Andy asked me how he could take a button we built and reuse it in other forms or even other apps.

<Window

       xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

       xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

       xml:lang="en-US"

       x:Class="Window1"   

       x:Name="Window"

       Title="Window1"

       Width="640" Height="480" Background="#FF000000">

<!--This can be Grid.Resources or Application.Resources or anything, depending on what

object’s ResourceDictionary you want this to be stored -->

       <Window.Resources>

<!-- This first resource is the brush that was created -->

              <LinearGradientBrush x:Key="AndysRedBrush" EndPoint="0.512,1.023" StartPoint="0.512,0.205">

                     <GradientStop Color="#A0923030" Offset="0"/>

                     <GradientStop Color="#00FFFFFF" Offset="0.438"/>

                     <GradientStop Color="#33861A1A" Offset="0.433"/>

              </LinearGradientBrush>

<!-- This second resource is the Style generated for the glass button -->

              <Style BasedOn="{x:Null}" TargetType="{x:Type Button}">

                     <Setter Property="Template">

<!-- The template property has the physical design of the control -->

                           <Setter.Value>

                                  <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}">

                                         <Grid>

                                                <Rectangle RadiusX="8.5" RadiusY="8.5" x:Name="rectangle">

                                                       <Rectangle.Fill>

                                                              <LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.512,1.023" StartPoint="0.512,0.205">

                                                                     <GradientStop Color="#A0FFFFFF" Offset="0"/>

                                                                     <GradientStop Color="#00FFFFFF" Offset="0.438"/>

                                                                     <GradientStop Color="#33FEFEFE" Offset="0.433"/>

                                                              </LinearGradientBrush>

                                                       </Rectangle.Fill>

                                                       <Rectangle.Stroke>

                                                              <LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.464,0.98" StartPoint="0.464,0.065">

                                                                     <GradientStop Color="#CCFFFFFF" Offset="0"/>

                                                                     <GradientStop Color="#CCFFFFFF" Offset="1"/>

                                                                     <GradientStop Color="#77FFFFFF" Offset="0.51"/>

                                                              </LinearGradientBrush>

                                                       </Rectangle.Stroke>

                                                </Rectangle>

                                                <ContentPresenter SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}" HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}" VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}" RecognizesAccessKey="True"/>

                                         </Grid>

<!-- The ControlTemplate.Triggers collection contains the criteria based property triggers that change the visual state of the button -->

                                         <ControlTemplate.Triggers>

                                                <Trigger Property="IsFocused" Value="True">

                                                       <Setter Property="Fill" TargetName="rectangle" Value="{DynamicResource AndysRedBrush}"/>

                                                </Trigger>

                                                <Trigger Property="IsDefaulted" Value="True">

                                                       <Setter Property="Fill" TargetName="rectangle" Value="{DynamicResource AndysRedBrush}"/>

                                                </Trigger>

                                                <Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="True">

                                                       <Setter Property="Fill" TargetName="rectangle">

                                                              <Setter.Value>

                                                                     <LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.512,1.023" StartPoint="0.512,0.205">

                                                                           <GradientStop Color="#A0FFFFFF" Offset="0"/>

                                                                           <GradientStop Color="#00FFFFFF" Offset="0.438"/>

                                                                           <GradientStop Color="#335835FA" Offset="0.433"/>

                                                                     </LinearGradientBrush>

                                                              </Setter.Value>

                                                       </Setter>

                                                </Trigger>

                                                <Trigger Property="IsPressed" Value="True">

                                                       <Setter Property="Opacity" TargetName="rectangle" Value="0.73"/>

                                                </Trigger>

                                                <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="False"/>

                                         </ControlTemplate.Triggers>

                                  </ControlTemplate>

                           </Setter.Value>

                     </Setter>

              </Style>

<!-- The resources end here -->

       </Window.Resources>

 

       <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">

              <Button HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="136,109,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="124" Height="44" Content="Button" Foreground="#FFFFFFFF"/>

       </Grid>

</Window>

Go to FILE > NEW ITEM and add a new ResourceDictionary. It will look something like this:

<ResourceDictionary

       xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

       xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">

       <!-- Resource dictionary entries should be defined here. -->

</ResourceDictionary>

Now simply take the entire <Style></Style> tag (and accompanying resources like the LinearGradientBrush) and paste them inside the ResourceDictionary tag. This file can now be used inside the same project or added to other projects and the style will be added automatically.

