Category Archives: Fustino Brothers

Fustino Brothers Content

community, Fustino Brothers, Tampa Dev, wpug tampa, Xamarin

Where in the World is Russ Fustino?

Leave a comment

My calendar has been filling up in my new Developer Evangelism role at Xamarin. Here is my current itinerary, I hope to see you at one or more of these events! If you have an event you would like to have me speak at, please let me know. @RussFustino

8/18/2014
South Florida Xamarin User Group
The Best of Xamarin University
http://www.meetup.com/South-Florida-Xamarin-User-Group/events/199391772/

8/19/2014
TechNite in Miami
Networking Event
http://technightattheballpark.com/

8/20/2014
Tampa Xamarin UG
The Best of Xamarin University
http://www.meetup.com/Tampa-Bay-Xamarin-User-Group/events/199363032/

9/4/2014
Tallahassee .NET UG
Xamarin.Forms
http://www.meetup.com/tally-dot-net/

9/13/2014
Jacksonville, Code Impact
Xamarin.Forms
http://www.codeimpact.org

9/18/2014
Portland, Maine, Casco Bay .NET Users Group
Xamarin.Forms
http://www.cbnug.org/

9/20/2014
Vermont Code Camp
Xamarin.Forms
http://vtcodecamp.org/

9/25/2014
Space Coast UG
Topic TBD
http://www.meetup.com/Space-Coast-Net-User-Group/

10/6 thru 10/10
Evolve – Atlanta
Topic: TBD
Http://evolve.xamarin.com

design for communication, Fustino Brothers, InBusinessLinks

Flickr session at Noon today

Leave a comment

Be Sure to Join in Today at 12:00 noon…

Flickr – Online, Screen Sharing, Presentation and Interactive Participant Discussion-

  • Finding the Right Pictures to Publish Can Be a Challenge
  • Categories Help, and How to Use Them for Biz
  • Who Can See the Images Posted?
  • Private Image Collections For Biz & Apps Resources
  • Demo- Apps with Flickr Image Data Binding

1. Please join my meeting:
https://www.startmeeting.com/wall/679-256-129
2. Join the conference call:

Dial any conference number below and enter:
Meeting ID: 679-256-129

Conference number(s):
Playback number(s):

StaFFFD
(530) 881-1212
(530) 881-1219

Instructions:
At the scheduled date and time of the meeting, dial into the conference line and when prompted enter the meeting ID followed by the pound key. To join to the online meeting click on the provided meeting link listed above and press “Join” button. On the next page fill out your name and email. Once filled in, click Submit. The system will guide you through the process of getting the executable required to participate in the online meeting

International numbers:
Need access numbers for your country or origin? Click here.

Thank you for using StartMeeting!

app studio, design for communication, Fustino Brothers, InBusinessLinks, Russ ToolShed Network, Windows 8 App, Windows Phone App

YouTube For Apps and Biz

Leave a comment

Topic: “YouTube” for Apps Dev and Biz Mtg

Date 7/14/14 at Noon EST

Presentations by Gary (dba: Design For Communication), Russ (of Russ’ ToolShed fame), and Rich (entertainment industry’s Steele Productions). Live chat and Q&A. Bring your expertise to the table.

Register here:

http://www.meetup.com/InBusinessLinksNetwork-FustinoBrothersInc/events/181789272/

Theme: How to use You Tube, another very important social media tool, for your application (apps) development and online business marketing. Discussion is open for you to share in your successful expertise or painful experiences.

Pain Points: What is the problem with YouTube?
• Finding (the right) videos can be a challenge
• Playlists help, but how do I use them?
• Who can see videos I post?
• Who can see playlists I create?
• If picture is worth a 100 words. What is a video worth?
• Can I create an app with YouTube videos?

 

Agenda:

•Basics
•Uploading Videos
•Playlists
•Privacy settings
•App Studio and the YouTube API
Join us for a free webinar and discuss this challenges live.

