Recently, while I was searching on the internet, I came across a poster which breaks down the windows phone api into categories so you can easily find the part of the api that you want. I see this as helpful for people who are (relatively) new to Windows Phone programming. For those of you who are already experienced with Windows Phone programming, this is a quick guide to find what you need (and so you can go searching on MSDN for the documentation that you need).
The download is a pdf file. You can download it here at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=272110
In other news, I have a few updates for you regarding my Windows Phone apps. I finally finished a long awaited update for my media player, Mobile Media Manager. The update is already live for the paid version, but the update for the free version is still in certification.. I expect it to be out in a day or two.
My prayer app, Prayer Aid, is now out. Please check it out and leave me a review + rating in the store so I can improve it. It is meant to help you grow your prayer life with God. It should also give you some new ideas for prayer as well. It also can help you find a church while on vacation. Since God never takes a vacation from you, why should you take a vacation from him?
My eagle scout app is currently being worked on. I hope to have the update for it out soon.
If you want to go ahead and get my existing apps now (while I'm working on the updates), please use the following
links:
Mobile Media Manager
(paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6VMobile Media Manager
(free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE
Prayer Aid: http://bit.ly/Mg7Mnk
Showing posts with label students. Show all posts
Showing posts with label students. Show all posts
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Thursday, June 20, 2013
A Simplified Guide to Understanding Recursion
For many beginning computer science students, the idea of recursion is difficult to grasp. I wager that some more experienced computer science students or even some seasoned developers out of college and already out in the field don't really grasp the idea of recursion. As an f.y.i., I use "function" and "method" interchangeably to mean the same thing (it depends on which language you're most comfy with).
First of all, all recursive functions have what is known as a "base case". A base case is the "state" which you want to get to with the recursive function. If you haven't met the base case yet, you take steps to get to that base case.
As an example to illustrate this concept, let's look at the factorial function. For a technical definition of a factorial, the factorial of a non-negative integer n, denoted by n!, is the product of all positive integers less than or equal to n. In case you forgot about 0! (the ! sign is the formal operator for the factorial), 0! is equal to 1 (so we will just forget about it). Now, let's use 5! as our example. If we were to multiply this out manually, we have
First, we will call
If you've ever heard the term "stack overflow", it comes from this idea of recursion. With a stack overflow, a recursive function is called so many times that the computer doesn't have enough memory available to handle the recursion, so the computer crashes.
So does this guide help you to grasp the idea of recursion? If you are a seasoned developer, can I improve this guide (or give better examples)? Please let me know in the comment box below.
While you're learning about recursion, why not try some delicious Mystic Monk Coffee? Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. If you have a Keurig machine, the monks also have k-cups for purchase as well (known as "monk shots") Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with my endeavors as well. The coffee (or tea) also makes for great gifts for friends and family as well.
While we are waiting for updates to my windows phone apps (trust me, I'm working on them), if you want to go ahead and get my apps now, please use the following links:
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
First of all, all recursive functions have what is known as a "base case". A base case is the "state" which you want to get to with the recursive function. If you haven't met the base case yet, you take steps to get to that base case.
As an example to illustrate this concept, let's look at the factorial function. For a technical definition of a factorial, the factorial of a non-negative integer n, denoted by n!, is the product of all positive integers less than or equal to n. In case you forgot about 0! (the ! sign is the formal operator for the factorial), 0! is equal to 1 (so we will just forget about it). Now, let's use 5! as our example. If we were to multiply this out manually, we have
5! = 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 120Now that we know this, let's build a recursive function to do this. In this demo, I will use C# as the programming language, but it's the same idea in Java and C++.
public int recursiveFactorial(int base, int multiplier) {Now let's look at what this function does. It first takes in 2 integers as input, base and multiplier. Base is the number we start out with (in this case, 5), and multiplier is the number we will multiply base by if we haven't met our base case (multiplier starts out as base - 1 to fit the definition of the factorial). The base case here is to get multiplier = 1. So now, let's run our function and see how the recursion works.
//this is our base case
if (multiplier == 1) {
return base;
}
else {
//if we haven't met our base case yet, we take steps to get to that base case
base = base * multiplier;
return recursiveFactorial(base, (multiplier - 1));
}
First, we will call
recursiveFactorial(5, 4);Now here, we check: is 4 equal to 1? No, it is not, so the else part of our recursive function activates and we simplify things to get closer to our base case by calling the function again with 20 as our base input variable and (4-1) as our multiplier input variable.
recursiveFactorial(20, 3);Now we check again: is 3 equal to 1? No, it is not, so the else part of our recursive function activates again (and we multiply base times multiplier) to get closer to our base case.
recursiveFactorial(60, 2);Are we starting to get the picture yet? Now here, we check: is 2 equal to 1? No, it is not, so the else part of our recursive function activates yet again and things are simplified even more (by multiplying base times multiplier again) to get ever closer to our base case.
recursiveFactorial(120, 1);We check again: is 1 equal 1? Yes, we have finally met our base case, so we just end things by returning base. From here, the value "bubbles up" to the top "level" (where we first called the recursiveFactorial function).
If you've ever heard the term "stack overflow", it comes from this idea of recursion. With a stack overflow, a recursive function is called so many times that the computer doesn't have enough memory available to handle the recursion, so the computer crashes.
So does this guide help you to grasp the idea of recursion? If you are a seasoned developer, can I improve this guide (or give better examples)? Please let me know in the comment box below.
