Opa pessoal,

Recentemente eu e meu pai gravamos uma série de webcasts básicos sobre WPF para o MSDN Brasil.

Os meus webcasts foram:

• Control Templates
• Controles personalizados – User controls e Custom controls
• Triggers

Aproveite e veja a série completa em http://msdn.microsoft.com/pt-br/netframework/dd897462.

Bom estudo!
Roberto

Hello there!

Have you ever developed a great WPF or Silverlight app with lots of smooth animations, but when you tried to capture it in video (using software like Camtasia and Expression Encoder) the animations are jumpy and slow?  Have you tried to zoom in to some part of your app only to see that your beautiful UI gets pixelated?

Well this tip is for you! In this post I’ll give some tips from my experience recording the video for Skedle, our newest WPF app. Take a look at the Skedle video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can see that the animations are smooth and the resolution is crisp, even when the video zooms in the application. Also, did you know that the opening “Skedle” animation was actually captured directly from the WPF app?

So let’s jump on to the tips!

1. Slow down animations and then speed up the video

No matter what PC you have and how optimized your app is, you’ll almost never be able to capture animations with the same smoothness and fluidity as the real app. To overcome that, the solution is to slow down all your animations by a factor of 10 or 20 (using the SpeedRatio property), and then speed up the video accordingly in those specific parts.

“But”, you might say, “does that mean I’ll have to change the SpeedRatio of each Storyboard?”. The answer: No for WPF, unfortunately yes for Silverlight! WPF allows you to override properties like SpeedRatio by using Dependency Object metadata overrides (unavailable on Silverlight as of v4 and WP7). Here’s an example  that slows down all the animations by a factor of 10 (you can use it on your App.xaml, for instance):

static App() {
    Timeline.SpeedRatioProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(Storyboard),
               new FrameworkPropertyMetadata { DefaultValue = 0.1 });
}

Of course, this tip won’t work if you specifically set the SpeedRatio of any of your animations.

One last point: don’t use this to cheat or lie about the fluidity of your app! If your app is slow and you make it look smooth, users will notice that the first time they try it, and it won’t look good for you.

2. Use Viewbox or RenderTransform to zoom in without losing quality

The next thing you’ll want to do is to record your screencast in a huge resolution in order to enable crisp zoom-in effects on your video. The easiest way to achieve that is to wrap your main layout panel on your window or page in a Viewbox (available on WPF and Silverlight 4)  and set its Width and Height to a fixed size, or simply use a ScaleTransform as your panel’s RenderTransform to scale everything up to a fixed factor.

For example, if your app looks good on a 800×600px window but you have a 1920×1200px monitor, you can record your video at double size (1600×1200px), which will allow for zoom effects in a hi-res (720p) video. In WPF or Silverlight, this could look like the following:

<Window>
    <!-- ... -->
    <Grid>
        <Grid.RenderTransform>
            <ScaleTransform ScaleX="2" ScaleY="2" />
        </Grid.RenderTransform>

        <!-- old content goes here, with fixed size -->
        <Grid Width="800" Height="600" x:Name="LayoutRoot">
            <!--more stuff-->
        </Grid>

    </Grid>
</Window>

This tip won’t work if you have images on your UI, but you would lose resolution on those anyway when zooming. At least you’re getting the best of the vector-based parts of your interface.

When recording videos for WP7 apps this tip doesn’t apply too well because you’re constrained by the size of the emulator. My recommendation is to record on the maximum size of the emulator (click the magnifier icon, select 100%), which will give you a 800×480px screen – usually more than enough for YouTube videos.

Bonus tip: If you use this to zoom in, try setting the Windows cursors to “Windows Aero (extra large)”, which will give you a mouse pointer that is proportional to your huge interface!

You can also use this tip to record title screens and other animations for your video (for example, the Skedle title animation was zoomed in by a factor of 5). In fact, by combining the two tips, you could create the video entirely in Expression Blend!

So that’s all for today. If you create a cool video using these tips, please post it as a comment!

See you next time!
Roberto

This post is also available on CodeProject.

Hey everyone!

[Para os ouvintes brasileiros/portugueses: a entrevista foi feita em inglês mas o vídeo também foi legendado em português! Aproveite!]

Following on our special series of interviews, Roberto interviewed Paul Betts, a Software Development Engineer in the Windows team and creator of ReactiveXaml. In a video special, he talked about Reactive programming and how to apply it to WPF and Silverlight through RxXaml. An awesome introduction to a new paradigm on WPF/SL development!

If you want to download the video, leave a comment in this post. If there’s enough demand, I’ll upload the video (1.6GB!) to a file share.

Here are the links we talked about in the interview:

Reactive Extensions for .net
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/devlabs/ee794896.aspx

ReactiveXaml
http://github.com/xpaulbettsx/ReactiveXaml

ReactiveXaml Google Group
http://groups.google.com/group/reactivexaml

Paul’s Twitter
http://twitter.com/xpaulbettsx

Paul’s Blog
http://blog.paulbetts.org

Also, don’t miss our previous interview with Arturo Toledo about design and Expression!

