Struggling(?) my way to learn the XNA framework, I came across this book from Microsoft Press entitled “Learn Programming Now”. Rob Miles, the writer, is also an actual computer science university teacher in the UK.

If you are a first timer or haven’t developed for quite a while this book is for you (and me). Starting with basic exercises such as loading images and writing text you go on to create more complex (and sometimes very silly) games that teach you how to add sounds, handle input, manage game states, etc.

There are only two points of attention that you would need to consider before buying it. The first one is that 3D is not explored. If you want to learn more about managing your 3D meshes, viewing frustum culling, or creating shaders this book is not for you. The second one is that collision management, even in 2D, is not covered.

My personal opinion is that this book is very good at preparing you on the more complex tasks that attend the creation of your game ideas. Once you get the basics firmly covered you can go for more complex (and heavier) books.

A final note to say that this is one of the few books built for version 2.0 of XNA Game Studio so you do not have to look for updated code on the web. If you want to learn more visit the book website and download the first two chapters for free: very silly games.

Yesterday I was able to complete and send my dissertation to Warwick Business School just before the deadline (31st March). Now it’s time to wait and see if I can participate to the graduation ceremony scheduled for the 18th of July.

Last month, I started this LinkedIn group for former and current DHL employees and it is amazing to see the overwhelming response by fellow “linkediners“. Almost 140 members in a month and now growing steadily at 8 requests a day.

Last week I was invited to the “Trackability” event in Fiera Milano City. I had really high hopes for the RFID sessions and I attended two of them to gather additional information for my project. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of substance in what was presented. A lot of good intentions, some sales pitches, little info on pilots, no info on actual deployments nor value delivered in Italy…

The only interesting stuff I saw was presented on the StoLPan project introducing some business applications on an NFC-enabled mobile device (Alice Moroni, RFIDlab - Università Sapienza di Roma). Think of acquiring information, accessing services and paying in real time through your cellphone.

I took a walk in the various booths to find that only one vendor was actually showcasing some  RFID hardware…

Better luck next time.