The new ResourceDictionary file should show up in the Resources pane in Blend, and you can drag-drop styles from there.

Episode 2 | 2/9/2007
Control Customization

In this episode, we take a look at how easy it is to customize existing controls by customizing templates and using triggers. All this is done without writing a single line of code.

Running time: 12:46

URL: http://ux.nukeation.com/default.aspx?episode=2

Heh. Okay, so the first show is out and we made a small mistake. The EXE downloadable. My bad. I was half asleep after editing the video. We're changing it to simple WMV (or zipped WMV, at least) immediately.

Thanks to a bit of help from the people in Microsoft, we're now going to have a full featured online WPF/E based player which will stream the shows (aside from the normal download) at unbelievable resolutions.

Now, episode 1 was a simple teaser. An introduction to what we are gonna do, what the show will be like, what... uh, I mean who we are, etc. Episode 2, coming up in a day or so, will dive into some real stuff.

Here is our schedule:

February

1. Let me WOW you with blend
2. Control Customization
3. DataTemplates in Detail (aka, Return of the Flickr App)
4. Useful Animations

March (yes, we become two-times-a-week)

1. Let's take a whack at Codename "WPF/E"
2. The Developer + Designer Integration Story
3. A great resource for Resources (ResourceDictionaries)
4. WPF Applications in the Browser
5. Using Aero Glass
6. VisualBrush - the Yoda of WPF
7. Reconstructing the Office 2007 look
8. Creating a Nuclear Purge Button

 

We jumpstart the series with a quick description of what WPF is all about and give you a quick whiff of the superior DataBinding in Microsoft Expression Blend.

Running time: 8:22

Get the show at here

 

www.revolUXions.com | the revolUXions has RTM'd :)

 

Update: We now have a zipped WMV file instead for universal compatibility.

We have delayed the launch of revolUXions, which starts with the episode "Introduction to Blend", till this weekend. We hope to take this live late night Saturday.

Please stay tuned to this feed for more information, and thanks for your patience.

Microsoft has released Beta 2 of Expression Blend.

New features include direct creation of controls by dragging styles onto the design surface, inner exception details (much needed!!), and improved value editors for things such as BitmapEffects, ListItems, TabItems, etc.

Check it out at http://www.microsoft.com/expression/

 

After a lot of planning, recording mishaps (a perfect take lost due to my idiotically forgetting to press the RECORD button), tweaking, lots of coffee, Andy's vein's popping with an OD of sugar, some more tweaking, and some masterful digital artwork and editing, the revolUXion is finally released to manufacturing.

Keep watching this space, Andy's blog, and/or http://ux.nukeation.com for the public release on February 1, 2007.

Now, we've been very cheeky about revolUXions, but now here's the whole story:

WPF is out. But we're lacking good resources that tell you HOW some of the deep features work, or how to get started to experiment (do note, for developers there are some resources, but designers are mostly in the dark). Everyone is talking potential but no one is talking real concepts. Even some "great literature" on WPF out there is too hello-worldly. I'm sorry to say many a good developer are taking weird routes to doing things in WPF.

Bottomline: we need information on how to implement WPF into new projects. How to add a designer to your team, or work remotely with one. How to create a new level of interactivity that no doubt looks good but also makes your application and the end-user's task much more efficient.

There are full time designers working in Flash, Web, or other media who have the potential to build some great things in WPF, but it's too new for them and risky. I won't say I want Flash'rs to leave Flash. This is not a Microsoft propaganda machine, for the record. If you're looking for some decent new technology and TONS of earning opportunities, then WPF, Expression and WPF/E can give you that.

