Scoping out the Next Web!http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/atom.xmlCommunity Server2008-12-29T12:32:07Zhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/03/23/how-to-build-a-good-install-ux-with-silverlight.aspx2009-03-23T22:17:28Z2009-03-23T22:17:28ZTechnorati Tags: Silverlight del.icio.us Tags: Silverlight The Silverlight object model exposes events that can be used to build a very friendly end user experience for installing Silverlight. When it comes to using a Web site that requires a plug-in to render content, the user is generally faced with a choice. Is it worth spending the time and effort to install the plug in to get to the content that I want? Is it clear to me what I am installing? Do I want to install it? Through research with popular...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/03/23/how-to-build-a-good-install-ux-with-silverlight.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9502734" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/03/23/free-silverlight-3-book-preview-now-available.aspx2009-03-23T21:48:17Z2009-03-23T21:48:17Zdel.icio.us Tags: Silverlight Technorati Tags: Silverlight For those of you who were not able to attend MIX (and it wasn’t just the best MIX ever, but IMHO the best conference I’ve ever been to), and were not able to get their hands on a copy of my Silverlight 3 preview book, it’s now available to download from MS Press. You can find it here . The print copy contained three chapters, introducing Silverlight 3, touring through XAML and a summary of some of the new SL3 features. The downloadable copy,...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/03/23/free-silverlight-3-book-preview-now-available.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9502666" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/03/19/march-madness-is-upon-us.aspx2009-03-19T17:39:27Z2009-03-19T17:39:27ZTechnorati Tags: Silverlight , Basketball , March Madness &#160; Just a quick update from MIX. If you’re a sports fan, I’m sure you’re familiar with March Madness :) Well it kicks off today, and it’s all available, free and in HD on http://mmod.ncaa.com Go, now, look, it’s great! Streamed with Silverlight in a number of bitrates, so you always get a smooth experience. It’s got full brackets, the works. :) Check this out: We even have a Boss Button, so if you see the pointed haired one walking past,...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/03/19/march-madness-is-upon-us.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9490649" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/02/19/one-last-riddle-solve-this-and-win-a-pass-to-mix09.aspx2009-02-19T17:53:44Z2009-02-19T17:53:44Zdel.icio.us Tags: MIX09 , Silverlight Technorati Tags: MIX09 , Silverlight So, if you haven’t gotten into MIX already, or if your employer is pulling back on budgets because of the economy, here’s a chance to score a free pass (just a pass mind you, and not airfare, hotel etc.). [Note if you’ve won already, please don’t enter, and MS folks, you’re welcome to see if you can solve the riddle, but email it to me instead of posting it :) ] Follow the steps below using Live Search, and first person to...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/02/19/one-last-riddle-solve-this-and-win-a-pass-to-mix09.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9434549" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/02/18/composite-application-guidance-for-wpf-and-silverlight.aspx2009-02-18T17:48:19Z2009-02-18T17:48:19ZThe Patterns and Practices team @ Microsoft have been busy working on helping answer the question – how do I maximize my skills in XAML and .NET development to build for both Silverlight and WPF. The result: Prism 2.0 has just been released to the wild. You can find it on CodePlex here . The focus is on Line-of-Business or Enterprise applications, and these types of applications typically feature multiple screens, rich, flexible user interaction and data visualization, and role-determined behavior....(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/02/18/composite-application-guidance-for-wpf-and-silverlight.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9431924" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/02/13/think-you-have-search-engine-skillz-prove-it-and-win-a-pass-to-mix.aspx2009-02-13T19:28:31Z2009-02-13T19:28:31ZI’m glad you all enjoyed the last riddle, the answer to which was ‘Area 51’. I told the story in the comments section. Due to its popularity, I’ve scored another pass, and want to try out your search engine skills to do a sort-of global scavenger hunt. Are you up to it? So, below are a number of steps, if you follow these you’ll end up with an answer. First to post the correct answer in the comments get's a free pass to MIX. Just a pass, no airfare, hotel, dinner or anything like that, ok :) Oh,...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/02/13/think-you-have-search-engine-skillz-prove-it-and-win-a-pass-to-mix.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9419726" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/02/11/solve-the-riddle-and-get-a-free-pass-to-mix.aspx2009-02-11T23:32:28Z2009-02-11T23:32:28ZTechnorati Tags: Silverlight , MIX09 del.icio.us Tags: Silverlight , MIX09 As you may know, MIX is coming up very soon – March 18-20 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. You can find the full details on the conference at http://www.visitmix.com . It’s an unmissable conference, now more than ever, and if you haven’t had the chance (or the budget) to sign up, I have a free pass to the conference to give away. Note that it’s just a conference pass, and that hotel, airfare etc. are not included. Still it’s...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/02/11/solve-the-riddle-and-get-a-free-pass-to-mix.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9413690" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/16/strangely-hypnotic-silverlight-app.aspx2009-01-16T23:21:31Z2009-01-16T23:21:31ZI just got this in my email from Denis Dollfus , and had to share it. It’s an extremely odd, and strangely hypnotic app. Would make a great screensaver :)...