Adam Kinney posts tagged with 'mix'

Interviewed at MIX, audio now available

Adam Kinney — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:21:00 GMT

In case you haven't heard, we meaning Microsoft threw a little party in Vegas this month called MIX. You should really come visit MIX sometime maybe next year, say around March 18-20th in 2009?

We like to have 72 hour conversations and talk about all the things we have going on for the web. This year we announced Silverlight 2 Beta 1.

Man I was excited, and maybe after listening to these two interviews a bit overly excited. On Wednesday I received two emails within 20 minutes of each other notifying me that my interviews had been posted.

First, I was interviewed by Erik Mork from the Sparkling Client podcast. Sparkling Client is podcast they have recently started, but judging by the production quality and the content, I feel they are off to a good start. My interview is available as Show 6: interview with Adam Kinney of Microsoft.

Erik and Monica do nice job leading into the content and my favorite interviewee-caught-in-the-headlights quote is when I say "algorithms to be figured out". Other than algorithms we discuss Silverlight 2 and the direction that we are headed with it.

The goal of Sparkling Client is to be concise 15-minute podcast that entertains as well as informs their audience about Silverlight and the rich web to come. You can find more shows on their site SparklingClient.com.

The Thirsty Developer is another podcast that I interviewed for at MIX. Dave Bost and Larry Clarkin two Microsoft evangelists from the Midwest produce this show which has a nice "hanging out in Chicago" feel.

Dave interviewed me about Silverlight 2 and we cover what it is and what some of the great new features are.

I listened to this one and found a few errors that I should clear up.

Templates - when discussing styling and skinning, I meant to discuss templates but ended up discussing the ContentPresenter and its ability to composite arbitrary controls. This is not changing the template of the control but rather changing the content. Jose Fajardo has an interesting post covering skinning and styling which is a bit more accurate.
Installation - I just wanted to strengthen the point that the installation process is still as customizable as before in 1.0. Hard Rock has a nice custom screen and FaceOut does too and they include a timer to start the application as soon as Silverlight is installed. Kudos for the timer!

It was a very fun process to be a part of and I thank both parties for their kind words.

NBC Olympics Silverlight - site preview review

Adam Kinney — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:55:00 GMT

PC World published a great article on the Olympics website last Friday which, before going into feature and technical details, begins with this:

How would you like to be handed this IT project: create a website that will present 2,200 hours of live, interactive video, plus integrated broadcast coverage. The site will have huge spikes of traffic, and operate under worldwide scrutiny, so it has to be designed for performance. It has to be done in the next 150 days; no schedule extensions are possible. And it must deliver a brilliant user experience.

If you look at the content, the scalability needs, the experience and the feature set the NBC Olympics application really looks like one to keep an eye on. Instead of pointing you to the demo (1:17:25 - 1:26:30) given during the first keynote at MIX08 again, I thought I'd show a few screenshots.

Detail View

This is the default view when you choose a video to watch. Big high-quality video showing commentary, stats and player information. A nice clean look with plenty of other videos to choose form on the side.

Large View

This is the large view of the video which provides that 10ft experience (well maybe 3ft if you're still at your desk). Includes overlaying interactive menu and stats display.

If you compare this screenshot and the previous one you may notice that they are showing off the same LeBron dunk. As part of the demo, after the dunk happened in the detail view, they flipped to full screen and then rewound the live video to watch the dunk again in a larger view. We used to just have VCR-like controls on the web, very happy to now see DVR-like controls is becoming the new standard.

Share with a Friend

After an alert pops on his screen he switches from basketball to gymnastics. Knowing his wife wouldn't want to miss it he clicks the Share button and away an email goes, likely with link to the live video so they can watch together. Olympics and the social web meet and become friends.

Sports Browser

With 34 different sports going on at the same time this results in 2200 different hours of video and many many choices of what to watch. That's what the Sports browser is for. Although I'm not quite sure what data points are used to construct the graph it looks interesting.

Large View with Picture in Picture

Much better than toggling between the "Last" button on your remote to monitor to channels is the Picture in Picture feature. I'm guessing along with DVR-like controls this will become another future standard feature, because sometimes you just need to watch more than one video stream to be happy.

