NJ Geeks - New Jersey's IT Community

Yesterday I referenced a new MSDN whitepaper that does a “cage match” analysis between Azure Queues and Service Bus Queues.  While we’re on the topic of the Windows Azure Service Bus and “What is it good for?”, I thought I’d share a reference to a new demo my colleague Brian Loesgen put together:

New Azure Service Bus Demo

Brian has been working on this demo and enhancing it over the past year. A version of it was even included in Tony Guidici’s Windows Azure Platform book.  The demo has several resources associated with it, including video walkthroughs and the complete source code:

• High def video walkthrough: http://youtu.be/xKHl87_BFT0
• Low def video walkthrough: http://youtu.be/c3KLhsjstco
• Complete source code, http://servicebuseventdemo.codeplex.com/

What does the demo do?  From Brian…

At a high level, the scenario is that this is a system that listens for events, and when critical events occur, they are multicast to listeners/subscribers through the Azure Service Bus. The listeners use the Service Bus relay bindings, the subscribers use the topical pub/sub mechanism of the Service Bus.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Cage match alert!  Anytime you put a “vs” in your title, you’re setting up an epic battle for folks to argue one way or the other which is better.  That’s not my intention here.  But, hey, you clicked, so I win.  

The Windows Azure Service Bus is a mysterious beast that is rarely tackled in 100-level overviews of the platform.  When it is, some people just view it as “one of those advanced fancy-schmancy enterprise features I’ll never need”.  But the Service Bus is actually a pretty cool feature of Windows Azure.  It let’s you handle a lot of common scenarios (as per the Service Bus website):

Hybrid applications

The Service Bus enables you to securely connect and integrate enterprise systems running in your private cloud with applications running on Windows Azure.  This makes it easier to extend solutions to the cloud without having to port or migrate all of your data or code from an existing enterprise datacenter to Windows Azure.

Mobile applications

The Service Bus enables you to easily build applications that can distribute event notifications and data to occasionally-connected clients, such as smart phones or tablets.  You can expose notifications or events from an application running either in Windows Azure or in your private cloud environment, and ensure that they are ultimately delivered to mobile devices.

Loosely coupled architectures

The Service Bus enables you to build loosely-coupled systems that are more resilient to network failure and can more easily scale out based on demand. The Service Bus can act as the connecting broker between the different components of a system, eliminating direct dependencies between different components.  Easily leverage the Service Bus to architect applications that support application load balancing.

As I dug into the Windows Azure Service Bus, one of the features that I was surprised to learn about is Service Bus Queues.  Confusion set in as I thought, “Hey, wait a second! Windows Azure Storage has Queues built in as a durable messaging mechanism. What’s the difference? Does Azure really have two services that do the same thing?!” 

Yes, Virginia, there are two queuing services available in the Windows Azure platform. Geeks being who geeks are, it leads to the natural question, “which one should I use?”  Which brings us to the inevitable cage match advertised in this post’s headline.

Valery Mizonov and Seth Manheim, along with other contributors on the Windows Azure team, have just published whitepaper on MSDN that handles this delicate question.

Windows Azure Queues and Windows Azure Service Bus Queues – Compared & Contrasted

Like most technology cage matches, this is not a zero-sum game. The answer to the question, “Which one do I use?” is “It depends.”  Give it a read or bookmark it for future reference when you’re ready for fancy-schmancy features.  I know it certainly answered a lot of questions for me.

Many of you know that Windows Azure is my favorite topic these days.  I think the shift to cloud computing over the coming years will represent a monumental change for our industry. 

For those designing systems and implementing them, having the overhead of managing infrastructure removed will be liberating. It will enable new opportunities and the ability to focus on what really matters:  Building stuff that gets stuff done and makes users (lots of them) happy!

Like any shift in technology, there will be a new set of skills to learn. You can migrate apps to the cloud and bring many of your existing skills with you. But to take full advantage of the power cloud architectures make possible, you will have to skill up.

What are your options? Different folks learn differently. The standard ones are always available: Books, search engines, blogs, online references, classroom seminars, technology conferences, etc. 

One learning resource that is often underestimated, but usually of high value is through your fellow developer peers!  Those of us living in the tri-state area are fortunate to have a thriving user group community.  As listed on the left pane of my blog, we have over 25+ groups focused on Microsoft technology alone!  There are many for other technology areas too, including the cloud.

I’d like to let you know about two new user groups that have formed in our area focused on the topic of Windows Azure!

NYC Windows Azure User Group

About:

First up is the New York City Windows Azure User Group!  This group launched last summer in July 2011.  Since then they have been meeting monthly in the Microsoft offices in midtown Manhattan.  This group is organized managed by Ira Bell.  The group is graciously being sponsored by Ira’s employer, Nimbo.  Like many area groups, the NYC Azure UG maintains its online presence on Meetup.com.

To date, the group has covered several great topics, including:

• "The Windows Azure Marketplace"
• "Empowering Mobile Devices with Azure Push Technology"
• "Putting Excel on Steroids – Bursting Excel to Azure"
• “On-boarding Java Apps to the Azure Cloud”
• “Overview of SQL Azure Data Sync”

Microsoft NYC - 1290 Ave Of The Americas NY, NY 10104 Where:

Microsoft NYC Offices
1290 Ave Of The Americas
6th Floor
New York, NY 10104

When:

Monthly meetings are currently hosted on the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 6:00pm – 8:00pm.  (The monthly date might be subject to change in the near future as the group sorts out the Microsoft facility availability.)

Website:

http://www.meetup.com/AzureNYC New Jersey Windows Azure User Group

About:

Next up, I’m excited to announce the launch of a brand new Windows Azure User Group in New Jersey!  The NJ Windows Azure User Group will be hosting their inaugural meeting on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012!  The group will be meeting monthly at the Microsoft offices in Iselin, NJ (a.k.a “GSP Exit 131” or “Metropark”).  The group is being organized by Shagun Labroo.  Aditi has offerred to sponsor the group and cover pizza.

Microsoft NJ - 101 Wood Ave S. Iselin, NJ 08830 Where:

Microsoft NJ Offices
101 Wood Ave South
9th Floor
Iselin, NJ 08830

When:

Monthly meetings will be hosted on the 1st Wednesday of each month from 6:00pm – 8:00pm.

Website:

http://www.meetup.com/NJAzureUserGroup

I’m planning to be at the NJ kick off meeting on the 1st and should a be a  frequent attendee (and speaker) at both groups in the future.  Hope to see some of you at one of these groups soon!

It’s that time again! Philly.NET Code Camp takes place twice a year in April and October.  Every time I’ve gone, it’s been a fantastic experience with so many opportunities to learn. With 10-14 parallel tracks of over 60+ developer oriented sessions, the Philly.NET community has grown this event into something that is to be envied by other technology communities!

