I have been tempted to go the eReader route lately, but have found myself unable to pull the trigger.  Between the Kindle, Nook, and Sony eReader you would think I would be able to settle on a device and join the rest of the happy tech masses in the eBook revolution. I just can’t, however.  Each device has a limitation.

I think the Kindle is the leader of all the devices right now. In my limited research, it appears to have the best online selection of books, and Amazon beats B&N on eBook pricing in a lot of cases.  So why not the Kindle? No WiFi in the device.  I just can’t bring myself to buy a device that does not have WiFi built-in.  I know it has free 3G, but you KNOW at some point there will be a version of Kindle with WiFi, and I don’t want to be suffering from buyer’s remorse later for a feature I think is a no-brainer today.  I’m pretty sure it doesn’t support some of the open ePub formats either.

The Nook is a nice device.  It seems a bit slower than the Kindle, but not a lot.  It feels a lot heavier, but it only an ounce heavier so not sure what my deal is there.  But, B&N has a smaller selection of eBooks right now (I have found several titles on Amazon but not on B&N) and they do charge more often enough that I am left wondering WTF.  I thought the color screen was a nice touch, but its input is just slow enough that I know it would drive me nuts.

Lastly, there is  the Sony eReader.  Whatever…. it is a very nice device.  In some ways, I like it better than the other devices, but it has a limited book catalog as well and it just feels like an “outlier” device.  That could be a very bad perception on my part, but this whole thing is about perception so it is what it is.  Impulse buys like this are often made or broken on perceptions. Throw in the fact that it is the least connected of the three devices and that is uses those God awful Sony memory sticks (get on board with microSD, morons!) and its a non-starter.

I’m left feeling that I will have to just sit on the sidelines for another 12 months or so and see what the next generation of devices yields.  It would be nice to have a true “all in one” reader and web browsing device. That would be awesome.  I still worry about the comfort of the form factor.  Books just seem to be a fit for reading anywhere.  Hard for me to picture holding a thin eReader in my dimly lit bedroom while propped up by a pillow reading one of these devices.  But I do like not lugging multiple books around on trips and being able to change the font type and size.

Oh well… T-minus 12 months and counting…

Spaghetti Code is joined by Microsoft’s own Jimmy Schementi.  Jimmy is the Program Manager for the various Iron languages being worked on by Microsoft.  In this episode, Jimmy walks us through the history of the Dynamic Language Runtime and the Iron languages, along with numerous insights into both languages.  We also talk about where the languages are going as we approach some major milestones in each languages development. 

Several new Web App Toolkits were released recently:

• “Freemium” - A popular way to attract first time users is to offer a free version of a service that has limited functionality and once you’ve got them hooked provide an easy way to upgrade and pay for more features. This Web Application Toolkit offers a more elegant and cost-effective way to solve this problem.
• Calendars - This Web Application Toolkit provides a standards-based service that can be reused in your own Web application to expose calendaring and events information for different users, using different data formats (iCalendar, XML, JSON) using REST.
• Bing Maps - A set of reusable custom controls built in Silverlight, which integrated with the Bing Maps Silverlight Control, make a perfect fit for some of the most common location-aware scenarios.
• Bing Search - This Web Application Toolkit shows how to take advantage of the Bing API to add search capabilities to your Web site by leveraging the various search results that the Bing API provides, including Web content, images, news and videos, among others.

There quite a few more around IE8, Mobile apps, Template Driven Email, and more.

 Check them out today!

Spaghetti Code hosts Donn Felker as he discusses his experiences developing applications for the Android platform.

The slide deck and demo walkthroughs from the recent RIA Roadshow events in Omaha and Minneapolis are now available for download.

Spaghetti Code sits down with Rocky Lhotka, Shannon Braun, and Scott Davis to talk about the Microsoft Professional Developer Conference held last November, 2009.  All three share there thoughts and opinions on the conference, the technologies announced, and what the future holds for Microsoft developers.

