The Costall Blog

NxtGenUG 6 - Hereford

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:25:05 GMT

One of the best things I ever did was to start NxtGenUG with Dave McMahon and John Price - To see how it's grown beyond Coventry and Birmingham is remarkable - We couldn't ask for any better coordinators running, Southampton, Cambridge and Oxford and growing the NxtGenUG brand. So it's with great pleasure we are announcing a 6th Region - Hereford headed up by Ryan O'Neill and Richard Wilde starting in March - Welcome aboard guys - good luck

Press Release Below...

"NxtGenUG are well chuffed to announce the start of the sixth UK region this time in Hereford. The group is being run by local developers Ryan O'Neill and Richard Wilde.

The group will have it's first meeting on 17th March 2009 between 7.00pm and 9.00pm in the Shirehall, Union Street, Hereford HR1 2HX. The main speaker will be Guy Smith-Ferrier with a session on Visual Studio 2008 Tips 'n Tricks. There will be the usual NxtGenUG activities of eating Pizza and Swagging-out.

To book your place goto here where registration and meeting is free. Come along and enjoy yourself and get involved in the UK Community in the West of England!"

go on, pop in...

Ireland - Silverlight

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:15:44 GMT

Silverlight Assault Course - Ireland Tour!!!

36 Sessions, 3 hotels, 2 train rides and return flights to Ireland. (plus Swaggily Fortunes). The Silverlight Assault Course is coming to Ireland on the 17th (Dublin) and 18th (Cork). Newly Minted MVP - Chris Hay and Myself will be covering 16 session between us each day with Microsoft Ireland's DPE Martha Rotter providing some additional sessions. We'll be covering many aspects of Silverlight at all levels in our own unique fun and snappy way. We'll also be ending the day with the World Renowned Swaggily Fortunes Gameshow - Starring You! - There's more.. It's FREE to attend.

17th Dublin - Details to Follow - see Martha's Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/martharotter/
18th Cork - http://www.cork.mtug.ie/Events/EventInfo.aspx?ID=a607584a-2fa2-475b-ba8e-4ba9786d9814

Agenda

9:00-9:30	Registration
9:30	Welcome and Housekeeping Martha Rotter
9:40	Getting Started Richard Costall In this Session Richard Costall will get you up and running with Silverlight, explain the constituent parts, build a "hello world" application and even dive into Expression Blend for a bit of Designer stuff.
10:00	XAP File Explored Chris Hay So what is a Silverlight Application, What is a XAP file, how is our content deployed what is our best strategy? In this nugget we dive deep into the XAP file, how a silverlight application is exposed in a web page and how we can dynamically load assemblies. All in 20 minutes, surely not!
10:20	Layout Richard Costall Grid or Canvas? Richard takes you on an introduction to basic layout, which to choose and how to configure them.
10:40	Silverlight Sockets (networking 1) Chris Hay In this nugget we will mess around with network communication via sockets or WCF duplex messages. The supports for these features allow the ability to do chatty things in applications and we will dive straight into it.
11:00	WCF Communication (networking 2) Chris Hay Silverlight is all very nice and all but I'd like to talk back to the web server thank you very much. In this nugget we will communicate with WCF and the most important stuff you need to know. Communicating with a service, Generating a client, Asynchronous Calls, Cross Domain Calls. Another packed nugget.
11:20	Break
11:30	Application Services Richard Costall Can Silverlight communicate with the ASP.NET Provider Model? – Of course it can – Join Richard on his journey of discovery to utilise, Authentication, Roles and Profile in a Silverlight Application.
11:50	Dynamic Languages Martha Rotter Want to use Silverlight but prefer coding in Ruby or Python to C# and VB.NET? No problem. Martha shows you how to write and debug Silverlight applications with the Dynamic Language Runtime so that you can use the development language skills you already have and integrate your existing web applications with Silverlight.
12:10	Syling/Templating Richard Costall From a simple font change to a redesign of the controls. Richard will show how you refactor styling information and build a control with any visual style you wish.
12:30	Images + Media Chris Hay In this nugget we look into Images and MediaElements. At the end of this nugget you should be able to use images and media effectively in your apps. We will build a Media Player, build a media image map, it's going to be fun. You should have a good idea of what's supported and what isn't also.
12:50-13:40	LUNCH
13:40	Brushes, Transforms + Animation Chris Hay At the heart of every good Silverlight application, is the ability to animate things, rotate things, and make things look funky with nice gradients. This nugget is about doing rich stuff with XAML.
14:00	DataBinding Richard Costall Databinding is a first class citizen in WPF and Silverlight is no different. This session will introduce you to the basics of Databinding.
14:20	Using Isolated Stored (1) Chris Hay This nugget is all about understanding Isolated Storage and how you can interact with it. Isolated Storage is the only place you can store data locally, it's probably one of the key features of Silverlight apps and this nugget is about showing you how to use it.
14:40	Using Isolated Stored (2) Chris Hay This nugget is a deep dive into Isolated Storage, where it is on disk, how it is represented internally, how to clean things up when it goes wrong. At the end of this nugget you will know everything you need to know about Isolated Storage (and probably stuff you didn't need to know either), but hey knowledge is power.
15:00	Break
15:10	Gaming Richard Costall Silverlight has a great future as a viral gaming platform. Richard will show you how to utilise a gameloop, the basics on animation, before a demonstration of a true gaming classic.
15:30	User Controls Richard Costall XAML, like HTML can be very Verbose. In this session Richard will show how easy it is to build usercontrols and then utilise them in your applications
15:50	Silverlight Encryption + Compression Chris Hay Wow are we still going on about Isolated Storage. Well this one is really about Encryption + Compression within Silverlight. You don't really want folks peeking at your hard earned data after all.
16:10	Custom Install and Loaders Richard Costall Give your Silverlight application a more compelling and enticing experience with a custom Silverlight Install and application installer.
16:30	Silverlight integration Martha Rotter Silverlight plays nicely with everyone. Want proof? Learn how to use Silverlight with your PHP applications, with Live Mesh and yes, even with Adobe Flash. Yes, really.
16:50 – 17:30	SWAGGILY FORTUNES Gameshow What a better way to end the day than with the ‘Internationally acclaimed NxtGenUG GameShow’ Swaggily Fortunes – Answer Simple Questions and win SWAG!

Hope to see you there....

Silverlight Mix 10 Challenge

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:54:48 GMT

I've entered the Silverlight Mix 10K Challenge (No, that's not a running race - I can't see me doing that). It's a coding challenge to build a Silverlight application in less than 10K - and he built a game called BlockSquash - All the Source code, including the XAML is less than 10K.

