Monthly Archives: September 2012
Overview of Windows 8 Unleashed Event held in Seattle
If you do development in Visual Studio or even JavaScript, you should check out what is coming for developing in Windows 8. I was impressed with what I saw at the Windows 8 Unleashed event held at Microsoft in Seattle. They highlighted a few key new features available for developing apps to run in Windows 8. The things that jumped out were the ubiquitous nature of apps now. Content and states of applications can follow you as you go from machine to machine. So if you play a game on your phone and then go to your laptop, you score will follow you. I’m not talking about a website, I’m talking about a local app. This data sharing occurs via your Windows Live account or Skydrive.
They showed how to manage the dynamic icons on the new desktop and how apps can receive updated information even when not running.
If you plan to monetize your apps, the store model has changed dramatically. Microsoft is predicting 400 million new computers will be purchased in the next year and 65% will use windows OS. That equates to 260 million computers. This will create a huge market for apps. Microsoft intends to take advantage of this opportunity by working hard to promote the apps and to extend the advertising done via apps. A handy little promotional feature is that you can share an app with your friends. That works similar to sharing apps on facebook.
Microsoft wants your apps to sell because they are going to take 30% of your revenue up to the first $25,000 in sales, then 20% of all sales above that.
Those are just a few highlights. They presented much more information than I covered and had labs to test it out, but rather than repeat it all here, I will guide you to visit their website where you can find all of the resources that they used in the workshop.
One of the best things I got from the resources were the links to setup a VM and a demo version of Windows 8 to play with.
There will be a few more events held around the country
that you might have a chance to attend. Most likely you won’t be able to attend one live, but much of the information is available online.
Save Our Farms and Wine Country in King County, WA
This is an open letter to King County Council and the City of Woodinville with regard to their plan to open up the Sammamish River corridor to urban development:
Dear King County Council:
I live a mile from downtown Woodinville, WA. Before living here, I lived on 3 acres in a semi-rural part of South Carolina. When I first moved to Puget Sound 12 years ago, I was immediately drawn to this spot because of the country feeling it has, yet is so close to everything in the city. My commute to work has consisted of riding the 1 mile down to the Sammamish River bike trail, then 10 miles on a quiet, scenic ride along the trail to Marymoor Park, then 1 more mile up to my office. Even in the winter, this is a pleasant ride.
On my ride in the mornings, the air smells clean and fresh. There are no roads or houses anywhere close to the trail. I see lots of wildlife: rabbits, beavers and herons are always there. But the wilderness experience goes far beyond that. I have seen a coyote catching a rabbit. I have seen an eagle catch a duck in the middle of one of the farms; I have had an owl fly along beside me as I rode home in the winter night. This place is surprisingly quiet and devoid of noise pollution. A great comfort for people and an absolute necessity for creatures like owls which depend on hearing to catch their food. This corridor is a great sanctuary for people as well as wildlife from the growth and expansion of urban life and an important reason why I choose to live here.
At night, this corridor is one of the few places not flooded with light pollution, yet open enough to see the sky. I sometimes take my daughter here to see the stars. Earlier this year we were able to go down to the bike trail near the St. Michelle winery to watch the meteor shower and another time to watch the lunar eclipse. During the day, this is one of the few places near my home where I can get an unobstructed view of Mt Rainier. Most evenings throughout the summer, a pair of hot air balloons can be seen drifting down the valley where they will land in a field. These balloons are as much the trademark of the City of Woodinville as the Space Needle is of the City of Seattle. (see the city logo in the top right corner of the City of Woodinville website)These experiences will all be gone permanently, when you open this area up to development.
I support protecting our farms, forests, and rural lands. These lands are important, not only to Woodinville’s wine and tourism industry, but to everyone who lives here or passes through. Many thousands of cyclists use this corridor daily. To quote from your own website:
“The Sammamish River Trail (SRT) runs 10.9 miles along the Sammamish River from Bothell to Marymoor Park in Redmond as part of the “Locks to Lakes Corridor.” The SRT is paved its entire length and is one of King County’s most popular regional trails. The trail offers extraordinary views of the river, the broad Sammamish River Valley, Cascade foothills and Mt. Rainier. Bicyclists, joggers, skaters, walkers, and others enjoy the trail as a regional recreation resource. The SRT is also used extensively by commuters as a nonmotorized corridor between suburban cities and Seattle.”
To develop this land will not only diminish the value of the valley itself, but also destroy the very reason many people are drawn to this area to begin with. Please protect our lands by keeping King County’s designated urban growth area right where it is.
Sincerely,
David Hablewitz
If you support this letter, even if you don’t live here, please add your name below by simply posting a comment. You can write your own letter by visiting http://www.savewoodinvillefarms.org
Please respond quickly. Hearings are to be held on this topic September 11, 12, and 18
The Notes Guy in Seattle 