I saw Avatar today, the much anticipated James Cameron 3D CGI extravaganza.  I have avoided reading any reviews since I did not want to taint my expectations anymore than the trailer already had.  I’m not a James Cameron fan boy by any stretch, but have generally enjoyed most of what he has created.  To cut right to the chase, an utter disappointment and a waste of my $6.50 matinee and $3.00 3D glasses rip-off racket.

Let’s break it down and start with the positives…

1. The CGI was amazing. Yes, utterly amazing.  But after being mesmerized for some of the early displays of computer animation magic, it starts to be overtly apparent that many of the subsequent sequences are nothing more than gratuitous “look at how cool the graphics are” filler.  Given the hype, I was a bit surprised I did not get lost more in the animation.  There were moments where you certainly did, but those quickly disappeared when the giant blue people were on the screen. 
2. As is typical with Cameron, his realization of the environment is incredibly detailed.  Portable displays, UI interfaces, the creatures, the jungle, you name it – and Cameron spent a lot of time focusing on the details.  Or at least, the people creating his world inside the computers did, and I am guessing Cameron told them to do it.

Well, that is about it for the positives.  After that, it was just disappointing.  Let’s get cranking on that list…

1. As my title suggests, my biggest problem with the movie is that is nothing more than a collection of stereotypes.  I will admit right now that the portrayal of the military set me off immediately.  Maybe I should give Cameron a pass on this since the “military” in the movie were supposed to be corporate mercenaries, but that is quickly lost after a fleeting mention in the opening couple minutes of the movie.  Having served in the military, having friends who are still in the military, and knowing more than a few people that have gave their lives serving this country, I’m tired of the “war, bloodlust, and if it moves I want to kill it without any thought or remorse” portrayal of military members.  Outside of the main character, Cameron’s story pushes the stereotype as hard as any film in recent memory.  Throw in some choice “politically correct zingers” at recent military campaigns and I was lost as not only a fan of Avatar, but maybe of Cameron as well.  It doesn’t stop with the military.  We have the evil corporate types, the “we are one with the land” native tribe, the “going native” hero, etc. and there is nothing original in any of this.  I know you need something to drive the story, but Cameron defaulted to the most one-dimensional, practically audience insulting stereotypes in his portrayal. It is all black in white in this super duper CGI animation.
2. Next, because of gross “show off the CGI” story line, this movie is easily an hour too long.  Clocking in at  two and half hours, you would not miss out on anything if you watched the first 30 minutes and the last 45 minutes.  The rest is nothing but “plod along filler” as far as story and action go.  I can’t believe I am saying this, but I had to fight to stay awake during  a matinee movie because things were drug out so long and at such a slow pace.  Ugghhh… it was awful.
3. 3D is a waste of a dimension.  This isn’t really a problem with Avatar per se, but I just am not a fan of 3D movies.  Besides adding to the cost to see a movie by charging a surcharge on twenty five cent glasses that you are asked to return at the end of the movie, I just don’t see the huge deal over 3D.  Now, if I watched this movie on IMAX, then I think it would have really been something.   I hear people talk about how 3D is supposed to immerse you into the movie more.  Well, it just looks like some better depth of field inside the big rectangle at the front of the movie theater.  You are still looking at a screen, so I don't get the “immersion” thing.  Again, probably amazing on IMAX, but not worth a premium in a regular movie theater.

So, there ya have it.  A yawner for me.  Won’t rent it when it comes available.  Not worth a second watch, and really wish I had waited for it on video since I could have fast forwarded to the good parts.

In Part 7, I introduce the basics of building a WCF PeerChannel application.  Using a simple console application, the following steps are shown:

• Creating the necessary interfaces
• Setting up the WCF environment
• Checking online status
• Sending and receiving messages

While basic, it demonstrates the core steps used in PeerChannel applications.  It also sets the stage for a more detailed look at the Buzzword Bingo application shown in Part 6.

View the Screencast:

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Spaghetti Code interviews Adam Grocholski about WCF .NET RIA Services.  An overview of RIA Services is provided, along with a more detailed understanding of how to use the services, their integration with Silverlight, and how it makes application development easier.