While you're learning about recursion, why not try some delicious Mystic Monk Coffee? Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. If you have a Keurig machine, the monks also have k-cups for purchase as well (known as "monk shots") Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with my endeavors as well. The coffee (or tea) also makes for great gifts for friends and family as well.
While we are waiting for updates to my windows phone apps (trust me, I'm working on them), if you want to go ahead and get my apps now, please use the following links:
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
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Highlights From the March for Life
If you missed it, yesterday was the Right to Life March in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. I, myself, went with some other students and faculty from Wheeling Jesuit University. The day started off with Mass at St. Aloysius Gonzaga in Washington, D.C., joining students from other Jesuit universities. After that, it was off to the rally before the march. The weather wasn't the best (a high of 30 degrees Farenheit with snow), but that didn't matter much.
It's important to fight for everyone's God-given right to life. If a person cannot support the right to life for the unborn, then what makes you think the same person will respect the right to life of those already born?
Abortion threatens that right to life with is guaranteed for every person, born or unborn. I would define Abortion as the act of inducing premature labor in the woman, murdering the child (who was just forced out of the uterus) using a variety of methods, all which are intended to cause death, and then vacuuming out the remains because "it's just a fetus; it's not really alive and its existence threatens my own (selfish) goals".
It is important to remember that being pro-life includes more than just being pro-birth. Pro-life means support for all stages of a person's life, from the moment of conception to the natural stages of death. Yesterday's march was a testimony to this idea. Many different types of people from all realms of life came together to march for justice for the unborn that have been (unjustly) murdered as a result of the 1973 Supreme Court decision of Roe vs Wade. Contrary to popular belief, it's not just the Christians which are there at the march in support of life. At the rally before the march, I saw a group there called Secularists for Life. My friends from Wheeling Jesuit University there at the march with me also saw groups of atheists and agnostics as well, although these groups (probably) have their own reasons for life which may or may not include religion.
I, myself, (and I am sure others also) think think that abortion is unpatriotic and very anti-American. In our own Declaration of Independence, it says that everyone is entitled to three basic rights: the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to the pursuit of happiness. Abortion violates all three of these basic rights. By going through with an abortion, you first deny to the right to life to the unborn. Abortion also denies the liberty of the unborn to, one day, make their own decisions which could change the world, but because of the abortion, this change will never come. The right to the pursuit of happiness is denied to the unborn as a consequence of denying the unborn the right to life. The aborted child will never get his or her chance to have the human experiences that you and I have (every day) and the chance to be happy in life.
If the pro-life movement wants another solution to help end (the availablility of) abortion. I say let abortion clinics be held to the same (federal) inspection standards as other medical facilities. I bet many abortion clinics would be forced to close because od this.
For everyone that went to the march, I hope you had (or will have) a safe trip back to wherever you came from. If you want to share your thought on the March for Life, or pro-life information in general, I invite you to share it via the comment box below.
It was certainly cold outside yesterday, a perfect situation for drinking coffee. If you're going to drink coffee, why not drink it like a mystic monk? Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well. The coffee (or tea) also makes for great gifts for friends and family as well.
It's important to fight for everyone's God-given right to life. If a person cannot support the right to life for the unborn, then what makes you think the same person will respect the right to life of those already born?
Abortion threatens that right to life with is guaranteed for every person, born or unborn. I would define Abortion as the act of inducing premature labor in the woman, murdering the child (who was just forced out of the uterus) using a variety of methods, all which are intended to cause death, and then vacuuming out the remains because "it's just a fetus; it's not really alive and its existence threatens my own (selfish) goals".
It is important to remember that being pro-life includes more than just being pro-birth. Pro-life means support for all stages of a person's life, from the moment of conception to the natural stages of death. Yesterday's march was a testimony to this idea. Many different types of people from all realms of life came together to march for justice for the unborn that have been (unjustly) murdered as a result of the 1973 Supreme Court decision of Roe vs Wade. Contrary to popular belief, it's not just the Christians which are there at the march in support of life. At the rally before the march, I saw a group there called Secularists for Life. My friends from Wheeling Jesuit University there at the march with me also saw groups of atheists and agnostics as well, although these groups (probably) have their own reasons for life which may or may not include religion.
I, myself, (and I am sure others also) think think that abortion is unpatriotic and very anti-American. In our own Declaration of Independence, it says that everyone is entitled to three basic rights: the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to the pursuit of happiness. Abortion violates all three of these basic rights. By going through with an abortion, you first deny to the right to life to the unborn. Abortion also denies the liberty of the unborn to, one day, make their own decisions which could change the world, but because of the abortion, this change will never come. The right to the pursuit of happiness is denied to the unborn as a consequence of denying the unborn the right to life. The aborted child will never get his or her chance to have the human experiences that you and I have (every day) and the chance to be happy in life.
If the pro-life movement wants another solution to help end (the availablility of) abortion. I say let abortion clinics be held to the same (federal) inspection standards as other medical facilities. I bet many abortion clinics would be forced to close because od this.
For everyone that went to the march, I hope you had (or will have) a safe trip back to wherever you came from. If you want to share your thought on the March for Life, or pro-life information in general, I invite you to share it via the comment box below.
It was certainly cold outside yesterday, a perfect situation for drinking coffee. If you're going to drink coffee, why not drink it like a mystic monk? Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well. The coffee (or tea) also makes for great gifts for friends and family as well.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Imagine Cup Check on Participants
Well, I hope everyone had a nice Christmas break. As we will be coming back to our respective colleges and universities some time within the next 2 weeks, I thought this might be a good idea to check in with everyone who is participating in the Imagine Cup competition in 2013.
