Still developing and designing the new intro for the site - i've been putting a lot of time in ensuring that each component uses the least amount of imagery as possible and generates all visual ui bits and peices using xaml/code. I've noticed already that the starfield generator uses a ton of processing power and this could cause problems as I continue to add new elements. The latest draft design for a control (not yet implemented in silverlight) has pulled me in a new direction aesthetically speaking. So far I've accumulated a pretty realalistic astral effect, but with this latest design I may be headed in a more alien/cartoon direction. I'm not quite sure and I may end up scrapping/altering the design to feel more realistic alien as opposed to cartoon alien (if that makes sense). Take a look for yourself:

I really can't say when things will be pushed out to a live server as I could spend a couple days on this widget alone. Create a silverlight control, animate its seperate peices, glowing buttons, loading sequence, animate the bubbles on the right, the bauble on the upper left I already have a control for and that will pulse different colors...the screen itself needs to be animated so it appears to be a pulsing electric field of sorts, and the entire thing is supposed to be a console, so I'll have to create the a menu system, connect content (already have a live database with project information), create a data model and bind things. Another issue I think I may run into, after creating this widget I realized realestate is limited... not quite sure if I'll just increase the size of the screen or challenge myself and come up with innovative ways of representing the same quantity of data with less space.

I’ve been working (less than diligently but steadily) on new Silverlight intro content for digitalboon.com. I’ve been trying to write all visual effects into the application so that I rely on no outside mediums, no images or video content, sadly I don’t know about generating sound through the platform (but then again I’ve never really looked into although I’d bet money against any APIs existing for it)… either way we’re getting close to completing the intro content which will as usual will feed my astral addiction and employ a (hopefully) completely randomly programmatically generated multi-layered astral scene. There’s still a lot to be done, and much of it hasn’t even made the brain to paper jump yet, but I’ll have something pushed out reasonably soon here.

I suppose I should give a brief description of what’s going on with my personal life as this is after all a blog – work is going well, I’ll be working from an office next week as opposed to from my home office. I do worry about what hardware I’ll have available to me there as opposed to here at home. “The Project” we’ve been working on should be coming together here pretty soon (already released for some internal testing) with new functions/features, and many parts rewritten to run a bit smoother.  I start school next Fall. I’m looking forward to my introductory programming course (JAVA) as it’s going to be a breeze, but still definitely serve as an academically positive experience as I continue to broaden my range of skills. I will as well be taking Discrete Mathematics, which I’m reasonably sure will provide a challenge.

I’ll end this with a excerpt from Il Penseroso –

Or let my lamp at midnight hour

Be seen in some high lonely tower,

Where I may oft outwatch theBear,

With thrice-great Hermes, or unsphere

The spirit of Plato to unfold

What words or what vast regions hold

The immortal mind that hath forsook

Her mansions in this fleshly nook;

And of those demons that are found

In fire, air, flood, or under ground,

Whose power hath a true consent

With planet, or with element.

…

And may at last my weary age

Find out the peaceful hermitage,

The hairy gown and mossy cell,

Where I may sit and rightly spell

Of every star that heaven doth shew,

And every herb that sips the dew,

Till old experience do attain

To something like prophetic strain.

These pleasures, Melancholy, give,

And I with thee will choose to live.