I normally don't do book reviews here but this book is kind of cool and what I'm looking for. Silverlight 4 Business Application Development, here is a book that is kind of not so much on the UX side but what stands out about this book is the fact that it is more pictures and code then text especially when compared to a regular book. For me in particular this is awesome as Im more into pictures and code samples. Much like a recipe book this kind of thing is right up my ally so I can focus on making the applications User eXperience cool. That being the case I would recommend it. On the downside the book is from a publisher I haven’t not heard up and the technical editors are more well known in the authors but once getting past that its a good resource to have. You can download a sample chapter here:

http://www.HackingSilverlight.net/Downloads/9843_SampleChapter.pdf

and purchase the book on their site:

http://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-silverlight-4-business-application-development-beginners-guide/book/mid/100510ricjw6?utm_source=hackingsilverlight.blogspot.com&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_content=blog&utm_campaign=mdb_003266

some of the samples will also show up the the HackingSilverlight Code Browser:

http://www.hackingsilverlight.net/HackingSilverlightBrowser.html

Seattle's Silverlight User Group, in association with Interact and community organzations everywhere are having their next Silverlight meeting on June 2nd, 2010 at Building 40/41 caff ( http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=Microsoft%20Building%2041%2C%20WA&encType=1 ).

All the local Microsoftee's and MVP's will be there.

http://www.SeattleSilverlight.net/

Come to the Seattle Silverlight User Group and listen to world famous Karl Shifflett author of power tools... if you don't know him you should. Karl will be talking about something related to Silverlight ;) check out his blog at: http://karlshifflett.wordpress.com/

Abstract:
There is much buzz around the newest capabilities of Silverlight 4 that position it to be a first class line of business (LOB) application platform.

This session will focus on navigation in out of the browser (OOB) LOB applications. We will examine how to implement non-linear navigation in Silverlight 4 OOB applications.

Hopefully this session will challenge you to explore new thinking and new ways to deliver great user experiences in you SL4 OOB apps.


This month we are also having an 'Ask The Expert' side session for beginners to help them come up to speed and start developing great Silverlight applications. If your new and want to learn this is the place to be.

Also at 6pm at the same location will be the organizing committee's meeting and this is open to the public. Please come and help us run the user group.

Seattle's Silverlight User Group, in association with Interact and community organzations everywhere are having their next Silverlight meeting on May 5th, 2010 at Building 40/41 caff ( http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=Microsoft%20Building%2041%2C%20WA&encType=1 ).

All the local Microsoftee's and MVP's will be there.

http://www.SeattleSilverlight.net/

Come to the Seattle Silverlight User Group and listen to Mark Rideout a Program Manager on the Microsoft Silverlight team. Mark will discuss Silverlight text through the versions and highlight what new text features exist in Silverlight 4.

Marks Bio:

Mark Rideout is a Program Manager on the Silverlight Team at Microsoft. Mark is responsible for features around text and text input in addition to input and accessibility features. Mark has worked on multiple Microsoft UI frameworks such as Windows Forms and has been working with the .NET Framework since 1.0. Mark started at Microsoft in 1997, and prior to that, Mark worked as a consultant where he designed and developed business applications

This month we are also having an 'Ask The Expert' side session for beginners to help them come up to speed and start developing great Silverlight applications. If your new and want to learn this is the place to be.

Also at 6pm at the same location will be the organizing committee's meeting and this is open to the public. Please come and help us run the user group.

Seattle's Silverlight User Group, in association with Interact and community organzations everywhere are having their next Silverlight meeting on April 7th, 2010 at Building 40/41 caff ( http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=Microsoft%20Building%2041%2C%20WA&encType=1 ).

All the local Microsoftee's and MVP's will be there.

http://www.SeattleSilverlight.net/

Come join Seattle Silverlight User Group when David Kelley (http://www.HackingSilverlight.net ) hosts and open discussion about Windows Phone 7 and building Silverlight applications for Windows phone 7.

This month we are also starting an 'Ask The Expert' side session for beginners to help them come up to speed and start developing great Silverlight applications. If your new and want to learn this is the place to be.

Also at 6pm at the same location will be the organizing committee's meeting and this is open to the public. Please come and help us run the user group.

