I had the opportunity to co-present a session at Build 2015 focusing on building games for Windows 10. Jaime Rodriguez and I spent an hour talking about the new Windows 10 features related to gaming, including Xbox Live, ID@Xbox, the new GamePad API, windowing, and the various middlewares and engines like MonoGame and Marmalade that are supporting Windows 10 at present. If you care about games and are excited about Windows 10, have a look!

It’s that time again…another Visual Studio Live!  I will be presenting 2 sessions at Visual Studio Live! in Las Vegas this March 16-20.  The conference is a full 5 day event and there’s still time to register.  For this event, I’ll be presenting:

W23 Building Games for Windows and Windows Phone Using Unity and Other Frameworks
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Time: 3:00pm – 4:15pm
Level: Introductory

There are a variety of platforms and frameworks which can be used to build games on both Windows and Windows Phone depending on the complexity of the game and the developer's skill level. In this session, we will delve into the many options available to developers, including DirectX, Unity, MonoGame, and more!

VSH10 Building Your First Universal Application for Windows Phone and Windows Store
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Time: 1:30pm - 2:45pm
Level: Introductory

Universal Apps enable developers to build apps for Windows Store and Windows Phone simultaneously while …

I will be presenting 3 sessions at Visual Studio Live! in Orlando this November 17-21.  The conference is a full 5 day event, and part of the Live! 360 conference, covering SharePoint, SQL Server, Modern Apps and more.  Plus, there’s still time to register and save $600 if you register before 10/15/14!  For this event, I’ll be presenting:

VSH03 Games Development with Unity and Other Frameworks for Windows and Windows Phone
Date: Thursday, November 20, 2014
Time: 8:00am – 9:15pm
Level: Introductory

There are a variety of platforms and frameworks which can be used to build games on both Windows and Windows Phone depending on the complexity of the game and the developer's skill level. In this session, we will delve into the many options available to developers, including DirectX, Unity, MonoGame, and more!

VSH08 Writing Asynchronous Code using .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0
Date: Thursday, November 20, 2014
Time: 9:30am – 10:45pm
Level: Introductory

A variety of new features were …

I will be presenting 2 sessions at Visual Studio Live! in Washington DC this October 6-9.  The conference is a full 4 day event and there’s still time to register and save $400 if you register before 9/10/14!  For this event, I’ll be presenting:

TH07 Building Your First Windows Phone 8.1 Application
Date: Thursday, October 9, 2014
Time: 9:30am – 10:45pm
Level: Introductory

Expand your mobile horizons with Windows Phone! Developing applications for the phone is quite similar to building XAML applications for other platforms. In this session, Brian will demonstrate the fundamentals of Windows Phone development while building a very simple application which covers all of the important points of the new platform's architecture, including the developer tools, device emulator and touch input. We will also discuss what's new with the Windows Phone 8.1 update and how you can use it to build better apps.

TH11 Building Games for Windows and Windows Phone
Date: Thursday, October 9, …

I will be presenting 2 sessions at Visual Studio Live! in Redmond this August 18-22.  The conference is a full 4 day event and there’s still time to register and save $500 if you register before 6/11/14!  For this event, I’ll be presenting:

TH15 Performance and Diagnostics Hub in Visual Studio 2013
Date: Thursday, August 22, 2014
Time: 11:00am – 12:15pm
Level: Intermediate

Visual Studio 2013 has introduced a new Performance and Diagnostics hub which encompasses a variety of new and old tools to profile your Windows Store applications. In this session, we will take a detailed look at all of the tools that the Performance and Diagnostics Hub has to offer with both XAML and HTML/JavaScript Windows Store apps.

TH25 Writing Asynchronous Code Using .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0
Date: Thursday, August 22, 2014
Time: 3:45pm – 5:00pm
Level: Introductory

A variety of new features were added to the .NET 4.5 Framework, including support for easily writing asynchronous code. This session will …

I will be presenting 2 sessions and speaking on the closing panel at Visual Studio Live! in Chicago this May 5-8.  The conference is a full 4 day event and there’s still time to register and save $200 if you register before 4/16/14!  For this event, I’ll be presenting:

TH10 Performance and Diagnostics Hub in Visual Studio 2013
Date: Thursday, May 8, 2014
Time: 11:00am – 12:15pm
Level: Intermediate

Visual Studio 2013 has introduced a new Performance and Diagnostics hub which encompasses a variety of new and old tools to profile your Windows Store applications. In this session, we will take a detailed look at all of the tools that the Performance and Diagnostics Hub has to offer with both XAML and HTML/JavaScript Windows Store apps.

