It’s that time again, where we answer the question, “What the heck have I been up to this last year?” Step into my wayback machine all the way to last January and we’ll find out…

2020 was a challenging year for all of us, and part of that in my case was that at some point I just gave up on keeping up with OpenSeadragon stuff, and the issues and pull requests piled up. In January 2021 I finally started digging my way back out of that hole, and within a few months I was caught up again. Things are humming along there now, and we even released version 3.0.0 with a ton of features and fixes! We’ve also joined the modern world and moved our primary chat space over to Discord (Gitter still works, but Discord is where the party’s at). Somehow we ended up making some OpenSeadragon memes as well… That’s how you know that a project has truly arrived, right? That said, we need more, so if you have any meme ideas, get cracking!

We also finally set up an OpenCollective for OpenSeadragon funding. I think OpenCollective is a great service; I love their focus on transparency. Of course Patreon is cool too, but I feel it’s more appropriate for an individual creator like myself than a whole open source project like OpenSeadragon. Things are starting slowly with the OpenCollective… I think there’s a real possibility for the many institutions that rely on OpenSeadragon to each kick in some regular money to keep things rolling. Unfortunately, going to all these folks with the hat out isn’t really my forte, so for now we just wait for people to discover it.

Oh! And I’m also putting together an OpenSeadragon training course with Newline. It’ll take you through the basics and up through advanced techniques, all with real-world projects. I’m looking for beta readers, so if that’s of interest, hit me up!

It hasn’t all been OpenSeadragon… The Living Worlds app continues to find its audience, which is awesome! For my part, I’ve been moving up the learning curve on sound design, putting together sounds for the different scenes. I’ve used monthly social media posts as a way to focus the problem into bite-size chunks. You can see them all on Instagram, but you can also find them on Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok. Oh yeah! I started the Facebook and TikTok for Living Worlds in 2021. I finally feel I’m ready to start rolling those soundscapes out in the app, and the January sounds are in! By continuing to do it one month at a time, I’m keeping it doable (and besides, it’s kind of fun to release things one piece at a time).

Let’s see, early in 2021 I also did a bunch of work improving Driftory in preparation for Stuart McMillen’s new comic project on universal basic income. That’s gone on hold while he finishes up The Town Without Television, but hopefully it will be appearing sometime in 2022.

I’ve also been pursuing 3D art, which has been a very rewarding journey. I’ve fallen in love with Blender and the wonderful community around it! My ArtStation is the best place to see my finished pieces.

Of course there’s client work. I’m blessed to be part of several great teams on exciting projects! The theme right now seems to be “fun telepresence” (if we can’t get together in person, we can get together online, and it might as well be enjoyable): I’m helping build a whimsical 3D/video gathering space with Nowhere and a lighthearted shared doodle space with Scribble Together. I’m also continuing to make pretty data visualizations with Schema Design and keeping things running at Traditions of the Ancestors. There are other things in the works, but they are top-secret still!

What does the future hold? Well, pretty much more of the same, I figure… I feel like I’m in a pretty good groove. I’ll be rolling out new versions of Living Worlds with new sounds for each new month. I’ll continue to facilitate progress on OpenSeadragon. Hopefully Driftory will see new content this year. All of my clients have big plans. I intend to keep doing 3D art and sharing it with the world. We’ll see what surprises the world has in store, but we’ve got to make the best of it as we can.

Thank you for reading this far, and for being part of my journey (in all the ways you are)… May our 2022 be a good one! ❤️

Labels: freelancing

Today we cross a major threshold!

OpenSeadragon turns 2.0 and brings with it full support for zooming multiple high-resolution images in the same scene. Imagine all the pages of an ancient manuscript laid out on your screen and being able to seamlessly zoom in to the smallest detail on any page.

Back in 2008 when OpenSeadragon (then called Seadragon Ajax) was first released — when IE 7 was Microsoft's top browser and woolly mammoths wandered the frozen steppes — smoothly zooming a single image in pure JavaScript was quite the feat! We could only dream about the sort of cool multi-image scenarios Blaise demoed using a native app with GPU-accelerated code in his famous TED talk.

OpenSeadragon doesn't yet do everything shown in that video, but multi-image opens up some exciting new possibilities! Check out these demos for some inspiration:



OpenSeadragon + Rdio: swim across a sea of high-resolution album artwork, discovering new music as you go.




OpenSeadragon + Flickr: hop from image to tag to image on Flickr's most interesting photos of the day.




Chris Jordan Infinite Zoom: kick back and fill your screen with Chris Jordan's giant photo montages.


If you're new to OpenSeadragon, you should also check out all the great work people have done with the single-image version, such as this gigantic panorama of Mont Blanc and this amazingly detailed story-map of Central America.

Now what are you waiting for? Make some cool multi-image OpenSeadragon things!

Labels: design, freelancing

I'm footloose and freelance, so theoretically I could be flitting from project to project. The reality is I seem to find big, meaty projects and focus on them for over a year each. For the last year and a half, I've been devoted to Rdio, creating their new JavaScript API, their new developer site, and several other things I can't speak about yet. That all came to a sudden halt in November, when they laid off a chunk of their staff, including me. So here I go, back to being footloose!

Coming off a big project like this is like coming off a long-term relationship. It's this strange combination of distressing and liberating, and all I want now is a rebound fling. Or maybe I do want something more lasting, but I'm shy to commit until we've gotten to know each other.

Anyway, here I am, on the prowl again. If you're looking for an experienced, design-oriented JavaScript developer, I'm your man! I can do anything from architecture to animation, but I especially love interaction work, getting the behaviors just right. Even better if we're pushing the boundaries of the web as we know it.

Check out my portfolio, my resume, my GitHub profile, and/or this bit on my prototyping skills, then hit me up! Who knows, we may just fall for each other.

Labels: freelancing

I've been back in the freelancing world for a couple of years now, and still loving it. The only downside, really, is I need to force myself to get out of the house and socialize from time to time, lest I become a complete hermit.

Trying to explain to people why the freelance life makes me happy, I've realized there's actually a lot of history there. Not only have I spent most of my career working from home on freelance projects, but my parents worked from home the whole time I was growing up (my father still does). Early on I even rejected the daily grind of elementary school, opting for a self-made curriculum in the wild. Given that history, it's amazing I sat still in an office (at Microsoft no less!) for four years.

Of course I love the short commute, and having more time to spend with my family. It also seems like a really good use of my time: I'm able to devote myself to a project when they need me, but when the project is over, I move on to the next project for the next client, rather than having to contrive ways to fill my weekly time obligation for a single employer.

While there are many of us freelancers in the tech industry, it still seems to be more the exception than the rule. The film industry, on the other hand, is dominated by freelancers. Hundreds, even thousands, of people come together to work on a single film, and when it's done they all move on to other projects. Some of them may work for various production companies and service houses, but the dominant paradigm is that of the free agent.

I feel like this may be happening with the tech industry, and things like open source and github certainly lean in that direction. Of course some people prefer the comfort of employment. Ultimately, it's healthy for the ecosystem to support both modes.

Labels: freelancing, homeschooling