Theres a community competition, so head on over an cheer me on by rating my, and the other applications to see what can be done in less than 10K

Rate Richard's app here...

Costall's Disney Day

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 08:44:29 GMT

I've now been to Disney World 10 times, but couldn't believe it when this arrived....- I've been given my own day in DisneyWorld

Silverlight Error Messages

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:54:42 GMT

Having worked with Silverlight quite a lot recently I've found this page of great value in debugging various scenarios. See how many you can collect!

PDC 2009?

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:13:39 GMT

Announcing PDC2009: November 17-20, 2009 in Los Angeles, CA. After 3:00 PM PST (GMT-8), Thursday, October 30 you can add your name to the PDC2009 mailing list to receive all the latest information.

http://microsoftpdc.com/View.aspx?post=http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/PDCNews/Announcing-PDC2009/

Rock Band - MVP Rock Out

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 21:13:44 GMT

Gray Short has posted a great video on YouTube of the MVP Open Day - No, you won't see lots of future projects and demos - but you will see some MVP's rocking out on Rock Band, including Rich Costall on drums. Highlights for me was Mark Dryden on vocals for Run to the Hills and Guy Smith Ferrier on guitar!

Great Night

Silverlight UK User Group

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:12:46 GMT

Last week I was over at the Silverlight UK User Group at the Conchango Offices in London. We managed to fill a two hour slot with our Silverlight, XNA and Gaming talk - featuring Miner Willy the XNA/Silverlight Manic Miner Game. Thanks to Michelle and Mark for inviting us. The feedback I saw was excellent. See Below...

“Very informative, interested me greatly due to the background. Designers probably felt left out but the technical ability was outstanding. Really good presentation. Peter is a real talent!”

“Probably a bit less typical designer view as I am interesting in games and games graphics but although technical aspects of the presentation hasn’t completely lost me. Plus really useful to get a idea of what aspects of game graphics are affected by aspects of the games engine. How the way we make graphics can help the game developer, improve performance etc....”

“Really enjoyed the session, good mix, good ideas which can be used anywhere in general programming”

“As a dev and as a fan of retro games & Silverlight I enjoyed all aspects of the presentation. I also liked the tips about using the ASP.NET Providers”

“Well presented by both Richard and Peter. Great organisation of the event.”

“Very good demo, love to see new things in progress. Collision detection stuff was very useful for Silverlight. Would definitely come again!”

“I would like to see a more technical breakdown of how certain techniques were used to overcome problems encountered. Enjoyed the meeting – many thanks”

“Everything was great, can’t wait for the next one! Made gaming interesting to a non-gamer. Really interested in seeing Silverlight with mapping tools.”

The bonus is Ian Smith recorded the sessions in excellent quality for your enjoyment.

Part 1:

Silverlight UK User Group: Silverlight, XNA and Gaming Part 1 By Ian Smith
View in HD Download 360p Version Visit Ian Smith's ExposureRoom Videos Page

Part 2:

Silverlight UK User Group: Silverlight, XNA and Gaming Part 2 By Ian Smith
View in HD Download 360p Version Visit Ian Smith's ExposureRoom Videos Page

Silverlight Release Candidate Available..

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:48:56 GMT

Woo Hoo..

Read Scott's Announcement here

NOTE: This release is for Developers to get their Silverlight Applications ready for the Release version, and is not something you can deploy. So load it on your machine, make sure it builds and runs... and then sit tight for the release...

There's even some more controls, including the PasswordBox

The Covenant?

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:57:16 GMT

Looks like the Covenant are up to their tricks again on the latest teaser video from Bungie for an, as yet, unnamed title. In the image below, before mass destruction takes place you can see the front of a spaceship enter the picture from behind a skyscraper...

Looks amazing and leaves us none the wiser...

On the downside... I really hope the "Maddie, Where are you?" message is nothing more than a coincidence, surely Bungie would have done some research and typed it into a search engine before leaving such a weird clue, else it's just plain wrong.

Call it Snail Mail!

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:04:09 GMT

So, we all refer to the good old postal service as 'Snail Mail' - it can take days to receive something in the post, Electronic Mail almost arrives before you've even sent it! - So it came as an initial surprise when today I received two emails..

Your message

To: XXXXX XXXXXXX

Cc:

Subject: Invoice as promised.

Sent: Sat, 5 Jun 2004 17:40:01 +0100

was deleted without being read on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:28:03 +0100

Perhaps it's not the mail thats slow, it's just taking somebody over 4 years to 'not' answer their mail....

Silverlight, XNA and Gaming

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:03:09 GMT

Following on from the great feedback we received for our Silverlight, XNA and Gaming session. I just wanted to give you a heads-up on where you can see it next.

1st October - Silverlight User Group [TBC] London
22nd October - Black Marble - Leeds http://www.blackmarble.co.uk/events.aspx?event=Silverlight,%20XNA%20and%20Gaming
22nd November - DDD7 - ??If you want it - vote for it ??? http://www.developerday.co.uk/ddd/default.asp
9th December - NxtGenUG Birmingham http://www.nxtgenug.net/ViewEvent.aspx?EventID=164

here's some feedback from the Coventry meeting

Having spent most of 1985 playing the Amstrad CPC version of Manic Miner to death, I couldn't have chosen another 8-bit classic I'd rather see. Even though Silverlight is still in beta, Rich has managed to do Matthew Smith proud ... just needs the Pythonesque boot death sequence to polish it off :)

Being one of the lucky ones who'd seen a sneak preview of Pete's pet XNA project, it was great to see it presented on the big screen. As if producing the code, 3D models, textures, music and sound effects wasn't enough, he adds "entertaining presenter" to his heavily-feathered cap! Top-notch work Pete, top-notch.

I have been looking forward to this event and so had high expectations - and am pleased to confirm they were fully met.

The XNA Gaming session was the best session I have yet to see - and I have seen most of them. Rich's silverlight brief was a great insight into how well it can be made to work, yet how painful it can be with such a small CLR coverage available to it.

Peter is probably one of the presenters I most admire...he is so modest and quiet yet so capable and knowledgeable. I thoroughly enjoyed his previous XNA session and was really looking forward to this one. It was a great session and am looking forward to seeing the Engine code and how XNA and Silverlight made use of it. I don't know the first thing about game writing - which is perhaps why I am so wowwed by Peter's abilities - but to no only develop but also create all the images etc - he is the full package. Please give us more XNA. Is it just me or is Peter a dead ringer for David Walliams?

It's clear that Pete really knows his stuff. His enthusiasm and passion for writing games really comes through whenever he speaks. He did lose me a little bit with talk of "orthogonal matrix" and so on, but otherwise very good. Would have been a 9 if we'd seen more of the game engine code.