Seattle's Silverlight User Group, in association with Interact and community organzations everywhere are having their next Silverlight meeting on March 3rd, 2010 at Building 40/41 caff ( http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=Microsoft%20Building%2041%2C%20WA&encType=1 ).

All the local Microsoftee's and MVP's will be there.

http://www.SeattleSilverlight.net/

Come join Seattle Silverlight User Group when Ryan Lane (http://www.futile.com/ )talks about building Silverlight Applications in Expression Blend. More information to come shortly.

This month we are also starting an 'Ask The Expert' side session for beginners to help them come up to speed and start developing great Silverlight applications. If your new and want to learn this is the place to be.

Also at 6pm at the same location will be the organizing committee's meeting and this is open to the public. Please come and help us run the user group.

We gotta start having this kind of fun in Seattle:

We've got a great place to hang out, and the Silverlight Hackathon is a go! Meet us downtown at Souk, and we're going to have a great day of working on Silverlight. We've had some great project suggestions, and we'll break down into groups and work on projects that we find fun. Are you new to Silverlight? This is a great chance to get started. We've already had several people offer to help beginners...

read more at

http://www.portlandsilverlight.net/

Seattle's Silverlight User Group, in association with Interact and community organzations everywhere is having its next meeting on February 3rd, 2010 at Building 40/41 caff ( http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=Microsoft%20Building%2041%2C%20WA&encType=1 ).

All the local Microsoftee's and MVP's will be there.

http://www.SeattleSilverlight.net/

Come join Seattle Silverlight User Group when Glenn Block talks about the new MEF (Managed Extensibility Framework) in Silverlight 4 and how you can use it to build more maintainable Silverlight applications which can be extended by third-parties. Come with questions ready the use MEF building extensible applications which can be partitioned across dynamically downloadable XAPs. In this talk we’ll drill into the core of MEF and discuss scenarios for it’s usage.

We did a cool video pod cast on MVVM Made Easy. Had Erik Mork, Fabio Matsui and Jeremiah Morrill and we talked about MVVM made easy and did a demo showing how to build a simple MVVM application in Silverlight.

http://www.vimeo.com/8915487  

check it out for more info...

Tech Focus Members we are thrilled to announce that our Silverlight Tech Focus Series has launched. Exclusive Silverlight 4 content now awaits you! During January & February you will get inside the mind of Wintellect's Silverlight guru Jeff Prosise and be prepared to go out and build great Silverlight applications that work right the first time and every time. Receive articles, blog content, social media tips & tricks, and much more straight from the expert that will provide you with the know-how you need to navigate the new Silverlight 4 landscape.

To access all of this great content simply visit the Tech Focus Portal where you will be able to reference all Tech Focus content throughout 2010. Plus, each bi-monthly Tech Focus Series has its own archive page. Simply select the Tech Focus topic being covered under the calendar and you will enter the corresponding archive where you can access all content.

We will provide you with monthly email updates detailing the new content that is available to you. You can also check the Tech Focus Portal at your leisure to get updated articles, blog content, special offers, and much more. We hope that you enjoy your Tech Focus experience!

go here for more info: http://www.wintellect.com/techfocussilverlight/

Silverlight Tech Focus Content Now Available -
January Article - What's New in Silverlight 4 by Jeff Prosise
Silverlight Webinar FREE* - Register to attend the Silverlight 4 Unveiled webinar with Jeff Prosise on February 24th.
Social Media - Join us on Facebook & Twitter to get Silverlight 4 tips & tricks each week.

Virtual University Discount - Attend Jeff's Let's Have a Silverlight Party virtual course February 22nd-23rd and receive 50% off the registration fee.
Devscovery 2010 Discount - Expand your Silverlight 4 knowledge by attending Devscovery 2010. Receive exclusive discounts as Tech Focus Members.
Want to share this experience and content with a friend or co-worker? Simply have them register here to become a Tech Focus member today!

"Interact’s UX Digest is our oftentimes weekly digest of UX links that attracted our attention out in the blogosphere. We also tweet daily on hot UX topics. Follow us daily on twitter or check out our tweets on facebook,

This week our selections focus on summaries of the best of 2009..."

Read more at: http://www.interactseattle.org/?p=400