Developers are about to find out that their familiar world of Windows Forms is about to turn different. Yes, it's an eventuality we have to face: WPF is going to replace Windows Forms in the near future. It is the evolution of Windows Forms, and a revolution for User Experience.

Join us this Thursday (1st Feb), and we'll do our best to give you a wide spectrum of topics without wasting too much of your time, and maybe even help you get an idea or two for how WPF can help you do your job easier.

.NET 3.0 is out.

WPF is out.

Blend is almost out.

WPF/E has been reveleaded and will soon also be out.

Clients are asking about WPF and WPF/E.

Developers are asking about WPF and WPF/E.

Non-Microsoft technologists are asking about WPF and WPF/E!

 

But there is NOTHING comprehensive out there to teach you how to REALLY use it. Nothing but developer samples.

How do you REALLY get the full potential of WPF to work in your app?

Has anyone even told you that WPF is the successor to Windows Forms?

How do you get a designer to work with a team of developers and share code? Without needing Source Control!

How does a team of developers work with a designer and not mess up his graphics?

 

As you can see there are too many questions and too few answers.

So what makes WPF greater or more exciting than say LINQ or WCF or something like that? No doubt those are great and useful technologies but to quote Andy, "They're just evolutions. WPF is a revolution!"

That's where we come in. A designer (me) and a developer (Andy Eick). We will show you EVERYTHING that has ANYTHING to do with WPF. With the generous help of people like Carl Franklin (.NET Rocks, Pwop Productions) and Leon Brown (UX and Expression Product Lead, Microsoft), we're creating a new series of screencasts that will give you highly concentrated doses of WPF.

So stay tuned to the revolUXions feed here. We're going live very soon.

This thing started catching attention before it was even announced.

It's hot and it's coming soon.

The ultimate WPF resource. The only hint I can give you so far is - it's powered by Pwop.

...that one M. Andrew Eick of Farmington Hills, MI, USA is the most awesome guy on the planet. Even if his printer doesn't have any ink.

Thanks, man!

[Edit: Now if this isn't link love, nothing is! :)]

I'm still finding that many people are still not trying WPF. Many don't know where to start. So to help people adopt WPF, Andy Eick and I are creating some cool "learning material".

Instead of assuming we know what you - "Joe Developer" or "Joe Designer" - want to know more about in WPF, we'll just ask you.

What do you want to learn about in WPF? Does databinding interest you? Or maybe custom controls? Or scalable layouts? Or the declarative XAML?

Post a comment and leave your thoughts. We will make sure we do our best to satisfy your questions in our "learning material". Really. Free training material tailored to your needs - what more could you ask for?!

Keep reading Andy's blog and mine for updates.

I've just been informed that I'm now officially a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for Client Application Development.

Thanks to Abhishek Kant at Microsoft for pushing me for it.

 

 

 

 

 

To recieve an autographed photo of me send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Ego Dept. @ Nukeation Studios. :)

I finally decided to go with flickr as my photographic gallery. I ended up loading hundreds of pictures today. My favorite is the "My Water" collection.

A couple of months ago, I was in Mumbai for IndiMIX and we were enduring a long taxi ride to the Microsoft office. I had my camera with me as usual and was snapping random pictures everywhere. At a stop light, I saw this very young kid standing next to a bus stop. He was barefoot and looked very poor and possibly homeless (which in Mumbai has a very vague meaning!). He was carrying around a discarded half litre soda bottle full of water.

I started taking photos of him purely on instinct (and because of his charming smile). He was so curious about something hanging from a small chain on one of the poles of the bus stop. He kept playing with his water, washing his head, and splashing water everywhere. He was very quite, didn't seem to be speaking at all. He would walk around and then come back to the thing on the chain and he was SO curious.

