Who cares what it smells like, it’s what it sounds like that matters. See the first 54 seconds, and then you will be hooked.

Got a really good read from Jerome , fellow Avanade colleague - ten extraordinary things bosses give their employees. Not surprisingly, good bosses care about getting important things done. And exceptional bosses care about their people. Autonomy and independence Clear expectation Meaningful objectives The true sense of purpose Opportunities to provide significant input A real sense of connection Reliable consistency Private criticism Public praise The chance for meaningful future More details here . ...

If for some reason when you try and run your code and you get a PINVOKE exception (like the one below), then most likely you don’t have the LeapMotion binaries in your Debug (or Release) folders. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 System.TypeInitializationException was unhandled HResult=-2146233036 Message=The type initializer for 'Leap.LeapPINVOKE' threw an exception. Source=LeapCSharp.NET4.0 TypeName=Leap.LeapPINVOKE StackTrace: at Leap.LeapPINVOKE.new_Listener() at Leap.Listener..ctor() at HelloLeap.MyListener..ctor() at HelloLeap.Program.Main(String[] args) in c:\Users\amit.bahree\Documents\Visual Studio 2013\Projects\HelloLeap\HelloLeap\Program.cs:line 14 at System.AppDomain._nExecuteAssembly(RuntimeAssembly assembly, String[] args) at Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.RunUsersAssembly() at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart() InnerException: System.TypeInitializationException HResult=-2146233036 Message=The type initializer for 'SWIGExceptionHelper' threw an exception. Source=LeapCSharp.NET4.0 TypeName=SWIGExceptionHelper StackTrace: at Leap.LeapPINVOKE.SWIGExceptionHelper..ctor() at Leap.LeapPINVOKE..cctor() InnerException: System.DllNotFoundException HResult=-2146233052 Message=Unable to load DLL 'LeapCSharp': The specified module could not be found. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007007E) Source=LeapCSharp.NET4.0 TypeName="" StackTrace: at Leap.LeapPINVOKE.SWIGExceptionHelper.SWIGRegisterExceptionCallbacks_Leap(ExceptionDelegate applicationDelegate, ExceptionDelegate arithmeticDelegate, ExceptionDelegate divideByZeroDelegate, ExceptionDelegate indexOutOfRangeDelegate, ExceptionDelegate invalidCastDelegate, ExceptionDelegate invalidOperationDelegate, ExceptionDelegate ioDelegate, ExceptionDelegate nullReferenceDelegate, ExceptionDelegate outOfMemoryDelegate, ExceptionDelegate overflowDelegate, ExceptionDelegate systemExceptionDelegate) at Leap.LeapPINVOKE.SWIGExceptionHelper..cctor() On the other hand if you get a SEHException from LeapMotion (something like the one below) then the issue is either you don’t have the right version of the assemblies (e.g. you are compiling a x64 version, but have the x32 binaries, or vice-versa). ...

I don’t know what WordPress thinks of IE 10 (running on Win 8), but when I upgraded to WordPress v3.6, and I login to the Dashboard, it does not like IE running in compatibility mode and shows me the following. It would think I am still running IE 6! Also whilst I don’t get this with the compatibility mode switched off, everything does not work correctly and one has to use either Firefox or Chrome. ...

I installed the latest version of Ubuntu (13.04, Raring Tail) on a machine at home to check it out (it was running CentOS 6.4 before that). Setting it up was quite simple, but I am not sure if I like the too simple UI. I don’t want an uber-geek only-shell mode, but the CentOS I thought was the right balance. Anyways, when I first added a new user, there was no way I could set a password which was very weird - not a permanent or temporary one! And there is no way one can then login. I don’t think this is user error, but then if it is a bug, it seems like a big one! ...

I have seen this a few times now so I know it is not a one off, but it seems that the sleeves of my shirt seem to throw off the Leap Motion sensor and it detects it as another hand - and ends up showing three hands. I thought it was my watch which might be causing some issue, but that was not it. It goes away when I am wearing a t-shirt, but the tracking is quite off when wearing a full sleeve shirt. ...

I don’t know why it is simple to find, or even on the download section on MSDN, but trying to find the VSTO download specifically for Visual Studio 2012 is a real pain. It took me some time trying to find this and if you need to save some time then you can download it from here .

This has to fall in the weird category. Vodafone’s Corporate Online site, where I need to login to see my company provided mobile bill has timings from 07:30 to 22:30 GMT - WHY??? Don’t they get it, this is online and the site can be up and running 24x7! This is not some technical support I am talking about where they have actual humans monitoring and answering - this is access to the billing system. ...

Was trying to pay my Electricity bill online via a site called Bangalore One , which is the Governments, premier one-stop shop for Electronic Delivery of Citizen Services. I could not pay because it seems like some backend services they need for credit card payment is down. How do I know this? Because the site is revealing too much detail! See the exception details pasted below. ...

I came across this very interesting article in the guardian called “ Google logic: why Google does the things it does the way it does ”. This is a fascinating insight and a lot of it makes sense to me. What was also interesting to understand a little more on how the mindset is very different from the other corporates and technology leaders out there. Especially interesting the self-righteous view one perceives that Google has of themselves. It is a little long, but worth a read. ...

I am probably the only guy on the planet who broke his Surface Pro device! :oops: So much so that the screen shattered - so much for Gorilla glass and all that! I was starting out on a 4 week long trip and the Surface slipped and fell at the airport when taking it out for the X-Ray machine. It fell on one corner and the screen shattered. With small pieces of glass everywhere on it, it was not usable. However it did work when I switched it on a week later. Here are a few photos that show the extend of the damage and the fact that it was still working post that! ...

Enough said! Dilbert and Leadership

TechEd a couple of months ago was really fun and I am grateful to Microsoft folks for giving me an opportunity to be both part of the Keynote and also have a slot in the Architecture track. Sorry it has taken me a very long time to upload my TechEd talk “Building cross-platform Modern Apps: the Design perspective”. But as they say better late than never. 😏 You can download a copy of my presentation - Xamarin - Building cross-platform (pdf) . ...

I would prefer a Windows 8 Metro app, and not a ’traditional’ app for WordPress. I host my own blog ( http://desigeek.com ) and need to update that. View Question on Quora

We will be travelling with a Toddler (2.5 yrs) to Amsterdam and wanted to know what suggestions one has to keep her engaged, excited, and busy? View Question on Quora

Yes, I am still alive. Between a baby and work, don’t have time for much else. I did want to say Hello World. Will try and be more regular here.

I was cleaning out my old papers (finally!) and came across an old paper I had titled “ Compiler Writing Tools using C# ” which essentially shows how you can write a number of tools like lex and yacc but instead of C/C++ on Unix, you use C# and .NET. ...

After seeing this, I think I also want the “Apple 5”; supposedly this lady is true and has been waiting in line for 2 days. {Credit: wmpoweruser.com }

Microsoft folks have released a large collection of free eBooks including Visual Studio, WP, Win 8, Office 365, SQL, Azure, CRM, etc. You can get more details from the following two posts where not only you can browse the catalogue but also download them. First post with free books Second post with free books Happy Leeching! ...

I did a quick internal brown bag on Cloud computing yesterday. It is interesting to still get to meet folks who don’t have much ideas on Cloud and what the various types are, what they mean and their value. In any case, cloud is just full of hot air. ! 😄 I always found, most people can get it when they can relate to cloud usage as a consumer. And of course the CoIT and BYOD will just help accelerate that and bring the usage out in the front. I personally am a heavy cloud user and use it all the time. I also have a local copy of almost everything, I still don’t trust the broadband providers – lots of things that can go wrong. ...