“May the Force be with you.”

"On May 25th, 1977 the first film of the Star Wars Saga was released to theaters."

• Wired Magazine has an excellent article called The Empire at 30.
• StarWars.com is also covering the worldwide celebration here.
• How well do you remember the movie? 30 Most Memorable ‘Star Wars’ Quotes
• Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Main Page - Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki
• Star Wars (1977) - Internet Movie Database

 Silverlight, Windows Presentation Foundation, XAML, and Expression Blend are all best friends. And like any super hero team, they work best when they work together.

I've been wanting to learn more about the fab four, so I've put together this collection of reference material for our consideration. I'll update as I discover more...

Silverlight

Windows Presentation Foundation

 XAML

 Expression Blend

"Moonlight is sculpture."

— Nathaniel Hawthorne

Microsoft Top Banana Silverlight Application: watch Video Interview, watch Video Presentation

Adventures In SoftwareLand: Silverlight is going to be huge for MicroISVs

Hannes Preishuber: Silverlight Slot Machine

Ozzie Rules Blogging: Writing a Windows Sidebar Gadget in Silverlight-dead simple!

Ozzie Rules Blogging: Easily create cool XAML objects from the WMF files/Clipart collection

"The intellect of the wise is like glass; it admits the light of heaven and reflects it."

— Augustus Hare

Ezequiel Jadib - Silverlight: Where to start?: excellent collection of Silverlight resources

The Code Project - Sierpinski Triangle - An Introduction into Silverlight by Example

ScottGu's Blog - Tip/Trick: Supporting Full Screen Mode with Silverlight

Silverlight first steps: Getting started with simple analog clock - Build Silverlight in Notepad

Free: Clinic 5135: Introduction to Developing with Windows® Presentation Foundation and Visual Studio® 2005

"All I know to do is to light the candle that has been given to me."

— Fred Rogers a.k.a. "Mister Rogers"

Web.Next - Silverlight Book: looks like someone is working on a book for Silverlight for MS Press.

Doug Turnure - Silverlight Resources: Doug has a great collection of Silverlight resources.

Page Brooks - Silverlight Isolated Storage: Page discusses how to use Isolated Storage in Silverlight, and how it works, view demo, view source.

Silverlight City - Silverlight News: good site for Silverlight news. It has lots of information without overwhelming you with details.

Microsoft Popfly: "Popfly is the fun, easy way to build and share mashups, gadgets, Web pages, and applications." view the 15 minute screencast.

"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars."

— Og Mandino

Jeff Prosise's Blog - A Touch of Silverlight: has a really cool Silverlight Web comic book catalog viewer, MyComix.

Bryant Likes's Blog - Silverlight Examples: Hong Button, Matrix Digital Rain, iPhone, Rolling Gear, WPF/E Reflection.

Dave Relyea's Blog - Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Layout System and Controls Framework: view demo, view source.

Andy Beaulieu's Blog - Silverlight Rocks!: has created an Asteroids clone, Silverlight Rocks!, view demo, view source.

Mark Heath's Blog - Silver Nibbles: has made a Nibbles clone, Silver Nibbles, view demo, view source.

MSDN Forums: Silverlight General Discussion, Silverlight Designer Issues, Silverlight Developer Issues.

The Sierpinski triangle, also called the Sierpinski gasket, is a fractal named after Wacław Sierpiński who described it in 1915. Originally constructed as a curve, this is one of the basic examples of self-similar sets.

View Silverlight Sierpinski Triangle demo

Download Silverlight Sierpinski Triangle source code

Note: The background stripes are from Stripe Generator - ajax diagonal stripes background designer, very cool Web 2.0 stripe generator.

Here are all the Silverlight resources that I know about, in a nice somewhat organized collection for easy review. My intention is for this to be something of a Silverlight launch pad. Feel free to share these Silverlight links, and please mention any others you know of in the comments section.

Note: All items should have a tooltip which shows when they were first added to the launch pad's destinations list, and new destinations should have aicon for at least 30 days. Any destinations markedare must see locations.

