eLearning for Life

I'm moving this blog

2009-01-28T19:19:00.002-06:00

After 6.5 years, I'm movingWow - I started this blog on October 5th 2002 when I blogged about embarking on my journey towards an MSc in Multimedia Computing! I am stunned - I really had no idea I'd been blogging here for so long. but it's time to leave Blogger and mosey on to WordPress instead. I know. It's a chore, but it has to be done. Besides ... it seems everyone 'in the know' is using

New Features in Adobe Captivate 4

2009-01-23T09:10:00.002-06:00

Tridib Roy Chowdhury has posted an extensive list of Adobe Captivate 4 new features to The Adobe Captivate Blog Productivity, Richness, and Robustness Round-trip PowerPoint workflow - optional linking or embedding Variables and Advanced Actions Text-to-speech functionality Customizable widgets - Flash components Adobe Photoshop layer support- Preserve layers in imported Adobe®

Adobe Captivate and eLearning Suite Workflow Demos

2009-01-20T22:56:00.003-06:00

adobe has released a couple of workflow demos of the eLearning Suite here. There's also a great video demo posted here by RJ.

Adobe Captivate 4 announced

2009-01-20T05:21:00.001-06:00

Captivate 4,Adobe,eLearning Suite Adobe announced the release of Captivate 4 today. Top new features in Adobe Captivate 4 SWF commenting Professional project templates Customizable widgets Roundtrip PowerPoint workflow Table of Contents and Aggregator Text-to-speech functionality Variables and Advanced Actions Expanded output

Adobe eLearning Suite Announced

2009-01-20T05:06:00.003-06:00

Adobe,Captivate,ELS,eLearning Suite,Device Central Adobe has released the eagerly-awaited eLearning Suite. Offering seven innovative applications in one complete, integrated package, Adobe eLearning Suite combines full new versions of: Adobe Captivate® 4 Go beyond screen capture to author rich eLearning experiences Adobe Flash® CS4 Professional with Learning

7 Random Things

2009-01-14T11:54:00.001-06:00

This morning I was tagged by Brian Dusablon with a difficult task: blog 7 random things about me. And as if that's not hard enough, I've to tag seven other victims friends too. Without my morning coffee, I'm not sure I can even count to seven, so let's see how I do:- In 1988 I coached the Scottish Ladies Powerlifting Champion in the 60Kg body weight class. She set 4 records on her way

Pockets of Potential

2009-01-09T17:25:00.002-06:00

Study outlining the need for a national strategy for mLearning for schoolchildren The Joan Ganz Cooney Center has released a study into mLearning in schools. It outlines a suggestion for a national mobile learning strategy for the US and includes suggestions for teacher training to ensure that our teachers are equipped with both knowledge and understanding of mobile technologies and usage so

Microvision Survey

2008-12-10T20:43:00.001-06:00

Do you want to test a pocket-sized lazer projector?Do you love your iPod or iPhone, and want to use if to project video wherever you go?Microvision is getting close to releasing its first consumer-level PicoP Laser projector for mobile devices. As they get nearer, they are conducting consumer trials. They posted a survey recently to gaugue user interest, and offered those completing the survey

REDFLY - a perfect Mobile Companion?

2008-11-14T21:25:00.008-06:00

Tired of lugging round your giant 'developers' laptop? Or do you need a secure but lightweight way to access your email and files that is more accessible than your phone?Over the last few weeks I have been testing out a new gadget, or as my wife says, a new "toy". This great new gadget has the interesting name of REDFLY (yes, all caps ... sorry!), and it is used to enhance the features of your

Adobe shows off Captivate 4 and the Adobe eLearning Suite

2008-11-13T20:41:00.003-06:00

At the Adobe Learning Summit in San Jose, November 10th, Adobe showed several exciting new features from the next version of Captivate and from the up-coming eLearning Suite.Adobe Captivate 'Next'I have been beta testing Captivate 4 for several months, so I was pleased to be invited by Adobe to the Adobe Learning Summit in San Jose on Monday 10th November. At the Adobe Learning Summit, Adobe

We found our first genuine Redneck truck

2008-10-11T12:49:00.009-05:00

Clearing space for an extra goat pastureOur goats are pregnant, and they are due to produce their kids in the next few weeks. We live on 6 acres, and most of that land is overgrown so i decided it was time to clear some extra space so we can expand the goat pasture.First thing I found was a machete embedded in one of the trees.The undergrowth is pretty thick.Trash everywhere.... including this

Captivate 4 beta announced

2008-08-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

Adobe Captivate 4 BETA coming soonAdobe has been showing sneak peeks of Adobe Captivate 4 under NDA for a while. Now it looks like a public beta is about to open. Head over to Silke Fleischer's blog to sign up for the beta. Don't miss your chance to be part of the evolution of Captivate into a must-have eLearning applicaiton.