If you don't know what the Imagine Cup is, it is a competition held annually by Microsoft in which students use their imagination and their knowledge to come up with a technology solution to a problem in the world today. The competition is broken down into different categories. If you participated in Imagine Cup in the past, you might be interested to find that the categories have changed from previous years. The categories for this year are: Games, Innovation, World Citizenship, Windows 8 Apps, Windows Azure, and Windows Phone
If you make it past the preliminaries in the Games, Innovation, or World Citizenship categories, you will get a chance to come to Microsoft for the US Finals. From there, the finalists in each of those categories from each country will go on to the Worldwide Finals, held, this year, in St. Petersburg, Russia in July.
If you have a team together, but haven't submitted a project yet, there's still time (but not much left). If you want to participate in the new US Imagine Cup Accelerator program this year, you have until January 6 to sign up. I will mention that participation in the accelerator program is optional. If you are not participating in the accelerator program, but still want to participate in Imagine Cup this year, you have until (at least, for the Games, Innovation, World Citizenship categories; dates for the other competitions vary) March 24, 2013.
For those of you who have already signed up and are working on something wonderful for the competition, I hope everything is coming along smoothly and I wish you all well. May the best project win.
If you want more information on Imagine CUP, just follow this link. If you need tools for the competition, Microsoft offers students free software tools via Dreamspark.
So, what are you thoughts on Imagine Cup, past or present? Please share them with me via the comment box below.
We all know that this competition requires hard work, and hard work can sometimes involve long nights, even if your tired. To help you stay awake during those long working hours, I recommend drinking some (tasty) Mystic Monk Coffee. Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well. The coffee (or tea) also makes for great gifts for friends and family as well.
For my existing Windows Phone apps, I will have updates to all of my existing programs submitted to the Windows Phone marketplace by next week (Christmas/New Years caused a delay, sorry). If you want to get my apps now while waiting for the update, use the following links:
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
If you don't know what the Imagine Cup is, it is a competition held annually by Microsoft in which students use their imagination and their knowledge to come up with a technology solution to a problem in the world today. The competition is broken down into different categories. If you participated in Imagine Cup in the past, you might be interested to find that the categories have changed from previous years. The categories for this year are: Games, Innovation, World Citizenship, Windows 8 Apps, Windows Azure, and Windows Phone
If you make it past the preliminaries in the Games, Innovation, or World Citizenship categories, you will get a chance to come to Microsoft for the US Finals. From there, the finalists in each of those categories from each country will go on to the Worldwide Finals, held, this year, in St. Petersburg, Russia in July.
If you have a team together, but haven't submitted a project yet, there's still time (but not much left). If you want to participate in the new US Imagine Cup Accelerator program this year, you have until January 6 to sign up. I will mention that participation in the accelerator program is optional. If you are not participating in the accelerator program, but still want to participate in Imagine Cup this year, you have until (at least, for the Games, Innovation, World Citizenship categories; dates for the other competitions vary) March 24, 2013.
For those of you who have already signed up and are working on something wonderful for the competition, I hope everything is coming along smoothly and I wish you all well. May the best project win.
If you want more information on Imagine CUP, just follow this link. If you need tools for the competition, Microsoft offers students free software tools via Dreamspark.
So, what are you thoughts on Imagine Cup, past or present? Please share them with me via the comment box below.
We all know that this competition requires hard work, and hard work can sometimes involve long nights, even if your tired. To help you stay awake during those long working hours, I recommend drinking some (tasty) Mystic Monk Coffee. Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well. The coffee (or tea) also makes for great gifts for friends and family as well.
For my existing Windows Phone apps, I will have updates to all of my existing programs submitted to the Windows Phone marketplace by next week (Christmas/New Years caused a delay, sorry). If you want to get my apps now while waiting for the update, use the following links:
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
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Some Short News for Computer Science Students and Teachers in Fall 2012
It's that time of year again where everyone starts to realize that summer break is almost over and it is time to head back to school. With this, I have a few announcements for those being educated in Computer Science.
What better way is there to start the preparation for the school year off than by installing Windows 8 on your computer? Tomorrow, Windows 8 will make its way on MSDN. I am sure, by default, this will also apply for MSDNAA as well, which has now been integrated into Dreamspark. If it doesn't exactly show up tomorrow, check back in a day or two. You might be better off doing that anyway, as I am sure there will be much traffic on MSDN trying to download the RTM version of Windows 8.
Speaking of Dreamspark, students (especially freshmen) should know that Microsoft is generous to students, so generous that you have access to a good bit of software for free which, otherwise (if you weren't a student), would cost you some major $$$. This software includes products like Windows (so, for example, if you got the Home Premium flavor of Windows 7 installed on your computer, you can upgrade it to the Pro flavor of Windows 7. For development purposes, you also get access to Visual Studio for free. These are just some examples, but you get the idea.
As I mentioned before, start thinking ideas for your school's Imagine Cup team. If your school doesn't have a team, you can always start one. The Imagine Cup is open to both high school and college students, but be warned that winning will not be easy. Still, do not let the fact that winning is hard get in the way of you or your team.
With Windows 8 comes WinRT, a whole new set of APIs for Windows. Windows 8 programs can be written in javascript, c#, or c++. Feel free to combine languages if you like, but be warned there are constraints when working in more than 1 language on the same project.
