I have set up a number of conglomeration sites in the last week, which I thought I would share with the interested.  One relates to books, one to articles, and one to speaking.

The first is FiledBy, at http://www.filedby.com/author/bill_sempf/.  It is a managed site with books of mine that are still in print.  Neat concept, and I look forward to using it.

The second is SpeakerSite.  Set up by my friend Artie Isaac, it is a conglomeration of a lot of speakers on different topics.  My site is http://www.speakersite.com/profile/BillSempf and I have posted a video to my recent cloud computing presentation.  After my C#4.0 presentation Tuesday, I'll post a video to that too.

The third is Ulitzer.  This one is pretty cool.  Back in 2000 -2001 timeframe, I wrote a number of articles for Sys-Con media.  After I started my contract with MSDN I kinda dropped off their map, but I didn't lose touch with the people involved.  Now, it turns out they are a big power in publishing for cloud computing, along with their other assets.  Anyway, they have these customizable author sites, and mine is http://williamasempf.ulitzer.com/.  I'll be adding articles and linking up this blog to it shortly.

Anyway, I usually just write about technology, and this is not specifically VB technology, but it is cool use of the media so I thought I would share.

I get a lot of crap for being a VB programmer.  People who think it is cool to be smarter than someone else like to point out that they code in C# (though it was Java last year and C++ the year before) and I keep writing programs that work in whatever language best suits.  Why?  I learned how to program, not how to program in X language.  I recommend it for everyone - I recommend it in the book, and Scott Hanselman says it better than I ever could.

When programming (that is, expressing your intent to the computer) you should select a language that matches up with the program you're trying to solve. Every language is, in a way, a Domain Specific Language.

Regardless of what your language of choice is, you might be someone who says all languages eventually become, or try to become Lisp, or you might think Visual Basic is the best or that PHP is God's Language, you should learn a new language every year. I code, and have coded, for many years in C#, and before that C++, but it's important for me in my personal development to remember why I learned Haskell and Lisp (I suck at Lisp) and Smalltalk, and why I return to them occasionally for a visit.

This year, I'm learning Ruby. Does that mean my team is moving to Ruby?  Probably not, but it does mean I'm learning Ruby this year because I believe in sharpening the saw. You might be too busy sawing to sharpen, but I'd encourage you - no matter what brand or type of saw you use - to remember that there are other folks out there cutting wood successfully with a different kind of saw. Maybe they know something that you don't.

The man is a genius.  Pay attention.  Learn a new language every year.  If VB is your language this year, may I suggest a good book.  For the record, I am learning Ruby too ...