The Control Room

And finally the ultimate screen for the arm-chair director, the Control Room. Choose your sport, choose your view and enjoy the bliss of being able to watch more Olympic coverage than ever before.

17 days of 34 sports which results in 2200 hours of video, shown live and then made available as video on-demand, it will be even harder than catching up with the 50 hours of MIX content I downloaded.

Catching up with Silverlight 2

Adam Kinney — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:24:00 GMT

Starting last week on March 5th after Silverlight 2 Beta 1 was announced, a lot has been said about Silverlight 2. Presentations have been given, demos have been shown, bits have been released, tutorials have been posted and many conversations have been had. As an attempt to catalog some of the more interesting and useful content, I'm posting my list of highlights since SL2B1 day.

Overview

In the unlikely event you haven't found where yet, you can grab the runtime and tools for Silverlight 2 Beta 1 on Silverlight.net.

Other links to help you get started include:

Building Rich Internet Applications using Silverlight 2 - MIX session presented by Joe Stegmen and Mike Harsh, Part 1, Part 2
A Whirlwind Tour - Jesse Liberty's introduction to Silverlight 2
Fundamentals Lab - This lab explores the fundamental tools and features that underpin any Silverlight application.
Breaking Changes in Silverlight 2 - This topic discusses the changes made to the Silverlight runtime and Silverlight tools between the Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 Alpha September Refresh and the MIX 2008 release.
Packaging and Application Startup - Pete Brown explores the new application model, read Part 1 and Part 2
Dynamic Animation Lab - This is a simple lawn mowing simulation that exposes different techniques of leveraging the managed Animation API in Silverlight 2.

Demos

Hard Rock Memorabilia - One of the most talked about demos at MIX08, welcome Deep Zoom!
Pulse at SXSW - mashes up twitter, del.icio.us, Technorati and flickr in a very visual and useful way
AOL email client - a full email client written in Silverlight 2
NBC Olympics - can be seen in the first keynote at MIX08 around 1:17:00, an interview with Perkins Miller is also available
TextGlow - read Word 2007 documents online with Silverlight 2
Silverlight.net Community Gallery - controls demo, RSS reader, SOAP Weather Widget and more
Tunnel Trouble - a new Silverlight-based game from Terralever
WeatherBug - designed for Silverlight Mobile, you can test the app running on the web.

Controls

Control Demo Page - see the controls in action
Source code and Unit Tests for controls - download the code
Creating Rich Dynamic User interfaces with Silverlight 2 - MIX session presented by Karen Corby
Controls Tutorial - Another Jesse Liberty tutorial
ListBox and ScrollViewer FAQs - all you ever wanted to know about them and more
File Upload Component - Wilco Bauwer builds a File upload and control and shares the source
User Controls Lab - Building Reusable Controls in Silverlight 2
Using the Silverlight 2 Canvas - a screencast by Jesse Liberty
Using Silverlight 2 Grids and Stack Panels - another great screencast by Jesse Liberty
Styling Controls - another tutorial by Jesse Liberty (he's been very busy)

Deep Zoom

Applications = Designers + Developers - MIX session presented by Celso Gomes and Kirupa Chinnathambi , Deep Zoom heatured in the second part
Hard Rock: Behind the Music with Deep Zoom - MIX Session presented by Scott Stanfield
First Attempt with MultiScaleImage - Mike Taulty shows how to implement control over Deep Zoom, followed by an update
Deep Zoom Demo - Mike Ormond shares Deep Zoom code and then adds mouse wheel support in part 2
Deep Zoom Composer Preview
Deep Zoom Composer Preview - User Guide

Mobile

Mobile Devices and Microsoft Silverlight - MIX session presented by Amit Chopra and David Kline
Using Microsoft Silverlight for Creating Rich Mobile User Experiences - MIX session presented by Giorgio Sardo
Brad Becker interview - about the recent announcement about Silverlight Mobile.
WeatherBug demo
MIXr demo
Silverlight for Mobile primer session at MIX08 - my notes from the first mobile session at MIX

Dynamic Language Runtime

Microsoft Silverlight and Dynamic Languages - MIX session presented by John Lam and Jimmy Schementi
Hello World! demo - demo from MIX session
Managed JScript and flickr -demo from MIX session
Integrating Silverlight and ASP.NET MVC - demo from MIX session
Iron Python - Jimmy Schementi's MSDN article
Iron Python and the DLR - Bill Chiles's MSDN Article
John Lam on Ruby, Ruby, Ruby - Open Space session at MIX08

Moonlight

Exploring Moonlight : Novell's Implementation of Silverlight on Linux - MIX session presented by Miguel de Icaza
Pre-Mix 08: Moonlight Updates
Channel9 works with Moonlight!