Subscribe to receive XAMLCast directly on your MP3 player, phone or RSS reader:

• RSS feed: http://www.xamlcast.net
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You can follow XAMLCast on Twitter: @xamlcast

• Hashtag #xamlcast
• Follow the XAMLCasters:
  • @kelps
  • @robertos_br
  • @rodrigokono

Stay tuned for more!

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino and Rodrigo Kono

So you’ve seen the WP7 Turnstile Control but don’t know how to use it?

Victor Gaudioso, MVP, has published a cool 13-minute video explaining all you need to know to download the source, rebuild it for WP7, and use it in your apps. The video is available at:

http://wp.me/pWN5M-ca

Thanks Victor for your awesome video!
Cheers!
Roberto

Chegamos ao episódio número 20!

Este episódio comentamos especialmente o Top 10 que o Pete Brown publicou na semana passada. A gravação está bacana e esperamos que gostem!

Links de referência deste podcast:

• Visual Studio LightSwitch
  • Participe enviando sua opinião sobre esta nova ferramenta através do twitter ou comentando no posta deste audio.
• Contratação no Time de Expression (Christian Shormman)
• 10 coisas que um desenvolvedor WPF e Silverlight deve saber by Pete Brown

Cadastre e receba o podcast diretamente no seu Ipod, Zune, Mp3 player, etc:

• Feed RSS: http://www.xamlcast.net
• iTunes/iPod: pcast://www.xamlcast.net
• Zune: zune://subscribe/?XAMLCast=http://www.xamlcast.net

O XAMLCast no Twitter: @xamlcast

• Hashtag #xamlcast
• Siga os XAMLCasters:
  • @kelps
  • @robertos_br
  • @rodrigokono

Até o próximo!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

Fala pessoal!

Depois de duas semanas sem gravar por causa de dificuldade em sincronizar nossas agendas, acabamos decidindo gravar esse episódio sem o Kono para não deixar vocês, nossos ouvintes, mais uma semana sem o XAMLCast. Mas não se preocupem pois no próximo episódio estaremos todos de volta.

Nesta semana falamos de Sterling DB, SilverMotion, Windows Phone 7, Silverlight para Symbian e Xte Profiler. Ouça!

• Silvelight para Symbian – http://www.silverlight.net/getstarted/devices/symbian/
• Sterling para WP7 – http://sterling.codeplex.com/
• Blog do Jeremy Likness – http://jeremylikness.com/
• Xte Profiler – http://xteprofiler.net/
• SilverMotion – http://postvision.net/SilverMotion/DemoTech.aspx
• Windows Phone 7 Tools Beta – http://developer.windowsphone.com/windows-phone-7/

Para assinar:

• Feed RSS: http://www.xamlcast.net
• iTunes/iPod: pcast://www.xamlcast.net
• Zune: zune://subscribe/?XAMLCast=http://www.xamlcast.net

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

• @kelps
• @robertos_br
• @rodrigokono

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• http://twibbon.com/join/XAMLCast

Até o próximo!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

Saudações caros ouvintes!

Mais informações para você neste episódio que está bem interessante. Incrível como sempre existe mais e mais novidades – bom para todos nós que nos alimentamos disto.

Nesta semana falamos de Metro UI, novos MVPs, Kinect e novas interfaces, Streaming 3D, Fluid UI, Windows Phone 7 e mais. Fique ligado e surfe conosco!

• Kinect – www.xbox.com/kinect
• Novos MVPs de Silverlight – http://timheuer.com/blog/archive/2010/07/01/sivlerlight-mvp-awards-july-2010.aspx
• Artigo do Petzold sobre Fluid UI no Silverlight 4 sem Blend – http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ff798276.aspx
• Nascar Streaming 3D com SL – http://racebuddy3d.nascar.com/player3dv.html
  • NVIDIA 3D Vision: http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision-main.html
  • Requisitos de sistema: http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision-requirements.html
  • Notícia no site da NVIDIA sobre a transmissão 3D utilizando Silverlight e Smooth Streaming: http://www.nvidia.com/object/io_1275286847414.html
  • MetroTwit – http://www.metrotwit.com
• Silverlight Metro Theme – http://www.silverlight.net/content/samples/sl4/themes/cosmopolitan.html
  • Download do Silverlight Theme Pack – http://tinyurl.com/2ep68po
• Phone 7 Action Pack (Windows Phone 7) – http://phone7actionpack.codeplex.com
• Pivot Viewer control for Silverlight – http://www.silverlight.net/learn/pivotviewer
  • Exemplos usando Pivot Viewer – http://pivot.metia.com/worldcup e http://netflixpivot.cloudapp.net
  • Developers Pivot Collections Tools – http://www.getpivot.com/developer-info/tools.aspx
  • TweetPivot – http://tweetpivot.com

Para assinar:

• Feed RSS: http://www.xamlcast.net
• iTunes/iPod: pcast://www.xamlcast.net
• Zune: zune://subscribe/?XAMLCast=http://www.xamlcast.net

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

• @kelps
• @robertos_br
• @rodrigokono

- Adicione o Twibbon do XAMLCast ao seu avatar!

• http://twibbon.com/join/XAMLCast

Até o próximo!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

Estamos de volta!

