Microsoft's Big Secret Announcement Revealed

In case you missed it, Microsoft's big secret press conference is about the "Surface", a new tablet pc.

From what I gather, the specs are something like this (this list doesn't have everything in it, but it does have the good stuff):

• "perimeter venting" for keeping the PC cool
• stylus (with digital ink )
• 10.6" screen
• Clear Type full HD display
• HDMI is built in
• Front and rear cameras
• 9.3mm thin
• detachable (thin) keyboard with trackpad, which is actually built-in to the tablet pc cover
• Windows 8

Here's the full specs of the device (thanks Major Nelson): http://www.microsoft.com/global/surface/en/us/renderingassets/surfacespecsheet.pdf


Here's a video about the Surface:



No word yet on the price of the Surface though. You can read more about the Surface here: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/whatissurface.aspx

If you don't want to wait for the Surface to come out and want to try out Windows 8 now, the latest preview version out, the Release Preview, is the last version before the gold release (in other words, the next build of Windows 8 will be the official released version). If you have a spare partition on your hard drive, go ahead and try it out. A reminder to always backup anything important on your hard drive before doing something major like this.

If you have any questions or comments about speculation and rumors related to this new tablet pc, feel free to voice them in the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com. You can also ask me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed as well.

While you're watching the press conference or reading about it, try some Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase). Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop). For the summer, they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea (use the same link above or picture below to purchase). Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well.

Feel free to try out my apps for Windows Phone: Mobile Media Manager, a media player app I made which has some features which (I feel) are missing from the system Zune player, and BSA Eagle Tracker, an app that boy scouts can use to track their progress to Eagle Scout (when the scout handbook isn't always handy). New versions of the media player with new features/bug fixes is coming within a week (most likely sooner than this, but definitely within 2 weeks) of passing Microsoft Apphub certification. BSA Eagle Tracker is also getting a bug fix for an obscure bug I noticed recently.

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE

Father's Day Experiences and Food

Since yesterday was Father's Day, I would like to know if you did anything special with your father or priest.

I will start. Yesterday, my father, the rest of my family, and I stayed at home. During the afternoon, we all sat down with dad in the family room to watch a couple movies together. Now, Dad, my brother, and I are (big) Nascar fans, so we wanted to catch the race, but couldn't because the rest of the Nascar races are being broadcast on TNT, a television channel we don't get because we only have basic cable (yes, I could have used our Sirius Satellite Radio to listen to the race, but listening to the race is not the same as watching it). Instead of watching the race, we found "Flight of the Phoenix" on the CBS channel in my area and watched it. During a commercial break, we gave Dad the new tomato plants and the new grilling utensils we got him for Father's Day.

For dinner, we had steak and shrimp for our main dish, with potatoes and fruit salad as side dishes. Even though it was Father's Day, my father still took charge of the grilling the steaks (and shrimp) even though I offered to take charge of the grill to give him a rest. We decided not to have cake since we still have leftover cake from my brother's high school graduation party and we were all full from dinner. After dinner, we watched the movie "Red". After that, we all went to bed.

Am I the only one that thinks that it is better to have a meal at home for Father's Day or Mother's Day rather than taking your father (or mother) out to a restaurant for a meal on his (or her) respective day? I think that having the meal at home (and you preparing it) is more meaningful to them because you are putting your heart and soul into making the food for them to enjoy. Sure, I do realize that not everyone is professional chef/cook quality and that some people are better at cooking than others, but it's really the thought that really counts, the thought that you took time out of your day to prepare a special meal with love that your father can enjoy.

So, that was my Father's Day experience. Now, I would like for you to share your experiences with your father or priest on Father's Day with me and everyone else who reads this blog. What did you cook? If you did cook, is there a recipe you would like to share? Did you get your father any cool (technology or other) gifts?

Please share your experiences via the comment box below.You can also share with me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed as well.

If you didn't get your father (or priest) much for Father's Day or think he could use one more gift,  give him the gift of some Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase). Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some. For the summer, they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea (use the same link above or picture below to purchase). Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well.

Feel free to try out my apps for Windows Phone: Mobile Media Manager, a media player app I made which has some features which (I feel) are missing from the system Zune player, and BSA Eagle Tracker, an app that boy scouts can use to track their progress to Eagle Scout (when the scout handbook isn't always handy). New versions of the media player with new features/bug fixes is coming soon. BSA Eagle Tracker is also getting a bug fix for an obscure bug I noticed.

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE

On this Father's Day, let's not forget about our Spiritual Fathers

Today is Father's Day (here in the United States). Today, we celebrate the many long years of personal sacrifices of men everywhere in order to raise children. However, we sometimes forget about our priests and bishops, who are appointed our spiritual fathers.

