The details are finally in place for the beginnings of the Raleigh/Durham Dot Net User Experience / Silverlight group. We will be meeting on Tuesday April 22, 2008 at 6:00 PM. We will be meeting at 1143 Executive circle, suite H, Cary, NC 27511.

[*****pushpin estimated may not be exact]

Please help us spread the word! If you know of people working with or interested in Silverlight/WPF in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area please forward this along.

What is the purpose of a new group?

The purpose of the group is to bring together individuals who share an interest in exploiting the Microsoft .NET platform to create Rich Interactive Applications that provide the end user with the best possible user experience. We will be focusing on  using technologies such as Silverlight, WPF, etc., as well as the related design user experience topics that are related.

Who should attend?

As suggested above, the audience really isn't limited to any type of individual; however, for the sake of providing "labels", the group is targeting Microsoft Silverlight / WPF / Expression  developer and designer audience. While we will be started off with some basics of Silverlight, the goal of the group is going to be to focus more on intermediate and advanced topics. We will be working jointly with the Triangle .Net User Group (www.trinug.org) which is starting to offer a Silverlight 101 focus group.

Where do I sign up?

There are a number of logistical issues that we need to work out getting this group going, such as a website, etc. If you are planning attend the next meeting, please leave a comment or drop me an email so that we can plan for numbers and hopefully have some discussions beforehand on what people would like to see.

What will be covered?

At the first session I will be presenting some work I have been doing relating to styling and Control Templates in  Silverlight 2 controls and have a Q&A. At that time we will also get some ideas of what we'd like to see in future events.

Why DNUX?

I met Cory Smith who has started the DNUX (www.dnux.org) groups in the Dallas Texas area and I thought the idea was brilliant. While our initial topics will likely be Silverlight related, I did not want to bind us complete to one technology. Dot Net User Experience provides a much better description of the direction I'd like to see. Hopefully I'll find him again so I can official ask to "borrow" the name idea.

Posted in Silverlight | wpf  | Comments [1] 

I've been talking with a number of people about starting a Silverlight focused group here in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. If you're interested, se if you can come out to the presentation I'm giving for the Triangle .Net User Group Web Applications SIG on Wednesday and we can maybe chat afterwards as well about setting another meeting up later in April. I'm thinking maybe April 22nd, 24th, or 29th?

On the topic of SIlverlight meetings.... I think there are a few of us that may soon need a local meeting more like this....

Silverlight Rehab - You're not alone

Stay out of the dark and go into the light!

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

If you're interested in some FREE Silverlight 2 training, on Wednesday evening (April 2, 2008 6:00 pm) I will be giving a presentation on Silverlight 2 Controls for the Triangle .Net User Group's(TRINUG) Web Application SIG. The meeting is being held at Compuware in Durham, NC. I'll be covering the controls currently included in Silverlight 2, as well as creating User Controls and Custom Controls, and also styling and skinning existing controls.

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [1] 

It's going to be an interesting week ahead, with a number of events in the developer world. On Wednesday Feb 27th, Microsoft will begin the "Global Wave" of launch events around the world, starting with a large scale event in Los Angeles. At this event we will see Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 officially launched.

One week later is the Microsoft MIX08 conference where it is anticipated that Microsoft will be showing Silverlight 2 and IE8 for the first time, as well as well as updates to Visual Studio and futures such as the MVC Framework.  (Note that it's apparently "Silverlight 2" now and not Silverlight 2.0. ScottGu has given a few preview details on his blog) I get the feeling that there are a lot of other exciting announcements in the pipe that are being held back and will be made between or during these events. (There is also the TED conference that could preview some new things from Microsoft Research)

Not to be left out of the picture, It also sounds like Adobe will be fighting for attention next week as well as they are expected to release Flex 3 and AIR. We'll save the Flash vs Silverlight debate for another day, but the important fact is that competition in this space is really heating up.

There has been a lot of debate about the future of RIA (Rich Internet Applications or Rich Interactive Applications, or as I prefer to think of it, a way to get Rich on the Internet Again), and what the impact really will be. There are some camps that feel that HTML + JavaScript will be as far as mainstream development goes within the browsers. Personally while I do not think that in the near future every html based site will cease to exist and be replaced by a Silverlight or Flash applications, I do think that these technologies represent some major opportunities for existing sites to add some dramatic enhancements without completely replacing everything that is. My hope is not that we see more of the same, but get to experience some real innovations in user interfaces and the way that information is presented to us.

