I just posted an article at Code Project for Multi-Touch Robot Control on Windows 7 using Visual Studio 2010 beta 2 and WPF 4.0.  All the source code is available for download.  First time I've posted to Code Project.  It was relatively easy to do.

I loaded a video up to YouTube so you can see the app running with the NXT robot.

I've got Windows 7 - 64 bit Ultimate running on my HP quad core laptop with 8GB of RAM and it's running great.  Here is a list of what is currently running, what I'm doing and a pict of the current task manager performance graph.  It's not even up to 50% capacity.  Sweet... 

• Internet Explorer 8.0 - Adding blog entry
• Outlook - checking email
• Windows Explorer - backing up files to my server, FTP'd to remote server and copying files
• Live Messenger - instant messaging friends
• Microsoft Online Services
• Windows Virtual PC - Windows XP vpc which is VPN'd into client network, running remote desktop connected to remote server, running SQL Server, Analysis services, and VS2008
• TextPad
• Paint.NET - editing photo
• Snipping Tool - screen capture
• Win Amp - playing my MP3s with visualizations rendering
• SQL Server Management Studio - connected to SQL Server 2008, running queries
• Visual Studio 2008 - working on SSIS project

If you have no game development experience, I found a nice, simple online resource from a class at the University of the West of England, Bristol from the Bristol Institute of Technology that uses C# and XNA Framework.  The professors, Bob Lang and Mark Palmer, provide slides in PDF, worksheets and lecture information for you to work through their lessons.  You're not going to create the next, great first person shooter with these lessons, but they will give you a nice foundation to build upon.  It is a good beginner's class on the fundamentals of game design.

Coding for Game Development from the Bristol Institute of Technology

Another year is coming to a close.  It's been an up and down year for myself and my family.  The best part of 2009 was the birth of our fourth child, Everett.  He's the best, youngest child anyone could ask for.  He is usually happy and ready to give you a great big smile.  My kids are definitely the best part of my life.  Now I'm ready for a new year and the challenges that await.  I thought I'd post my list of technologies that I will focus on in 2010.  There are so many interesting technologies and ideas out there to learn about and work on but there is only so much time in the day.  So I need to focus on the ones that interest me the most (right now).  I like the phrase "It's like drinking from a fire hose..." when it comes to learning about all the technologies that are out there.  So here's what I'm planning to work on in 2010.

Technologies I want to improve my skills in, develop with and write articles on during 2010

• Business Intelligence with Microsoft SQL Server 2008
• Multi-touch interfaces
• WPF
• XNA
• Windows CE
• .NET Micro Framework
• Robotics

I should probably try to narrow the list down even further but I really want to do at least one article and/or project in each of these technologies. Happy New Year to everyone and I hope all your New Year goals are achieved.

I've loaded up VS2010 beta 2 and TFS2010 beta 2 onto my server.  First impressions, what an easy install for both apps.  I mean really easy.  TFS2010 installed in about 30 minutes and is fully operational.  Already connected and creating projects.   That was very cool.  The more I use VS2010, the more I'm getting hooked.  However, the biggest issue for me with VS2010 b2 is that there is currently NO support for smart devices.  I was told by Angela from Microsoft that the Win Mobile team is about two months behind on plug-in for VS2010 so don't expect something until February or later.

I was told yesterday at a Microsoft event in Waukesha that March 22, 2010 is the launch date of the new tools.  I watched presentations from on the new testing tools coming from Microsoft.  Looks interesting, if you are working in an dev environment that has dedicated testers.  The down side is that the tools will NOT be included in MSDN subscription which means that they probably won't be adopted by many companies any time soon.

I've been notified by Microsoft that my Code7Contest entry, Win 7 in my Truck, placed in the top three in North America.  I won a Code7Contest award and a free laptop.  I didn't get the free trip to PDC but I'm pretty pleased with taking a runner-up prize.  They will be sending me my nifty Code7Contest award.  Once I get it I'll have to take a pic and post it.

My entry for the Code7Contest was putting Windows 7 in my truck.  I own a 09 Toyota Tundra.  I put a laptop mount in the truck and attached my HP Touchsmart tx2 tablet.   I use it as a platform to capture sensors and location information as I'm driving.  In addition to sensors and video attached to the laptop, I also access the OBD II port on my vehicle to capture the data that my truck computers/sensors are generating.  Other features of the app was to read documents using TTS to me as I'm driving and synchronize with my HomeGroup.  I also used voice recognition to have the app quiz me.  Biggest issue there was getting accurate recognition in a noisy vehicle with a desktop mic.  I will be looking at ways to improve that.

The contest rules required me to create a video that was no longer than 3 minutes and/or 10MB file size so I'm not able to show all the functionality.    They don't provide a direct link to the video I uploaded to their site so I've uploaded the video to YouTube for your viewing pleasure.  Watch for more videos on YouTube showing more of the app's functionality.

As usual, I'm behind the technology times.  I found these free how-to videos that were posted online a year ago.  I should have been watching these a long time ago.  For the past year and a half on the previous project I was using Oracle database.   Now I'm working on a new project where we're using SQL Server 2008 Analysis and Reporting Services.  So far it's been very cool.   These videos have been helpful in drilling down into the details.  I hope you find them useful.

SQL Server 2008 How-To Videos

Microsoft has finally released Windows Mobile 6.5 to manufacturers.  Coming this fall, you can expect to start seeing new devices and upgrades to existing devices with the new OS.  There is a new look and feel for the mobile OS and new features added.  I'm doing a presentation at the Madison .NET User Group on Windows Mobile 6.5.  I will be discussing the new features and looks.  Some Windows mobile devices are being shipped with sensors such as accelerometers.  I will be showing how you can access this in your applications.   In addition, I will be talking about the contest Microsoft is sponsoring called Race To Market Challenge for Windows Mobile.  You had better get your mobile application done so that you can enter, win the contest and get access to 30+ million potential buyers for your app.

Finished up my contract at Covance on Friday and I was all set to get time off to do some things around the house and for my business.  But then somebody came along and asked me to start working on their project right away.  Difficult to turn down a new project just cuz I want to get some painting done.  The new project is working with a company in Minneapolis called Jobs2Web.  Finally getting back to SQL Server 2008 on this new project.  We were using Oracle database at Covance.  Something else I'm looking forward to is using instant messaging again.  Covance is ultra secure when it comes to accessing the outside world.  Something about not wanting client data to fall into the wrong hands :)  The strip searches were kind of fun though... jk