Creating a High-speed Loop
John Bower steps up a gear, produces a Lamborghini, and examines the process of using a high-speed function loop to create a fast-paced Silverlight application.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Silverlight-Speed Loop
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
theADOguy - Code - Data Driven Astoria Silverlight
This code is probably kinda stale (it's from last Oct) but sounds like what I was looking for awhile back.
Here's an example building a data driven site using Silverlight, AJAX and Astoria (Astoria uses the Entity Framework so that's there too).
Added 10/15/2007 Download
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Life and Death with wiimote
One application of a 3D mouse or a wiimote is in the healthcare industry, by simulating interactions with different tools, like a hammer.
The Wii Tools
Two tools, a reflex hammer and an ophthalmoscope were developed to interact with the virtual patient. Interaction with these devices is very intuitive using the wiimote.
To strike with the hammer, simply swing as though striking. You must swing hard enough that it would result in an actual strike, otherwise, it will just touch. The wiimote vibrates when a strike occurs.
Virtual Environments Projects - Brent Rossen - Spring 07
I wonder if this will work with Life and Death, the game? Time to get the scalpel out, and remember to turn the gas on.
Friday, January 11, 2008
WiiLi.org GlovePIE Wii-Mote Scripts
So I just picked up a bluetooth adapter to test out the wiimote on the PC. A bit awkward but it really does work!
Next... get it going with some FPS games... and flight simulator... and touchscreen-enable my laptop.
There are 42 pages of scripts & counting. The Google Earth one is worth checking out.
Alright, I recently got my wiimote up and working with my PC (Windows only.. no linux yet)
the main reason I wanted it was to play point blank in mame with friends.. much to my dismay, there was no half decent script to do that!
WiiLi.org GlovePIE Wii-Mote Scripts
Time to hit Active Surplus to get some IR LEDs... or maybe I'll just cough up the $20 for the sensor bar.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Microsoft Live Labs Volta Team Blog - Ignoring the architecture team
Volta is a way to ajax-ify an application with a few clicks & some minor code changes. It converts compiled MSIL .NET languages to Javascript, among other things. It has some limitations, mainly around VB. It should allow clients to change their minds about tier scaling & requirements with just a little work to change.
But what is Volta? It is probably a path from Silverlight 1.1 to Silverlight 2.0, since a core focus is not converting to Javascript, but converting from Javascript to .NET, ultimately a more powerful transition and a key driver to .NET adoption.
My question, was it named after Alessandro Volta, the guy who electrified frogs legs?
The final question that is frequently asked is how Volta relates to Silverlight. Is Volta meant to replace Silverlight? Are we trying to make JavaScript work for the same scenarios as Silverlight? Simply put, no. As others have observed, Volta is compatible with and is built to be complementary to Silverlight. The Microsft PressPass Q&A about Volta further explains that Volta is an MSIL to MSIL toolkit aimed at making writing distributed applications easier. Silverlight is an implementation of the .NET platform that therefore will automatically benefit from the advantages of the Volta toolkit. The technologies complement each other well, and we believe that amplifies and validates the importance of the complete .NET platform, including Silverlight.
All the benefits of the Volta toolkit, such as declarative tier-splitting and asynchronous programming or declarative import of JavaScript libraries into .NET, will apply to programs deployed to the Silverlight platform. In fact, we are in the process of replacing the browser helper objects used to facilitate debugging in this preview, which host the regular desktop CLR in IE and Firefox, and are replacing them instead with the Silverlight 2.0 runtime.
Cobol.NET to ... javascript?
Volta sounds interesting. Tier-targeting without reprogramming your apps.
"The freaking great and interesting part is that they've written a translator that converts MS IL to JavaScript! So then JavaScript is sent to the client side and executes in the browser," Mandalapa adds.
Mark Johnston's Blog : Silverlight training videos
Adam Kinney and co held a training day at Microsoft's campus in Redmond to help people get started and answer some fundamental questions about what the technology could do. The great news from us that don't live in the Pacific Northwest is they recorded all of the audio and video for the day and put it online.