While some developers/admin users have claimed that they are not willing to install the runtimes for these environments, the reality is that most end users want more interactivity and will gladly click Next, Yes, Yes, Next at the prospect of doing something cool. If the download is quick, and relatively easy they will install it.Smart developers will use ways of gradually introducing enhanced features into their sites.

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

Tonight Microsoft took the covers off of the new ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions Preview and the ASP.NET MVC Toolkit

While I'm extremely excited by the new ASP.NET MVC (Model View Controller) I could not overlook the Silverlight Controls for ASP.NET that make it easy to integrate the rich behavior of Silverlight into a web application. It provides an updated MediaPlayer Server Control  and Silverlight Server control.

The MediaPlayer Server Control allows you to integrate media sources into your web project without any knowledge of XAML or Javascript using pre-built skins, or by referencing custom XAML skins.

<asp:MediaPlayer runat="server" 
  AutoPlay="true|false" 
  ScaleMode="None|Zoom|Stretch" 
  EnableCaptions="true|false" 
  Height="height" 
  MediaSkin="skinName" 
  MediaSource="URL" 
  Muted="true|false" 
  PlaceholderImageSource="URL" 
  PluginBackColor="color" 
  Volume="volume" 
  Width="width" 

  OnClientChapterStarted="functionName" 
  OnClientCurrentStateChanged="functionName" 
  OnClientMarkerReached ="functionName" 
  OnClientMediaEnded ="functionName" 
  OnClientMediaFailed ="functionName" 
  OnClientMediaOpened ="functionName" 
  OnClientVolumeChanged="functionName" 

  <Chapters> 
    <asp:MediaChapter Position="index" Title="title" 
      ThumbnailImageSource="URL" /> 
  </Chapters> 
</asp:media>

The Silverllight Server Control allows you to reference your own XAML. The control also references client JavaScript files associated with the XAML.

<asp:Silverlight runat="server" 
     ClientType="ClientType"
     EnableHtmlAccess="true|false"
     EnableFrameRateCounter="true|false"
     EnableRedrawRegios="true|false"
     InitParamsters="parameters"
     InstallationMode="None|Inline|Linked"
     MaxFrameRate="rate"
     PluginBackColor="color"
     Source="XamlSource"
     Version="version"
     Windowless="true|false"
     ScaleMode="None|Zoom|Stretch"
     OnClientPluginError="functionName"
     OnClientPluginResized="functionName"
     OnClientPluginLoaded="functionName"
     OnClientPluginFullScreenChanged ="functionName"
</asp:Silverlight>

More on this later... now onto the MVC...

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

In a very insightful post, Scott Guthrie detail the current .Net web roadmap. Of particular interest is the Silverlight related text. First of all, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU for officially re-branding taking Silverlight 1.1 to Silverlight 2.0. As somebody that's given numerous talks, the confusion that existed between 1.0 and 1.1 in conjunction with all of the other version  numbers floating around became a little much. Silverlight 2.0 makes things a lot easier to explain.

In Scott's post, he details many specific new features that we can look forward to, hopefully in another preview release later this year before the beta next year. His highlights include:

• WPF UI Framework: The current Silverlight Alpha release only includes basic controls support and a managed API for UI drawing.  The next public Silverlight preview will add support for the higher level features of the WPF UI framework.  These include: the extensible control framework model, layout manager support, two-way data-binding support, and control template and skinning support.  The WPF UI Framework features in Silverlight will be a compatible subset of the WPF UI Framework features in last week's .NET Framework 3.5 release.

• Rich Controls: Silverlight will deliver a rich set of controls that make building Rich Internet Applications much easier.  The next Silverlight preview release will add support for core form controls (textbox, checkbox, radiobutton, etc), built-in layout management controls (StackPanel, Grid, etc), common functionality controls (TabControl, Slider, ScrollViewer, ProgressBar, etc) and data manipulation controls (DataGrid, etc).

• Rich Networking Support: Silverlight will deliver rich networking support.  The next Silverlight preview release will add support for REST, POX, RSS, and WS* communication.  It will also add support for cross domain network access (so that Silverlight clients can access resources and data from any trusted source on the web).

• Rich Base Class Library Support: Silverlight will include a rich .NET base class library of functionality (collections, IO, generics, threading, globalization, XML, local storage, etc).  The next Silverlight preview release will also add built-in support for LINQ to XML and richer HTML DOM API integration.

The most important part in my opinion is the official introduction of controls, layout, and binding support. A lot of people having been doing some very creative work on these to show the potential, but we've all been anxiously awaiting the official story. When you look at the sample sites of control vendors like Telerik, Component One, Infragistics, etc you can see the power that exists. Having the official base to build these on will just expand this potential.

