December 2004 - Posts
I really have no talent for the visual arts, but some of the tools now available allow me to pretend that I do. Give them a try...
ArtRage (which I discovered through Tim Weaver) is simply amazing. It simulates painting on canvas with a variety of methods (e.g. paint, crayon, pencil, etc.) I've been using it with a normal mouse, but if you have a tablet, you must try this.
CBN Selector is an easy-to-use image colorizer. The intended use is modifying a picture of a house or room to see how it would look with alternate colors. You define custom areas (e.g. garage door, window trim, carpet, curtains), then apply a new colors as you wish - the texture of the original is maintained. They have a great library of tutorials as well. Try this before you buy your next can of paint!
Paint.NET has just been updated to v2.0 (by way of Jason Barile.) A great Framework-based application supporting some fairly impressive (at least to a codemonger like myself) capabilities.
I've blogged about this before, but if you're interested in creating videos from your pictures, you should take a look at Microsoft's free Photo Story 3. You can create a decent video in just a few minutes (or, spend as much time as you'd like tweaking every little detail.)
All of these tools are freely obtainable.
Now, get out there and create!
-Chris
As Jean-Luc David points out, if you need a break from your holiday activities, and you have an MSDN subscription, head to your computer and download the latest CTP of Visual Studio 2005. My download of the 3,234 MB (!) DVD ISO just finished and I'll be firing it up soon. What new feature goodness awaits?
Thanks to Rob Caron for posting installation diagrams here and here as well as an installation guide in CHM and PDF formats.
(Nerd) Christmas has arrived two days early. :)
-Chris
[UPDATE: The newsgroups have now been migrated to the new MSDN Forums at http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/]
I'm surprised that more people don't take advantage of the NNTP-based groups that Microsoft make available specifically for Whidbey and Team System information. There are about a dozen groups on Team System alone and others on ASP.NET 2.0, .NET languages, Visual Studio 2005, VSTO, etc. I generally see responses from Microsoft employees within a couple of days to most questions. There's probably a better chance you'll get a (correct) response there than by a post on your blog, which can get lost in the noise. Of course, you can always do both!
There is a browser-based interface:
http://communities.microsoft.com/newsgroups/default.asp?icp=whidbey&slcid=us
Or they can be accessed via an NNTP reader (e.g. Outlook Express, Agent 2.0, etc.) to:
- Server: privatenews.microsoft.com
- Account name: privatenews\VSUser
- Password: Password
The more people use these groups, the better they'll be. So, yes, I'm being selfish by asking you to use them. :)
-Chris
My wife and I just returned from a trip to London to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We had a great time!
We actually ran out of time, but did manage to do quite a bit:
- British Museum - I find it amazing that they still only request donations for admission
- Fish & chips... Beer...
- Tate Britain - Absolutely fantastic museum. Also donation requested admission.
- Reduced Shakespeare Company performance at Piccadilly Circus
- Bangers & mash... Beer...
- Big Ben, Parliament, London Eye, Westminster Abbey - Be sure to sing Monty Python's “Oliver Cromwell“ in front of his statue.
- Ate at a restaurant that is much too fancy for us - I'm glad I only have to pay this much for dinner once every 10 years.
- Tower of London - It is worth joining with a Beefeater-led group tour, exploring the other areas after.
- Chicken pie... Beer...
- Saw Noel Coward's “Blithe Spirit” at the Savoy
- Shakespeare's Globe - I'm a bit of a Bard buff, so this was a pilgrimage of sorts.
- Found (uh, lots of) Cadbury chocolates - My favorites are the Wispas, but I “settle” for Flakes and Twirls.
- Obligatory shopping at Harrod's
- Found Devonshire Arms, a pub my wife used to go to when she studied in London
By the way, if you do find yourself heading there, we were very impressed with our stay at The Landmark London. A beautiful hotel with a great fitness facility and pool. It is connected under a canopy with the Marylebone tube station, so it was very easy to go anywhere (in Zone 1, at least.)
But, it is very nice to be home again. Now I've some catching up to do with blogs, articles and shows that SageTV recorded...
-Chris