Brick Manager

Note: This app is no longer available; and I have removed the links to the Windows Phone Store once it closed; this page is preserved for historical purposes only

Brick Manager was a Windows Phone app for browsing the Lego catalog and managing your personal Lego set collections on the go. You could use the app to view information about Lego sets and minifigures.

The app got its information, images, and other metadata from the BrickSet website, a pretty rich repository of Lego information. It’s also worth noting that there are other sites on the web that integrate with Brickset for providing additional information about your collection. For example, Rebrickable tells you what else you can build with the bricks you have from the assorted sets you own.

Using the app, you can view the following information on any Lego set that BrickSet tracks:

  • Set metadata (release year; number of pieces; number of minifigs; and set description (if available))
  • Images of the set (which you can then click into and pan + zoom)
  • Retail pricing (US and UK) as well as SKU barcode numbers
  • Instruction sets for assembling the set (really cool), which will open in your installed PDF reader

Version History

Version 1.1.3
  • Performance improvements in a number of places
    • subtheme cache data pulls every 5 days instead of at each launch
    • improved loading logic for the theme page to remove visual lag on subtheme pivot
  • UI improvements in a number of places
    • Cleaned up piece and minifig icons on the set page to look cleaner
    • Themes with one or no subtheme only show the sets pivot
    • Where instructions are not available, that pivot is now hidden
  • App now caches theme metadata and periodically refreshes, rather than pulling it down at each launch
  • Set thumbnail image display improvements
    • thumbnails provide a visual indicator to show if the set is owned or wanted
    • Added a default image for sets without an image
    • Thumbnails provide a loading indicator when they are loading
  • Extended larger image display to owned/wanted/search displays
Version 1.1
  • UI improvements
    • Main page UI overhaul – flattened imagery and reduced text
    • Theme default image and pieces/minifig images flattened
  • Sets displays using larger images instead of the list/details view
  • Improved the visual presentation of set to show more text
  • Autocomplete for themes and sets
  • Performance and stability improvements across the board – logic streamlined and largely rewritten
Version 1.0.3
  • Initial app published to store

WoW Guild Roster

CodePlex Project

Back in mid-2000’s, early in the days of World of Warcraft, I was the webmaster for my guild’s website, which I ran using DotNetNuke (‘DNN’).

I also wrote a DNN module, using .NET Code to implement a guild roster for World of Warcraft (WoW). The code helped with guild management – downloading (from the WoW Armory database) and storing information for multiple guilds and multiple characters. It stored basic character demographic information and all stats/reps. Additionally, it allowed for association of mains/alts and tracking character data back to DNN users. This module formed the basis for a wide range of modules, including calendaring and loot tracking.