Flashes of Silverlight

MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT CONFERENCE: DAY ONE

What is Silverlight? Silverlight is Microsoft’s version of flash. Kinda. You see where Flash has come to be synonymous with not only the program but its applications and browser plugins (i.e. Using Flash i created this Flash application. You’ll need to install flash in your browser to see it.) Silverlight is just the plugin.

So if there’s no program called Silverlight, how is Silverlight content created? Enter Microsoft Visual Studio. Basically, it’s an Adobe-esque design suite. If you used any adobe product then you’ll be in familiar territory. However there are some beneficial and annoying differences. 

Here are a few interesting features. The user interface seems very well thought out and easy to control. I particularly like the slider controls. Almost everything that be adjusted with an easy to use slider very similar to after effects. You won’t even have to relearn shortcuts as Microsoft pretty much lifted the tool panels out of the Adobe suite.

Here are a few annoyances. The file systems gets insanely deep. For a simple animation in flash you have one file: swf and maybe an FLV or a javascript or two. In Micosoft Blend (we spend the most time in this app) you have a full blow file system. C sharp files, assett folders, gadgets and gizmos-a-plenty, who-zits and whats-its galore. You want thing-a-ma-bobs Silverlight’s got you covered! Perhaps a deal breaker for many is the fact that producing animation isn’t just a matter of hitting the publish button. If you want something to move you need to know how to code. It’s not optional.

As the resident figure-it-out guy, I pride myself on my abilities to reverse engineer something. Silverlight content is so deep, I seriously doubt i could figure it out if i didn’t have someone holding my hand. 

That’s when it hit me. Microsoft Blend isn’t a design application it’s more like a programming language. Everything, and i do mean everything, is rendered using a programming language called XAML. What’s the significance of this? Just like an HTML page’s source can be lifted from any webpage. The silverlight XAML can be lifted as well. In flash, a red circle is just that, a red circle. In Blend, a red circle is dozens of  lines of code.

Tomorrow we’ll get started on creating content. Stay tuned.

The Top 10 Digital Design Mistakes

Bad design is all over the web like a rotten smell. Craig Grannell from .net magazine counts down the ten biggest online design crimes, and looks at how to avoid them – with a little help from expert industry opinion. Check it out >>

Invisible Beauty

Schlieren (German for “streaks”) photography, which takes an invisible phenomenon and turns it into a visible picture, helped Penn State scientists capture a cough on film to better understand airflow and add insight to the spread of airborne diseases. Clearly, the results are both scientifically significant and visually stunning.

New Skool Old Skool Channel Surfing

Look at the time… 10 p.m. already and you’re still at the office cranking away in vain? Take a break and tune in to upl8 tv to watch some seriously random youtube clips (your spacebar is the clicker). http://upl8.tv/

Because Pumpkin Guts are Gross

Why bother with the mess of the real thing when you can carve from the comfort of your desktop? http://www.coasttocoastam.com/timages/page/pumpkin_sim.html

Make Money With Your iPhone

Living in LA has it’s pros and cons. Although I am yet to get used to the occassional earthquake, one definite plus is sighting celebs randomly in the streets. Now they don’t exactly hang out on Hollywood Blvd., as most siteseeing tourists believe, but if you hang out on the west side, mid-afternoon, monday through thursday, you’re bound to run into someone of popular fame eating a salad or drinking a coffee at some trendy outdoor cafe.

Much like in a wild safari, once the celeb is spotted, most people observe (obsessively stare) from a safe distance. However, there is always someone who dares to invade the celeb’s personal space and ask for an autograph or a photo. For those brave celeb hunters armed with an iPhone, the site www.meetthefamous.com will pay $$$ for your photo!

So signup for an account on the site, charge your iPhone battery, and start practicing your coolest gang sign pose. Somewhere right now, a famous person is crossing the street or drinking a latte!

The TalkSoup of YouTube

E!’s The Soup is one of my favorite shows! Host Joel McHale hilariously presents the most horrifying ridiculous soundbytes from the week in reality tv. But what have I been missing on YouTube? Now there’s a channel that gives you a weekly report on the best of the best that viral entertainment has to offer. It’s PopTub and it’s worth subscribing to: www.youtube.com/poptub. Host Mary Sansone is no Joel McHale, but the cheezy jokes are a good match for the homemade production value we’ve all come to appreciate from YouTube.

Blog Evangelism: My Blog About Blogs

Before the dawn of social media, content flowed in one direction. Down. Content was created and distributed by the few and then it trickled down to the masses.

The paradigm has shifted.

In today’s shotgun-search engine society we’ve been conditioned to process huge amounts of information in a media-saturated environment. With a swipe of my finger i can unlock my iPhone and watch a video on YouTube, check my email, and post to Facebook in seconds.

For those of you who doubt the impact that social media can have on your business may i remind you of this simple fact: Google has become a verb.

Google is more than a search engine. It is a digital news stand and virtual magazine rack. It is equal parts yellow-pages, 411 operator, and encyclopedia britannica. It is where people go when they crave information and we can be there, standing in the gap, advertising our presence at the very instance they call.

It’s the closet thing to omnipresence a mere mortal can achieve!

Many professionals hold tight to this conviction, “I’m too busy running my business. I don’t have time to blog,” unaware of the opportunities they forfeit. A successful blog can expand your sphere of influence by fostering dialog between consumer and creator. Blogs tear down the fourth wall demystifying the relationship between user and producer.

Blogs provide the catalyst to transform customers into advocates.

The Intern Experience

It has almost been 2 months since the internship began. But let’s go back to the beginning…

September 3, 2008
After interviewing with Creative Director, Mr. Wally Sabria, I recieved an exciting email about being selected as an intern…

“Also, please reserve all day next saturday, sept. 13th for a movie premiere we are producing on behalf of an entertainment client. Among other things, you’ll be helping to design the event space! Hope you’re ready…
Its gonna be fun!”

Little did I know this is what he had in mind. Yea, that’s me in the costume! Welcome to my first week =)

Cozy Cupcakes

Make your version of this dessert du jour stand out from the crowd this holiday season and outfit your baked treats.