining the Visual Studio ALM Suite of tools. Martin tells us all about getting his Microsoft chip installed as well as some Teamprise stuff too.
Musing #14: Is Your Robot Looking At My Hinie?
3/3/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:31:41 AM

Mark and Clark talk about doing home automation using Z-Wave and MS Robotics Studio. Clark wants to turn his house into a robot and they talk about how to get started with home automation. Tips and tricks include quickly changing editor font size in Visual Studio 08 - great support for code demos. Woopra web site analytics are also discussed.
Musing #13: Home Server and why we like it!
2/7/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:39:20 AM

Clark and Mark explore how Windows Home Server joined their arsenal of computer hardware and software. Listen to why and how they both leverage Windows Home Server.
Musing #12: Are You Mocking Me?!
1/10/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:39:37 AM

Mark and Clark talk about the use of mocks and stubs for unit testing. They define each and then talk about when they are best used. Tips and tricks include data driven testing using Excel and using Ping with IPV6 and IPV4.
Musing #11: Ketchup Time?!?
1/4/2010
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:43:57 AM

It's been too long so Clark and Mark do a little catching up.
Musing #10: Windows 7 Boot to VHD
11/19/2009
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:34:03 AM

Clark and Mark talk about there first experiences with Windows 7 Boot to VHD.
Musing #9: Intro to ASP.NET MVC
10/30/2009
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:36:44 AM

Clark and Mark talk about there first experiences with ASP.NET MVC. It is an MVC Love Fest
Musing #8: The Smackdown Site is up and running!!
9/26/2009
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:43:37 AM

Clark and Mark finally get the DeveloperSmackdown.com site up and running, at least some of it ;). We're going to explore how and why we got started with the site.
Musing #7: We got Nothing ( sorta )
8/14/2009
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:36:50 AM

Podcaster’s block. We’re going to talk about just a few of our favorite features in the world of Windows and\or VSTS.
Musing #6: Unit Testing
8/6/2009
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:35:11 AM

Clark and Mark start demystifying the black art of automated testing. This is just the start of a whole series of shows around Automated Testing.
Musing #5: Team Build - Then and Now
7/16/2009
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:42:28 AM

Team Build 2010 or “v3” is coming. Clark and Mark reflect on a bit of Team Build history and touch on a few things to expect with Team Build 2010.
Musing #4: Source Control
7/9/2009
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:49:25 AM

If you write software chances are your using source control. Clark and Mark talk about a few source control common practices that continue to work on their projects.
Musing #3: TFS Nugget Show
7/2/2009
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:45:12 AM

TFS is a big product! Clark and Mark talk about a few of their favorite TFS features and tricks.
Musing #2: The Build Master
7/1/2009
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:42:37 AM

This is for you Mr. Build Master. We love you, we need you. Mark and Clark talk about just how important a “build master” is to software development.
Musing #1: The Intro
6/24/2009
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Duration: 1/1/0001 12:29:52 AM

Come join Mark and Clark on their madden voyage into podcasting. We are guaranteed to stumble around but you got to start somewhere, right?

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