Andy Weston's Blog

I’ve been playing around with creating some XAML snippets and I needed a place to post my code so I created this little framework page to display them … ./silverlight/samples

 I’d like to create a little XAML Sample Manger in ASP.NET … if only I can find the time!!!

If you want to get started with AJAX for .NET and you are looking around for a platform you should give some consideration to a library I found called Anthem.NET.  Its very easy to setup and works by simply changing the namespace of most of the standard asp controls to “anthem” and then telling the control to do a callback instead of a postback.  Check out some samples.  The Microsoft counterpart to this is called ASP.NET AJAX (Atlas) and in comparing the two I found the Anthem derived controls easier to use than the extenders or the UpdatePanel that atlas uses.  Check it out.

“Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler.”  –Einstein

Guess what, you know that complicated subsystem that you want to build on your next project?  You probably don’t need all of that.  Keep it simple, dude, but make sure it does the simple things well.  –Andy

I’ve been working on a project recently that could take me about 6months to complete so I started looking around for some project management software to help me out.  Now I loath Microsoft Project.  Not so much because of its features but more so because of the people that I have worked with who have abused it!  It seems that people can’t help but make a mountain out of a mole hill with that thing.  So I kept looking.

I found an open source solution called www.dotproject.net that looks not too bad.  It has lots of features to it, it is web-based and it seems to have a good user base.  If I were running a project completely online I would consider using this one.

Then I ran into www.Axosoft.com and I think it is just great.  It is billed as a bug tracker but it also has project management features to it.  Here’s what I think is cool …

1. the single-user version is FREE, great for solo guys like me
2. it has both a windows client and VS.Net plugin for it
3. it uses SQL server to store data
4. it has a web interface that lets people outside your project provide feedback
5. the UI is very clean and simple and un-overcomplicated (is that a word?

This is my choice and I’m going with it.  I’ll keep you posted.

Check out the newest June release of the WCSF, http://www.codeplex.com/websf, it saves tons of time generating the architecture for new projects.  I installed the latest and there is a much-improved installer that helps you grab all of the extras for Visual Studio that you need to get going.  A considerable number.  Very nice.

Alright, you need to go and check out this robot chicken star wars episode on www.adultswim.com !!  The funniest bits I’ve seen in a long time!

I went to the monthly user group meeting last night and a guy by the name of Chad Campbell showed off some cool silverlight demos.  He did a great job.  A couple of things came to mind I thought were pretty cool …  1) XAML can be read by search bots - this is a very big advantage over Flash  2) there is an event driven downloader class that can could be used to pull down snippets of XAML or any other data on the fly and 3) there is a great new mash-up site called www.popfly.com by Microsoft that lets you connect modules on the fly.  I think Silverlight is way hotter than most people imagine.  Well-written apps are going to take off like fire, man.

Tell me and I forget, Show me, and I may remember.  Involve me, and I will understand.  - Confucius

Check out this animation project that is run completely online … Animation:Master TWO.  It has been running for 2 years now and is still going strong.  Wave of the future, man!

So I downloaded the trial of Expression Blend yesterday and played around with it and its a very cool app indeed.  First off, I noticed how light the size of the install was.  It was like a 30M installer and 40M installed.  I did need to download the .NET 3.0 framework first which is really where most of the functionality is but for a program that does so much 40M is great!  A tribute to .NET, really.

 I played around with creating a canvas and dropping a few controls on it and it worked well.  It reminded me of that simple flash creator program by CoffeeCup software.  And a bit like some of the higher-end 3d programs out there.

Curiously, I want to know how the licensing module works … it looks to be written in .NET and I’m wondering if that is something I could use in my own apps.