Robert Robbins

Raster graphics are bitmap image files where each pixel is defined as a point of color in a grid. Converting raster graphics to a vector graphic image format like SVG or XAML is not easy. Some graphics programs have an auto-trace feature which attempts to create the vector paths by tracing the raster graphic but I have had little success with that feature. The results are often terrible. You could try to trace an image to create paths using some pen tools but you'll find that requires you to be an expert with pen tools and it is exceedingly frustrating.

I've recently started reading the book Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Design: CSS, Themes, and Master Pages by Jacob J. Sanford and skipped ahead to Appendix B: An Introduction to Microsoft Silverlight. This chapter provides an excellent introduction to Silverlight projects using Visual Studio 2008 and the Silverlight 1.1 Alpha SDK. Unfortunately, the Wrox web site did not have a download for this chapter and I had to type in all the code and come up with one image. I learned that XAML tags are case sensitive! I finally got the analog clock example working. Clocks seem to be a popular demonstration project for Silverlight!

I have not read any blog entries about how developers are using ASP.NET in their work so I thought I'd write about my current projects. I think a professional blog should be used to keep your clients and colleagues informed about your work activities, project progress, and current research or studies.

Last night I spent some time learning about displacement maps. A displacement map is used to distort an image by displacing pixels based on the luminance of the map which is a grayscale image. Displacement maps are used to warp an image but they can also be used to project an image onto an uneven surface.

Did you know you can assign sounds to a few Visual Studio events? You can assign a WAV file to play when a build fails or succeeds. Just open the Control Panel, select Sounds and Audio Devices and then click the Sounds tab. Scroll down to Microsoft Development Environment. I assigned my Build Succeeded to a WAV file of Darth Vader saying "All Too Easy" and my Build Failed to a WAV file of Han Solo saying "I got a bad feeling about this."

I have been keeping an extensive set of technology notes since 1999 which I used to keep organized in a compiled help file. Being a web developer, I liked to write my notes as web pages rather than use a word processor. I could even include sample code and functional examples in my notes if the topic was JavaScript or anything that runs client-side in the browser. I liked a compiled help file because it provides a navigation structure, searchable indexing, and reduced everything to one file which I could easily copy to other computers and thumb drives.

ASP.NET is designed to create dynamic web pages by combining data from a database with HTML. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say it programmatically generates web pages for immediate delivery by the web server. That is the basic concept. As I have been working with video for the web instead of HTML for the web it has occurred to me that it would be cool to apply the same concept to video. I would call it ASV.NET (Active Server Video).

I am very active in the vlogging community at YouTube and Stickam. Vlogging is clearly the future of online communication and social networking sites. I have been particularly impressed by how effective vlogging is for forming genuine friendships and online community. I've always been an anti-social IT geek and I never appreciated the value of social networking sites until I found YouTube where you can see and hear the people you are communicating with. Many of the YouTube vloggers are addicted to video conferencing on the Stickam web site. I have witnessed many instances of vloggers collaborating with each other on video projects. It would be interesting if there were a social networking site for developers that used video to forge an effective online community for collaboration. I do have an account on ITtoolbox which is a professional networking site for IT geeks but it lacks any video sharing capabilities and therefore does not create a real sense of community.