NxtGenUG - News RSS Feed

Help local Indie Kickstart Fathom

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 03:15:00 GMT

local Indie IronSun Studio's needs you Kickstarter backing to get their exciting Fathom game off the ground

Local Indie micro studio Ironsun Studios (Pete McGann of Silverlight/XNA Manic miner fame) have just announced the launch of the Kickstarter campaign for Fathom, a 2.5D action adventure game that combines puzzle solving with combat and exploration in a beautiful neo-gothic Steampunk adventure. The official Kickstarter campaign for Fathom has now gone live at until March 29th and is targeting a funding goal of £120,000. The initial goal is for development for Windows 8 via XBox LIVE, and stretch goals include porting to other mediums, including PS3 and IOS.

“At Ironsun, we are massive fans of Steampunk and feel that this sub-genre has been completely underused in today’s world of interactive entertainment” said Managing Director, Paul Kelly of Ironsun Studios, “Fathom mixes the myth of the lost city of Atlantis, the worlds of underwater exploration and combat with puzzle solving as players journey deep in the waters of the Caribbean sea, visiting ancient ruins and beautiful caverns in an awe-inspiring beautiful 2.5D world”.

In Fathom you play as Nathaniel Lockhart, a shipwrecked Victorian adventurer of the 1870’s who is lost at sea in the Caribbean. Lockhart has no memories of the events surrounding the shipwreck, but has visions of a mysterious design for an underwater craft called the Bathysphere and recurring nightmares of a violent attack on the vessel that led to the shipwreck.

Obsessed with the idea that this is the only way to find answers to the mystery, Lockhart compiles his resources to build the machine and mounts an expedition back to the murky waters that haunt his every thought. Lockhart must build and master the mysterious underwater craft and ultimately take control of Atlantis, repairing the broken machines of the Atlanteans and solve their ancient puzzles to uncover the mystery.

Backers of the Fathom Kickstarter campaign will be rewarded with goods ranging from digital gifts, such as an exclusive in-game relic, to an ancient head stone rendered with the backers’ face, to a gameplay demo and awesome limited edition T-shirts and hoodies designed by the Fathom artists for a truly unique steam punk look.

DONATE PLEASE

Job Opportunity

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:02:00 GMT

Modus IT has an urgent requirement for an Analyst Programmer to help deliver the first version of a revolutionary Business Intelligence product to the market.

Position: Analyst Programmer
Term: Temporary for 6 months
Salary: Negotiable

Modus IT has an urgent requirement for an Analyst Programmer to help deliver the first version of a revolutionary Business Intelligence product to the market. This position is on a temporary basis initially but depending on the success of the initial product launch and the quality of the successful candidate, a future full time position will be available. The role requires an in-depth knowledge of the following:

WPF using C#
MVVM development pattern
Entity Framework
SQL Server 2008

Exposure to the Dev Express suite of controls for WPF and Silverlight will be of a huge advantage.

The successful applicant will need to be able to hit the ground running and be able to work independently when required and demonstrate sensible decision making skills. Sound understanding of business principals is also an advantage. Although the initial requirement is for a WPF developer we have a need to migrate the application to a Silverlight architecture implement RIA services so the applicants experience and knowledge in this field will dictate the speed at which this transition occurs.

All applicants should contact Pete Coales at Modus IT on 01788 226114

Fancy coding for Charity?

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:43:00 GMT

Fancy coding for Charity? Then maybe you'll like to take part in Dev4Good and help some worthy causes whilst writing code!

Dev4Good aims to help a number of charities by raising money whilst coding! The event will be at the London Mozspace just over from Leicester Square on the 7th and 8th of July 2012. There are a number of charities who will be asking for help and the event is to do as much as possible with a bunch of nutty over-caffeinated devs by the Sunday evening, though work has continued on some fronts from last year. See an interview with Craig the main organiser at http://blog.experts-exchange.com/ee-tech-news/dev4good-brings-developers-together-for-charity/

Windows Server Events June 14/15

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:22:00 GMT

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Events: In London and Edinburgh on 14 and 15 June

Learn What’s Hot and New in Windows Server 2012!

