Jul 20, 2004

My 3D Education begin...

Daniel has started up his series of intro to Avalon 3D... which he called 3D for the Rest of Us. Of course, the first thing I want is the source to all his samples!

| Add comment | #Longhorn #Software

Jul 07, 2004

3D Tutorial...

I have a confession to make... I'm not a 3D expert. I know the basics of 3D using Maya. I've dabbled with just enough math to know the names of some of the things I need to do 3D. But, I have another confession - I lust after 3D. I've always wanted to be the guy who could build cool 3D worlds. But alas, I haven't ever taken the time to get down and dirty with Direct3D. Now, of course, I have a job requirement to understand 3D.

Because of my lack of deep understanding, I went straight to the source and cornered Daniel in the hallways and asked what material I should start studying. He offer to give me a short tutorial on how to build 3D using Avalon, on the condition that he could post it to his blog. I had to accept.

Anyway, the first tutorial isn't posted yet, but keep an eye on Daniel's Blog...

| Comments [13] | #Longhorn #Software

Jul 06, 2004

Pragmatic programming

A great set of resources and information on The Pragmatic Programmers.

| Comments [5] | #Software

Jul 04, 2004

Communication, part II

Almost all the games I buy for XBOX these days has a little "XBOX Live Enabled!" logo somewhere on the box. My latest game, Riddick, does nothing more than enable you to logon to XBOX live so your friends know you are online. Which is actually pretty cool - I can get invited to play Ghost Recon, or something else, while in the middle of playing Riddick. Splinter Cell supports content download - as does Ghost Recon, and many others.

I logged onto a friends laptop today using my normal Microsoft credentials. I was able to logon and start up Outlook. After typing in my Exchange server name, outlook downloaded my content and started letting me browse my mail. I used terminal services client to connect to another machine of mine also. All without ever getting granted any elevated permission above "guest".

Two different experiences, however they highlight something i've been thinking about a lot lately.

Connectivity as a selling point is dead.

In video games, online support isn't a selling point - it is a base service. On personal computers all software is just expected to work with the network. DHCP, 802.11b, and single login have moved us to a point where people just assume it will work. Connectivity is the "air" of modern computing.

Looking back, there was a time that mouse support, VGA graphics, or sound support was a value add for software. Today it is just assumed that software will support every peripheral on your computer. High-color display and 16bit sound are required to just meet the minimum bar for software.

Today, I believe, communication is the differentiating factor.

The effectiveness of your software to communicate to your users, adminsitrators, and other software is the key aspect that consumers are looking for. Web pages don't cut it. SOA isn't enough. Flashy animations don't do it.

| Comments [8] | #Software

It's about communication, stupid

I often get the question about what architects do. Over the past year or so, I've begun to see the critical pattern. It turns out is the same thing that good managers do.

Communication

As an architect I have no one that reports to me. I have no ability to directly "order" someone to do anything. Oddly enough, that is actually true for people that manage also. Anyone who manages from a power base rooted in the review process is generally a bad manager. The review process, the ability to fire, are all tools of last resort. These are the nuclear weapons of leadership and should never be used as methods of persuasion. Instead, in the end, it's about our ability to communicate ideas, infect people with our views, and build a groundswell of support.

Today I was giving someone advice about using PowerPoint to convey an idea. It wasn't about flashy graphics (quite the opposite) but rather about using the right tool for the job. They wanted to create a click through of some design time experience for some Windows Form feature. I went through the quick methodology for doing it, and in the end it took about 25% of the time that he had originally thought it would, and was (hopefully) going to convey the idea much better than before.

My model for presentations has drastically changed in the past 12 months. My methodology now is to start with a brian dump whitepaper. Rework the paper to tell a story, build headlines for the major sections, and then use that to drive a slideshow. I don't religiously follow this, however the idea of focusing on the story, the key points, and simplicity remains the same.

I recently had a "test" of my communication skills. I gave a presentation on versioning to the Avalon team. Around 80 people showed up. I tried to remove as much information from the talk, reduce it to it's simplest concepts. The questions I got indicated to me that people understood the topic. Now, the big test - in two months will people remember anything about it?

| Comments [9] | #Software

Jun 28, 2004

30" drool machine

I want one.

| Comments [11] | #Software

Tiger...

Spent tonight watching Jobs' WWDC Keynote and hearing about Tiger. Unfortunately my QT player died on me about 20 minutes before the end, but I still got a good flavor of what they are doing. Amazing stuff. The CoreImage/Video demo was very cool. Spotlight, awesome. Not sure how much of this is shipping code, but it looks like they are making some awesome technology down in Cupertino.

| Comments [7] | #Software

Jun 25, 2004

Ankles are useful

I made mention a couple weeks ago about my ankle injury. Basically I was running down some stairs and twisted my ankle to the side as I tried to jump down 4 stairs. Ouch.

Anyway, after 3 rounds of x-rays, 1 MRI, 2 doctors, 2 braces, and 3 weeks I finally have a better understanding of what the issue is. Oh, and I still have to schedule a CAT scan for next week.

I have a "3rd degree ankle sprain" and a "bone bruise" in my talar dome. The bone bruise apparently is the slightly concerning part, as it might indicate a fracture of the bone that is too hard to detect on the x-rays and MRI (hence the CAT scan).

The good news is that I'm officially off of the air-cast - a big boot-like brace that completly immobilizes the ankle, and now i'm on a much smaller brace that limits the ankle motion to 1 plane. So, I get to wear two shoes again!

As for the other points of note - Monday my wife's MDX goes into the shop for repairs after the accident that happened the same weekend as my ankle injury.

| Comments [10] | #Personal Life

Jun 24, 2004

Riddick

Yesterday I felt like picking up a new game, and I was debating what to get. While browsing around I discovered some really positive reviews for Chronicles of Riddick. Odd, given that movie based games normally suck. When I went to the local game store it got rave reviews from the other shoppers and the staff. What the hell.

The game is an interesting cross between Splinter Cell and Halo. The graphics are amazing, and the fact that they went for a MA game, and kept the swearing in adds to the game feeling very different than typical. Riddick kills people to gain favor with other inmates, acquires a shiv, and beats the hell out of people with brass knuckles. And this is all in the first level!

I still haven't gotten my eyes shined, but the stealth mode is pretty nice. Overall, the game is pretty slick. We'll see if it keeps my attention long enough to finish.

| Comments [11] | #My Hobbies