Well, this all for now in this new briefing, but I hope that you can do something with this information. For students, all you really have to pay for when getting a new computer is the hardware. As an additional request, I know there are those of us who really like a company's software and exhibit fanboy-like behavior and there are those of us who don't care and just "use what works". If you are going to have debates between software and/or hardware products this year (like Windows 8 vs Mac OS X Mountain Lion), please do so with charity and don't reduce things to ad hominem attacks. If it comes down to using ad hominem attacks, you've basically lost the debate (automatically).
As a college student myself, I know what a drag it can be in the morning if I don't have my coffee to get me started. If you are going to drink coffee, why not drink it like a mystic monk. Some tasty Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). For the summer (or what's left of it), they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. 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). The update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manager is out, but my last submission update for the free version in Microsoft Apphub certification failed, so release of the update to the free version will be a few days (< 7). 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
What better way is there to start the preparation for the school year off than by installing Windows 8 on your computer? Tomorrow, Windows 8 will make its way on MSDN. I am sure, by default, this will also apply for MSDNAA as well, which has now been integrated into Dreamspark. If it doesn't exactly show up tomorrow, check back in a day or two. You might be better off doing that anyway, as I am sure there will be much traffic on MSDN trying to download the RTM version of Windows 8.
Speaking of Dreamspark, students (especially freshmen) should know that Microsoft is generous to students, so generous that you have access to a good bit of software for free which, otherwise (if you weren't a student), would cost you some major $$$. This software includes products like Windows (so, for example, if you got the Home Premium flavor of Windows 7 installed on your computer, you can upgrade it to the Pro flavor of Windows 7. For development purposes, you also get access to Visual Studio for free. These are just some examples, but you get the idea.
As I mentioned before, start thinking ideas for your school's Imagine Cup team. If your school doesn't have a team, you can always start one. The Imagine Cup is open to both high school and college students, but be warned that winning will not be easy. Still, do not let the fact that winning is hard get in the way of you or your team.
With Windows 8 comes WinRT, a whole new set of APIs for Windows. Windows 8 programs can be written in javascript, c#, or c++. Feel free to combine languages if you like, but be warned there are constraints when working in more than 1 language on the same project.
Well, this all for now in this new briefing, but I hope that you can do something with this information. For students, all you really have to pay for when getting a new computer is the hardware. As an additional request, I know there are those of us who really like a company's software and exhibit fanboy-like behavior and there are those of us who don't care and just "use what works". If you are going to have debates between software and/or hardware products this year (like Windows 8 vs Mac OS X Mountain Lion), please do so with charity and don't reduce things to ad hominem attacks. If it comes down to using ad hominem attacks, you've basically lost the debate (automatically).
As a college student myself, I know what a drag it can be in the morning if I don't have my coffee to get me started. If you are going to drink coffee, why not drink it like a mystic monk. Some tasty Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). For the summer (or what's left of it), they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. 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). The update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manager is out, but my last submission update for the free version in Microsoft Apphub certification failed, so release of the update to the free version will be a few days (< 7). 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
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Some Things You Need to Watch Out For in WinRT
We all know that Windows 8 is coming out in October. We also know that developers are hard at work trying to ready their apps for Windows 8 when it is finally released. However, if you're new to WinRT or have a big amount of experience coding using C++ or one of the .Net languages like C#, there are some things you have to watch out for.
For your primitive data types, WinRT supports 99.9% of the primitive types supported in the .Net Framework languages. The only ones it doesn't support are 8-bit signed integers. I will also add that Javascript limits a Number to only 53 bits, so be careful when dealing with large numbers.
Compared to C++ which allows mutable strings, the .Net languages consider strings to be immutable. WinRT has taken the route of strings being immutable (even in C++), and the use of NULL or (nullptr) with strings is now frowned upon. Any string which is set to NULL is treated as an empty string (with 0 characters).
In the fight between pass by reference and pass by value, WinRT only passes interfaces as references. All other types are passed by value. This means that you should be careful when passing objects. Structs are allowed, but structs can only hold information of semantic value (such as strings, numbers, and other structs). Pointers inside a struct are not supported. If you are programming using Javascript, please note that Structs are not directly supported. In this case, if you want a struct in javascript, you will have to create a Class which just holds values, mimicking the functionality of a struct.
In Data Structures, we have a big change. Arrays normally are reference types, pointing to a "group" of same-type values (or objects) as part of one big memory chunk. In WinRT, arrays are now value types. I am not sure how the memory management actually works yet (whether it's still one big chunk for the group or not).
For events, you handle them the same way that you normally do in your language of choice (for example, in C#, you add event listeners using += and remove event listeners using -=, so you still continue this practice when developing WinRT programs).
For method overloading, WinRT changes how this works. Normally in method overloading, you can either use a different number of parameters for each declaration of a function, different types of parameters for each declaration of a function (for example, the function displayMessageOnScreen(string message) and displayMessageOnScreen(char[] message)), or a combination of the two approaches. In WinRT, method overloading is determined by the number of parameters, so something like the example I gave above would throw an error in WinRT.
As far as Collections go, many of the collection types found in .Net have a couterpart in WinRT. As far as specific changes go, the WinRT Vector type resembles arrays and the array syntax is used to consume them and the WinRT Map type is a key/value pair collection, and is projected as Dictionary in .NET languages.
Regarding asynchronous functions, all functions taking more than 50 milliseconds to complete is deemed an "async method.
For information, please see http://channel9.msdn.com/events/BUILD/BUILD2011/PLAT-876T. I hope this is helpful to you in some way, shape, or form when developing WinRT programs.