Associated Websites:
www.inbusinesslinks.net
www.fustinobrothers.com

Event Note: Online Meetup only. Takes place every second Monday of each month (unless a holiday). Includes business, B2B, tech talk and online solutions engagement. Meeting starts with participant introductions, then a targeted live presentation on topic. Join us online for free. Your interest and expertise are invited. Advertise with us at a very low investment (not mandatory, but it’s one of the benefits). Live Online Screen Meeting and Conference Call Instructions to Join-In:

1. On Your Calendar – Block-Out Approximately 35-55 Mins for the Live Meeting/Conference Call.

2. On Your Computer- It’s Recommended to Use a Headset. Join-In 5-7 minutes before meeting, Over the Internet, with your computer/laptop/tablet at- This link: https://www.startmeeting.com/wall/679-256-129

If you don’t already have the “Start Meeting” free software a dialog box will come up and ask permission to download – please click/tap “Yes”. The system will guide you through the process to participate in the online meeting. Click/tap “Join”, complete your name and email address, then click/tap “Submit”.

First, the Fustino Brothers, Inc. dashboard with show on screen. Test your speaker/mike. If headset doesn’t work, or if connection is lost – try “Rejoin”.

3. For the Phone- Take Your Call in a Quite Location. Join-In using a land line/mobile phone (no computer needed for this option). Dial- 530-881-1212, at 12:01PM. When prompted enter access code followed by the “pound” key.

679-256-129# (be sure to include the “#” symbol).

4. Meeting May be Recorded. Meeting ID: 679-256-129

5. For Advertising opportunities go to: http://www.inbusinesslinks.net/about/ads.html

community, design for communication, Fustino Brothers, InBusinessLinks, iOS, Russ ToolShed Network, Windows 8 App, Windows Phone App, wpug tampa, Xamarin

Gary Fustino Nominated for Good Burger Award. Please vote!

Leave a comment

Gary has been nominated for the Good Burger award in St. Pete for “Cool Companies – Small” as Design For Communication. He has contributed much in the community including being an active member of our user groups and design for several Windows Phone and Windows 8 apps.

good burger

Gary is spreading the word to vote for him to become a winner in the St Pete’s Chamber Good Burger Award contest! And this a quite an honor. Voting starts today and runs thru July 17 and we would appreciate your support.

Go to: www.stpete.com/goodburger and cast your vote. “Design For Communication” is in the category “Cool Companies – Small”. It only takes a few seconds to vote.

Thank you for all you do in the community, too.

Also, please joins us on Aug 28 at Jannus Live for the award party from 6-9pm with 5 bands. Non-Member Attendee = $20.

Gary Fustino

· St Pete Chamber & Midstate Chamber – Ambassador

· Bluffs Business Association – eServices Director

· Member of Tampa Bay Computer Society

· Member/Participant of Visual Design League, Tampa Bay Win Dev, Win Phone 8, DevUp, Tampa & Sarasota BarCamp/CodeCamp, Xamarin MeetUp

· Former Employee of the New York State Council on the Arts

· Buffalo Art Directors Club

Android, Fustino Brothers, iOS, Jethro Tull, Windows 8 App, Xamarin

Xamarin 3 Rocks! Tampa Xamarin Meetup Recap

1 Comment

I had the great pleasure of attending the Xamarin user group in Tampa the other night.  Xamarin 3 was recently announced on May 28, 2014.  James Montemango, Developer Evangelist for Xamarin, delivered a killer online session for the Tampa Xamarin User Group. The folks at the meeting were very appreciative of the fact that James took the time to present to us.  We had a packed house at the AgileThought office to see all the new features of Xamarin 3. Wow. Everyone was blown away. I overheard one attendee saying on the very next day, he would pitch  to his boss to get Xamarin licenses for entire staff at his company. So, I guess it was a successful meeting! Special thanks go to Michael Stark for heading up the new group and organizing this meeting with James.

20140611_225644270_iOS

James Montemagno delivered a session to Tampa from Seattle on Wednesday night at the Tampa Xamarin User Group.

20140611_225621773_iOS

MVPs Kevin Wolf and yours truly, Russ Fustino were in the house.

James gave a quick overview of Xamarin and  covered the Xamarin Designer for iOS as well as Xamarin Studio & Visual Studio Enhancements.

Local developer,  Imaya Kumar, then showed off the new Xamarin Forms!

image

Imaya Kumar, Solution Architect Convene Technologies
Ex MSFT

Here are my notes from the meeting:

  • C# on 2.6 Billion devices! Yes, billion not million!
  • Xamarin 3 is the best release yet!
  • Xamarin Mission Statement: Make it fast, easy and fun to create apps.
  • The third year of the company was celebrated with a Birthday cake! Happy Birthday Xamarin!

birthday

Birthday Cake and Pizza were provided by Xamarin!

