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Sean Ong

My Experience at the #Holohacks Seattle HoloLens Hackathon

5/24/2016

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What a CRAZY weekend it was at the Seattle HoloLens Hackathon! This was my first hackathon ever, so I had no idea what to expect. It was an extremely intense but very exciting event. There were many dozens of HoloLens enthusiasts descending upon Fremont Studios in Seattle for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. ​

The Mystery Inside

Picture
PictureBLEW MY MIND!
he experience started outside Fremont Studios, with dark and mysterious doors and a security guard. The #HoloHacks hashtags above the doors let me know I was in the right spot. I was greeted by some friendly people as I walked down a dark hall. What came next BLEW MY MIND AWAY! I entered into the "main area" which opened up to a huge blue-lit wall and massive projector screens all around. There were a couple dozen tables rigged for the HoloLens. I was expecting a classroom-type area with low ceilings and fluorescent lights. Needless to say, I was pumped to be there and realized it was going to be an epic weekend.

As participants started trickling in, conversations got louder and I immediately started making friends. I loved hearing about everyone's background - each so unique. I talked to an actor, a fashion CEO from New York City, architects, builders, med students, and yes... software developers (developers, developers, developers). ​

So Many Good IDeas - But You Can Only Choose One

PictureOur HoloLens Team! (From left to right: Melissa, Livio, Yang Yang, Caryn, Ryan, and ME!)
The event kicked off with introductions from Microsoft's HoloLens team, followed by a slurry of idea generation and team member recruitment. I walked around trying to find a team to join. I almost joined a team working to integrate the HoloLens into the building and architecture industry. But I overheard a pitch from Caryn, the CEO of a fashion company in New York City. A holographic storefront in your living room. Genius! I was really excited about the idea and before we knew it, we had recruited several other people. Our team started with Caryn, Yang Yang, Melissa, and myself. The only thing we were missing was a... developer! Enter Livio De La Cruz, an experienced Unity developer. He was actually recruited by another team, but decided to join our team after some persuasion :) 

[Fun plug! Livio recently left his job at Microsoft to become a freelance Unity game developer. Click here to learn more about him and his portfolio!]

Shortly after Livio joined, Ryan also joined our team (and he ended up doing a majority of our HoloLens development!) See the team picture!


Great Talks, Great People

PictureMicrosoft experts readily helping us all!
The HoloHacks weekend was packed full of amazing talks by the creators and team members at the HoloLens division. We got to hear about spatial mapping, spatial sound, best practices for developing for the HoloLens, best practices for delivering an awesome pitch, and SO MUCH MORE!!!

​But perhaps the best resource at the event was 24/7 access to live support... not someone on the phone 10,000 miles away reading from a script telling you to restart your computer. No, rather this was live troubleshooting help from the VERY CREATORS OF HOLOLENS and other experts from Microsoft. All of us in the room gave these folks a run for their money with our troubles and errors - but there was virtually nothing that these people couldn't handle. Never have I been more satisfied with Microsoft customer support :)


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A panoramic view of the hacking area

Developing Our HoloGraphic App

Picture
PictureActively developing our HoloLens app
Hacking together an app over the weekend is harder than it sounds. We spent all of Friday, Friday Night, and the first few hours of Saturday discussing, re-discussing, changing, re-changing, planning, and re-planning our app idea. There were some debates and heated discussion, but we finally settled on an idea we could all stand behind. I think we all had a vision for a 6 month development project - but painfully had to reduce it to what we could accomplish in a day. During the planning and discussion, we were also frantically trying to get our machines up to par for developing with the HoloLens.

Microsoft provided a whopping 50 HOLOLENS DEVICES for everyone to use over the weekend. The whole room was giddy with excitement.

We spent most of Saturday and Saturday night developing our app, and getting it to the point where our concept was somewhat functional. I then took some video footage of our app in action, added my voice-over, and you can see the video demo below!

After finalizing our presentation Sunday morning, we were the first of 20 teams to present our app to the crowd. It was also really fun seeing demos and presentations from all the other teams. Some were inspirational, some were awe-inspiring, some were silly, and others were... embarrassing. But we all had good laughs that day and felt empowered to go out into a bold new world of digital holograms!

Our App!

Final Thoughts

The HoloLens hackathon was an epic experience. Period. Having so many enthusiastic people in one room, so many ideas for a brand-new computing platform, and access to HoloLens experts for development help... I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This event has definitely emboldened me to firmly add "HoloLens Developer" to my list of skills. I can't wait to see what other teams come up with over the next few weeks of Hackathons around the country!
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HoloLens + Dishes and Soapy Hands? No Problem.