Reading that "compatible subset of the WPF UI Framework" is music to my ears! This will make it extremely easy for organizations working with WPF/XAML today to instantly be productive with Silverlight. For people considering the technology, this gives you even more return potential for the learning and training investment required.

Having a Go-Live license in Q1 is also great news! It's been difficult to see the power, but not really be able to put it to use yet,

Great job to everybody that's been working on this, I can't wait to get my hands dirty on some new bits. (please be soon!)

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

I meant to blog this last week when I noticed the announcement during the Silverlight DevCamp in DC that ComponentOne had released an Alpha Preview of their Silverlight 1.1 control framework.

I've been following along with great anticipation as they seem to have one of the most complete control solutions. We're all still anxiously awaiting the official Silverlight control story is going to be, C1 is certainly showing how great the potential is.

You can learn more and signup for the alpha release here:

http://labs.componentone.com/Sapphire/

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

Microsoft has always been involved in the developer community, but it's great to see the new ideas and innovations that are taking place to spread the word on new technologies.

The latest includes a number of Microsoft DE's (Some that I've been privileged to meet recently. I met Lynn and Woody at the INETA Leadership Summit out in LA earlier this fall and I met Anand at Dev Connections last week following his MOST EXCELLENT Silverlight demo during the keynote)

Introducing Code Trip....

Put 8 developers in an RV and send them across the country to talk code. Sounds like a blast! I haven't seen the schedule, but I hope they make it out East to Raleigh NC, or I manage to end up somewhere along the route. It's definitely going to be a fun bunch to follow! (Twitter: http://twitter.com/codetrip Facebook: join the group RSS: Subscribe To The Feed)

I'm hopeful that they be sure to drop in on any INETA User Group meetings along the way. I'm sure most groups would throw together a special event while they're in town.

Posted in Rant | Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

 This morning after stuffing us with bagels and coffee, Frank La Vigne kicked off SilverlightDevCampDC. Frank started the day with a intro to SIlverlight keynote, followed by local Microsoft DE Andrew Duthie.

Pete Brown is now sharing some of his Silverlight 1.1 control experiences from his Carbon Calculator (Which was done in collaboration with Raleigh local Steve Suing).

More later... I hear the pizza is here!

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

I just wanted to thank Ben and everybody else from the Raleigh Adobe User Group tonight for inviting me in to speak on Silverlight. It was a interesting to hear your questions and get your perspectives on the whole RIA space and have informed comments on both sides of the Flash,Flex/ Silverlight camps.

In honor of the event I have posted a special Silverlight version of the RDAUG logo in XAML as shown in my demo. Enjoy: 

If you're interested in Flex, Flash, and other Adobe products check out the groups website for a list of future meetings. They're also looking for some meeting space if anybody around can help them out.

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

Last week Microsoft opened the Popfly Beta site up to the public. Popfly is a "fun and easy way to build and share mashups, gadgets, and Web pages". Basically it provides you with an online Silverlight based visual development environment that includes a variety of building blocks that you can use to build your own creations. Check it out: http://www.popfly.ms

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

If you're looking to get some great hands on Silverlight training, Wildermuth Consulting in cooperation with Dunn Training is bringing Shawn Wildermuth's Three Day Silverlight Workshop to a city near you!

"This includes learning the ins and outs of XAML, hosting in the browser, the tools and using Silverlight on the server. The class utilizes Silverlight 1.0 and Silverlight 1.1 Alpha as well as the latest toolset from Microsoft (including Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 (Orcas) and Expression Studio)."

Tell them Rob sent you!

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

Not to be outdone by San Francisco, Chicago , or even Dublin, Ireland Frank is putting together a Silverlight DevCamp up in the DC area on November 3, 2007. I am so there!!! If you're in the Carolina's and want to head up let me know. I've offered to present, but mostly look forward getting a group of excited Silverlight enthusiasts together. 

Watch here and Frank's Blog for more info!

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

I can't believe I didn't see this sooner. Great work Loren!!! Silverlight client that sends ink back to a recognition server and then uses the results. Brilliant!

http://www.tabletpcpost.com/search/

Posted in Silverlight | TabletPC  | Comments [1] 

At last nights Triangle .Net User Group meeting, during the opening code sharing session I showed one of the demos from www.silverlight.net site. (If you are doing anything with Silverlight, or wanting to understand more of what Silverlight can do this site is a must!)