Like fathers who raise children, a priest is responsible for raising his spiritual children in the faith. Being a priest means that a man must make many personal sacrifices, such as the freedom to be married, in order to do his duties. Even though our father and mother are our first teachers, a priest is responsible for educating his flock on church teaching and beliefs and for helping to foster prayer in his parish communities. Priests are also dispensers of the sacraments. No (validly ordained) priest means no valid Eucharist. Priests act in the person of Christ in the sacrament of Confession, showing a father's love and forgiveness when we are truly sorry for our sins we have committed. There are many more examples I could use to show how our priests are fathers, but I am sure you run come up with more.

In this day and age of secularization and the unfortunate abuse of minors by a small handful of priests, I think our priests are under-appreciated and taken for granted many times. There are some parishes out there without a full-time priest, and the faithful there celebrate Mass together when a priest does come to visit the parish. The vocation to the priesthood is growing, but there are there are places still deficient in (good and holy) priests. We could always use more priests.

So on this Father's Day, besides celebrating your own father I don't forget to celebrate all the good that our priests and bishops have done for us as well. Ask your priest if there is anything you can do for them. Or a side note, I would love it if this piece showed up the front page of New Advent.

I would like to hear about the good that your father or your parish priest has done, so please share it or any memorable moments with your father or priest in the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com. You can also share with me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed as well.

If you want to give your father something he will enjoy this Father's Day,  give him some Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase). Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some. For the summer, they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea (use the same link above or picture below to purchase). Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well.

Feel free to try out my apps for Windows Phone: Mobile Media Manager, a media player app I made which has some features which (I feel) are missing from the system zune player, and BSA Eagle Tracker, an app that boy scouts can use to track their progress to Eagle Scout (when the scout handbook isn't always handy). New versions of the media player with new features/bug fixes is coming soon. BSA Eagle Tracker is also getting a bug fix for an obscure bug I noticed.

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE

Update (6-18-2012): I have a follow-up to this piece right here.

Windows Phone 8: Summary of Speculation

With the recent announcement of iOS 6 for iphone (which adds features that windows phone already had), the new announcement of Windows Phone 8 is just around the corner. However there's some information about it already out in the wild.

Some things to look foward to:

• Internet Explorer 10, with a faster javascript engine which rivals (and in some cases, even beats) Google Chrome
• ability to track your data usage
• integrated Skype and other VOIP (instead of standalone Skype program)
• possible skydrive integration into disk storage
• more resolutions than just 800x480
• (unfortunately) some kind of carrier customization

From what we have here, there is much goodness in store for us as we look forward to Apollo.  As for the carrier customizations which will be permitted, I do not know much about that, but the Catholic Tech Geek will be sure to let you know when he knows more. Existing programs in the marketplace are expected to also work in Apollo with no (to maybe minor) adjustments needed. No official word yet either as to whether existing devices will get the upgrade or not.

While we are waiting, if you are a developer (or a computer science student/professor), download the Windows Phone SDK and experiment with it if you aren't already doing so. You might be surprised as to what you could make.

In other news, Windows 8 is coming soon as well. The latest preview version out, the Release Preview, is the last version before the gold release (in other words, the next build of Windows 8 will be the official released version). If you have a spare partition, go ahead and try it out. A reminder to always backup anything important on your hard drive before doing something major like this.

If you want a look at a possible Windows 8 device, check out http://www.wpcentral.com/alleged-shots-nokia-prototype-windows-phone-8-device-leak-shows-64gb-storage.

If you have any questions or any information about speculation and rumors related to Windows Phone 8, feel free to voice them in the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com. You can also ask me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed as well.

If you need some coffee to help get you going in the morning or to help you stay awake during the day, try some Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase). Trust me, it's good coffee (in many instances, better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some. For the summer they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea (use the same link above). Using the link to buy the coffee (or tea) helps me with college and helps the monks as well.

Feel free to try out my apps for Windows Phone: Mobile Media Manager, a media player app I made which has some features which (I feel) are missing from the system zune player, and BSA Eagle Tracker, an app that boy scouts can use to track their progress to Eagle Scout (when the scout handbook isn't always handy). New versions of the media player with new features/bug fixes is coming soon. BSA Eagle Tracker is also getting a bug fix for an obscure bug I noticed.

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE


Edit (6-16-2012): An official announcement for Windows 8 should be coming out sometime next week.

Update (6-18-2012) : Microsoft is holding a press conference this morning to discuss a new Microsoft product. From what I gather on the internet, I don't think it will be about Windows Phone 8, but you never know, so stay tuned to find out what it is. Update 2 (6-18-2012): It seems that the press conference was supposed to start at 18:30 E.S.T., but it has been delayed to 19:00 E.S.T. for some strange reason.

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Cor Iesu sacratíssimum, Miserére nobis           Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy upon us
Cor Iesu sacratíssimum, Miserére nobis           Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy upon us
Cor Iesu sacratíssimum, Miserére nobis           Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy upon us



Well, today is the feast of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As it is a solemnity, a reminder that Catholics everywhere are not bound by the usual Friday abstinence from meat today.

