Oh I am in heaven!

Oh I am in heaven!

Finally, a decent Indian restaurant!!!!!

I have lived here in Mississippi since May 31st last year. 8 months. There are NO Indian restaurants here in Gulfport, or anywhere else on the Mississippi Gulf Coast so far as we have been able to discover. I am British. I am addicted to Vindaloo. I love Mexican food, but the Mexican restaurants here do not understand about HOT food, so it does not fill my craving. Can you imagine? 8 months without a decent curry.

OK OK I admit it, we found a great Indian restaurant in Pheonix when we were there on honeymoon, but still, it's been 5 months since then.

By the way, when I say HOT I mean that first mouthful causes your heart to jump in fear! Gimme a good Indian Vindaloo and I am a happy (if slightly sweaty) man :-).

So on Saturday Amy and I went to New Orleans (N'orl'ns to the locals) with friends to see HOTEL RWANDA, a very moving film in my humble opinion. It is terrible the way the world ignored the plight of so many innocents in Rwanda until it was too late. But enough of that, go elsewhere if you want political discussion or an in-depth film critique ...

After the movie we went for dinner. We had pre-planned to locate either Cuban or Indian food, having decided to find something 'foreign' that most of us had not eaten before. You can imagine (if you are British) how heartbroken I was (n't) to discover that the decision was for us to seek out Indian food.

We found a restaurant reasonably close to the theater (cinema to us Brits) called, with outcredible originality, The Taj Mahal. Anyway, the important bit was that it was a small restaurant (by local standards) with great food, great atmosphere, and 4 very happy customers.

Next time we go there I'll have to have a word with them about their "very hot" vindaloo though. I didn't even break sweat, let alone endure even a single moment of fear! Soon .... !!!!

Running Authorware locally

More on running an Authorware file locally

Authorware Web Player files prompt a message when played back locally

According to Macromedia Technote number 19503 Windows XP SP2 can cause local playback of Authorware web-packaged content to give this error message

"Enable active content

Enabling active content on your Local Machine may harm your computer. Do you want to continue?"

The technote explains how best to avoid the error message and allow your content to run. I'll add some more tips to help you run local content later.

eLearning Design Challenge

Ron Lubensky has posted the latest eLearning design challenge

There is a severe drought. Strict domestic water usage restrictions are in place.

This is the fourth such challenge Ron has posted in recent months. They have inspired some lively debate and I am sure this latest challenge will do the same.

Discuss how you and others would approach this challenge on Ron's site eLearning Design Challenge #4.

Useful Windows XP tips

Windows XP tips, tricks, tweaks and tools

My wife found this great tip site for Windows XP

"Index of Windows XP Tips

Repository of XP Shell, User Interface tips, extensive troubleshooting guides and utilities for home users, IT Professionals, helpdesk / onsite support technicians. Most of the resources here deal with the Windows registry."

I notice the home page of this site has even more tips. Well worth looking at if you have trouble with your machine, and definitely worth looking at if you like to tinker under the bonnet (that's under the hood for you American folks).

Here's one cool example of the things available - ToolbarCop. This is a utility you can install to help get rid of all those helpful annoying toolbars and 'extensions' that your nephew has installed while you were mowing the lawn.

"ToolbarCop is a browser extensions manager which can disable or eliminate the following browser add-ons selectively from Internet Explorer:

• Unwanted Browser Helper Objects (BHO)
• Toolbars (Tool Band)
• Standard Toolbar buttons
• Context menu Extensions
• Third-party download managers &
• Third-party Protocol Handlers and their residual entries remaining in the registry.
• Horizontal / Vertical Explorer Bars (side-search bars)
• Startup applications originating from RUN registry keys."

Authorware 7 books

Where are all the Authorware 7 books?

Good question - let's take a look at what's on offer

First, there is the manual that comes with Authorware. It's OK, but you should treat it as a reference book. It contains exactly the same information that is in the Help files, so it's mostly of use if you want to browse or if you prefer to use a book.

Secondly, Joseph Ganci, of Dazzletech has written some excellent Authorware manuals and training courses over the years. You can purchase courses from the Dazzletech web site. The scripting courses cover Authorware versions from 5.2 to 7.0, so you will find more than enough information to make you a skilled Authorware developer.

Shameless Plug Dazzletch is again presenting excellent training courses at EuroTAAC this year.

Finally, perhaps you want to add some additional scripting power to Authoware 7. You can with JavaScript. Maybe you already know it well having done other web development. Maybe you are a Flash > Authorware convert and you just cannot get out of the ActionScript mentality. Maybe you just prefer object-based code ... Whatever, JavaScript in Authorware 7 is a powerful new addition, and you may need help getting it to work for you. Ron Lubensky (did I mention he is a God?) has a great JavaScript Quick Reference for Authorware...