If you haven’t been a Code Camp before, it’s like having a mini-Tech Ed right in your back yard (minus the big registration fee).  OH, and did I mention code camps are free?!

How do they do it? All of the speakers are volunteers and present at code camp for the benefit of the community. 

How do they get these folks to volunteer?  With a Call For Speakers!

CALLING ALL SPEAKERS! 

If you’re interested in presenting on whatever cool technology you’re working with or excited by, now is the time to submit a session for the upcoming Philly.NET Code Camp on April 14, 2012.  You don’t have to be an expert or a professional.  You just have to have some passion to come and share your knowledge with others.

Code Camp speakers don’t get paid.  But they get a lot of recognition and love from the local developer community.  And if you’re talk is selected, you also get a nifty Philly.NET Code Camp shirt too!  (That’s worth the time alone!)

If you want an idea of the types of topics that have been covered at Philly.NET Code Camp in the past, view the schedule from the last one in October 2011.

So if you’re interested, follow the link below and…

SUBMIT A SESSION FOR PHILLY.NET CODE CAMP 4-14-2012!

Registration for the code camp is NOT open yet.  That will likely happen 3-4 weeks in advance of the actual date.  Looking forward to another great event soon!

Windows Azure has been getting a lot of attention since the new wave of features & updates that rolled out last month in December 2011. My team at Microsoft hosted the Windows Azure Dev Camps in December.  Next week, the Discover Windows Azure event hosted by the Partner & Startup team at Microsoft rolls into NYC.

Now, a new series of Windows Azure events is coming, focused on how the cloud is changing the way business gets done.  Announcing…

“I Gotta Get Me Some of That!”

Everyone’s talking about the cloud, now it’s time to find out why!

These free, half-day sessions are being hosted in several Microsoft offices and are sponsored by Microsoft Partner Bit-Wizards and StorSimple.  The presentations and panel discussions will center on enterprise solutions enabled via Windows Azure, with a particular focus on application economics and return on investment.

This series is not making it up to the NY Metro area.  However, there will be a stop in the Philadelphia metro area at Malvern, Pa on February 21st, 2012.

The event schedule looks like this, and you can register via the links below:

  8:00am – 8:30am: Registration and breakfast
  8:30am – 9:00am: Introduction / Welcome
  9:00am – 12:00pm: Presentations    
12:00pm – 1:00pm: Lunch / Panel Discussion

Date Location Registration Link Thursday, January 26th Alpharetta, Georgia REGISTER ALPHARETTA Wednesday, February 8th Tampa, Florida REGISTER TAMPA Tuesday, February 21st Malvern, Pennsylvania REGISTER MALVERN Wednesday, February 22nd Chevy Chase, Maryland REGISTER CHEVY CHASE Friday, February 24th Fort Lauderdale, Florida REGISTER FORT LAUDERDALE Tuesday, March 27th Charlotte, North Carolina REGISTER CHARLOTTE

I recently wrote about how the Cinderella Dilemma has improved for New Jersey residents visiting New York City.  NJ Transit’s Departure Vision service for the mobile web has made life a lot easier for Garden State residents.  One of my readers (Bill Zack) sent me a message noting that New Jersey only accounts for about half of NYC’s suburbs.  The reader asked, "What about the rest of us?!”

Well, I suppose my Cinderella posts were a bit selfish.  From a Jersey perspective, it’s very easy to forget that there’s a whole other world north and east of New York City! (Must be all those bodies of water in between.)  Folks from Connecticut, Westchester, and Long Island all face the same Cinderella Dilemma when they visit the city too. 

That is, after rush hour, trains run less frequently.  If you’re out for a night in the city and you don’t have the train schedule memorized, you spend your whole night worrying whether to ditch your company to catch a train, or end up stuck for an hour or more in the train station, surrounded by all types of interesting creatures.

New York City’s suburbs are served by three major commuter railroads: NJ Transit, Metro-North, and the Long Island Railroad (LIRR).  The latter two are both operated by the New York’s MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority).  LIRR trains depart from the same Penn Station as NJ Transit trains.  Metro-North trains all depart from the other major (and more famous) train station in New York City: Grand Central Station.

Note: I don’t have much empathy for Metro-North commuters as Grand Central Station is a LOT nicer place to be “stranded” in than Penn Station.

So how can LIRR and Metro-North riders avoid the Cinderella Dilemma?  The MTA has recently implemented “Train Time” on their mobile web site. “Train Time” is essentially the same service as Departure Vision from NJ Transit.  You can pick a station from the list on the MTA’s website, and you get a view of the next twelve trains departing from that station.

On Windows Phone, you can pin a tile for any station’s “Train Time” to your Home screen just like you can with NJ Transit’s Departure Vision.  This works great, and is a quick and easy way to answer the question, “When is the next train?” with a single touch & glance.

Some caveats…

The MTA hasn’t yet implemented “Train Time” for their entire commuter rail system.  Metro-North folks are in luck as it works for most of the system (except for stations on the Danbury & Waterbury branches in Connecticut).  However, it’s only implemented on one branch of the LIRR, the Port Washington line. 

In fact, the Port Washington line implementation is currently in beta (as of 12/19/2011). It is only linked from the MTA’s mobile site, not their regular site. So, for now, most Long Islanders still have to tempt fate with the mice at Penn Station.

Train Time is not as “Metro-like” in terms of UI like NJ Transit’s Departure Vision but, it’s functionality is the same.  Load it up, pin it to your Windows Phone, and you’re good to go!

MTA Apps

I like mobile websites like NJ Transit’s and the MTA’s because they work on virtually any mobile device out there.  However, the MTA also makes most of their data available for developers to build mobile apps. 

The MTA is even encouraging folks to build mobile apps via a contest called MTA AppQuest!  If you browse the MTA website, they provide a list of apps that have been developed against their data.

Most of these apps are available for either iOS or Android and are focused on the NYC Subway system. NYC Travel is available for Windows Phone.  Like most other mobile apps, NYC Travel is focused on the subway system, providing service updates, etc.  It can display a static map of the Metro-North and LIRR systems, but does not have the ability to view scheduling information currently.  NYC Travel was developed by Chevon Christie and Fernando Garza.

I haven’t had a chance to try any of the MTA apps on iOS or Android (I do intend to…. perhaps for a future post), but I still think that for information like this, a mobile website like NJ Transit or the MTA’s is the way to go!

Anyone who knows me should understand why this ad on the New York Times website home page caught my attention …

(Zoom! Enhance!)

I’m sure it tastes like garbage like all other Starbucks coffee, but it did get my attention.

Reminds me of that old cliché, “You can’t polish a sneaker.” Even great marketing can’t sell a bad product.

No related posts.

