After several painstaking minutes, I was able to create a fully-vectored rendition of the Star Trek 2009 Enterprise as rendered by Alain Rivard. It’s a beautiful image and mine is a close approximation. Anyway, I wanted to have something complex to put into my new Windows 8.1 hub template without having to include an image in the project. This is where I ended up. Mostly, I think, because this image is my current desktop background. You want it? Here’s the code. Live long and… you know.
When Visual Studio 2012 was released, it supported a new way of building apps – Windows Store apps using the Windows Runtime. These apps could be built in XAML, of course. But, unlike previous Microsoft developer tooling, Expression Blend was not shipped separately; it was moved out of the Expression Suite (which was discontinued), and bundled as part of Visual Studio – forevermore.
This meant all developers completing developer tasks could use Visual Studio with comprehensive coding features. Moreover, all developers completing design tasks could use Blend for Visual Studio with comprehensive animation and styling features. It was a brilliant union. Today, still, a Visual Studio installation includes Blend by default. Developers have the best of both worlds.
Aside: this article does not talk about custom behaviors. It’s not that custom behaviors are too complex, it’s that there’s too much to say about the built-in behaviors first. I’ll try to follow-up with a custom behaviors article. In the meantime, enjoy.
Now, this is just for fun. Over the years, Microsoft has commissioned hundreds of logos to brand their products and properties. Sometimes they are good. Sometimes they are great. But a great logo doesn’t mean the brand will survive. Take a look at this image. Can you identify them all? Get them all correct and I’ll ship you an Xbox Two as soon as it launches!*
Best of luck!
* I will never ship you an Xbox Two.
When the computer mouse was new, it was simple to use but unfamiliar to users. As a result, user manuals could not say “click the red X”. Instead, they had to say, “move the mouse on your desk to control the pointer on your screen”. The idea of the mouse was new – the conversation had to start several steps back. After the mouse was successfully socialized and established as an input modality, user manuals could confidently say “click the red X”.
Oh, I know what you are thinking: “How can I contact Jerry?” Well, wonder no longer. Here’s my card for your armory. If you have a problem - if no one else can help - and if you can find me - maybe you can contact: me. Don’t share this with ANYONE. This is for you, and you alone. :)