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/16/strangely-hypnotic-silverlight-app.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9332206" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/14/mix09-why-you-should-be-there.aspx2009-01-15T04:49:26Z2009-01-15T04:49:26ZOk, so we turn on the news and we see economic crisis everywhere, we hear of layoffs and cost cutting and rumors of depression. Well, I’m a rose-tinted-glasses kind of guy, and I firmly believe that it is at times like this that the smarter investor sows so that he can reap later, and there is nothing better to sow right now than an understanding in where the web is going, and how the new internet economy of the 21st century is growing. That’s what MIX is all about. It’s not an expensive boondoggle...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/14/mix09-why-you-should-be-there.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9320068" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/12/some-great-new-silverlight-apps-from-the-netherlands.aspx2009-01-12T17:24:56Z2009-01-12T17:24:56ZA few new Silverlight Apps from our friends in the Netherlands are definitely worth checking out. First up is Monteverdi.tv, a portal for classical music events, built in PHP, but which delivers Silverlight: http://live.monteverdi.tv/rco/view.php It allows for both a full screen 'player' as well as a full screen 'video' mode as well as different levels of video quality. Have a play with the settings, trying out the different video and see how smoothly it runs. I’m running it at the moment from my...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/12/some-great-new-silverlight-apps-from-the-netherlands.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9308293" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/07/silverlight-and-otaku-a-match-made-in-heaven.aspx2009-01-07T18:23:12Z2009-01-07T18:23:12ZI’m not ashamed to admit that I’m an Otaku and I’m happy that I work in a job that allows me to visit Otaku heaven (Akihabara) once or twice a year. Anyway, it was only a matter of time before someone used Silverlight to build a site for Otaku like me :) Anyway, the site is from Korea and it is at http://dalong.net . To access the cool DeepZoom-based views of some of the mecha, click MG at the top of the screen to view the models. Not all of them have a Deep Zoom collection associated with them (yet),...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/07/silverlight-and-otaku-a-match-made-in-heaven.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9288976" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/06/silverlight-and-windows-live.aspx2009-01-06T17:05:48Z2009-01-06T17:05:48ZFor those of you who have been asking about Silverlight and Windows Live, I’m now pleased to announce that Windows Live downloads will include Silverlight in the installation. If you haven’t already tried the Windows Live applications, I thoroughly recommend them. Windows Live Writer is the best blogging client I have ever used! And if you have kids, the Windows Live ‘Family Safety’ application rocks. As you can see here, if Silverlight is not installed on your system, you can choose to install it...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/06/silverlight-and-windows-live.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9285795" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/05/silverlight-2-update-for-bidirectional-text-in-hebrew-and-arabic.aspx2009-01-05T19:12:34Z2009-01-05T19:12:34ZIn its early days, Silverlight concentrated on being Web friendly with its text, meaning that the number of fonts were constrained to those that would be available on most computers. On this blog I listed a number of workarounds for languages such as Korean, Japanese and Chinese. Since then, Silverlight has expanded, and Silverlight 2 supported lots of new character sets and fonts, allowing these to be supported natively. However, Hebrew and Arabic are more of a challenge as they are bidirectional...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/05/silverlight-2-update-for-bidirectional-text-in-hebrew-and-arabic.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9282743" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/02/book-review-building-an-olympics-based-website.aspx2009-01-02T19:14:31Z2009-01-02T19:14:31Z&#160; Mimi Chau of the Asian media center and Asia-Pacific news agency has just published a book on what it takes to build and develop the design parameters for a digital media center. She uses the huge showcase of the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 as the basis for the book. What’s nice about this is that it isn’t focussed as much on the technology as it is on the process of building a digital media center, navigating the questions that those in the management pipeline will have around using digital...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2009/01/02/book-review-building-an-olympics-based-website.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9269590" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2008/12/29/silverlight-2-book-in-russian.aspx2008-12-29T20:32:07Z2008-12-29T20:32:07Zdel.icio.us Tags: Silverlight Technorati Tags: Silverlight First of all I’d like to say a big Happy New Year to everybody reading, and in particular to my friends in Russia who have made my ‘Introducing Silverlight 2’ book a big success over there. С Новым годом! If you can read Russian, or if you’re just curious, the Russian version of the book, in its entirety can now be downloaded from here: http://www.microsoft.com/rus/expression/resources/ Enjoy!...(<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/webnext/archive/2008/12/29/silverlight-2-book-in-russian.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://blogs.msdn.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9256133" width="1" height="1">lmoroney@microsoft.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/members/lmoroney%40microsoft.com.aspx