It was obvious from Pete's presentation that he has a real passion for game development and I have no idea why he's currently spending time editing a database script when he can be developing games instead (the pay must really suck). My only criticism is that he never brought his porn laptop with him. Top game developer!

Great fun, brilliant content, superb pizza. Rock on
Excellent session from two great speakers. Rich dropped some great info on Silverlight, the gotchas alone were worth the price of admition

Great talk, with enough meat to get anyone cracking on building the next Halo .. bonus points for using the words Awesome, Gnarly and Dude more than once each

fantastic presentation, showing the cross-platform code and all the animations possible in silverlight was great and presented brilliantly as usual.
Very informative and obviously presented by a hard-core bedroom games writer. But more significantly one that can also present! :) I may have to dust down my copy of XNA and get coding games again!!

Silverlight Beta 1 Expired

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:22:06 GMT

A sample Silverlight site where I work, is no longer working, as the Beta 1 of Silverlight has expired. I'm sure a few people will hit this over the next few dates, whilst visiting silverlight applications built under Beta 1 (which didn't have a go-live licence), so don't blame Microsoft.

The Beta 1 of Silverlight expired on the 1st of September. For more information, there's a great blog here.. http://blogs.msdn.com/dajung/archive/2008/06/16/please-use-on-or-before-date-on-label.aspx

Code along with Taulty

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:20:58 GMT

Resources... No, I'm not talking about embedding resources in your Silverlight Application. I'm talking about the excellent screencasts Mike Taulty has put up for Silverlight 2.0. Short, Snappy, fast paced and just the right length for you to code along. So it's not Paint along with Nancy, but code along with Taulty. (I bet nobody every heard of Paint Along with Nancy).

The cover everything from Layout, Grids and Splitters, HTML/Javascript interaction, binding. - just about everything - and there's 44 of them

Enjoy - I did...

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Mike-Taulty-44-Silverlight-20-Screencasts/

Great Stuff Mike

Been down the pit!

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:25:45 GMT

Here's one reason this blog has been quiet...

NxtGenUG Silverlight Manic Miner

http://www.nxtgenug.net/manicminer

NxtGenUG Co-Founder Richard Costall & Member Pete McGann are pleased to announce their “Silverlight” Manic Miner game Beta is now live on the NxtGenUG site. Manic Miner was originally written by Matthew Smith, under games company Bug-Byte in 1983. The game was a landmark title in the history of gaming.

The original classic features 20 caverns to negotiate, and Pete and Rich had lovingly created 9 of these so far, with more to follow shortly.

Silverlight Manic Miner shares a custom built ‘time based’ engine with an XNA version of the game. A library of c# files is shared between the two systems. The Silverlight edition is also integrated into the NxtGenuG site, through Application services, and registered visitors can have their high scores recorded and shown in a leader board which refreshes every 30 seconds.

Pete McGann, who’s been building games for many years, was particularly impressed with the Silverlight Edition – “When you look at the Silverlight version, you have to be impressed – The compiled code gives it such a performance boost. When I normally write games they languish on my hard drive. We’ve now built a game the world can play”

Pete and Rich will be telling their story at NxtGenUG Coventry on August 11^th 2008

Silverlight, XNA and Gaming
Matthew Smith did it in 6 weeks in the early 80's, now over 20 years later Pete McGann and Richard Costall have built Manic Miner in .NET, with an engine which works for Silverlight and also XNA. In this session Pete and Rich, talk about the .NET engine, implementations and issues on the two platforms - before Pete steps up to take the ultimate gaming challenge...
http://www.nxtgenug.net/ViewEvent.aspx?EventID=136

Silverlight Showcase on YouTube!

Mon, 12 May 2008 17:59:58 GMT

So, Silverlight Showcase is on YouTube promoting DDDIreland...

GTA IV - "Freeze Niko"

Sat, 03 May 2008 21:02:38 GMT

All is not well in Liberty City. Having spent around 3-4 hours playing the GTA IV, I managed to inadvertantly overwrite my saved game - This issue was caused by the fact the save game uses the 360 Date/time - I had this with BioShock and when you startup outside XBOX live my Date says 2005. Anyway that on its own is not a major issue, but the fact the game freezes about 1 minute after starting the game is. The 360 Freezes and I have to restart the console. It makes you lose confidence in a title - Should I now return to my apartment and make a new save after every mission (assuming it doesn't lock up)

Apparently I'm not the only one getting it and it also affects PS3 owners too.

I think I'm gonna head back to Pacific City (of Crackdown), The Language is better, the graphics are clearer and it don't lock up!

DDDIreland May 3rd

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:33:15 GMT

DDDIreland - May 3rd -and what a fantastic advertisment - this wasn't done by a developer :-).

Check it out at www.DDDIreland.com

Silverlight - Getting Started

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:23:52 GMT

Following on from my popular session (Thanks Martha) at IMTC in Ireland, i thought i'd start to write up my demos. Part 1 - Getting Started is now on the NxtGenUG Site.

Enjoy

Fest08

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:29:24 GMT

NxtGenUG don't do conferences, they just have a good time and FEST08 which takes place at TVP Reading, promises to be in the normal vein of NxtGenUG events. Great sessions, Pizza and Swag. The theme this year is "Data Today, Data Tomorrow" and there are new sessions from Oliver Sturm on F#, Mike Taulty on the Entity Framework, Dave Sussman on ASP.NET Dynamic Data Controls and Ridgian's BI expert Dave Morrow on SQL Server Analysis Services. There will be the keynote from Rich and Dave and a brand new gameshow called "Who's Session Is It Anyway?

As before its free to all NxtGenUG members and £49.99 to non-members. FEST07 was a memorable event last year, FEST08 will be equally memorable. You'll learn some great stuff about Data related technologies, meet some great people, have some fun and leave with a bag load of Swag! Don't miss it!"

Silverlight Sessions

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:02:50 GMT

I'm just in the throws of putting together a Silverlight 'Showcase' session, which i'll be presenting at the following events - If you want to get an idea of what Silverlight can do.