"Instead of having browser objects like document, window and navigator, JavaScript for Authorware has its own Authorware Object Model that relates to its icons. This quick reference is a Command that you can display while you author. Use it to learn and remind yourself about syntax and object usage. It is presented as an Explorer-style tree. There is even an option to install it into your Authorware 7.0 script editor snippets"


So far that is really it for Authorware 7 books. Maybe when we get Authorware 8 there will be some new books. Anyone willing to sponsor me and Amy to write one? ;-)

PocketPC Flash Player

Looking for the Flash player for your PocketPC?

It seems like some people don't want you to find it

If you look an the Macromedia web site, it says you should check with your vendor, and offers a link to the Microsoft site. It sends you off somewhere else. If you are lucky, you will eventually find yourself back at the Macromedia download site for the PocketPC 2002 Flash Player.

Yes, that's right, it says the 2002 player. But don't worry, the player should be good for machines running one of the versions of PocketPC 2003 too.

But be careful as it seems like support for the Flash player is something your device vendor apparently can control, so you may find that your PocketPC phone does not support it. Standard PocketPCs should be OK though.

Why did I tell you this? You may recall that I did a little PocketPC work a while ago, and I am obsessed by the little devices. It amazes me to consider the power of these. In many ways they are more powerful than my first PC in 1998, for a start mine has built-in Wi-Fi, and it plays movies better than my old PC could ...

RSS Feed

RSS feed addded

Good news for all you syndication fans!

Andrew Lucking asked if I could add a syndication feed, and Andrew, your wish is my command! Point your RSS reader to

http://stevehoward.blogspot.com/atom.xml

or click the button at the top left of this page.

It is not the most advanced RSS feed in the world, but what do you expect for free? :+)

Hot on the heels ...

More on the Authorware 2004 Web Player

Almost as soon as I had posted a comment about Ron Lubensky's Web Player helper ...

... and I receive a comment asking for more information about the web player:-


"I agree that Ron's Command is pretty good but can you tell us more about *local* web packaged AW pieces that:

1 - are run without a manifest
2 - need to work under XP SP2's security features
3 - resolve AW security issues on Gecko based browsers"

Quick as a flash I had a dig about and I found some answers that might help.

1 - Andrew Poulos tells us here what to do with a file that does not have an associated Manifest

2 - This gem from Andrew Poulos describes how to get an Authorware file to run properly locally so he does not always have to be connected to the internet to get access to the Macromedia web site. Obviously this also has relevance to 1 above.

3 - And, remarkably, it appears the answer to 2 also answers 3 above ;-)

I think maybe I see a coincidence out the corner of my eye. What do you think?

Learn to love the Aware List archives. They are your best friend, ever!

Did I mention Ron L, the God?

Did I mention Ron L, the God?

Not content with giving us the GREAT Find & Fix command ...

... Ron recently created the AW 2004 Web Player Helper Command.

Macromedia launched a fine new version of the Authorware Web Player last spring, designed to make life simpler for us poor developers who had to deliver to locked-down Corporate systems - especially windows XP. The new web player needs a little extra tickling to make it work perfectly. Ron, the sweetheart that he is, took some time out to create a command that takes the pain out of the tickling...

Authorware 2004 Web Player Helper Command (ver 1.2 22K)
Click here to download for Authorware 6.5 and 7.0. Just copy the appropriate file in the zip to your Commands folder.

The new Authorware 2004 Web Player is fantastic. But One Button Publishing (OBP) in Authorware 6.5 and 7.0 isn't set up to take advantage of it. The default configuration is for the player to install the complete set of support files, but you can speed up the process by specifying a compact set of files and supply xtras with your package. Also, intranet deployment requires that player support files be referenced from a client location rather than from the Macromedia site. After publishing your learning object for web deployment, run this Command to:

1, add or replace a PLR line in your web player map file to specify complete, compact or custom installation.

2, check that OBP can select the codebase reference for the new player in any HTML template by updating your OBP.INI file.

EuroTAAC 2005, Blackpool, England

EuroTAAC 2005, Blackpool, England

Bring your buckets and spades

This year EuroTAAC is scheduled for April 14th to April 16th, and we are taking the conference to Blackpool, home to Britain's answer to the Eiffel Tower. Here's some cool web-cam pictures from the top of the tower.

The conference reaches new heights of luxury this year, in the Heron's Reach Hotel.

A full schedule of events and a list of speakers has now been posted. Highlights include Joseph Ganci, with his delicately entitled presentation Making Your E-Learning Engaging: Getting Past the Crap Factor, and a new-format Networking Event on Friday afternoon, where you are encouraged to bring your laptops and your business cards to swap problems, solutions and telephone numbers.

If you are interested in booking for either the conference or the pre- and post-conference training, then head to our registration page, but don't forget to check out the rest of the web site first!