One of the videos posted by Laurence Moroney shows the use of using query string parameters to generate dynamic Silverlight XAML. There is a VIDEO and the original sample here: http://silverlight.net/learn/learnvideo.aspx?video=113

I modified the original demo to also dynamically modify an image control to display the appropriate flag of the country of the customer queried from the NorthWind database.

To do this I simply added an image tag and placeholder information to the XAML template:

<Image x:Name="imgCountry" Source="images/ms.jpg" Width="155" Height="155" Canvas.Left="8" Canvas.Top="72">

I then modified the code in the data.aspx.cs file to include:

xNode = xmlDoc.SelectSingleNode("//d:Image[@x:Name='imgCountry']", mng);
 xNode.Attributes["Source"].Value = "images/" + myReader["Country"].ToString() + ".jpg";

These changes instruct the Silverlight template to point to the appropriate flag image. I downloaded a number of flag images from wikipedia.

I further modified the XAML template to include a basic animation of the flag that results in the following (XAML template is here)

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

Next Tuesday (July 31) I will be presenting on Silverlight to the PTNUG user group in Greensboro, NC. If you're in the area, come out and say hi!

Looking Into the Light – An Introduction to Silverlight 1.0

Silverlight™ is a new Microsoft® technology for delivering rich, cross-platform interactive experiences for the Web and beyond. Silverlight™ enables the creation of rich, visually stunning and interactive content and applications that run on multiple browsers and operating systems. In this session, learn more about the benefits from a developer perspective and get an introduction to building applications using XAML, JavaScript and Microsoft developer and designer tools.

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [1] 

In addition to the local .NET fun that takes place at the Triangle .Net User Group, I'm looking to get a group of interested people together on a regular basis to take a somewhat more focused and advanced look into WPF and Silverlight. If you are in the area and working with WPF, Silverlight, Blend, or related topics I would be very interested in hearing from you. I'm especially interested in people coming at the from more of the design side than the typical developer would. If you're interested, please leave a comment or drop me a note. If you have space and would like to host such a meeting, please let me know as well!

Posted in Silverlight | wpf  | Comments [0] 

For some Silverlight fun, check out Zero Gravity from Terralever

Endless fun!

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

A big blog world welcome to Jeremy and his new blog!!! http://www.myblogon.net

If you missed his Ajax/Silverlight demo from CodeCampRDU check out the details in his latest post. Great stuff!

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

The great folks at Dunn Training and Consulting in Atlanta have just announced their first 3 day Silverlight training workshop. The agenda for the event looks pretty thorough, including content on both Silverlight 1.0 and Silverlight 1.1 (Now Silverlight 2.0). If you or your team wants to get a step ahead on Silverlight, check it out!

http://www.dunntraining.com/SilverlightTraining.htm

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

Inspired by Kevin Moore's WPF FlipTile3D Bag-Of-Tricks demo from Mix I decided to play around with a Silverlight version of rotating canvas transforms based on mouse positions. The math still needs a little work on the close proximity movement. The demo is available at http://www.robzelt.com/Silverlight/FlipTile and the source is available here

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

My first Silverlight 1.0 demo application created from scratch is now up and running. In a simple start, I've taken our Triangle .Net User Group logo, converted it to XAML and animated it when you MouseOver each of the letters.

Try it out at http://www.robzelt.com/Silverlight/TrinugLogo

You can download the source here

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

MIX07 has come and gone, and I can hardly wait until MIX08. It was great to see some of those old "conference friends" that I only get to see at events like this. The event also allowed me the opportunity to meet many more new contacts! Thanks to everybody that took the time to stop, chat, and share your expertise.

If you have been following the news from the event, you will know that the announcements were simply stunning. The buzz generated by Silverlight was unreal. To hear so many experts in the industry talking about how this changes the web was surreal. There is no doubt that Microsoft has a RIA (Rich Internet Application) strategy and they are executing it with skill. Look out web!

Ya, ya.. It's great that it runs on a Mac. Yes to be clear, the Silverlight .Net CLR now runs cross browser/cross platform on the Mac. What I find most impressive however is how they have brought so many of these new technologies together in one "developer ecosystem". That's the part that I really think the nay sayers don't get, is what that means to be able to develop the server, desktop (tablet, umpc), client (web, mobile device.. ) all using the same tools, the same languages. It's about productivity, scalability, and reliability.

As a developer that has been investing heavily in learning the new world of WPF, WCF, and AJAX, this has been a great validation that those efforts are worth while.

As for Mix.....