The Windows Server 2012 Community Roadshow is coming to over 20 countries—and a location near you!
What’s hot and new in Windows Server 2012? Microsoft MVPs bring you all you need to know about Windows Server 2012
Sponsored by Microsoft, Dell, HP, and GITCA.

Join the industry experts at a Windows Server 2012 Community Roadshow that will keep you up to date and ahead of the pack!

A Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Community Roadshow event will show you how to

build your private cloud, offer private cloud services, or securely connect to public cloud services
increase your efficiency, availability, and manageability
leverage an open application and web platform for the datacenter and the cloud
provide secure access to your personalized work environment from anywhere.

If you’re interested in attending check out this link : here (thanks in advance)

Two Meetings at NxtGenUG

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:50:00 GMT

Two meetings this month at Birmingham region including one with Mike Taulty ...

Two meetings this month at Birmingham region including one with Mike Taulty ...

Mike Taulty is in the House ...

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Mike Taulty Speaking on Windows 8 Development at NxtGenUG Birmingham on Tuesday 29th May

Mike Taulty Speaking is on Windows 8 Development at NxtGenUG Birmingham on Tuesday 29th May, don't miss this great speaker who doesn't get out into the Community very often these days. Register for your place by going to here.

35% discount on Launch Conference

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:31:00 GMT

Registered NxtGenUG'ers get 35% discount at the exciting LAUNCH: Gaming and Digital Conference on November 16th in Birmingham

LAUNCH: Gaming and Digital conference, kicks off with a media breakfast, opened by Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries and featuring speakers such as Ilmari Heikkinen of Google UK, Philip Oliver, CEO of Blitz Games Studios, Stewart Bell, CEO of multiformat publisher, Ant Games Ltd, Mills™, Chief WONKA™ ustwo, Ian Livingstone OBE, life President, Eidos through to live game demonstrations from entrepreneurs and listening to members from SONY, Microsoft Game Studios, Rare Studio and many more. This conference is excellent for anybody interested in games whether its to Launch a Technology, Launch a Career or Launch a Business. The conference sponsors include Chiltern Railways, Business Birmingham and University of Wolverhampton.

Taking place on November 16th at Birmingham Science Park Aston, Birmingham a 35% discount rate can be secured by registering now and using the code get the code before 31st October 2011 subject to availability.

Details here: www.LaunchConference.co.uk

Access User Group Seminar

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:26:00 GMT

The Access User Group are having their National Seminar on the 10th November, at the Heritage Motor Centre

The Access User Group have arranged another National Seminar

Access User Group National Seminar, 10th November 2011 at the Heritage Motor Centre, Banbury Road, Gaydon, Warwickshire, CV35 0BJ:

full details can be found at: http://www.ukaug.co.uk

Opportunities in AUSTRALIA!

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:43:00 GMT

Fancy a new life in AUSTRALIA? - Know Sharepoint, or BI, or just love Architecting Solutions - Read on!

ex-NxtGenUG member Andrew Jacks, emigrated to Australia, started a new life, and kickstarted his career is having a great time.

Not only that, the company he works for is looking to recruit new staff from the UK, they are looking for guys/girls with the following skills:-

Business Intelligence
Solution Architects
Agile Scrum Masters
Java Architects
SharePoint Architects (Strong Devs)
Finance, Banking, Utility, Telco and Superannuation domain experts

They have offices in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.

For more information, use the contact us form to get in touch or email Rich, if you know his email address... what an amazing opportunity!

Fest11 Raises £110.00 for Birmingham Childrens Hospital

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:30:00 GMT

Huge thanks to everyone, who attended Fest11 and also those who took part in the raffle, raising £110.00 for Birmingham Childrens Hospital.