TH20 Writing Asynchronous Code Using .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0
Date: Thursday, May 8, 2014
Time: 3:00pm – 4:15pm
Level: Introductory

A variety of new features were added to the .NET 4.5 Framework, including support for easily writing asynchronous code. …

I will be presenting 3 sessions at Visual Studio Live! in Las Vegas this March 10-14.  The conference is a full 5 day event and there’s still time to register and save $500 if you register before 1/22/14!  For this event, I’ll be presenting:

LT20 Controlling Hardware using Windows 8.1
Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Time: 4:15pm – 5:30pm
Level: Introductory

Windows 8.1 allows developers to communicate with a variety of devices through several interfaces. In this session, we will look at how to talk to hardware connected via USB and Bluetooth, as well as some of the new APIs which allow Windows 8.1 to talk to Point of Sale (POS) devices, scanners, and even 3D printers using real examples with real hardware!

LT27 Performance and Diagnostics Hub in Visual Studio 2013
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Time: 1:15pm – 2:30pm
Level: Intermediate

Visual Studio 2013 has introduced a new Performance and Diagnostics hub which encompasses a variety of new and old tools to profile your Windows …

Update: Slides and code are now available over on the Events page!

I will be presenting 2 sessions at Visual Studio Live! in Redmond on the Microsoft campus this August 19 – 23.  The conference is a full 5 day event and there’s still time to register and save some cash!  For this event, I’ll be presenting:

T20 Windows Store Application Contracts and Extensibility
Date: Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Time: 4:15 pm – 5:30 pm
Level: Introductory

In this session, we will explore these contracts and how they can be used in any Windows Store application to provide a seamless, integrated experience for users.  Contracts are a new feature of Windows 8 Store applications that allow interaction with the operating system and other Store applications in a standard way. With contracts, applications can implement interfaces to allow searching, sharing, settings, app-to-app file picking, and more.

TH03 Building Your First Windows Phone 8 Application …

I will be presenting a session at Visual Studio Live! in Chicago this May 13-17 at the Hilton Chicago.  The conference is a full 5 day event and there’s still time to register and save $400!

W01 Building Your First Windows Phone 8 Application
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Time: 9:15 am - 10:30 am
Level: Introductory

Expand your mobile horizons with Windows Phone 8!  Developing applications for the phone is extremely similar to building a XAML application for the desktop.  In this session, I will demonstrate the fundamentals of Windows Phone development while building a very simple application which covers all of the important points of the new platforms architecture, including the developer tools and device emulator and touch input.

W13 Windows Store Application Contracts and Extensibility
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm
Level: Intermediate

In this session, we will explore these contracts and how …

Update: Slides and code are now available over on the Events page!

I will be presenting a session at Visual Studio Live! in Las Vegas this March 25-29 at the MGM Grand.  The conference is a full 5 day event and there’s still time to register!

W01 Building Your First Windows Phone 8 Application
Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Time: 9:15 am - 10:30 am
Level: Introductory

Expand your mobile horizons with Windows Phone 8!  Developing applications for the phone is extremely similar to building a XAML application for the desktop.  In this session, I will demonstrate the fundamentals of Windows Phone development while building a very simple application which covers all of the important points of the new platforms architecture, including the developer tools and device emulator and touch input.

W20 Building a Windows Runtime Component with C#
Date: Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Time: 4:15 pm - 5:30 pm
Level: Intermediate

A properly written Windows Runtime components can be …

I will be presenting a session at Visual Studio Live! in New York this August 6-10 hosted on the Microsoft Campus.  The conference is a full 5 day event and there’s still time to register!

T13 - Writing Asynchronous Code Using .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0
Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Time: 2:30 PM – 3:45 PM 
Level: Introductory

A variety of new features were added to the .NET 4.5 Framework, including support for easily writing asynchronous code. This session will introduce the concepts of asynchronous programming, .NET Tasks, how to ensure your UI remains responsive, and how to do all of this properly in your own applications using the new async and await keywords. If you’re looking for ways to provide a better, smoother experience for your users, don’t miss this session!

Get more information on the conference at:

• VSLive! Website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Hope to see you all there!

I'm off to TechEd North America later this week where we'll be showing off the Project Detroit car and our BoxingBots project previously demonstrated at SXSW in March. 