My absolute favorite session was the very last session of the conference, Kevin Moore's XD009 - Windows Presentation Foundation for Developers (Part 2 of the talk that Rob Relyea started which is darn good too!) (Video of the session is available here) We hear so much about designers these days, and developer designer work flow, you wonder if the role of the developer is getting lost. Well Kevin clearly shows why "Developers Still Matter". First, I need to say that there are few things more exciting than hearing somebody present on a topic they are truly passionate about. For Kevin, WPF is obviously more than just a job. His session shows how developers can create code to work for better for designers (or developers) working with it from XAML, but also goes on to show how much further a developer can take things. Kevin has updated his "Bag of Tricks" samples which continue to be one of the best reference samples out there for WPF.

Also on the last day, a conference just would not be complete without hearing Don Box. Steve Maine and Don Box held court to a packed house for their "Navigating the Programmable Web" talk, a deep dive into "GET". (Why does Don always need a "code monkey"? Can't he type?) The showed some coolness with the new UriTemplate class that at the time was soon to be released, but has now been released as part of the new Biztalk SDK  (That apparently isn't only about Biztalk). To remain cool and in the spirit of MIX, they did code their demo using a WPF app. (But didn't use WPF to host their WCF service. Slackers!

Other highlights were the sessions by Robby Ingebretsen and the Identity Mine crew (If you do WPF, Blendables are a must see!), Scott Stanfield from Vertigo and their Family.Show reference app, and last but not least on my favorites list was Sam George in his Ink on the Web using Silverlight talk. Way cool!

If you didn't make MIX07, or did and couldn't attend all of the sessions you wanted to, the videos are all online at http://sessions.visitmix.com

Posted in Silverlight | wpf  | Comments [1] 

One of the very many cool announcements from Microsoft MIX07 is the Microsoft® Silverlight™ Streaming Service available at http://Silverlight.live.com . In a nut shell, it gives you 4gb of space to stream media from! Officially...

"Microsoft® Silverlight™ Streaming by Windows Live™ is a companion service for Silverlight that makes it easier for developers and designers to deliver and scale rich media as part of their Silverlight applications. The service offers web designers and developers a free and convenient solution for hosting and streaming cross-platform, cross-browser media experiences and rich interactive applications that run on Windows™ and Mac. Combined with the ability to create content with Microsoft® Expression Studio and other 3rd party tools, Web designers and content publishers wishing to integrate Silverlight applications into their online properties can enjoy complete control of the end user experience."

This is a great way to get started with media for Silverlight without having to store the content. This service works hand in hand with Microsoft Expression Media Encoder as well. If you're doing, or thinking of doing video on the web, this is a must see.

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

From Michael Arrignton @ www.techcrunch.com

"It makes Flash/Flex look like an absolute toy."

"without exaggeration, Ajax looks like a bicycle next to a Ferrari when compared to Silverlight"

Posted in Silverlight  | Comments [0] 

In less than 24 hours I will be on an airplane heading towards Las Vegas to attend Mix07, the Microsoft conference that brings together the pocket protectors, turtle necks, and suits (Developers, Designers, and Business Decision Makers) of the world to discuss the future technology of the web and hear from "some of the most successful and innovative practitioners on the Web".

If you're not able to attend MIX07 which sold out early, be sure to pay attention to the www.visistmix.com website:

"Starting on Monday morning, we’re going to be updating this page continually – people at home will be able to see all of the news, fun, live keynotes, sessions and partner demos coming out of the show."

As I've said before, I'm really looking forward to MIX07. MIX06 was great, and provided me with a lot of inspiration to dig into the new technologues of WPF, WCF, and AJAX. It also opened my eyes to a world of opportunities developing for Media Center.

I truly think that WPF and Silverlight are going to positively change the status quo in computing today, allowing us as developers to truly write software that people love. And I'm not just talking about flashy special effects programs with little core value, but to allow us to really focus on make user interaction truly makes sense for a given task.

One of the many sessions I'm looking forward to is Scott Stanfield from Vertigo Software taking dive into their new WPF reference application Family.Show that was developed for Microsoft.

Posted in Silverlight | wpf  | Comments [0] 

With the rollout of a new website, Micrososft shares more of the vision.

"Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs) for the Web."

http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/

I look forward to MIX07 as more details are announced:

from Soma's blog: "Silverlight announcement at NAB is only part of the story, the rest will be unveiled at MIX including details about how Silverlight is a core component of Microsoft’s broader .NET platform. Keep your eyes on Mix07 as part of Ray Ozzie’s and Scott Guthrie’s keynote – be sure to check it out. "

Posted in wpf | Silverlight  | Comments [0]