It was heartbreaking! And then he moved away from the pole and went to a shop with shoes lined up in the window. I just wanted to get out of the car and get him a pair of shoes. But to my shock he wasn't interested in the shoes. He just wanted to pour some water on the window sill and play some more.

At that moment I decided to get out of the car and just hand him some money. He was unsupervised so I hoped he could spend it on something he LIKED and not needed. But before I could do anything the traffic started moving and there wasn't anything I could do.

I went back through the same route the next day but I couldn't find the kid.

You can see the "My Water" set at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nukeation/sets/72157594424347659/ 

and my other collections at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nukeation/

FUD of the Week: IDC Says Microsoft Will Drive Users to Linux
I'm a big fan of "This Is the Year of Desktop Linux" stories because, a) it has never happened, and b) it obviously will never happen. But that hasn't stopped the prescient analysts at IDC from predicting that Microsoft, ironically, will be responsible for driving users from Windows to, yes, Linux. How will this happen, you ask? Well, Microsoft's heavy-handed approach to software piracy is so onerous, IDC said, that users will go running to the relative safety and friendliness of Linux. Hey, it makes sense. Oh wait, no it doesn't.

It's Official: Google Is Evil
Apparently, Google's corporate mantra--"Do no evil"--includes a typo, because the company's behavior is decidedly evil. I'm not even sure where to start on this one. There's the license agreement for Google's phishing filter, which basically tells you that, yes, the company is going to give away your private information. Then there's the debacle of last week's release of a Google-branded version of Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 7, which conspicuously copied--in a blatant, wholehearted fashion--a similar Yahoo project. But my favorite little bit of fun out of Mordor--er, ah, Google--has got to be what happens if you try to change the default search provider on  version of IE 7 in which you've installed the Google toolbar. It actually prevents you from changing the search provider to anything other than Google, using a feature that presents itself as protection against other applications that are trying to surreptitiously change your search provider. And you know how often that happens.

Courtesy: www.winsupersite.com | Paul Thurrott's WinInfo UPDATE

The website for Jungle Coast (Costa Rica) has gone live at http://www.junglecoast.com - designed by Nukeation Studios (as usual).

Jungle Coast is owned by a dear friend of mine, Cynthia Najim. She is perhaps the craziest person I know. I mean it in a good way (in this context). I met her a few years back when we worked on a project together (in India). Check out this excerpt from her profile:

"While living in Hong Kong for 12 years, Cynthia managed a variety of events around Asia, including the official celebrations for the reunification of Hong Kong and China, the APEC Business Forum, Chinese New Year Parade and others. Cynthia also  studied in Spain, served the diplomatic community in Washington, DC, was Program Director for the Guam USO, did pro-bono marketing work in India, and led a tour through Tibet - among other projects."

She's also a terrific photographer. Check out the visual gallery at www.junglecoast.com (under EXPERIENCE). Since we share a great love for nature, she's been telling me to come to Costa Rica - which I plan to in early 2007. I badly need a vacation - been working non-stop since 2002!! Anyways, I'm gonna upgrade my photographic equipment (Andy, help!!) and do my first "photo tour" in Costa Rica. It seems like such a lovely place. And I'm a reptile freak (along with a plain freak) so I'm told I'll love it there. Maybe even climb into a volcano. Swim with crocs. Check out the Tortuga National Park. Maybe even take a sidetrip to Galapagos. I love turtles/tortoises. In fact, my first word as a baby was "turtle". No wait, my first word was "onion". The next one was "turtle".

Is it sad that I'm thinking how much fun it would be to blog about the trip as opposed to thinking how much fun the trip would be? Sigh.

Anyways, check out the site, and if you're looking to invest in some property in Costa Rica, this is the person to call. :)

 

PS. No, she is NOT trespassing in this picture.

Brian Noyes' (whose blog I just a few weeks back) website SOFTWARE INSIGHT has gone live. Check it out.