Ficamos quase quatro meses distantes dos microfones. Todos nós estivemos envolvidos em projetos pessoais que tomaram uma boa parte do tempo e ainda tivemos o problema do fuso horário do Sonnino que estava no GMT+5.

Agora normalizado, voltamos com novas idéias e boas informações para sua orientação e atualização.

Se você acompanha o XAMLCast, deve ter percebido que a numeração mudou – decidimos acabar com a contagem por temporadas, pois afinal o XAMLCast é uma coisa só. Logo, contando 4 episódios da 1a temporada, 2 do Tech-Ed 2007 e mais 9 da segunda temporada, você vai ouvir agora o Episódio 16 do XAMLCast!

Claro que não conseguimos falar de tudo que aconteceu nestes últimos 3 meses e meio. Porém falamos dos acontecimentos mais importantes desde o MIX10 e também de algumas boas novidades fresquinhas.

Neste episódio falamos de:

• O indiscutível Visual Studio 2010 – http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/default.aspx
• Novidades do Silverlight 4 – http://www.silverlight.net/getstarted
• Silverlight no Windows Phone – http://www.silverlight.net/getstarted/devices/windows-phone
• Expression Studio Ultimate – http://www.microsoft.com/expression
• Blend Fundamentals Training – http://www.microsoft.com/expression/resources/BlendTraining
• Moonlight 3 com próximas atualizações baseadas no Silverlight 4 – http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=568
• ReactiveXaml – http://github.com/xpaulbettsx/ReactiveXaml e http://blog.paulbetts.org/index.php/category/programming/reactive-extensions/
• MSN na Copa – http://www.msnnacopa.com.br
• Behavior desenvolvido pelo Kelps para download no Expression Gallery – Deep Zoom Tag Filter Behavior: http://gallery.expression.microsoft.com/en-us/DeepZoomTagFilter
• Especial: Kelps entrevista  Tim Heuer no MIX10 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ75swHZ5Pw (post completo em breve)

Para assinar:

• Feed RSS: http://www.xamlcast.net
• iTunes/iPod: pcast://www.xamlcast.net
• Zune: zune://subscribe/?XAMLCast=http://www.xamlcast.net

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

• @kelps
• @robertos_br
• @rodrigokono

- Adicione o Twibbon do XAMLCast ao seu avatar!

• http://twibbon.com/join/XAMLCast

Até o próximo!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

Hey there!

Today, together with the VS2010 launch, Microsoft has finally released the Surface Toolkit for Windows Touch for download!

But what is it, you might ask? This toolkit enables WPF developers with Windows 7 touch PCs with the Surface controls (such as ScatterView and Library) and touch visualizations to create really awesome multitouch apps.

Stop reading this and go download it now:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=801907a7-b2dd-4e63-9ff3-8a2e63932a74

If you don’t have a touch device, you can use MultiTouchVista to simulate multiple touches using multiple mice. A step-by-step tutorial can be found in this link: http://wenjiun.blogspot.com/2009/11/testing-windows-7-multi-touch-with.html

Also take a look at this video from Channel 9 which shows the toolkit:

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/LarryLarsen/Surface-Toolkit-for-Windows-Touch/

Happy multitouching!

Roberto

Olá olá pessoal!

Este é o XAMLCast pré-MIX10.

Estamos ansiosos para a chegada deste grande evento que irá nos trazer grandes novidades e anúncios. E para nossa alegria, e como já havíamos falado antes, o XAMLCaster Kelps estará em Las Vegas cobrindo o evento e enviando tudo em primeira mão!

Neste episódio falamos de:

• Finger Style – Artigo fantástico do Charles Petzold sobre Multitouch em Silverlight
  • http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee336026.aspx
• MultiTouchVista – simulador de multitouch com múltiplos mouses para Windows
  • http://multitouchvista.codeplex.com
• Artigo do Roberto Sonnino (em inglês) sobre touch com WPF e MultiTouchVista
  • http://www.codeproject.com/KB/WPF/3D-BookWriter.aspx
• SLARToolkit – A experiência de AR (Realidade Aumentada) com Silverlight virou um framework
  • http://kodierer.blogspot.com/2010/02/slartoolkit-silverlight-augmented.html
• Aplicação do correio americano para tamanhos de caixas com AR
  • https://www.prioritymail.com/simulator.asp
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpS3LeCiCtc&feature=player_embedded
• Não confunda:
  • Blender – programa de modelagem 3D
    • http://www.blender.org/
  • Balder – engine 2D/3D que funciona com Silverlight
    • http://balder.codeplex.com/
  • Blend – ferramenta para design de aplicações WPF/Silverlight
    • http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Blend_Overview.aspx
• Concurso de Silverlight/WPF da Magenic Studios – prêmios até 500 US$ + 3000 US$ pro Haiti
  • http://magenic.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1835
• Copa de Talentos Microsoft
  • http://talentosmicrosoft.com.br/
• Anuncio oficial do Silverlight no Windows Phone 7
  • http://bit.ly/ci8rrI
• Video no TechEd Middle East mostrando XNA no Windows Phone, Xbox e Windows
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQv_3fwopo8
• MIX10
  • http://live.visitmix.com
• HVP no MIX
  • http://silverlighthvp.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=ReleaseSchedule
• Video do ScottGu no Channel 9 falando sobre o MIX
  • http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/LarryLarsen/Countdown-to-MIX10-The-Gu/

Bolão do MIX10!
Envie sua previsão do que irá acontecer no MIX10. Para participar, basta referenciar a hashtag #bolaoxamlcast no seu post do twitter.