Dan Fernandez and I will also be giving a talk on Kinect goodness.  Here are the details:

Coding4Fun: Build Fun, Cool, Commercial Applications Using the Kinect for Windows SDK

Session Code: DEV330
Speaker(s): Brian Peek, Dan Fernandez
Tuesday, June 12 at 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM in S320A

Come to this must-see session to find out how you can use the Kinect for Windows SDK to build commercial applications! Learn how the RGB and depth cameras work, how to use and fine-tune skeletal tracking, how to read an audio stream from the Kinect microphone array and even how to send Kinect data over the network including to your Windows Phone

This same session will be given at TechEd Europe in two weeks, with Clint Rutkas playing the part of me.  I will not be at the Europe conference.

So, if you're attending …

I will be speaking at Visual Studio Live! in New York this May 14-17.  The conference is a full 4 day event and there’s still time to register!  The three sessions I’m presenting are:

W01 – Get Connected with Kinect 
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Time: 9:15 AM – 10:30 AM 
Level: Introductory

By now we’ve all probably tried Kinect, Microsoft’s revolutionary motion control device for the Xbox 360. But what about developing software to use the device? With the release of the official Kinect for Windows SDK from Microsoft, developers can now use this device like any other hardware peripheral from code. This session will introduce developers to the Kinect device itself, how it works, and will offer an overview of the API provided by Microsoft to retrieve image, depth, skeletal, audio, and audio position information from the device. The session will also cover some interesting uses for this information, and how it can be used in …

I’ll be giving a session to the Tech Valley .NET Users Group (TVUG) Tuesday, March 13th at 6:30pm on the new async goodness that exists in .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0, as well as the Visual Studio Async CTP which can be used with Visual Studio 2010.  Here's the description:

Title: Writing Asynchronous Code Using .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0
Where: Tyler Technologies, Latham, NY
When: Tuesday, March 13th, 2012, 6:30-8:30PM

A variety of new features were added to the .NET 4.5 Framework, including support for easily writing asynchronous code. This session will introduce the concepts of asynchronous programming, .NET Tasks, how to ensure your UI remains responsive, and how to do all of this properly in your own applications using the new async and await keywords. If you’re looking for ways to provide a better, smoother experience for your users, don’t miss this session!

You will learn:

• Learn about the pros/cons of asynchronous code
• Learn how to write and use asynchronous code in …

I will be speaking at Visual Studio Live! in Las Vegas this March 26-30.  The conference is a full 5 day event and there’s still time to register!  If you use code VLSPK21, you can save a nice chunk of cash off the all-access Best Value Conference Package. The three sessions I’m presenting are:

T05 - Windows 8 Metro-style Application Contracts and Extensibility
Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Time: 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM 
Level: Intermediate

Contracts are a new feature of Windows 8 Metro-style applications that allow applications to interact with the operating system and other Metro-style applications in a standard way. With contracts, applications can implement interfaces to allow searching, sharing, settings, app-to-app file picking, and more. In this session, we will explore these contracts and how they can be used in any Windows 8 Metro-style application to provide a seamless, integrated experience for users.

W04 - XNA Games for Windows Phone
Date: …

For my fellow Capital District folks, I’ll be giving a session to the Tech Valley .NET Users Group (TVUG) Tuesday, December 13th at 6:30pm on everything that is Kinect and the Kinect for Windows SDK  Here are the details….

Where: Tyler Technologies, Latham, NY
When: Tuesday, December 13th, 2011, 6:30-8:30PM

Join us as Brian Peek demonstrates the basics of using the Kinect for Windows SDK including:  how Kinect works, installing and setting up the Kinect sensor, setting up the development environment, reading camera, depth and skeleton data, understanding what depth data is and how it works, skeletal tracking and working with the Kinect microphone array to record audio and use speech recognition.

Hope to see you all there!

I will be speaking at Visual Studio Live! in Orlando this December 5-9.  The conference is a full 5 day event and there’s still time to register!  The two sessions I’m presenting are:

TH2 - XNA Games for Windows Phone 7
Date: Thursday, December 8, 2011
Time: 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM 
Level: Introductory to Intermediate

You have Silverlight on Windows Phone 7 under control, but what about XNA? If you're looking to create a more advanced game with better performance than Silverlight, XNA is the platform for you. In this session, developers will learn how to build an XNA game targeted for Windows Phone 7. The basics of the platform will be demonstrated while building a simple Space Invaders-type game that would be Marketplace acceptable. Specifically, this session will cover how to deal with user input, play sound effects and music, display animated 2D graphics, and how to create a game that's ready to be sold on the Marketplace.