Follow these links for travel and accommodation information, and more information about the Heron's Reach hotel.

Illegal character in aam file

Illegal character in aam file

Every now and then this error message appears ...

... when people are web publishing:

Warning: "Your File.ext" includes illegal Web Player characters. Legal
characters are A-Z. a-z, 0-9, and $-_.+!*,().

All it is telling you is that your file name has illegal characters in it. In the case above, all you need to do is rename the file and the aam reference so that there are no spaces in the filename.

Why did this happen? For a long time the convention (more accurately, rule since many browsers did not support long filenames) was to never use long filenames when publishing anything to the Internet. Macromedia set up the Authorware Web Player and the Web Publisher to follow that convention. These days many browsers will happily cope with spaces in the filenames, but it is still wise to adhere to the convention, especially when you are unsure of the capabilites of the browser you are publishing to.

Captivate movies in Authorware

Captivate movies in Authorware

Trouble at t' mill!

The new version of RoboDemo from Macromedia, now renamed Captivate, has been causing Authoware users a couple of problems. Robodemo used to create Flash files that were on a single timeline, and it was easy for Authorware users to detect the end of the movie, create custom buttons to pause, play, navigate etc through the RoboDemo movie.

With Captivate, Macromedia has changed the way the movies are created and now they contain numerous movie clips. Whilst this is definitely a better way to make Flash movies, it has broken the custom code used by developers for some time.

Macromedia has promised a technote soon to help users overcome this issue. Watch this space. Meantime, if you are a skilled flash user, or have access to one, you should publish your Captivate movie as an fla then you can edit it in Flash. You should be able to add some custom functions in Flash that you can call from Authorware to do your bidding. Also, you can add a GetURL message to tell Authorware the movie has finished, as per this example file I made some time ago. The zip file contains example Authorware and Flash code to show you haw to send an event from Flash to Authorware. You can use the same method to send other messages, such as navigation messages from a custom menu.

Have fun!!

Ron Lubensky is an Authorware GOD

Ron Lubensky is an Authorware GOD

Ron keeps on updating Find & Fix for us.

His latest version of this amazing command was recently updated to version 2.31. Here's what he has to say about it:-

"Use this command with AW6.5 or AW7.0 to perform maintenance operations on your applications. If you need to perform repetitive tasks with a certain degree of complexity, use Find & Fix to automate the process and complete them quickly.

To give you an idea of what it does, here is a gif of the Command's interface.
I use Find & Fix almost every day in my own development, I couldn't be as productive as I am without it.

This version includes the following new features:

• Batch file facility -- yes, you can now process a folder of AW files in one go!
• Ability to maximise script text areas -- many have asked for a larger space for scripting
• Ability to insert continuation character ¬ in scripts
• Easier to find settings files -- the open and save dialogs open in the default folder

Update or get a trial version of Find & Fix at www.clickcraft.com"

Wedding pictures

Wedding pictures

Just in case you don't believe it really happened!

Here are some of our wedding photos.
And just for the record, nothing is worn under a Scotsman's kilt. Everything is in perfect working order.

Oh My Goodness!

Father forgive me for I have sinned.

It has been over a year since my last submission.

Since then I have sold, thrown away or given away almost all of my posessions.

I have left my home in England and travelled across the Atlantic to settle in Mississippi.

In August 2004, the 24th to be exact, I married my sweetheart of almost 4 years, Amy Blankenship, and now we are embarking on our 'happily ever after'.

I promise to be good from now on.

I will submit to my blog on regular occasions.
I promise to keep my regular readers informed.
I promise to post useful tips and tricks for using Authorware 7 and beyond.
And post about other stuff too. Some of it will have absolutely no relationship with Macromedia or multimedia whatsoever.

Really.

I will

Honest.

Cross my heart!

EuroTAAC :: Authorware and eLearning conference

Thursday 25 March to Saturday 27 March 2004.
EuroTAAC is the premier conference in Europe for Authorware and all things eLearning

Each year EuroTAAC brings together some of the best talent in the world to share their expertise in a wide range of topics. In 2003, for instance, presentations included:-

• Creating professional graphics for your eLearning using Fireworks
• The Top 10 Blunders in Developing E-Learning and How to Avoid Them
• An introduction to creating Authorware Extensions
• Extending Databases - how to create and utilise a database for dynamic courses
• Standards for exchanging data with LMSs
• Self-updating Authorware executables
• Building a dynamic application using sub-routines and script functions in 6.5
• 3D in Authorware
• Quality in e-Learning
• Authorware and the OS security issues
• The security associated with Authorware in a web browser.
• Data-driven Wizardry: Uses of Dynamic Data in Authorware
• Authorware Accessibility: Issues, Guidelines and Solutions
• collaborative systems in Authorware
• Interactive simulations for training

EuroTAAC also offers classes from some of the most respected Authorware developers and trainers in the World. This year EuroTAAC is offering:

Authorware Scripting 1 Monday 22nd March to Wednesday 24th March, 2004
Facilitated by: Joe Ganci, DazzleTech DazzleTech.