Yes, I can finally talk about this now that it is all public info!

http://www.microsoft.com/expression

Microsoft has released the new CTPs of Expression Blend (formerly Interactive Designer), and Expression Design (formerly Graphic Designer).

Microsoft Expression WEB has officially RTM'd.

Microsoft has also released the first public CTP of WPF/E

http://www.microsoft.com/wpfe

http://msdn.microsoft.com/wpfe

And we also have a new site here at:

http://www.microsoft.com/design

Go check it all out while I write my review!

 

Welcome to the new world of UX. It's not going to be the same - ever.

http://www.microsoft.com/design/

 

Go there! NOW!

READ THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

 

The other official sites are going to be updated soon, I guess. Will write more as it happens.

 

Woohoo, I can finally talk about all this now!!

Visit http://www.msnspecials.in/indimix/video.asp

The first video marked here is the actual session we did on Expression. The second is the interview I did for winning the Blogstar contest.

My original professional roots are in 3D animation. It's been a long time since I've done any 3D work. Recently I couldn't help but get Vue 6 Infinite (even though it's still pre-release!). It is perhaps the best 3D nature design software I've worked with. I intend to write a detailed review/experience of Vue 6. For now I just wanted to share some initial renders I did with SkinVue and the new Spectral Atmosphere model. As you can clearly see, the results are amazing.

"Bareback"

"The Last Dragon"

MetaClouds + Spectral Atmosphere Render 1

Spectral Atmosphere + MetaClouds - Render 2

Spectral Atmosphere Render 3

Leon Brown, the Expression/UX head honcho for Microsoft Asia-Pacific, has just started a new UX blog: Expression & UX in Asia.

Prior to joining Microsoft recently, Leon was the Senior Product Manager for Illustrator and the Creative Suite line up at Adobe for 8 years.

This is definetely a blog to keep your eye on.

 

More about Microsoft's IndiMIX'06 >>

From left to right:

Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman of Microsoft India; Tarun Gulati, MD of Microsoft India; Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corp.; Dax Pandhi (Me), CEO of Nukeation Studios.

Check out what we did for Brian Noyes' blog. If you don't know, Brian was in TopGun (not the movie)! Nukeation set him up with a C#-enabled cockpit.

Visit his blog at http://www.softinsight.com/bnoyes

 

From left to right:

Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman of Microsoft India; Tarun Gulati, MD of Microsoft India; Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corp.; Dax Pandhi (Me), CEO of Nukeation Studios.

This week has been amazing! I don't do much public speaking but the guys at Microsoft got me to be a speaker at IndiMIX'06. The central focus of the event was Expression and Live. Designer and developer. Cricket and Bollywood.

The event (my first big event) was fantastic. It started with a keynote from Steve Ballmer. Following that the application MatchCast, a high-end cricket statistic and analysis application, was showcased by Anil Kumble. Nukeation was the UX consultant on the application.

There was more stuff after that (from 1100 to 1300) but I missed it for two reasons. First, as the winner of Microsoft Blogstar, I had to go backstage and meet Steve himself!

>> This blog has been interrupted to announce that you are reading the blog of a Blogstar. We now return to the regularly scheduled post. <<

I got my photo taken with him, but they haven't sent it to me yet. :/ And secondly, after Steve left, my team had to prepare for our session.

The Designer Session Team

This was my first real, big speaking event and I was nervous as hell at first. The main reason I was able to give a good presentation was because of three incredibly cool people - Leon Brown, Pandurang Nayak, and Deepak Gulati. Our session was 75 minutes and covered the three Expression products. We also launched www.1expression.net (more on that later) and the WebRockstars contest at http://www.webrockstars.in/

I couldn't have asked for a better team! These guys are amazing. Thanks so much, guys! We spent two days in a conference room in Microsoft Mumbai preparing for our stuff. It was a first-of-it's-kind experience for me. Of course, the traditional "pizza while debugging" was a familiar entity.