If you have any thoughts or comments of your own about this, feel free to share them via the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com.You can also find me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed too. I am now on Tumblr now as well (link to Tumblr is http://www.tumblr.com/blog/catholictechgeek), so please follow me on Tumblr too.
If you're feeling thirsty while using the computer or can't quite stay awake while using one, drink (or give someone you care about) some tasty 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, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). For the summer, they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. 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). The update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manager is out, but my last submission update for the free version in Microsoft Apphub certification failed, so release of the update to the free version will be a few days (< 7). 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
For your primitive data types, WinRT supports 99.9% of the primitive types supported in the .Net Framework languages. The only ones it doesn't support are 8-bit signed integers. I will also add that Javascript limits a Number to only 53 bits, so be careful when dealing with large numbers.
Compared to C++ which allows mutable strings, the .Net languages consider strings to be immutable. WinRT has taken the route of strings being immutable (even in C++), and the use of NULL or (nullptr) with strings is now frowned upon. Any string which is set to NULL is treated as an empty string (with 0 characters).
In the fight between pass by reference and pass by value, WinRT only passes interfaces as references. All other types are passed by value. This means that you should be careful when passing objects. Structs are allowed, but structs can only hold information of semantic value (such as strings, numbers, and other structs). Pointers inside a struct are not supported. If you are programming using Javascript, please note that Structs are not directly supported. In this case, if you want a struct in javascript, you will have to create a Class which just holds values, mimicking the functionality of a struct.
In Data Structures, we have a big change. Arrays normally are reference types, pointing to a "group" of same-type values (or objects) as part of one big memory chunk. In WinRT, arrays are now value types. I am not sure how the memory management actually works yet (whether it's still one big chunk for the group or not).
For events, you handle them the same way that you normally do in your language of choice (for example, in C#, you add event listeners using += and remove event listeners using -=, so you still continue this practice when developing WinRT programs).
For method overloading, WinRT changes how this works. Normally in method overloading, you can either use a different number of parameters for each declaration of a function, different types of parameters for each declaration of a function (for example, the function displayMessageOnScreen(string message) and displayMessageOnScreen(char[] message)), or a combination of the two approaches. In WinRT, method overloading is determined by the number of parameters, so something like the example I gave above would throw an error in WinRT.
As far as Collections go, many of the collection types found in .Net have a couterpart in WinRT. As far as specific changes go, the WinRT Vector type resembles arrays and the array syntax is used to consume them and the WinRT Map type is a key/value pair collection, and is projected as Dictionary in .NET languages.
Regarding asynchronous functions, all functions taking more than 50 milliseconds to complete is deemed an "async method.
For information, please see http://channel9.msdn.com/events/BUILD/BUILD2011/PLAT-876T. I hope this is helpful to you in some way, shape, or form when developing WinRT programs.
If you have any thoughts or comments of your own about this, feel free to share them via the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com.You can also find me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed too. I am now on Tumblr now as well (link to Tumblr is http://www.tumblr.com/blog/catholictechgeek), so please follow me on Tumblr too.
If you're feeling thirsty while using the computer or can't quite stay awake while using one, drink (or give someone you care about) some tasty 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, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). For the summer, they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. 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). The update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manager is out, but my last submission update for the free version in Microsoft Apphub certification failed, so release of the update to the free version will be a few days (< 7). 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
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Imagine Cup 2013: Start Thinking Now
Well, it is still summer, but we are now in August, which is when students and teachers start thinking about heading back to school. While we are on the subject of school, if you are looking for something to do with your computer science class this year, look no further than the Imagine Cup.
The Imagine Cup is a software competition for students that Microsoft holds every year. Each year has a theme based on the UN Millennium goals. Depending on the sector of the competition you are a part of, you have to design a piece of software that reflects the theme.
There are a few sections of the Imagine Cup, but the most popular are Software Design and Game Design. In Software Design, students have to come up with a solution to a problem (based on the UN Millennium Goals) using hardware and Microsoft software. The team who comes up with the best solution to the team's problem wins. In game design, students design a game (based on the UN Millennium Goals) for either Windows Phone or Xbox which reflects the year's theme.
Participation in the competition can be done by both high school students and college students.
The competition (at least, for the competitions mentioned above) consists of 4 rounds. In round 1, the team submits a plan, which includes a storyboard and a description. A team can also submit an alpha or beta build, but it is optional for this round. All entries which survive round 1 move on to round 2. In round 2, teams need to submit a working prototype, an updated project plan, and a video describing the whole thing. If you survive round 2, things get better.
Round 3 is the US finals (or if you don't live in the United States, your country's finals). Here, you and your team get flown out to Redmond for a visit to Microsoft's headquarters where, incidentally, the US Finals are held. As a bonus, anyone who makes it this far in the competition gets a free opportunity to interview for a Microsoft internship or, if you are a senior in college, a full-time job at Microsoft. This also the round when your project gets voted on by millions of people on Facebook to determine the People's Choice. The first place winners of the Software Design competition move on to round 4, the last round of the competition. The first place winners of the Game Design competition are recognized, but do not get to move on to round 4 because every country participating in the Imagine Cup has a Software Design competition, but not every country has a Game Design competition.
Round 4 is the World Finals. Here, the winners of the Software Design competitions from all over gather to see which one is the best in the world. Word has it that the world finals are going to be held in Russia in 2013.
So, I hope I've gotten your interest. While the theme for the 2013 competition has not been revealed yet, you can preregister. For more information on the Imagine Cup competion, please see http://bit.ly/fcPDqa. For everything you need for the competition, students can get any software you need via Dreamspark.