JavaScript for Authorware Monday 22nd March to Wednesday 24th March, 2004
Facilitated by: Dan Clinger, DazzleTech DazzleTech.

Extending Authorware - Building Commands, Knowledge Objects, and other Extensions Monday 29th March to Wednesday 31st March 2004
Facilitated by: Chris Swenson, DazzleTech.

E-Learning Project Management from Soup to Nuts Monday 29th March to Wednesday 31st March 2004
Facilitated by: Joe Ganci, DazzleTech.

Who should attend?

Teachers - those who teach students to use tools like Authorware for eLearning and other multimedi tasks.

Students - those who wish to learn not only how to use Authorware but to learn about some of the amazing things that it can do. You will also learn about how to integrate Authorware with LMS and LCMSs, databases and more. If you want to find out about eLearning standards (AICC ,SCORM ...) EuroTAAC is the place to come.

Managers - do you manage a team that produces eLearning? Or are you responsible for purchasing eLearning tools, products or expertise? Well EuroTAAC is a great place to come to get contacts and to see what the market has to offer.

Developers - learn from the best Authorware developers in the World. Se what amazing things that can be done with Authorware. Not enough? See how easy it is to extend Authorware so that it can be utilised in an amazing array of tasks.

Attendees come from all over Europe, the USA, Canada, Mexico, South America and Australia to attend EuroTAAC! EuroTAAC is the best place in Europe to learn about Authorware and all things eLearning.

I look forward to seeing you at EuroTAAC in Edinburgh in March!

TAAC 8, Macromedia's Eye View

Aaron Jones was one of several Macromedia employees to attend this year's TAAC conference. Aaron was good enough to take the time to write an article describing his experience there.
Well done Aaron, no longer a TAAC virgin :-)

Authorware finally gets a presence on DevNet!

Thanks to Amy Blankenship and Andrew Chemey for writing these cool articles for Authorware posted to the AW devnet page.

Andrew's article discusses creating AICC and SCORM compliant courses with Authorware. Amy's is a tutorial showing how you can use Fireworks to create great graphics for your Authorware courses.

Thanks to you both!

Oh - and please note there are several other great articles there too!

Want to put Flash in your Windows Pocket PC PDA?

Recently I was asked to put together a demo of a work aid tool to be used on a Pocket PC PDA.
The breif was simple. It needed to:
• work on Pocket PC
• be as lean as possible
• run from RAM or from a memory card, not via the Web
• run full screen
• be a simple, proof of concept memory aid, used as a ready reference that supplimented existing training.

After a little pain ( I don't enjoy working with Flash), the end result was a simple little XML-driven application. I have a version of it here, scaled to 480x640 for PC users, and a second version designed to run on Pocket PC, scaled to fit into the standard Pocket IE window. Note that the scaling means it is smaller than designed, as the real thing runs full-screen using Macromedia's Standalone Player for Pocket PC.

More PDA joy

I ordered a new PDA. There was nothing wrong with my old one, but I wanted more. Faster processor. More RAM. Integrated Wi-Fi. Now my PDA is fully connected to my home wireles LAN. I can send/receive emails, surf the Net, get files from my local machines, even control my server, all from the comfort of my bedroom, the yard ... anywhere.

Or I can go to Starbucks :-)

If you care, this is what I bought - Toshiba E755

Here is what I should have bought - Toshiba E805! It has a larger screen, higher resolution (480x640), VIOP, text to speech, voice commands. ... wow, PCs were not this good 5 or 6 years ago!

TAAC 8, been and gone

I couldn't make it to TAAC this year :-( Too busy between work and studies. By all accounts TAAC was a little quieter this year than of late, although no less informative or fun!

I see Mark has links to all previous year's TAAC presentations. Hopefully he will be able to get this year's presentations up soon.

EuroTAAC 2004 is in Edinburgh

EuroTAAC :: Authorware and eLearning conference

Thursday 25 March to Saturday 27 March 2004.

EuroTAAC is the premier conference in Europe for Authorware and all things eLearning

Latest News - EuroTAAC 2004

Where is EuroTAAC 2004?
I have decided to return to the beautiful Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, Scotland (I took it there in 2002). Make a note in your diary - 22-27 March 2004, with the main conference taking place on 25-27 March. I am also planning post-conference training this year. Look out for further announcements soon.


EuroTAAC 2004. Go on! You know you want to!

Authorware 7.01 released

Macromedia has released an update to Authorware 7 that addresses a number of bugs discovered after AW 7 was released.