In today's Daily Readings, we see the reoccurring them of "God loves you". In the first reading, we find God talking about love of his people, Israel, from the perspective of a parent. We also see that God has some grief regarding the conduct of the people of Israel. As parents know, there are times when kids are misbehaving and you feel like you want to vent this on the kids. Certainly, we see evidence of this here with God.

My heart is overwhelmed,
my pity is stirred.

Yet, God realizes that it wouldn't be right to take his anger out on Israel.

I will not give vent to my blazing anger,
I will not destroy Ephraim again;
For I am God and not a man,
the Holy One present among you;
I will not let the flames consume you.

In our second reading from St. Paul to the Ephesians, the theme of love occurs again. Paul remarks that he has been given grace from God to preach to the Gentiles so that God's wisdom may be known through the Church to "the principalities and authorities in the heavens." Paul then asks God that the gentiles may be strengthened with the power of God's spirit and that Christ dwell in their hearts so that they may know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge and has no bounds, be filled with the fullness of God. To know that the love of Christ has no bounds is comforting, but let's not forget that sin can still ruin things for us.

In the gospel reading from St. John, we are taken back to Jesus' passion. The passion of Christ was the ultimate act of love, willing to suffer death, even death on a cross, in order to redeem us from the sinfulness of mankind. In many pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the heart has blood and water flowing from it. That is a reference to this passage from scripture:

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately blood and water flowed out.

I would also like to add that today, there is an opportunity to obtain a plenary indulgence by praying the Iesu dulcissime (Act of Reparation). A reminder that you must fulfill the 4 necessary conditions  to obtain the indulgence

1. Go to Confession
2. Recieve the Eucharist
3. Do the act itself and also pray for the Pope's intentions (by saying an "Our Father" and the Apostles' Creed works for praying for the Pope's intentions, but other prayers can work for this as well) with the intention of obtaining the indulgence
4. (The Last and Hardest Condition of All to fulfill)  You must be free from all attachment to sin, INCLUDING venial sin

If you cannot fulfill that last condition (but yes to the other 3 conditions), you may still obtain a partial indulgence. You can find the text of the prayer here in both Latin and English. (for more on indulgences, please see this.

I might add that this is my first attempt at a scripture reflection for a large audience, so I hope I did well. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com. You can also ask me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed as well. If you can, please comment on what you like in what I wrote and what I could work on.

If you need some coffee to help get you going in the morning or to help you stay awake during the day, try some Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase). Trust me, it's good coffee (in many instances, better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some. For the summer they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea (use the same link above). Using the link to buy the coffee (or tea) helps me with college expenses and helps the monks as well.

Feel free to try out my apps for Windows Phone: Mobile Media Manager, a media player app I made which has some features which (I feel) are missing from the system zune player, and BSA Eagle Tracker, an app that boy scouts can use to track their progress to Eagle Scout (when the scout handbook isn't always handy). New versions of the media player with new features/bug fixes is coming soon. BSA Eagle Tracker is also getting a bug fix for an obscure bug I noticed.

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE

Signup for 30 Days to Launch Contest: Only 4 Days Left

Update (6/4/2012): Entry for the contest is now closed.

Update (6/1/2012: Only 2 days left now)

If you haven't noticed it at all either because you were busy with something else, working on final exams, or living under a rock, Microsoft is offering the 30 Days to Launch Contest for any developer out there.

The goal of the 30 Days to Launch Contest is to learn how to develop a Windows Phone app (or if you already have some knowledge of Windows Phone, a chance to increase that knowledge) and produce one in 30 days. After that 30 days for submitting your apps are up, you have an additional 15 days to make publication decisions for each of them. Each person gets 1 entry into the contest, so if you submit more than 1 program to the marketplace within that time frame, choose your contest entry wisely. At the end, all entries will be judged by popular vote from now until August 13.

If you need the Windows Phone SDK, you can just click on the picture below to download it.

The prizes are:
   Four (4) Grand Prizes. Each winner will receive a Prize Package consisting of a La-Z-Boy© recliner and a Lenovo IdeaPad 300 Ultrabook™. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $ 3,000 per prize package.

Please note that you must have an apphub account to participate in this contest. If you don't have one, students can get an account free through Dreamspark. If you aren't a student, you can still get an apphub account by following these steps:

• First, sign up for www.30tolaunch.com using a Windows Live ID
• Second, spread the word via Social Media in one of the following ways:
  • Like the Microsoft User Community Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/Aho2an
  • OR Tweet about 30 to Launch by telling us about your participation. For your tweet to qualify, you must reference the tag #30tolaunch AND include the following in the body of your tweet: I am participating in 30 to Launch to build a Windows Phone app! Rules: http://aka.ms/f1i1lr. We reserve the right to remove any inappropriate tweets.
• Third, provide a short description of the app you plan to create and submit through the online form by clicking on the I’m Done button for Week 2 for your 30 to Launch Windows Phone app on the My 30 to Launch Idea page.

Only entries for new apps (not updates to existing apps) are accepted for entries. You must also be 18 years of age or older to enter.

