wintellect-blogs|Apr 14, 2014

More Fun with Universal Apps: MyComix Reader

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the new universal app model that Microsoft introduced at BUILD 2014. In that post, I introduced a version of Contoso Cookbook that runs on Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. That sample covered the basics of universal apps, including using a shared project to share code and…
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Blogs|Apr 11, 2014

Showing the Onscreen Keyboard in Silverlight OOB Applications

Update – 4/10/2014  Wow!  Quite a lot has happened since I originally posted this.  Certainly one of the biggest changes is the diminished role that Silverlight now plays in both enterprise and consumer applications.  However, I’ve noticed that this particular blog post is still getting some attention, so I figured I’d try to provide some…
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Blogs|Apr 10, 2014

Initializing the Microsoft Azure SDK 2.3 Storage Emulator

Last night I worked my way through some dev tool updates and happened to install both SQL Server 2014 and the new Azure SDK 2.3. I prefer to host the databases for the storage emulator in my primary SQL Server instance instead of the default LocalDB, and had grown accustomed to running the command-line DSInit.exe…
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Blogs|Apr 9, 2014

Windows Server 2012 Essentials Client Restore vs. Microsoft Surface Pro

In this corner we have a Microsoft Surface Pro that needs to have a full client restore. In that corner we have Microsoft’s own Windows Server 2012 Essentials that contains said full client backup. Let’s get ready to rumble! ™ (I hope I don’t owe Michael Buffer money for using his trademark. He’s made over…
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Blogs|Apr 8, 2014

Handling Extremely Large Data Sets in Silverlight

While writing Chapter 14 of my book, Designing Silverlight Business Applications: Best Practices for Using Silverlight Effectively in the Enterprise (Microsoft .NET Development Series) I focused on an area that is quite common with line of business applications: extremely large data sets. In the example I generated almost 1,000,000 contact rows to illustrate how they…
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Blogs|Apr 8, 2014

Hosting HTML in Silverlight (not Out of Browser)

Some Silverlight projects may require that you render HTML content – perhaps a non-Silverlight control or web page. Unfortunately unless the project runs Out of Browser (OOB) the WebBrowser control isn’t an option. What can you do? While there is no easy solution to truly embed HTML inside of the Silverlight rendering engine, it is…
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Blogs|Apr 7, 2014

Initial ASUS Vivo Tab Note 8 Review

Eight days ago I went through the five Kübler-Ross stages of grief in about 490 milliseconds as I watched my Surface Pro fall out of my backpack and kiss the concrete directly on the upper right hand corner. I didn’t even have to open the Type Cover to know that the glass would have made…
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Blogs|Apr 6, 2014

Building Universal Apps with Visual Studio 2013 Update 2

One of the most exciting pronouncements at the 2014 BUILD conference was Microsoft’s introduction of “universal apps,” which run on PCs, tablets, and phones. According to Microsoft, universal apps will one day run on Xboxes, too. The universal app represents the first step in a convergence that Microsoft has been seeking for a long time…
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Blogs|Apr 6, 2014

JavaScript Chaos with Canvas

I learned about chaos theory quite by accident. On a family vacation we stopped by a campground along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Appalachian Mountains. I was not an outdoor enthusiast at the time so while my parents were hiking I preferred to head over to the arcade to play Donkey Kong and Tempest.…
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missing-export|Apr 3, 2014

What did he just say? – a cheat-sheet for the Build2014 Day-1 Keynote

dt { margin-top: 1em; } dd { margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; } p.quote { font-size: 150%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 2.5em; width: 24em; font-style: italic; } p.quote span.attribution { font-size: 50%; display: inline-block; clear: left; margin-left: 12em; font-style: normal; } There were lots of buzzwords flying around during today’s keynote presentations. Some…
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Blogs|Mar 30, 2014

Angular: The Modern HTML5 Answer to Silverlight’s MVVM

First, let me say that I realize Silverlight in no way “owns” the Model-View-View Model pattern. I’ve written on this extensively in my article “MVVM Explained.” However, I believe it gained the most public exposure through various implementations on that platform and this is what led to its adoption on the web. In fact, you…
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Blogs|Mar 25, 2014

250th Video Published on WintellectNOW

It’s hard to believe that WintellectNOW isn’t even a year old yet.  Beginning with our launch in June, we’ve celebrated many milestones with you all and today is no different.  We are super excited to announce the release of our 250th video, SignalR Performance by Kevin Griffin.  The video is the fifth in the Mastering…
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