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

I couldn't wait any longer.  I needed to have this phone.  So I found one on Amazon and with One Click purchase, the phone was on its way to me.  I'm talking about my new HTC Touch HD Windows Mobile 6.1 cell phone.  It is, without a doubt, the BEST Windows Mobile phone I have ever had or seen.  It is an iPhone killer.  It rocks!!!  I've had it for a day and I can tell that we're going to have lots of fun together.  If you haven't seen the articles already, HTC is not shipping the Touch HD in the states.  I had to buy it through a company that sells the unlocked unit on Amazon.  And yes, I paid more than any other phone I own, but we're only talking about ~$200 more.

The phone that this one is replacing is the HTC Tilt.  It's been a good phone for me, not great but good.  My biggest complaint is that it drops calls on me too often.  It has all the standard items I expect in a phone these days.  GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, camera, etc.  The HTC Touch HD has all these features plus a few more.

Pros

• Big 480 x 800 Display - my two oldest sons like to watch videos with me on the phone
• G-Sensors - accelerometers that give us orientation info.  It comes with a labrynth game and level app that shows off the G-Sensors nicely
• 5 megapixel camera on the back of the phone
• 1.3 megapixel camera on front of phone for video conferencing
• TouchFLO 3D from HTC is a sweet interface
• 512 mb Flash built-in
• Package came with an 8 Gb micro SD card
• Dropped my AT&T SIM card in and it just worked

Con

• 3G doesn't work here in the states with this phone...  I'm stuck with Edge.  However I believe that the pros seriously outweigh the con.  Actually, where my family and I live, we only get Edge anyway.  We have to go to either Milwaukee or Madison to start getting 3G coverage.  When I'm at home, I connect the phone to WiFi and get high speed Internet.  When I'm on the road, I rarely have the need to stream media so Edge is working for me fine.  I would have liked to get 3G on this phone but I can deal without it for now.

I would truly like to know what the reason is for the delay in the US.  It is my understanding that the US is not as big of a market than Asia so we're not high on the list of getting the latest phone tech.  Plus, as I understand it, our cellphone infrastructure is seriously lacking here.  Can someone explain why that is to me?

For now, I'm going to work on writing apps for this new phone and try to take advantage of the hardware.  I'll post the articles as I finish them.

The Touch HD comes with a labrynth game that uses the accelerometers.

The five megapixel camera is excellent. I can take stills and videos in widescreen.

I took a pic of the Touch HD next to my iPod. As you can see the Touch HD is bigger and has a larger display. Best of all, I can write apps in .NET.

I recently had the misfortune of spending a few days with my son at the Children's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  My one month old son contracted a virus and had a temperature of 101.  It was very scary and I don't recommend it to anyone.  However once his temperature went down and we all breathed a sigh of relief, I saw something pretty cool at the Children's Hospital.  They have a robot named Tug that drives autonomously around the hospital delivering and picking up medical supplies.

He's a five foot tall robot and is made up to look like a train.  He toots and whistles as he's coming down the hall.  He has a large storage compartment that can be accessed from the back.  He comes with several sensors to detect obstacles.  Of course he has wireless networking capabiiltes which he can use to call the elevator to pick him up and take him to a different floor.  He's very courteous and moves over to the right so he doesn't take up the whole hallway.  He tells people around him what he's doing like turning around or waiting for the elevator so that they can move over.  I thought that was excellent.  I didn't really want to be at the Children's Hospital but it was neat seeing the robot.

It's been busy at our house now that we just had our fourth child.  We're still adjusting to the chaos.  I haven't had as much time to finish the articles that I'm currently working on.  So I decided that I would post an article that I previously worked on from my other site.  It's a cool article on how to draw bezier curves on the .NET Compact Framework.  I'm also working on some new graphics articles for Windows Mobile so it is worthwhile content.

Drawing and Filling Bezier Curves on the Compact Framework

It is with great pride I announce the arrival of my fourth child, Everett Eugene Feirtag.  He was born on Sunday, May 17th at 7:30pm.  He was named in honor of his grandfather, Eugene Feirtag.  My father has showed me what it means to be a good father and take care of your family.  Everett is the youngest of four children, with two brothers and one sister.  He is also the 17th and youngest grandchild to his grandparents, Nora and Eugene Feirtag.

I posted a new article called WPF Scrolling Content with Flicks and Gestures.  I had been looking for a way to scroll content without a scroll bar.  So I started with a ScrollViewer control in WPF and added a StackPanel with Images.  The article shows how to scroll content by clicking directly on the image content.  And it shows how to animate the content scrolling with flicks.  I included gesture feature to zoom the main image.  Take a look at the video and tell me what you think....   Enjoy!!