Adam Grocholski

This may have flown under your radar, but several weeks ago we (that’s the royal Microsoft WE) launched a new hub for Windows Azure on Channel 9. This hub serves as an index and entry point for all video content related to Windows Azure. Since the launch we have already made progress on building a video library to help developers get started learning Windows Azure. Introduction videos have been created for core services like Mobile Services, Web Sites, Cloud Services, and SQL Databases. This page also features three video series: Cloud Cover, Web Camps TV, and Subscribe!. Finally, this page highlights videos that have been recorded at events like BUILD and TechEd. I encourage you to check it out at http://channel9.msdn.com/WindowsAzure. I think the introduction video series we created will be the most beneficial to you, especially if you’re new to Windows Azure. On t... (more)

Weekly Windows 8 Office Hours

Next Monday I will be holding office hours from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the Microsoft Store at the Mall of America. I will be there to help you take your Windows 8 app from an idea in your head to a killer app in the Windows Store. This isn’t anything formal you have to sign up for, there are no presentations, just feel free to drop by and chat. If you’re the kind of person that needs to get this on your calendar or you won’t remember and/or show up, you can do so here. The Microsoft Store is on level 1 of the Mall of America next to Lego, across from Guest Accessories. You can ge... (more)

Setting a MediaElement Source to a StorageFile

In a previous post I mentioned I’m working on an app that plays videos. The app is pretty simple and fits a specific need I have. Once it’s in the Windows Store I’ll give the full details on it. In the meantime I want to share some tips and tricks I learn along the way that might help you with your app. These aren’t ground breaking revelations into Windows Store app development, they’re just things I found useful and wanted to pass along. In that previous post I showed you how to create a bitmap image from a file that you could then use in your UI. In this post I’ll show you how ... (more)

Spyhouse Office Hours

Just a reminder that next Wednesday I’ll be holding office hours from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Spyhouse Coffee in Uptown. This isn’t anything formal you have to sign up for, there are no presentations, just feel free to drop by and chat. If you’re the kind of person that needs to get this on your calendar or you won’t remember and/or show up, you can do so here. You can see my full list of Spyhouse Coffee office hours here. I hope to see you there! What’s that you say? You haven’t even start writing your Windows 8 app? No worries! Here’s a couple of great resources to help you on y... (more)

Getting a Bitmap from a File Thumbnail

In a previous post I mentioned I’m working on an app that plays videos. The app is pretty simple and fits a specific need I have. Once it’s in the Windows Store I’ll give the full details on it. In the meantime I want to share some tips and tricks I learn along the way that might help you with your app. In the aforementioned previous post I showed you how I customized the appearance and behavior of the FileOpenPicker for picking only videos. Today’s tip has to do with how to get a bitmap image I can use in the UI of my Windows Store app from a file’s thumbnail. Essentially what... (more)