Ajudem o XAMLCast a entrevistar o ScottGu no MIX10
Envie um tweet (em inglês) para @ScottGu pedindo uma entrevista com o @XAMLCast (Brazilian Podcast) ou @kelps.

Com muitos pedindo, o acesso torna-se mais fácil.

Se quiserem, podem pedir para outras “personalidades” do .net/WPF/SL, como Scott Hanselman, Phil Haack, John Papa, S. Somasegar, Tim Heuer, Karen Corby, Glenn Block… o Kelps vai ter trabalho em Vegas!

Atenção!

O XAMLCast da semana que vem será especial sobre o MIX10! Assim, em vez de um grande episódio, soltaremos as notícias aos poucos, o mais rápido possível, conforme o Kelps for mandando. Por isso, não deixe de assinar e seguir o XAMLCast para não perder nada!

Para assinar:

• Feed RSS: http://www.xamlcast.net
• iTunes/iPod: pcast://www.xamlcast.net
• Zune: zune://subscribe/?XAMLCast=http://www.xamlcast.net

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

• @kelps
• @robertos_br
• @rodrigokono

- Adicione o Twibbon do XAMLCast ao seu avatar!

• http://twibbon.com/join/XAMLCast

Até o próximo!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

Hey there!

For today’s quick tip I’ll show how to convert images from any 2D vector format (and I really mean ANY) to XAML. It’s pretty simple!

Note: if your image is in a bitmap format (e.g. JPEG, PNG, GIF, PSD, etc), you should simply convert it to PNG or JPEG using any image editor and use it directly as a bitmap image in your app. This method is only necessary for vector file formats.

Note 2: There are specialized converters for many formats that might yield better results. I’d recommend searching the web to see if there isn’t a converter for your format before trying this method.

Requirements:

• Expression Design (tip: Students can get it for free with Dreamspark)
• PDFCreator

Steps:

1. Open your image in your favorite image viewer. In this example, I’ll open an SVG from Wikipedia with Firefox.
   
   
   
2. Print the image to PDF with PDFCreator.
   
   
   
3. Rename the PDF file to AI using Windows Explorer. (e.g. “image.pdf” becomes “image.ai”)
   
   
   
4. Open the AI file with Expression Design. You might now want to delete some parts of the image that you don’t want to be exported.
   
   
   
5. Save it to XAML as usual using File > Export… in Expression Design.
   
   
   

Yes, it’s THAT simple! Enjoy!

See you next time,
Roberto

This blog post is also available on CodeProject

Hey there!

It’s been quite a while since the last English post – XAMLCast has been taking much of my blogging time

Today’s tip is an expansion of a method originally developed by Dr. WPF in this post: http://www.drwpf.com/blog/Home/tabid/36/EntryID/48/Default.aspx .

Usually, when working with Converters in WPF/SL, we always follow the same steps:

1. Create a class that derives from IValueConverter:

   public MyConverter : IValueConverter {}

2. Implement Convert (and sometimes ConvertBack)

   public object Convert(object value, Type  targetType, object parameter,  System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
   {
     // convert and return something
   }

3. Instantiate the converter as a resource and use it:

   <ResourceDictionary ...>
       <local:MyConverter x:Key="TheConverter" />
   </ResourceDictionary>
   ...
   {Binding Converter={StaticResource TheConverter} ...}

Well, it works but it’s not a compact syntax. Following Dr. WPF’s idea, we can use a MarkupExtension to replace the StaticResource by a static instance of the Converter:

public class  MyConverter: MarkupExtension, IValueConverter
{
    private static MyConverter _converter;

    public object Convert(object  value, Type targetType, object  parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        // convert and return something
    }

    public object  ConvertBack(object value, Type  targetType, object parameter,  System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        // convert and return something (if needed)
    }

    public override object  ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
    {
        if (_converter == null)
            _converter = new MyConverter();
        return _converter;
    }
}

Usage:

xmlns:conv="[Path to namespace that contains the converter]"
...
{Binding Converter={conv:MyConverter}}

Now that’s pretty!

The only problem is that with this method, you’d have to repeat the implementation of the ProvideValue for each converter you create, and we programmers hate repeating ourselves

One solution I found is to create a generic abstract class that will contain that implementation, and derive each converter from that class. It’s cleaner and works the same:

using System;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Windows.Markup;

namespace VirtualDreams.Converters
{
    [MarkupExtensionReturnType(typeof(IValueConverter))]
    public abstract class ConverterMarkupExtension<T> : MarkupExtension where T : class, IValueConverter, new()
    {
        private static T _converter;

        public override object ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
        {
            if (_converter == null)
            {
                _converter = new T();
            }
            return _converter;
        }
    }
}

Let’s apply it to MyConverter:

public class  MyConverter: ConverterMarkupExtension<MyConverter>, IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object  value, Type targetType, object  parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        // convert and return something
    }

    public object  ConvertBack(object value, Type  targetType, object parameter,  System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        // convert and return something (if needed)
    }
}

Usage:

xmlns:conv="[Path to namespace that contains the converter]"
...
{Binding Converter={conv:MyConverter}}

Simpler, less repetitive – that’s the way I like it!