WHAT CONSTITUTES AN ELIGIBLE ENTRY?

To be eligible for judging an entry must meet the following content / technical requirements:

• Your application must be coded and submitted as a Windows Phone Application within 30 days of your sign-up date and must be published to the Windows Phone Marketplace no earlier than 7 days and within 45 days of your sign-up date. Tools for Windows Phone development which can be downloaded here include:
  • Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone
  • Windows Phone Development Tools
  • Express Blend for Windows Phone
  • Windows Phone Emulator
• You must complete the Voting requirement between July 30, 2012 August 13, 2012 to vote for ONE 30 to Launch app published during the campaign. You cannot vote for your own app.

In addition:

• your entry must be your own original work; and
• your entry should be published to the marketplace on or after 7 days following your sign up date. Your app should not be something previously submitted to the Windows Phone Marketplace prior to this contest; and
• you must have obtained any and all consents, approvals or licenses required for you to submit your entry; and
• your entry may not include any third party trademarks (logos, names) or copyrighted materials (music, images, video, recognizable people) unless you have obtained permission to use the materials. You may include Microsoft trademarks, logos, and designs, for which Microsoft grants you a limited license to use for the sole purposes of submitting an entry into this Contest.

Entries may NOT contain, as determined by us, in our sole and absolute discretion, any content that:

• is sexually explicit, unnecessarily violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group; profane or pornographic;
• promotes alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing) or a particular political agenda;
• is obscene or offensive;
• defames, misrepresents or contains disparaging remarks about other people or companies;
• communicates messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or good will to which we wish to associate; and/or violates any law;

We reserve the right to reject any entry, in our sole and absolute discretion, that we determine does not meet the above criteria.

Apps will be judged on the following basis:

• 25.00% - Does the app utilize the live tile or secondary tile feature? (does not apply to game applications)
• 25.00% - Does the app have market potential given current mobile application trends?
• 25.00% - Is the app innovative and original?
• 25.00%- Does the app use additional Windows Phone 7.5 capabilities such as cloud-enablement through Windows Azure*, Background Agents, Background Audio, Pictures Hub integration, Music & Video Hub integration etc.
  • *Cloud-enabling the application using Microsoft Windows Azure includes scenarios such as:
    • Use “push notifications” to send updates
    • Manage gamer identity using their Facebook, Google, LiveID, etc.
    • Push video or images using Windows Azure CDN
    • Add leader boards, social interaction, shared landscapes, player location and movement
    • Send Line-of-business data using OData standards

The last day to sign up is June 3, 2012.

For more information, please see the contest rules at http://www.30tolaunch.com/WindowsPhone/Contest/OfficialRules. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com. You can also ask me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed as well.

If you need some coffee to help get you going in the morning to give you the inspiration to accomplish your app or to help you stay awake while working on your app, try some Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link to access the store and purchase). Trust me, it's good coffee (in many instances, better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some. For the summer they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea with your coding more than coffee, they also offer tea (use the same link above).

Feel free to try out my apps for Windows Phone: Mobile Media Manager, a media player app I made which has some features which (I feel) are missing from the system zune player, and BSA Eagle Tracker, an app that boy scouts can use to track their progress to Eagle Scout (when the scout handbook isn't always handy). A new version of BSA Eagle Tracker will be out in the marketplace in a few days once it passes certification.

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE

Imagine Cup: an Unlikely But Sure Opportunity to Evangelize

Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending Microsoft's Imagine Cup competition as a Microsoft Student Insider. While I was there, Sunday rolled around and with it, the obligation to go to Mass that day. So you're probably wondering: what does this have to do with evangelizing and spreading the gospel?

It turns out that I was not the only Catholic present there at the competition. There, I found out some of the competitors were Catholic as well. Since I had done research before that to find out where the nearest Catholic church was to where we were staying, I remarked that I knew where the nearest Catholic church was and told them the Mass times, and then I invited them to join me at the Mass time I was going to. I also met a facilitator there that was Catholic as well.

When it came around to Sunday, breakfast was scheduled to be at the Microsoft Store in Bellvue, so I decided to use it as a "checkpoint" to see who was coming with me to Mass. The only one that ended up joining me was the facilitator. We had an interesting talk about computers and Catholicism while we were walking to Mass. Mass went well (it was a "first Communion Mass", where there children there making their first Holy Communion), except for some liturgical abuses I observed. Afterwards, my friend, the facilitator, gave me some helpful tips for acing a Microsoft interview, as I had an interview with Microsoft scheduled after I got back from Mass.

It was interesting to find other Catholics at an event like this that loved the Catholicism and the  Church as much as I did. At a competition where computers and software are the subject matter, you would think that is isn't exactly an opportunity to share our faith and the Gospel with others, but there will always be a way (even though you might not discover it). Next year, I will be sure put this information out ahead of time so that even more Catholics attending will be able to attend Mass while at the Imagine Cup. This all proves one thing: there are always opportunities to evangelize and to share our faith with others, even when it doesn't look like it on the surface.