  • Xamarin is seeing explosive growth with strong recognition from the Gartner Magic Quadrant as a Visionary :

image

  • Xamarin has a test cloud for all of the different Android devices. Wow! So, now you don’t have to buy all sorts of Android devices to test with.

image

 

  • Users prefer to use Native apps that are fast, smooth and deliver a great experience. Hybrid apps typically don’t get good reviews. For example,  Facebook switched to a native interface and the downloads doubled.

image

  • F# and C# are supported.
  • New meaning to “write once and run anywhere”.  Shared C# backend  code is typically  %75 of the code, but  now the UI code can be sharable too, raising that number even higher!
  • All native API’s are supported and are made available to C# Developers.

image

image

image

  • Xamarin University is the quickest way to become a Mobile Developer? Numerous classes in all time zones are available 6 days a week with live training.

Major elements in Xamarin 3

  • Xamarin Designer for iOS
  • Xamarin Studio & Visual Studio Enhancements
  • Easy code sharing
  • Xamarin.Forms

Xamarin Designer

  • iOS provides and intuitive interface for developing iOS apps. For example, when you double click on an item in the designer it opens a code windows for the default event handler, etc.
  • Comprehensive editor, auto layout, etc.
  • iOS6 and iOS7 are both supported
  • Works on Windows and Mac

Xamarin Studio

  • Handy for those that don’t’ have Visual Studio and the interface has been improved. NuGet Package manager along with integration with Xamarin Component Store provides ease of access to many libraries.
  • Easy assess to solution
  • Main panel has new information from Xamarin, blogs, etc.

Visual Studio and Xamarin Studio

Easy code sharing

  • Shared project support
  • Editing can be in the context of the editing container. For example,  Android code is grayed out when in the iOS context.

Miscellaneous

  • Same project can be opened in both VS and XS
  • Build Story Boards to provide app functionality
  • iOS has native calls for face detection and sepia color editing, since 100 percent of the calls are available in Xamarin, this is no problem.
  • Custom Controls can be built as well
  • Screen shots of sample custom control, to crop and apply sepia filter

image

Auto Crop (uses automatic face detection in iOS): provides real time update in designer.

image

Sepia filter:

image

Xamarin Forms:

Besides the Xamarin Birthday cake, Xamarin Forms was the topic I was the most excited about! Can you imagine using shared code for multiple platforms. Wow!

image

  • Build native UI’s for iOS, Android and Windows Phone from a single shared C# codebase
  • uses XAML like code for the Xamarin compiler

With Xamarin Forms you can…

  • build the entire app with Xamarin Forms…
  • or use this to prototype, leaving the door open to incorporate  further platform specific features…
  • or take an existing project and add a new page, build you don’t want to do that three times

Pages, Layouts and Controls oh my!

  • Controllers are provided for pages using Master Detail , navigation, tabbed pages and more
  • Layouts are provided for stack, Absolute, relative, grid and more
  • Controls, controls and more controls. Being a former developer evangelist for control vendor, this is huge!

image

image

image

I am about to update my Tull Tribute Windows Phone app (to be renamed Jethro Tull, which is endorsed with Tull assets). There is no doubt in my mind when porting to iOS and Android, I will be using Xamarin to to this.

If you missed the meeting, don’t worry… here are links to the deck and a recording of the announcement of Xamarin 3. The video features Xamarin’s Nat Friedman, CEO and Co-Founder, Miguel de Icaza, CTO and Co-Founder and James Montemagno, DE.

 

See more details of the Xamarin 3 Announcement:

http://blog.xamarin.com/announcing-xamarin-3/
Download Xamarin:
http://xamarin.com/
Webinar recording:
https://xamarin.wistia.com/medias/dnm9rouaer
Webinar slides:
http://www.slideshare.net/Xamarin/say-hello-to-xamarin-3

Fustino Brothers, InBusinessLinks

Learn Pinterest for your Apps and Business

Leave a comment

June: Pinterest IBLN/FBI Live Online Conference Call and Screen Share

Monday June 9, 2014

12:00 to 1:00 PM

Registration: http://www.meetup.com/InBusinessLinksNetwork-FustinoBrothersInc/events/181788012/

Topic: Pinterest for Business – “T!PS”. Get discovered by your clientèle looking for things to plan, buy and do. View success stories, learn to add Pinterest buttons and widgets to your website, explore how the “guided search” feature brings customers directly to you. Presentations by Gary (dba: Design For Communication), Russ (of Russ’ ToolShed fame), and Rich (entertainment industry’s Steele Productions). Live chat and Q&A. Bring your expertise to the table, discussion around:

• The 5 top business reasons to use Pinterest

• Who is your business audience?