If you have any thoughts or comments of your own about the Imagine Cup or if you are thinking of entering the 2013 competion, feel free to share your thoughts and comments via the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com.You can also find me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed too. I am now on Tumblr now as well (link to Tumblr is http://www.tumblr.com/blog/catholictechgeek), so please follow me on Tumblr too.
If you're feeling thirsty while using the computer or can't quite stay awake while using one, drink (or give someone you care about) some tasty 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, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). For the summer, they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. 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). The update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manager is out, but my last submission update for the free version in Microsoft Apphub certification failed, so release of the update to the free version will be a few days (< 7). 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
The Imagine Cup is a software competition for students that Microsoft holds every year. Each year has a theme based on the UN Millennium goals. Depending on the sector of the competition you are a part of, you have to design a piece of software that reflects the theme.
There are a few sections of the Imagine Cup, but the most popular are Software Design and Game Design. In Software Design, students have to come up with a solution to a problem (based on the UN Millennium Goals) using hardware and Microsoft software. The team who comes up with the best solution to the team's problem wins. In game design, students design a game (based on the UN Millennium Goals) for either Windows Phone or Xbox which reflects the year's theme.
Participation in the competition can be done by both high school students and college students.
The competition (at least, for the competitions mentioned above) consists of 4 rounds. In round 1, the team submits a plan, which includes a storyboard and a description. A team can also submit an alpha or beta build, but it is optional for this round. All entries which survive round 1 move on to round 2. In round 2, teams need to submit a working prototype, an updated project plan, and a video describing the whole thing. If you survive round 2, things get better.
Round 3 is the US finals (or if you don't live in the United States, your country's finals). Here, you and your team get flown out to Redmond for a visit to Microsoft's headquarters where, incidentally, the US Finals are held. As a bonus, anyone who makes it this far in the competition gets a free opportunity to interview for a Microsoft internship or, if you are a senior in college, a full-time job at Microsoft. This also the round when your project gets voted on by millions of people on Facebook to determine the People's Choice. The first place winners of the Software Design competition move on to round 4, the last round of the competition. The first place winners of the Game Design competition are recognized, but do not get to move on to round 4 because every country participating in the Imagine Cup has a Software Design competition, but not every country has a Game Design competition.
Round 4 is the World Finals. Here, the winners of the Software Design competitions from all over gather to see which one is the best in the world. Word has it that the world finals are going to be held in Russia in 2013.
So, I hope I've gotten your interest. While the theme for the 2013 competition has not been revealed yet, you can preregister. For more information on the Imagine Cup competion, please see http://bit.ly/fcPDqa. For everything you need for the competition, students can get any software you need via Dreamspark.
If you have any thoughts or comments of your own about the Imagine Cup or if you are thinking of entering the 2013 competion, feel free to share your thoughts and comments via the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com.You can also find me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed too. I am now on Tumblr now as well (link to Tumblr is http://www.tumblr.com/blog/catholictechgeek), so please follow me on Tumblr too.
If you're feeling thirsty while using the computer or can't quite stay awake while using one, drink (or give someone you care about) some tasty 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, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). For the summer, they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. 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). The update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manager is out, but my last submission update for the free version in Microsoft Apphub certification failed, so release of the update to the free version will be a few days (< 7). 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
Sunday, April 22, 2012
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
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)
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)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
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).
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).
Friday, January 27, 2012
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.
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.
Monday, January 9, 2012
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:
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).
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
- 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):
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).
Monday, December 12, 2011
Even More Contest Fun from Microsoft
Introducing, the Microsoft Big App on Campus Student Competition. If the Microsoft Apportunity contest wasn't enough incentive to develop apps for Windows Phone, Microsoft is partnering with the band The Gracious Few to create an amazing experience for ten (10) students in Austin, TX at SXSW: a private concert, backstage passes, a private dinner with the band, and being interviewed on national radio about their apps.
Now, I personally don't know much about this band, but I am sure there are those of you out there that do. Also, the fact that Microsoft secured an opportunity for you to be interviewed on national radio about your app is a pretty big feat, allowing for more people to know about your app and (hopefully) buy it or use it a lot (if it's free).
If you aren't too keen on the band part, I might mention that there are also $15,000 cash prizes (one for the top free app and another for the top paid app) for the two apps which will be named “Big App on Campus.” That's a lot of money and can enable you to pay off those pesky student loans you have faster.
BAOC is open to any US college and university student who builds apps for Windows Phone. Each application created from August 1st, 2011 until February 14th, 2012 can be entered and students can submit
multiple entries.
I would imagine it is also possible for a "double entry", that is, (if inside the same timeframe as the Apportunity contest) you can enter the same app in both the Apportunity contest and this contest as well.
Anyway, all entries have to be in by February 14, 2012. On February 15, 20 semi-finalists will be chosen from those entries. On February 23, there will be public voting to select 10 finalists from those 20. On March 1, 2012, there will be public voting to select the Big App on Campus.
For those who are wondering what Microsoft is looking for, here's the judging criteria :
- Innovation (40%): How innovative is the idea? Does it do something new or does it accomplish something in a new way?
- Experience (40%): Does it feel seamless and like a native experience on Windows Phone? Does the app have a polished feel?
- Potential (20%): Does the app have potential in the market (lots of users, making money, both) or not?
