Windows and Matrix Revolutions
Yesterday has been a pleasant day since I attended to the Windows Revolutions event in Milan, in which Microsoft’s staff, in a very informal and friendly atmosphere, presented to a public of developers some interesting features of Longhorn, the future successor of Windows XP, Yukon, the successor of SQL Server and Whidbey, the next version of Visual Studio .NET.
At the end of the presentation Microsoft invited the attendees to the nearby Arcadia theater to watch the movie Matrix Revolutions.
I don’t want to write anything about the movie, especially how it ends, but I can say a THX Certified theater grants an incredible audiovisual experience, in particular for this kind of movies.
Thanks to Microsoft, then. Let’s hope they’ll organize similar events in the future, but more focused on mobile devices. 😉
Now let’s back to work since I’ve got the forum to open, among other things…
Getting published in the Internet era
I saved this post for some time waiting for the most appropriate time to post it, and here is it, hoping it can bring a bit of distraction in such a delicate moment in which all Italy is holding tight around the 19 victims in Nasiriya.
This shot comes from the award winning film Life is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni I’ve watched on DVD some weeks ago. Being a truly work of genius with so many details making up for a great film about the love for life, I spotted this curious scene in which Guido (Roberto Benigni) is trying to help his friend Ferruccio (Sergio Bini Bustric) to get in touch with Mrs. Guicciardini (Lidia Alfonsi), so that she can publish Ferruccio’s poetry works. They had a little trouble in that right moment, but thanks to Guido, Ferruccio will eventually get the great opportunity.
Well, if you’re lucky enough to have a friend like him you can bet you’ll get published everywhere! 😉
But for anyone else the Internet is an invaluable resource to reach the same objective nowadays.
The real problem comes after publishing something, as I’m experiencing at first hand, because even if your work is good it’s too easy passing unnoticed in the frenetic traffic flow of the super-information highway.
I briefly addressed the question in the tutorial about Pocket PC development since there’s no doubt it’s a serious issue for any independent developer.
A wonderful movie, by the way. 🙂
If you have the DVD you shouldn’t miss the interview of Benigni, in particular when he answers to the question about how ideas are born and he says it would take much more space on the DVD to fully explain it! 
Netcafé backstage pictures online and #GPI Best Tutorial Contest results
Posted by Albegor in Euro Coins Pocket Collector, Mobile, Software on November 12, 2003
This is a very bad day for Italy, especially for the families of the soldiers attacked by kamikazes at the Carabinieri’s headquarters in Nasiriya, Iraq.
However the show must go on, as they say with a bit of cynicism, and I’ve got two updates for the visitors of the website: first of all here are the backstage pictures of the interview at Netcafé and also the pictures of the Mobile Fun Awards.
Then #GameProg-Ita, which currently has some server problems, announced the results of the Best Tutorial Contest.
You can find my tutorial about Pocket PC development at this page, along with the comments of the jury. Aside from the result of the contest, I hope this will be an useful resource for the italian game development community and I think I’ll translate the tutorial in english and publish it here on the website as soon as possible.
Although I was glad to read the comments from Marco Trivellato of Milestone and from the other jurors, the results clearly rewarded the articles more technical than mine but, after all, it was the Best Tutorial Contest, not the Best Paper Contest! 😉
Congratulations to the winner, Federico “NinjaCross” Coletto!
Ecpc now on Pocketland.de and collecting translations
Posted by Albegor in Euro Coins Pocket Collector, Mobile, Software on November 10, 2003
As you can see in the Download&Buy page Ecpc version 1.2 is now available also from the german e-shop Pocketland.de, an important reference point for german speaking europeans. 🙂
Collecting translations is not as easy as collecting Euro coins, but as you can read on Mipcdebolsillo, a website managed by Julio Meneses, it seems I’ve found someone who can help translating Ecpc into spanish language.
Also, thanks to the announcement of the new release appeared on Aximsite, Wannahave, a forum moderator, will translate Ecpc into dutch.
Very good then, but the translation in french is very high priority now since it has been delayed for too long, unfortunately!
I think this release is mature enough for some serious reviews, so I’ll be actively searching for interested reviewers.
Wannahave for example is already planning to write one for Aximsite. 😉
Euro coins pocket collector 1.2 RELEASED!
Posted by Albegor in Euro Coins Pocket Collector, Mobile, Software on November 5, 2003
Ecpc version 1.2 has just been released and you can review the list of the improvements in the Updates page! 🙂
To understand that this is a big release you should take a look at the new features, which also include the complete translation in german!
I’ve also made minor updates to some pages of the website and uploaded my updated collection files in the Swapping page.
