satine.org

Improvisation – 2003-11-20 (more…)

I’ve decided to start a tech blog, aka a journal dedicated to all things computer and software development related.

The sort of things I’ll likely cover at first are in areas of:

Graphics – Stuff here about vector graphics, optimization, computer vision techniques. I’m particularly interested in image-based rendering, non-photorealistic rendering, and statistical entity recovery. Buzzwords du jour: SVG, Flash, NPR, Shader Programming, CG, Bayesian Digital Matting.

Interaction Design – Stuff here about UI – interactivity, concepts, design principles. Some of this I’ve employed in my work on Openwave’s V7 Finder UI. This overlaps with some work IP, so topics here will be focused on general topics and specific topics non-intersecting with my work. Buzzwords du jour: Task-oriented UI design, “Smart” lists / buckets, Search-based information management.

Application Models – Stuff here about application models – design, architecture, principles. A lot of this will overlap with my work, so topics here will be general in nature and comment on published work. In a way this topic is related to both Graphics and Interaction Design. Buzzwords du jour: SVG-RCC, XAML, XUL, Flash, MVC, Native vs Platform UI toolkits, Qtopia, Java, BREW.

Embedded Systems – Stuff here about embedded systems – device hardware, trends, embedded system constraints, tricks, tips and so on. Buzzwords du jour: Embedded Linux, Java, BREW, ARM, tao Intent, Qt Phone Edition, MS Smartphone 2004.

Process Optimization – Stuff here about development processes – documentation tools, process strategies, design patterns, refactoring, defect tracking, release models, and on and on. Buzzwords du jour: Refactoring, Eclipse, Doxygen, Design Patterns, Bugzilla, Xtreme Programming, and the Cathedral and Bazaar.

Most people don’t know that I’m an avid Buffy fan. This drawing is from one of the first episodes I ever saw, Tabula Rasa. The Willow character has been suffering from an addiction to magic, so much that it drives her lover, Tara, away. I gave Willow a more neutral expression than in the episode, to suggest her dulled senses caused by her addiction.

Willow’s framed much smaller in the actual episode, which I prefer, but unfortunately my sketchbook was not large enough to capture both Willow and the surrounding frame. You can get a similar frame when viewing this as desktop wallpaper, where the white borders extend to the edge.

This pencil study is from my trusty sketchbook (now getting quite full actually), 5″ x 5″. My pencil isn’t very dark, so Photoshop was used to darken and accent a few highlights.