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Monthly Archives: September 2010

  • Netduino Basics: Using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)

    Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is the process of alternating a signal between two extreme values with little to no intermediate steps. On the Netduino, these values are 0v and 3.3v. In its most basic form, the output resembles a square wave, where both the min and max values have the same duration. The square wave (which can be created with PWM) is the second down. The others, from ...

  • Windows Client Developer Roundup 043 for 9/27/2010

    This is Windows Client Developer roundup #43. The Windows Client Developer Roundup aggregates information of interest to Windows Client Developers, including WPF, Silverlight, Visual C++, XNA, Expression Blend, Surface, Windows 7, Windows Forms, Windows Phone and Visual Studio, WCF RIA Services, sometimes even a little jQuery and HTML5. If you have something interesting you've done or ...

  • The Commodore 64c

    I'm doing the unthinkable: I've bought a couple Commodore 64c computers to take apart for parts for experiments. In particular, I'm after the late-model SID chip for some Netduino projects. The early model chip was 12v and ran really hot. The late model MOS 8580 sounds a bit different, but was also more reliable and ran cooler at a lower voltage. I need a bunch of these, and they are get...

  • Using a 4x20 HD44780-controlled LCD Display with the Netduino

    Not too long ago, I got my hands on a Netduino (an Arduino-compatible board you program using the .NET Micro Framework and Visual Studio 2010), and did the obligatory BlinkenLight application. Afterwards, Scott way one-upped me and built an awesome morse code app. The stakes were getting higher, so I had to do something that seemed cooler than morse code. Hard to top, I know. I bet H...

  • Windows Client Developer Roundup 042 for 9/20/2010

    This is Windows Client Developer roundup #42: the answer to life, the universe, and everything. The Windows Client Developer Roundup aggregates information of interest to Windows Client Developers, including WPF, Silverlight, Visual C++, XNA, Expression Blend, Surface, Windows 7, Windows Forms, Windows Phone and Visual Studio, WCF RIA Services, sometimes even a little jQuery and HTML5....

  • Custom Placement within an ItemsControl in WPF

    I've been tripped up on a problem in Shoebox Scan for several weeks now. I'll pick it up for an hour or two on a Friday, get nowhere, and put it down until later the next week. Today, I finally figured out what the problem is. (Yes, I have been piddling with this application since early this year. I'm pretty sure Scott has a special ulcer just for me and Shoebox scan <g>) Backgr...

  • Announcing the Windows Phone 7 Release, WP7 Silverlight Toolkit and XNA 4.0!

    Today is a great release day. We've launched everything you need to write Windows Phone 7 applications. Not only that, but we've also released XNA 4.0 not only for phone, but for all supported XNA platforms. Visual Studio Tools for Windows Phone 7 Today, we released the production version of the Visual Studio Tools for Windows Phone 7. These are the only tools you'll need for build...

  • Ultimate PC 2010: New Power Supply

    So, while messing around in the case, I did what is easily the worst thing I've done to a PC: I overstressed and pulled-out one of the wires in the power supply. Unfortunately, that's one of the three cables that is hard-wired to the power supply, so I couldn't simply order/fine a new cable. I spent about 2 hours trying to repair it in a way that would make me comfortable using the PC, b...

  • Windows Client Developer Roundup 041 for 9/13/2010

    This is Windows Client Developer roundup #41. The Windows Client Developer Roundup aggregates information of interest to Windows Client Developers, including WPF, Silverlight, Visual C++, XNA, Expression Blend, Surface, Windows 7, Windows Forms, Windows Phone and Visual Studio, WCF RIA Services, sometimes even a little jQuery and HTML5. If you have something interesting you've done or ...

  • Woot! Silverlight 4 in Action is Out!

    My new Silverlight book, Silverlight 4 in Action is now out in paper, published by Manning. Several folks received their copies today, including me The eBook was made available last week for people who ordered it from Manning. MEAP (early access) customers also received their eBook editions on the same day. Source code is coming this week. I have half of it uploaded to the inte...

  • Windows Client Developer Roundup 040 for 9/6/2010

    This is Windows Client Developer roundup #40. The Windows Client Developer Roundup aggregates information of interest to Windows Client Developers, including WPF, Silverlight, Visual C++, XNA, Expression Blend, Surface, Windows 7, Windows Forms, Windows Phone and Visual Studio, WCF RIA Services, sometimes even a little jQuery and HTML5. If you have something interesting you've done or ...

  • First Experiences with Netduino and the .NET Micro Framework

    I like gadgets. Some of the coolest gadgets are add-on boards like the Freescale board that works with the Win7 Sensor and Location API. Recently, Arduino and Netduino caught my eye. Arduino is an open source hardware platform / microcontroller with a long history. The specification for the board is completely open, allowing anyone to build one themselves, or purchase a pre-built one. C...

  • Should Developers also be UX Professionals and Graphics Designers?

    I've received some interesting commentary on Item 0 in my 10 Things for Silverlight and WPF Developers post. That item says to know your limitations, including when to call in a "designer". (I'm using designer loosely here, it's a graphics designer or ux pro. Often, those are the same people, or highly related people working for the same org) I contend that 99% of developers make terri...