An anthropological introduction to YouTube

2008-08-01T14:15:00.001-05:00

Anthropologist Michael Wesch explores the virus that is YouTube This video, built on a presentation given to the Library of Congress by Michael Wesh explores the success of YouTube from a cultural perspective. The video is almost an hour long, so go get a cup of coffee or some cold beer, and pull up a comfortable chair!The presentation is very compelling. It takes the viewer through the evolution

Good instructional design helps us catch the 'moonwalking bear'

2008-07-27T15:22:00.001-05:00

Tom Kuhlmann shares his thoughts on the moonwalking bearCheck out this YouTube video. It's an interesting experiment on perception, or on focus, or on creative misdirection. Once you've seen this you should know better how stage magicians and card sharps fool you :-)Now see what Tom Kulmann has to say about it.He tells us that creative Instructional Designers can have a powerful effect in

Online Reading - is it literacy?

2008-07-27T11:49:00.005-05:00

The New York Times has an interesting discussion on the effect of the Internet on literacy skillsThe article quotes various academics as stating that frequent book readers have better vocabulary and comprehension skills. They dismiss the Internet as a place for developing literacy skills.And yet our children are doing more of their reading on the Internet than ever before.More significantly, when

100 Helpful Web Tools for Every Kind of Learner

2008-06-12T22:05:00.009-05:00

CollegeAtHome.com has a nice article from Christina Laun100 tools, split into groups by learning styleThe tools list is broken in to 3 major groups (representing 3 learning styles) and numerous subgroups.Visual Learners Mind Mapping• Charting and Diagrams• Videos and Photos• Auditory Learners PodcastsPresentation Tools • Audio Tools • Text Readers• Audio BooksKinesthetic Learners Note

Google Android Demos

2008-05-30T13:42:00.001-05:00

Google Maps and Pacman. WhoodathunkGoogle have been demoing Android. Videos and pictures posted here. The demos show a lot of progress, and impressive speed. It looks like Android has taken a lot of lessons from the iPhone. We are going to have some great new devices over the next couple of years as everyone finally gets into developing advanced touchscreen interfaces.

Adobe Open Screen Project

2008-05-01T10:53:00.001-05:00

The Open Screen Project is working to enable a consistent runtime environment, taking advantage of Adobe Flash® Player and, in the future, Adobe AIR®Adobe announced today a new project aimed at creating a single unified runtime for Flash, so that developers can create single-source solutions for PC, Mac, Linux, mobile phone, PDA, Chumby and more.This is exciting news for Flash/Flex/AIR developers

eLearning Guild - Florida

2008-04-15T10:03:00.000-05:00

mLearning - Judy Brownwww.mlearnopedia.comwww.judybrown.com

Alex Tokman talks about the Microvision Pico Projector

2008-04-09T23:47:00.001-05:00

LegacyCaptivateLoader: dealing with pre-existing scripts in your Captivate SWF

2008-04-09T11:09:00.004-05:00

New: LegacyCaptivateLoader class for Flash lets you embed Captivate in Flash and communicate between themPipwerks has published a great article that addresses some issues that plague Captivate users who need a little extra control and customisation."Many of us use a Flash-based course interface (a.k.a. ‘player’) to load Captivate SWFs and other content. A well-known stumbling block for this kind

Adobe merges business units serving PCs, mobile

2008-04-08T06:26:00.000-05:00

"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O) said on Monday it was putting under one roof businesses selling software for computers, phones and consumer electronics to make them run on a single technology platform. "The announcement is part of a series of management restructuring moves Adobe is making following the planned retirement of two long-time executives, effective May 1. A

Opera Mini 4.1 Beta

2008-04-07T21:17:00.003-05:00

Opera has released the beta version 4.1 of their super Opera Mini browser for mobile devices better, faster stronger ... The native browser for Nokia devices is already pretty good - it's based on the same WebKit foundation that has also the foundation of Apple's Safari browser used by Mac and iPhone. But I really like Opera Mini - it's very fast, by virtue of the use of Opera's proxy

European eLearning Summit

2008-04-04T20:26:00.001-05:00

Nottingham University, Nottingham, England19th to 21st August, 2008The European eLearning Summit (EeLS) will take place over the period 19th to 21st August. The summit venue is the East Midlands Conference Centre, located at Nottingham University, Nottingham, England.Built on the history of the popular EuroTAAC Authorware and eLearning conference, EeLS is bigger and better than ever before. With

Pico-projectors Almost Ready for Prime Time

2008-04-04T20:17:00.002-05:00

Brighthand reviews tiny mobile projectors at CTIATexas InstrumentsMicrovisionBrighthand has a nice review of Pico Projectors (pocket-sized projectors) as shown at CTIA this week.Sounds like Microvision has the edge right now with it's super-tiny laser projector. Microvision tell me that the projector can give up to a 100 inch diagonal screen, and can fit in a cell-phone sized device. Watch out