A Huge thanks goes to everyone, who attended Fest11 and especially those who took part in the swag raffle, raising £110.00 for Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The money is going towards Huge thanks to everyone, who attended Fest11 and also those who took part in the raffle, raising £110.00 for Birmingham Childrens Hospital.

The money is going towards the £2 Million required for the creation of the most advanced cardiac unit for Children in the UK, which is totally dependant on the donations from the public.

To Keep upto date with the latest news about the appeal and other ways you can get involved to support Birmingham Children's Hospital then please visit http://www.bch.org.uk

Thanks

Career Opportunities

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:28:00 GMT

A software house in the East Midlands with ambitious development plans has 2 opportunities, 1 Permanent, and 1 Contract...

A software house in the East Midlands with ambitious development plans has the following 2 opportunities.

Experienced Developer - Permanent
ROLE: To play an important role in a key development project. The technical skills to fulfil this role will require somebody with experience of C#, N-Tier development using WCF, Silverlight/WPF, LINQ, SQL Server / T-SQL, entity framework, RIA services MVVM architecture, SOA architecture Visual Studio 2010 and XML. Not only will the successful candidate have excellent .Net experience but they will be able to present strong personal characteristics and skills such as excellent communication skills, desire to take responsibility for successful delivery and willing, and able to take a lead role within the team.

Development Consultant - 3 Month Contract
ROLE : To complete development work and provide technical advice to the development team during the initial stages of a key development project. The technical skills to fulfil this role will require somebody with experience of delivering line of business applications using C#, N-Tier development using WCF, Silverlight/WFP, LINQ, SQL Server / T-SQL, entity framework, RIA services MWM architecture, SOA architecture Visual Studio 2010 and XML. Not only will the successful candidate have excellent .Net experience but they will be able to present strong personal characteristics and skills such as excellent communication skills, desire to take responsibility for successful delivery and willing, and able to take a lead role within the team.

To apply for ether of these roles. In the first instance use the enquiry form to get in touch, and we'll provide details on where to send an up to date CV, along with a covering letter.

NxtGenUG Website now works in Chrome ...

Sun, 15 May 2011 10:59:00 GMT

After many requests, we've done a minor update to the site to allow it to be used in Chrome.

After many requests, we've done a minor update to the site to allow it to be used in Chrome. Enjoy!

Fest11 Agenda NOW complete...

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:11:00 GMT

The Fest11 Agenda is now complete, head over to the Fest11 page and make sure you've booked your place!

The Fest11 Agenda is now complete, head over to the Fest11 page and make sure you've booked your place!

We are already 50% full, so hurry and book your place for the 1st July 2011 in Birmingham for 'Fest11 - At the Movies', sponsored by Telerik, Microsoft and Ridgian

Gill Cleeren NxtGenUG Tour

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:26:00 GMT

NxtGenUG are pleased to announce Silverlight MVP, and Microsoft Regional Director Gill Cleeren, will be touring 4 NxtGenUG regions in July.

NxtGenUG are pleased to announce Silverlight MVP, and Microsoft Regional Director Gill Cleeren, will be touring 4 NxtGenUG regions in July. kindly sponsored by Telerik, Gill will be talking on a variety of topics during his tour. See below for a list of dates and locations

Hereford - 4th July
http://www.nxtgenug.net/ViewEvent.aspx?EventID=404

Oxford - 5th July
http://www.nxtgenug.net/ViewEvent.aspx?EventID=405

Coventry - 6th July
http://www.nxtgenug.net/ViewEvent.aspx?EventID=406

Cambridge - 7th July
http://www.nxtgenug.net/ViewEvent.aspx?EventID=407

About Gill Cleeren
Gill Cleeren is Microsoft Regional Director (www.theregion.com), Silverlight MVP (former ASP.NET MVP), INETA speaker bureau member and Silverlight Insider. He lives in Belgium where he works as .NET architect at Ordina. Passionate about .NET, he’s always playing with the newest bits. In his role as Regional Director, Gill has given many sessions, webcasts and trainings on new as well as existing technologies, such as Silverlight, ASP.NET and WPF at conferences including TechEd Berlin 2010, TechDays Belgium, DevDays NL, NDC Oslo Norway, SQL Server Saturday Switserland, Spring Conference UK, Silverlight Roadshow in Sweden… He’s also the author of many articles in various developer magazines and for SilverlightShow.net. He organizes the yearly Community Day event in Belgium.