I wanted to open the Forum at the same time of the announcement of the new release, but I’ve still a lot of work to properly configure and customize it, so I’ll open it in a few days.
Meanwhile, enjoy the new release! 🙂
Netcafé Videos Now Online
Posted by Albegor in Euro Coins Pocket Collector, Mobile, Software on November 2, 2003
As promised the videos of the interview at Netcafé are now online.
I tried to compress them without altering their quality, so that you can also view Maria in all her beauty!
Now I can concentrate on the last few steps before the release of the new version 1.2 of Ecpc, a release introducing some new features such as the Compare&Swap mode and of course the full german translation.
Is there something better than releasing the new version just after winning an award and a TV interview?
A friend had a very funny answer to this question, but it wouldn’t be too polite writing it here! 😉
My first time on TV!
Posted by Albegor in Euro Coins Pocket Collector, Mobile, Software on November 2, 2003
So, why was the last friday so special for me? Well, because that day there was my first time on TV!
I still can’t believe it! After winning the award I’ve been invited by the TV channel Telelombardia, at Netcafé, a weekly talk-show about new technologies presented by Gabriele Di Matteo with the help of Maria and Bettina.
I had the opportunity to not only show the award, but also to talk about Ecpc, show some Euro coins of my collection and talk a bit about me.
What a week! The flue didn’t allowed me to enjoy it at its fullest, but the flue is going away while the award and the TV attendance will stay! 🙂
I’m waiting 23:00 (GMT+1) to record the talk-show so that I can put the video of my interview on my website in the next days.
I even took some backstage photos with Maria and Bettina, but more details later. 😉
Meanwhile I’ve added the About page, in which you can read some more details about me, as well as seeing my business card made by a friend, a talented graphics artist, which includes the new logo you can now see on the top left.
Euro coins pocket collector wins the Cellulari.it Special Award!
Posted by Albegor in Euro Coins Pocket Collector, Mobile, Software on October 29, 2003
Yesterday has been one of the most incredible days of my life!
Not only I won the Cellulari.it Special Award during the 1st Mobile Fun Awards organized by the magazine Wireless for the Mobile Fun Forum 2003, but also the national TV channel La7 recorded the award ceremony and later they even interviewed the winners, including me with Euro coins pocket collector on my Pocket PC!!!
Update: La7 did not broadcast the recording of the event, alas.
I’ll keep you updated on the press coverage of the event, which will include downloadable videos from the website and I can already say there’s much more to come!
This may turn into the market exposure I was in real need of… some managers from Toshiba, Palm, the italian QQAAXX and HP ( here not in a casual order 😉 ) were much more pleased to hear my sponsorship proposals after I won the award.
I even met some of Trecision ex-coworkers there, who did loud cheers during the prize-giving, but I was too deeply stirred to understand they came from them. 🙂
The prize-giving occurred at the end of a long morning with many presentations about the great opportunities of the mobile market in Italy.
The presentation of Enrico of Pocket PC Italia, which took place in the afternoon, was the most interesting one since he talked about wireless connectivity on Pocket PCs and Smartphones and showed some amazing hardware like the new XDA 2, two new Smartphones and the latest GPS Navigation software.
I caught a bit of flue, but this great satisfaction makes me forget it, and it better be this way since I’ve got a lot of work to do and I have to be fine for this friday…
Here’s a scan of the plate of the award:
Hosting change completed and Reviews page opened
Posted by Albegor in Euro Coins Pocket Collector, Mobile, Software on October 27, 2003
The transition to the new hosting on a Canadian provider is completed and I think I won’t have no more space or bandwidth problems, at least for the next months. 😉
I want to celebrate that by opening the Reviews page, in which you can find all the comments and articles about Ecpc published so far, not only by printed magazines, but also by users.
Expect to see more being added shortly.
Now I’m getting ready for the Mobile Fun Forum 2003 of tomorrow in Milan with trepidation, since it could be a very important day.
Fingers crossed! 🙂
Hosting change in progress and new Euro coins German website
Posted by Albegor in Euro Coins Pocket Collector, Mobile, Software on October 22, 2003
I’m setting up the new hosting for the website in this very moment.
I hope it’ll be a fast and smooth operation, but the DNS address change may cause the site to be not available in the next few days.
In the meantime I’d like to welcome the opening of a new website about Euro coins by Heiko Heubach, the kind german who translated Ecpc in his language.
Heiko used the text he translated for the coins descriptions, so that’s a sort of preview of what you’ll find in the incoming version 1.2 of Ecpc. 😉
I’ve already added his website, Euro-Muenzen.net, in the Resources page. Check it out!