Quote of the year so far

2008-04-04T20:12:00.001-05:00

M-learning will change pedagogy by making 24/7 mobile accessibility important. From the Mobile Learning Blog“M-learning will change pedagogy by making 24/7 mobile accessibility important. It is a matter of time before m-learning reaches the market-driven stage of the product life cycle. Advances in mobile networks, such as broadband wireless systems will change education pedagogy and supporting

eLearning Guild Annual Gathering

2008-04-04T20:06:00.000-05:00

The eLarning Guild's Annual Gathering starts April 14thAnd I'll be there!I need to find out all I can about Wikis, PodCasting, corporate communities and more. Plus I'm trying real hard to learn Flex right now, so I'll be hanging around anybody who can make sense of it for me :-)

Microvision Features Advanced Pico Projector Prototypes at CTIA Wireless 2008

2008-04-04T20:00:00.002-05:00

REDMOND, Wash., Mar 31, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- At CTIA Wireless 2008, Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS), a leader in the development of ultra-miniature projection display and image capture technology for mobile devices will demonstrate advanced pico projector prototypes enabled by the company's PicoP(TM)- display engine. Microvision expects the PicoP will first be incorporated as a handheld accessory

Adobe offers free web conferencing with Adobe BRIO

2008-03-31T09:38:00.006-05:00

Adobe has announced free conferencing for up to 4 peoplefrom CS3: The Creative License Podcast SeriesAdobe is giving free podcasts for CS3 on the creativesuite web site. This week's episode takes a look at the NEW Adobe BRIO service which is the code name for a new FREE version of Acrobat Connect. BRIO allows you to host your own web conferences with up to 3 people including screen sharing, chat,

A sense of scale

2007-12-13T19:32:00.000-06:00

Ever think you are really important?Or do you think you are rather small and unimportant?Check out this video for a real sense of scale ...

Adobe is revisiting the eol decision about Authorware, to extend it's life on Vista

2007-12-07T11:41:00.000-06:00

Ellen Wagner recently outlined a 6-point plan for AuthorwareThe plan is intended to help companies who have used Authorware over the last 15 years and more who need to continue to support their heritage content.You can see Ellen's presentation from the recent Adobe eLearning Seminar by clicking the link below:-Download Ellen Wagner's presentation from the Adobe eLearning Seminar 2007

Global cell phone use at 50 percent

2007-11-29T15:32:00.001-06:00

According to Reuters, half of the World's population owns a cell phoneBut 59 countries have over 100% penetration!Click here to read the full Reuters article"Worldwide mobile telephone subscriptions reached 3.3 billion -- equivalent to half the global population -- on Thursday, 26 years after the first cellular network was launched, research firm Informa said.Since the first Nordic Mobile

QR Codes

2007-11-26T16:55:00.000-06:00

Are QR codes leading the way to interactive learing on mobile phones?QR codes seem to be big news in some circles.With as many as 60 million phones around the world with QR code readers installed, QR codes are gathering recognition.QR Codes are the '2D' bar codes that are becoming increasingly popular. These are already being used in education, I mentioned them earlier as being used in 'treasure

3d Interactivity on a mobile phone?

2007-11-26T09:52:00.000-06:00

Wellington Zoo (New Zealand) is using advanced mobile technology to advertise the zooWith this imaginative fusion of mobile and virtual technologies, you'll never see your phone in the same light again!I found this on the Mobile Learning blog.This video demonstrates what can be achieved by the convergence of mobile and virtual technologies. Created as a promotion for Wellington Zoo (New Zealand),

mLearning - the thing of the future?

2007-11-18T18:12:00.000-06:00

I've been interested in mLearning for the last 5 yearsSince long before it was called mLearning. Following is an extract from my MSc thesis, written at the start of 2006, discussing mLearning.AbstractResearch has show that PDAs, mobile phones and other mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular as tools for delivering training and education resources. The popularity as given rise to the

Been quiet for a while...

2007-11-18T18:09:00.000-06:00

I've been pre-occupied with a number of things for the last year or soAnd the Blog suffered for it.But times they are a changing. With the end of development of Authorware announcement from Adobe, the eLearning industry is making some changes. At least, the niche I've been best known for over the last ten years is changing :-)Watch this space as I move forward into new things.