• Pinterest biz success stories (ROI)

• App Dev and Mkg with Pinterest

• Cool Pinterest app tools

Associated Websites:
www.inbusinesslinks.net

www.fustinobrothers.com

Event Note: Online Meetup only. Takes place every second Monday of each month (unless a holiday). Includes business, B2B, tech talk and online solutions engagement. Meeting starts with participant introductions, then a targeted live presentation on topic. Join us online for free. Your interest and expertise are invited. Advertise with us at a very low investment (not mandatory, but it’s one of the benefits).

HOW TO JOIN IN

Live Online Screen Meeting and Conference Call Instructions to Join-In:

1. On Your Calendar – Block-Out Approximately 35-55 Mins for the Live Meeting/Conference Call.

2. On Your Computer- It’s Recommended to Use a Headset. Join-In 5-7 minutes before meeting, Over the Internet, with your computer/laptop/tablet at- This link: https://www.startmeeting.com/wall/679-256-129

If you don’t already have the “Start Meeting” free software a dialog box will come up and ask permission to download – please click/tap “Yes”. The system will guide you through the process to participate in the online meeting. Click/tap “Join”, complete your name and email address, then click/tap “Submit”.

First, the Fustino Brothers, Inc. dashboard with show on screen. Test your speaker/mike. If headset doesn’t work, or if connection is lost – try “Rejoin”.

3. For the Phone- Take Your Call in a Quite Location. Join-In using a land line/mobile phone (no computer needed for this option). Dial- 530-881-1212, at 12:01PM. When prompted enter access code followed by the “pound” key.

679-256-129# (be sure to include the “#” symbol).

4. Meeting May be Recorded. Meeting ID: 679-256-129

5. For Advertising opportunities go to: http://www.inbusinesslinks.net/about/ads.html


Fustino Brothers, Windows Phone App, wpug tampa

Windows Phone User Group Tampa May 20, 2014

Leave a comment

 

May 20, 2014 5:30PM – Resolving the last 10 percent.

Nick Randolf – MVP

Kevin Wolf – MVP

Kelvin McDaniel – AgileThought

Register at: http://wpugtampa20140520.eventbrite.com

Kevin’s goal for 2014 is to figure out how to reduce/eliminate the “last-mile” syndrome when building a mobile apps…basically you get to the 90% mark and think you are ready to publish, but then spend 90% of the time churning on the last 10%. See a presentation on tips/tricks for reducing the churn… These two are really tied together.

SPECIAL THANKS to KForce for providing the food!

Build it Beta is now public for Windows Phone app developers, but what is Build it Beta? Well it’s all about Windows Phone Application Testing. There are a number of existing mechanisms available to Windows Phone application developers but none of them offer the simplicity and ease of deployment as say TestFlight. Build it Beta
fills that gap, providing a mechanism to allow any Windows Phone application to be deployed for testing to any Windows Phone 8 device*.

Firstly, why the name?

Well it’s a bit of a play on words – we’re always looking to build better apps and of course during development we often release “beta” versions of the app. Hence the origin of “Build it Better Beta”.

Next, how does it work?

Windows Phone 8 included the ability to deploy applications within the enterprise without going through the Windows Phone Store. This is referred to as enterprise deployment and involves signing an application (ie the packaged application file .xap) with a signing certificate. The same certificate needs to be distributed to the devices that the application is to be tested on. Then the signed xap can be installed on the devices either via code or by distributing the application to the device via email or via a url link. Build it Beta uses this mechanism to deliver a testing tool which eliminates the complexity for both developers and testers.

Attend this session and learn how to get started! A simple set of setup instructions that will be reviewed and get you up and running in no time at all. Download Build it Beta from the Windows Phone Store.

Once you’ve completed the setup, all you need to do is to start sending your .xap files to upload @ builditbeta.com.