Physics

Farseer Physics Engine - an open source physics engine for Silverlight 2
Polygon Demo - Andy Beaulieu's recent demo using Farseer
Heads Will Roll demo - Chris Cavanagh updates his sample, click "move platforms" to make the wheels/heads go flying

Networking and Data

Networking and Data Lab - In this hands-on lab, you will look at using a variety of remote data sources and communication techniques to retrieve data for a Silverlight application.
Working with Data and Web Services in Microsoft Silverlight 2 - MIX Session presented by Eugene Osovetsky
Sockets Sample
Data Binding Tutorial - A Jesse Liberty tutorial

Browser Integration

Browser Integration Lab - In this hands-on lab, you will look at the places where DHTML and Silverlight meet.
Calling JavaScript functions - Tim Heuer tutorial

Tools

Silverlight Blueprint for Sharepoint - This is the answer to "how do you use Silverlight in Sharepoint?", Micheal Lehman has an interview live on Ch9
PhotoZoom - Want a Deep Zoom Album of your own? try this site. Look for the "processing" notification when attempting to view your albums, the site is rather busy right now
BlogEngine.NET Silverlight Extension - I would expect to see more of these start cropping up
Programmer Utilities - Jesse Liberty's suggested "other" tools
Telerik Controls - There are lot of cool examples under the Online demos section. Very cool to see the Animations framework in there.
ImageGear for Silverlight

Fountains of Information

Scott Guthrie - great tutorials and source of breaking news
Tim Sneath - next best place for breaking news and clarity of information
Jesse Liberty - The Silverlight Developers best friend
John Lam - Dynamic Language Runtime
Jose Fajardo - User Experience and Design
Andy Beaulieu - games and physics
Sparkling Client - a podcast about Silverlight and other RIA technologies.
Code Trip - driving around the west coast, check to see if they're coming to your neighborhood

Silverlight News in my Side Bar

Adam Kinney — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:21:00 GMT

No, not my Vista SideBar, at least not yet...I've added a simple script to my site to show the latest from Silverlight News in my blog's side bar. Since each twit is formatted the same way, I was able to grab the URL and text from each post and mash them together in a simple anchor tag.

If you would like to add the Silverlight News feed to your blog, download the script and add this code to your site:

 <div id="slNews_div"><h2><a href="http://twitter.com/silverlightnews">Silverlight News</a></h2><ul id="slNews_list"><li></li></ul></div>
<script type="text/javascript" src="slNewsTwitter.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/silverlightnews.json?callback=slNewsCallback&count=5"></script>

The html is completely configurable and CSS-friendly. Just make sure you don't change the id of the unordered list element and it will continue to work.

While I was messing around with my blog, I also added the MIX08 section in the side bar. I've seen so many "I'm going to MIX posts, are you?" I thought I'd participate. I did modify the original vector ball just a bit, though.

I've also updated my About page which now covers more accurately what I am working on and what I'm into right now. Overall, I think this is just the beginning. 2008 is going to be a great year.

ReStyle contest now taking submissions

Adam Kinney — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:16:00 GMT

The ReStyle submission form is now ready to take contest entries. If you visit the page you will be asked for your EvNet credentials. What are those? They are what you use to comment with on Channel 10 or MIX Online. And if you don't have a SignIn there should be a nice registration button there for you to click and setup your account.

The image to the right was my very attractive test ReStyle while making sure the submission tool worked properly. I think its classy, with its big typography and hand illustrations.

Ian Muir has already submitted a text only ReStyle called Bare. Like the gray it shows off how you can completely wipe the page of any images, but maintain the same clickable regions.

So how did we do that?