The forgoten toll in Mississippi

2005-12-19T16:15:00.000-06:00

The forgotten toll in MississippiNew Orleans gets all the national coverage - what about MississippiSome telling figures from the Sun Herald newspaperhttp://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/13402585.htmKatrina's toll in Mississippi $125 billion Estimated dollar amount of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina 231 Identified dead statewide 5 Unidentified dead 67 Missing 65,380 Houses in

Adobe purchase of Macromedia

2005-12-14T19:57:00.000-06:00

Adobe purchase of MacromediaYou probably want to know more about Adobe's purchase of Macromedia. Today Adobe sent this to their various Team Macromedia members, Macromedia User Group managers and other prominent Macromedia community developers.Dear Macromedia Community Members: By now you most likely know that Adobe has finalized its acquisition of Macromedia, combining the leading-edge

Following Katrina's Path

2005-11-15T22:24:00.000-06:00

Following Katrina's PathA fascinating record from the Sun Heraldhttp://www.miami.com/multimedia/miami/news/archive/katrinatimeline/index.html

More than the destruction we'll remember your smiles

2005-11-06T10:42:00.000-06:00

More than the destruction we'll remember your smilesA letter to the Sun Herald newspaper on November 6thhttp://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/editorial/letters/13094862.htmMore than the destruction we'll remember your smilesTo the citizens of Mississippi, All of you are still in our thoughts and prayers. We are one of the National Guard units from Indiana that was called upon to respond in

Some trees have changed in unexpected ways

2005-10-31T20:14:00.000-06:00

Some trees have changed in unexpected waysLots of trees were damaged or destroyed by Katrina, but some seem to be getting a new start at lifeI don't know much about indigenous American plants and trees, so if I am saying something that everybody knows already please forgive me - I've only lived here a year or so. British OakIn the wooded area we have at the rear of our parcel of land we have

Spring is in the air

2005-10-31T19:47:00.000-06:00

Spring is in the airThey tell us plants get confused and have a second spring... after a big storm like Katrina. Well I think we have seen a lot of evidence of this. Lots of trees have managed to regrow their leaves having been stripped bare by the terrible winds.Today as I walked around snapping pictures of the progress made since the storm, I discovered our once magnificent, but now rather

What about supplies for repairs?

2005-10-31T19:25:00.000-06:00

What about supplies for repairs?A friend and colleague asked about the availability of building suppliesSo I thought I could talk a little about that here. I want to specifically thank Home Depot and Lowes in Gulfport for being open fast and open with the right equipment! Right after the storm they had generators and chainsaws. Now, a few weeks later they have loads of power tools - saws,

Driving up to the house

2005-10-31T19:01:00.000-06:00

Driving up to the houseChanges to our driveway in the last two monthsKatrina was kind enough to throw a lot of our trees into the driveway without actually hitting our home. Here's how things changed as clean up progressed.Right after Katrina hit you could not even see our home from the street.So the first job was to clear a path through the trees. A neighbour helped me here with te chainsawing -

Picnic area update

2005-10-31T18:45:00.000-06:00

Picnic area updateHere's three pictures of our picnic area. Before Katrina, just after and today ...Before the storm Click to see larger imageAfter the storm Click to see larger imageToday Click to see larger imageThere's still a long way to go here. we have lost all our shade trees from this area, and a large pecan stump remains for me to cut the final part and remove the stump. I can live with

It's been a lot cooler ...

2005-10-31T18:33:00.000-06:00

It has been a lot cooler here over the last weekSo I decided to take advantage and work outsideOver the last week or so it has been (apparently) unseasonably cool here ... one day the daytime temperature was no higher than 60 degrees, but most days it has been more like 68-70. This week it is a little warmer, maybe 75 max. Net week it will be back to 'normal' at something like 80-85. It's

More interesting ideas

2005-10-20T12:29:00.000-05:00

More interesting ideashttp://www.mississippirenewal.com/info/plansArchitecture.html

Planning presentations posted

2005-10-20T11:47:00.000-05:00

Planning presentations postedPresentations of the proposed plans for The Coast have been publishdIf you want to see what the planners are proposing for your area, take a look at the plans posted here. Be aware that these are slides used by planners to present their thoughts to , I assume, the Governer's Commission. Sadly the planners did not feel it necessary to add a great deal of commentary to

WHAT IS A CHARRETTE?

2005-10-19T22:28:00.000-05:00

WHAT IS A CHARRETTE?Charrette (shä-r?e t´) n."A planning session that usually takes anywhere from several days to a week and incorporates the expertise of a variety of individuals. Some planners use this method when designing traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs). It is thought that by including as many community members as possible in the process, a better product is arrived at more

Nice to be out of Mississippi

2005-10-05T15:37:00.000-05:00

Nice to be out of Mississippi I've never really felt that way before ... My wife and I are in North Carolina for TAAC - The Alternative Authorware Conference http://www.markhenryenterprises.com/taac.html, where we will both be speaking - and it is nice to be somewhere where all the restaurants and shops are open :-) And where the books stores are open! I was reading in yesterday's Sun Herald that

Now for something a little lighter

2005-09-29T14:24:00.000-05:00

Now for something a little lighterYou know those joke emails? I just got this ... You Live On The Gulf Coast If You have FEMA's number on your speed dialer. You have more than 300 'C' and 'D' batteries in your kitchen drawer. Your pantry contains more than 20 cans of Spaghetti Os. You are thinking of repainting your house to match the plywood covering your windows. When describing

Wow - words fail me.