Our session went excellently. It opened up with Leon (who was our session host) and cricket player Murali Kartik (a name Leon still probably can't pronounce - man, he got a lot of torture from me about that - and lots of other stuff!), followed by a walkthrough of Expression Web by Pandurang.

Pandu explains the session to Murali Kartik

I followed that with a brief intro of Expression Graphic Designer and Expression Interactive Designer. After that Deepak and I did a Developer-Designer workflow integration demo. He made a strict "developer looking" application (aka, functional but crappy looking) in Visual Studio 2005 with "Orcas" tools. I opened the solution in ExprID and enhanced it with styles and animations. We got a really great response from the audience. Deepak and I immediately developed this chemistry which allowed us to create a funny little style of working together on-stage. And I think the people really loved it.

We ended our session with three important things: an announcement that great things will be revealed about Expression in the first week of December; the launch of www.1expression.net; and a Q&A session. My fun moment there was representing my fellow designers worldwide - the most audible form of that was during the closing when someone asked "What are the debugging capabilities of Expression Interactive?". Deepak, Leon, and Pandu gave good, real answers. I, of course, said "Designers don't debug". :)

Mandira Bedi, TV personality and the host of the live webcast

I again missed the next session (Developer) as I was asked to be interviewed on the live webcast (75k viewers - made my knees shake!) by Mandira Bedi. I was able to catch Bob Muglia's closing remarks and Q&A. After the event, Leon and I also did a short interview for CNBC.

Bob Muglia answers a question. The four guys in the background are Deepak Gulati, Janakiram MSV, Kevin D'Souza, and Rohit Kapoor.

Praveen Srivatsa, Microsoft Regional Director for Bangalore, takes software construction seriously

 

Over the past 5 days, I got to meet some really great people - Microsfties, MVPs, RDs, simple civilianss, business execs, Cricket stars, movie stars, and who can forget Steve Ballmer! I also got to learn so many cool things that I can't tell without violating a dozen NDAs. That's the price you pay for being close to Microsoft.

All I can say is: hang on - the ride has just begun!

PS. Leon, yes, still MEKNB.

Recently, Kevin Cannon posted a comment on my post "The Designer Angle: Uncharted territory". I was writing a reply to him when I thought maybe this would make a good post in of itself and highlight some collateral thoughts.

Kevin wrote:

That is how you should do it.

A rule of design is that you shouldn't think about the underlying code at all. By all means spec out a project so it doesn't go over budget in development, but if a designer is worrying about implementation too much then there's a problem.

Just look at what happened when designers started learning CSS. All CSS-only webpages ended up looking like weblogs. Then after awhile, designers were confident enough in their skills that they could return to designing what was best for the client, without worrying about how it was going to be implemented, because they were confident it could be done.

Creating software is all about the user and how the user interacts with software. And the interface designer controls that, not the developer. Products should never be led by technology, they should be led by users needs.

That's the whole point of Expression ID, to separate out these distinct processes.

What alternative do you suggest?

I don't dispute this. In fact, I quite agree with it. Heck, in response to a question about the debugging capabilities of ExprID (asked during IndiMIX'06 a couple of days ago, more info to be posted later) I replied "Designers don't debug!". :) Well, that was half jokingly.

The point I was trying to make was that designers think in a very different way than developers do. The "how" of design and technological implementation differs from team to team or person to person. The point I was trying to make was that designers think differently and that Microsoft does not yet completely grasp that particular way of thinking. And I say "yet", not "can't". This is a transitory period for the industry. Both designers and developers will have learn how to work better together.

It is high time that the process of design and development were made distinctly separate. I did a presentation at IndiMIX'06 on Thursday with the amazing Deepak Gulati about this very thing - the Developer + Designer integration. I'm also writing an article for MSDN on this subject with different scenarios and providing some examples of how to work out a process that works best for you.

My next blog post is about IndiMIX'06 - and the revelations I had there and during the pre-event journey that will shed more light on what I'm talking about (on this subject, at least) :)