Creating Vista Gadget: Published - 15th May 2008

Most of you know that I was working on a book for last one year "Creating Vista Gadgets using HTML, CSS and JavaScript - Sams Publishing" Well the result, the book got published recently and is available from today 15th May 2008 in all major book stores.


Creating Vista Gadgets
using HTML, CSS, & JavaScript

Front Cover   Back Cover   Author Photo



More about the book at http://www.innovatewithgadgets.com

Get the gadget book free 
--------------------------------------
If you are in United States and are interested in getting one of the complimentary copy from my publisher please send me your address and I will send you a free copy. this is limited to first 20 people who send me the address :) [UPDATE] All 20 copies are gone, buy it from the link given below.[/UPDATE] 

http://www.innovatewithgadgets.com/2008/04/get-gadget-book.html 

Code Project MVP !

How do you feel to be among the chosen 40 in a four million membered developer community codeproject.com ? In one word, elated. Having your name beside legends like Michael Dunn, Christian Graus, Nishant Sivakumar, Colin Angus Mackay, Marc Clifton, DavidCrow and others is an honour for a life time.

Check Quartz.(Alias) at Hall of Fame

When I saw the email, that I was awarded as Code Project Most Valuable Professional (MVP), I was surprised and happy at the same time. The year 2007 flashed by my eyes. All that, I learned and taught, the knowledge I gathered and shared, the articles, I wrote, applications I made, discussions and arguments at code project lounge, the prizes, I was awarded at code project, everything came in front of me in Vista Aero 3D style. It was like Code Project summed up everything I did, in three words, "Code Project MVP".

Check my articles here

Here is the List of awarded MVP's for 2008 at Code Project. My Alias is Quartz.(the tenth from the top) at Code Project. and here is the portion of the email I recieved.

"One of our most important announcements, however, is our MVP list for 2008. It's with pleasure, thanks and a little awe that I present to you our most helpful, our most prolific and our most valuable professionals:

The Founder of code project Chris Maunder also offered unlimited beers to the recipients. "If you can make it to Sydney in a couple of weeks Michael Martin has promised to buy you all as many beers as you want." Now thats the spirit.

So, what do you think ?

Winner: Windows Vista Secure App Competition

Another of my Article at code project was today awarded a monthly prize for
Vista Secure App Competition

What did I Win ?

The monthly prize, valued at approximately $1100 US, is a secure laptop
package, including:

• • A nifty new laptop, including security features like a fingerprint
  scanner, hard drive security features, and more
  
• • A year’s subscription to MyLaptopGPS, safeguarding your data and laptop
  through special remote data recovery software, including a SafeTag for your new
  laptop

Excerpts from the Article

Introduction

The Cryptography API: Next Generation(CNG) is a new and agile framework in
Windows Vista™, which implements an extensible provider model that allows you to
load a provider by specifying the required cryptographic algorithm rather than
having to hardcode a specific provider.

The advantage is that an algorithm provider can be replaced or upgraded and
you will not have to change your code in any way to use the new provider. Also,
if some algorithm is determined to be unsafe in the future, a more secure
version of that algorithm can be installed with no effect to your code. To
facilitate this, you load a CNG provider by identifying the cryptographic
algorithm that you require, not the specific provider. Most of the CNG APIs
require a provider or an object created by a provider.

In this article, I try to describe the new security feature Cryptography API:
Next Generation(CNG) and compare it with an RSA and AES samples, both managed
and unmanaged, using "Crypto API" (CAPI before Vista) and how it can be
implemented using CNG in Windows Vista. Managed version of CNG is yet to come,
if you feel like you want more, wait for the next release of Visual Studio
"Orcas".

Check the article here

Windows Vista Mobile PC Contest Winner

Last of the competitions and I got the monthly prize for my article "Touch Screen Explorer with Pen Flicks"

Here is the cool prize !

This is the morning mail I got,

"Congratulations! You’re one of our winners in the Windows Vista Mobile
PC Competition. Your article Touch Screen Explorer with Pen Flicks was selected
by our judges as the winner based on overall merit and reader ranking.

You will be receiving a Samsung Q1 Ultra Mobile PC. We will advise you
when we will be shipping the product to you."

Demo Video Watch live (Avg. quality, taken by a phone)

Here is the excerpts from the article

Introduction

Pen Flicks are the latest methodology in Microsoft Windows Vista™ which are
designed specifically for a Ultra Mobile/Tablet PC. They are gestures you can
make with your tablet pen to quickly navigate and perform shortcuts.

