My name is Peter Henry
and I'm a QA Automation Engineer.
My website has been around since 1999. It started as a way to learn networking and ASP coding. Around 2001 I migrated to Red Hat Linux, MySQL, BEA WebLogic and JSPs. After banging my head against the monitor for a few years I gave up, and cracked open a box of Visual Studio 2003 a good friend had given me to try out. The skies opened up and the clouds of frustration lifted. Since then, I've been hooked on C#/ASPX and never looked back!
I tend to 1) talk a lot and 2) like being a geek! Some people think those are negatives, too bad! :> haha LOL I love talking tech and learning new things! Even more, I LOVE sharing those new things with people. Usually they return the favour by showying me things I never knew. In the end, everyone comes out learning! Awesome! The type of people who frustrate me are those who don't care to learn, or who can't be bothered to explain complicated things.
Home/My Blog = TechTidBits: I find as I'm learning, I tend to ask a lot of questions. I'm usually not satisified with the typical "hhmmm I don't know?" kind of response, so I usually go looking for the answers. In my blog, I will try to demonstrate some of the unique things I find. They won't all be perfect but hopefully they'll start discussions which will help both you and I to learn. Some of the issues I'll talk about are with programming, some might be more IT/support, but they are all technical in nature, and all from a slightly slanted standpoint. :>
What's with the blog name TechTidBits you ask? Glad you asked! LOL!
I hope you enjoy my blog entries and participate so we can both learn more!
Community Involvement

The Ottawa.NET Community has treated me very well and I would like to encourage you to visit the website and even one of their many evening and lunch sessions at Microsoft. Orest is our great leader and very approachable! Drop him a line to see what the ODNC is all about!
I STRONGLY encourage you to come out to the ODNC events. Hey even if you start with coming to one night, the networking and people you'll meet will entice you to come for more, I'm POSITIVE of that! If you do, please find me and introduce yourself!
The ODNC often runs MCTS Certification study groups. I've participated in four in the 2007-2009 seasons. All the code and presenations are available on CodePlex. If you're looking to get certified in Microsoft technologies, this is a fantastic way to stay motivated throughout the long journey to writting the exams.
Presentations, Study Groups and Conferences
I've been very lucky to attend some big conferences as well participate in several study groups and even give some presentations myself. Here are the hilights.
Date
|
Event/Topic/Track/Details
|
Role
|
Organizer/Conference
|
Jan-Jul 2007
|
MCTS 70-536 .NET Framework 2.0 Certification |
Participant |
ODNC Study Group |
Jul 2007 |
TechEd |
Participant |
Microsoft Conference |
Sep-Dec 2007 |
MCTS 70-525 .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Applications Certification |
Lead |
ODNC Study Group |
Apr 2008 |
Delegates, Events, Threading and Custom Controls |
Co- Presenter with Souheil Ibrahim |
Ottawa Code Camp |
May 2008 |
DevTeach |
Participant |
DevTeach Toronto |
May 2008 |
Windows Services, Down and Dirty! |
Presenter |
Ottawa Code Camp |
Jun-Dec 2008 |
MCTS 70-528 .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications Certification |
Lead |
ODNC Study Group |
May-Nov 2009 |
MCTS 70-536 .NET Framework 2.0 Certification |
Lead |
ODNC Study Group |
Oct 2009 |
Samedi.NET |
Participant |
Montréal .Net Community |
Nov 2009 |
Visual Studio TnT (Tips'n'Tricks) Presentation at ODNC |
Presenter |
ODNC Meeting |
Dec 2009 |
Expression Blend for Developers |
Presenter |
Microsoft Tech Days 2009 |
Jan 2010 |
Information Session for ODNC Web Study Group |
Presenter |
ODNC Study Group |
Apr 2010 |
Windows Phone 7 in the Silverlight Track |
Presenter |
Ottawa IT Day |
Nov 2010 |
Visual Studio, Tips'n' Tricks |
Presenter |
Microsoft Tech Days 2010 |
Mar 2011 |
Windows Phone 7 Study Group |
Lead |
ODNC Study Group |
Apr 2011 |
WP7 Data Binding, From Nothing to Somthing |
Presenter |
Ottawa IT Camp 2011 |
Mar 2011 |
WP7 Study Group |
Lead |
ODNC Study Group |
Nov 2011 |
DevTeach |
Participant |
DevTeach Ottawa |
Apr 2012 |
Arrange, organize, schedule, support speakers |
Speaker Organizer |
Ottawa IT Camp 2012 |
May 2013 |
Arrange, organize, schedule, support speakers |
Speaker Organizer |
Ottawa IT Camp 2013 |
May 2014 |
Windows Phone Coding Day in Montreal |
Participant |
Event Details |
May 2014 |
//publish (Ottawa) |
Presenter and Participant |
Event Details |
Jun 2014 |
Startup Weekend Ottawa |
Volunteer |
Startup Weekend Ottawa (#SWO5 2014) |
Nov 2014 |
Startup Weekend Ottawa |
Volunteer |
Startup Weekend Ottawa(#swOttawa)
|
ODNC Awards
Date
|
Award
|
Photo
|
Comments
|
Jun 2008
|
ODNC Member of the Year
|

|
In 2008, I was lucky enough to receive the Ottawa .NET Community Member of the Year Award. I am very proud of this award since it is decided upon by my peers at the ODNC (Garth Jones' blog entry).
|
Jun 2009
|
Study Group Leadership
|

|
In 2009 I was again very lucky to recieve of two awards from the ODNC, one for Study Group Leadership and one for Outstanding Member. I feel honoured to have worked throughout the last year with great mentors as Orest Hirniak, Charlie Wiebe, and many other great contributors (too many to list here but just look at any ODNC, or Ottawa Code Camp volunteer list). I have and continue to learn from you (and when I get too high on my horses you gently pull me back to earth, thank you.).
|
Jun 2009
|
Outstanding Member
|

|
I hope you enjoy the website as much as I have in creating it. Drop me an email if you have any questions/comments.
Last Updated: 06-2014