Happy converting!

Roberto

This blog post is also available on CodeProject

Caros ouvintes!

Continuando o papo técnico, este espisódio do XAMLCast traz o tema MVVM salpicado com novidades e boas dicas e referências para você estudar.

Ouça e tire suas conclusões:

Seguem os links relacionados ao podcast:

• Visual Studio 2010 RC
  • http://msdn.microsoft.com/pt-br/vstudio/dd582936.aspx
• Jason Zander
  • Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonz
  • Channel9 (video): http://tinyurl.com/ycdur6g
• Silverlight Viewport
  • http://tinyurl.com/yk5o7zq
• SilverArcade (videocast)
  • http://www.silverarcade.com
• MVC x MVP x MVVM
  • http://nirajrules.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/mvc-vs-mvp-vs-mvvm
• Josh Smith
  • http://joshsmithonwpf.wordpress.com
• Karl Shifflett
  • Blog
    • http://karlshifflett.wordpress.com
  • Ocean v2
    • http://karlshifflett.wordpress.com/ocean
    • http://karlshifflett.wordpress.com/2010/02/07/bbq-shack-ocean-v2-for-visual-studio-2008/
• Sasha Barber
  • http://sachabarber.net
• Marlon Grech
  • http://marlongrech.wordpress.com
• MVVM Made Easy / Jeremiah Morrill (screencast)
  • http://vimeo.com/8915487
• MVVM Frameworks
  • http://www.japf.fr/2009/10/a-quick-tour-of-existing-mvvm-frameworks/
• MVVM Light
  • http://www.galasoft.ch/mvvm/getstarted
  • http://mvvmlight.codeplex.com
• Cinch
  • http://sachabarber.net/?p=522
  • http://sachabarber.net/?p=523
  • http://www.codeproject.com/KB/WPF/CinchCodeGen.aspx
• Jesse Liberty
  • http://tinyurl.com/y8nel6o
• Dicas em português para começar com MVVM
  • http://tinyurl.com/yjhgrmv
• Grupo MVVM na comunidade Silverlight Brasil
  • http://silverlightbrasil.ning.com/group/MVVM

Discutam, comentem e retwittem!

Para assinar:

• Feed RSS: http://www.xamlcast.net
• iTunes/iPod: pcast://www.xamlcast.net
• Zune: zune://subscribe/?XAMLCast=http://www.xamlcast.net

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

• @kelps
• @robertos_br
• @rodrigokono

- Adicione o Twibbon do XAMLCast ao seu avatar!

• http://twibbon.com/join/XAMLCast

Aguardamos seu feedback!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

Saudações!

O XAMLCast dessa semana está mais técnico. Falamos de MEF (Managed Extensibility Framework) e também de algumas boas novidades.
Se você sabe, não sabe ou quer saber o que é MEF, ouça, tire suas conclusões, mande dúvidas e participe enviando suas sugestões e complementos para o @xamlcast no twitter.

Ouça:

Como de tradição, seguem abaixo os links para completar o seu entendimento e ajudar nos seus estudos:

• XAMLCast no RedeRIA
  • http://rederia.net/membros/?uid=83
• Seesmic Look
  • http://seesmic.com/seesmic_desktop/look
• Moonlight 3.0 Preview
  • http://go-mono.com/moonlight/prerelease.aspx
• Melhorando o perceived start-up time em WPF com MEF e SplashScreen
  • http://blogs.msdn.com/devkeydet/archive/2010/01/29/improving-perceived-wpf-app-startup-performance-with-mef-and-a-splash-screen.aspx
• MEF
  • Download do MEF
    • http://www.codeplex.com/MEF
  • SilverlightTV
    • http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/SilverlightTV
  • Palestra do Glenn Block no PDC09
    • http://microsoftpdc.com/Sessions/FT24
  • Post do Kelps
    • http://blog.kelps.net/2010/01/extendendo-silverlight-3-com-mef.html

Para fechar, parabéns ao ganhador do Expression Studio!
O ganhador foi Marcelo Paiva (@marcelo_paiva). Ele foi o primeiro a retwittar as 3 palavras na sequência certa pedida pelo @xamlcast! (link: http://twitter.com/marcelo_paiva/status/8288165428).

Obrigado pela participação Marcelo, o Expression irá chegar em sua casa!

Boa sorte e espero que gostem do podcast da semana!

Para assinar:

• Feed RSS: http://www.xamlcast.net
• iTunes/iPod: pcast://www.xamlcast.net
• Zune: zune://subscribe/?XAMLCast=http://www.xamlcast.net

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

• @kelps
• @robertos_br
• @rodrigokono

- Adicione o Twibbon do XAMLCast ao seu avatar!

• http://twibbon.com/join/XAMLCast

Aguardamos seu feedback!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

Palmas para o XAMLCast!