IMTC - Ireland http://imtc.firstport.ie/agenda.aspx - 2nd-4th April Dublin
NxtGenUG Birmingham http://www.nxtgenug.net/ViewEvent.aspx?EventID=108 - April 22nd (Free)
VBUG one day event - http://www.vbug.net/Events/April-2008/VBUG-Mini-Conference--Birmingham.aspx - April 24th

I'm gonna be covering getting started and where it's all heading, and the types of applications you can build in Silverlight - all done in a 'fun' way :-)

Swaggily Question Time

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:44:50 GMT

Wednesday March 19th 2008 is of course the UK 2008 Launch Event. As part of the event, those NxtGenUG Boyz http://www.nxtgenug.net are running one of their gameshows, which will take place about 6.00pm during the evening drinks and nibbles. "Swaggily" Fortunes is a take on the well known TV Quiz show in which teams of contestants are asked, for example, "We asked 100 Developers ... To Name a .NET Language". Those teams that guess correctly what the answers were get to win some fantastic "swag" -- after a few rounds of mayhem!

You can help be part of this 'great' occasion by going to http://www.nxtgenug.net/2008launch/swagfortunes.aspx and answering 8 short questions. Your answers will go towards making up the choices which the teams have to guess. The NxtGenUG lads have run this several times in the past always to great reviews, and it makes for a fun, relaxed way to wind down from the days sessions.

If you'd like us to come and present our gameshow at your event drop us an email here http://www.nxtgenug.net/contact.aspx

Mix08 - Strip Report Part 5

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:13:29 GMT

Vegas Strip Report Part 5

Day 1 of Mix and after a quick breakfast I got in the queue for the keynote. At 9am the doors opened and I managed to get in the middle on the front row, next to Ian Smith.

I’m not going to give a minute by minute account as you can watch it yourself http://sessions.visitmix.com/ or read blogs like Tim Sneaths

I found the keynote really entertaining and informal – there was strange music each time a guest came on – It was like you were expecting them to come in riding on a donkey.

Some things that stood out for me – The deep zoom HardRock application which you can play with http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/ , 1.5 million Silverlight installs each day and a first look at Internet Explorer 8 (with offline mode, activities and web slices).

Scott Guthrie did a great job, congrats on the promotion, and I thought the ‘Cirque du Soleil’ presentation with Scott as a wanabee performer was really good.

I then attended the Silverlight sessions to research my upcoming Silverlight session, and also to confirm what information is in the public domain and what is not, and in the evening I went to TAO nightclub for the attendee party. Where I managed to get an Interview with a Podcasting Legend.

Mix08 - Strip Report Part 4

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:11:32 GMT

Mix Vegas Strip Report Part 4

Had a bit of a lie in this morning, well it was 5:45 actually. Did a bit of coding and chilled till about 9:30. Popped into the Venetian food court for egg, sausage and bacon and then headed off to have a look around the Paris Casino, taking in a few others along the way. My back had been hurting a bit from the 12+ miles i’d walked in the previous 2 days, so I slowed the pace down and realised this was more the Vegas pace. I stopped in at the Flamingo and had a go on the slots; actually I spent about 90 minutes on one machine and came out about $60 worse off – which is not bad compared to one hand of blackjack costing $25. Putting a $50 into a slot machine is quite daunting the first time, but when you do win or decide to cut your losses. The machine prints you a ticket of your balance – which you then take to the redemption machine (like a cash point) feed it in, and collect your winnings, err, remains. It’s all part of the Vegas Experience.

When a slot machine says it’s 1c (cent), it means you can play for 1c at a time but all the winnings are scaled down too. I settled at around 30c per go, but there was a lady next to me playing for $3 a go – she must have got through $200 in about 10 minutes. I then moved on to the Paris Casino which has an Eiffel Tower outside it and the mandatory ‘sky painted on the ceiling’ and headed off to find a patisserie, where I had a very nice raspberry cake and a coffee, before returning back out the casino and sat in the sun for 30 minutes, before meandering back.

Vegas is good for couples, for a family holiday go to Disney-World, as there’s nothing really for kids here. As a couple it could be a relaxing different holiday – catch a show, visit some bars, play the tables and then have a lie in and do it all again at another Casino the next day. Then there are all the trips as well. Make sure you bring quite a bit of disposable money.

So i’ve now transformed from a Tourist to become a Delegate, not sure about the registration swag bag, but I’m all registered and raring to go. They have two Microsoft Surface tables here, and the demos look really cool – I’ll see if I can get a podcast interview with the guys.

I then headed over to Treasure Island for the treasure hunt and met up with Ian Smith and Scott Promasi from Oregon – we spent two hours running around the strip following clues and causing a distraction – The results are not in yet, but I think we did really well.

Tomorrow is Mix!

Mix 08 - Strip Report Part 3

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:24:57 GMT

Mix Vegas Strip Report Day 3

Johnny Rocket is alive and well and living in the Venetian food court, another example of how huge these hotel resorts are. This morning I set off down the south end of the strip – another 4.2 (direct) 6 mile trip (taking into account the hotel detours). I tracked and found Johnny Rockets, but it didn’t open till 10am, So I attempted to navigate my way out of the Venetian Shopping mall, although it was a bit like those cartoons where you keep seeing the person come back to the same place. In the end I came out of the complex 1/3 of a mile further down the road in the wrong direction.

Next stop was to find FAO Schwartz Toy Store in the Bellagio Shopping mall – easier said than done. I knew it had a huge (3 story high) wooden horse outside – how hard could that be. It would be nice if the maps had a ‘YOU ARE HERE’ sticker on them, rather than having to navigate by shop names. It was around 90 minutes later that I emerged from the shopping complex, having found FAO, which didn’t help my cause – the hard bit was finding the exit. Very few of the resorts give you clear directions or a map, it’s as if they want you to become part of their eco system forever.

Next stop was the Mirage, who’s amazing Erupting Volcano – was being repaired... then to New York, New York, through to Excalibur, where I helped an elderly couple, who wanted fresh air, to get to the exit. I wouldn’t be surprised if they took a bus tour in 1979 and are still trying to find their way out today. I arrived at the Luxor, an Egyptian themed resort, which again was huge. The Luxor actually has some attraction in it. I went on the ‘Simulator Ride’ – Escape from the Obelisk, which was, well ok, but didn’t compare to rides like Back to the Future. My next stop was to a 3D ‘Undersea’ IMAX film – which was pretty good, but I’d have preferred the dinosaur one they showed in the trailer.

So, over miles from my hotel, 2pm and I’d only had an orange juice and a Danish – Mission ‘Rocket’ was put into action. I walked past the Bellagio at around 2:40 just as they announced the fountain show would be at 3pm. This for me was a turning point as this show was fantastic – water jets to music, and architecture aside, was one of the first things I thought ‘WOW’.

In fact they were so good I stayed for 30 minutes to watch the next show, before heading back to the room, via the now legendary, Johnny Rockets.

