I just added the “Sociable” plugin to my website.  I wanted to see how integrating social networking into my blog posts would affect my visibility on the web.  I plan to post an update after some time using the plugin, and discuss the results.

Stay tuned for updates!

After much time spent looking for ideas, coding, and creating a logo, I have redesigned and re-released Tim Dietrich.ca.  I am extremely proud of what I have accomplished, as it is my first Silverlight-based site.

I am particularly proud of my logo, which is vector-based (helps with scaling), and although inspired by Futurama‘s head in a jar, it was created entirely from scratch.

The site is nowhere near complete (in fact at this point, it just shows my portfolio and an opening animation), but some things to note are:

1. Everything is downloaded “on-the-fly”, rather than having it compiled into one XAML file.
2. The projects / work in the portfolio are dynamically created from an XML file which has the descriptions, project names, and a location of the graphic for the project).
3. All of the images in the portfolio are also downloaded on-demand, keeping the size of the application small.
4. The application is modular in nature, which will allow me to load new pages when they are created simply by changing 1 line of code.

Things still to come:

1. I am working on creating a dynamic menu, which will then load the content, based on the button which is clicked.
2. Styling – although I really like the look of the new sight, improvements can of course be made.  I would like to make the layout a bit slicker, and a bit less cartoon-ish (if that makes sense).
3. Post the following pages:
   1. Prices / Terms & Conditions
   2. Code
   3. Contact Us
   4. About
4. Link this site to my social networking sites.

So, please take the time to visit the new site, and then return here to post your comments.  I am always looking for ways to improve myself, and my skills, so if you have an constructive comments, please leave them here.

Thanks in advance,

-Tim

I recently developed a small application to be used an example to other Silverlight programmers, showing them how I was able to have my Silverlight application dynamically re-size itself based on the browser window’s size, but keep its aspect ratio.  This has been something which has been difficult to achieve in Silverlight since I started looking at the technology since day 1.

I felt the best way to alleviate some of the headaches I had during my development of such an application was to post the information on Microsoft’s CodePlex, an open-source community for developers.

To download a copy of the source code, or to take a look at my other projects which will be posted at a later date, check out my CodePlex profile.

I just posted a new download available for all who have been having trouble finding a way to get their Silverlight applications to resize and center dynamically, while still maintaining their aspect ratio. I have been having the same issue for quite a while now, and although there are many different solutions available online, there wasn’t one that did exactly what I wanted it to do, so I went ahead and coded a solution for myself.

I figured that it could be of assistance to other coders out there, so I have made it available for download.

I hope to post some more details about what it accomplished, and maybe a tutorial to go along with it, but it will take some time, and I am extremely busy at the moment. Please feel free to leave any comments you may have, along with any suggestions which may make it better. I am always looking for a way to make things more efficient.

Hope you find it helpful, and happy coding!

-Tim

I was lucky enough to attend the concert for Dala with The Undesirables at Valley Heights Secondary School on Monday night. I have seen The Undesirables on a past occasion…for those who have not seen them, I strongly recommend it. The are very unique – a rock / folk sound with simply amazing lyrics. Each song is a story unto itself, and Corin and Sean do an absolutely fantastic job of involving the audience by revealing a small piece of themselves in every concert. Their website describes them this way:

The Undesirables are a refreshing and infectious songwriting duo who kick out heat like an old woodstove.

I think that is an excellent way to sum them up. Coupled with Dala, our $15 was well spent. Dala is a definite contrast to The Undesirables. The ladies (Amanda and Sheila) are absolutely adorable, with sharp wits, and a fantastic sense of humor, especially in regard to themselves, and their life experiences.

As with The Undesirables, they are story tellers through their music, but their music is more on the pop side, where the boys are a bit more dark. The combination of styles, mixed with the groups sense of humor left me wanting more.

The group treated us to a very unique encore where they sung two songs together to end the night.

All in all, a fantastic evening, and for a good cause, as the reason for the concert was to raise money for the music department to buy new instruments to replace the aging ones students are currently using.