It includes the following:
- An Introduction to Silverlight - Mithun Dhar
- Getting Started Programming Silverlight - Jesse Liberty
- Workflow of Silverlight with Expression and Visual Studio - Arturo Toledo
- Silverlight XAML - Laurence Moroney
- A Development Story - Adam Kinney
- Media, Markers and More - Ernie Booth
- Popfly and Silverlight - Adam Nathan
- Silverlight in the Future - Ernie Booth
POKE 53280,0: Pete Brown's Blog : Why I stopped my Silverlight 1.1 Work
Since there is no go-live license planned for 1.1 code, it's DOA for anyone not using it for academic purposes. Looks like we will be waiting a few more months for 2.0 to go beta.
If you want to learn Silverlight today but don't plan to deploy until 2.0 is out, what would I recommend? I recommend a two-pronged approach of learning 1.0 with JavaScript and learning how to write basic WPF XBAPs using features that Scott and others have announced will be in Silverlight. IMHO, this is the best way to prepare yourself for 2.0. Learning 1.0 will get you familiar with how the browser-based Silverlight applications work, and how they fit into larger web pages. Most importantly, you'll be able to write real production-ready code, even if it is just proof of concept. Learning the basics of WPF will prepare you for some of the things that may end up in Silverlight 2.0, as mentioned by Scott and others and will also teach you another valuable RIA platform in the process. It's win-win.
POKE 53280,0: Pete Brown's Blog : Why I stopped my Silverlight 1.1 Work
Friday, January 4, 2008
WiiMote Horse Riders Page
Need a bit more than a wrist strap for this one...
WiiMote Horse Riders Page
A Wiimote,
A Spring Horse,
Need 4 Speed,
an idea,
15 minutes of time,
our 15 minutes of fame
Build a light show
Yes this has nothing to do with Silverlight. But who wouldn't want to put a lightshow timed to music in their living room?
I finished this a bit later than I wanted to, but a brand new version of my Light Sequencer application and article is now available at Coding4Fun. You may recall my previous article on creating a musical light show for the holidays. If not, here's the video showing the output:
WiiLi.org Wiimote Laser Tag?
This stuff is just getting started...
Instructions:
Each player puts on their wireless "sensor bar" and switches it on, and they pick up their connected wiimote. Then they press "Run" on the script. Then it will warn you that you have 10 seconds before the game will start. So run and get into position.
After the 5 seconds your weapon will start to charge up. When your weapon is charging it will beep five times then make a sound and vibrate which indicates that it is ready. Also the LEDs will come on one at a time while it is charging.
The lights on your weapon will be on when your weapon is charged and ready to fire. You can also check whether you are player 1 or player 2 by holding the A button. Or you can check player 1's score by holding the 1 button, or you can check player 2's score by holding the 2 button. It stops counting once it gets to 10.
You can shoot with the B button. The default maximum firing rate is five rounds per second, but you can change that at the top of the script. It will make a sound and vibrate when you shoot. If you hit the opponent then their remote will make a loud noise and power down for 7 seconds. Their weapon will beep very quietly while it charges up again. They can't shoot during that time, and they can't be shot again either.
The score will also be shown in the debug box on the screen, if you don't want to check it with the 1 or 2 button.
Kit3D: 3D Graphics Engine for Microsoft Silverlight
Not sure if I already posted this... but it's worth a look for combining with the Nintendo wii controller for VR applications.
Kit3D is a 3D graphics engine for creating 3D content in Microsoft silverlight.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Wii-enable your living room
This is great. Imagine being able to touchscreen-enable any surface. You could touch your fridge & order more beer. Touch your couch arm & change a channel. Read and order from a menu projected on your table, with multiple people being able to order at the same time.
This is similar to the technology used in Microsoft Surface, the new tabletop computer. The difference? This one will cost you around $75 in wiiremotes and IR LEDs.