You can get the update from here http://www.macromedia.com/support/authorware/download.html

And there are extensive release notes here:-

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/authorware/701/releasenotes.html


Probably the most exciting improvement is the inclusion of the ability to update files from Authorware 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 6.0 and 6.5 directly to Authorware 7

Useful stuff from Joshua Burkholder

Joshua Burkholder is one of the most talented AW developers about. He is also quite the Flash expert. Joshua has posted a number of useful files on hos web site

http://www.geocities.com/joshuaburkholder/

Using Authorware to extract CAB files

Have you ever wanted to extract files from a cabinet file (.CAB) using Authorware. alCabinet.u32 does just that - extract a file(s) from a .CAB. It's free and it's available from:
http://www.apixel.com/section05.htm#alcabinet

Video Magic in Authorware

alVideoMagic released. Have you ever wanted to play one video within another video, aka
"picture in a picture"? No, well try Apixel's new u32 - maybe it will change your mind :-)

alVideoMagic is a 32 bit UCD that uses DirectX 9 to play a secondary video within a primary video. It's pretty neat if not overly useful.

It's free and it available from:
http://www.apixel.com/section05.htm#alvideomagic

Authorware and SCORM

It was brought to my attention that Macromedia has the following article on their site. Nice to see an AWARE related item (SCORM)

http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/authorware/articles/metadata_editor.html?trackingid=devnetupdate_email_100603

This is an excellent article form Sharon Brown.

Internet explorer changes to affect plugins

If you haven't read about the changes coming to Internet Explorer, you should have a good read of Macromedia's take, and their suggestions on how to work around the changes

http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/activecontent/

More handy tools - alToolTip

For all the users of alTooltip.u32, a UCD that allows Authorware developers to include tooltips within their applications, there is now an Authorware v.7 Knowledge Object available for download:

http://www.apixel.com/section05.htm#altooltip

I use alToolTip often in my work - not just for placing tips over buttons. I use it to add extra information to pages, adding tooltips to an i icon for instance.

Find and Fix Command updated

Ron Lubensky has anounced an update to his great Find and Fix command for Authorware 6.5 and 7. Enhancements include

• Javascript-enabled (for Authorware 7.0)
• New icon properties
• Find and fix library-linked icons (ver 2.04)
• Paste icons from clipboard or model (ver 2.05)

This command offers incredible workflow enhancements for those tedious maintenance tasks. The price is rediculously cheap!

For a complete rundown of its features, here is the help file for it:
http://www.clickcraft.com/ko/Click%20Craft%20Find%20and%20Fix.htm

and a screen grab of its interface:
http://www.clickcraft.com/ko/find&fixcmd.gif

Have you booked your TAAC 8 ticket yet?

TAAC 8 is in Las Vagas this year. To attend the best Authorware conference on the other side of The Pond, you should choose TAAC.



As always there will be the best Authorware talent around presenting on topics ranging from design to coding, extending Authorware, and sharing their best tips and tricks.

This year's program includes:

• Hands-On with Authorware 7
• Implementing JavaScript in Authorware
• Longer sessions; more meat, less filler
• Sessions that really get your hands dirty
• 1:1 Sessions with Resident Pros
• The Authorware Games
• The Ask Macromedia Panel Session
• Meet & Greet Reception (Thur, Oct 23)
• Poolside chat with MM Engineers
• Each and EVERY session will be recorded and offered in DVD format
• NEW and EXCITING Pre and Post-Conference Training Packages

For once I have a great excuse :-)

The Blogger site is undergoing redesign right now. Great.

But they have somehow lost the "Publish Template" button. And the "Publish Archive" button. So as I type things are a bit upside down. Hopefully it gets fixed soon so I can sort out the template (I have a dead image here on the left {pointing ineffectually}).

MX Suite 2004

Hot on the heels of AW 7 comes the new MX Suite 2004. Take a look at http://www.macromedia.com/software/mx2004/ for information about the fantastic updates to Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks MX 2004.

If you are not sure whether to buy Flash MX Professional 2004 or the standard version, do yourself a favour and just buy Professional! It's a simple decision - better code editing support, better video, better database components. More stuff too, but these are the clinchers for me! And for only $100 extra if you are buying hte upgrade - there really is nothing to choose.

Limited-edition, numbered MX 2004 t-shirts

Oh - and if you buy soon you could qualify for a free limited edition t-shirt. "Each MX 2004 t-shirt will be given your unique order number. The sooner you order, the lower the number."

Handy resources

Amy Blankenship has expanded her site http://authorware-amy.com/ to include the Newbie Resource Center - it's the panel on the right of the home page. Also check out the Examples section where Amy has some excellent samples of things you really wanted to do with Authorware but couldn't figure out how.

Erik Lord has a nice resource site here http://www.awaretips.net. As well as sample code, he has links to other Authorware sites and a FAQ page. Nice examples.

I did promise ...

