Big App on Campus: Two Weeks Left! Back in November, we announced a developer promotion for US students called “Big App on Campus.” There are exactly 18 days left to enter. Though we think it’s a no brainer, some of you have asked “Why should I [..]
Speaking of UX… I finally decided to download and learn to use the industry-standard PCB and schematic layout software: Eagle. I've tried a bunch of others, and quite frankly, got tired of always using "also ran" software. The majority of the [..]
The Maker Geek Roundup aggregates information of interest to makers everywhere. Topics include .NET Micro Framework, CNC, 3d Printing, Robotics, Microsoft Robotics Studio, Electronics, General Maker stuff, and more. If you have something [..]
Before joining Microsoft, I was a consultant, primarily building desktop applications using a variety of MS technologies. During my last couple years there, Silverlight was a large part of that both for full apps and as parts of larger web sites. [..]
For anyone interested in open source microcontroller development, or why boards are named with *duino type names, this 1/2 hour documentary is a great watch. http://vimeo.com/18539129 Arduino.TheDocumentary.2010.English explains the [..]
After assembling my Netduino-powered PIX-6T4, I wanted to go and write a simple game. This post describes the construction of that game, including all source code. Concept When you have 64 monochrome red pixels, you need to keep [..]
I recently picked up a PIX-6T4 build by Fabien Royer (with games by Fabien Royer and Bertrand Le Roy). This is a 64 pixel, two joystick/button, monophonic sound hand-held game device based around the Netduino Mini from Secret Labs. You create [..]
In my post about WPF 4.5 Observable Collection Cross-thread Change Notification, I showed the basics of how to synchronize collection updates in WPF, and how to avoid having to manually dispatch calls to the UI thread. In the comments, [..]
WPF 4.5 is available as part of the Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview released at the Build 2011 conference, and is part of the .NET Framework version 4.5. WPF 4.5 addresses several important customer requests including the ability to have [..]
In this Part 1 post, I'll show how to interface with ATmega ports and pins to light up LEDs on a board. The follow-up post will show how to use the timer to actually blink the LED. Most of the Microcontroller code out in the public is C [..]
In the wee hours of the night, I've been continuing to learn how to develop for the various AVR family chips from Atmel. I also do a lot with NETMF, Netduino, and the .NET Gadgeteer, but sometimes (despite the pain!) it feels good to code right [..]
The Windows Client Developer Roundup aggregates information of interest to Windows Client Developers, including WinRT XAML, WPF, Silverlight, Visual C++, XNA, Expression Blend, Surface, Windows 7, Windows Phone, Visual Studio, WCF RIA Services [..]
We created this infographic to provide a retrospective look back on Windows Phone in 2011, with a specific view to information developers would want to see.
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I’m working on my book for O’Reilly this month (HLSL and Pixel Shaders for XAML Developers). If you’ve written books or articles yourself you know there is a lot of prep involved in getting your machine into a clean state for [..]
A reader of my Silverlight 5 book recently reached out to me about threading and why I create some objects on the UI thread in the examples. We discussed some of the reasons, but I felt this would be a good topic to share with everyone. In fact, [..]
It’s a bit hard to know the version numbers for Expression Blend releases as the information is scattered about the Internet. Version Name Number Release Date Expression Blend 4, original release 4.0 June 7, 2010 Expression Blend 4 Service [..]
I recently posted an updated version of Silverlight reporting on codeplex. Here's the overview. This project, a unofficial project by Pete Brown of Microsoft, provides a a very basic framework for building simple, short, multi-page reports [..]
Today, I started wiring the front panel. Over the next several months I'll be building what is definitely my most complex electronics project to date: the MFOS (Music From Outer Space) Sound Lab Ultimate, Ultimate Expander and (if Santa [..]