TH12 - Multi-touch Madness! …

I will be speaking at Visual Studio Live! in Las Vegas this April 18-22.  The conference this year is being held at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino (to quote Penn Jillette directly) and is a full 5 day event.  The two sessions I’m presenting are:

TH1 - Multi-touch Madness!
Date: Thursday, April 21, 2011
Time: 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Level: Introductory to Intermediate

Multi-touch technology is popping up everywhere, most recently in Windows 7 and various .NET technologies. Windows 7 has been designed from the ground-up with multi-touch in mind, and the newest versions of WPF and Silverlight are multi-touch capable as well. In this session I will take you through the 4 biggest areas of Microsoft multi-touch technology: Windows 7, WPF 4, Silverlight, and Surface, including the forthcoming Surface Toolkit for Windows Touch. You will learn how to make your applications multi-touch aware and capable using each of these platforms, how to handle gestures and …

Update: Slides and source for my sessions are posted over on my Events page.  Have a look!  Thanks to everyone that came to my sessions!  Comments and critiques are welcome.

I have been selected to speak at the Visual Studio Live! conference in Orlando.  In addition to presenting two sessions at the conference, I’m also coordinating a special event on Tuesday night which we’re calling Devopalozza.  I have created and will host a team Jeopardy! style game-show which will pit three teams of speakers and attendees against each other for fabulous prizes.  I previously created the hardware and software for the Visual Studio Live Redmond conference, which turned into an article on Coding4Fun for those that might want to create a game-show at home or the office.

The two sessions I’m presenting are:

M15 What's New in Visual Studio 2010 Debugging
Date: Monday, November 15, 2010 
Time:  3:00 PM – 4:15 PM
Level: Intermediate

Visual …

Tonight I hosted the Devapalooza event for Visual Studio Live in Redmond.  For the event, we played a Jeopardy-like game using software and hardware I created.  You can find an article on how the software was created, how to build the hardware, and full source/binary downloads over at Coding4Fun and CodePlex  This can be a fun way to host training at your office, or a way to liven up a user group.

A huge thanks to Dan Waters and Clemens Vasters from Microsoft, VSLive speakers Rocky Lhotka, Deborah Kurata, and David Platt, and our three attendees who played the game.  I think it was a great time.  Hopefully you did too if you were in attendance.

After playing the game tonight for real, I have a few ways to fix up the software and make it a bit easier to use, especially on the scoring side.  Also note that the code isn’t the best example of great coding.  With this being a side project and the deadline looming, I took a few dirty shortcuts.  But, …

Thanks to all who attended my first session today, and a thank you in advance to those attending Thursday’s session on multi-touch.  I’m going to post my slide deck for the What’s New in VS2010 Debugging session now and I will update this post on Thursday/Friday with the source and slides for the multi-touch session.  Feel free to contact me with any comments or suggestions, good or bad.

• Download What’s New in VS2010 Debugging
• Download Multitouch Madness!

Enjoy!

I have been selected to speak at this year’s VSLive! conference on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond.  I’m very excited about this conference for a couple of reasons.  First, it’s on campus, which will allow me to get together with my Coding4Fun/Channel 9  friends to do some planning.  Secondly, VSLive! attendees are also allowed to spend some of their own cash at the Microsoft store.  And finally, in addition to presenting two sessions at the conference, I’m also coordinating a special event on Wednesday night which we’re calling Devopalozza.  I am creating a team Jeopardy! style game-show which will pit Microsoft Speakers against VSLive! Speakers against VSLive! Attendees.  I’m currently creating both hardware and software to drive the game, which will later turn into an article on Coding4Fun for those that might want to create a game-show at home or the office.  And, I’ll even be hosting the show at the event.

The two sessions I’m presenting …

As I posted earlier, I’ll be attending MIX10 this year, and I will be taking part in the Ask the Experts panel on Monday evening at 5pm.  I will be at the C# table since I’m a C# MVP, so stop by and start a discussion!  Experts in a variety of subjects will be on hand so even if C# isn’t your thing, surely one of the many other topics will be.  And even if you’re an antisocial shut-in like I am, beer will be served and there will be 2 Zune HDs given away to attendees of the event.  So really, there’s something for everyone.  Hope to see you there!

