Graphics Programming

What is WPFe anyway?

Walt Ritscher — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 17:02:00 GMT

WPF shipped last week as a part of .NET 3.0. I'm really excited about WPF as I think it is a much needed upgrade in Microsoft graphics programming tools. GDI is not going to disappear overnight of course and DirectX is still viable for many companies needs.

There is another version of WPF coming soon. It's called Windows Presentation Foundation everywhere, or WPFe, and it's suffering from an inferiority complex when compared with its older sibling.

What is WPFe?

WPFe is a subset of the WPF functionality. It runs via a browser plug-in and is targeted to work with Linux, Mac and Windows browsers. It does nearly everything the WPF does with the exception of 3D and advance page layout and pagination.

Supported systems

Windows XP, 2000, 2003 and Vista
Mac OSX
Linux
Solaris

Supported Browsers

IE 5-7
Safari
Firefox

Seattle Code Camp 2006 (October 28,29)

Walt Ritscher — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:35:00 GMT

It's only three weeks away and coming to Seattle. That's right, the Seattle Code camp is looking for camp counselors (speakers). If you want to talk tech to a room full of eager participants this is the event you've been waiting for.

Last year we had over 50 presenters and 250+ attendees.

http://seattle.techevents.info/codecamp/2/default.aspx

Stock Photos - Inexpensive Licensing for Your Web Sites

Walt Ritscher — Sun, 28 May 2006 12:05:00 GMT

You need a picture or two for your next project mock-up.
You need it now.
You don't want to pay a lot, it's only a mock-up!

There are several websites that will sell you a nice, high-resolution image for cheap. Todays find:

http://www.dreamstime.com/

Web licensing for as low as $0.74 per picture. They also give you seven free pictures every week.

Real Avalon Apps - iBloks

Walt Ritscher — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 19:59:00 GMT

I'm really liking the new Avalon (Windows Presentation Foundation) layer in Windows Vista and WinFX. I've been working with it for the last six months and have developed a couple talks that I give about the technology. It's going to change the face, no kidding, of Windows development over the next five years. Imagine a tool that lets you easily mix 2D, 3D, Rich Text, Video, Multimedia and more into a single API.

I tell people about how cool its going to be, but it's not easy to visualize. If you don't have the Avalon beta bits on your computer you can't run any of the demos. So a lot of people think it just going to be eye candy and some transparent windows. So watch a video and decide for yourself.

iBloks is a new game/toy application built with Avalon. You can animate pictures, mix sound and more. Watch the video here.

Multi-Touch Interactive Touch Screens - Using your fingers

Walt Ritscher — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 13:55:00 GMT

I vividly remember reading Popular Science magazines when I was in Junior High school. I loved reading the 'What's coming' section. I followed the new ideas researcher were pursuing. I'd daydream for hours about what I could do with the new gadgets. It probably won't surprise you to know that I also devoured science fiction books. One year my uncle gave me a box of musty smelling books from his basement - it was full of old copies of Analog magazine and hardcover sci-fi books from the 1950's and 1960's. That was heaven for me for a few months.

I still am fascinated by the ingenuity of people, the way their minds work and what great ideas they uncover. I wish I had more time now to follow-up on the fascinating research happening today. Occasionally I do find a winner though. Today I stumbled across some very intriguing work being done with touch-sensitive screens while looking for some tablet PC articles.

NYU researchers are doing mind-blowing work on human interaction with computer screens. They have LARGE screens, more like plasma TV screens, that react to multiple touches. Imagine placing three fingers of each hand on the screen and seeing six circles show up on the screen. Each circle following your fingers as they move across the screen. Images flipping pages of a virtual book with your fingers, playing games with out a mouse.

Don't daydream for too long because they have videos that show how it works.

I really like tablet PC's and how responsive they are to the stylus - but I think I see the future of our future computer screens in NYU's multi-touch interactive screens.

Update:

The NYU site is slow due to too much traffic. You can also find the video at YouToob. Thanks to Roy Osherove for the link.

Free 16 x 16 Icons -SILK

Walt Ritscher — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 10:33:00 GMT

Nice set of 700 Icons for your projects. Distributed under the Creative Commons license they are free for normal use.