... quite a while ago that there would be no more long breaks in my posts. OK it turns out that was a lie. I have been so busy this summer that Blogging has not been high on my list of priorities!

So what's been going on?

Since I last posted I have been furiously beta testing Authorware 7, which of course was launched in June ... so long ago! We have some cool new additions to Authorware, including the beginnings of OOP with full support for the core JavaScript language, a more modern interface, a speach Xtra and the ability to play DVDs.

Mostly, the rest of the time I have been working. I was supposed to spend the summer continuing with my studies, but I have been so busy with work that whenever I have not been working all I want to do is read a book ... for pleasure, not learning.

I have also continued on my quest to make my PDA invaluable to me. My two most used apps are Microsoft Reader and Internet Explorer. Reader for books, and IE for news. I use the built-in AvantGo app to sychronise several news and technology web sites each day. So no more need for a newspaper, and I can get the news I want from anywhere in the World :-) I also use the email app too, mostly to read mail, but occasionally to send messages while on the move, or sitting by the river.

Equally important are the apps I use less often

I got a great set of Solitaire games (about 234 different games!) from Mud Inc.

I also use Pocket Slideshow because it allows me to view my PowerPoint slides on the PDA. If I had a newer model, for instance a Toshiba 750 I could connect the PDA to a monitor or projector at 800x600 resolution to view the PowerPoint slideshow. Who needs to carry a laptop now?

Finally my new cellphone supports GPRS so now I can easily check my email, surf the internet and keep up to date while on the move. Even while sitting on a train :-)

When I got my PDA I was a little skeptical. It runs the Pocket Windows 2002 OS, and is labelled Pocket PC. The name is apt - these modern little machines really are pocket computers. If you don't already have one, go to your local computer store and have a play - you will be amazed what these tiny devices can do!!!

New Downloads section

I added a new Downoads section to mmy web site. Little code snippetds like reading an external file into a list or property list, a simple dictionary, dynamically size/position your hotspots, using SetMotionObject and SetTargetObect to simplify Drag and Drop routines and many more.

http://www.tomorrows-key.com/downloads.asp

But of course why bother with WinAPI when BudAPI has it all for you

If you think you want to use the WinAPI, make sure you take a look at BudAPI first! BudAPI is known throughout the Director and Authorware world as a wonderful tool for extending both products.

Not only does it work woth both Director and Authorware, it is cross-platform too and so it works on PC and Mac. This is not true of WinAPI!

You can use a couple of BudAPIs functions in an application without purchasing it. Or:-

The Limited Edition costs US $80 or $AUD 140, plus 10% GST for Australian residents. In this version, the Xtra allows you to call any seven functions in any projector or packaged application. Each function can be called multiple times. Full commercial use of the UCD/U32 is also included. Support is provided by e-mail.

The Full Version costs US $160 or $AUD 280, plus 10% GST for Australian residents. This contains a fully unlocked version of both the Xtra and the UCD/U32. Support is provided by e-mail. An upgrade to the full version from the limited version costs US $80 or $AUD 140, plus 10% GST for Australian residents.

This is a cheap plugin that can save you hours of work and frustration!

Authorware and WinAPI are there any references? - Part 1

Have you ever tried to use any functions from the WinAPI.u32 supplied with Authorware? If so you will no doubt have been frustrated by the 'information' provided with the functions. If not, here's a quick example.

Imagine you want to copy a file from your application CD to the user's hard drive. What Authorware function would you use? Seems like a simple enough request doesn't it? Well there is no native CopyFile() function in Authorware. There are many options for solving this problem, one of which is to load the CopyFile() function from WinAPI.u32. So let's try it.

1. Open a new Authorware file, and save it somewhere convenient as TestCopy.
2. You need a test file to copy, so make a new text file in the same folder you just saved your Authorware file into. Call this text file TextCopy.txt,
and type some text in it. Something simple like Hello Mum.

Now we need that CopyFile() function. Loading a new function into Authorware from a .u32 is pretty simple.

3. Open the Functions dialogue either by pressing the Functions button or pressing the keys control+shift+f.
4. Click in the Category: drop-down and scroll down to the bottom until you find a category named TestCopy.axp (where the x in axp represents your version of Authorware - a4p for Authorware 4, a5p for Authorware 5 etc.) and select this category.
5. Press the Load button at the bottom-left of the Functions dialogue.
6. A Windows browse dialogue entitled Load function appears. Use it to browse to the folder containing your current version of Authorware - by default it should be:-

C:\program files\macromedia\Authorware x
(x will be your Authorware version number - 4, 5, 6, 6.5 ...)

Now here you take a sneaky shortcut. It is best to load your function from a u32 that is in the same folder as your application. When you do this Authorware stores the reference to the file as a relative reference, not a hard-coded path. Whilst it should not matter once the file is packaged, it is more elegant to use the relative path during development plus it helps to ensure that you package the correct files with your application.