A short email/surfing session later and it was time for the Sirens of Treasure Island – The second great show I’d seen today. A Pirate ship full of scantily clad ladies, who caught one of the pirates and tied him up – the stuff dreams are made of – I’d better be careful I might start beginning to like the place Looking forward to tomorrow – it’s Mix Registration Day and the Mix treasure hunt – I’ll search that pirate ship.

Mix 08 - Strip Report Part 2

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:09:23 GMT

Mix08 Vegas – Strip Report Part 2.

Soldier Down! Andres and I had wondered what happened to John Allwright the previous night as he didn’t appear for a trip out in the evening. It turns out the half yard of ‘long island ice tea’ had taken him out. Corporal Andres was sent to rescue him but got no response from his room. 48oz was too much, but he recovered in time to head over to the Wynn Resort for a brunch of All-U-Can-Eat buffet. Which brings me back to my ‘money-draining theme’.

The sign said: Champagne or Bloody Mary Buffet - $29.95 – So the question here is how much is a champagne or Bloody Mary buffet? $29.95 – Wrong! If you wanted the Champagne or Bloody Mary ‘with’ the buffet it’s $36.95. That’s like saying Fish & chips is £3.99 but if you want the fish it’s £6.99. Having said that, the buffet at the Wynn was very good, covering most tastes in food and a large selection of cakes.

Fully loaded with food, and the staff at the Wynn having to re-stock all the dishes we headed in different directions. I plumped to head up towards the Stratosphere, a walking round trip of 5 miles. This is where I had a gamble. Not on the machines, but at every block where you take your life in your own hands at the junctions. Some of the crossings have nothing; others have signals which give you 10 seconds to get across the road. Linford Christie would struggle to get across 14 lanes of traffic in that time, let alone people pushing pushchairs. Each block seemed to lose a layer of Vegas polish and at the Stratosphere, the area was quite rough. On the way I around a few hotels – Circus Circus, was worth a mention. It’s in need or refurbishment, (In Vegas Terms – this means it gets flattened), but it actually has a mini theme park enclosed in a dome – Something for the kids in a city that is not very kid friendly.

So with that I headed back to my room to relax for a bit, get my Silverlight Advent Calendar running under the lastest build of Silverlight and then head out for a burger at Johnny Rockets and watch the Sirens of TI show at the Treasure Island Resort.

One hour later and it looks like Johnny Rockets is no longer there, despite it being on the map – it didn’t appear on the large map in the Grand Canal shopping complex. It also turns out that the Sirens of TI® who with their mesmerizing and powerful song lure the pirates to their cove, then stir up a tempest strong enough to sink a ship – couldn’t perform because it’s too windy. That’s right they “stir up a tempest strong enough to sink a ship” and couldn’t perform as it’s too windy.

So all in all a strange day – Tomorrow is off up the other end of the strip and hopefully I’ll get to see if those sirens will perform for me tomorrow

Mix 08 - Strip Report Part 1

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:51:28 GMT

Mix08 Vegas – Strip Report Part 1.

So I’m here in Vegas for the Microsoft Mix08 Conference, which starts on Wednesday. The web is on the edge of its next iteration and I wanted to be here to get the vibe. I’ve been working with Silverlight 2.0 for a while now (under NDA) and it’s going to be a good conference – when things get announced.

After almost 11 hours on the plane, I have arrived in Las Vegas. Yes, the flight is long. I watched 3 movies, The Bourne (something or other – 3^rd one), A Ben Stiller film, where he gets married and regrets it and StarDust – an all-star cast film, which seemed to be an excuse to have an all-star cast film. I also managed to spend 2 hours of development on the laptop, before the battery started to fade away. I didn’t have a power lead long enough to stretch from premium-economy all the way back to economy. I met John Allwright (who works for Microsoft), at the airport and we shared a cab to the hotel. Incidentally Vegas airport terminal is about the same size as Coventry terminal, which is interesting because the airfield is, the same size as Coventry itself.

So we arrived at the Venetian, boy is this place over the top. If you listen carefully, beyond the slots and gaming tables you can hear the money draining away from you credit card. “Would you like to pay $45 per night extra – to have a view of the pool?” – “err No!”. A less subtle example is The ATM machines in the Casino’s. They charge $7.99 for a $20 withdrawal.

John and Andres (who we also met at the airport), couldn’t check In as their rooms were not ready, so they came to drop their stuff off in my room.

When we finally found my room (a problem I have every time I leave it). I pushed the keycard in the door and said “I love it how American’s call these room’s suites, when all they are, are a bed...” With that the door opened and a huge room appeared before me. The room is two-level, with two double beds and a plasma TV on the top level and a seating/office area, with plasma TV and Fax machine, on the lower level. The room has seats for 15 people (why, is that, when the maximum room occupancy is 4?), or 16 including the toilet, but no internet connection [UPDATE: There is wired internet access (fast too) for $9.95 per 24 hours], , so I’ll be off to find the free wireless in the lobby later.

The bathroom is huge, the bath is as deep as the Suez Canal, and the taps can fill the bath in about a minute, or the bathroom in 75 seconds.

We then hit the strip for a couple of hours, had a few beers, and a ‘half yard – Margarita’ – which makes finding the room a LOT harder. We visited the Bellagio, and Cesears Palace (all of which look the same inside), and gave our critique review on many of the specialist boutiques “Gems and Ruby’s of Africa” – don’t think that will be replacing the local cost-cutter in Nuneaton.

I find it interesting how all the escalators into the Casinos are working, but all the ones going out of the Casino are ‘being maintained’.

The gaming tables have minimum and maximum limits, typically $35 to $5000. So I won’t be visiting them then, not because I’m a high roller, but because $35 is a lot for the spin of the wheel or turn of two cards, and besides that’s the same cost as two lap-dances (so I’m told). It says the typical payout on the slots is 92% - well I put $6 in machine and didn’t get a dime – I asked the woman, walking past, where my $5.52 was – but she didn’t seem to understand!

Tomorrow is time to explore...

Should i put my money on Red or Black?

ASP.NET Upload Users

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:52:26 GMT

I was recently tasked with uploading a load of users into an ASP.NET site. Initially SQL Server was earmarked for the job, but then I realised that the passwords are all one way hashed in code. So either I could key all these in using the registration page, or I could write something.

Crude but it worked, most of the stuff is fairly obvious. One point to note was I needed to render the status returned from the CreateUser Method to show progress in the text box - you can get the value of an enumeration with the following:

[Enum].GetName(GetType(MembershipCreateStatus), _y))

Here is the code...

