I wrote some code demonstrating how to use Azure OpenAI to support the AI mini-workshop we ran for Virtual Boston Azure. I created versions in Python and C#. This weekend I create a web front-end for it and deployed as an Azure Static Web App with an Azure Function supporting the refactored C# logic to execute the Azure OpenAI service calls. The new app is running here: https://hello-ai.doingazure.com You can find the source code here: https://github.com/codingoutloud/hello-ai ..read more

24-Feb-2024 Had a great time hanging out with the Orlando tech community at their annual Code Camp. I made the trip with Maura (she gave a talk on blockchain) and we met a lot of cool people and had a great time. I spoke on GitHub Copilot. Much of my talk was demo and discussion – you have to see this in action (or use it) to appreciate what’s happening. I consider this a glimpse into the future – it will surely become then norm to have an AI assistant when programming. One part of the demo showed using one AI (GitHub Copilot) to help program another AI (Azure OpenAI). It is invigorating to en ..read more

I gave an extended demo of GitHub Copilot at the Boston Azure AI event tonight. Most of the session was a demo, but I did also walk through some slides. Those slides are attached. I also showed these links or services: Microsoft Responsible AI Principles – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/responsible-ai Bing Chat (AI-powered chat) – https://chat.bing.com Open AI ChatGPT – https://chat.openai.com bostonazure-copilot-is-the-developers-ai-assistant-08-aug-2023Download ..read more

On 27-June-2023 at our first back-from-the-pandemic in-person regularly scheduled Boston Azure monthly meeting, the main event featured Juan Pablo Garcia Gonzalez from Microsoft talking about Azure OpenAI ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers. Juan Pablo was kind enough to share his slides and code samples. Keeping with the AI theme, I opened with a talk about GitHub Copilot where I gave a brief demo and explanation, then attempted to put it into context among other AI tools (including other Microsoft Copilot initiatives). The deck I used is attached to this post: bostonazure-copilotlightn ..read more

Today I had the opportunity to speak at the Granite State Code Camp (#GSCC2021) in Manchester, NH. This was the first time I’ve given an in-person talk since the start of COVID and it was great to see so many smiling facing (even when partially obscured by a mask!). Last year my focus was a more in-the-weeds talk called Running Azure Securely – which of these Azure security features are for me?. This year I stepped back a level and focused on Compliance. In the session I discussed security vs. compliance, the shared responsibility model, and touched on a few other features, but spent ..read more

Tonight I had the opportunity to speak at #VirtualBostonAzure to talk about raising the visibility of security signals in your environment by turning on your WAF. In demos the WAF available in Azure Front Door was used. Slides: virtualbostonazure-billwilder-2020-dec-02.underattackandunaware-thewaf-1Download YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWXTtCUNmes&feature=youtu.be ..read more

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at the Granite State Code Camp (#gscc) in Burlington, MA. As part of my series of talks on Running Azure Securely, my talk today was around defense in depth and was called Running Azure Securely – which of these Azure security features are for me?. The session was interactive, engaging a third-of-a-dozen folks in the audience in a discussion of how to defend various workloads using the (fictitious) page of photos app as a foil. Slide deck attached. GraniteStateCodeCamp-BillWilder-2019-Nov-02.AllTheseSecurityFeatures.PUBLISHED Also perhaps of interest ..read more

On 22-Oct-2019 I spoke at Boston Azure about network security and focused on some of the edges of using Azure DNS, and included some DNS subdomain hijacking awareness. The command dig CNAME bostonazuredemo.azuresecurely.com +short will check public DNS records for a CNAME, returning whatever it is mapped to, if anything. In the above screenshot: nothing returned from dig – this is before any DNS entry was created for the demo subdomain a cascade of CNAMES are returned from dig – this is after a DNS entry was created for the demo subdomain – and it pointed at an Azure Web App — the cascade her ..read more

Today I had the opportunity to speak at VT Code Camp #11 in Burlington, VT. As part of my series of talks on Running Azure Securely, my talk today was around defense in depth and was called Running Azure Securely – which of these Azure security features are for me?. The session was interactive, engaging a half-dozen folks in the audience in a discussion of how to defend various workloads using the (fictitious) page of photos app as a foil. Some Resources Mentioned Azure is in 54 regions around the world Which services support Managed Identities? (works with Azure Active Directory – AAD) Azure ..read more

Today I had the opportunity to speak at SQL Saturday #877 in Burlington, MA. As part of my series of talks on Running Azure Securely, my talk today was Running Azure SQL Database Securely and applied to Azure SQL DB and Azure SQL DB Managed Instances. Some Resources Mentioned Azure is in 54 regions around the world Azure has met so many compliance standards, they had to get the UX team involved! #goodproblemtohave Who logged into my Azure SQL Database? Setting up Azure SQL Database auditing (prerequisite for the above technique to figure out who logged in) Enable baseline protection policies ..read more