2005-09-28T14:25:00.000-05:00

Words fail me.While the world concentrated on New Orleans, Mississippi rolled up its sleevesIf you haven't seen any of the aerial photographs taken right after Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, these pictures from the Sun Herald tell a harrowing tale.http://www.sunherald.com/multimedia/sunherald/KRT_packages/archive/katrina/090205_katrina_aerials/index.htmThe link leads to a large

The gas stations are just taking the P155!!

2005-09-28T13:48:00.000-05:00

The gas stations are just taking the P155!!Quit with the stupid games and show us your prices!The day before Katrina hit, all the gas stations locally took down their prices from those huge big signs they have in the forecourt. Now, a month later, most of them (well, of the few that have reopened) are still not showing the price they plan to sell their fuel at.I could be cynical and say they were

Want to work on the coast? No problem!

2005-09-22T18:02:00.000-05:00

Want to work on the coast? No problem!It seems like even the small number of businesses that are opencannot find enough people to do the work they have ...Drive past any open business, be it MacDonald's, a pharmacy, a gas station or a pawn shop and you can almost guarantee you'll see a sign that says something like "Open and hiring".The local newspaper is full of adverts for welders, truck

Things are still a long way from normal

2005-09-22T17:28:00.000-05:00

Things are still a long way from normalSome times it seems like repairs have come a long way - but they have so far to go.Even now it is hard to grasp the full scale of Katrina's destruction!Amy and I have been maintaining a semblance of normality over the last couple of weeks, but this morning I was struck by how far from normality we really are. Here's what was going through my mind.Firstly, we

Rain hits the Mississipi coast

2005-09-22T17:11:00.000-05:00

Rain hits the Mississipi coastThis is really the first rain since Katrina was here!Over three weeks since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, we finally got rain today. This might have been good news but for a series of less-happy facts:- The rain is the northern-most tip of Rita, so this is the harbinger of much worse weather that will hit land to the west and north of us. Much of the coastal flooding

Mobile information about Hurricane Rita

2005-09-22T08:23:00.000-05:00

Mobile information about Hurricane RitaAs I write, it looks like Hurrricane Rita is going to hit HustonMy heart goes out to all of those who were affected so terribly by Katrina, only to have another hurricane chase them out of their place of refuge. Thousands of people are having to flee from Huston and other parts of Texas as the storm seems to be chasing many of the people who were most

Nature's recovery continues

2005-09-21T15:30:00.000-05:00

Nature's recovery continuesI have been fascinated by all the new growth I see everywhereOne of the most shocking things for me when I returned home to Saucier - after seeing all the trees down everywhere - was the fact that almost every leaf was blown off of every tree. I posted a picture oa few days ago showing one of our surviving Pecans sprouting new leaves. Today I snpped a second picture

I forgot one bonus from Katrina

2005-09-20T17:49:00.000-05:00

I forgot one bonus from KatrinaBillboards!Scores and scores of billboards were destroyed by hurricane Katrina. It's been great not having these huge, ugly, garishly-coloured, grammatically aful advertisements!Sadly, yesterday I noticed several of the casino-owned billboards north of I-10 on highway 49 have begun to sprout new adverts. I couldn't tell you what they say becuase I treat them the

Desktop replacement

2005-09-20T16:56:00.000-05:00

Mobile computing? Detatchable screen!This is the ultimate desktop replacement!I was surfing around trying to get back to normal when I spotted this http://www.i4u.com/article4084.html and my gadgetosis nerve started itching!!!I have wanted something like this for a long time. So has my wife, Amy, apparently :-)

More on 'Flood' Insurance

2005-09-20T16:37:00.000-05:00

More on 'Flood' Insurance"'Flood damage' issue must be national policy" says Hugo Newcomb Jr. in the Clarion LedgerThe article below speaks about the need for a national solution and policy" to make sure that insurance covers people properly in the event of a hurricane.In short - people were told they did not need flood insurance becuase they did not live in a flood plain. Yet when their houses

Not another one!

2005-09-20T16:01:00.000-05:00

Not another one!Let's hope Rita stays away.Not-so-lovely Rita (OK I couldn't resist the Beatles reference http://www.e-wollmann.com/pleiadian1/lovely.htm) is heading into the Gulf of Mexico as I type. Florida Keys is taking a battering, but the forecast seems to be that Rita is coming into the Gulf and move on to Texas.Fingers crossed no significant harm reaches anyone anywhere!What worries me is

Some more ramblings

2005-09-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

Some more ramblingsHow are things going on the coast?I was asked on a local discussion forum to elaborate on some of the things I posted here ... I replied there, but I have decided to post the same stuff here."When you mention the "negative press" can you provide more info on the subject? On what news? On what subjects?"Hmmm - where do you want me to start? What little tv we had seen by that

Nature is fast to recover

2005-09-15T10:26:00.000-05:00

Nature is fast to recoverAlready our surviving trees are putting out new leavesI noticed last night that there were some new leaves on one of the unharmed Pecan trees. I looked again this morning and was pleased to see that there is loads of new growth.

