As a computer boy and a producer of words in a row (and a frustrated novelist), I found Cory Doctorow’s thoughts on eBooks specifically and copyright in general to be very interesting. Don't know that I agree, but what fun is it to only consume content with which you agree? That's why I always listen to Rush when I can. : )
Nathan Dunlap and Jonathan Russ work together as designer and coder to build splitting bars in Avalon:
“Boy was I happy when he got back to me with a really simple solution that I have found is really easy to reuse in a lot of scenarios. I love experiences that really show me that the designer/developer split is going to be really graceful. It’s pretty cool when the design can start with me mocking up something and handing it off to the developer who can then build logic into it. It’s even better when the developer logic isn’t so intertwined with my styles and layout that I can hardly touch it without breaking something. This way I get to use my design skills at the prototype stages and early skeletal stages, and I also get to get my hands dirty in the real code at the fit and finish stages. All you designers who have spent hours refining your designs only to have your designs mangled when they get implemented in real code… your day is coming.”
BTW, if it seems like a list a lot of community Avalon pieces on my site, it’s because there’s a lot of community activity in Avalon. If you’re doing WinFS or Indigo work and I’m not seeing it, please let me know!
Developer building tools always want to know how to make an app that works well as both a console and a GUI. Junfeng describes two interesting techniques, one used by VS.NET and one used by ildasm. I've done the VS.NET technique myself before and it works well, although the details can get a bit hairly. I haven't yet built an app where twiddling the bits with editbin is necessary, but hey, whatever makes you happy. : )
Ian Griffiths posts the beginnings of a XAML editor (it supports squares and elipses and saving, but not loading XAML, so no source yet). Especially interesting, however, is how he handles zooming. He wrote an explanation with source on that bit.
BTW, if you haven’t figured it out yet, Ian is quite the Avalon boy. If you’re into such things, you should subscribe to his blog.
For most of you, Rory's not going anywhere, as I'm sure he'll keep starting flame wars and drawing terrible cartoons. However, for those of us in the Portland area, tonight will be his last nerd dinner, as he's heading out to the east coast. Come and say goodbye and touch him one last time...
This Avalon Bezier Spline Designer looks *very* cool. Can't *wait* to see the source code. Hurry up, Nikhil! So long as it compiles and runs, we'll be forgiving. : )