Após um impreviso técnico que causou um atraso de uma semana, o seu informativo semanal sobre XAML, Silverlight e WPF está no ar, com muitas notícias!
Ouça:

Essa semana o XAMLCast traz as seguintes informações:

• Curso GRÁTIS de Silverlight com Jeff Prosise (e WPF em Julho-Agosto)
  • http://www.wintellect.com/TechFocusSilverlight
• Blog do Justin Angel (refeito 100% com Silverlight)
  • http://justinangel.net/SilverlightWeblogFeaturesOverview
• Flashback: TOP10 2009
  • http://team.silverlight.net/announcement/silverlight-top-10-of-2009/
• Thumba
  • http://www.thumba.com.br
• Silverlight TV
  • http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/SilverlightTV/
• ECOContest Silverlight Show
  • http://contest.silverlightshow.net
• Imagine Cup 2010
  • http://www.imaginecup.com

PROMOÇÃO!

Não esqueça que este episódio contém as palavras premiadas para você ganhar o Expression Studio novinho novinho!

Ouça, anote as palavras premiadas deste episódio e as palavras do episódio passado, siga o @xamlcast e fique atento no twitter!

Quando o @xamlcast perguntar as palavras premiadas informe todas as palavras na sequência correta!
O mais rápido irá levar!

Boa sorte e espero que gostem do podcast da semana!

Para assinar:

• Feed RSS: http://www.xamlcast.net
• iTunes/iPod: pcast://www.xamlcast.net
• Zune: zune://subscribe/?XAMLCast=http://www.xamlcast.net

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

• @kelps
• @robertos_br
• @rodrigokono

- Adicione o Twibbon do XAMLCast ao seu avatar!

• http://twibbon.com/join/XAMLCast

Aguardamos seu feedback!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

Salve salve moçada!

Estamos muito agradecidos pelo ótimo feedback que estamos tendo.

Até tivemos um retweet internacional do Brian Henderson (http://twitter.com/brian_henderson/statuses/7454878672).

Continuem mandando sugestões de temas, comentários e dúvidas. O XAMLCast está gerando e refletindo um conteúdo muito bacana em listas de discussões, blogs e forums. É isso aí pessoal!

No episódio número 04 falamos de Motion Detection em Silverlight 4, SilverX (conversão de arquivos Flash/SWF para Silverlight), falamos do Silverlight Hyper Video Player (HVP) e fechamos com uma boa promoção onde você poderá ganhar um Expression Studio novinho e na caixa!

Ouça:

Seguem os links relacionados:

• Motion Detector em Silverlight 4
  • Demo: http://roboblob.com/demos/Silverlight4/MotionDetector
  • Demo: Mate as baratas (BugCamSmash): http://adamkinney.com/labs/bugcamsmash
  • Blog do Adam Kinney: http://adamkinney.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/bugcamsmash-motion-detection-with-silverlight-4-beta
• SilverX
  • http://www.silverx.net
  • Link bônus – Tutoriais de migração Flash/Silverlight no Project Rosetta: http://visitmix.com/labs/rosetta/
• Silverlight Hyper Video Player (HVP)
  • Blog do Jesse Liberty: http://blogs.silverlight.net/blogs/jesseliberty
  • Codeplex: The Silverlight Hyper Video Player: http://silverlighthvp.codeplex.com

PROMOÇÃO!

Ganhe um Expression Studio 2 completo e na caixa! Igual à foto abaixo!

Sua grande chance de ter o melhor software para trabalhar com Silverlight e WPF.

Para participar é simples:

1. Seguir o @xamlcast no twitter
2. Saber as palavras da sorte que estão no audio do XAMLCast (só ouvir). Uma foi dita no episódio 04 e a(s) outra(s) será(ão) no episódio 05.
3. No dia da publicação do episódio 05 do XAMLCast, iremos pedir via twitter através do user @xamlcast as palavras da sorte. Quem postar primeiro leva o prêmio!

Para assinar:

• Feed RSS: http://www.xamlcast.net
• iTunes/iPod: pcast://www.xamlcast.net
• Zune: zune://subscribe/?XAMLCast=http://www.xamlcast.net

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

• @kelps
• @robertos_br
• @rodrigokono

- Adicione o Twibbon do XAMLCast ao seu avatar!

• http://twibbon.com/join/XAMLCast

Aguardamos seu feedback!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

Fala pessoal!

O ano passa mas o XAMLCast continua! Feliz 2010!

Neste episódio do XAMLCast falamos um pouco sobre o Microsoft Office 2010 Web Apps, concurso MIX 10K e Silverlight SEO.

Ouçam!

Para assinar:

• Feed RSS: http://www.xamlcast.net
• iTunes/iPod: pcast://www.xamlcast.net
• Zune: zune://subscribe/?XAMLCast=http://www.xamlcast.net

O XAMLCast também está no Twitter!

- Twitter oficial: @xamlcast (e hashtag #xamlcast)

- Siga os XAMLCasters:

Aguardamos ansiosos pelo seu feedback!

Abraços,

Kelps, Roberto Sonnino e Rodrigo Kono

Hey there,

After my original posts about speech recognition, I’ve been getting lots of questions about speech in other languages, especially Portuguese. At last I’ve got an answer for you: I’ve recently discovered some samples from Microsoft Portugal’s Language Development Center (MLDC) that provide Portuguese speech recognition engines!

