Adding Smart Tags to Windows Forms Controls

One new features in Visual Studio 2005 is the support for smart tags. A smart tag is a panel that displays next to a control and contains a list of commonly used properties. Check out this new article!

Write Your Own Windows Services

If you're using Windows, you're no stranger to Windows services, but do you know how to write one of your own? In this article, you'll learn not only how to build your own Windows service, but how to build a client with which to control it.

GPS data logger

Finally, a GPS receiver that doubles up as a GPS data logger. QStarz has just introduced the "Double 32® Bluetooth GPS Travel Recorder" GPS receiver that can log the coordinates and then offload to a PC. This is the idea that I was talking about in my MEDC presentation and would be very useful for fleet management as well as geo-tagging applications. Best of all, it is set to cost about US$119. Time to buy a new GPS receiver!

Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About My Courses

I received quite a number of questions pertaining to the Windows Mobile 5.0 Programming course this Aug (16th and 17th). I have reproduced them here for your convenience just in case you have the same questions in mind:

Do I need to bring my own Pocket PC device for the course?
No, Pocket PCs will be provided (you have to share them though). Symbol will be providing 10 units of the MC70 for testing purpose, as well as other accessories such as RFID snap-ons, GPS receiver, as well as Zebra Bluetooth Printers. However, please feel free to bring your own device if you want to see how the sample apps run on your own device.

I have a older Windows Mobile 2003 PPC. Is this course applicable?
While this course is focused on Windows Mobile 5.0, there are some examples that will work on older PPCs. For example, the SerialPort class is new in .NET CF 2.0 and hence it is not tied to the Windows Mobile 5.0 platform, and therefore will work on older PPCs.

How is your course different from others?
If you have attended my course before, you would know that I am a great believer of learning-by-doing. And hence my course is focused extensively on hands-ons. I don't believe in spending lots of time on slides, explaining all the details of a class/methods. For that, you can really read a book or documentation.

I believe that the best way to learn programming is to actually type in the code, debug it, fix it and then seeing the end result yourself. In fact, I encourage my students to make as much mistakes as possible so that the concepts really sink in into their heads (this is actually how I learn new technologies; and in fact the best way to learn a new technology is to write a book! :-)).

And of course, the key ingredient to a good course is the course materials/workbook. For all my courses, I use materials that I develop myself. Each lab exercises contains simple and practical demos that you can modify and use for your own projects. I do not believe in huge and complicated examples/case studies that require you to start in Day 1 and complete in Day 5. As far as possible, each lab exercise is stand-alone so that students who did not manage to follow earlier labs (either they are late or the topics are just not relevant to them) can follow the rest of the course without feeling lost. In fact, I eat my own dog-food - I always refer to my own course materials when I am working on projects and needed to quickly locate a code-snippet to accomplish some functions, such as how to serialize a class, encrypt some text strings, access database, etc.

That said, do send in your questions if you have any. Cheers!

MEDC 2007 Singapore Slides Uploaded

You can now download my slide decks for the two sessions I presented at MEDC 2007 Singapore on 8th June 2007. Enjoy! Download all decks here.

[Updates] You can find the source code for the two presentations at here (SideShow) and here (Windows Mobile). These two are temporary locations until I find a permanent home for them. :-)

In addition, the application forms for the MCTS Prep Classes and the Windows Mobile 5.0 Programming Course can be downloaded here.

Managing Printing in Your .NET Application

The .NET Framework makes it easy to support printing. In this article, Wei-Meng Lee shows you the basics of printing in .NET 2.0, including how to configure page setup, print multiple pages, preview a document before it is printed, as well as let users select a printer to which to print. May. 15, 2007

Using the Cryptography APIs in .NET

The .NET framework contains a number of cryptography services that allow you to incorporate security services into your .NET applications. In this article, Wei-Meng Lee shows you how to use some of the common security APIs to make your .NET applications more secure. May. 22, 2007

Cool New Tools in Windows Mobile 6

While it may be some time before you can get your hands on a Windows Mobile 6 device, this early look at the Windows Mobile 6 SDK reveals some of the new tools and utilities you'll be using soon.

Personalization with Application Settings in Visual Basic

Application Settings is a new feature in Windows Forms 2.0 that allows you to maintain both user- and application-specific data (known as settings). Find out how to use it to improve your application's usability with personalization--this time in Visual Basic.

See you at MEDC Singapore 2007 this Fri (8th June)

Come and join us at MEDC 2007 this Fri (8th June) at Suntec City (http://www.microsoft.com/singapore/events/medc/default.mspx). I will be presenting two sessions - one on Windows Mobile 5.0 Network Programming and another one on Programming Vista SideShow Gadgets. If you are there, please come up and say hi!

I will be posting my slides up in my blog after the event. Hence, watch this space for the latest updates.