5/9/2016

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I thought I'd capture this quick fun video showing how I watch movies and documentaries with the HoloLens while washing dishes. Enjoy the video below!
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Best Surface Pro 3 and Pro 4 Antivirus and Security Software

4/30/2016

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​In this video, I demo Glasswire Firewall, Windows Defender, and discuss options for protecting your Surface against malicious attacks, viruses, and other malware. Enjoy!

Don't forget to hit the like button, and subscribe if you haven't already
Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/sean_ong

GlassWire: https://www.glasswire.com/
Windows Defender (should already be enabled)
AVG Antivirus: http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

I've always received a lot of questions about antivirus software for the Surface but finally decided to make a video on the topic.
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The Amazing HoloLens : Virtual Office and PC | Huge Xbox One Screen | Hologram Hands On

4/23/2016

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In this video, I demo and review the HoloLens Development Kit's ability to convert an empty space into a thriving virtual office, complete with a remote desktop PC! I also show Xbox One streaming, placing holograms, and what it actually looks like through the HoloLens. This technology is unbelievable!

Do like, subscribe, and SHARE!!! 
Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/sean_ong

For my HoloLens unboxing video, do check out the special feature over at WinBeta: http://www.winbeta.org/news/hololens-unboxing-first-impressions-video
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Sean Ong's HoloLens Unboxing and First Impressions

4/20/2016

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Here's the Microsoft HoloLens Unboxing and First Impressions video that I made for WinBeta! For the full WinBeta article, head over to WinBeta: http://www.winbeta.org/news/hololens-unboxing-first-impressions-video_
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Customize Your Own Skin for Surface Pro 4 Using Amazon

4/19/2016

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In this quick video, I show how to customize your own skin or sticker for the Surface Pro 4 via Amazon.com. You can now upload your own image and have it sent to you. I also show my custom USB drive from the same seller on Amazon. Enjoy!
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Microsoft HoloLens Emulator Tutorial : Step-by-Step Guide and Demo

4/7/2016

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In this video I show how to set up and install the HoloLens Emulator. I provide detailed instructions and a quick demo of the emulator in action! Enjoy :)

Step 1: Download Visual Studio 2015 Update 2: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads

Step 2: Download HoloLens Emulator Pack: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=724053

Step 3: Restart and Open Visual Studio

Step 4: Start a new "Holographic" Project as mentioned in my video

Step 5: Run the emulator! (As shown in my video)

More info: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/holographic/install_the_tools
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Surface Quick Tip: How to Turn Screen Off While Playing Music ( iTunes , Spotify , VLC , and More! )

4/4/2016

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In this quick video, I show how to configure your surface to continue playing music even after you turn the screen off. This works for all programs and browsers. This helps when trying to conserve battery life while listening to music. Enjoy!

In summary:
1) Open the registry editor. (open search Cortana and type "regedit")
2) Using the folders on the left hand side, navigate to the following folder: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power
3) Change the value of "CsEnabled" from 1 to 0
4) Reboot your Surface.
5) After rebooting, make sure that your power button is set to turn off your display in the power and sleep settings.

Special thanks to user Sarat.1358 for this awesome solution!

I recommend setting your Surface to Hibernate after about 20 - 30 minutes to extend battery life. Check out my battery life video for more info:
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Quantum Computing for Dummies : A Simple Explanation for Normal People

3/31/2016

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Quantum Computers Explained ! In this video, I provide a simple explanation and overview and also discuss the implications for artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles, and more! Enjoy.

This video is a bit outside of my norm, but I thought it might be useful for someone looking for a less technical explanation on the topic.

Let me know what you think in the comments! If this helped you (finally?) understand Quantum Computers, feel free to share it.
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Microsoft Mathematics Add-In for Office 2016 Workaround

3/23/2016

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​Math Add-on workaround for Office 2016! In this video tutorial, I show how to force install the math addin for Word 2016 and OneNote 2016.   As mentioned in the video, this works perfectly for Word 2016, but not so well in OneNote. Enjoy!

The Easy Method:

Just download the zip file below. Extract the zip file anywhere on your PC. Follow the instructions in the zip file.
math_add_in_for_office_2016.zip
File Size: 16475 kb
File Type: zip
Download File

The DIY Method:

Special credit goes to: Galvananiser

1. Download the Math Add-in from https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=36777

2. Run it with the /extract parameter, as shown in my video above

3. Run the commands below (see my video):
For Office 2016 32bit
msiexec /i <folder where the contents where extracted to at step 2>\edumathaddin_x86.msi fromsetup=1 word=1 onenote=1 ALREADYRUNNING=0 DOTNET4=1
​
For Office 2016 x64
msiexec /i <folder where the contents where extracted to at step 2>\edumathaddin_x64.msi fromsetup=1 word=1 onenote=1 ALREADYRUNNING=0 DOTNET4=1

4. Now run  <folder where the contents where extracted to at step 2>\dxsetup.exe and it is done!
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