Thanks to everyone who attended my TVUG session last night!  I have uploaded the slides and code for this session which can be downloaded here.  Note that you’ll need Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 for most of the samples, and you will need to have the Surface Workstation SDK SP1 installed if you wish to run that sample.

Comments and questions are welcome, as always.  Thanks!

For my fellow Capital District folks, I’ll be giving a session to the Tech Valley .NET Users Group (TVUG) this Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 6:30pm all about everything you’ve ever wanted to know about multi-touch in Windows 7 and beyond!  Here are the details….

Multi-touch Madness!

Where: Versa Trans Solution, Latham, NY
When: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 6:30-9PM
Who: Brian Peek, Microsoft MVP - C#

Overview: Multi-touch technology is popping up everywhere, most recently in Windows 7 and various .NET technologies.  Windows 7 has been designed from the ground-up with multi-touch in mind, and the newest versions of WPF and Silverlight are multi-touch capable as well.  In this session I will take you through the 4 biggest areas of Microsoft multi-touch technology: Windows 7, WPF4, Silverlight, and Surface.  You will learn how to make your applications multi-touch aware and capable using each of these platforms, and learn where multi-touch is heading in the …

It looks like all of the Coding4Fun videos pertaining to PDC09 have been posted along with most (all?) of the Channel 9 Live videos.  For those interested in the Coding4Fun recap vids, have a look…

Channel 9 Live at PDC09: Coding4Fun
Clint Rutkas, Brian Peek and Tim Higgins with Scott Hanselman
Recorded Live, November 19th 2009 at 11:00AM (PST)

Coding4Fun at PDC 2009
With our lab coats in hand, we brought Drinktendr, Mind Blaster, Laser graffiti, Wi-Fi Warthogs and finally Goblin XNA (augmented reality)!

Another PDC is over and I’m happily relaxing before work starts again on Monday.  Lots of announcements, free laptops for attendees (not me, sadly), and plenty of time spent in our Coding4Fun area with my project.  We even had the opportunity to take part in a live broadcast on Channel 9!  The recording for that show should be available shortly.

We had 5 fantastic projects in the Coding4Fun area this year:

Drinktendr by Clint Rutkas	Laser Graffiti by Jeremiah Morrill
Goblin XNA by Ohan Oda	Wi-Fi Warthogs by Tim Higgins

And what was my big project this year?  A fun little game titled Mind Blaster, a space shoot ‘em up game played entirely with your head!

How does one do that? Well…

This past July I found a brain-wave sensing headset from Neurosky called the MindSet.  They are now shipping headsets at $200 each and provide a free …

PDC 2009, starting November 17th, is almost upon us and I’ll be heading out to the conference once again with my Coding4Fun/Channel 9 playmates.  Anyone else heading out to the big show?

We won’t be doing a Coding4Fun session like we did last year, but I will have another fun project for people to check out in the Coding4Fun area.  I can’t give out details until after the show begins, but you can probably guess there is a Wiimote in the mix somewhere.  And some spiffy new hardware.  And maybe some XNA.  Look for the details here after the show, and an article with full source code shortly thereafter.

We also have 4 or 5 other developers with their latest and greatest projects, all of which are nothing short of incredible and put mine to shame.  I will likely be doing a compendium Coding4Fun Show with all of this year’s project authors so those not in attendance can see their incredible work.

I will also be hosting a table during lunch on Monday, …

Update 11/1/09: Session schedule is posted!  20 sessions to choose from.

The Tech Valley Code Camp is almost here!  This year’s camp will be taking place on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at SUNY Albany from 9am-3pm and is absolutely, 100% free for everyone to attend.  So far we have 18 sessions scheduled for everything from LINQ to Silverlight to iPhone development to Ruby on Rails.  I encourage all of our local developers to attend this event, and furthermore, present something to the group!  This code camp is platform agnostic, so practically software development topic would be great to present.

I’ll be presenting two sessions on Silverlight which I recently presented at VSLive Orlando 2009:

Getting Started with Silverlight
Room: CC 367
Time: 1:00pm

Microsoft Silverlight allows developers and designers to build rich cross-browser and cross-platform applications for the Web using the same tools and technologies that are familiar to .NET …

I had the extreme pleasure of being invited to and attending the Windows 7 Launch Party in New York City on October 22nd.  I went down to the city with fellow MVP Bill Pytlovany, author of the popular WinPatrol security software.  You can watch a video of the entire launch below or at the official Windows 7 press site.  Be sure to watch to the end to get a glimpse of some super-awesome hardware that takes advantage of all Windows 7 has to offer.