Let's talk about insurance - pt 2

2005-09-14T21:03:00.000-05:00

Let's talk about insurance - pt 2No flood insurance?Apparently some of the insurance companies are telling people who lost their homes due to the storm surge from Katrina that they are not covered since the did not have flood insurance.Guess why they had no flood insurance? Because the insurance companies told them they didn't need it!Apparently the mayor of Biloxi has spoken the to the President

I found my camera!

2005-09-14T20:48:00.000-05:00

Yippee I found my camera!It was hiding next to a bees' nest, surprise surpriseI managed to fight my way back through the woods behind our house today, after spending a couple of hours clearing a path. I was pleased to find the camera that I dropped last week. If you've been following this blog you will recall that I dropped it when I panicked and ran from an angry swarm of bees.It has not rained

Pictures after today's cleanup

2005-09-11T17:26:00.000-05:00

Pictures after today's cleanupI really appreciate the help from the work gang today!Here's some pictures that show the state of our property before and after today's cleanup. They don't show the full scale of the improvement made today, but I sure appreciate the help from the cleanup crew. I made sure they each got a little extra reward for their efforts ... I know they are getting paid by the

Let's talk about insurance

2005-09-11T13:13:00.000-05:00

Let's talk about insuranceSo far reports about insurance are almost as positive as reports about the electricity companies!First of all, let me just reiterate what has been said repeatedly elsewhere. The electricity companies, and the help they have received from as far away as Kansas, Texas, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico - no doubt further afield, but these are some of the license plates I have seen

What a difference a day makes!

2005-09-11T12:41:00.000-05:00

What a difference a day makes!The local government is helping with the cleanupwe were woken at 7:30 this morning as a fleet of trucks towing trailers, a bobcat and about 10 guys weilding chainsaws descended upon our street.Since I was awake, and it was relatively cool I went outside and started chainsawing some of the downed trees. After a little while one of the girls on the crew came over and

Amongst the horror and suffering ...

2005-09-10T21:05:00.000-05:00

Amongst the horror and suffering ...There are some great stories of how people have copedI have had enough of all of the negative press - all the finger pointing, blame-making and threats of legal action. Fortunately here in Mississippi it seems that the local press, at least, have realised that such coverage was making people feel worse. Now they are concentrating on the more positive side of

Our Gulfport house is OK

2005-09-10T20:24:00.000-05:00

Our house in Gulfport is OKJust a little roof damageAs with our home in the countryside in Saucier, our house in Gulfport got away relatively unscathed. The shigles are almost all off the roof, and there is a little water damage inside, but nothing that should be unrepairable.As with everywhere else, the trees are devastated. You can see here that the two pine trees we had have both snapped

Home again, home again

2005-09-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

Home again, home againNow the work starts!We got home Friday evening - it's great to be in your own bed in your own home, even if everything is upside down outside. How much have things changed? Well, as I already said we really suffered no significant damage from the hurricane to our home, but we awful damage to our property - take a look at these before and after images taken just a few weeks

All is fine

2005-09-05T15:09:00.000-05:00

Relax, everythuing is fineWe still have a home!!!So I have been down to Gulfport. All of our property is fine, but we have loads and loads of trees down. I took some photos and was going to post them here with before/after images, but I lost my camera.I lost the camera when I had to run away from a crowd of angry bees! I suffer an allergic reaction to their stings, so when I got a dozen or so

I'm heading south

2005-09-03T07:25:00.000-05:00

I'm heading southTime to drive down and see if we have something or nothingThe power came on last night here in the area of Jackson, Mississippi, that we evacuated to. Yaaaaay for air conditioning!So today I am going to make the epic 200 mile journey south to see if we have a home to return to, and to take food, drinks and wet wipes to our 80-year-old neighbour who stayed throughout the storm.