These are the steps to get them:

1. Take a look at the official MS Portugal site about this: http://www.microsoft.com/portugal/mldc/betaprograms/winclientdesktop.mspx
2. Go to http://connect.microsoft.com and sign in
3. Use this invitation ID: MLDC-BKBY-DTBD
4. After filling in the survey, go to the Downloads page for this program: https://connect.microsoft.com/Downloads/Downloads.aspx?SiteID=368
5. Download the packs and documentation and good luck!

Note: The language packs are from 2007; they haven’t been tested with Windows 7.

Note 2:  The packs didn’t work in my English Windows 7. I guess you’ll need a Portuguese version of Windows Vista/7 to test them.

UPDATE 6/12:  The pack DOES work, but only for custom apps. I might do a tutorial on this soon…

If it works for you please leave a comment!

Thanks and see you soon!

Roberto

Engine de Reconhecimento de Voz em Português (Brasil e Portugal)

Fala pessoal,

Após meus posts originais sobre reconhecimento de voz, eu tenho recebido muitas perguntas sobre Speech em outras línguas, especialmente português. Finalmente tenho uma resposta para vocês: recentemente eu descobri alguns samples do Language Development Center da Microsoft Portugal (MLDC) com engines de Speech em português!

Para baixar os packs, siga esses passos:

1. Dê uma olhada no site oficial do MS Portugal sobre este assunto: http://www.microsoft.com/portugal/mldc/betaprograms/winclientdesktop.mspx
2. Vá para http://connect.microsoft.com e faça login
3. Use esse ID de convite: MLDC-BKBY-DTBD
4. Depois de preencher a pesquisa, vá para a página de downloads para este programa: https://connect.microsoft.com/Downloads/Downloads.aspx?SiteID=368
5. Baixe os pacotes e a documentação e a boa sorte!

Nota: Os pacotes são de 2007; eles ainda não foram testados com o Windows 7.

Nota 2: Os packs não funcionaram no meu Windows 7 em inglês. Talvez você precise de uma versão em português do Windows Vista/7 para testá-los.

UPDATE 6/12:  O pack FUNCIONA, mas só.para programas desenvolvidos especialmente para ele. Talvez eu faça um tutorial sobre isso logo…

Se funcionar para você, por favor comente!

Obrigado e até a próxima!

Roberto

So now you’ve heard all about KnoWorld, and you want to try out some visualizations. But how?

First of all, it’s important to know that KnoWorld lives inside a website called Popfly. This site allows you to create mashups with data from many different sources (like Facebook, Live Search and Flickr), filter and mash these data, and show them in interesting visualizations like photo carousels, interactive lists, or maps.

So basically what you have to do is to create an account or sign in at Popfly using your Windows Live ID (the same you use for Messenger, Hotmail, Spaces…). After that you can already start mashing up!

If you’ve never used Popfly, check out this video tutorial to see how easy it is to create a basic mashup – it only takes 30 seconds!

http://www.popfly.com/Videos/?video=ThirtySecond

A more detailed (22 min) introduction can be seen at

http://silverlight.net/learn/learnvideo.aspx?video=86527

When you’re in Popfly, start by clicking Create and then Mashup near the top right corner to open the Mashup Creator.

In this tutorial we’re going to explain you Popfly and KnoWorld while we recreate the US CO2 Emissions vs Environmental Events mashup we presented in our previous post.

Starting your mashup

So to start your mashup with the KnoWorld blocks simply search for “knoworld” in the block list on the left. You’ll find all of our blocks, and they’ll be ready to be dragged to the main area.

The basic data block is called Gapminder. This block can get data from all of our available indicators (full list at http://tinyurl.com/gap-ind). You can select your data by country (that will get a historic timeline for that country) or by a specific year (which will get the data for all the countries in that year). Here we will use it to get the CO2 emissions historic data for the US.

The main visualization is the Timeplot block. This one allows you to plot indicators in a line graph and mark events in the graph, allowing you to understand the relationship between the events and the indicator. Here we will use this block as means to visualize the indicator along with the events.

Let’s try a simple example: in the mashup creator, drag the Gapminder block to the main white area – it will show up as a spinning cube. After, drag the Timeplot block to the main area as well.

The next step is to configure the blocks to get the data we want. In the Gapminder block, click the small wrench icon ( ) or double-click the block to configure it. You will see something like this:

In the Operations list in the top left corner, you can choose if you want to get the data by year or by country. Here we’ll select by country to get data from the United States. Next, type in the boxes the parameters we want. In this case, type “co2 emissions (tonnes per person)” in the Indicator box, and “united states” as country. Click OK to confirm.

The next step is to connect the two block to show the Gapminder data in the Timeplot visualization. To do that, click the Gapminder block – a blue arrow will appear – and then click the Timeplot block. The blocks are now connected and you can configure the Timeplot block to show the data the way you want.

Click the small wrench in the Timeplot block to select how the data will be displayed. We want the years from Gapminder to be used as dates in the graph, and the values should be shown accordingly. Use the boxes to connect the correct data to the correct places, like this:

Now you’re ready to test your Mashup! Click OK if you haven’t already and click the green “Run” button to see what happens. It may take some time to load…

Showing some events

Now all that’s left is to display the events. To add events to your mashup, go back to the “Edit” mode and double-click the Timeplot block. You can add events directly by typing their dates directly in the eventDates box, and by typing their titles in the eventTitles box, separated by commas.