All in all, It was quite a day, from getting a picture with Steve Ballmer himself to meeting segment producer and occasional on-screen Late Show with David Letterman character Brian Teta who was amazed I recognized him.  Mr. Ballmer was just on his way out of the bathroom only 15 minutes before show-time when Bill and I accosted him and begged for a picture.  Frazzled though he was, he agreed and Bill snapped this...

There were plenty of awesome pieces of hardware to play with, including a ton of high-power and …

Thanks to everyone who came out to my two VSLive sessions today.  You can find the slide decks and full source code posted in my download section.  Please note that in order to save some bandwidth, I didn’t include the 125MB video file I used in my examples, but you can download that separately here.  Just unzip and copy to the Media and GPUAcceleration sample directories and build the project.

I welcome any and all questions, and especially comments/critiques.  As a speaker, I rarely, if ever, receive any formalized feedback from the session organizers, so I’d love to hear what those in attendance thought of my sessions.  Good or bad, please send it along!  Thanks!

Anyone out there heading to VSLive! Orlando this week?  I will be giving two introductory sessions on Silverlight as listed below:

Getting Started with Silverlight
Tuesday, October 6, 10:30am

Microsoft Silverlight allows developers and designers to build rich cross-browser and cross-platform applications for the Web using the same tools and technologies that are familiar to .NET developers.  This session will cover the basics of Silverlight, including basic XAML, the tools that can be used to create Silverlight applications, the controls available in the Silverlight framework, and pros and cons of Silverlight vs. other web technologies, all while building a few very simple applications demonstrating the power of the framework.

Silverlight Controls and Animations
Tuesday, October 6, 12:00pm

The Microsoft Silverlight framework contains an assortment of pre-built controls that can be used directly by your applications.  Developers can also create their own …

The recordings for the session I gave on XNA Game Studio 3.0 and the XNA Framework to the Facebook .NET Programmers Group have now been posted.  In this session, I give an overview of XNA Game Studio 3.0 and the XNA Framework while building a simple Space Invaders clone named Alien Attack.  This game is gone into even greater detail with more features in chapter 1 of our Coding4Fun book.

You can find a quick, low-res, streaming version below, or you can download and play the recording at a higher resolution in Microsoft Office Live Meeting.  I had a great time presenting the topic and hope to speak to the group again in the future!

Meeting #13 - Coding4Fun: Designing a Video Game using XNA Game Studio 3.0 from Muneeb on Vimeo.

I will be giving a session on Tuesday, June 2nd at 6pm EST to the Facebook .NET Programmers group on XNA 3.0.  This is an online session and everyone is welcome to attend.

Topic: Building a Video Game with XNA Game Studio 3.0
Abstract: This session will demonstrate how to build a very simple 2D game (a Space Invaders clone) using XNA Game Studio 3.0. Attendees will learn how to effectively use the content pipeline, import 2D sprites into XNA, manage input from the keyboard, mouse, Xbox 360 controller and Zune, manage game state, and debug the resulting game. The sample code will be built on a PC and run on the PC, Xbox 360, and Zune platforms when complete.
Date: June 2nd, 2009
Time: 6PM Eastern | 10PM GMT/UTC - Get local event time in your city: http://tinyurl.com/l9hq65
Add to Outlook: http://tinyurl.com/mpp5of
RSVP and Event Details: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=49178981206
Live Meeting Link to join meeting: http://tinyurl.com/ago484

I’ll …

Update: It looks like this is a bust.  Only 3 people have responded with interest, so I’ll just get in touch with them and we can meet up.  I’ll leave the survey open in case people were holding out on me.  :)

At the very last minute, I was lucky enough to receive a free ticket to Mix09 (thanks Jay!) and have decided to attend.  After posting about it on Twitter, Matthias Shapiro suggested that since both Johnny Lee and I will be there (Johnny’s giving a session on the Wiimote), perhaps we should have a Wiimote “hacker” get-together.  I think it would be great to get all Wiimote fans, and even fans of the Coding4Fun website/book together to put names with faces and have some fun.

Sooooo….

I’ve put together a very quick, 3-question survey to gauge interest in having a meetup and what you’d like to do.  If you’ll be attending Mix and are interested, please take the 30 seconds to fill out the survey.  I’ll move forward with the plan based on how …

At the very last minute before Scott left for Africa, Dan Fernandez and I were able to do a quick episode of Hanselminutes to promote our book.  Have a listen to learn a bit more about our book, the projects it contains, how they were developed, and some issues we ran into when trying to use some technologies in a way they weren’t intended to be used.  Head over to the main site to stream the show in your browser or download in a variety of other formats.

