MSDN Flash : Latest Edition, with Chuck in the driver seat The latest MSDN Flash has gone out today to all our readers in Australia. Charles Sterling kindly offered to be guest editor for this edition, as he was very keen to tell everyone how much he loves working from his new office. He also addressed the mistake we made in the previous edition regarding the Microsoft Developer Security Resources Kit, which prompted the Frank as Devil picture. Your Top Security Questions Answered by Experts Attend the Microsoft Security Seminar 2006 With the right infrastructure, people like us can do our jobs from anywhere - and even do them better. As proof, I’d like to offer my own experience. About 18 months ago, I swapped from a national role working out of a large Sydney office to a national role focussed on Queensland and working from home. I must admit that before making this move to the Gold Coast I did have a couple of concerns, namely that: 1. I would spend a lot more time on the road 2. I would lose touch with the team 3. Working at home would hurt my productivity Turns out, I was wrong on all counts. In fact, all of these areas actually got better. Let’s take productivity; working from home, I escape all the random interruptions from Microsoft people asking where something is, when product will be released, etc. I don’t even have to pack up at the end of the day to go home, because I work there. This has given me so much more time to learn about new technologies. My travel now is also much more planned out, and my connection with the immediate team is much stronger - probably due to the fact I now make a point of talking to them all on a regular basis. There have also been a bunch of unexpected benefits: working in isolation I tend to document my projects much better, and I’m also much less caught up in water cooler gossip. Which gives me time for so many other things - like meeting and talking with more of our Queensland developers. So drop me a line and we can discuss the benefits of “virtualisation”, and the cost savings that flow when individual contributors can work from home. So what else have I been doing with my newly liberated time? Well, I’m one of the speakers at our upcoming Security Seminar and Security Interchange , plus I’m organising Craig McMurtry’s visit and helping out an old friend Keith Pleas with the patterns and practices Summit - which you can read about (and still get a ticket for!) below. Well, that’s it for me. And if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to work from home, you can take it from me: it’s a winner on all counts. Chuck Sterling P.S. Sincere apologies for the current unavailability of the Microsoft Developer Security Resources Kit we offered in a previous issue. The moment it becomes available, we’ll help you get your hands on it. Thanks for helping out Chuckie Baby! [ Currently Playing : Was It Just Another Love Affa - Eurythmics - Ultimate Collection (03:53) ] Additional resources Last updated on 2006-02-14