Register now for the FREE UK Windows Azure Self-paced Interactive Learning Course starting May 10th

[Suggested twitter tag #selfpacedazure]

We (myself and David Gristwood) have been working in the UK to create a fantastic opportunity to get yourself up to speed on the Windows Azure Platform over a 6 week period starting May 10th ??? without ever needing to leave the comfort of your home/office.?? The course is derived from the internal training Microsoft gives on Azure which is both fun and challenging in equal parts ??? and we felt was just too good to keep to ourselves! We will be releasing more details nearer the date but hopefully the following is enough to convince you to register and ??? recommend it to a colleague or three 🙂

What we have produced is the ???Microsoft Azure Self-paced Learning Course???. This is a free, interactive, self-paced, technical training course covering the Windows Azure platform ??? Windows Azure, SQL Azure and the Azure AppFabric. The course takes place over a six week period finishing on June 18th. During the course you will work from your own home or workplace, and get involved via interactive Live Meetings session, watch on-line videos, work through hands-on labs and research and complete weekly coursework assignments. The mentors and other attendees on the course will help you in your research and learning, and there are weekly Live Meetings where you can raise questions and interact with them. This is a technical course, aimed at programmers, system designers, and architects who want a solid understanding of the Microsoft Windows Azure platform, hence a prerequisite for this course is at least six months programming in the .NET framework and Visual Studio.

They bypass the democratic
will of the people. Are ALEOs
even legal?

Gordon MacGregor

While we shouldn’t give way to excitable speculation about shadowy cabals ??? Glasgow City Council is more reminiscent of Tammany hall than la cosa nostra – it is plain that the matrix of power and accountability in Glasgow has become much more fluid and intangible during the past decade. While once we had a fairly predictable vertical arrangement of administration we are now treated to a barely intelligible spaghetti of partnerships amongst stake-holding agencies, both public and private.
     Central to this re-vamped structure of service delivery has been the creation of a number of ‘arm’s length’ private companies (ALEOs) and limited liability partnerships to take over many of the functions of the council, leaving the latter free to do???.well, other things. The attraction of these is obvious; accountable only to their shareholders, outwith the ambit of administrative responsibility, able to apply for alternative sources of funding, they are far more attractive than dull civic committees. And there is a political bonus. They bypass the democratic will of the Glasgow electorate and represent nothing short of a coup.