A couple of weeks ago we had a Wii game session at a friend, and I went from being a bit skeptical to really having a great time. The graphics wasn't better, the game ideas wasn't new (tennis, boxing, etc), but the experience was truly great! The idea of the players actually moving around, has been a dream since I was playing with the first virtual reality systems ages ago - what happened to all those cool tools? Why don't we see more of that in everyday applications? I WANT VIRTUAL REALITY NOW!!! Just hoping someone was listening.

Anyway, when I got home that night, I decided that I should take a closer look. The thing that interested me most was the Wii remote control, or Wiimote as the insiders call it. It's really a cool piece of technology with motion sensors and, more interestingly, a high-res infrared camera. The fact that it speaks Bluetooth doesn't make it worse, and enables it to be connected to most PCs and other devices. That quickly led me to think that it shouldn't be to hard to actually code an app for this device, and of course I was right. I soon found a managed library (again, .NET) that started out as an article by Brian Peek, and after browsing some more I discovered that there were people, like Johnny Chung Lee, doing really cool stuff with this. Just check out this video...

...and except the actual control (yes, not even the console is needed) and a Bluetooth-enabled PC, you don't need more than the software. The fact that it's written in C# makes it even better. I agree with Johnny; when do we see the first games featuring this possibility. So my question is when we can do this with XBox 360 and XNA?

Another weekend of hard work is approaching, and it feels great! I have some cool technology to look forward to, like a brand new ASP.NET 3.5 architecture design and Windows Mobile Web Services along with some plain old WinForms and Reporting Services. The blog title comes from an informal event (read; socialize with beer) every late Friday afternoon that I heard of today. The term refers to "After Ski" which is a similar event after a great day of skiing. There are several reason why I think that it's a great term.

First of all, the idea of relaxing after doing something funny all day, like coding, is a nice concept. That is really how I see it! I take both pride and joy in my work as a developer because I create all day long; how many people do that every day? The creation makes us artists, and that is where most of the pride comes from. Another aspect I like is the focus on code, and the "code" of our business is exactly that - code! We are the modern "workers" that create the products that other people use. We are mostly still craftsmen like most professions a few hundred years ago (shoemakers, tailors, etc), even if parts of our "industry" is moving towards an approach focusing more on customization (building with standard products and components). We are the brain-brawn, and I take pride in that too. In Wikipedia's definition of code you find "...code is a rule for converting a piece of information...into another form or representation...", and that is how I see my role as a developer. I convert business information, according to rules, to another (better) form - applications!

Although I will probably not have much "After Code" this weekend, I think it's a great concept ...