Last Tuesday I had the privilege of speaking at the Northern New Jersey .NET user group (aka “N3UG.org”).  It was a great time talking to folks here in Jersey about the Windows Azure platform.  Thanks to everyone who attended and participated in a lively discussion! 

When I speak at a user group or tech conference, sometimes the audience is shy and doesn’t ask many questions. 

Some times, they don’t ask ANY questions. 

When that happens, I really can’t get a sense of whether I did a bad job, the content I covered was not relevant, or I’m just in a room of really really smart people who understood everything I said perfectly the first time I said it without need for clarification.

That was NOT the case last Tuesday in Parsippany.  Normally, most user group talks last 90 minutes or so. But last week, we started at 6:30pm, and by time the last questions were being asked, it was past 10pm! Lots of questions and great discussion points…  which showed me that folks genuinely were interested in learning more about the platform.

I like to think I know a lot, but as the saying goes, “the more you know, the more you know nothing.”  Naturally, when I get a lot of questions during a user group presentation, there are going to be some I don’t know the answers to offhand.  This meeting was no exception. 

There were a lot of questions about how the Windows Azure infrastructure works behind the scenes, specifically with regards to management of the VMs that applications run in, and SQL Azure.  A lot of these I think I handled, but others, I referred to the experts.

One thing I frequently mention in my Azure talks, but rarely reference, are some of the great “behind the scenes” Windows Azure webcasts available on MSDN’s Channel 9.  Now it’s time to provide the references.

Here are some videos that I want to share with you that provide some in-depth information on how Azure runs behind the scenes.  This information can help you understand how the cloud works, and how to design your applications to run better there.

MUST SEE Windows Azure Videos!

First up, a two-part talk from Mark Russinovich that was delivered at the //Build conference in Anaheim, California in September 2011.  Part 2 is the video I think most here will be interested in. Part 1 is mostly the same information and content I presented at the N3UG meeting. If you were there, or have seen a Windows Azure overview talk before, you can skip it. I’m including it as a reference for those who are reading this post and could use a good overview. 

Note: If you were at the N3UG meeting and want a reference to my slides, see the content posted from our recent Azure Dev Camp series in December 2011 (I pulled mostly from that.)

In the second video, Mark covers in-depth how the Windows Azure Fabric controller works and how the data center manages the infrastructure that runs your applications in the Azure datacenter. This should detail the answers to a whole slew of questions folks had Tuesday night at the N3UG meeting.

Part 1 – Introduction to Windows Azure: the cloud operating system Part 2 – Inside Windows Azure: the cloud operating system

The next two videos I want to share are regarding SQL Azure.  During my overview talk, I covered how SQL Azure is “database as a service”.  It is a multi-tenant service that is run in the Azure datacenters on commodity hardware.  That spawned a lot of questions regarding performance, latency, competition with other tenants, etc.

Here are two great videos from TechEd 2011 in Atlanta, GA that go in depth on SQL Azure performance and also how you can use federations to achieve scale in the cloud. 

The first video is delivered by Henry Zhang.  Henry’s talk is an updated version of one delivered by David Robinson at TechEd Australia in 2010.  In this talk, Henry goes deep on how SQL Azure is implemented under the covers, providing you a better understanding of how the system works.  He covers life in a mutli-tenant environment, including throttling, and how to design your databases for it.

Microsoft SQL Azure Performance Considerations and Troubleshooting – Henry Zhang

The second video is delivered by Chihan Biyikoglu.  Chihan explains what a database federation is, and how they work in SQL Azure.

Building Scalable Database Solutions Using Microsoft SQL Azure Database Federations – Chihan Biyikoglu

Note: This talk is from May 2011 when SQL Azure Federations were only available as a preview/beta. The SQL Azure Federations feature was officially released into production in December 2011. So there may be variances between the May video and current service feature. He released a short updated video here.

As always, if you have questions about Windows Azure.  Don’t be shy!  Leave a comment here on this post, or contact me through my blog.  Go ahead and kick the tires on Windows Azure for 90-days for free!  Also, don’t forget that if you have an MSDN Subscription, you have access to a ‘free’ Azure account for the duration of your subscription!  Don’t let that MSDN Azure account go to waste, activate it now!

Are you a college student?  Know someone who is?  Then here is an opportunity you won’t want to miss out on: A trip to SxSW in March with a special musical experience! Details from my colleague Ed Donahue…  

We see new, amazing experiences created every day by student developers and we wanted to come up with a way to return the favor: we are partnering with the band The Gracious Few (featuring members of the bands LIVE and Candlebox) to create an amazing experience for ten (10) US college students (and their guest) in Austin, TX at SXSW: attend a private concert, receive backstage passes, go to a private dinner with the band, and be interviewed on national radio about their apps.

We’re topping all this off with two $15,000 cash awards (one for the top free app and another for the top paid app) for the two apps that will be named “Big App on Campus.”

Big App on Campus (BAOC) is open to US College and University students who build apps for Windows Phone. Each app created from August 1st, 2011 until February 14th, 2012 can be entered and students can submit multiple entries.

Overview of Prizes

• Top free app + top paid app get $15,000 each!!
• 10 students (and their guests) will join us in Austin, TX for SXSW Music festival in March 2012
• Transportation, hotel, $500 spending money
• Private concert with The Gracious Few
• Backstage passes and private dinner with the band

 

Timeline & Judging Criteria

There are a few dates of note:

• February 14, 2012 -> deadline for all entries to be submitted
• February 15, 2012 -> Round 1: Judging
• February 23, 2012 -> Round 2: Public voting
• March 1, 2012 -> Round 3: Public voting to select Big App on Campus
• March 13-18, 2012 -> SXSW Music festival in Austin, TX

Every app submitted will be judged on three criteria:

• Innovation (40%): How innovative is the app? 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?

Public voting will include a combo of number of downloads of the app + “Likes” on Facebook. Semi-finalists will definitely want to think about how they can get their friends, family, fellow-students, and even complete strangers to download and “Like” their apps.

How to Enter

Obviously entering requires building & publishing an app. Each student must also complete the Official entry form (takes 49.7 seconds on average). Here’s what to do:

1. Register for DreamSpark at http://www.dreamspark.com and for an App Hub membership (both are free of charge for students) at https://users.create.msdn.com/Register/. Also check out our great Getting Started Guide for more info and resources. https://www.dreamspark.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductId=28
2. Create & publish a Windows Phone application to the Windows Phone Marketplace. Make the apps free, charge money, put ads in them…it’s up to you.
3. Visit http://wpdev.ms/BAOCApplication and complete an Official entry form. Do this after you’ve published your apps because you’ll need the App ID.

The full details are in the Official Rules so make sure you check them out.