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” by Edith Wharton

Silverlight Core Web Sites

• Microsoft Silverlight Light Up the Web
• Silverlight
• MSDN Silverlight Dev Center
• Silverlight QuickStarts Silverlight Development Using the .NET Framework
• Silverlight Gallery
• Silverlight Forums - Silverlight
• MSDN Forum: Silverlight General Discussion
• MSDN Forum: Silverlight Designer Issues
• MSDN Forum: Silverlight Developer Issues

Silverlight Downloads

• Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 Alpha
• Microsoft Visual Studio codename "Orcas" Beta 1
• Microsoft Silverlight Tools Alpha for Visual Studio codename "Orcas" Beta 1
• Expression Blend 2 May Preview
• Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Software Development Kit (SDK)
• Microsoft ASP.NET Futures (May 2007)

Silverlight Web Sites

• Microsoft MIX07
• Microsoft Silverlight Streaming - Admin Home

Silverlight Articles

• The Code Project: Silverlights Out - An Introduction into Silverlight by Example
• Microsoft Silverlight - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 Developer Reference Poster
• Silverlight - ScottGu's Blog
• Silverlight Get Started Building A Deeper Experience Across The Web -- MSDN Magazine, June 2007
• What's New in Silverlight (1.0 Beta and 1.1 Alpha)?

Silverlight Editorials

• Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - Putting Mix, Silverlight, the CoreCLR and the DLR into context
• Software Development in the Real World Top 10 Reasons Silverlight Will Change the Web
• Why Silverlight Is Important
• Silverlight and .NET - This is HUGE!

Silverlight Videos

• Silverlight Videos: Getting started with Silverlight 1.1
• Silverlight Videos
• 20+ Silverlight Screencasts
• Channel 9 Silverlight Media
• Lumines
• Backstage at MED Silverlight on Windows Mobile A closeup

Silverlight Samples

• Lutz Roeder's Silverlight Page 
• John's Web Thoughts Step by Step on how to start with new MS Technology
• Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - Silverlight Samples
• Silverlight Pad
• Silverlight Airlines Demo 
• Silverlight Gallery
• Silverlight Disco
• Silverlight Binary Clock
• Silverlights Out 2.0
• Zillinois - Yet Another SilverLight XAML Demo
• MIX07 - Silverlight and the Compact Framework
• Dr Popper Silverlight
• Silverlight Video Reflection
• Silverlight GlyphMap Utility
• Jeff Prosise's Blog - A Touch of Silverlight
• Silverlight Examples: Hong Button, Matrix Digital Rain, iPhone, Rolling Gear, WPF/E Reflection
• Silverlight Rocks!
• Silver Nibbles

Silverlight Software

• Electric Rain Harmony - Flash SWF to XAML Converter - For WPF and Silverlight
• RadControls for Silverlight
• Mike Swanson's Blog Windows Presentation Foundation Tools and Controls
• Test With... Silverlight-CoreCLR - TestDriven.NET by Jamie Cansdale
• Silverlight Console Applications - TestDriven.NET by Jamie Cansdale
• Building Orcas Projects with Expression Blend 2 - TestDriven.NET by Jamie Cansdale
• Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Layout System and Controls Framework: view demo, view source

Silverlight Security

• The Silverlight Security Model
• Silverlight Security II: What Makes a Method Critical
• Silverlight Security III: Inheritance
• .NET Security Blog Silverlight Security Cheat Sheet

Silverlight Miscellaneous

• Silverlight Resources (MindMap v 1.3)
• Silverlight Resources MindMap as Silverlight Application 
• The Windows Experience Blog Download Microsoft Silverlight DreamScenes for your desktop!

Silverlight Blogs

• WynApse
• WynApse.com
• Silverlight SDK
• Silverlight Games 101
• .NET 3.0 Cornucopia
• Bryant Likes's Blog
• Dan Wahlin's Weblog
• Devlicio.us - Blogs
• Tim Sneath
• ScottGu's Blog
• Web.Next
• Joe Stegman's Weblog
• Mike Harsh's Blog
• Delay's Blog
• Chris Craft's Blog
• ExplosiveDog.Com
• Silverlight - TestDriven.NET by Jamie Cansdale
• Brad Abrams

As promised, I have updated the Silverlights Out game. Really all I did was give it a new paint job, so it looks as cool as it really is. :) Animated scrolling starfield background, transparency, and those cool glass icons everyone likes to use these days.

Silverlights Out 2.0