To add a large quantity of events, it’s more convenient to grab them from another block (such as an RSS feed) or to use a data block (the “yellow block”). In this case we’ll build a data block to store our events.

To build a yellow block, save your mashup by clicking the “Save” button, give it a name and description, and click OK. Then go to the “Create” menu and select “Mashup Data” to create a data block. This block acts just like a table to hold your data – just type the column headers in the first line separated by a comma, and type the data in the big box accordingly. Be careful not to use apostrophes (‘), commas (,) or quotes (“) in the data, because these characters are treated differently from the rest of the text.

So, in your data block, type in (or copy-paste) the events and dates, like this:

If you want, you can download the events we’ve used in the sample from this file to paste them into your block.

Save your data block by clicking “Save” and use the “My Stuff” –> Projects menu to go back to the mashup. There, click in the “Actions” link under your mashup and select “Edit” to open the Mashup Creator.

Now drag your yellow block from the blocks list (it should be near the end) and connect it to the Timeplot block. In the Timeplot configuration, select the appropriate values and that’s it!

Now you have a full featured mashup that displays data and events together! You can share it through the “Share” button and copy the link, or even put it into your site or blog with the “Embed” code. If you used a data block, don’t forget to share it as well or users might not be able to see your mashup.

This was only a small introduction to what can be done with Popfly and KnoWorld.  For example, you could also use other blocks to filter or sort the data (for example, show only the data from a specific interval), show it in maps or display flags for the countries, and much more! In Popfly, every mashup can be “ripped”, so you can see how it was made and change it. Please rip our mashups for a sample of what can be done with KnoWorld, and see how it’s done!

We hope you liked it, and we definitely hope you’ll use our blocks and spread the word. If you have doubts, ideas, questions or suggestions, please drop a comment in this post and we’ll help you. Also, if you have an idea but don’t know how to do it in Popfly, drop a comment and we might be able to help you to make it come true!

Finally, for more detailed information, you can download our official presentation along with all the links, explanations and ideas by clicking this link.

Thank you!

Virtual Dreams – Mashup team

• Bruno França dos Reis
• Roberto Sonnino
• Eduardo Sonnino

UPDATE: Check the KnoWorld blog for more ideas, videos and updates!

Hi there!

Take a look at this graph:

This graph shows the CO2 emissions in the US over the 20th century. Now, an intriguing question: why did the emissions rate decrease sharply just when it was at its peak?

To answer this question, we present you KnoWorld – our Imagine Cup ‘09 project in the Mashup category.

KnoWorld is a system that allows you to easily access and analyze world data such as GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita or Infant Mortality Rates.  With our project, you can visualize all these data through graphs and maps and compare them with actual events to analyze their causes and consequences. Make innovative conclusions and transform your world!

The main idea is to be able to mark a graph of an indicator with related events and easily identify what’s their impact on the trend. So let’s try it out with our initial question…

(Click the image to see the actual mashup)

Here we compared the CO2 indicator with a list of environmental events from Wikipedia, and then we can see by 1973 the highest peak followed by a noticeable fall, as we noted before. Now we can click on the event on that year, which shows the Iraq oil embargo. There we have it! We were able to find a probable cause of an uncommon change in trends, by using KnoWorld.

This may seem like a rather simple case, but many other out-of-the-box relationships can be made using these visualizations. Besides, KnoWorld supports many other visualizations, like colored maps, displaying flags, bar and line charts, and so on.

What else can I do with KnoWorld?

To show some of the power of KnoWorld and other possibilities, we’ve created some other sample mashups to discover interesting facts about the world.

Ever wondered how wars have impacted the population of France?

And what’s the situation of primary education around the globe?

And who are the countries that import most arms?

Now you can take your conclusions. And these are only 4 from more than 200 indicators that you can access with KnoWorld! To see the full list of indicators, please refer to http://tinyurl.com/gap-ind.

There are thousands of people who could benefit of this project: imagine having a geography class with interactive maps showing indicators about the subject. Or a history class in which we study trends in our country and see how the historical events changed them. Or even an NGO or company could use KnoWorld to help plan their next social actions more efficiently.

That’s awesome! How can I create my own visualizations?

To learn more about KnoWorld and create your own mashups with all the indicators and an infinity of visualization possibilities, please head to our next post, where we’ll show you how through a step-by-step tutorial on KnoWorld and Popfly. If you already know Popfly, just rip one of the mashups to see how it was built.

Please help us!

If you liked one of our mashups, please click the heart icon in the upper right corner on the Popfly page to become a fan of our project.

If you’ve used or want to use our mashups, or if you have questions, ideas or suggestions, please leave a comment in this post (or in the actual mashup in Popfly). We’re eager to see how you’ll use our project to change your own communities.

And finally, please spread the word! We really hope our project can make a good impact in the lives of many people, and with your help this might become a reality!

Thank you!

Virtual Dreams – Mashup team

• Bruno França dos Reis
• Roberto Sonnino
• Eduardo Sonnino