Eligibility & Rules

• Open to all US college/university students (18+)
• Rules:  http://www.microsoft.com/student/bigapponcampus/
• Entry Form:  http://wpdev.ms/BAOCApplication

If you missed the Windows Azure Dev Camp we hosted in NY last month, there’s another great opportunity to learn about Windows Azure coming! Via Sanjay Jain, who graciously helped me out at the DevCamp last month, the Windows Azure Discover Event is coming on January 24, 2012…

We are hosting a half-day Windows Azure Discover Event (part of world-wide series brought to you by Metro – Microsoft’s Early Adopter Program and is free of charge) in New York City on Tue 24-Jan-2012 from 9:30am – 1:30pm.

Our goal is to help ISVs and software startups understand latest updates on Microsoft’s Cloud Computing offerings with the Windows Azure Platform, discuss the opportunities for the cloud, and show resources available to ISVs and startups to get started using Windows Azure and SQL Azure today.

The target audience for these events includes BDMs, TDMs, Architects, and Development leads. The sessions are targeted at the 100-200 level with a mix of business and technical information.

Attendees would have an opportunity to meet folks from Microsoft, several cloud ISVs and Startups plus a chance to win XBOX 360 Kinect raffle.

To secure your seat register here.

Additional Resources:

• Windows Azure – How Do I: Sign-up a free Trial Account
• Windows Azure Holiday Goodness: Service Release - December 2011
• Windows Azure Holiday Goodness: Readiness Resources

What?! Another post on Rock Paper Azure?  Yup.  One of my colleagues, Mike Benkovich, has brought the game to Windows Phone!  Mike is hosting a live online webcast tomorrow, January 11, 2012 at 4pm EST/3pm CST.  The webcast is from the nationwide online Windows Azure User Group run by Intertech.  Details below:

CLICK TO ATTEND! Details

Date: January 11, 2012
Time: 3pm Central/4pm Eastern

Description

Does what I know about you, and what I know that you know about me, lead me to believe that you’re the type of person who would throw a Rock, Paper or Scissors in this next round?

Microsoft has been running Rock Paper Azure tournaments online and at conferences where participants are able to design and build logic into a ‘bot’ for some friendly competition for prizes and prestige as we have fun with the cloud and learn how we can use it to extend out applications.

In this session we look at how we can start from a blank slate to build a mobile client to practice the game on the Windows Phone, where we connect it to the cloud to try our hand to see if we can beat the system. From designing and deploying WCF Services, to Authentication to SQL Azure and Cloud Storage we will have some fun and see if we have what it takes to become a Rock Paper Azure Grand Master

Presenter

Mike Benkovich

Energy, laughter and a contagious passion for coding - Mike brings it all to the podium. Mike has worked in a variety of roles including architect, project manager, developer and technical writer. The coolest part of his job? Running into people who are still using (and liking) his software applications. Mike is a published author with WROX Press and APress Books, writing primarily about getting the most from your SQL Server database. Since appearing in Microsoft's DevCast in 1994, Mike has presented technical information at seminars, conferences and corporate boardrooms across America.

If you want to take the Rock Paper Azure Challenge, enter into the open round, or contact me to host an RPA Challenge event at your user group or classroom!

A little more than a year ago, in November 2010, I announced launch of a new Windows Phone User Group in NYC.  Ryan Finnesey, Boulos Dib, and Jon Westfall have been doing a great job of running the group since its inception after the launch of Windows Phone 7!

In recent months, they have helped organize some great activities like the December 2011 WP7 Hackathon in NYC. The group has covered some great topics related to Windows Phone development, and mobile development in general such as:

• Cross-Platform Mobile Development with PhoneGap
• Handling Multi-Touch with Windows Phone 7
• Cross Platform Mobile Development with .NET (MonoTouch/MonoDroid)
• User Experience Design Considerations for WP7

Winter 2012 Line-Up

The group has already scheduled a great line-up of talks for the winter months in the Big Apple.  I thought I’d share them here for a wider audience, but please visit the NYC Windows Phone User Group site for details and to join the group.  By joining the group (on Meetup.com), you can get e-mail notifications of future meetings and other group sponsored events.

January 16, 2012

Mobile exception monitoring and analytics in Visual Studio 11

Speaker: Sebastian Holst, CMO PreEmptive Solutions

Last December, at the ALM Summit in Redmond, WA, Microsoft disclosed that Visual Studio 11 will include an application analytics and incident monitoring solution. While the functionality works across all .NET frameworks, it has specific support for WP7 (Mango) and Windows Azure providing a unique view into the “whole mobile application,” not just the bits running locally on any given device.

This session will introduce the components included inside Visual Studio 11 and demonstrate the steps required to instrument distributed mobile applications and integrate them into your development process leveraging automated, rule-driven work item generation within TFS.

February 20, 2012

Visual Studio vNext for the Phone Developer

Join speaker Robert Palmer to learn more about what’s in Visual Studio “11” for mobile development.

February 27, 2012 (Bonus Meeting!)

Using the Windows Azure Data Market with Windows Phone 7

Speaker: Richard Dudley

The Azure Data Market can be a treasure trove of data sets, containing everything from baseball stats to mortgage data to compiled census data. Some of these data are free, while some carry a fee for use, and all of them utilize the Odata protocol.  In this session, we'll take a tour of the Data Market, review Odata, dig into the two ways of querying data, and discuss some strategies for not costing you a fortune.  Although this session focuses on Windows Phone 7, there is a great deal of overlap to Silverlight and WPF developers, too.

March 19, 2012

Windows Phone 7 Games with XNA

The XNA Framework is ready for you to leverage your existing .NET development skills to create fantastic games that you can publish today for Windows Phone 7 and 7.5, the PC, and the Xbox 360. But how do you get started? Come see how surprisingly easy it is to create your own games with XNA Game Studio starting at File > New Project with no previous game development experience required!

If you’re interested in mobile development in NYC, the Windows Phone user group is a great way to get engaged with the local community. Hope to see you at one of these upcoming meetings!

Do you lead a User Group? Are you part of one? Are you a professor?  Teach a programming or cloud computing class of any sort? 

If you’re looking for an activity that will mix fun and learning among friends, consider hosting your own Rock Paper Azure Challenge!  

The RPA Challenge is a fun way to learn about Windows Azure and possibly win a few prizes along the way.  In short, you get to code a “bot” that will play the childhood game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” against other contestants’ bots. The game allows you to flex your coding skills by rewarding developers for coming up with the best best “bot” algorithm.

Throughout November and December, you may have seen a post or two (or 4 or 5) from me about the Rock Paper Azure Challenge.  During 2011, we hosted several rounds of the RPA Challenge both online, and in-person at our Windows Azure Tech Jam & Dev Camp events.

Now, in 2012, we would like to bring the RPA Challenge to YOU!

If you are located in the US and interested in putting together your own RPA Challenge event, let me know.  My team can set you up with a “RockPaperAzure Challenge Kit” so you can host your own local tournament, with prepared content and cool prizes of course!