This article describes a Touch Screen Windows Explorer which will
leverage this new technology and will compare it with the traditional windows
explorer. Here is a screen shot.

The Goal

The goal is to create an efficient Touch Screen Windows Explorer
which can be used in Tablet PC / Ultra Mobile PC environment, where mouse and
keyboards are barely available.

• Big display for ease of use pertaining to small screens in
  Ultra Mobile PC
  
• Browse feature with a pen or fingertips in Touch Screen/Ultra Mobile PC
  
• Navigation using the forward, backward Pen Flicks, instead of mouse point
  and click
  
• Scroll the Explorer using Up and Down Pen Flicks without traditional
  scrollbars

Check the complete Article here

Windows Vista API Competition WINNER @ Code Project

My addiction to Code Project Competitions ,got another of my Article "Photoshop Preview Handler for Windows Vista" a monthly prize
for innovative use of Windows Vista API .

The best prize ever.

An XBX 360 Package / HD DVD Player/ Accesories (worth
$ 1000)

Below is the excerpts from the article.

Introduction

Preview handler is the latest methodology in Microsoft Windows Vista™, which
provide a rich, interactive, and read-only preview of a file without having to
launch the associated application. The in-place interactive previews of the file
are available in the Explorer windows, common dialogs, and search results. The
core feature is integrated into Windows Vista Shell which allows developers to
extend this functionality by writing managed code add-ins i.e. preview handlers
for custom files.

For example, "a Microsoft Word 2007 Preview Handler" will enable a user to
view and interact with a Microsoft Word 2007 document (.docx file) without
having to launch Microsoft Word 2007. In fact, you don't even need Microsoft
Word 2007 or Office 2007 to see the preview if you have the related preview
handler - now that's amazing.

This article describes a preview handler for Adobe Photoshop^®
(PSD) file. Here is how the preview of a PSD file will look like in the preview
pane

The goal

When the user clicks on a Photoshop file (vista_adobe.psd) in the
Windows Explorer

• A "readonly" preview of the file will be shown in the preview pane
  
• Image "Dimension" and "number of layers" in the PSD file will be shown in
  the "tooltip"
  
• Resolution, Color Depth, & Compression information of the file will be
  available to the user

All this occurs without the Adobe Photoshop application.

Check the article here

Grand Prize Winner - Gadget Competition

My Article on Sidebar Gadget "SoapBox Video Gadget" at CodeProject.com was chosen for the
Grand prize for Fun category at code Project.
Here is the link
at Windows Vista Blog

Prize was, lots of gadgets and the Jacket, Scott E-Vest
237D to hold them

Here is the
email i got from Marcela
Moran (The Code Project ) which made my day

"Congratulations! You’re one
of our grand prize winners in the Vista Gadgets contest. Your article,
Soapbox Video
Gadget, was selected by
our judges as the winner based on overall merit and reader
ranking.

A Grand Prize Gadget Pack, valued at approximately US $ 1000, including

• • Microsoft Zune
  
• • I-Mate JAM PocketPC Phone, unlocked
  
• • Sony PSP Entertainment Pack, including PSP, game, movie and memory
  stick
  
• • CarMD – diagnose your “check engine” problems in your US-made vehicle
  • Scott E-Vest 237D – a stylish way to carry all of your gadgets with
  you in a “three-season” jacket "

Excerpts from the article.

Get
the latest Gadget - 193 Kb

Introduction

When I first started sidebar gadget development¹, I found gadgets
cool and innovative. But the more I learned about them, the more I realized
their usefulness. Gadget development provides a whole new platform, becoming
more productive in ways unimagined. On one hand, it's a mini web application
which can host a web page, call a web service, and use AJAX to read an RSS feed.
On the other, it can interact with the Windows API using the power of .NET
languages. Wow! That's the best of both the worlds, wouldn't you agree?

The most important factor is the unique way in which a gadget provides the
interaction between the web, Windows and users. In this example I try to utilize
this, to give user the "Power of Videos" in the sidebar. Check the architecture
below.

To hold your interest, here is how it looks in the sidebar.

About the gadget: The power of videos

Before I start, I must warn you: this gadget is quite addictive. Indulge
yourself only during your spare time.