Do you have any stories where you found opportunities to evangelize and share the faith and the gospel in an unlikely situation? Feel free to share it in the combo box. You can also follow me on twitter (username is @rctechgeek).

Imagine Cup 2012: We have a Winner

I know you've been waiting for a while to find out who our dear winners are for this year's Imagine Cup competition. Well, without further ado, here are our winners:

First, we have a new award this year at Imagine Cup, the Azure award.  This award is part of the new Windows Azure contest. This award goes to LegenDairy, a team from Brigham Young University.

Game Design - Windows Phone:
4th: Panther Games Team Alpha
3rd: Wasabi Ninja
2nd: Pigmaster
1st: Drexal Dragons

Game Design - Xbox
4th: Zigers
3rd: Credit No Credit
2nd: Digital Infinity
1st: Dr. Fishbowl


Software Design
4th: KinectMath
3rd: Physically Kinected
2nd: The Miracle Workers
1st: FlashFood

Again, congratulations to all of our winners and hope that the winners of Software Design do well at the world finals this summer in Australia.

Current Skydrive Users: Your Amount of Storage has DecreasedF

Thanks to a helpful hint on Twitter, I just found out that Microsoft has decreased the amount of storage that skydrive offers for free from 25gb to 7gb. However, for a limited time, you can increase the amount of storage from 7gb back to 25gb. I am not sure, but I think this applies to existing users only. If this is true for new users as well, please let me know. To do so, just go to https://skydrive.live.com/ManageStorage?lu=1 and login (if you're not logged in already.

This change makes sense because with windows phone and windows 8, skydrive integration is big, giving people more of a reason to use skydrive as opposed to services such as Dropbox. The number of users is also growing and Microsoft could be using this as an opportunity to consolidate resources.

Imagine Cup 2012: Who Moves on to Round 2

So you're all wondering who is moving up to round 2 of the Imagine Cup. Well, I now have the results for you.

In Game Design - Xbox segment, we have Zigers, Dr. Fishbowl, Digital Infinity, and Credit no Credit.

In Game Design - Windows Phone segment, we have Drexal Dragons, Wasabi Ninja,Panther Games Team Alpha, and Pigmaster.

In Software Design, we have Physically Kincted, The Miracle Workers, Flashfood, and KinectMath.

Tomorrow, each of these teams will go in front of judges once again to decide who wins. Until then, everyone here at the Imagine Cup will have the chance to relax and enjoy the evening.

Imagine Cup 2012: Scrutiny and Relaxation

Yesterday, the first round of the competition happened and each team was in the hands of the judges. Some of the teams had neat ideas for games. One team I saw, Wasabi Ninja, used the camera in the phone in conjunction with a face detection algorithm to hide enemies and show them only on the "infected faces". I haven't seen many games use the camera as part of the game, so this kind-of made them special.

Once that was done, we all went out to Seattle for the 50th anniversary of the world fair. There, each team got their picture taken and an "interview video" was recorded. After that we all met at the space needle for a tour on a duck. The funny thing about the duck is that it only moves at 38mph max.

Dinner that night was at Lucky Strikes in Lincoln Square, where we were treated to an evening of bowling, food, and fellowship. I left near the end of the time there since I had an interview with Microsoft the next today.

Today (Sunday), I woke up and went to Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. After that, I went back to Lincoln Square for my interview with Microsoft. Luckily for me, Microsoft had a session on Microsoft recruiting and what to look for. After that, anyone at Imagine Cup who wanted an interview for an internship or full-time job got one, and everyone was partitioned into time blocks. So many people fighting for so few positions makes it difficult to be sure you got the job.

Currently in the standings overall, we have Digital Infinity, ICsquared, and Team Minitrus at first, second, and third, with Team Minitrus leading the pack for Windows Phone. This can change at any time, and you can make it happen. Just go to the Imagine Cup page on Facebook, and vote for your favorite team. I will add that you must have a facebook account to vote. You only have a short amount of time to cast your vote, so do it now if you haven't already.

Later today, we will find out who passed and will be moving on to Round 2 of presentations.

A Message for all Catholics at Imagine Cup

I would like for all Catholics at the Imagine Cup to know that the nearest Catholic church is Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Sunday Mass times are at 9:00 and 11:00. I will be attending the 9:00 Mass, so if you would like to join me I you are welcome to.

Imagine Cup 2012: It Begins

Well folks, it's that time of year again, the time to determine the finalists in the United States branch of the Imagine cup. Throughout the year, many people have been working on various projects for this year's competition. After 2 rounds of elimination, we have 22 team with a total of 76 people. Over the course of this year's competition, I will be covering windows phone game design. With that, let's meet the teams that I will be covering. To see the other teams, please visit https://apps.facebook.com/microsoftimaginecup/. (Please Note: you must have a facebook account if you want to access the link). Please also vote for you favorite team (use the same facebook link given above).