You can host the RPA Challenge as a single day/evening live event, or as a longer running online activity for your user group or class to participate in.  If you host it as a live event, you should plan on a minimum of 2-3 hours to host it.  This is longer than a typical user group meeting, but still practical to host in a single evening.

For example, if you are teaching a class, you could teach the students how to participate, and then allow them to participate by creating and entering a bot during a set period of time (as an assignment/project/etc).

What Do You Need To Participate?

Participants will need a Windows Azure account. (See Jim O’Neil’s excellent post on obtaining a free 90-day trial account!)  The coding of a “bot” can currently be done using the C#, Visual Basic, or F# programming languages.

While Windows 7 or Vista are required to test drive the Windows Azure tools and developer emulator, you can participate in the challenge using either a Mac or Windows XP.  This is achieved by deploying a pre-packaged solution directly to the cloud and performing all of your bot testing in the cloud!

The RPA Challenge was put together by my colleagues Brian Hitney, Jim O’Neil, Susan Wisowaty, and myself in an effort to have some fun while evangelizing Windows Azure.  If you are interested in hosting your own RPA Challenge…

Let Me Know!

We look forward to helping you host your own Rock Paper Azure Challenge events this year!

On the cusp between 2011 and 2012, I decided to take advantage of the much-maligned Facebook Timeline feature and briefly summarize some highlights from the past year.

January

January brought us the great story of Ted Williams, a homeless man with that deep radio-personality voice. It’s the kind of feel-good story that was a perfect way to start out the year. Or, at least try to …

Sadly, we learn of Bill Zeller‘s suicide, before which he posts an elaborate suicide note. I could write volumes on how I feel about this, but I’ll just leave well enough alone.

My friend Ian visited us in January, and his Prius wouldn’t start when he went to leave. I can now say that I’ve jump-started a Prius. With all those batteries, you’d think Toyota would have designed it to never need a jump start, right? Wrong.

I discovered that the Mobile Safari browser limits each open tab to 5 MB of memory.

In a fit of despair, I channeled my stress into a redesign of my blog.

Working briefly with Logan Zanelli, we launched Johnny B. Truant‘s new blog design.

Discovered an incredible YouTube video of Phish’s Meatstick from New Year’s 2010:

Egypt packed up its toys and went home, disconnecting the whole country from the Internet.

The North American blizzard dropped so much snow on us, it was the snowpocalypse.

I was able to get my email inbox down to 1,685 messages.

We tried to introduce the girls to Dungeons & Dragons. They both really seemed to like it.

February

Suzie turned 8, and Charlie turned 11. Both of them celebrate their birthday in February. This makes for a very hectic month, to say the least.

I was introduced to Van Canto’s version of Master of Puppets. A cappella heavy metal. Two great tastes that taste great together …

A brilliant bank robbery was committed, where the robber’s escape plan involved blending into a crowd of construction workers, crowdsourced from Craigslist, and the getaway vehicle was an inner-tube.

Through some friends-of-friends, I started doing some consulting work for BloomAvenue.com (which is now no longer). Later in the year, this would transform into me working from FromYouFlowers.com.

March

Good ol’ Charlie Sheen grabs a few minutes of fame with his “goddesses.”

Julia Yu gave us Goodnight Dune, a fantastic parody of the age-old children’s classic of similar name.

The world reeled as Japan got pwnt by a tremendous earthquake and tsunami. The catastrophic event trashed the Fukushima nuclear power plants, and held the world’s attention with radiation scares.

Apple launched the iPad 2 tablet this month.

Mazda recalls a bunch of Mazda6′s because of some spiders nesting in its parts.

Blair River, the spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill, ironically dies from pneumonia, at the young age of 29.

Taylor Mali’s incredibly powerful poetry about the importance of teachers makes the rounds on the Internet, again:

The Passaic, Morris and Essex Counties were ravaged by intense flooding. Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency. Unfortunately, this won’t be the last time the area floods, this year.

Charlie and Suzie become “mages” at MagiQuest, starting with the one at the Funplex in East Hanover, NJ.

Facebook quietly starts working on Facebook Deals, most likely in response to Groupon’s tremendous success.

Lady Gaga reminds us that she was Born This Way. Matter of fact, we all are. Good to remind ourselves of this, once in a while.

My friend Maya returns to the United States, and I get to see her again after years since the last visit. It’s nice to catch up with old friends, even if it’s bittersweet.

Google finally launches their latest entry into the social web space with “Google +1.”

RSA, the company that’s well-known for creating one-time-password security fobs, gets hacked. This story will not end well …

April

Eric Whitacre leverages technology to create his “Virtual Choir 2.0.” This is the future I want to live in.

I published a HOWTO on tethering an Android phone via USB to MacOS X.

Epsilon has a data breach where millions of email addresses were acquired.

I did some DIY repair on my Mitsubishi Lancer, replacing the O2 sensor, so that the car would pass NJ state inspection.

We saw the US government nearly shut down because our politicians can’t agree on how to best overspend the American taxpayer dollar.

The eyes might be the windows to the soul, but Photoshopping Steve Buscemi’s eyes onto other people is a window into insanity. Thanks, Internet … everyone needs a new nightmare, every now and then.

My college alma mater, Rutgers, demonstrates that the “RU Screw” is still alive and well, by paying Snooki some $32k to perform.

In the “seriously, this happened?” department, the Med Peds Clinic of Fort Collins, Colorado, employed someone who thought it’d be a good idea to split a flu vaccine dose, by using half of the syringe and swapping out the needle. No, you can’t make this stuff up.

Just when I thought I lived in a sleepy little suburban town, tragedy strikes when someone brutally beats Frank the barber who dies from his injuries, right on Main Street in Bloomingdale.

The four of us spent a week down in Atlantic City, at the Wyndham Skyline Tower.

Charlie has made her first communion at church this year, on Palm Sunday.

SETI stops operating the Allen Telescope Array. Millions of geeks cry out as they try to figure out what to do with their unused CPU cycles.

Adam Mansbach’s faux children’s book “Go the F— to Sleep” gets some press.

Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) gets hacked, officially. This won’t be the last time …

May

Just in case you forgot what the American “War on Terror” was all about, Osama bin Laden is finally dead. Little did Sohaib Athar realize at the time, but he live-tweeted the raid.

I finally broke down and bought myself a white iPad 2 (16 GB, Wi-Fi).

Nicktoons threatens to destroy more of my fond childhood memories, looting the corpse of the Voltron legacy.

The Library of Congress makes a wealth of old recordings available online.

Microsoft begins the process of acquiring Skype for $8.5 billion in cash. No shortage of “Sky.NET” jokes at this point.

Google launches its Music Beta service. Is it really the right time for a cloud-based music service?

