Direct3D with DirectX 8.1 Tutorial 1

This is a tutorial that I decided to put up here. I'm currently reading "Special Effects Game Programming with DirectX" by Mason McCuskey, and I decided that, while tackling the C++ code in the book, to also try and do conversions of the examples into VB, because I know there is next to nothing in book form on DX 8.1 with Visual Basic. So, I am giving this to the community. Beware, this code is HEAVILY COMMENTED so beginners can get a big benefit out of this. I spent about 2 weeks sifting through C++ code and such to get this just right so it works just like its C++ cousin, in some parts even better. I tried to explain each DX function as best as possible, but if you are still scratching your head, contact me and I'll try to answer your questions.