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May 6, 2016    |       4 comments

10 Tips to Becoming a Better Public Speaker

Techorama

I have been doing a lot of public speaking over the last few years. I enjoy talking to people and both teaching and being taught. I have done small user group talks and very large conference talks and I enjoy them all. Once in a while I have a fellow geek come up to me and ask how he or she can also be a public speaker and if I have any tips for them. I am always happy to share and improve the overall pool of speakers and the quality of them. So if my tips are helpful, all the better. I decided to finally write down the 10 best ones and most asked, so at least everybody can benefit and share. Continue Reading

May 3, 2016    |      0 comments

Developing Holographically with HoloLens SDK

Techorama1

I have just delivered a talk  at Techorama in Belgium (awesome conference btw) on the HoloLens development experience. It is still very very early days for the technology and for the developing experience as well. As I don’t have a physical HoloLens device (yet) I did the talk using the HoloLens emulator and the tooling that is available now.

Because the topic is so new and fresh, my demo was using the Origami collection as per Microsoft’s tutorials so that attendees could go straight out and start playing with it. And speaking of that, I promised the audience I would post links to the necessary tooling, so here it is:

And that is it. You can now build Holograms for the HoloLens. I would recommend starting with the Holograms 100 tutorial or the Holograms 101E for starting to use the origami collection with the emulator. And of course all of the tooling is completely free.

If you have any questions around any of this, leave me a comment or ping me on the twitters.

Apr 24, 2016    |       8 comments

Lenovo Yoga 900 – A Truly Mobile Workhorse

I am not a hardware guy. I appreciated a great graphics card when I played games on a regular basis, but with an Xbox One and PlayStation 3, this need quickly went away. As long as the machine will do the job and let me use Visual Studio, Chrome, Camtasia, Snagit, video editing software and other developer tools I am happy. I was using my “Dellasaurus”, a 6 year old Dell XPS 1645, which was top of the line when it came out. I even bought it secondhand of a good friend when he upgraded and I still used it for about 2.5 years. However, in the last couple of years I have been travelling a lot, presenting at various conferences and combined with being a freelance consultant I carry my laptop around everywhere. And the Dell was heavy! It was also starting to slow down considerably and I was constantly running out of storage. It was time to upgrade my mobile office.

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Feb 27, 2016    |      0 comments

Olixar Drivetime Pack – In Car Phones Done Right

We have a lot of cars. Some people collect stamps, we collect cars. So I was on the lookout for an in-car phone holder that was easily removable, sturdy and durable that we we coluld  take in whatever car we happen to drive. I ended up with the Olixar Drivetime Pack, mainly due to the chunky look of the hardware and the reasonable price.

Unboxing

The parts were packed securely and each item was attractively packaged (no cutting your fingers open).  Unpacking was straight forward.  Although there were no instructions supplied, they weren’t needed as the items were easy to assemble.

Package content Continue Reading

Dec 14, 2015    |      0 comments

Hour of Code – Teaching Kids to Code

Hour of Code

If there is one thing I am really passionate about (besides Windows phone and Microsoft Kool-Aid) it is opening up kids’ minds to the world of coding. Watching kids in that light bulb moment when they suddenly realise that they can control computers and make them do their bidding is just priceless. I love it. Continue Reading

Oct 4, 2015    |      0 comments

Windows 10 for Mobile – The Full Experience

[This article was first posted on gooroo.io]

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Recently Microsoft announced they intended to cut some 7800 jobs, mainly from their acquired Nokia division. While these are real jobs and I have full sympathy for the people that are about to lose their position, it was also a necessary step for Microsoft to not get stuck in the past and continue to move forward. Unfortunately, the way it was announced by the tech giant was unfortunate and quite poorly handled. If you think that Windows Phone is dead and there will be no Microsoft mobile experience, you couldn’t be more wrong. Pure and simple.

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Jul 31, 2015    |      0 comments

Pluralsight Webinar – Building Apps for Windows 10

You might be aware that Windows 10 has launched to the world and that Microsoft’s servers are being hammered from millions of people wanting to get the best Windows ever. Yes, I am biased because I have seen the development of the OS over the last 9 months, and I think Microsoft has got most things right (don’t get me started on setting default applications though).

With Windows 10 they are launching the Universal Windows Platform, allowing developers to target all Windows devices with a single app. This means you can target anything from phones to desktop to Xbox, even HoloLens with the same app.

UWP

I proposed to Pluralsight to do a Windows 10 webinar a few months back, and what do you know! Microsoft decided to launch Windows 10 on the date we had already set. It is a sign! I have done a few talks on the topic already, but I am hugely excited about Universal Apps and the promise they give, not the least the Universal App Bridges, which lets iOS and Android developers bring their code to the platform too.

The full length webinar is posted below for your enjoyment. Please post any questions in the comments below and I will answer each and every one of them.

 

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