We get to watch the FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker approve Comcast’s purchase of NBC, then go work for Comcast. No, I’m not kidding …

It’s finally official: I’m now working for FromYouFlowers.com as a Senior Solutions Architect.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama comes to Newark, New Jersey, and tries to tell Americans that we need to teach our kids ethics.

Watermelon farmers in China get screwed when they overdosed their crops with growth chemicals, resulting in exploding watermelons.

Sony’s PSN–you know, the Password Sharing Network–gets hacked again.

Harold Camping predicts the end of the world on May 21st, 2011. Sadly, the Macho Man Randy Savage dies on the 20th, just in time to stop Jesus from coming back to rapture us all. OHHHH, YEAHHHH!

Apparently some “faulty software” released 450 of the most dangerous inmates from California prisons. And people try and make fun of me for living in New Jersey … ??!

One of America’s largest defense contractors, Lockheed Martin, gets hacked. Allegedly, the breach may have involved the recently compromised RSA security technology.

The Ridgewood Cavaliers of Harmony, the barbershop society chapter I belong to, had a sing-out at Van Neste Square in Ridgewood, New Jersey, for Memorial Day.

June

Samuel L. Jackson, the quintessential Bad Mother F@#!ker, does the audiobook reading of “Go the F— to Sleep.” Naturally.

The girls have their Performing Arts Academy dance recital at the Shea Center on the William Paterson University campus.

Congressman Anthony Weiner resigns after a little sexting scandal, where he accidentally tweeted a link to a picture of his junk in his underwear. D’oh.

Neil Patrick Harris performs the opening number for the 2011 Tony Awards, pointing out that “Broadway’s not just for gays anymore.”

Web designers explore how repeating intervals that follow prime numbers in nature, specifically the cicada, can yield interesting visual effects, as well.

RIM’s stock drops in value by 20% overnight.

Michael Vick comes to Butler, New Jersey, to sign autographs, and winds up being greeted by protesters.

Google starts rolling out Google+.

Weird Al Yankovic releases his Lady Gaga parody, “Perform This Way.”

Britney Spears reminds us that she’s still a hottie, even after poppin’ out a baby, with her video for “I Wanna Go.” Hell, even if you don’t care for Britney, Guillermo Diaz who plays Scarface in Half Baked, appears in the video.

The state of Georgia enacts some anti-illegal-immigrant law, which totally screws the farmers in Georgia who can’t find enough affordable labor to harvest crops. If it wasn’t clear that illegal immigrants aren’t the problem before, it sure ought to be now.

Danous Estenor performs a heroic act of total badassery by lifting up a car, freeing a man who was trapped underneath.

Gary Foster made his alma mater Rutgers proud by embezzling some $19.2 million dollars. In America, you can only get away with it if you’re white …

***

Okay, it’s almost midnight … and I’m only up to July, so I’m going to post this now. Maybe I’ll get to do the second half of 2011, tomorrow.

Happy New Years, everyone!

Related posts:

1. Review: Samsung Captivate on at&t
2. Can 2011 be the year for personal grid computing?
3. Jeff Jarvis is no longer an AOL member, but he might be from New Jersey

A few years back… pre-iPhone era (you can tell from the content), I wrote a post about the Cinderella dilemma suburbanites experience when visiting New York City in the evening.  After rush-hour, the options for catching a train out of the city are “limited”, and the last thing you want to do is have your fun night out ruined by an extended stay at NY’s Penn Station. 

I thought I’d revisit the current state of affairs for late night New Jersey-bound B&T folks like myself.

In October 2006, I felt like my world had changed for the better when NJ Transit introduced a mobile version of their website.  At the time, I was in awe that I could see the train schedule on demand on a mobile device in my hand within one or two clicks.  How quaint that notion seems today!

In this new world of mobile apps, what was impressive in 2006 is just taken for granted now in 2011.  Everyone wants an app for something.  But well done mobile websites can be just as good for many situations.

There have been some debates about apps vs. the web recently.  There are some categories of apps that I think might be better served by well done mobile websites.  I think transit apps are one of them.  With the exception of possibly making use of a user’s location data for routing purposes, transit apps are mostly rendering semi-static time-table content.  There’s virtually no need for accelerators, compasses, cameras, or other device specific features that an app would be better suited for.

NJ Transit’s current mobile web site is pretty decent.  The site has improved slightly over the past couple of years.  Although, there is always room for improvement…  like remembering preferences and the routes you frequent so they can be quick linked on their home page!

One major improvement came in October 2009 with the introduction of Departure Vision to most stations.  Departure Vision is a website feature that lets you view the same train departure status boards that are on display in the actual stations.  For those of you not from the train-using northeast US or Europe, these departure boards are similar to the ones you see in an airport for planes and typically list the next 10 trains or so. 

Departure Vision is a lot handier than the point-to-point train schedule feature that excited me in my 2006 post.  The point-to-point feature will return you a full timetable between any two stations in the browser.  Given the late-night use-case scenario that inspired my original post, you typically need to scroll through the point-to-point timetable all the way to the end to find the late night trains.

While the point-to-point feature is still available, Departure Vision is much better at answering the age old question of, “When’s the next train?” with a quick glance. 

That notion of a “quick glance” to obtain the information you need is a key design philosophy of the Metro UI introduced with Windows Phone 7.  In fact, the Metro UI was inspired by signs commonly found at public transport systems, just like Departure Vision!

And that brings me to the inspiration for today’s post…

Last month at the Windows Phone 7 launch event in NYC, I was hanging out with my teammate Jim O’Neil from New England.  Toward the end of the event, Jim noticed me checking the train schedule with Departure Vision on my Samsung Focus and asked, “What app is that?!”  At first I was surprised, “Huh? It’s not an app. It’s a website.”

Then the “doh” moment hit and I realized, “Oh yeah, it (Departure Vision) does look like a Windows Phone app with the white text & colors on a black background.  Very Metro like indeed!”

At the same time, it occurred to me that I keep forgetting that you can pin websites to the home screen on Windows Phone.  When you pin a website to the home screen on Windows Phone, you get a tile that is a thumbnail snapshot of what the page looks like.  Click the tile, and the browser opens directly to that page as if it were an app.

I immediately pinned Departure Vision to my screen for Penn Station. 

 

“SWEET!!!”, I yelled out loud!

Just ONE click… exactly ONE CLICK from the home screen and I can immediately see “when is the next train?” at a glance!  This is B&T nirvana!

After getting over my excitement at this technically trivial set up, I pinned tiles for Departure Vision at the three stations I use most frequently. Now, when I need to get a train to or from NYC, I can quickly figure out my best option in true Windows Phone fashion: “Get In, Get Out, and Get On With Your Life”. 