First, we have Pigmaster from University of California, Los Angeles with Word Hog. "Word Hog is a kid’s game about a group of pigs who need the player’s help to write a paper for a school project. The player controls a trampoline where pigs bounce toward bubbles to collect items such as letters. The second part of the game is a puzzle where the pigs can use those letters to create words, shift the letters around, or discard letters. "

Next, we have Panther Games Team Alpha from Santa Ana College and Chapman University with Children of War” (CoW). "The team created a game “Children of War” (CoW) that is based upon struggles in Africa between villages and rebel groups. The game puts the player into the shoes of a Ugandan child living in a village and the player must sneak past rebels and obstacles, rescue other children, and lead them all to safety in a race before dawn."

Then, we have Wasabi Ninja from University of Houston with Wasabi Ninja. "The team created an augmented reality based first person shooter game for Windows Phone 7. The player takes the role as Phagy, a nanomachine engineered specifically to destroy harmful materials in the water systems of developing countries."

Next, we have New Games Plus from University of California, Davis with RE-TREE. "RE-TREE focuses on the problems of deforestation. The player is a college student who decides to save the trees after an environmentally conscious professor teaches him about deforestation. The player uses weapons from the professor to defeat such enemies as loggers, scientists, lawyers, and a CEO, in the end coming to terms with the fact that the only way to cope with deforestation is to explore new and current technologies. "

Then, we have Team Mintrus from University of Louisville with Pandemic. "Pandemic is an AIDS-based tower defense game educating users about AIDS. The player plays as a specific character, and the unique setting – inside the human body. Each of the levels in this game resembles the story of an individual suffering from various methods of contraction."

Last, we have Drexel Dragons from Drexel University with Math Dash. "The team created the game “Math Dash”, a solution that helps students learn through game play. The game teaches students while engaging them in their normal activities and integrates learning with fun."

Last night started off with a keynote address from Major Nelson, a developer on the Xbox team. The point of his keynote address was that we are living in the golden age of software. Games are successful because they combine the elements of media with storytelling. It's the storytelling that really drives a game to be successful.

 I am curious to see how these teams will present the experience of their games to the judges and what the reception will be like. Anyway, stay tuned for more, as things are just heating up. I will be posting periodica1 updates on my Twitter acccount (@rctechgeek), so feel free to follow me to stay posted. Don't forget to vote for your favorite Imagine Cup team.

If you have any questions or comments about Imagine Cup, feel free to comment below in the comment box or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com.


(quotes taken from project descriptions on teams' section on Imagine Cup Facebook page)

Some Short Windows 8 Thoughts

Like it or not, the beloved start button we all know and love is gone in Windows 8. In its place, we have the new metro U. I. start screen. With this new start screen, you gain the ability to have live tiles, where the program icon can display bits of program information within opening the program. If you press the windows key on Windows 8, it takes you to the start screen.

However, this means that things can get somewhat cluttered, especially if you have a bunch of programs installed. To solve this, I propose that Windows 8 should allow us to have groups. Groups allow you to put like tiles together I saving screen space in the process. It would also allow people to hide tiles which are used infrequently. Being able to put shortcuts on the desktop mode from the metro ui would be nice as well.

As far as keyboard shortcuts go, alt-F4 and Ctrl-Alt-Del and Alt-Tab still work under Windows 8. I am not sure about other keyboard shortcuts.
Finally, windows 8 requires a windows live id to login. If you use Hotmail or Xbox Live, you are covered and just use the same email address and password for Hotmail or Xbox Live. If you don't have one, you can easily get one. There is the possibility to have local users on the system which are not connected to Windows live, but those users cannot sync settings with other windows 8 computers.

I would like to invite you to try Windows 8 right now. You can do so by going to http://bit.ly/H04H05. In the windows 8 setup program, there is an option to upgrade a Windows 7 installation to Windows 8. I would advise against this (at least until windows 8 is officially released to the general market). In my next post, I will detail how to install windows 8 toa separate part of your hard drive so your important data is untouched. For now, just download the windows 8 setup, but don't install it unless you know what you are doing.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask me via the comment box below or via e-mail at catholictechgeek@gmail.com. You can subscribe to my rss feed or follow me on Twitter (username is @rctechgeek).

Frustrations of an Uninformed Developer

When a developer develops an app, he tries to design the app with what the target audience, not just himself, will want in that app in mind. When a developer puts a program out on an app marketplace, he (or she) hopes that the app will do well. However, when a developer tries to improve the app, there is only so much that he will recognize that needs to be improved. To help close this gap, this is where the end-user comes into play.

We all know that the developer is human and every person is different. When the end-user uses the app, the person might see something that needs to be changed or improved in the app that the developer didn't catch. It is VERY IMPORTANT that users notify the developer about changes or possible improvements to the app. If not, improvements to the program can't happen. It is very frustrating when a developer finds that he is getting a decent number of downloads of his app, but there is little to no feedback (whether it be positive or negative feedback) from users of the app.