Dim _file As String = Server.MapPath("filename.csv")
Dim _sw As New StreamReader(_file)
Dim _line As String = _sw.ReadLine()
While Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(_line)
Dim _bits As String()

_bits = _line.Split(",")
If (_bits.Length = 5) Then
Dim _x As MembershipUser
Dim _y As MembershipCreateStatus
_x = Membership.CreateUser(_bits(1), _bits(2), _bits(1), "<sec question>", "<sec answer>", True, _y)
If _y = MembershipCreateStatus.Success Then

Dim _p As ProfileCommon = ProfileCommon.Create(_bits(1), True)
With _p
    .Firstname = _bits(3)
     .Surname = _bits(4)
     .EmailAddress = _bits(1)
     .Address.PostCode = ""
     .Telephone = ""
     .Save()
End With

End If

TextBox1.Text = TextBox1.Text & String.Format("{0} - {1}" +
System.Environment.NewLine, _bits(1), [Enum].GetName(GetType(MembershipCreateStatus), _y))
End If
_line = _sw.ReadLine()
End While

Where have you been?

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:40:19 GMT

Ok, So I'm sorry, not blogged for a while... with Life, the user group and everything, things have been busy.

My Zune and I joined the Gym - What a great way to get fit and watch / listen to TechED/Mix sessions, while on a bike or rowing machine - (well listening on the rower). On Wednesday I rode 7km whilst listening to a session from Mix07 on Search Engine Optimumization (SEO) - Tonight I'm going deep with AJAX (DEV08). I will update you with how the Zune copes with Sweat dripping on it...

From a Technology point of view, my main focus for 2008 is Silverlight - I see this technology being the say as HTML when it first appeared, a web revolution. Silverlight is still in it's infancy, but i've had an opportunity to be involved with early adoption of this technology and have seen the future - Silverlight, does though, raise some very thought provoking questions.

Could Silverlight and Flash be powerful enough to move the web up another iteration? (and when will this happen : 1yr - 2yrs, more?)

Given a clean sheet of paper - what will Web User Interfaces of the future look like?

Where is this all heading for the next, next Web?

PDC 2008 Announced

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:27:06 GMT

Its been a long time coming, PDC 2007 was 'postponed', but now PDC 2008 has been announced for October 27th-30th in Sunny Los Angeles, California - Read (very little) about it here...

PDC 2005 was awesome. I learnt so much there, It's a great chance to get a heads up on the next-next release of products from Microsoft...

Dave and Rich Micro-Presentation Video Online

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:39:28 GMT

The Mix07:UK sessions are online - That's not new news, but they've just added Dave and Rich's legendary Micro-Presentation. Live the Legend!

Described, by some, as the 'Ultimate' Micro-Presentation, Dave and Rich had just 6 minutes and 40 seconds to deliver a session on user groups at Mix07:UK. The slides auto-advanced after 20 seconds. Surely nothing could go wrong in 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

Download and view the presentation here, to see Dave and Rich in action, and you'll be rewarded with some other sessions afterwards...

Coventry NxtGenUG

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 21:21:41 GMT

Hot on the heels of the Incredible Alan Elston's Presentation Skills Session, which is top of the NxtGenUG charts at the moment, we get ready for Christmas, with our Home-Brewed Silverlight 1.1 Session. Chris Hay (Cambridge Coord) and myself will be giving hints and tips on working with the Alpha Preview of Silverlight 1.1 - Expect some tinsel, Pinata's, Pizza and the odd.. or 20+ demos. Another great night coming to NxtGenUG Coventry.

NxtGenUG Coventry - 10th December 2007 (Cambridge on the 11th December too)
I'm Dreaming of a Silverlight Christmas

"I'm dreaming of a Silverlight Christmas. Just like the ones I used to know. Where the buttons glisten and attendees listen to hear, great demos in the show.I'm dreaming of a Silveright Christmas With every web Page I write. May your devs be merry and bright And may all your pages not be white. I'm dreaming of a Silverlight Demo With Chris and Rich on Stage. May your SWAG be expensive and bright And may all your Pizza be large.

Chris Hay and Richard Costall will present a variety of Silverlight nuggets, aimed at highlighting the pitfalls with Silverlight 1.1. This will be a demo heavy session, so fasten your seatbelts. "

Event details here

BioShocked

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 21:17:51 GMT

So I've now finished BioShock and I mst admit, it was excellent. One of the best 360 games out there. A first person shooter, some scaryness and a deep and well thought out plot - gripping stuff. BioShock slips into my top three XBOX 360 Games, alongside Halo 3 and Crackdown. I've not played the Orange Box yet though so, that could knock one out - but which one!

Rapture is liberated

Speaker Idol

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 21:14:55 GMT

So TechEd is over, and what a year - 6 Podcasts, 5 Speaker Idols (4 rounds + final), 4 NxtGenUG Gameshows, One XSLT session, two FishBowl interviews and a lot of fun! Oh and I even managed to get to some sessions this year. Speaker Idol was fantastic though, Here's some details below on Jeff Wharton from Australia, who scooped the "speaker Idol" trophy!

Dave and Rich are thrilled to announce that Jeff Wharton has scooped the title of being TechEd Developers 2007 Speaker Idol.the top title comes with a 'speaking' ticket to TechEd 2008, where Jeff will get a presentation slot, plus a trophy and a metre of MSPress books. Jeff presented a 5 minute session on Raid Technology, and why developers need to care.

Dave and Rich dressed up, with Jeff Wharton, Winner of TechEd 2007 Speaker Idol

Second place went to Karl Davies-Barrett, who presented on WPF within window forms applications. Karl wins a Ticket to TechEd 2008 and a half metre of books. Maciej Pilecki took third place and Bill Ayres came fourth.

The finalists, Judges, Us and Karen Young. Thanks to Mick Lohan GamTUG

The final had been really exciting, with all competitors giving excellent presentations, and the judging panel of Kate Gregory, Guy Smith-Ferrier, Bart De Smert (Winner of Speaker Idol 2006) and Rafal Lukawiecki (top TechEd speaker) having to choose the eventual winner.

The Audience hear one joke too many from Dave and Rich (that was one joke)

Details of the event can be found here, on the TechEd site blog

My EX - XBOX 360

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:02:04 GMT

So, on Monday night, I was faced with the 3 red lights of doom on my XBOX 360. I had the machine for almost 2 years, and it had served me well. It had also given me the pleasure of completing Halo 3 on Heroic, and not told me of it's illness, until Master Chief had finished the fight.

We'd spent many a happy hour together, fighting the flood, scoring goals, photographing splicers, feeding Pinata's and winning numerous battles.

The laugh and joy is now filled with an empty space, beneath the TV, and just moments ago, I watched the UPS van drive off into the distance laiden with my parcel. Thomas and Oliver have reverted to Nintendo DS's, like nothing has changed, but I cant bring myself to it.

