if you are deep into modern day e-learning, you have no doubt used flash to create animations and interactivity. it’s great software, with great capabilities (imho). it seems that knowledge of flash has become one of the criteria for most online learning gigs out there.
the drawback to flash is it’s enormous capacity for creating things. sadly, complexity is inversely proportionate to the time to mastery. the leap from as2 to as3 meant essentially re-learning how to program in actionscript.
what to do, what to do.
when something doesn’t work in actionscript, there are many sources i refer to, but the one i seem to repeatedly come back to is kirupa.com. the interface is clean and easy to follow, and the examples actually work. and the information is free. good deal!
the site is not completely flash-centric, but also has tutorials on silverlight, wpf, asp.net, php and more. check ‘em out next time you need a little programming help.
Tags: kirupa
this is my new favorite tool. i will have limited need for it, but it is super cool. the multicolour search lab let’s you search through photos based on what colors you need. it’s quite fun to play around with, even if you have no need for an image. the images come from alamy, and are royalty-free (by default). they also have a search engine for flickr. try it out the next time you need an image to match a site’s color scheme.
Tags: color search lab
it’s official. firefox (my primary browser) has now claimed a 20% share of the world browser market. that’s 1 in 5 users on the web.
first, a pause for celebration. woot! woo hoo! yippee!
next, a note to anybody developing online content. please, please check that your software/widget/training/whatever works in all browsers and on all platforms. why? because users today have too many choices. by and large, if something doesn’t work in firefox, they’ll go looking for something that does.
but you can’t do all that testing, because buying all those computers is expensive, right? wrong. if you are a small business or entrepreneur, testing web content is easy and inexpensive with online services such as cross browser testing. pick your browser, pick your operating system, and test away on your site. easy peasy. and you’ll retain all of your potential market share.
Tags: cross browser testing
if you’re like me, you don’t want to wait around after you’ve plugged in your flash drive - you want to use it. now.
so, if you have a flash drive and want to improve its performance, try removing u3 launchpad, if it’s been installed. u3 launchpad is harmless software that gives your usb drive some smarts, rather than being just plain ol’ disk space. that’s nice, but if you delete the software, you’ll reclaim 6mb of storage and…drumroll…reduce startup time from over 10 seconds to about 2 seconds.
nice.
Tags: flash drive
i came across a really cool concept: consumer-grade desktop manufacturing. this has been available for a while, but the consumer needed to have software that was vector-based. now, it’s even easier. all you need to do is make a scan of a hand-made sketch, then take a picture of your sketch, and upload the digital file.
there are some limitations. for instance, your digital file can be 3mb max. and your finished item can be no larger than 7.1 x 7.1 inches. some material options include acrylic, hardboard and plywood. the photomake software wants a black outline. not yellow, not orange. black. ding: it didn’t work in firefox. i had to use internet explorer. boo!
despite all that, this is pretty cool stuff.
Tags: ponoko photomake
macs were formerly known to be for creative types, but not so much for business types. however, once apple switched over to the intel chip, it opened the door to new levels of compatibility. i have only one computer these days, a pc laptop. however, my next computer will almost certainly be a mac, because the caveats no longer outweigh the benefits. from an article at marketwatch, here are the top 5 reasons companies are dumping their pc for a mac.
1. Free, Fast File Transfer From Apple
If you buy your Mac from an Apple Store, you can bring your PC into the store and have a certified Apple Genius (a Mac Specialist) transfer all of your files and data from your old PC to your Mac.
2. Mac OS X Leopard-More Intuitive, Crashes Less, Runs Faster
Unlike Windows Vista, there is only one current edition of the Mac OS X Leopard operating system, and it comes preloaded with all new Mac computers.*
3. Unlike PCs, Macs Aren’t Plagued By Viruses and Spyware Downloads
The likelihood of a Mac user getting a virus is slim. Here’s why:
— Newer Mac operating systems, such as the Mac OS X, are built on UNIX kernel, one of the oldest and most secure operating systems available.
— Microsoft Windows has a larger share of the market. Because more users use Microsoft Windows, it is a more attractive target for hackers.
— Most virus writers are familiar with the IBM platform and Microsoft Windows, and therefore are only going to be able to create a virus for that platform.
— Many of the tools and scripts used to help hackers create viruses or other malware are designed specifically for Microsoft Windows.
4. Hundreds of Business Applications to Choose From
There are a variety of applications that come bundled with a new Mac such as Address Book and iCal. The iLife, iWork, and Microsoft Office suites of software are all useful to business professionals for handling common tasks like word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and editing and view graphics.
5. Apple Support-Accessible, Knowledgeable and, Actually, Helpful
After the initial 90 day’s worth of free technical support (plus one-year hardware warranty), regardless of where you buy your Mac or which system you buy, you can purchase one of several support plans.
*and it’s not bloated with all sorts of stuff you don’t want that harms performance.
if you’re interested in learning how to do something with computers, gadgets, iphones, food, the internet, etc., check out wired’s how-so section. there’s something for just about everyone here, but it’s more geared toward the techie crowd. and my favorite part? you can subscribe to the rss feed. good stuff.
Tags: how to, wired magazine
clay shirky has some insightful comments on media and the 21st century cognitive surplus. and a little comment on gin. 16 minutes.
today (the last friday of july) is national sys admin appreciation day. i extend a hearty thanks to all of the computer geeks who keep our computers up and running 24/7. you are invaluable.
my advice to recipients of said invaluable services: go ahead and show your admin some love - buy her a beer, or take him out to lunch, or just plain say, “thanks!”
but it’s also inappropriate friday, so here’s an idea of how you can have some fun with your admin next week:
stick a small post-it note with “gotcha”* written on it underneath the mouse of your favorite admin. casually and inconspicuously observe how long it takes him to figure it out.
*or “april fool!” if it’s april 1
Tags: april fool, national system administrator appreciation day