I will mention that when users are giving feedback on changes and improvements of an app, users need to be as clear as humanly possible as to what they want changed or improved. Stuff like "this app crashes" is not very helpful. Restating that as "this app crashes when ... happens" or "this app crashes when I do..." is much more helpful to the developer. Ratings are also important as well. Ratings can give a developer a gauge of how well his app is doing.

Developers, you need to be accessible as to how your app's users can issue support requests to you. It is also important to reply as quickly as humanly possible to those support requests. Honesty is another big thing. If there is something that users are wanting that just isn't possible with the current environment, just be honest with the users about it. People always appreciate honesty.

Now you may be wondering what this has to do with me. On the windows phone marketplace, I have an app called Mobile Media Manager, which is a media player. I have been getting a good number of downloads but I have been getting Very Little feedback on the app. With little feedback, I don't have a strong idea of whether people enjoy my app or not. I can only assume that with a good number of downloads of that app, people enjoy using my app. If  you have downloaded either the paid version or the free version, please rate and review the version you tried. If you have a support issue, please see http://catholictechgeek.blogspot.com/p/mobile-media-manager.html.

To find my Apps on the windows phone marketplace, just search for "Nowaksoft". You can also use the following links to get to it:
paid version: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
free version: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE

I should have an update for both the free version and paid version of Mobile Media Manager out soon, depending on how fast the update passes certification. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me via the comment box below or via e-mail at catholictechgeek@gmail.com. You can subscribe to my rss feed or follow me on Twitter (username is @rctechgeek).

Mobile Media Manager and a Progress Update for it

If you have been wondering where I've been this February since I haven't done much posting, I've been working on development of my media player app for Windows Phone, Mobile Media Manager. The goal of Mobile Media Manager is to make a media player that is better than the Zune player that comes with Windows Phone and fulfills as many needs/wants as (humanly) possible. To do this, I looked at the competition and did some observations based on user reviews and what I thought could be improved.

Here is a screenshot of the player screen:

This is the basic state of the player, simple, yet still usable. A big part of the interface is big playback buttons. There are a number of reasons why they are big. One reason is if you're in the car, driving, you don't really have (enough) time to look over at your phone to see the screen and change the song. Another reason is for men with big hands who might have a hard time with the small button size in the zune player (although, I will admit that the playback button size in mango is a big improvement over playback button size in nodo). Repeat and shuffle have been moved to the bottom as buttons in the application bar. To see the state of each, just open up the menu to see the descriptions of the application bar buttons. Where you see the message "No Album Art Found" is where album art would be displayed, or you will see the message if there is none to be displayed. In a future version, I will add the capability to fetch album art from the internet if it's not there, but I am not sure when that will actually be.

If you're curious, I have also built in gesture support (just swipe your finger) for moving forward or backward through the Now Playing list (but not for play/pause).

In progress updates, I have revamped the Now Playing screen and Playlist Editor screen. I am also working on implementing choosing a photo in your photo library as the background and being able to add songs from a url for streaming. As things are very busy for me at school right now, I am trying to do my best to find time to work on the program, but things can get rough at times.


It helps tremendously if I can get reviews in the marketplace. From there, I can get a feel for how my app is doing and also get suggestions to improve the app. I can't do much if I don't get input from the users in the marketplace. So if you have tried either the free version or bought the paid version, please write a review. So far, I have only received 1 review for the paid version (thank you if you are the one who gave me the 3 star review and some helpful tips to improve) and 2 for the free version, of which 1 just says "this app crashes". Something like that is not going to help me much, so if you are going to give suggestions in addition to a rating, please be more descriptive.


Download (for paid version): http://bit.ly/y3rf6V

Download (for free, ad-supported version): http://bit.ly/xGCsWE


If you like I can continue to explain the other screens of my program during my next post. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me via the comment box below or via e-mail at catholictechgeek@gmail.com. You can subscribe to my rss feed or follow me on Twitter (username is @rctechgeek).

Fun times here at the Global Game Jam at Carnegie-Mellon University: Part 2

Well, unfortunately, things did not go well for windows phone at the Global Game Jam at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburg. Many of the teams developed flash-based games, even though flash requires you to be a null nazi for much, if not most, of the time due to horrible garbage collection. Another issue I noticed that many of the teams decided to use the Unity engine for their games, and there is no port of Unity for Windows Phone.

Play testing for the teams went well. There was no one perfect game that any team there came up with. Some projects went more well than others. When I went to playtest on Sunday, some of the teams were not ready for testing, trying to work out some last minute details.

As I said before, things did not go well for windows phone here. Only one team made an xna game (for pc), with intent to make a windows phone version, but time ran out for the windows phone version. Another team used Microsoft's Kinect SDK to make a game incorporating kinect, but hopes for a windows phone version of the game died when the team found out that there is not any kinect programming support for Windows Phone yet. Another issue was lack of knowledge of C#, the (main) programming language behind windows phone. If you know Java or C++, C# is easy to learn, but I guess the teams felt stretched for time and didn't feel like they had time to learn this.