Although this is not the most compliant way you would set up your HTML, this works well for the specific purpose of the contest. Let's dissect the MIX logo used in the upper left of the default theme.

Here's the HTML used:

<div id="logo"> <a href="http://visitmix.com/2008/default.aspx"><span class="reStyle">MIX 08</span> <img src="images/reStyleMe.gif" alt="MIX08" /> </a> </div>

And the CSS:

#logo{ float:left; margin-top:6px; margin-left:30px; background-image:url('images/mixLogo.png'); background-repeat:no-repeat; } #logo img { width:183px; height:100px; }

.reStyle { display:none }

The advantages of this code for this contest include:

div element provides the ultimate positioning and layout functionality
a element of course provides the link we need
span provides alternate text if we choose not to use images
img provides the actual clickable surface. reStyleMe.gif is a blank gif, so it provides no visual. That comes the image set to the back ground of the div, which you can easily change in CSS.

Taking advantage of this flexibility is the gray sample ReStyle with the following CSS:

#logo{ float:left; margin:0; margin-left:30px; padding-top:20px; height:40px; } #logo .reStyle { font-weight:bold; font-size:xx-large; text-decoration:none; color:#666; } #logo .reStyle:hover { text-decoration:underline; color:#000; } #logo img { display:none; }

This effectively hides the clickable image and styles the text to look like any other link on the page.

Hopefully the HTML that we've set for the contest will allow for some great creativity for the contest. I'm looking forward to seeing what turns up next in the ReStyle Gallery.

MIX08 ReStyle on Surface - Illustration

Adam Kinney — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:39:00 GMT

Yesterday I posted about the MIX08 ReStyle contest and I also happened to see my pal Ernie Booth who recently moved to the Surface team. Upon reflecting on the day's events, I started thinking about what it might be like to do a "restyle" using the Surface as a graphic design workspace.

DISCLAIMER: No text that follows should be taken in any form as a prediction about the direction of Microsoft or any of its products. This is just me playing pretend, so bear with me.

The image below started as sketch on the whiteboard which was then quickly reformed, painted and "Saved for Web & Devices..." within Photoshop.

The actions portrayed in the image show the left hand pressing down as an anchor gesture for the image, the middle and index finger are distorting the image so as to make way for the important shamrock drawing.

The right hand is holding some digital pen, which can be used as the main cursor as well as an alternate click to bring up the circular context menu.

The arms are only see through as a gratuitous effect, no need to waste time deciphering the meaning.

Maybe we'll have something like this by 2010 or 2011. It would make up for not having jet packs yet.

ReStyle contest on the MIX08 site

Adam Kinney — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:18:00 GMT

Since MIX06, I have been involved with the development of the MIX site one way or another. This year is no different, I'm just a sucker for conferences about the web, design and Microsoft technologies like, hmm let's see, Silverlight (among others).

Today we've re-launched the ReStyle contest (formerly known as REMIX) by modifying the HTML to be more restyling friendly and providing a Starter Kit with the default and a sample theme. The sample theme is simply titled "gray", because that's what it does. It just grays everything out and removes images providing some technical suggestions on how you might redesign the site yourself. You can see the gray theme live on the MIX08 site.

Why would anyone want to spend the time redesigning a site using only CSS and the images they can create? Besides being educational and fun, there are also prizes.

The designers of the top three entries judged to be the best will receive:

(3) Each winner will receive a trip to attend the MIX08 Conference in Las Vegas, NV, March 5-7, 2008. Trip includes entrance into the MIX08 Conference, 3 night standard hotel accommodations, and a $1000 cash travel allowance .

- official contest rules

There it is, the big prize to work towards. A free trip to MIX08!

Now there is no time to waste. MIX08 is in 55 days and the contest is over on Feb 1st. You need to get cracking on a redesign, if you expect to win your way to MIX.

And if you want to hang out with other hopefuls, for the next 3 weeks, join the ReStyling the MIX site Facebook group. Right now, I'm the only member, and I'm "hopeful" others will show up to the party.

To get the latest news about MIX08 and the ReStyle contest, follow the News blog.