Bio’s:

Nick Randolph – (@BTRoam) Microsoft MVP – Windows Phone Development

Nick currently runs Built to Roam which focuses on building rich mobile applications. Nick has been identified as a Microsoft MVP in recognition of his work and expertise with the Microsoft mobile platforms. He is still an active contributor in the device application development space via his blog at http://nicksnettravels.builttoroam.com and Visual Studio Magazine (http://visualstudiomagazine.com/Articles/List/Mobile-Corner.aspx). Nick has been invited to present at a variety of events including Tech Ed Australia & NZ, MEDC and Code camp. He has also authored multiple books with the latest being Professional Visual Studio 2010 and Professional Development for Windows Phone, and helped judge multiple world finals for the Imagine Cup. Since the release of Windows Phone Nick has worked on numerous Windows Phone applications and has helped hundreds of developers build their own Windows Phone applications. Nick has been involved with Windows Phone applications for well-known brands such as Domain.com.au, ninemsn, AFL, NRL, Qantas, JB Hi-Fi and NAB.

Kevin Wolf – (aka @ByteMaster) Microsoft MVP – Windows Phone Development

Kevin Wolf is an independent software consultant and a Microsoft MVP with the expertise in Windows Phone Development from Tampa, FL. Kevin’s primary focus is delivering software on mobile devices. Kevin is active in the development user community where he speaks at user groups and hosts hacker rooms at Florida code camps. Kevin also holds an annual developer conference in Key West called SMUG Dev that attracts alpha geeks and technology leaders from all over the United States. With a background in Electrical Engineering Kevin has been pulled in to the latest Quadcopter craze and has built a custom flight controller board that runs the .NET Microframeworks. Kevin brews his own beer where he monitors his fermentation and kegerator temperatures on his Windows Phone. When he is not busy working on his computer or doting on his wife, Kevin enjoys going for runs, smoking cigars and taking his boat out.

Kelvin McDaniel @azarc3

McDaniel is a Senior Developer at AgileThought. He graduated with an MBA from Florida A&M University in 2000 and has experienced a range of fields, including insurance and finance. He had a love for the various mobile flavors of Windows since the early CE days. He acquired his first Windows-based PDA (a Philips Nino) in 1998 while working in New York City. Connect with Kelvin McDaniel on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Time: 5:30-8:00PM

Location: AgileThought Office (Tampa)

2502 N Rocky Point Dr Ste 900

Tampa, FL 33607

Fustino Brothers, InBusinessLinks, Russ ToolShed Network

Facebook for Business – “T!PS”, Monday 5/12 at Noon – Online

Leave a comment

InBusinessLinks/FustinoBrothers Live Online Conference Call and Screen Share

RSVP
http://www.meetup.com/InBusinessLinksNetwork-FustinoBrothersInc/events/181785452/

Topic: Facebook for Business – “T!PS”… For Example: Contests to drive business sale; Use of photos to drive awareness; Plug-ins’ to automate user experience and help with closure. …These are some of the tips, and especially those concerning the “pain” points (managing time, measuring results, and task accountability) are open for discussion.

Presentations by Gary (dba: Design For Communication), Russ (of Russ’ ToolShed fame), and Rich (entertainment industry’s Steele Productions). Live chat and Q&A. Bring your expertise to the table.

Associated Websites:

www.inbusinesslinks.net

www.fustinobrothers.com

Event Note: Online Meetup only. Takes place every second Monday of each month (unless a holiday). Includes business, B2B, tech talk and online solutions engagement. Meeting starts with participant introductions, then a targeted live presentation on topic. Join us online for free. Your interest and expertise are invited. Advertise with us at a very low investment (not mandatory, but it’s one of the benefits).

Live Online Screen Meeting and Conference Call Instructions to Join-In:

1. On Your Calendar – Block-Out Approximately 35-55 Mins for the Live Meeting/Conference Call.

2. On Your Computer- It’s Recommended to Use a Headset. Join-In 5-7 minutes before meeting, Over the Internet, with your computer/laptop/tablet at- This link: https://www.startmeeting.com/wall/679-256-129

If you don’t already have the “Start Meeting” free software a dialog box will come up and ask permission to download – please click/tap “yes”. The system will guide you through the process to participate in the online meeting. Click/tap “Join”, complete your name and email address, then click/tap “Submit”.

First, the Fustino Brothers, Inc. dashboard with show on screen. Test your speaker/mike. If headset doesn’t work, or if connection is lost – try “Rejoin”.

3. For the Phone- Take Your Call in a Quite Location. Join-In using a land line/mobile phone (no computer needed for this option). Dial- 530-881-1212, at 12:01PM. When prompted enter access code followed by the “pound” key.

679-256-129# (be sure to include the “#” symbol).

4. Meeting May be Recorded. Meeting ID: 679-256-129

5. For Advertising opportunities go to: http://www.inbusinesslinks.net/about/ads.html