So the sneaky shortcut is this:- Locate the file WinAPI.u32 in the browse dialogue, select it with a SINGLE mouse click and then press Control+C to copy the file to your clipboard. Keeping the browse dialogue open, now browse to the folder that you have saved your test file into. With the folder open, press Control+V to paste the WinAPI.u32 into your test folder.

Continued in part 2 below

Authorware and WinAPI are there any references? Part 2

7. Double-click the file WinAPI.u32. A dialogue opens entitled em<>Custom functions in WinAPI.u32.
8. A brief browse of this dialogue reveals hundreds of functions that are available to you from Authorware.
9. For now we are interested only in CopyFile, so scroll down to it and, for now, select it with a single click of your mouse.

This is where things stop being completely simple. Notice what the Description filed says :-

BOOL = CopyFile( LPCSTR lpExistingFileName, LPCSTR lpNewFileName, BOOL bFailIfExists )
Windows API Call See Windows SDK for description.

First, the parameters? What is that all about? Well as Authorware developers, all we need to know is that it translates to:-

success:=CopyFile(From, To, Overwrite?)

From would be the file you are copying, e.g.
FileLocation^"TestCopy.txt"

To would be the file you copy to, e.g.
RecordsLocation^"CopiedFile.txt"

Overwrite? is 1 if you want to overwrite the file if it already exists, and 0 if you don't want to overwrite.

So where is this Windows SDK that we are supposed to reference? Sadly not on your Authorware CD. You need to go to Microsoft for that. If you already do Windows development with, say C++ or Delphi you may already have an appropriate Windows API reference. If not, you need to go to MSDN. However the reference there is all aimed at C programmers. Take, for instance, the CopyFile() reference.

Fortunately there is a nice reference designed for Authorware - the Authorware Win API Guide. This site documents around 70 WinAPI functions with example code and files.

Important notes
Many WinAPI functions are not suitable for use with Authorware because they require variable types not available with Authorware, or the require advanced memory manipulation.

It appears some functions do not work with Windows XP. If in doubt, check with the Aware List, there are several people there who can answer specific questions about using WinAPI.

Free Sci-Fi/Fantasy books for your PDA

At Christmas I was given a PDA by my super-generous girlfriend. Being skeptical of such 'toys' I was then obliged to prove that I could make this little pocket computer into something useful in my life. I have several uses that mean I use it many times daily - sometime I'll post about more of those.

My main use for it is as a super-portable book. How so? you may ask. Well my PDA runs Microsoft's Reader software and I have found a great resource for free Sci-Fi/Fantasy books in many formats - one of which is the Microsoft Reader format.

Head over to the Baen Free Library and see for yourself.

Be warned - not all of the books are a great read, but since you can download approximately 60 books for free there are plenty to choose from. They take up a mere 25 Mb of storage space so you can carry them on your PDA storage card or on your laptop's hard drive and have them available wherever you go. I particularly enjoy reading mine on the train, plane, whilst cycling in the gym, even in restaurants when I work away from home. As you know, carrying even two books while you are travelling is a pain - even more so if you happen to finish reading them before the trip is over!

Pasting ASP source code into Authorware Display

I see this asked occasionally:-

"I am trying to paste ASP source code into an Authorware Display icon. When I close the Display icon I get the error "Where is function blah()?. How do I fix this?"

The answer is surprisingly simple. In JScript (and many other programming languages, for instance ActionScript, C) the code of custom functions is wrapped in curly brackets "{ }". Authorware uses these same characters in Display icons to denote variables or expressions that it is to evaluate at runtime. When Authorware sees these in code that has been pasted into a Display icon, it assumes you want to evaluate what is inside the brackets.

The cure is simple. Just escape the curly brackets. So if you want to paste in this simple JS function:-


function areaOfSphere(radius) {
return 4 * Math.PI * (Math.pow(radius, 2));
}


escape the curly brackets thus:-


function areaOfSphere(radius) \{
return 4 * Math.PI * (Math.pow(radius, 2));
\}


TAAC 8 dates and venu annouced - and special draw for early birds ...

TAAC8 - The Alternative Authorware Conference
Alexis Park Hotel, Las Vegas NV, Oct 23 - 25, 2003

*** EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION SPECIAL ***

Want to go to Vegas for FREE?

Register early, and WIN! One lucky winner will be drawn from the first 20 General Admission tickets sold to win an all expenses paid trip to TAAC8! That's right folks - one lucky person will win airfare, lodging, and their ticket compliments of Mark Henry Enterprises, Inc.