By pointing a wiimote at a projection screen or LCD display, you can create very low-cost interactive whiteboards or tablet displays
Adding bling to MS Downloads
Silverlight is coming to a Microsoft Downloads site near you.
We’re using Microsoft Silverlight technology to improve the Download Center experience and make it easier to discover and download Microsoft
Things just got interesting... Johnny does it again.
This is incredible. Basically it moves the image on the screen in tandem with your head, giving you a sense of 3D perspective. This would be crazy with flight simulators and first-person shooters.
Imagine looking to your left a bit and you are looking out the side window of the plane. Look down and you see the console. Look up and you see sky.
I gotta get a wiiremote and try this one out.
Using the infrared camera in the Wii remote and a head mounted sensor bar (two IR LEDs), you can accurately track the location of your head and render view dependent images on the screen. This effectively transforms your display into a portal to a virtual environment. The display properly reacts to head and body movement as if it were a real window creating a realistic illusion of depth and space
Friday, December 21, 2007
Nintendo Wii and Silverlight: Tracking Your Fingers - Michael's Blog
Now we're getting somewhere... the future is here and it's hacked out of a wiiremote and some reflective tape.
While writing my Silverlight wish list I found a very nice project. Johnny Ching Lee is using the controller (Wiimote) of the Nintendo Wii to track fingers. The controller does not need the Nintendo Wii console, simple the controller and a bluetooth connection is enough. Combining this project with WPF or Silverlight would be the answer of one of my wishes. (Well, I know what I will try during the holidays.)
Nintendo Wii and Silverlight: Tracking Your Fingers - Michael's Blog
Monday, December 10, 2007
Bill Gates on Flash and Silverlight (Conversation Part IV) » BIT-101 Blog
Bill talks about about where Silverlight is headed (cash investment in cool technology = results?) and what the model is (designers + results = cash influx?)
So, the choice is much more at the designer level, and I don’t know whether we’ll — we’re just investing in it, we think it’s a really great thing. Scott knows a hundred times more about it than I do.
But what is the model? Is it just going to be better than Flash, and take share away at the designer level? Is it going to be better at certain things like when you want programming logic related to it because we’re very good at that? Will it be better just in the Windows environment and about the same everywhere else, because we’re good at doing that integration? It’s hard to say.
Bill Gates on Flash and Silverlight (Conversation Part IV) » BIT-101 Blog
Just replace "It's hard to say" with "yes" and "we're just investing in it" with "we're planning on taking market share from Adobe, or at least giving them a headache."
All of a sudden Adobe needs to start focusing less on core features and more on a defensive or offensive strategy against an incumbent technology.
One way Adobe is investing to fight back? People capital. People who are working on cutting edge technology like Bilateral Filtering and 3D TV.
People capital is something Microsoft has plenty of too, and with Scott knowing a hundred times more than Bill Gates they could be a force to be reckoned with... or maybe just a thorn in Adobe's side.
Anyway, Silverlight has Ice Cube's attention. NWA, MLB and now the NBA too. So it's not just People Capital that's important, it's Market Share, and Adobe seems to be sharing more of that market with Microsoft lately.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Free Silverlight and WPF Training - Baekdal.com
Here is your chance to really learn about Silverlight and WPF. Lynda.com has published 4.5 hours of Silverlight training videos to get you started - presented by Mike Harsh from Microsoft's Silverlight team.
You can also find several hours of training video at the official Silverlight learning site, and you can see 20 hours WPF training video over at MIX University.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Street Cred? Ice Cube's UVNTV.com Goes Live with Silverlight
Two weeks ago, I went down to Hollywood to meet with a very exciting team who is creating a TV experience on the web using Silverlight. Musician/Actor Ice Cube and his team talk about the web site in a short video that I recorded at Ice Cube's CubeVision Production Company office. If you watch the video, you'll see my boss Carlos McKinley there wearing the white shirt. Here's the video clip that I uploaded to video.msn.com.
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