20 Working Days they say...

Richy and Andy Blues

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:33:18 GMT

I've done quite a few presentations in my time, but last night was an experience like no other.

Every 3 months the employees of 1st Software go out, enjoy unlimited beverages and a stopover and build on the incredibly spirit that lives within the organisation. Putting on nights out like this are not cheap, but very much appreciated by the staff and the ROI, whilst being transparent, certainly pays back with buckets of interest, (plus hangovers too).

Last nights theme was '1st factor' with employees taking to the stage to perform. This was not a karaoke night, with all the entrants rehearsing and getting dressed up!

Andy Brown and I opened the night with "Blues Brothers - Everybody needs Somebody". We came out to the intro, in the suits and shades, and the place went wild - I've never experienced this intensity before. We performed our song and set the place on fire. The roar from the crowd at the end was incredible, it was like performing at Wembley! The quality of all the acts was exceptional, and whilst we didn't win, we certainly got the show off to the right start.

What a night.

Andy and Richy can be hired to perform at your local event :-)

Where can it be? ...

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:40:29 GMT

We really are running out of time on the missing TechEd ticket. I spoke to the person involved in the ticket hunt (previous clue) and they reakoned that it 'disappeared' (yeah right) while they were eating, and that "I'd know where"...

Hmmm.. I'm gonna have to think back on this one...

Deadline is coming...

Southampton NxtGenUG

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:53:02 GMT

NXTGENUG OPEN A NEW REGION IN SOUTHAMPTON!

Then there were 5! Two months, two new regions, first Cambridge now Southampton. Yes, The Next Generation User Group (NxtGenUG) is expanding (again) and this time they're heading South. The latest and warmest region of NxtGenUG is Southampton. The region is being organised and run by John McLoughlin and Rick Allen two local guys who have sourced a venue, projector, screen, pizza, swag and speakers all on their ownsome - all that a User Group needs or could ask for!

As ever when a new NxtGenUG region opens they insist on having a 'Launch' extravaganza, and this one is no different! The event will be held on 18th October 2007 at St Andrew's Hall, Southampton. The main speaker for the evening is top UK Community speaker Guy Smith-Ferrier speaking on Astoria and there will be a SQL Nugget from Dave 'Readyboost' McMahon. Pizza and Swag will be present also in abundance. All the details of the meeting are at http://www.nxtgenug.net/ViewEvent.aspx?EventID=85, and you can register for the event as always through the NxtGenUG website. Don't miss out on this event which kicks off at 6.30pm and finishes at 9.00pm, as there is only ONE launch meeting after all.

NxtGenUG are a User Group focused on current and future technologies and provide monthly meetings in Birmingham, Cambridge, Coventry, Oxford and Southampton. They love technology, chatting, pizza, swag, Halo 3 (well Richie Costall does) and having a laugh. If you're in one of their areas, get along to one of their meetings and get involved in the UK Community, its well worth it socially and professionally! Visit their website at http://www.nxtgenug.net

999,999 Dreams to Go

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 21:03:02 GMT

There's not been a lot of blogging activity recently, as I've been on my vacation to DisneyWorld in Florida, and boy did we have a great time.

I have to admit that I'm an old hand at this, my 9th visit to Orlando, but each time we discover something new, or different in the World. We decided to treat ourselves this year and checked into the Disney's Yacht and Beach Club hotel. Upon check-in we were informed our room had a 'Lake-View' and was on the Concierge-level. (we needed to use our room key in the lift to get to this exclusive level).

We also got named as the 'family of the day', and after 9 hours on a plane, customs, and a 30 minute bus ride, rather than feel hot and sweaty we felt like royalty.

The room had the most fantastic view, nothing beats sitting in your dressing gown, watching the Epcot fireworks, sipping a beer, from the balcony outside your room. The Staff were excellent, I can't fault this visit, the concierge were really helpful and the senior management went out of their way to speak to us and help us.

Each day we came back to our room we met an assortment of 'towel' animals, and on the last day we left our own creations for the housekeeping ladies - bet they had a laugh with those.

The Disney parks were fairly busy, but we used our tried and tested tactics to make the most of the day, and also got chance to use the Yacht and Beach Club's Stunning pools - almost 3 acres of Sandy, watery fun - Yes the pool had a sand bottom.

Some Florida Vacation tips...

1. Get to the park as early as possible, grab a quick breakfast and be there before opening time. If you are a resort guest, use the magical hours to get an additional hour in the park. The first hour is so important.

2. Hit the back of the park first and then work forwards - many people arrive, stare at the map and then do the first attraction they come to.

3. Use FastPass to access the most popular rides with little or no wait.

4. Eat Early. Take lunch 12:00 - 12:30. Get a chance to get out the sun and have a sit down meal. Places like the Rose and Crown do great English Food - change from Burger or Hot Dog.

5. Leave the park mid afternoon for a break in the hotel pool, and then pop back for fireworks, or do the fireworks after a relaxed day at a water park.

6. Drink loads and make the most of the air conditioned buildings.

7. keep the kids interested, KidKot at Epcot is a great way to get them interested in the countires around the World Showcase at Epcot.

8. Arrive early for the shows, such as Fantasmic, in Disney MGM Studios, (90 minutes minimum), otherwise you may not get a seat.

9. Wear comfy shoes, you can easily walk 5 miles in a day.

10. Pick a hotel on Disney if possible, especially if you are with kids. Forget the hire car, get return transfers and use the Disney buses/boats and monorails to get you around. Universal is around a $40 taxi ride away, or Mears provide a shuttle for $16 per person round trip.

11. Buy a big SD Card for your camera, you're gonna take a lot of pictures. This last trip I took over 1,000.

12. Study the maps of the parks before you go, and when you get to the park - Grab 5 or 6 along with the times of events that day - most shops also have these maps/times. Chances are one will get lost, one will get wet and one will get ripped.

2007 is the year of the 1,000,000 dreams at Disney World and Disneyland in California. The prizes themselves range from anything like a pair of mouse ears, or a Disney trading pin, right up to a night in the Cinderella Castle or membership to the Disney Vacation Club. Thank you so much for the upgrade. I don't know if anybody is keeping count, but I think Disney now only have 999,999 dreams to go, which incidentally was both Thomas's and my score on Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin - we both maxed out!

Bye Mickey - See ya real soon!

