RoguePlanetoid Weekly Update #84
28th July 2025
Last week it was great to coincidentally mark being renewed as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional by releasing updates to my Packages
including Comentsys.Toolkit which is a free .NET Standard 2.0 based open-source Toolkit
for Binding and Asset support updated for PNG based Image Resources along with Comentsys.Toolkit.WindowsAppSdk
which is a free Windows App SDK based open-source Toolkit with Controls, Converters, Extensions and Widget functionality updated to
make implementing Widgets in Windows 11 easier including new and updated properties for customisation, activation and deactivation with these updates covered more in my
Article of Comentsys Toolkits - July 2025. Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji
was updated with new Metadata long with new and fixed Emoji including for Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji.Shaded and
Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji.Contrast.
Comentsys.Assets.Display was also updated with new options to
add to square for the five-by-seven dot matrix display including circle, hexagon and octagon with these updates covered more in my
Article of Comentsys Assets - July 2025.
Last week it was also great to support another Podcast event, with the Help your Podcast take Flight workshops
from Flamingo Heights Academy. There were interesting sessions on levelling up your podcast with video, creating purpose led
products to increase your revenue, starting & growing a podcast along with a fireside chat between my wife Dawn and Ashleigh King talking about
how she started her own podcast and business with more details on all of these in my Article of
Flamingo Heights Academy - Help Your Podcast Take Flight.
This week Podcast Paddock is back for July with a
True Crime special with an introduction from us about CrimeCon and then fireside chats with Joccoaa Gray from True Crime Forum Newcastle,
Ange & Dee from The Crime Scene Insiders podcast and Joanne Mackel from the podcast Dig Up Your Mam and should make for a thoughtful and interesting evening.
This week there's also the RoguePlanetoid Podcast which will be released at the end of this week which is a fantastic overview of
my professional career marking being renewed as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional which you can listen to from Friday wherever
you listen to your podcasts.
Comentsys.Assets.Display 2.0.0 Released
23rd July 2025
Today sees the Release of version 2.0.0 of my Assets package
of Comentsys.Assets.Display for .NET Standard 2.0 on both NuGet and open-source on
GitHub that provides a Seven-Segment Display or
Five-By-Seven Dot Matrix Display. This Release adds new Styles to the Matrix or
Five-By-Seven Dot Matrix Display to add to the existing Style of Square including
Circle, Hexagon and Octagon to repesent values from 0 to 9 along
with : and - plus a Blank or Filled using those shapes. Documentation has been updated
that shows the Segment and each Style of Matrix available.
Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji.Contrast 2.0.0 Released
23rd July 2025
Today sees the Release of version 2.0.0 of my Assets package of Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji.Contrast for .NET Standard 2.0
on both NuGet and open-source on
GitHub. This Release adds new Emoji including
Brown Mushroom, Ginger Root, Hair Pick, Jellyfish, Pea Pod, Phoenix Bird
and more along with fixes to Emoji including Black Flag, Child, Heart Hands, Laptop,
Paintbrush, Violin and more. This package also references the updated Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji with
Metadata for Emoji and documentation shows how the Emoji would all look with an example with a custom contrast colour.
Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji.Shaded 2.0.0 Released
23rd July 2025
Today sees the Release of version 2.0.0 of my Assets package of Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji.Shaded for .NET Standard 2.0
on both NuGet and open-source on
GitHub. This Release adds new Emoji including Broken Chain, Flute,
Hyacinth, Maracas, Video Game and more along with fixes to Emoji including Alien,
Burrito, Hushed Face, Nauseated Face, Racoon, Worried Face and more. This package references
the updated Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji enabling access to the new Metadata for all Emoji and includes an example image in
documentation of all Emoji.
Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji 2.0.0 Released
23rd July 2025
Today sees the Release of version 2.0.0 of my Assets package of Comentsys.Assets.FluentEmoji for .NET Standard 2.0
on both NuGet and open-source on
GitHub. This Release adds new Emoji including Blackbird, Donkey,
Goose, Lime, Moose, Wing and more along with fixes to Emoji including Bison,
Divide, Hospital, Minus, Swan and more. This version also introduces Metadata for Emoji
which includes the Common Locale Data Repository Name, Glyph and more along with links to Image in the 3D style and
Animated versions where available of Emoji which can be used with the new Image Resource from Comentsys.Toolkit.
Comentsys.Toolkit.WindowsAppSdk 2.2.0 Released
22nd July 2025
Today sees the Release of version 2.2.0 of my Toolkit of Comentsys.Toolkit.WindowsAppSdk for Windows App SDK
on both NuGet and open-source on
GitHub. This Release updates support for Windows Widgets in Windows 11
including making it easier to create customisable Widgets with a new IsConfigure property set when Customise Widget is selected.
The IsActivated property is now automatically set when a Widget is activated or deactivated by the Widgets Board and there is also
a new optional Context property that can be used by Widgets when they are initialised or updated that includes Widget Size.
Comentsys.Toolkit 1.3.0 Released
22nd July 2025
Today sees the Release of version 1.3.0 of my Toolkit of Comentsys.Toolkit for .NET Standard
on both NuGet and open-source on
GitHub. This Release adds support for Image Resources
from a Stream or Byte Array including from a Url using a HttpClient along with Methods
for ToPngBytes and ToBase64EncodedPngString to allow an Image Resource to be output as a PNG including with
Base-64 Encoding.
RoguePlanetoid Weekly Update #83
21st July 2025
This month I found out I had been renewed as a Microsoft MVP, and it was amazing to find out I was able to remain a
Microsoft Most Valuable Professional. Everything I have done including Presentations, Workshops,
Packages and more for the community has helped me achieve this yet again and am grateful for the support I have had and continue to
get from others in the community, there's plenty to look forward to such as .NET 10 and so much more for developers in the
.NET and Windows ecosystem.
This month I've been working on updates to many of my Packages and over the next couple of weeks I'll be publishing those updates to Packages which includes
Toolkits and Assets starting this week. It has been great to work on the new functionality, updates and more and am looking
forward to seeing how they may be used, so if you're using my Packages then let me know as I'd love to feature them here!
With these updates to my Packages completed I'll be working on putting together something I've been wanting to do for a while to help
people get their kickstart in programming. I've been able to help many people over the years with tutorials and workshops as well as presentations,
but this will be more in-depth and hands on and can't wait to talk more about this very soon but suffice to say there will be new ways to learn
from me.
Renewed Microsoft MVP for .NET & Windows Development
10th July 2025
Today it was fantastic to see that I had been renewed as a Most Valuable Professional from Microsoft for .NET
and Windows Development. The MVP Award recognises exceptional contributions to the Microsoft technical
community by sharing expertise including performing presentations, running workshops, writing articles and recording podcasts along with a commitment to
solving issues that impact people in their lives. I remain honoured and humbled to have been renewed as a Microsoft MVP and continue to
share articles and podcast episodes here or tutorials, talks and workshops at tutorialr.com along
with packages for developers and more at comentsys.com.
RoguePlanetoid Podcast - Episode Twenty Nine - North East Tech Scene 2025
1st July 2025
Today sees the release of Episode Twenty Nine of the RoguePlanetoid Podcast
about North East Tech Scene 2025, North East England, although often
overlooked, is thriving with tech and creative startups or scaleups with events to celebrate.
You will find the Podcast where you listen to your podcasts such as Spotify,
Amazon Music, RadioPublic, Apple Podcasts, Pandora,
YouTube Music along with YouTube where you can catch up with previous episodes
and Subscribe or Follow so you don't miss any future Episodes.
