Ahoy!

The May 2013 Meetup of the The Windows Developer User Group is scheduled for May 20th from 6PM to 8PM @ TechColumbus.  Please see details below & kindly RSVP.

Topic:
Add Cool Effects to Windows 8 XAML Apps with MonoGame!

Abstract:
The market for game development is very competitive and everything you can do to attract and please game players, will affect your games’ success.  Particle Effects can be added at the right place to help attract users back into your games. This session will discuss how to add effects to your XAML Windows 8 app.  After a review of MonoGame and its benefits, we will use the open source X2DPE library to add effects to an app. Come learn how to make eye-popping Windows 8 games using MonoGame!

Speaker Bio:
Doug is a Principal Consultant at Improving Enterprises in Columbus Ohio. He started developing software as a high school freshman on a TRS-80 16K. Since then he developed software for Graphics Kiosks, Rules Engines, Specialized Hardware and ASP.Net websites. Over the last two years, he has helped grow the Windows Phone & Windows 8 Developer Community in Central Ohio and he spends his free time developing Windows 8 and Windows Phone applications. Connect at  @doug_mair.

Please RSVP on our Meetup site @ http://www.meetup.com/windowsdevug/. Come join us!

Ahoy!

The April 2013 Meetup of the The Windows Developer User Group is scheduled for April 15th from 6PM to 8PM @ TechColumbus.  Please see details below & kindly RSVP.

Topic:
Hardening Windows 8 Apps for the Windows Store!

Abstract:
Security and privacy in mobile development has been a topic in the iOS and Android world for a few years now. Microsoft is entering the fray with be their first significant push into the mobile space. Will your apps be the next ones on the front page of Ars Technica (for the wrong reasons)? Bill would like to help you make sure that won’t happen. Come learn the security considerations of HTML5, backend services, cloud computing and WinRT.

Speaker Bio:
In 1992, Bill Sempf was working as a systems administrator for The Ohio State University, and formalized his career-long association with internetworking. While working for one of the first ISPs in Columbus in 1995, he built the second major web-based shopping center, Americash Mall, using Cold Fusion and Oracle. Bill’s focus started to turn to security around the turn of the century. Internet driven viruses were becoming the norm by this time, and applications were susceptible to attack like never before. In 2003, Bill wrote the security and deployment chapters of the often-referenced Professional ASP.NET Web Services for Wrox, and began his career in pen testing and threat modeling with a web services analysis for the State of Ohio. Currently, Bill is working as a security-minded software architect specializing in the Microsoft space. He has recently designed a global architecture for a telecommunications web portal, modeled threats for a global travel provider, and provided identity policy and governance for the State of Ohio. Additionally, he is actively publishing, with the latest being Windows 8 Application Development with HTML5 for Dummies.
Husband. Father. Author. Software composer. Brewer. Lockpicker. Ninja. Insurrectionist. Honorary blue teamer. Lumberjack. Connect at  @sempf or http://www.sempf.net/.

Please RSVP on our Meetup site @ http://www.meetup.com/windowsdevug/. Come join us!

Ahoy!

The March 2013 Meetup of the The Windows Developer User Group is scheduled for March 18th from 6PM to 8PM @ TechColumbus. Another double-header this month! Please see details below & kindly RSVP.

Topic 1:
Windows 8 Apps for the Web Developer in You!

Abstract:
Windows 8 represents a major step forwards for Microsoft’s flagship operating system. A major part of this new operating system is a completely new way to create applications and distribute them to Windows users. Windows Store applications (formerly Metro applications) provide developers with a new opportunity to distribute their applications through Microsoft’s online market place, potentially reaching more users than through a website alone. When building these applications developers have a few options to choose from in terms of the technology they use. Perhaps one of the most interesting features of Windows Store applications is the ability to create these applications using HTML, JavaScript and CSS. This enables developers who may not be familiar with the traditional Microsoft .NET stack to build Windows 8 applications. In this presentation you will see how to create powerful Windows 8 applications using many of the skills the most web developers already possesses. You’ll also see how the WinJS libraries help extend the JavaScript language bringing even more power and flexibility to the language for developing Windows 8 applications.