There are a number of RSS Feeds available from the Soapbox on MSN Video Beta page which give
you the contents of the videos uploaded by the users. Some of the more
interesting ones are: "Most Popular Videos", "Most Rated videos", and "Most
Recent Videos". There is even a feed for "Videos By Tag" available, which we
will use for searching videos. The idea behind this is to use those regularly
updated feeds to show the user the video of his choice on the sidebar. If you
want to know the basic barebones required to create a gadget, please refer to my
first article Daily Dilbert .
This article is actually an extension of that first article; I try to explain
only those extra features which can be used to refine a gadget further:

1. Create a gadget which can play a video in the flyout
   
2. How to take care of paging when you read an XML file
   
3. Settings and Search Videos
   
4. Add video to "Favorite List"
   
5. Create, read, update, & delete local XML file from Sidebar Gadget (new)
   
6. Some tips in general

The architecture overview

Check the complete article here

Dilbert got me Zune

So started my year 2007. My Article on Sidebar Gadget featuring Dilbert (Daily
Dilbert 1.0) got me a bonus prize at Code Project Vista Gadgets
Competition

What did i win ? A Microsoft Zune Player

Here are the link to the Windows Vista Blog and excerpts from the article
!

Introduction

With the broadest ever release of Microsoft Vista World wide, 2007 opens the
door to an era of gadget development. Gadgets are small, light weight but
powerful applications which stay on the Windows Vista Sidebar. The coolest thing
about a gadget is that it is not dependent on any particular language or
technologies, and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to create a gadget.
Basic knowledge of HTML and Javascript is enough for that, but you can also
program in any Microsoft language for windows/web to extend a gadget. Once you
know the basic rules of gadget development, only sky is the limit for
productivity and innovations.

This article describes a simple Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget which delivers
the Daily Dilbert cartoon to your desktop.

There is a RSS Feed available
from feedburner.com
which gives you the contents of the daily dilbert in a form of an xml file. The
idea behind, is to read that file, parse the content and display it beautifully
in your sidebar. The user can view cartoons for last 5 days. The benefit is, for
all those (like me) who want to start there day with the Dilbert strip, don't
have to go to the website or even open the feed, to see it. Just click on the
date in the sidebar gadget and a flyout window will show you the cartoon of the
day.

This article also discusses five common features of Sidebar gadget
development:

1. Create: A simple gadget with minimum files
   
2. Use of Ajax: Read an XML file from a website (RSS feed) Get and parse the
   RSS Feed for the Dilbert cartoon from http://feeds.feedburner.com/tapestrydilbert
   
   
3. Parse XML : Extract the path of the image
   
4. Rich Display: The gadget's look and feel
   
5. FlyOut: A simple implementation of Windows Sidebar Flyout to display the
   image

Check the article here

MCAD.NET - June - 2004

Lately I was giving Microsoft certification for .NET and guess what, now I am
a Microsoft Certified Application Developer for Visual Studio.NET. Now
what, Are you impressed ?

Here is how my certification history
looks like

Microsoft Certified Professional Transcript Latest Activity Recorded Jun 04, 2004 RAJESH LAL Microsoft Certification Status Certification Version Date Achieved Microsoft Certified Application Developer Jun 04, 2004 For Microsoft .NET Jun 04, 2004 Microsoft Certified Solution Developer Jul 25, 2001 Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 Jul 25, 2001 Microsoft Certified Professional Mar 26, 2001 Microsoft Certification Exams Completed Successfully Exam ID Description Date Completed 320 Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Microsoft Visual C# .NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework Jun 04, 2004 315 Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft® Visual C#™ .NET and Microsoft® Visual Studio® .NET Jan 21, 2004 306 Developing and Implementing Windows®-based Applications with Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET and Microsoft® Visual Studio® .NET Jun 11, 2003 100 Analyzing Requirements and Defining Solution Architectures Jul 25, 2001 152 Designing and Implementing Web Solutions with Microsoft® Visual InterDev 6.0 May 31, 2001 175 Designing and Implementing Distributed Applications with Microsoft® Visual Basic 6.0 May 15, 2001 176 Designing and Implementing Desktop Applications with Microsoft® Visual Basic 6.0 Mar 26, 2001

Microsoft Certified Solution Developer

So the series (4 papers, Desktop , distributed, Visual Interdev, and
designing Architecture ) is now complete. I am a Microsoft Certified Solution
Developer (MCSD) for visual Studio as of Jul 25, 2001. I get a logo to put it in
my resume and a "degree" certificate from microsoft.

And i can share my credintials with everyone Visit
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/transcripts Use the following id and code
to verify

Id : 663067

code: rajeshlal

Now what ?

Microsoft Certified Professional

My First microsoft certification, March 26 2001, Am I Happy ? You
bet.