I will be speaking at Visual Studio Live! in New York this May 14-17.  The conference is a full 4 day event and there’s still time to register!  The three sessions I’m presenting are:

W01 – Get Connected with Kinect 
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Time: 9:15 AM – 10:30 AM 
Level: Introductory

By now we’ve all probably tried Kinect, Microsoft’s revolutionary motion control device for the Xbox 360. But what about developing software to use the device? With the release of the official Kinect for Windows SDK from Microsoft, developers can now use this device like any other hardware peripheral from code. This session will introduce developers to the Kinect device itself, how it works, and will offer an overview of the API provided by Microsoft to retrieve image, depth, skeletal, audio, and audio position information from the device. The session will also cover some interesting uses for this information, and how it can be used in traditional applications for easier navigation to provide a more natural user interface.

W12 – Advanced XNA Games for Windows Phone
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Time: 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM 
Level: Intermediate to Advanced

XNA is an extremely powerful platform that extends far beyond simple 2D sprite-based games. In this session, learn how to build 3D games and the deal with the complexities that come with moving to the third dimension. The session will consist of building a very simple 3D game for Windows Phone. Specifically, attendees will learn how to import pre-built 3D models, animate them, and display them in 3D space. Additionally, the session will cover shader-based effects, handling user input, playing sounds and music, and putting it all together for submission to the Marketplace.

TH16 - Writing Asynchronous Code Using .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2012
Time: 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM 
Level: Introductory

A variety of new features were added to the .NET 4.5 Framework, including support for easily writing asynchronous code. This session will introduce the concepts of asynchronous programming, .NET Tasks, how to ensure your UI remains responsive, and how to do all of this properly in your own applications using the new async and await keywords. If you’re looking for ways to provide a better, smoother experience for your users, don’t miss this session!

As always, I will be hosting another round of Developer Duel on Tuesday night during the VSLive After Dark event.  Join us for the event and have a chance to win fabulous prizes while playing a game similar to one you’ve seen on TV for the past 30 years…

Get more information on the conference at:

• VSLive! Website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Hope to see you all there!

I’ll be giving a session to the Tech Valley .NET Users Group (TVUG) Tuesday, March 13th at 6:30pm on the new async goodness that exists in .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0, as well as the Visual Studio Async CTP which can be used with Visual Studio 2010.  Here's the description:

Title: Writing Asynchronous Code Using .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0
Where: Tyler Technologies, Latham, NY
When: Tuesday, March 13th, 2012, 6:30-8:30PM

A variety of new features were added to the .NET 4.5 Framework, including support for easily writing asynchronous code. This session will introduce the concepts of asynchronous programming, .NET Tasks, how to ensure your UI remains responsive, and how to do all of this properly in your own applications using the new async and await keywords. If you’re looking for ways to provide a better, smoother experience for your users, don’t miss this session!

You will learn:

• Learn about the pros/cons of asynchronous code
• Learn how to write and use asynchronous code in .NET 4.5
• Learn how to maintain a constantly available and responsive user interface

Hope to see you all there!

I will be speaking at Visual Studio Live! in Las Vegas this March 26-30.  The conference is a full 5 day event and there’s still time to register!  If you use code VLSPK21, you can save a nice chunk of cash off the all-access Best Value Conference Package. The three sessions I’m presenting are:

T05 - Windows 8 Metro-style Application Contracts and Extensibility
Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Time: 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM 
Level: Intermediate

Contracts are a new feature of Windows 8 Metro-style applications that allow applications to interact with the operating system and other Metro-style applications in a standard way. With contracts, applications can implement interfaces to allow searching, sharing, settings, app-to-app file picking, and more. In this session, we will explore these contracts and how they can be used in any Windows 8 Metro-style application to provide a seamless, integrated experience for users.

W04 - XNA Games for Windows Phone
Date: Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Time: 9:15 AM – 10:30 AM 
Level: Introductory to Intermediate

You have Silverlight on Windows Phone 7 under control, but what about XNA? If you're looking to create a more advanced game with better performance than Silverlight, XNA is the platform for you. In this session, developers will learn how to build an XNA game targeted for Windows Phone 7. The basics of the platform will be demonstrated while building a simple Space Invaders-type game that would be Marketplace acceptable. Specifically, this session will cover how to deal with user input, play sound effects and music, display animated 2D graphics, and how to create a game that's ready to be sold on the Marketplace.

TH09 - Writing Asynchronous Code Using .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0
Date: Thursday, March 29, 2012
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
Level: Introductory

A variety of new features were added to the .NET 4.5 Framework, including support for easily writing asynchronous code. This session will introduce the concepts of asynchronous programming, .NET Tasks, how to ensure your UI remains responsive, and how to do all of this properly in your own applications using the new async and await keywords. If you’re looking for ways to provide a better, smoother experience for your users, don’t miss this session!

As always. I will be hosting another round of Developer Duel on Wednesday night during the Wild Wednesday event.  Join us for the event and have a chance to win fabulous prizes while playing a game similar to one you’ve seen on TV for the past 30 years…

Get more information on the conference at:

• VSLive! Website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Hope to see you all there!

At long last I have accepted a full-time position at Microsoft, working on the Channel 9 team, mainly doing Coding4Fun stuffs.  I'll be telecommuting from NY as I have been these past 8 years.  It's hard for me to believe that I've been doing Coding4Fun articles and projects for the team since 2006, but I'm excited that I now get to do it full-time.

Also joining the team is master UX-man Rick Barraza.  He brings a pile of amazing talent and skill that will really allow us to create some fantastic projects.  And, of course, we're joining the existing team of Dan Fernandez and Clint Rutkas, with Greg Duncan heading up the Coding4Fun blog and Kinect Project blog.

Also note that Coding4Fun is looking for a junior developer/program manager.  So, if you want to join the team, now's your chance!

Anyway, I'm very excited to be joining Microsoft, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can crank out as a team…

For my fellow Capital District folks, I’ll be giving a session to the Tech Valley .NET Users Group (TVUG) Tuesday, December 13th at 6:30pm on everything that is Kinect and the Kinect for Windows SDK  Here are the details….

Where: Tyler Technologies, Latham, NY
When: Tuesday, December 13th, 2011, 6:30-8:30PM

Join us as Brian Peek demonstrates the basics of using the Kinect for Windows SDK including:  how Kinect works, installing and setting up the Kinect sensor, setting up the development environment, reading camera, depth and skeleton data, understanding what depth data is and how it works, skeletal tracking and working with the Kinect microphone array to record audio and use speech recognition.

Hope to see you all there!