He also leads Visug (www.visug.be), the largest .NET user group in Belgium. Gill recently published his first book: “Silverlight 4 Data and Services Cookbook” (Packt Publishing). You can find his blog at www.snowball.be.

WP7 Hackathon in Birmingham

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 04:34:00 GMT

There's a WP7 Hackathon happening in Birmingham on Saturday 26th April 2011 - Free to attend, but places Limited

There's a WP7 Hackathon happening in Birmingham on Saturday 26th April 2011 - Free to attend, but places are Limited.

See Details Here...

It'll be followed up with events in London, and Manchester, so stay tuned

These events run on a Saturday for developers to attend outside of work or college commitments, starting from 9:00 running through to 21:00. They’ll provide lunch and refreshments! They'll be providing expert help including MVPs from APPA Mundi who have loads of experience creating apps and successfully submitting them to Marketplace and we hope to have some evangelists from Microsoft’s DPE group drop by who can help overcome technical challenges, and give advice on WP7 development.

IronSun Studios release IonBall on XBOX Indie

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:21:00 GMT

Local Indie Startup IronSun Studios have just released IonBall on XBOX indie - Head on over, give it a try...

Local Indie Startup Company IronSun Studios have just released their excellent WP7 BreakOut Game IonBall on XBOX Indie.

If you've got an XBOX, download the trial, or full version from XBOX indie Games. IonBall features 35 levels, 7 incrasingly challenging boss battles, and an XP based progression system.

If you are lucky enough to have a WP7 device, there's 5 IronSun Studios Games to choose from Currently, IonBall, Santa Quest, Chronox, Lucky 7 and AstroBlast. All available on the WP7 Marketplace.

Here's an Independent Video of IonBall on XBOX in Action

Follow IronSun Studios on twitter @IronSunStudios

Or visit : http://www.ironsunstudios.com

SQLBITS - Special Discount for NxtGenUG-ers

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:32:00 GMT

SQLBits is beside the seaside from the 7th to 9th April 2011 and there is a special discount for NxtGenUG members!

SQLBITS Team are pleased to announce that SQLBits will be beside the seaside from the 7th to 9th April 2011.

Yes they are going south and will be holding SQLBits 8 in Brighton.

The format will be 3 days of top SQL Server content given by SQL Server Experts from around the world. At SQLBits 7 they had 2 Microsoft Certfied Architects (MCA), 3 Microsoft Certified Masters (MCM) and 24 Microsoft Most Valued Professionals (MVP).

At SQLBits 8 they are looking to trump that with even more experts to deliver the 3 days of content.

Day 1 - 7th April - Pre-Conference Training Day - Choose from one of eight Full day seminars by SQL Server experts on a wide range of aspects of SQL Server.
Day 2 - 8th April - 20-25 sessions throughout the day spread over 5 rooms covering all aspects of SQL Server
Day 3 - 9th April - 20-25 sessions delivered by the UK SQL Server community and this day is FREE

the SQLBITS site

Don't Miss the VBUG Conference

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:27:00 GMT

VBUG UK are holding their annual conference on 28th and 29th March 2001 in Reading. Rich and Dave will be there!

VBUG UK are holding their annual conference on 28th and 29th March 2001 in Reading. There are a host of top UK speakers and also Rich and Dave will be there!

Check out the details here or call Nicky Gordon at VBUG on 01242 531065.

NxtGenUG Open Eighth Region!

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:03:00 GMT

NxtGenUG are pleased to announce the launch of another region this time Shenfield near Brentwood Essex

NxtGenUG are pleased to announce the launch of another region this time Shenfield, near Brentwood Essex.