MIX08 wallpaper

Adam Kinney — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:26:00 GMT

I noticed on the new MIX08 site, that they maintained that they kept the fun MIXTIFY page from last year. This is the place where you can get all the shiny blog bling, grab the poster and ponder what your entry for Show Off should be, but there is no wallpaper. A tragedy, I say.

But I'm willing to help out. I don't want you to suffer in your pre-conference excitement.

I grabbed the pixels from the poster and moved them around in Photoshop. I had to stretch the wall to the left to move from a vertical to horizontal orientation. Complete the left edge of the desk. Throw in more of the cable cords. And then justify the shadows across the board, which I based off the flare on the orange clock.

Enjoy!

1280x1024 | 1600x1200 | 1900x1080 | 1920x1200

MIX08 - Registration is now open!

Adam Kinney — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:49:00 GMT

Based on the fact that you are reading my blog, I'm guessing you have an interest in Silverlight. If only there was some sort of grand conference where you could hope to learn more about Silverlight and its future. Although content, news, plans and other details are still in process, Microsoft MIX08 is most likely the conference that will fill your need for more knowledge.

MIX08 is a two-and-a-half day conference aimed at professionals in the consumer Web space – Web developers, designers and advertising professionals -- to come together to explore new ways to build next generation Web experiences with Microsoft’s platform and continue to explore how to build more interactive and responsive experiences that take full advantage of the capabilities of the web.
I've had the opportunity to attend both previous conferences, MIX 06 and MIX07, and MIX has taken the place as my new favorite conference series. The vibe is very loose and creative and the blend of attendees leaves industry insight oozing in the hallways.

I'm really looking forward to MIX08 and I hope to see you there. You can register today on the conference registration page.

My new job

Adam Kinney — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 22:30:00 GMT

Two years ago on this very date of June 20th, I started my first day here at Microsoft. It was an exciting day, it was just new employee orientation, but it was my first job in a technical company with more than 20 employees. I was hired on to become the newest web developer on the coolest Microsoft site known as Channel 9. My manager was Jeff Sandquist and my teammates were Charles Torre and Robert Scoble.

A lot has happened since then.

In 2005:

Aug 25th - Ch9 welcomed a new design
Sep 13th - PDC2005 - debut of the inflatable 9 guy
Sep 13th - MicrosoftGadgets launches as a blog
Oct 13th - Clipster was launched on Ch9
Oct 26th - Erik Porter joins the Ch9 team
Nov 1st - MicrosoftGadgets gains forums and a gallery
Dec 2nd - Shows are added to Ch9
Dec 22nd - MicrosoftGadgets gains user tagging and Ajax interface

In 2006

Jan 18th - Duncan Mackenzie joins the team
Mar 13th - Channel 10 goes live
Mar 21st - MIX06 happens
Apr 20th - Channel 10 party in Second Life
May 4th - Channel 10 is redesigned and adds new features
Jun 1st - Starbucks Interactive Cup Brewer appears in the break room
Jun 10th - Scoble announces he's leaving Microsoft
Jun 19th - Sampy joins the team
July 19th - Channel 10 gets a major update
Sep 21st - Ch10 update and we prep the code for multiple site usage
Sep 25th - Rory joins Ch9
Nov 6th - VisitMIX goes live
Nov 13th - The great Flat vs threaded debate on Ch9 culminates
Dec 4th - 9 Guy first appears in Silverlight

In 2007

Jan 3rd - VisitMIX update
Feb - I drew a lot on the whiteboard
Mar 9th - REMIX contest goes live
Mar 19th - SCRUM happens
Apr 23rd - David Shadle joins the team
Apr 30th - MIX07 happens
Jun 7th - Ch9 v4 beta goes live
Jun 20th - I announce my job

Now that we've gone through that short highlight reel, let me continue with the news. First off, no I am not leaving Microsoft. I am actually not even going that far. Same building and most likely same office for awhile.

I will be joining the Client Platform Evangelism Team led by Tim Sneath and my focus will be Silverlight and WPF. If you know anything about me, you know that I will be in heaven spending my days engrossed in these two technologies.

I would like to thank Jeff, Tim, Steve and Ray for their help in making this move smooth and possible.

Woo hoo!