Note to the Windows Phone team: There’s always room for improvement.  What would be killer is if the pinned website tiles on Windows Phone were “live” and could update dynamically.  That way, even with a website like DV, you could always see the latest trains on the tile itself!

The great thing about this is that, given that Departure Vision is a mobile website, this feature is available on any mobile phone.  In fact, while writing this post, I discovered that NJ Transit even advertises it with a QR code at ticket vending machines throughout the system.  Scan the QR code at your station’s TVM using your phone and it will pop the browser open to Departure Vision for that station.  Of course, once you do that, you can bookmark it accordingly.

Last week, I met some good friends for dinner and drinks after work at the Houndstooth Pub in NYC.  At some point, the question came up, “Another round? Or does Cinderella have to run?”  A quick glance down at my phone and the answer was a resounding “One more please!”

The days of tempting fate with the mystery of whether you’ll be stranded in Penn Station with a pumpkin, a bunch of mice, and a glass slipper are long gone!  (Well, maybe not the mice…. this is New York City after all!)

On December 10, 2011, a new version of WindowsAzure.com went live.  There are many improvements and a ton of new things to check out.  My teammate Jim O’Neil recently covered a key improvement in getting started with The New, Improved No-Risk Windows Azure Trial.  (Do read it as a step 1 to this post!)  In this post, I want to cover one of the areas I’m personally excited about: The new Developer Centers.

Windows Azure has been an open platform since it first went into production service in January 2010. However, many have had a perception that it is a .NET-only cloud solution. Why has that perception been out there?  Well, likely because anyone who visited WindowsAzure.com in the past would notice that the site was very .NET-centric.  Links, documentation, tools, etc were all focused on the .NET development platform. 

.NET ROCKS!  (If you don’t believe me, ask Carl & Richard.)  But, .NET is not the only development platform in the world. There are many other development languages and platforms out there that run on Windows, and thusly, Windows Azure.  However, if you wanted to try and use a non-.NET platform on Windows Azure, you found yourself clicking tiny links, virtually hidden on the home page, that would lead you off to a “web ghetto” of sorts to get the tools and SDKs needed for these platforms. (That is… IF you could even find those links.)

It was clear that .NET was the first-class citizen, and all other platforms were 2nd and even 3rd class citizens.  With the new WindowsAzure.com, that situation is on the way to being rectified.

Introducing the Windows Azure Developer Center: Imputing All Platforms As Equal

I’ve recently been reading the new Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. (Hoping to wrap it up over the holidays!) One thing that stuck with me from the book is the notion of “imputing value”.  In an early passage of the book, Isaacson covers how one of Jobs’ first mentors at Apple, Mike Markkula, instilled in Jobs the importance of “imputing value”.  In a one-page paper written in the early days of the company called “The Apple Marketing Philosophy”, Markkula listed “impute” as a key principle.

To quote the book…

“It emphasized that people form an opinion about a company or product based on the signals that it conveys. “People DO judge a book by its cover,” he wrote. “We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software, etc; if we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceived as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities.”"

This concept of imputing value came up repeatedly throughout the book as it covered the early history of Apple.  Essentially, it’s all about appearances.  Even if you don’t have a solid product/service/company/etc, you present yourself as though you do.  Think of it like wearing a suit to a job interview, even though you may only wear jeans and t-shirt if you end up working there.   You wear the suit because a suit “imputes” YOUR value, conveying the message that YOU are a valuable resource.  (And that you actually want the job!)

Windows Azure is a solid service from a solid company. It’s the reason I decided to jump at the opportunity to focus on Windows Azure here at Microsoft.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a history of going against the grain and connecting non-Microsoft stuff with Microsoft stuff.  Using technologies other than .NET on Windows Azure is something that has interested me for some time now. 

While Windows Azure certainly has spent its early days focused on the .NET space, there has been a lot of investment going on behind the scenes to broaden its focus.  Those investments have started to manifest themselves with the new Windows Azure features and website that went live on December 10, 2011.

Now, when you visit Windows Azure.com, there is one Developer Center that presents all of the platforms as equal contenders for use on Windows Azure.  This is great, because Windows Azure truly is an open platform, open to all comers.  Now, Windows Azure is finally saying it to the world.

When I saw the new Developer Center, I thought, “Wow! This finally imputes value for other platforms at first glance!”

Java developer? Node developer?  PHP?  Come on board!  You’re welcome, and we’d love to see you developing applications on Windows Azure!

On the main developer center page, there are clear links (all of the same size, fonts, etc) to a developer center for each language and/or developer platform. There are four introduced with this new site update: .NET, Node.js, Java, and PHP.  There is also an “Other” which leads you to details on the RESTful/HTTP APIs so you can use Windows Azure and its services from other platforms which don’t yet have formal developer centers.

When you visit an individual developer center, you find all of the information you need to get started with Windows Azure for that platform.  Links to downloads, links to documentation, etc.  It all looks consistent across the board.  Below is an example of the Node.js Developer Center:

On the Downloads page, there are clear links to get the bits for each platform too:

 
In addition to organizing things better, the Windows Azure team has made it easier to see the code.  The Windows Azure SDKs for .NET, Java, and Node.js have been released under the Apache 2 open source license and are now hosted on GitHub!  The source code for the Windows Azure SDK for PHP, which has long been released under a New BSD license, still resides on CodePlex.

A Good Start

The new Developer Center sets the stage, making it easy for a developer on any platform to get started with Windows Azure.  However, the tools, documentation, and SDKs are in various states for each language.  All have been improved from previous versions. Some have more work to be done.  For example, some things still link through to perfectly good pre-existing content (as is the case for a lot of the PHP content).

The future direction is clear from the revamp of the site, and the introduction of the new SDKs for Node.js and Java:  Windows Azure is open to all players.  I look forward to future changes over time as the site continues to be updated. For now, it’s a start, and it looks great!

Check the new Windows Azure developer centers out.  Have a look around and let me (and the Azure product team) know what you think!

While I was on the road in early December with the US Cloud team delivering Windows Azure Dev Camps, our colleagues were doing the same with the HTML5 Game Camps.  I got a chance to attend the NYC stop at Columbia University on December 9th.  (The “Grantophone” is STILL a huge hit in my home!)

Now that the HTML5 Game Camps have concluded, my colleague Chris Bowen has posted all of the content & resources online. I got a chance to browse through some of it this evening, and there is a lot of great stuff here. With HTML5 being the current ‘hottness’, this is a list that must be bookmarked!

From Chris…

The events featured introductions to the underlying technologies (HTML5, JavaScript, graphics) then a look at engines that can make game development easier.  The second half was hacking time followed by a chance for everyone to demo their creations.  It was great to see what could be made in just a few hours!

Thanks to everyone who participated, and let me know if you’ve continued working on your creations after the events!