Speaker Bio:
James Bender (@jamesbender) has been involved in software development and architecture for 18 years. He has worked as a developer and architect on everything from small, single-user applications to Enterprise-scale, multi-user systems.  His specialties are .NET development and architecture, TDD, SOA, WCF, Web Development, cloud computing, and agile development methodologies. He is an experienced mentor and author. James is a Microsoft MVP and former President of the Central Ohio .NET Developers Group.  James book “Professional Test Driven Development with C#: Developing Real World Applications with TDD” was released in May of 2011. His second book “JavaScript and HTML 5 for Windows 8 Development” will be available soon.

Topic 2:
MVVM Light in 10 minutes!

Abstract:
James is done with his awesome presentation and has to run! We have about 10 minutes for a lightning talk before calling it a night – Enter quick steps to get started building Windows 8 Apps with MVVM Light Toolkit! Samidip Basu (@samidip) covers the basics in a rapid-fire round.

Please RSVP on our Meetup site @ http://www.meetup.com/windowsdevug/. Come join us!

Ahoy!

The February 2013 Meetup of the The Windows Developer User Group is scheduled for February 18th from 6PM to 8PM @ TechColumbus. And we have a double-header this month! Please see details below & kindly RSVP.

Topic 1:
Single Page Windows Store Applications with XAML and C#!

Abstract:
Building Windows 8 Store Apps? Codebase starting to look bloated and hard to maintain? One reason may be repetition and not enough separation of concerns; may be some patterns would help. The templates that you get for Windows Store XAML projects violate the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) architectural principle, because every page has a back button and title section.  Rob has found a great way to simplify some of this “chrome” using Galasoft’s Open Source MVVM light, a simple navigation service, and dependency injection.  In this talk, Rob will show you how to implement this approach with minimum effort and talk about other benefits of using the MVVM pattern.

Speaker Bio:
Rob Streno (@robaticus) has been working with computers since the punched card and paper tape days, but he hasn’t let that hinder him too much. By day, he manages a team of technologists for BMW Financial Services. However, after the sun goes down and the kid’s are in bed, he develops software like a madman for Windows Phone, and now, Windows 8. Rob is also the proprietor, managing director, developer, and lead coffee boy for Serberys, LLC. In his spare time (what’s left of it), Rob enjoys playing games on the computer and thinking about zombies.

Topic 2:
Top 5 caveats for your Windows Store App!

Abstract:
Getting ready to push out your dream Windows 8 App to the Store? Hang on – until you see this. Samidip Basu (@samidip) covers the top 5 things you may be missing out doing right in your Windows 8 Store App!

Please RSVP on our Meetup site @ http://www.meetup.com/windowsdevug/. Come join us!

Ahoy!

The December 2012 Meetup of the The Windows Developer User Group is scheduled for December 17th from 6PM to 8PM @ TechColumbus. Please see details below & kindly RSVP.

Topic:
Portability on Windows EcoSystem!

Abstract:
Do you write Apps for Windows Phone? May be you are starting new on Windows 8 or want to port over Apps from Windows Phone. Did you wish for code re-use or sharing artifacts between the two platforms, both being based on the same kernel now? What about extensibility of code to other platforms? Wonder no more, as Chris Ellis unpacks all that for you. Heard of Portable Class Libraries? – Yup, the single binary for code reusability across applications. We’ll talk about PCLs and much more in this in-depth session on code portability. You don’t want to miss this as an indie-developer!

Speaker Bio:
With over twenty years experience in software development, Chris Ellis has had the pleasure of delivering many solutions on many platforms in many different programming languages. From helping one person startups to worldwide corporations, he likes to help troubleshoot and solve the problems his clients encounter. And now, he brings all that experience to the Windows Phone + Windows 8 stack.

Please RSVP on our Meetup site @ http://www.meetup.com/windowsdevug/. Come join us!

Anything Special?
Yes! It’s that magical time of the year & the December meetup will also be our Holiday Party .. Yay! So, we will break away from our traditional Pizza & do something special for food to kickstart the Holiday eating frenzy. At least the first part of “Eat, Sleep, Code” will be covered . Oh, and big raffle prizes .. everyone walks away with something! Need we say more? Now, please register & come join us!

Ahoy!

The November 2012 Meetup of the The Windows Developer User Group is scheduled for November 19th from 6PM to 8PM @ TechColumbus. Please see details below & kindly RSVP.

Topic:
Windows Phone 8 – The Unpacking!

Abstract:
Ladies & Gentlemen – Jeff Blankenburg talks Windows Phone development. That is all!