I’ll be presenting a session on building your own holiday musical light show using Phidget boards and .NET at this month’s Tech Valley User Group.  I’ve previously written an article about this topic on the Coding4Fun site, and there will be a full chapter on this in our upcoming “Coding4Fun: 10 .NET Programming Projects for Wiimote, YouTube, World of Warcraft, and More” book.  Here are the session details…

Hope to see you at the session!

While at PDC2008 we shot an episode of This Week on Channel 9.  If you feel the need to waste 13 minutes of your life on a PDC recap with me, Dan Fernandez, Scott Hanselman and Clint Rutkas, then this is the video for you.  I have embedded the video below, but you can also click through to the main page to watch or download the video in a variety of formats.

Read More

Well, PDC2008 is over.  I had a lot of fun, met a ton of interesting and fun people, and learned about a lot of exciting new technologies.  I hope to make it back out there next year.

Our PDC2008 session video has been posted up at Channel 9 along with the PowerPoint slide deck.  In this session you will learn about four of our current projects:  WiiEarthVR by myself, InnerTube by Dan Fernandez, TwitterVote by Clint Rutkas and BabySmash by Scott Hanselman.

If you’d like to check out the video, you can watch it “live” or download the deck and video in various formats with the following links:

• Channel 9 session page with video and slides
• WMV-HD
• WMV (not HD)
• Zune
• PowerPoint deck

Source code for all projects will be available soon and I’ll provide an update when it’s available.  WiiEarthVR will also have its own Coding4Fun article within a week or two.  InnerTube and TwitterVote are also featured in depth in our new book, “Coding4Fun: 10 …

Anyone heading out to PDC2008 this year?  I will be in attendance with (hopefully!) a new Wiimote project and perhaps a few old ones as well.  More details on that when the project is a tiny bit further.  We will also be giving away a free chapter of our new book “Coding4Fun: 10 .NET Programming Projects for Wiimote, YouTube, World of Warcraft, and More” to lucky PDC attendees at the O'Reilly booth.

I will also be co-presenting a lunch session at PDC:

Title: Coding4Fun: Windows Presentation Foundation Animation, YouTube, iTunes, Twitter, and Nintendo's Wiimote
Date/Time: Tuesday, October 28th, 12:45pm-1:30pm
Speakers: Dan Fernandez, Scott Hanselman, Brian Peek, Clint Rutkas
Room: 403AB
Abstract: Spend time with Coding4Fun authors as they walk through some DIY Development projects: TwitterVote, Wiimote, InnerTube, and BabySmash.

You can add this session to your agenda by visiting the PDC site and searching for “Coding4Fun”.

If anyone will be …

Thanks to everyone that attended my VSLive NY session.  I hope it was informative.  I have posted the slide-decks and source code for both of my sessions so you can tinker with the projects on your own.

• Creating a Simple 2D Game Using XNA Game Studio to Run on a PC, Xbox 360, or Microsoft Zune
• Interfacing External Hardware Using Managed Code

Questions and comments welcome, as always.  Thanks!

Title: Creating a Simple 2D Game Using XNA Game Studio to Run on a PC, Xbox 360 or Microsoft Zune

Date/Time: Wednesday, September 10th at 3:15pm

Description: This session will demonstrate how to build a very simple 2D game engine and game using the latest version of XNA Game Studio. Attendees will learn how to effectively use the content pipeline, import 2D sprites into XNA, manage input from the keyboard, mouse, Xbox 360 controller and Zune, manage game state, and debug the resulting game. The sample code will be built on a PC and run on the PC, Xbox 360, and Zune platforms when complete.

Title: Interfacing External Hardware Using Managed Code

Date/Time: Wednesday, September 10th at 4:45pm

Description: While developers write code to build software every day, not often are they exposed to code that drives and interfaces hardware. This session will attempt to …

I have posted the slide deck and sample code used during my Introduction to Microsoft Robotics Studio with Lego NXT session given at the Tech Valley Code Camp on April 19, 2008.  Thanks to all who attended my session and the camp.  Looking forward to the next one...

Where have I been?

Sadly, nowhere good.