I will be uploading some pictures of the event I took later (and post the link here).

Fun times here at the Global Game Jam at Carnegie-Mellon University: Part 1

This weekend in 48 countries throughout the world, people are coming together in teams to make a complete game from start to finish in less than 48 hours. Most will realize that this is no small feat. It usually takes months, even years for some, for games to be created and published for the enjoyment of all gaming sheeple everywhere. However, these participants will do it all in less than 48 hours. How do I fit into all of this? I am Microsoft's representative at the Carnegie-Mellon University site.

Now granted, these games, like all other games, are always able to be improved and refined. But who can say that they make a whole working game in 48 hours? Anyway, the teams are now in their brainstorming sessions, but I have been able to make some of the teams consider windows phone as the platform of choice. Right now, the teams seem to be in a "plan game first, program afterwards" mentality. Unfortunately, none of the teams have shown up at my windows phone workshop tonight (it was probably scheduled at a bad time). Let's hope all of the teams brainstorm some great ideas.

If you have any comments or questions about this, feel free to ask or tell via the comment box below, or e-mail them to me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com. Teams at the Carnegie-Mellon site, feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about windows phone or imagine cup via the comment box or e-mail (address given above) or by twitter (username is @rctechgeek).

I will be posting more tomorrow, with pictures to boot.

Do you think your phone can beat a Windows Phone?

At CES 2012, Ben the PC Guy has put out a challenge for anyone, especially Apple and Android fanboys (and fangirls too) who thinks that their phone can beat a Windows Phone: if your phone can beat a Windows phone, you get a free (genuine) $100 bill. If you loose, however, the only thing asked of you is that you look into the camera and admit that your phone is not better than a Windows phone, and then you can get a free windows phone. And in case you were wondering, it is geared towards non-windows phones only. Here is the youtube video of the announcement of his challenge:



I think this is a really gutsy move on Ben's and Microsoft's part. If many trials come back and say that Windows Phone is better than the other phones, this can only help boost the profile of Windows Phone among consumers (and will put many Apple and Android fanboys to shame as well). This is also a valuable learning moment for the Windows Phone dev team as well: if a non-windows phone performs better in a category than a Windows phone does, then the dev team can identify that concept and try to find ways to improve that concept.

I am looking forward to seeing the results of those challenges. If you want to check out the status of the contest on twitter, just check for #smokedbywindowsphone.

If you have any thoughts or comments on this, I invite you to share them via the comment box below.

Even More Windows Phone Contests

Well, I am finally back from Christmas break, so I have some more new contests to announce.

While we are waiting for the results of the Microsoft Apportunity contest, there is still the You've Got Game sweepstakes from Microsoft. In this contest you can win 1 of 3 Dell Alienware M18x Laptops. Also, each week on Tuesday around 4pm PT, twenty-five (25) people will be selected to receive one (1) Xbox Live Gold Card from among all eligible entries received during the previous week. You could also win 1 of 3 4 GB Xbox 360s with Kinect. The contest end at 4:00 PM PT February 29, 2012, so any game published between now and then works as an entry. Just like the Apportunity contest, if you use Azure in your app, you get an additional bonus entry.

You can enter on Facebook by visiting the website for the Sweepstakes at www.facebook.com/MicrosoftUserCommunity?sk=app_234264339961262 or www.facebook.com/MicrosoftTechStudent?sk=app_234264339961262 and completing all of the registration requirements, including completion of an online entry form. Once you get a confirmation screen, you will get an App URL. Once you have your unique URL, you will be prompted to share the promotion via your Facebook profile. If you choose to share this sweepstakes with your social network, you will receive an one (1) entry into the sharing sweepstakes for each person who clicks on the unique link that you sent and visits the Facebook Game Changer page.

Also, Microsoft has just announced that it is offering the first 500 AppHub developers to publish a Windows Phone app to the Marketplace a free Nokia Lumia 800 handset, to really set the ball rolling for 2012. However, you must meet the following requirements:

• Target Windows Phone 7.5
• Work as described
• Include Fast App Switching
• Conform to Metro guidelines

The app must be released anytime from January 1, 2012 to February 10, 2012 (by 11:59 PM PST). Once the app has been submitted, developers can then send the following form in an email to WPNewYear@microsoft.com:

• Name (matches App Hub account):
• Mailing Address (where device will be shipped-not used by Microsoft for any other purpose):
• App Hub Publisher/ISV ID #:
• Application ID:
• Marketplace deep link:
• Application publication date:
• Uses Fast app switching (yes or no):
• Conforms to Metro guidelines (yes or no):

However, you must act fast because only the first 500 people who enter will get the device.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me via the comment box below or via e-mail at catholictechgeek@gmail.com. You can subscribe to my rss feed or follow me on Twitter (username is @rctechgeek).