No power, but we are fine

2005-09-02T17:33:00.000-05:00

TuesdayNo power, but everything is fine ...We still have no power. So we bring out the battery-operated radios. News reports tell us 99% of Jackson has no electricity. Later reports confirm the same for almost the entire state!Then we hear that the coastal towns have been virtually destroyed! Everything South of the railtracks in Gulfport and Biloxi has "just gone, it's not there". We have a

New Orleans Spared

2005-09-02T17:32:00.000-05:00

MondayWow. New Orleans spared... but a direct hit between Bay St Lewis and Biloxi if we are seeing the news reports correctly.At the time we thought Gulfport (which is between Bay St Lewis and Biloxi) was getting the worst of the storm at around 9 or 10 am. We later heard that the storm surge - the rise in sea water that wiped out everything south of the railroad tracks - actually began to hit

Now it's looking a bit scary

2005-09-02T17:30:00.000-05:00

SundayNow it is looking a bit scary. Recent storms have consistently come ashore sa little to the east of the projected path ... which puts Gulfport, and us, right in it's path.As usual, Amy and I were indecisive about whether we would evacuate. We have had a couple of near-misses - Ivan, Dennis - where we evacuated for nothing more than some strong winds and a little rain.Amy's mum called "are

Should we stay or should we go?

2005-09-02T17:29:00.000-05:00

SaturdayShould we stay or should we go now? Weather forecast says the hurricane is getting stronger ... will Katrina come to visit? Looks like it is heading for New Orleans.I worked really late on a project, so I could get it finished just in case we decide to evacuate on Sunday. Mailed the files off to my cient at about 11PM.

First comment about Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-02T17:27:00.000-05:00

Friday - "that's not a real hurricane!"The first post in my breif retrospective about hurricane KatrinaToday we heard about a 'hurricane' in Florida. "It was not a 'real' hurricane", said the guy in our Pilates class "it was just a CAT 1, but we better watch it ..."You know, if he hadn't said that, we might not have known about the hurricane at all. If anyone reading this knows Amy and I, you

Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-02T15:07:00.000-05:00

Hurricane KatrinaWe got out safe!I'll be posting more later today, or maybe tomorrow, but this is to let you know Amy and I got out safe and sound on Sunday. We could see it was going to be a bad storm!We are in Jackson, Mississippi, staying with Amy's mum. No electric as yet ... I write this Friday afternoon, we've had no power since about 5 PM Monday. No idea when we will have power, bt it

Find and Fix updated

2005-08-02T10:12:00.000-05:00

Find & Fix updatedRon Lubensky continues to update his great Authorware commandHere's the information he posted recently to the Aware ListI've updated my Find & Fix Command to version 2.43.For those of you who don't know, this is a big swiss-army knife for your Authorware development.In addition to squashing a couple of bugs, I've added another sample script called MoveObjects which shifts the

Adobe to buy Macromedia

2005-05-01T17:37:00.000-05:00

Adobe to buy MacromediaI turn my back for three weeks and look what happens!I am not going to even try to make comment about all I have read, but suffice to say this is interesting and exciting news.Apparently nothing is certain about the takeover until there is legal permission for the purchase to go ahead. Everything should be Work As Normal in both the Macromedia and the Adobe camps until then

testing

2005-04-06T15:10:00.000-05:00

Pocketblogger works!Here I sit in the gardenOK maybe I fibbed, l am actually lying on the couch - but I am blogging from my PDA!.I'll be trying this again in Blackpool!

Sorry for the silence ...

2005-04-06T14:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the silence ...We just moved house and communication has been difficult, d@mn BellsouthPlus I have had a busy patch with work. The dry patch will continue next week as I fly back to Britain - for the first time since May last year - for this year's EuroTAAC conference. Have you booked your ticket yet? There's still time if you are quick, although international travel could be a bit of a

Macintosh Hacker Attacks Are on the Rise - Symantec

2005-03-25T10:17:00.000-06:00

Macintosh Hacker Attacks Are on the Rise -SymantecApparently hackers are starting to take ai interest in the minority interest platfor.Maybe it's because they noticed Macs run a version of Unix?Check out this story from Reuters

New PDA comments

2005-03-18T21:59:00.000-06:00

I got a new PDA this weekA Toshiba E830Since we cannot officially get this machine in my mother coutry or here in America, I thought it might be useful for some to read my impressions of this machine after a full week of use. So here's some thoughts, randomly dropped in as bullet points.The screen is wonderful!MS Reader works fine in VGA mode (SE_VGA) and the amazingly tiny text is clear as could

Dazzletech announces JavaScript in Authorware book

2005-03-11T16:48:00.000-06:00

Dazzletech announces JavaScript in Authorware bookAt last a book that should help users trying to use JavaScript in AuthorwareThis week, Dazzletech announced the completion of their JavaScript in Authorware book, entitled JavaScript For Macromedia® Authorware®. The published a link to the Table of Contents of the book, and you can pre-order the book here.You should read the full thread that

No Laptop? How do you cope?

