Nestling into the "dog days" of August, musing where did the summer go? Think positive dude, football ahead. But still I slip back to June, when the mornings were cool, and summer stretched ahead in an endless expanse, like the feeling you had on the last day of school. This past June, I had this same "schools out forever" feeling,  so nicely described by Alice Cooper, when we finished the Aqua reference application which mimics a Health Information System (HIS). But OMG, I do miss the fun from working on Aqua, so let's "sink another drink (of Aqua), it'll give me time to think".  I decide  to revisit the Aqua application and get a refresher on WPF, UX, ADO.NET, Live ID, Azure and the coolest control around, the Tiles Panel Control. This control allows the useful interactions that any doctor or nurse would love to use.

So, I lounge back into the mineral-laced 114 degree "lobster pot" here in Pagosa Springs, Colorado (forgot to mention I'm vacationing in an area known for its hot springs) and turn on the Making of Aqua Video. I watch as Aqua grows from the mere notion of a reference app to a full blown interactive system, which is usable as any real application currently deployed in modern hospitals today. The fluid movement of the UI panels as they expand and compress, providing the right information at the right time for the doctor,  the dazzling visual design and easy access to charting,  the realistic data retrieval from the cloud,  the presentation of X-Rays in the carousel, the chat I have with an expert clinician......now this is quality UX. I can only think of one term to describe it (with thanks to my daughter Emma), its got that "boom boom now, that boom boom pow".

I them move to Aqua's home (Healthcare. Codeplex.com) where I download the source code again onto my personal laptop. Lots of info here to help you learn, besides the download. There's 3 Hands-on-Labs that allow a view inside Aqua and remind me why the MVVM pattern worked so well here with WPF. Looking at the UI code for the Tiles Panel, I think of other verticals that will surely benefit from this control. Lots of them. I retrieve X-Rays from Blob Storage and realize the full potential of Azure for easy, quick, and inexpensive data access and storage. So many features, so many opportunities to learn, and all for free.

Finally, I use Aqua, imagining I'm a doctor and they have just wheeled Michael Jackson in. Aqua enables me to  quickly access just the info I need to save him. The King of Pop trots out to an adoring crowd gathered outside the hospital!