Back in the Saddle

Adam Kinney — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 04:15:00 GMT

MIX07 was awesome. I was involved in supporting the VisitMIX site, posting an array of Silverlight screencasts on Channel 9 and a few other community events. I was lucky enough to go a few sessions, including the WPF Comics session which impressed me enough that I had to blog about it right away. I have notes on a few of the other sessions I'd like to share, but those notes would be about month late so who knows how useful they would be.

After MIX07, I pretty much dropped off the Internet. No blogging, no Ch9 forums, no IM, no email. After the conference I flew from Vegas to Indiana to visit my ailing father. After I was able to spend 6 days with him, he passed away. I was very grateful for the chance to be there with him and my family for the last couple of days and there with my mother during the last few minutes.

This is the beginning of my third week back at work after being "offline" for almost two and a half weeks. I feel like I've caught back up now, took a little to get back up to speed which was not surprising (out of the office three weeks including the conference trip). I wanted to start this week out right and one of the things I've been wanting to do is write more. I have so much queued up to write about and a large amount of art and experiments to share and I just haven't taken the time. Or I think I have to get everything perfect before doing it. But I can tell you that with the mind set I am now, no need to wait or hold yourself back. Live life now, because now is the only time you can be sure you have.

MIX07: WPF Comics with Identity Mine

Adam Kinney — Tue, 01 May 2007 00:14:00 GMT

I just came from a session given by Nathan Dunlap and Robbie Ingebretsen entitled “ZAP!, WHAM!, KAPOW!”: WPF and the Next Genertion of Online Comic Book Reading. And yes, it was as awesome as it sounds like as it should be. They presented an experimental WPF app designed to create a great on screen reading experience for comics.

I'm a fan of comics and enhancing reading experiences especially online, and this type of conceptually was similar to something Ernie Booth and I had dreamed up. Immediate improvements include a visual index of pages which you can use to navigate and preview, different display modes depending on the context of the display currently used and an authoring environment allow content creators to author a very rich path of navigation through the content. They did mention that the Sample should be available online soon once they have chance to clean it up for distribution.

A few technical items of note; each page that is presented can be a .jpg (they were using actual comic book pages from the 24 comic, 1000x2000 pixel images) or a xaml file. Once I heard that I thought "moving backgrounds!" (think DreamScene type movies). Which in due course, they demoed a cover page of their comic with a pulsating plasma-like image in the background. Nicely played Dunlap and Ingebretsen, nicely played. It was also interesting to see that they had chosen to use a Silverlight player within the WPF application to show their extra editor's clips.

Overall the two presented with excitement and obvious love for their science project. Both had previously worked at Microsoft building WPF and now they are both off apparently having a great time at Identity Mine. Towards the end they mentioned that their demo comic "Identity Men" had been actually printed (sure to be found on Flickr soon) and that they were releasing a collection of controls called Blendables, Nathan posted more here.

Great session guys, now I need to try and catch their next session Booyah! Designing and Developing Line-of-Business Applications That SIZZLE

MIX07 has sold out

Adam Kinney — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 22:34:00 GMT

...which reminds me, that I need to get my plane ticket.

I'm very happy to hear that MIX will have as full of an attendance as possible, providing the opportunity to get the most out of the conference. Although sessions and keynotes are the driving factor for conferences, the in-the-hall sessions can be just as fun and valuable.

A few of the MIX sessions I'm looking forward to (unfortunately, no permalinks available) include:

"ZAP!, WHAM!, KAPOW!": WPF and the Next Generation of Online Comic Book Reading
Deep Dive into Integrating Media with "WPF/E", Media Server and IIS7
Designing with AJAX: Yahoo! Pattern Library ( Bill Scott is the man )
Futures in Design
Ink for Designers and Developers
PANEL DISCUSSION: Getting Unstuck: Enhancing Designer & Developer collaboration for mutual success

Plenty of others but those stand out amongst the rest right now.

If you did not get the chance to register, you still have a few more days to submit an entry to the REMIX contest to win a ticket. The contest has definitely been heating up, though, here's two recent kick ass entries:

QuadriColor Mix

Horror Flick 2

MIX07 Blog Bling/UnBling

Adam Kinney — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 04:08:00 GMT

So we've had the MIX07 blog bling ("flair" is out for now, "bling" is in, "badges" is up next I believe) up there for a little while now. You could win posters and just generally show your support and/or your excitement for the whole event.