2005-03-09T20:02:00.000-06:00

No Laptop? How do you cope?Occasionally I mention my PDA obsession. This week it saved my sanity.With no working laptop to let me surf the web, check eMail and genarally amuse myself, I was forced to resort to my PocketPC PDA to fill in the blanks. Fortunately mine has Wi-Fi so I can use our home wireless LAN to connect to the internet to surf and to check email. I also have a cool little Belkin

Sick Laptop

2005-03-09T19:50:00.000-06:00

Sick LaptopAfter over 3 years of abuse, the power socket on my Dell Inspiron 8100 brokeIt is a great machine, still fast and easily capable of running all the software that I use day-to-day for work. So I needed to find a quick and cheap way to fix it.Off to eBay I went to see what I could do. I was amazed to see that I could find a similar machine to mine for about $600. Of course it would be 3

Road Trip

2005-02-27T09:45:00.000-06:00

Road TripRandom thoughts of a pink-eyed road warriorI had to drive to Texas and back this week. All part of moving home, it's a long story that I won't bore you with. But I had to drive 1300 miles in a couple of days, and my mind got to wandering a time or two ...Why do you never see a police speed trap when it is raining?Texas road kill - skunk, armadillo, hound dawg.There are way too many

Cold Fusion user group conference

2005-02-27T09:19:00.000-06:00

Scotch on the RocksCold Fusion user group conference, May 2005I just got this notification about a Cold Fusion User Group in Edinburgh holding a conference in May 2005 ...Scotch on the Rocks, May 26/27 Edinburgh UniversityThe Scottish ColdFusion User Group is both proud and excited to announce a two day conference covering Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7.Taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland on

How far into your own digital navel can you gaze

2005-02-19T09:29:00.000-06:00

"How far into your own digital navel can you gaze?""Each of us populates a personal tech-bubble of one. Solo-tech-travelers often are unaware that others occupy the same dimensions as them -- that's why they often bump into others, in their cars or on foot." D. Pravaz from the Seattle Post writes about how personal technology is isolating us from the rest of the world, instead of bringing us

Testing Post and ReadURL

2005-02-16T18:32:00.000-06:00

Testing Post and ReadURLI needed to test some cfm calls, so I built a little toolWhilst working with Cold Fusion and Authorware this week I discovered the need of a simple tool to test calls to cfm pages. I also realised that this same tool could be useful for ASP, php and any other TLA server-side-scripting page.So anyway, I built a simple tool that can be placed on your web server and used to

Cold Fusion and Authorware PostURL

2005-02-16T18:26:00.000-06:00

Cold Fusion and Authorware PostURLI discovered today that Cold Fusion pages act strangely with Authorware and PostURL if no parameters are sentI have been working with a client over the last couple of weeks, setting up a simple tracking system using Cold Fusion pages to handle the communication between the database and Authorware.We hit an odd situation where one specific call to one specific .

Scrolling RTF with hyperlinks

2005-02-13T19:43:00.000-06:00

Have you ever tried to use scrolling RTF files with hyperinks?Did you find that the RTF KO did not work as expected?While teaching an Authorware class recently, one of my students pointed out that she had been unable to get the Insert RTF Object Hot Text Interaction to work correcly with scrolling RTF text. She asked if it were possible to get this to work using RTFObj.u32 functions.After a

Recorded Breeze presentations

2005-02-09T20:16:00.000-06:00

Macromedia has released a number of recorded Breeze presentations Something for everyone in this bundle of presentations If you have never seen Breeze in action, you should take the time to look at at least one of the following presentations. Of course, you should look at them anyway if you want to get to know more about Macromedia's products. Please note these are recordings of live

Cold Fusion MX 7

2005-02-09T20:06:00.000-06:00

Macromedia has released Cold Fusion MX 7 And it's the ost customer-driven version yet Unlike most other Beta cycles, Macromedia has been pretty public with the development of Cold Fusion 7. It seems like for months, everywhere I have turned I have seen Macromedia talking about the next release of Cold Fusion, showing what they are developing with it, and getting customer feedback before the

Even the bar prices are a gamble

2005-02-06T16:49:00.000-06:00

Here in Gulfport there are a number of Casinos Last night we discovered even the bar prices are a gamble Round 1, 3 drinks: Screwdriver, Bacardi and Coke, Heiniken, $4.75 Round 2, 2 drinks: Bacardi and Coke, Heiniken, $8.50 Round 3, 2 drinks: Screwdriver, Heiniken, $4.75 Round 4, 1 drink: Heiniken, $FREE!!! I guess that's one way to get you to go to a casino more often :+)

Stress relief

2005-02-05T20:43:00.000-06:00

Stress relief Can you resist this? Feeling stressed? See if you can resist coming back to this more than once in the next week ...

Controlling Flash sound

2005-02-04T19:09:00.000-06:00

Control the sound in Flash files embedded in Authorware Someone was asking recently on teh Macromedia forums ... ... about controlling the sound in a Flash file embedded in Authorware. I noticed that Joshua Burkholder has a sample posted on his website that controls the Flash sound volume:- http://www.geocities.com/joshuaburkholder/ You should check his examples out for some other cool code