Decorated Data

This new couple of screenshots shows the first attempts at layered data visualization using QbViz. Data is read from server (A WebOrb hosted C# service) as the user changes the area of interes on the interactive map. The red dots show data sampling points, while other screenshots are a basic representation of current information on the bay. As the images show data can also be downloaded from the server at different resolutions.

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Geographic data on QbViz

This new couple of screenshots show QbViz visualizing geospatial data. The original dataset contains sparse bathymetry information of Corpus Christi Bay, Texas. The dataset has been first converted to a standard heightmap image through an interpolation algorithm. In one of the screenies, the resulting heightmap has been decorated with satellite imagery.

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Smart particle visualization

Links to some articles about a data visualizaiton technique based on Sparts (smart particles).

Here, Here, and
Here.

Some nice info about collaborative visualization metaphors can be found HERE
A presentation on the same topic HERE

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QbViz

I added an entry for QbViz on my site. I plan to keep my blog updated with news about project progress from now on.

I still have to publish stuff about an ond game on mine and some other folks, called Inner battlefields As for now you can find some more information (and downloads, yey!) about it HERE.

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QbViz, New Screens

Here you can see some screenshot of the my main QbViz web application: ViewBuilder. ViewBuilder should be a generic tool to build and test QbViz views. It will be able to load data from local and remote data services, build up views, customize and save them. Views saved in viewbuilder should be completely compatible with any other QbViz application instance.

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Two nice links...

...About Papervision & Image processing in ActionScript 3. These two will definitely be useful for my thesis work!

Image Processing Library
UnitZeroOne

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QbViz - First Screenies

Here is a couple snapshots of the work I'm doing for my Thesis project. It's basically a data visualization system accessible by any flash-equipped browser. For the 3D i'm using a slightly modified version of Papervision.

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My Naming Conventions

Here are the naming conventions I currently use in my projects. I keep questioning myself about them from time to time. Usually I end up changing some point but I'm forcing myself not to do it anymore. Conventions should be a way of reducing developement cost. If you keep changing them you are actually turning them into a money pit. I learned that the most important thing with a naming convention is to stick with it, whatever its definition is.

C#

• Microsoft guidelines for everything public.
• Private variables: prefix them with my ie myVariableName. I use this style for both normal variables and winForms controls.

ActionScript

• Packages, and class members are camelCase.
• Class names are PascalCase.
• Private variables: prefix them with _ ie _variableName but I plan to switch this to the same convention I use for C#. That's because prefixing vars with an underscore results in a too low-levelish code for my tastes, and because underscore-prefixed vars as Flex control ids look weird in mxml (I don't want to use different naming conventions for controls and variables).

I thought a little bit about using the underscore style in C#, mainly because you have private vars clearly distinguished from the rest of class members in Intellisense. But again, the resulting code looked too low level.

I also considered using a single letter as a prefix for private vars, ie mMyVariable, but i like using my instead because it often makes the whole variable name sound like a piece of a correct english sentence.

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Installing WebORB on Vista

Extremely useful information if you have to install WebORB over a win Vista machine.

Read Here

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Mr Doob

Nice Site Design + Uber Nice PV3D Eye Candy!! Hooray!!!!

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Site Update

Added Videogame Design Seminar material (Italian).

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Batch Image Resizing

I was quite surprised not to find any Resize Bunch of Images function in Windows Vista. I was used to the Image resizer powertoy for Win XP, which added this exact functionality to the explorer context menu.

Anyway, I found the solution: VSO Image Resizer!! Its free and it does the trick (except for the context menu thingie, but that's fine enough).

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Console Event Handling

Today I was looking around fro a way to intercept exit events for a c# console application. I found out there is no 'simple' way to do it, you have to import a win3d API function as explained HERE.

I need to do this for my Edanarion server application. Server should be shut down gracefully through a console command, but it should also take care of shutdowns through console window closing.

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Edanarion News

Posted some new screenshot of Milestone 9 (Prometheus). You can find them here.

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Pre-Alpha

The intial version of my site is up. It still lacks content, but the style and layout are completed. I'll start creating project pages as soon as I can.

Layout & theme has undergone major modifications from its original version (the Primitive Element) one. I got a 2-column flexible layout out of a 3-column fixed one. Experimenting with it I learned quite a lot about CSS and table-less layouts.

The site has been tested only on IE 7 so far, I definitely need to run it on other browsers to see if the layout remains stable.

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Here It Begins

I started working on my own site. Finally. I'm trying to use a consistent style across the site and the blog. I'm satistfied with the result so far even if it can still be tweaked a little bit. The current theme is a mix of the PrimiteElement theme from Free CSS Templates and the Minimal Dark Blogger theme.

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