Well a little while ago we stumbled on Jon Galloway's rendition of of MIX blog badges and I loved them. Irrelevant pictures (Abe Lincoln, Horses with pink stars, etc.) set against a softened MIX logo and Jon had a winner. I've known Jon for a while now and have always found his blog interesting, like interesting in the "unique content that's interesting" way. I'm happy to help push a little bit of that unique content on the intArweb. The bling or unbling if you may is now on the official MIX07 blog bling page.

Expression Studio for all MIX07 attendees

Adam Kinney — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 03:30:00 GMT

All MIX07 attendees will receive a Commemorative Edition of Expression Studio, that combined with receiving a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate and you're ready set up a fresh new pc for designing your WPF and WPF/E apps. Very nice. I used to go to a fair amount of conferences and I don't remember getting any kind of offer like that.

On a side note, we have the first couple of REMIXes published. There's Binary Haze, Licorice and my favorite so far Army Men.

REMIX contest is live, win a free MIX07 ticket

Adam Kinney — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 01:03:00 GMT

The REMIX Contest is live. This is your chance to show off your CSS and design skills and win yourself free admission to MIX07. Admission is awarded to the top three winners, and we are handing out Zunes with Accessory Packs to the top 10 honorable mentions.

Mmm, Zune, I just got one today actually, I'm really digging the big screen. And, no, this is not one of the prize Zunes. So don't worry about winning a used Zune. Before I get myself into any trouble, here's the official rules for the contest.

So enjoy the submissions (none at this time of posting) and submit your remix. I am one of the judges and will be looking forward to seeing your submissions.

Free MIX07 tangible posters

Adam Kinney — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 23:52:00 GMT

Yes, I used the word "tangible" because these are the real kind of posters made from paper not just pixels. And you can get them free for posting MIX07 blog bling on your blog and then sending your URL to us.

If you want to post them in your office before you get them in the mail, you can download the posters from the VisitMIX site or you can download the wallpapers I've created from the posters, shown below.

1600 x 1200 | 1024 x 768 1600 x 1200 | 1024 x 768 1600 x 1200 | 1024 x 768

MIX07, if I was a conference

Adam Kinney — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:12:00 GMT

One topic I have been wanting to talk about since my blog was down, is MIX07.

Although I've always been a fan of PDC and Tech-Ed, MIX is what I would want to be if I were a conference. Add one part Web Designer, one part Web Developer (we already went through that mashup here) and one part Web Businessperson and you have a good mix (that was too easy, and don't worry I am not going to try and use the word "devbizigner" anytime soon). Although, designing and developing is my core, I do enjoy reading about business especially fast and 2.0 versions of business.

For developers, the conference covers Ajax, Live, XNA and Windows Media Center. For designers, WPF/E, the Expression suite and how IE7 is a good thing. For business people, better experiences for customers and online media.

To see how all these topics will be covered, you can view the MIX sessions online. After looking at the list, the first three sessions that stand out include:

Designing Stunning Sites with "WPF/E" - Stunning people sounds good.
First Look at the Future of IE - I really enjoyed the IE panel last year, and am looking forward to finding out more about the next steps for IE.
Gazing into the Future of Web Development - the title says it all
High-Speed Development with the AJAX Control Toolkit -I actually first used this toolkit this past weekend on this blog, check out the Archives listing in the right side bar. Now check out the rest of the controls. Nice!
Rich Media, Low Cost - Very applicable for the work we do, we're thinking through how to improve our media experience on Channel 9 and 10 and how we can innovate there.

So that's more than three like I was shooting for, but there are a lot of promising sessions available. If you're planning to go let me know and I'll bring a Channel 9 guy for you or maybe even a Channel 9 or 10 laptop sticker.

MIX07 site goes live

Adam Kinney — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 05:34:00 GMT

We've released dates, prices and an rss feed for updates. And if you take a quick look you'll notice the site domain name is http://visitmix.com. So as you can now see, Haacked, we won't have to end MIX in 09 :)

Edit: This image is a reminder that I need to reskin my blog soon...