ViNull, Off the Record

Moving to Azure: Worker Roles for Nothing and Tasks for Free

If you’ve been to at least one Azure presentation you’ve probably heard Azure has two primary roles: Web Roles and Worker Roles. Web Roles run websites, and Worker Roles run tasks. The two sites I’m moving, XboxIndies.com (which is moved...

Published 10-23-2011 11:14 PM by Michael C. Neel

Moving to Azure: Static Assets

You may not have noticed, but this image came from the cloud! The next stage in migrating GameMarx.com and XboxIndies.com to Azure is moving the static assets website static.gamemarx.com. This site hosts game boxart, screenshots, video thumbnails, and...

Published 10-16-2011 11:39 PM by Michael C. Neel

Moving to Azure: The Database

Azure has two main services for persistent data storage for application: Azure Table Storage and SQL Azure. The really boil down to a normal SQL relational database, and an document based database. Initially Azure had only Table Storage, but it appears...

Published 10-02-2011 5:57 PM by Michael C. Neel

Moving to Azure: The Plan and Start

After a conversation with my former webhost about the meaning of "Recurring Annual Discount" (we have different definitions of the word "Recurring"), I decided it was time once again to consider hosting options. I was hosting around...

Published 10-02-2011 12:40 PM by Michael C. Neel

XNA 3D Primer Examples Updated, XNA 2D Example Added, Talks on Both at DevLINK

Almost two years ago now I was working on a short ebook XNA 3D Primer (now in Kindle flavor ). A year after the book came out XNA 4.0 was released, and breaks all of the examples in the book. The examples have always been free to download without getting...

Published 08-06-2011 5:32 PM by Michael C. Neel

Filed under: speaking, xna

Microsoft Silent as Xbox Indies Marketplace Exploited

There have always been rumors that the game ratings on the Xbox 360 and Xbox.com website we’re being manipulated by game developers. On March 23, 2011 rumor became fact when Robert Boyd noticed his game Cthulhu Saves the World slipped from #6 on...

Published 04-11-2011 3:14 PM by Michael C. Neel

Anime (and Indie Game) Fans Give Back to Japan

On the afternoon of March 11 Japan was hit by a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake which triggered a massive tsunami hitting just minutes after. Over 5,000 people have been confirmed dead, over 9,000 are still missing, and millions are without electricity...

Published 03-17-2011 5:14 PM by Michael C. Neel

Fun with XNA and 2.5D

This weekend I had a little fun in XNA playing with the concept of 2.5D. There are a number of things games use that can be called 2.5D - I choose to build a test project where all draw calls were in 2D, but it is also common to use 2D sprites in 3D space...

Published 12-20-2010 12:22 AM by Michael C. Neel

Creating the Parallax and Scrolling Background

This article is cross-posted from DracoWing.com . Draco Wing is a new XNA based game for the Xbox 360 I am working on, and I will be keeping a “diary” of sorts on the design and development of the game. The gameplay in Draco Wing will require...

Published 11-26-2010 2:15 AM by Michael C. Neel

Xbox Indies: Come Play With Us

When I last posted on Xbox Live Indie Games, things looked pretty dire . In the weeks since, the #SaveXBLIG rally has been a success – we got Microsoft’s attention and the Indie Games section was moved back to the Games section on the Xbox...

Published 11-19-2010 9:55 AM by Michael C. Neel

Microsoft Slowly Euthanizes Xbox Indie Games

The title may be overly dramatic, but make no mistake, Microsoft is quietly holding a pillow over Xbox Live Indie Games, hoping to smother the service while no one looks. Window Phone 7 developers, you have reason to be concerned. A few gaming sites are...

Published 11-03-2010 11:46 PM by Michael C. Neel

Filed under: xna

ASP.NET Security Vulnerability

Yesterday a vulnerability was disclosed at a security conference that enables an attacker to gain the Machine Key of an ASP.NET website. This key is used by the server to encrypt cookies, form data and other values sent to the client. With this key the...

Published 09-18-2010 1:12 PM by Michael C. Neel

CodeStock and GameMarx

Why do I love launching sites in the same month as CodeStock ? Is it the draw to a wide audience and a perfect place to announce new, or do I just enjoy pain and no sleep to kick off summer? Last year it was DragonTee , a t-shirt site for my then girlfriend...

Published 06-10-2010 11:32 AM by Michael C. Neel

Web Deployment Projects for 2010: Microsoft Listens

Some like to suggest that Microsoft MVPs are just Microsoft zealots pushing the company line. While it’s true MVPs are fans of Microsoft, the strongest criticisms, the harshest words, the most brutally honest statements I’ve heard against...

Published 04-15-2010 10:00 PM by Michael C. Neel

Why Apple Fears Mono, Java, and Flash

Much ado has been made of these few words in Apple’s iPhone SDK: "Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C...

Published 04-13-2010 9:56 PM by Michael C. Neel

Filed under: opinion

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