NxtGenUG Cambridge

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 09:54:25 GMT

NxtGenUG are absolutely delighted to announce the opening of a brand new NxtGenUG region - this time in Cambridge. So now Developers from the flatlands of East Anglia can gather together to learn, chat, eat Pizza and get 'swagged' in the 'NxtGenUG Way' along with their counterparts in Birmingham, Coventry and Oxford. The region will be run by Chris Hay and Allister Frost who live and work in the area. Chris and Allister have put in a great deal of effort to get the region off of the ground including securing a fantastic venue, courtesy of non-other than Microsoft Research Cambridge!

The 'Launch' meeting will be held at Microsoft Research on Tuesday 18th September 2007 and will feature Mike Ormond from Microsoft DPE speaking on Silverlight Microsoft's new Rich Web Application Development Platform. We'll also have a speaker from Microsoft Research covering a fanscinating new subject such as F#, watch out for details! Finally Rich, Dave and John will be there to do something or other, probably involving 'swag' (tut). Anybody is welcome to attend the meeting whether they are a NxtGenUG member or not. Just go to the NxtGenUG site at http://www.nxtgenug.net, register for FREE and book your place! The evening starts at 6:30pm and ends at 9pm.

As with other NxtGenUG regions details of events at Cambridge will be available at http://www.nxtgenug.net/EventList.aspx, and we know that Chris and Allister have a bunch of great sessions planned for Cambridge over the coming months.

Also check out the NxtGenUG site for Articles, 'Radio Style' Podcasts , Interviews, News Items, Competitions, details of membership and much more at NxtGenUG

The Server committed a protocol Violation - The Sequel

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:41:04 GMT

This error seems to be haunting me, i'd already got round it once, and up it pops again.

This time the error, which occurred accessing any website on my local machine, through IIS, was being hampered by Skype - which decided to take-over ports 80 and 443 - nice one!

Big thanks to Martin Kulov's blog entry, who saved me from a very embarressing demo.

Win a Ticket to TechEd!!!

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 21:29:23 GMT

Win a ticket to TechEd Developers with NxtGenUG and Microsoft.

NxtGenUG is offering one lucky winner a ticket to Microsoft’s premier European developer conference : TechEd Developers in Barcelona : November 5^th – 9^th 2007. To be in with a chance to win the ticket register on the NxtGenUG site and enter the TechEd ticket treasure hunt. [Terms and conditions apply]. Visit the NxtGenUG TechEd home page for more details...

http://www.nxtgenug.net/TechEd07/default.aspx

Make sure you read the instructions - The world is a big place!

VBUG Elections

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:13:27 GMT

Just been catching up on the blogosphere and found out that the VBUG elections are underway. Most people who know me, know I was the regional coordinator for the midlands - for five and a half years, before setting up NxtGenUG.

Graham Parker, and Caroline, built an incredible community, and it's a huge challenge and opportunity to take VBUG onto the next level.

Andy Westgarth and Tim Leung have both blogged it, and entered the race, looking at Chairman, and vice Chariman respectively. I know both Andy and Tim very well, either would be more than capable in these roles, although I'd like to remain impartial and wish George Gallagher and Phil Pursglove luck with their bids too...

So VBUG members, make your vote count, read the manifesto's and vote !

How loud?

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 03:04:56 GMT

How loud do you have to whistle, for a dog in the car in front, or behind, to hear you?. - I know you have all sat in traffic and whistled to get the dogs attention in the car in front (and wondered this?)

You'd have to take into account, windows being open and speed travelling, but assuming the car is stationary, and the windows are open - I was sitting in traffic, and each time i whistled farily loud, the dog in the car behind seemed to respond (ears pricked up), but the dog in front didn't - I suppose the breed of dog is also important.

Admit it, you all do it...

Presenting at Mix07 UK

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:34:49 GMT

Mix07 UK is shaping up to be an excellent event. I was lucky enough to see some of the speaker line up, and whilst i'm not going to spoil the surprise yet, I thought i'd let one cat out of the bag

Dave and Rich will be there, presenting... Silverlight... NO.. XSLT... NO... SWAGGILY Fortunes - could be.

So to help us, can I ask you go to the NxtGenUG site: this page and complete the form (If you are logged in and drawn from the entries I will give you some great swag!)

Keep you eyes open on the Mix07UK site over the next week or so.. It's gonna be a wicked event...

Mix07

Silverlight and Powerpoint

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 04:37:01 GMT

I've just started playing with Silvelright 1.1 - Exciting stuff. I love being able to write c# code which runs on the client, not having to worry about Javascript is a great leap forwards. Silverlight 1.1 is missing quite a bit of stuff at the moment, which is forgiveable as it's early days for version 1.1. The lack of Databinding makes it hard to 'bind' data to controls and the flow layout panel has disappeared, so i have to calculate layout positions.

But this left me thinking...

What Silverlight really needs, and probably in Blend is 'Smart Art'. I'm really stuggling to create nice graphics, as i'm graphically challenged. Powerpoint 2007 enables you to create really great looking slides using Smart Art - Reflections, Bevels, Shading - this is what i need for Silverlight.

The other side of the coin is that Powerpoint could really benefit from WPF/Silverlight - The animations and timelines, c# code - could take powerpoint to the next level. WE have nice graphics in powerpoint and some transititions, but thats about it - WPF could help with interactive/animating charts... hmm I wonder...

Gained the Lead..

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 10:19:51 GMT

It took around 45 games, but now i'm getting used to the controls and won my first slayer match in Halo 3. The game is visually stunning, the new weapons and tool add a different slant to the game - notibly the bubble shield. It will be sad when we get to the 10th June and we have to wait until September 26th in Europe to get the game..

You can even save a film of your games, now if only they could be accessed via the internet..

Crackdown and Halo 3 are two compelling reasons to buy a 360 this year.. and we're only just beginning...

The server committed a protocol violation.

Fri, 18 May 2007 11:03:04 GMT

I just spent the best part of the day looking into an integration error. The problem occurred when the webclient class was downloading a zip file from a remote site. It worked in our office but not on site. We got the following error.

The server committed a protocol violation. Section=ResponseHeader

Thanks for that - really useful.

So here is the useful part:

The problem was cause by the fact the zip files were being blocked and a txt message being inserted in it's place, although the extension was NOT being renamed. So we had myfile.zip (2kb) which contained the text about why the .zip type was blocked. The main clue was the file was only 2kb and couldn't be opened in WinZip. So if you get this error, try opening the file in notepad - the answer may be under your nose.

Thanks to my colleague Tim Hill for reminiscing about a company he used to work with, where the same thing happened.

I hope this helps somebody else...

Finish the Fight - 26th September

Wed, 16 May 2007 06:09:38 GMT

Halo 3 release date in europe (25th in the US) :

26th September 2007

need i say more?

Tags: halo3