Speaker Bio:
Ultra passionate. That’s how Jeff Blankenburg  (@jeffblankenburg) describes his relationship with technology. Over the past 10 years, Jeff has enthusiastically applied his technical expertise to build industry-changing websites and marketing efforts for mega brands including Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ford Motor Company, Sony and several pharmaceutical companies. He’s especially proficient in user interface design, web standards and mobile application development. In addition to his developer evangelist role for Microsoft, Jeff contributed to the O’Reilly title Windows Developer Power Tools on the subject of code validation services, and authored a Windows Phone development book out now on Amazon. He also serves as an organizer for the CodeMash and Stir Trek conferences. On the academic front, Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Ohio’s Bowling Green State University.

Please RSVP on our Meetup site @ http://www.meetup.com/windowsdevug/. Come join us!

Ahoy!

The October 2012 Meetup of The Windows Developer User Group is scheduled for October 15th from 6:30PM to 8:30PM @ TechColumbus. Please see details below & kindly RSVP.

Topic:
Windows Azure Mobile Services:  The Perfect Partner!

Abstract:
Building a robust, modern mobile application often requires a developer to not only focus on the front end user experience, but also backend services such as data storage, user authentication, and often push notification services.  This is often the tedious, less enjoyable aspect of building an application for many mobile application developers.  Windows Azure Mobile Services provides a scalable and easy-to-use “backend-as-a-service” for mobile applications.  In this session we’ll use Windows Azure Mobile Services to power a new Windows 8 application.  We’ll see how in just a few minutes we can have a ready-to-go application and service that provides scalable data storage, user authentication, and push notification support.

Speaker Bio:
Michael Collier serves as a Windows Azure National Architect for Neudesic, a Microsoft SI partner that specializes in Windows Azure.  Michael also holds the distinction of being one of the first Windows Azure MVPs awarded by Microsoft.  He has nearly 11 years of experience building Microsoft-based applications for a wide range of clients. Michael also enjoys speaking about Windows Azure and cloud computing strategies at local user groups, as well as regional and national conferences.  Michael is the founder of CloudDevelop, as well as the Central Ohio Cloud Computing User Group in Columbus, OH.  You can follow Michael  on his blog at http://michaelcollier.wordpress.com/ or on Twitter at @MichaelCollier.

Please RSVP on our Meetup site @ http://www.meetup.com/windowsdevug/. Come join us!

Ahoy!

The September 2012 Meetup of The Windows Developer User Group is scheduled for September 17th from 6PM to 8PM @ TechColumbus. Please see details below & kindly RSVP.

Topic:
Creating Games for Windows Ecosystem!

Abstract:
Hardcore developers create Games! Windows 8 & Windows Phone present a huge opportunity for developers to make a name for themselves while creating casual games on either platform. If you strike gold, well …

What if you were interested in writing games; but never took the leap. Can the newer technology and the changed MSFT developer landscape make you take the plunge? Come hear first-hand from an expert. Doug Mair talks about options available for starting to create casual games, technologies in use & common challenges. Also included, would be tips to port your code/game between Windows Phone & Windows 8 platforms.

Speaker Bio:
Doug Mair (@doug_mair/Email: doug.mair@corpria.com) has been developing software on Microsoft stack in the Columbus Ohio area for over 25 years. Applications built range from custom Rules Engines and Graphical Kiosk Systems to Assembly Line Integration and enterprise Websites. Doug spends most of his “after work” application development on Windows Phone & Windows 8 platforms. He loves developing apps and games that challenge his limits.

Please RSVP on our Meetup site @ http://www.meetup.com/windowsdevug/. Come join us!

Ahoy!

The August 2012 Meetup of the Metro Developer User Group is scheduled for August 20th from 6PM to 8PM @ TechColumbus. Please see details below & kindly RSVP.

Topic:
Windows 8 Development from the Trenches!

Abstract:
Writing applications for Windows 8? Would you like to hear some stories from the trenches? Real-world development experience in the form of war stories. Bill Sempf has been working full time on a Windows 8 project (for a large secret chip manufacturer in the Pacific Northwest) since last December. Come hear what he has learned about the most important change in strategy Windows has seen in a decade - communication through contracts. That & a whole lot more as we spend an evening with a Windows 8 expert.

Speaker Bio:
Husband. Father. Author. Software composer. Brewer. Lockpicker. Ninja. Insurrectionist. Honorary blue teamer. Lumberjack. Working on a Windows 8 book. Connect at  @sempf or http://www.sempf.net/.

Please RSVP on our Meetup site @ http://www.meetup.com/metrodevug/. Come join us!