Rob Silver who has attended NxtGenUG meetings in Cambridge is the region's coordinator and is assisted by Anis Batiwala a friend and work colleague. "Having always tried to keep at the forefront of technology, I thought it time to share my passion by organising these meetings" says Rob.

If you're in the North East London/Essex area on 23rd of February, come along to meet the coordinators and a lot of like-minded developers passionate about technology. You'll also hear a great session from one of the UK Community's top speakers Guy Smith-Ferrier. Dave McMahon will be there to help the proceedings along on the first evening and to talk about the benefits of being part of the UK Community.

You can register for this event here.

Good luck to Rob and Anis!

Help Rich get to Mix11 - Vote for his Session!

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:44:00 GMT

Help Rich celebrate 10 years of running a user group by sending him off to MIX11, by voting for his Mix Session...

As you may know NxtGenUG co-founder Richard Costall is currently celebrating 10 years of being involved with the UK Community. If you didn't know, well, he is, and he's reminding you in his latest article on the NxtGenUG site here !

In that time he's been involved in organising hundreds of meetings for the benefit of developers around the UK and in Europe too. Due to his outstanding efforts (genuinely!) in the Community he feels he is in need of a holiday and he would love your support in getting one. Microsoft have kindly arranged for a Saga Holiday special for the old chap to Las Vegas if only he can get enough votes for his session which he has submitted to MIX11.

Go on, support a fellow developer and community stalwart, and vote for Rich here , It's all about how he has helped with a game for the Windows Phone 7 Market Place using Silverlight.

He'll thank you for it, probably bring some swag back for us all and you'll feel good about helping a veteran of the UK Community show the US how to do a great presentation!

Go for it Rich!

SilerlightShow ECO Contest 2011

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 16:22:00 GMT

Enter the Silverlight Show ECO Contest and you could bag yourself a Ticket to Mix11, including 3 nights accommodation and $800 flight expenses

Silverlight Show are running a Forests Eco Contest, and are trying to spark the creativity of all environment friendly Silverlight developers and designers. They invite you to create a Silverlight application that helps convey the idea of the need for sustainable forests management and will award the best entries with great prizes. The Grand Prize winner will receive a trip to MIX11 event, 12-14 April 2011, in Las Vegas! The trip includes a MIX11 pass, 3-night hotel stay at Mandalay Bay Hotel and travel expense coverage of up to $800! Two more MIX11 passes and many Telerik developer licenses await the winners!

More info on the rules and prizes you can find on the page of the contest: http://contest.silverlightshow.net/

Costall on 10 years of user Groups

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:36:00 GMT

Richard Costall has just realised he's been running user group meetings since June 2000. Here he reflects on the decade.

Read it here

Videos are back

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:41:00 GMT

After a Lengthy delay, due to the demise of SoapBox - The NxtGenUG Videos are back. Tag your NxtGenUG videos with NxtGenUG to have them appear on the site.

After a Length delay, due to the demise of SoapBox - The NxtGenUG Videos are back. Tag your NxtGenUG videos with NxtGenUG to have them appear on the site.

See the videos here

Silverlight 4 Star Wars Highlights

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 04:09:00 GMT

A short highlights compilation, from Richard Costall's Silverlight 4 Star Wars Session is now on YouTube...

A short highlights compilation, from Richard Costall's Silverlight 4 Star Wars Session is now on YouTube...

A chance to speak at a major SharePoint Conference ...

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 06:55:00 GMT

A great opportunity to get onto the SharePoint speaking circuit! Read on ...

Steve Smith one of the leaders of the SharePoint User Group UK (SUGUK)is offering up speaking slots for the Community Track to people who have perhaps only spoken at a User Group. These talks are 'from the trenches' types of talks and are expected to be based on personal knowledge and experience. They are a great opportunity to get onto the SharePoint speaking circuit.

Go to SUGUK for more details.