Windows Vista API Competition WINNER @ Code Project

My addiction to Code Project Competitions ,got another of my Article "Photoshop Preview Handler for Windows Vista" a monthly prize
for innovative use of Windows Vista API .

The best prize ever.

An XBX 360 Package / HD DVD Player/ Accesories (worth
$ 1000)

Below is the excerpts from the article.

Introduction

Preview handler is the latest methodology in Microsoft Windows Vista™, which
provide a rich, interactive, and read-only preview of a file without having to
launch the associated application. The in-place interactive previews of the file
are available in the Explorer windows, common dialogs, and search results. The
core feature is integrated into Windows Vista Shell which allows developers to
extend this functionality by writing managed code add-ins i.e. preview handlers
for custom files.

For example, "a Microsoft Word 2007 Preview Handler" will enable a user to
view and interact with a Microsoft Word 2007 document (.docx file) without
having to launch Microsoft Word 2007. In fact, you don't even need Microsoft
Word 2007 or Office 2007 to see the preview if you have the related preview
handler - now that's amazing.

This article describes a preview handler for Adobe Photoshop^®
(PSD) file. Here is how the preview of a PSD file will look like in the preview
pane

The goal

When the user clicks on a Photoshop file (vista_adobe.psd) in the
Windows Explorer

• A "readonly" preview of the file will be shown in the preview pane
  
• Image "Dimension" and "number of layers" in the PSD file will be shown in
  the "tooltip"
  
• Resolution, Color Depth, & Compression information of the file will be
  available to the user

All this occurs without the Adobe Photoshop application.

Check the article here

Grand Prize Winner - Gadget Competition

My Article on Sidebar Gadget "SoapBox Video Gadget" at CodeProject.com was chosen for the
Grand prize for Fun category at code Project.
Here is the link
at Windows Vista Blog

Prize was, lots of gadgets and the Jacket, Scott E-Vest
237D to hold them

Here is the
email i got from Marcela
Moran (The Code Project ) which made my day

"Congratulations! You’re one
of our grand prize winners in the Vista Gadgets contest. Your article,
Soapbox Video
Gadget, was selected by
our judges as the winner based on overall merit and reader
ranking.

A Grand Prize Gadget Pack, valued at approximately US $ 1000, including

• • Microsoft Zune
  
• • I-Mate JAM PocketPC Phone, unlocked
  
• • Sony PSP Entertainment Pack, including PSP, game, movie and memory
  stick
  
• • CarMD – diagnose your “check engine” problems in your US-made vehicle
  • Scott E-Vest 237D – a stylish way to carry all of your gadgets with
  you in a “three-season” jacket "

Excerpts from the article.

Get
the latest Gadget - 193 Kb

Introduction

When I first started sidebar gadget development¹, I found gadgets
cool and innovative. But the more I learned about them, the more I realized
their usefulness. Gadget development provides a whole new platform, becoming
more productive in ways unimagined. On one hand, it's a mini web application
which can host a web page, call a web service, and use AJAX to read an RSS feed.
On the other, it can interact with the Windows API using the power of .NET
languages. Wow! That's the best of both the worlds, wouldn't you agree?

The most important factor is the unique way in which a gadget provides the
interaction between the web, Windows and users. In this example I try to utilize
this, to give user the "Power of Videos" in the sidebar. Check the architecture
below.

To hold your interest, here is how it looks in the sidebar.

About the gadget: The power of videos

Before I start, I must warn you: this gadget is quite addictive. Indulge
yourself only during your spare time.

There are a number of RSS Feeds available from the Soapbox on MSN Video Beta page which give
you the contents of the videos uploaded by the users. Some of the more
interesting ones are: "Most Popular Videos", "Most Rated videos", and "Most
Recent Videos". There is even a feed for "Videos By Tag" available, which we
will use for searching videos. The idea behind this is to use those regularly
updated feeds to show the user the video of his choice on the sidebar. If you
want to know the basic barebones required to create a gadget, please refer to my
first article Daily Dilbert .
This article is actually an extension of that first article; I try to explain
only those extra features which can be used to refine a gadget further:

1. Create a gadget which can play a video in the flyout
   
2. How to take care of paging when you read an XML file
   
3. Settings and Search Videos
   
4. Add video to "Favorite List"
   
5. Create, read, update, & delete local XML file from Sidebar Gadget (new)
   
6. Some tips in general

The architecture overview

Check the complete article here