Current Projects
So, I'm currently working on a few different projects programming-wise. However, I never seem to see them to a satisfactory completion, so I'm hoping that if I write it down here, I'll kick myself into finishing. Also, I just started playing with the Windows Presentation Foundation SDK (pretty looking stuff), and it gives me some real targets to use it for. And, so no one (read: me) get's my hopes up too soon, these projects are a long way off of being actually usable, and I'm going to see Eva next week in Boston, so it'll be a while. Without further ado, here's the list:
1. Catering Software
I've been working on software for my father's catering for a while (read: since Visual Studio 2003 just came out). So... I figured I should work on that some. I had at one point a complete application, but hated how it looked. So I restarted from the ground up and now it's not doing anything. Go Go Gadget A.D.D.! Basically, I want it to be able to manage client data, menu and event calendars, and schedule meetings with clients. I also had the original tied in with MapQuest (his preference, not mine) to automatically provide directions based on the location of the event. If possible, I'd also like to add a document repository to it. However, like I said, this was done in the past, and then trashed. I'll restart working on it soon, and with the WPF support, I may actually even be able to make it look nice. Also, WPF allows me to create forms without worrying about code for a while, so I should be able to make so slick mockups to determine a likeable layout.
2. RSS Viewer
So, I've got ~ 100 RSS feeds I try to keep up on (read: can't even start to). And then I came across two things:
The New York Times newsreader is simply an RSS reader tailor made for the New York Times. However, it provides a very newspaper-like look and feel to it. As such, it was much easier to read articles in this layout than as individual articles. And it comes with a nice and nifty article summary (Seen Below)
.
Therefore, I'm interested in trying to emulate this layout style while utilizing a little AI like AideRSS to try to create an RSS viewer for me. :) Below is a very early test of the layout that I've gotten working in ~ 5 hours of work.
There's still LOTS to do (multiple feeds, article selection, the individual article pages, image support -maybe even podcasts?, more formatting, including scaling, custom column layouts, etc...) so I've got a long way to go, but hey, it's a start.
3. Cateringbyrick.com
So I'm still working on my father's website as a side hobby. I've gotten the layout completely redone (http://new.cateringbyrick.com/) but still have a lot of work to do. I still need to get the following stuff done before I can make it live:
1. Catering Software
I've been working on software for my father's catering for a while (read: since Visual Studio 2003 just came out). So... I figured I should work on that some. I had at one point a complete application, but hated how it looked. So I restarted from the ground up and now it's not doing anything. Go Go Gadget A.D.D.! Basically, I want it to be able to manage client data, menu and event calendars, and schedule meetings with clients. I also had the original tied in with MapQuest (his preference, not mine) to automatically provide directions based on the location of the event. If possible, I'd also like to add a document repository to it. However, like I said, this was done in the past, and then trashed. I'll restart working on it soon, and with the WPF support, I may actually even be able to make it look nice. Also, WPF allows me to create forms without worrying about code for a while, so I should be able to make so slick mockups to determine a likeable layout.
2. RSS Viewer
So, I've got ~ 100 RSS feeds I try to keep up on (read: can't even start to). And then I came across two things:
- AideRSS (www.aiderss.com)
- The New York Times newsreader
The New York Times newsreader is simply an RSS reader tailor made for the New York Times. However, it provides a very newspaper-like look and feel to it. As such, it was much easier to read articles in this layout than as individual articles. And it comes with a nice and nifty article summary (Seen Below)
.
Therefore, I'm interested in trying to emulate this layout style while utilizing a little AI like AideRSS to try to create an RSS viewer for me. :) Below is a very early test of the layout that I've gotten working in ~ 5 hours of work.
There's still LOTS to do (multiple feeds, article selection, the individual article pages, image support -maybe even podcasts?, more formatting, including scaling, custom column layouts, etc...) so I've got a long way to go, but hey, it's a start.
3. Cateringbyrick.com
So I'm still working on my father's website as a side hobby. I've gotten the layout completely redone (http://new.cateringbyrick.com/) but still have a lot of work to do. I still need to get the following stuff done before I can make it live:
- Multiple Photo Albums - I want to do a page for Setups, a page for Food, a page for People, and a Miscellaneous page. Right now, it's all mooshed together.
- Feedback Form - One of the biggest things that my father's been asked about is to get a method for gathering feedback from clients. I'm thinking that this would require manual input or a customer portal. Either of those is a beast, but doable. I haven't made a decision, so it's not done.
- Administrative Area - I want Dad to be able to upload photos and categorize them as necessary. It would also be nice if he could edit the menu from there.
- Menu-item Hovers - A simple feature I'd like to include is a description of each menu item as you hover over it. It should have a small thumbnail image of the item, as well as a text description.
- Different Header Images - Each area of the site should have its own header image.