Hello.

I've started a project on Codeplex and I'm very impressed with how easy Team Foundation Server is to use compared to Rational ClearCase and ClearQuest. It integrates seamlessly with VS2005. I'm still getting used to it, but running into some integration issues between VS C# Express (required for XNA) and Team Foundation Server. I'm currently using VS2005 Team Edition, VS Express, and the command line (tf) in my workflow. Read More

I am having a bit of difficulty with TypeConverters and Generic Lists and I was hoping that I could get a bit of advice. I have a type converter that is used to create the constructor code for my component. (It is an XNA a Game Component, but I don't think that that has anything to do with the problem because it appears on a Winform) inside another component. For instance I have the following: Code highlighting produced by Actipro CodeHighlighter (freeware)http://www. Read More

Excited to share that Xbox360homebrew blogged about my Paralax Engine Project! Hoping to release more code soon and get more people involved. Read More

I've started an open-source parallax scrolling component project on CodePlex to help game developers create repeating scrolling backgrounds for their XNA games. It's still in early stages, but currently includes a 2D camera, layer oscillators, scrolling, and clipping functionality. Check out the XNAParalax Component project on CodePlex and provide feedback! Read More

I was developing a component in XNA and needed a way to edit Vector2 properties directly within the Game Designer. Since Vector2 is a struct and doesn't inherently support this, I created a custom TypeConverter. The provided code allows you to modify Vector2 values in the designer using comma notation (e.g., 50, 100). Feel free to adapt it for other types like Vector3. Read More

I bought a used Xbox 360 controller to test game development using XNA for PC and the upcoming Xbox 360. The XNA programming model works well, and I can access controller inputs like trigger pressure. I couldn't install the official Xbox 360 controller driver for Windows XP, but the XBCD drivers worked seamlessly. Find them at xbcd360guide.50webs.com (use at your own risk, the site looks a bit sketchy). Read More

I've started gathering hCard stats on topicala.com thanks to pingerati.net. hCards are a machine-readable microformat for contact information that can be embedded in HTML. Pingerati notifies services like mine when hCards are updated. To get your hCard included in the stats, ping pingerati at http://pingerati.net/ping/[your updated url]. I'm excited about the potential of microformats and plan to add more services to topicala as more data becomes available. Learn how to create an hCard at http://microformats.org/code/hcard/creator. Read More

I've been exploring Windows Live Writer plugins and hit a snag: the API doesn't let plugins access the post's text. This severely limits plugin functionality, preventing things like automated tagging or microformat integration. I've raised this issue on the Windows Live Writer forum and with Microsoft's Joe Cheng, emphasizing the need for text access to enable a wider range of plugins. I encourage other developers to voice similar concerns to Microsoft. Read More

I just got the XNA Beta and had to tweak the template code a bit to get it running on my older machine (Athlon with a Geforce 2MX). I was getting a Device Creation Exception, and it turned out my graphics card doesn't support multisampling on the backbuffer. Adding "this.graphics.AllowMultiSampling = false;" to the InitializeComponent method fixed it. Hopefully, this helps someone else too! (P.S. Hardware donations are welcome! 😉) Read More

I finally figured out why my Windows Live Writer plugins weren't working! It turns out that new classes added via the Solution Explorer default to "internal" access. Making the class "public" fixed the issue and now the plugins work perfectly. Read More

I'm developing a Windows Live Writer plugin using the SmartContentSource class and encountering an issue retrieving the blog post's text. While I can manipulate SmartContent objects within the plugin's sidebar, neither the SmartContent object nor the ISmartContentEditorSite interface provides access to the text, hindering the potential for plugin development. I'm seeking assistance on how to access the blog post text within the plugin context. Read More

I'm struggling to create a C# plugin for Windows Live Writer. Even a simple "Hello World" plugin isn't showing up in the available plugins list, despite the documentation and example seeming straightforward. The example code compiles and works fine, but my copied version doesn't. I'm completely stumped and wondering if there are any logs I can check for Windows Live Writer. Read More

I finally got a Windows Live Writer plugin working after starting from scratch! Stay tuned as I'm planning to integrate my Ajax Tagger into the Windows Live Writer framework soon. This will be a cool experiment combining Web 2.0 APIs with Windows Live Writer. Read More

As a UK resident with a Google AdSense account, I'm holding onto my earnings until the dollar-to-pound exchange rate improves. My first payout was disappointing, especially after a year of work. I believe UK advertisers are also being shortchanged due to the exchange rate. Unless Google implements an exchange rate program that gives UK advertising better visibility, we're not getting a fair deal. For now, I've suspended my ads and will hold onto any future AdSense earnings. Read More

Strange posts like "Temporary Post Used For Style Detection" are appearing in blogs. This is due to Windows Live Writer, which uses these temporary posts to detect the blog's style for accurate "in-style" editing. These posts are quickly indexed by Google Blog Search, highlighting the search engine's speed. Read More

I'm trying out Windows Live Writer and so far, I'm impressed! It renders my blog's styling correctly while I'm writing, seems pretty fast, and has a bunch of built-in features similar to other blogging tools. Plus, it's extendable via an SDK, which I'm excited to explore. I'm also going to check out the plugins and share more thoughts soon. Read More

I previously doubted the possibility of C# on Xbox 360 and a hobbyist homebrew version. I was wrong! Microsoft announced the release of Visual Studio 2005 Express for Xbox 360 content creation on August 30, 2006. The $99/year dev kit allows non-commercial game development and sharing among hobbyists (no network support yet). I'm excited to get an Xbox 360, Xbox Live account, and the developer account! Check out these resources: XNA Team Blog, Microsoft XNA homepage, XNA FAQ, Game Studio, News Report, another Blog Post. Read More

I've taken my feed off Squeet due to repeated updates to old posts, which wasn't very useful given the low subscriber count. This change should prevent further issues. Read More

Check out my colleague Phil Calver's new site, www.whatsatthetop.com, a Top 10 Retail Mashup built with ASP.Net 2.0 and Web parts. It pulls data from sites like Amazon, CNet, and Booksense. Phil's looking for feedback, so let him know what you think! Share any suggestions or ideas for charts you'd like to see at webmaster@whatsatthetop.com. Read More

I've decided to create iforgive.eu, a C# ASP.Net 2.0 sample site, and document the entire process on my blog. This includes design, development, refactoring, and even my mistakes! I'll begin by outlining the site's purpose, planning its design, and employing a TDD approach. Follow along as I build this site from the ground up! Read More