Now, bookmark this link ASAP:

HTML5 Game Development Resources

Oh, while we’re at it… here’s two for the price of one (great list from Chris a few months back):

List of HTML5 Presentation Resources

This just in from my teammate Bob Hunt…

The Windows Phone User Group scheduled for this evening, December 19th, 2011 has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances.  Please check back soon to see if we can have the same topic in January.

Original meeting details:

Come join us at the NYC Phone Users Group on Monday, December 19th and learn about building location-based applications on Windows Phone.  Also in attendance at this event will be both yours truly and Foursquare, so this will definitely be a worthwhile event.  This meeting has already proven to be in high-demand, so I suggest you register today at http://www.meetup.com/Windows-Phone-User-Group/ and click on the RSVP button near the event.

Well, five cities and two weeks on the road and the East Coast Windows Azure Dev Camps have come to a close. The tour started in Raleigh, NC on 12/5, and then made its way through Farmington, CT (Hartford), New York City, Malvern, PA (Philly), and Chevy Chase, MD (DC).  Brian, Jim, and I had a lot of fun talking about the cloud and Windows Azure with the many folks we met on the road.

Thanks & Kudos

Thanks & kudos go out to Bill Wilder for helping Jim with the Farmington, CT event on 12/7.  Likewise, to Sanjay Jain for helping me deliver the New York City (12/8) and Malvern (12/12) events too! 

I’d also like to thank Microsoft Partner Aditi for delivering a special lunch session at the New York City event. The folks from Aditi detailed their experience from start to finish using Windows Azure to implement an application system used by one of the major airlines.

Thanks for Bill Zack, Lindsay Lindstrom, and G. Andrew Duthie for helping out with the Rock Paper Azure hand-on portion of the events in NY, Malvern, and Chevy Chase respectively.

And of course, thanks to all of the attendees for giving us the privilege of your time to talk to you about Windows Azure!

Content & Resources

The content & resources from this event series has now been posted on our US Cloud Connection site.  This includes the presentation slides for the sessions delivered during the first half of the day:

• The Case For The Cloud
• Storage In The Cloud
• Code In The Cloud

Also listed on our Content & Resource page are links and instructions on where to find the demo applications & code reviewed during the sessions.  This includes:

• Babelcam
• Tankster
• Thuzi’s Facebook/Azure Helper Kit
• Azure Toolkits for iOS/Android/Windows Phone
• Azure Toolkit for Social Gaming
• Windows Azure GuestBook
• Cerebrata’s Cloud Storage Studio

Windows Azure Dev Camp Fall 2011 Series – Content & Resources US Cloud Connection

If you haven’t visited it yet, US Cloud Connection is a site where you can keep up with all things related to the cloud and Windows Azure that Brian, Jim, and I post about. 

The site features a “cloud filtered” aggregate of our three blogs. So you won’t see our more ‘local’ blog posts about other topics and events in our home areas of North Carolina, NY/NJ, and New England.

US Cloud Connection is also the location for where you can find the content for all of our Azure-related events.  This includes past Firestarter & Tech Jam events, as well as the Rock Paper Azure Challenge and Azure @Home. 

Have a look around over there and let us know if you have any feedback!

Fun Tidbits

Some interesting facts about this event series…

• Food – To try and ad a “camp” feel to the event, we decided to go with grilled food, including hamburgers, hot dogs, and smores!
• Fire – Between the sessions (in most cities), you may have noticed a “camp fire” burning on the projector. This was courtesy of a Yule Log video on YouTube which was ‘looped’ using a nifty utility called Infinite Looper. (Tip: If you ever want to “Rick Roll” someone, Infinite Looper makes the hysteria last longer. )
• Raleigh, NC was the only location where Brian, Jim, and I were in the same place at the same time!
• Candid Camera – In NYC, a professional camera crew was on hand to record activity during the event for the making of a DevCamp ad for Channel 9!

Rock Paper Azure Challenge

In each city, attendees participated in a “local” round of the Rock Paper Azure Challenge, coding a "bot” for a chance at some swag we had (XBox, etc) at each event. Many of the folks who participated in the RPA Challenge at each event also entered into our recent online Fall Sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to Cancun, Mexico. 

The sweepstakes results were posted here on Friday 12/16.  Congrats to player “AmpaT”, who participated in the NYC event, for coming in 1st place on the leaderboard for the Fall Sweepstakes round online!

Below are results of the local rounds we played at each event:

Raleigh, NC – 13 bots

Farmington, CT – 11 bots (not including Jim – jimoneil)

New York City – 30 bots (not including Peter – jrzyshr2)

Note: In NYC, due to operator error, the ‘round’ was run a second time in the admin console. Given that many bots rely on randomness, results can change when the same bots are re-matched.  The results below represent the final score after the ‘round’ was run a second time. It is not the order of the leaderboard that was used for prizes given out to at the event.

Malvern – 20 bots

Chevy Chase – 19 bots (not including Jim – jimoneil)

For those that attended, I hope you enjoyed the events. I hope to see and meet more of you at events in the future!

It’s Friday night!  That means the Rock Paper Azure Challenge’s Fall 2011 Sweepstakes has drawn to a close and someone has won a $5,000 trip to Cancun, Mexico!  At 6pm EST this evening, we closed the Fall Sweepstakes round to new bot entries.  Then, as per the process detailed in my teammate Jim O’Neil’s post earlier today, the winners were determined.

This series of the Rock Paper Azure Challenge featured two ways to win: Competition & Sweepstakes.  And now, the results of each…

Competition Winners

Each week of the challenge, the top 5 bots in the game were rewarded with $50 Best Buy gift cards, as listed below:

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Protist Protist AmpaT AmpaT choi RockMeister choi porterhouse FistOfImmortality choi Protist choi dumpling porterhouse RockMeister benrick NothingBeatsRock Appsolut porterhouse RockMeister

Congratulations AmpaT, porterhouse, choi, benrick, and RockMeister for winning $50 gift cards in Week #4!

Sweepstakes Winners

Congratulations to the sweepstakes winners listed below (subject to verification) in the order they were drawn.  Winners were drawn using the Random Sequence Generator with a range from 1 to the number of entries in the Fall Sweepstakes leaderboard (162).  Each random number returned was matched to the contestant bot in that “place” on the leaderboard to determine the winner.

Prize Winner Randomly-drawn
placement $5000 (Cancun!) RobZ 120 Acer Aspire S3 laptop mgbizcom 157 Windows Phone choi 4 XBox 360/Kinect fmc 156

Everyone who participated and uploaded a bot during the Fall Sweepstakes will receive the official Rock Paper Azure Challenge t-shirt.

It’s been exciting to manage and watch the competition this past month! If you didn’t get a chance to play Rock Paper Azure during this round, you can always play in our open round for “bragging rights”.  Stay tuned as the Rock Paper Azure Challenge will likely be back again for another iteration in the future.