To enter, you must first be entered into Dreamspark and from there, get an App Hub membership (both are free of charge for students) at https://users.create.msdn.com/
I hope everyone has a good time with this contest. You can subscribe to my rss feed or follow me on twitter (username is @rctechgeek).
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Windows Phone camp in Pittsburgh: Part 1
So far, I am having fun at a Windows Phone camp in Pittsburgh, PA. After the introductions, everyone started out with a talk on monetizing your app. From this, I learned that sometimes, making your app free, but with ads in the app, might be a better option for more revenue intake for any apps that I publish than perhaps making my app paid.
After that, we started the programming with a look at Silverlight (for beginners). As a programmer for Windows Phone, I am already pretty familiar with most of the Silverlight basics (I only say most because I haven't had to use some of the more advanced silverlight concepts in my programs yet). We talked about the various controls and view models available in Windows Phone. However, we didn't learn how to create a custom control (but I already know how to do that).
After the silverlight part, we moved on to XNA. Here, those multi-variable calculus concepts which I (sort-of) despise came back to haunt me. As a programmer, I really haven't tried my hand at making games much (with any language or framework), so this part looked a little scary at first. We used a "Cheese Roller Game" as the XNA tutorial material. I think I came out of the XNA part unscathed. However, I think I really need some more practice with these concepts before I try my hand at making a game to sell in the marketplace.
Now, we are going to break for lunch, so I will be getting part 2 to you later on today. After lunch, we will have some time to play around with what we have learned, and later, we will have a contest to see who can make the best app. Stay tuned for more. I will have some photos available for your viewing pleasure later as well.
After that, we started the programming with a look at Silverlight (for beginners). As a programmer for Windows Phone, I am already pretty familiar with most of the Silverlight basics (I only say most because I haven't had to use some of the more advanced silverlight concepts in my programs yet). We talked about the various controls and view models available in Windows Phone. However, we didn't learn how to create a custom control (but I already know how to do that).
After the silverlight part, we moved on to XNA. Here, those multi-variable calculus concepts which I (sort-of) despise came back to haunt me. As a programmer, I really haven't tried my hand at making games much (with any language or framework), so this part looked a little scary at first. We used a "Cheese Roller Game" as the XNA tutorial material. I think I came out of the XNA part unscathed. However, I think I really need some more practice with these concepts before I try my hand at making a game to sell in the marketplace.
Now, we are going to break for lunch, so I will be getting part 2 to you later on today. After lunch, we will have some time to play around with what we have learned, and later, we will have a contest to see who can make the best app. Stay tuned for more. I will have some photos available for your viewing pleasure later as well.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Update on Microsoft APPortunity Contest
Well, for everyone who has entered the Microsoft Apportunity contest, the folks at Microsoft have smiled upon you. I have a couple of contest updates that you will like. If you haven't read about the contest before, you can read up here.
The first update concerns those of you who use Azure in your programs. If you use Azure in the program that you publish in the Windows Phone marketplace, not only do you do you get your normal 1 entry, but you also get 1 EXTRA entry into the contest as well just for using Azure in your Windows Phone app.
The second update concerns students and Computer Science professors. If a student publishes 3 programs to the Windows Phone marketplace, he or she gets a FREE phone. If you are a student and you don't have a device yet, this is your chance to get a device for free. If you are a student and you already have a device, this gives you an extra device that you can use for testing your programs out.
Students: this is your chance to shine and make an impact on the mobile world. If you have a great idea, now is the time to really develop it and let the world know about it.
Computer Science Professors: this is a great way for your students to develop that great program idea they have and get some real world experience from it. You could even integrate this contest into your classes by making it a class assignment or for extra credit.
I would like to make it clear that this contest is open to anyone (age 18 or older), not just students.
An important reminder that this contest runs from now until the end of the year, December 31, 2011.
Again, to submit your program to the Windows Phone Marketplace, either click the picture above or go to :
http://bit.ly/MangoOffer
and enter the code:
E8YRA
I wish everyone well in this contest. If you don't have the SDK already, you can download it at: http://bit.ly/GoMango. Students can get Visual Studio, needed for development, through Dreamspark.
If you are participating in the contest and/or you would like to hang a contest poster at your work or school to promote the contest, you may download it below (clicking on the image opens the poster pdf in a new window):
To help you stay tuned for further announcements, you can subscribe to my rss feed or follow me on twitter (username is @rctechgeek).
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Wanted: New Developers for Windows Phone Mango
If you haven't noticed yet, Windows Phone 7.5, codenamed "Mango", has been out for a while. However, you might have noticed that compared to Android or iOS, Windows Phone hasn't been given much love when it comes to development for it. It's sad because Windows Phone is a platform that delivers. However, you can change that.
Windows Phone needs new developers and new programs to help it to grow and mature. If you have been thinking about developing for Windows Phone, but haven't done it yet, now is the time. If you are new programmer, this is a good time for you to get your program ideas out there and established in the world of technology. Windows Phone mainly uses Silverlight for graphical user interfaces. Silverlight is similar to html, so if you've done any html coding, you should have some idea of how some things works since the structure of XAML, which is the markup language that Silverlight uses, is similar to html. For the internal guts of the program, you use either C# or Visual Basic. If you've programmed in Java before, the concepts are mostly the same, with a few minor differences between java and C#. It is possible to use C# (or Visual Basic) for modifying the graphical user interface of your program in addition to Silverlight. This is useful for situations such as adding components to the user interface on the fly.
