First, let’s note that the October Boston Azure meeting marked our two-year anniversary!

Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewazir/4232029536/sizes/s/in/photostream/

I believe we are the oldest Windows Azure user group in the world, still going strong. Our first meeting was held in October 2009, less than a year after Windows Azure was announced at PDC 2008, and a few months before it went RTW for real (which was, I believe, January 2010).

Now, back to our Oct meeting. Here are links to a few topics mentioned:

• The Enterprise Library Integration Pack for Windows Azure includes two new blocks: Autoscaling Application Block (“WASABi”) and Transient Fault Handling Application Block. Beta bits are available. http://entlib.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=EntLib5Azure, http://blogs.msdn.com/b/avkashchauhan/archive/2011/10/14/windows-azure-autoscaling-application-block-wasabi-beta-is-ready-for-you-to-try.aspx
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2011/10/27/microsoft-lowers-storage-cost-for-blob-and-table-storage-in-windows-azure.aspx
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2011/10/19/announcing-improved-in-place-updates.aspx
• http://www.cumulux.com/fall-2011-and-build-azure-related-new-features/
• http://www.davidaiken.com/2011/10/10/implementing-windows-azure-retry-logic/

Also, here is the slide deck from the main presentation – given by yours truly (that’s me, Bill Wilder) – called Big Ideas in Software Architecture (Cloud and Otherwise):

• PPTX file: boston-azure-big-ideas-in-software-architecture-cloud-and-otherwise-bill-wilder-27-oct-2011

At the meeting we also discussed some topics for future meetings. Here is that list (okay, I actually can’t find the list – may have forgotten to save it – sorry – so going from memory here) — note this list is in no particular order:

1. Introduction to Cloud, Azure, and developing for Windows Azure
2. More hands-on with the platform
3. Using languages, libraries, and software other than .NET/Microsoft – e.g., Java, Python, Node.js, NoSQL (MongoDB), …
4. Idempotency – look at a more challenging case than a simple thumbnailer
5. Security in the Cloud
6. Comparing Cloud platforms
7. Azure AppFabric topics: Service Bus, Caching, Access Control Service (can Curt come back?), …
8. More architecture patterns

WHAT ARE OTHER TOPICS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE? Please leave a comment, email me, or suggest via twitter (me: @codingoutloud or to the community: @bostonazure).