My father passed away extremely unexpectedly on March 4, 2008 and life has been hectic and chaotic ever since.  I'm finally back into some sort of routine, so it's time to update here and explain what's going on outside of the unpleasantness.

First off, I've been contracted to co-author a book for O'Reilly (tentatively) titled Coding4Fun with Dan Fernandez from Microsoft.  The book will be a compendium of 10 (give or take) projects that, as the title suggests, combine fun and coding.  I'll update as we go through the process.

Secondly, I'll be presenting a session titled Introduction to Microsoft Robotics Studio with Lego NXT at the Tech Valley Code Camp this Saturday, April 19th.  If you're in the area, as always, stop by.  It should be a fun and informative day.

And finally, I will be back to work on some Wiimote goodness soon.  I was right in the middle of Guitar Hero controller support when the above …

I have posted the slide deck and sample code from my "Interfacing External Hardware Using Managed Code" session that I gave earlier this evening.  I hope everyone that attended enjoyed the presentation and got something useful out of it.  Other than the RFID hardware failing for the 2nd time on me, I thought it went well.  If you have any questions or comments, fire them over to me.

For all 0 of you planning on attending my session at the Tech Valley User Group tonight, please note that it has been rescheduled to next Tuesday, February 19 at 6:30pm due to the impending storm...

UPDATE: This event has been rescheduled to Tuesday, February 19 at 6:30pm due to the weather.

For those of you in the Capital District region of NY like myself, I'll be giving a session on how to interface external hardware using .NET at the Tech Valley .NET User Group on Tuesday, February 12 at 6:30pm.  Here's my poorly written blurb on the subject:

While developers write code to build software every day, not often are they exposed to code that drives and interfaces hardware. This session will attempt to bridge that gap and show how .NET can be used to effectively interface several hardware devices, including an RFID reader and tags, Phidget control boards with a variety of sensors, and a servo controller. Finally, the Nintendo Wiimote will be introduced along with my .NET Wiimote Library, demonstrating how to connect to a USB or Bluetooth HID device and use it from .NET, with examples showing what the Wiimote itself is capable of.

If you're in the area, please stop by and …

I will be attending this year's Maker Faire with the Coding4Fun gang.  We will have a variety of spiffy projects to play around with, including two I have done:  several "Wiimote-controlled" cars using my Managed Wiimote Library and Microsoft Robotics Studio, and a game written with my Ganksoft Entertainment cronies using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express.  So if you're in the San Mateo area, stop by May 19th and 20th and have a gander.  At only $15 for admission, there's plenty to see and do...

More details at (also linked above):

• http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun/pages/MakerFaire2007.aspx
• http://www.makerfaire.com/

Anyone heading out to Mix this year?  I'll be there once again, but this time I'll be (partly) working the Coding4Fun booth.  We should have a few interesting toys to entertain the masses between sessions.  Stop by and throw a Wiimote at my head or something.

I have posted the slide deck and all sample code shown during my "Interfacing External Hardware Using Managed Code and Microsoft Robotics Studio" session.  Thanks to everyone who attended.  Questions and comments on all are welcome!

I will be presenting Interfacing External Hardware Using Managed Code and Microsoft Robotics Studio on Thursday, April 19th at the NYC .NET Developer's Group monthly meeting, which begins at 6pm.  I'll be showing off some cool toys from the Phidgets people (an RFID reader, interface kits, sensors, etc.), how to control hobby servos and motors via a PC, and wrapping up with an introductory look at Microsoft Robotics Studio.

Come out and heckle!

Well, if you attended my session, you know that something broke with MSRS and connecting to the NXT hardware.  Just so I can prove I'm not a total idiot, I'm sitting outside the session room right now and, of course, everything is working happily.  I downloaded MSRS, did a "Repair" installation, and everything magically came back to life.  <sigh>  Oh well.

Anyway, I hope everyone was able to get something out of the session even if you didn't see the 'bot move.

As promised, I have posted the source code (C#, VPL) and the PowerPoint presentation.  You can get the materials here.  If you have any comments, questions, or anything else to say, please don't hesitate to contact me or create a post in the forum for discussion.

Enjoy, and thanks for attending!
 

I have been selected to speak at Code Camp NYC II.  I will be presenting an "Introduction to Microsoft Robotics Studio with Lego Mindstorms NXT" at 3:45pm on Saturday, March 3rd.  If that doesn't pique your interest, there will be plenty of other topics, one of which is bound to hold your interest.  If you're in the area, as always, stop by and heckle!

Register for the event here.