To give you an incentive to develop for Windows Phone, Microsoft has launched the APPortunity Contest. You could win one of five Samsung tablets. Each time you publish a program to the Windows Phone Marketplace (for Mango), you get an entry into the contest. If you publish 5 programs to the marketplace during the contest, you get FREE ADVERTISING for ANY program of YOUR CHOICE. The free advertising will run on the Windows Phone Application Network for around 60 days and includes 25,000 impressions.
This contest runs from Now to December 31, 2011.
Important: To submit your program to the Windows Phone Marketplace,either click on the picture above or go to :
http://bit.ly/MangoOffer
and enter the code:
E8YRA
I wish everyone well in this contest. If you don't have the SDK already, you can download it at: http://bit.ly/GoMango
There are more details in this contest to come. To help you stay tuned for further announcements, you can subscribe to my rss feed or follow me on twitter (username is @rctechgeek).
Update (1-14-2011): I have some important updates to the contest that you will like, especially with students. The link that was here is currently down, but I will have it up in an hour or so.
Update (1-21-2011): I have finally fixed the page with some contest updates that was messed up. You can see the update here.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Back to School: Simple Things to Enrich the Prayer Life of Catholic Students
Well, it's about that time of year again. The time where the freedom of summer fades away and the shackles of school are once again bound to children. This being said, this is a great time to think about things you can do to nurture your prayer and sacramental life. Here, I provide a short list
This is just a small list of things that students can do to strengthen their prayer life. If you are already doing all of this and want something a little more advanced, pray the Divine Office (a.k.a. Liturgy of the Hours).
And now, a final few words for students either going off to college for the first time or returning to college. Make sure that you continue to go to Mass even if it is the "unpopular" thing to do. Once you stop going to Mass, you sever a big connection in your prayer life between God and you. Prayer and attending Mass on Sunday (or even more frequent, like the suggestion for Daily Mass given above) help you stay "in sync" with God, and things can only get better.
So, do you already do any of these suggestions? Have I inspired you to start doing any of these suggestions? Do you have any thoughts or questions about this? Please make all known via the comment box below, or via e-mail (e-mail address is catholictechgeek@gmail.com). If you send it via e-mail, I will try to cover your query at the end of my next article (or maybe, perhaps, a post in the comment box). You can also follow me on twitter as well (username is @rctechgeek).
- Pray Daily
I can't emphasize this one enough. If you don't take time out of your busy schedule for the day to pray, it is like telling God that you don't want to nurture and strengthen the relationship between you and him. Any time used for prayer works certainly does not go to waste. - Attend Daily Mass
Receiving our Lord in the Eucharist (if you haven't committed a mortal sin) every Sunday is certainly good. However, we should try to receive the Eucharist as much as possible. Daily Mass allows us to hear the word of God and to receive Jesus in the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist. In fact, who WOULDN'T want to receive Jesus everyday? - Pray the Rosary
Having a devotion to Our Lady is highly recommended and something we should strive to have. The rosary is a powerful spiritual weapon, so powerful that "The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies." Satan obviously hates this and does all he can to derail it. One of the promises of Our Lady is "It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things." The goal of the church is the salvation of souls. In this day and age, we need to do all that we can to help with this. I am sure you can find some time in your day to pray the rosary, and it doesn't have to be the whole 5 decades (although the full 5 decades is the optimal goal). If you can only say 1 or 2 decades, say them. If you need more convincing, Our Lady has said that "Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life." and "Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise." (more promises of our lady can be found at http://www.ourladyweb.com/mary-rosary-about.html, parts in quotes in this paragraph are also taken from this link). - Attend Adoration/Benediction when Offered
Praying before the Blessed Sacrament is a wonderful thing to do. With Adoration/Benediction, Jesus is out there and right in front of you, so you can talk with him. Actually, with prayer, you always talk with God, but this allows you to spend some personal prayer time with him. Spending time doing this will definitely strengthen your prayer life, and the prayer life of the parish community in which you are a part of. - Go to Confession
Even if you haven't been to confession in quite a while, GO! Frequent confession helps us to stay in a pure state and renew ourselves with God, as sin (both mortal and venial) blackens the soul and makes the divide between you and God even bigger. Let us be reminded, that on the Dies Irae (or Day of Wrath), even 1(!) MORTAL sin can keep you out Heaven, Permanently. Confess your sins to the priest in both number (how many times you did the sin) and kind (basically, the type of sin, like sexual sins, for example), and be truly sorry for what sins you have committed. The priest will grant you absolution from your sins, and will most likely give you a penance to do. Part of being truly sorry for your sins is trying your very best to stay away from committing that sin (or anything that may cause you to commit that sin).
This is just a small list of things that students can do to strengthen their prayer life. If you are already doing all of this and want something a little more advanced, pray the Divine Office (a.k.a. Liturgy of the Hours).
And now, a final few words for students either going off to college for the first time or returning to college. Make sure that you continue to go to Mass even if it is the "unpopular" thing to do. Once you stop going to Mass, you sever a big connection in your prayer life between God and you. Prayer and attending Mass on Sunday (or even more frequent, like the suggestion for Daily Mass given above) help you stay "in sync" with God, and things can only get better.
So, do you already do any of these suggestions? Have I inspired you to start doing any of these suggestions? Do you have any thoughts or questions about this? Please make all known via the comment box below, or via e-mail (e-mail address is catholictechgeek@gmail.com). If you send it via e-mail, I will try to cover your query at the end of my next article (or maybe, perhaps, a post in the comment box). You can also follow me on twitter as well (username is @rctechgeek).
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