For more information, or to register, go to:

http://www.markhenryenterprises.com/

Another good FlashMX XML tutorial

This one also gives good explanation. Better - it mentions several neat tricks in passing, for instance suffixing your XML object name with "_xml" informs the ActionScript editor that the variable is an XML object and the editor will provide a dropdown list of appropriate methods during editing. Sweet :-)

The FlashMX XML tutorial can be found here and it is hosted by actionscript.org. This too appears to be an excellent resource.

Rant!

Why do so many web sites insist on turning off my status bar in Internet Explorer? What are they trying to hide? What right do they think they have to mess with my settings? It's my machine I am using and I should have every right to control my own settings!

If anyone knows of a way I can block these selfish idiots from changing my browser settings, I'd be pleased to hear from you.

A Simple Flash XML Tutorial

I was looking for a nice, simple, clear tutorial today to get me started with using XML in Flash. I found several badly written tutorials - ones with poor code, or with bad explanations. I won't tell you any more about them.

But I did find one tutorial that was perfect for my needs. It is clear and explains everything in great detail. Even better, the code is good - simple, efficient, no unexplained weirdness.

The tutorial in question is at http://www.studiowhiz.com/ and goes by the title of Philter's Flash/XML Tutorial. It explains how to create a simple dynamic menu in Flash MX, or to quote "A basic introduction to XML and it's usage in Flash to build a simple dynamic menu".

A scout of the web site shows a large number of other useful tutorials for Flash, Dreamweaver, Director, Photoshop, Freehand, PHP, Perl and many other tools. Seems like an excellent site.

Copy protect your AW CDs?

Occasionally people ask on the newsgroups if it is possible to copy-protect the CDs they sell to their clients. The economical answer is usually no. However Apixel has a product for sale called Castellan that looks like an affordable and viable solution. Developed by a well-respected UK company PTT, Castellan:-

• is the copy control system that strikes the right balance between security and ease of use for both you and the end-user of your software.
• has a proven reliability and robustness. PTT has been using this system to protect its own e-learning programs for over two years on PCs all over the world.
• will protect programs running under Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT4, 2000 and XP
• will protect programs developed using Macromedia Authorware and Director. Castellan will also protect software developed using programming languages such as C++, Delphi, and Visual Basic.

Please note that Castellan does not actually prevent disc copying, but it does tie the product installation to a single installation; think of it as a secure licensing system.

If you prefer a different solution, the following were all recently suggested on the macromedia.authorware newsgroup:-

CrypKey
DiscGuard
SafeDisc
SoftLock
sofpro.com

I also found these on a quick web search:-

http://www.barracuda99.cwc.net/How_To__/CD_Protect/cd_protect.html
Microsoft tools

Please note that since I have not used or tested any of these products I am making no comment about the quality or value of any of them. I am not recommending any of the products. I am merely bringing them to your attention.

Finding the Windows/Mac OS directory

Did you ever want to find where Windows was installed? Or where the current active Mac OS was installed? Did you parse it out of RecordsLocation? Well if so, from Authorware 6.5 this may no longer work. But fear not! There is a simpler way. The FileIO Xtra has a simple function that does this for you. From the function description:-

getOSDirectory() -- returns the full path to the Mac System Folder or Windows Directory

So all you need to do is call getOSDirectory

OSpath:=getOSDirectory()

Need more tips like this? Then you should bookmark the Authorware-Amy.Com tips pages. Even better - if you subscribe to the Tip Of The Week newsletter you can keep up to date will ALL of Amy's tips as they are published.

New Look

I have been messing about with the look of this site over the last couple of days. I liked the old design but I received several complaints that the text was too small and not resizable, also that the site was too dark and gloomy. So now it is a little brighter and the text is quite a bit bigger.

So is it OK now? Or do you think some further tweaks are required? Let me know - there's a "contact" link at the top of the page.

The Meaning of Life

Last week I saw a complete box set of the Monty Python movies on DVD. I had to buy them. Really. I had no choice. So now I have to watch them :-).

Crazy stuff.

So British.

Authorware samples

I may have been quiet, but that does not mean I have not been busy. I have added some sample files to my Tomorrow's Key web site. As I type there is no index of these files, so for now you can only find them by going direct to them:-

EndOfFlashMovie.zip
This shows how you can get a Flash file to tell Authorware it is finished. Authorware listens for Flash using an Event response. Sample Flash and Authorware files are included. The same method can be used to send messages and/or data from Flash to Authorware.

progress bar.zip
This file has a dynamic progress bar, drawn entirely using Authorware code. It is designed to display progress through your Authorware course.

graphicProgress.zip
This sample is similar to the dynamic progress bar, but it uses a graphic rather than Authorware code for the progress bar.

Uninstalling the Authorware plugin

People often want to uninstall the Authorware plugin as part of a troubleshooting system, or to exchange for another version.

Netscape plugin

. Find the NS plugin folder for the version of the Netscape browser you are using.
. Locate the folder called NP32ASW and delete it.
. Also delete the dll file np32asw.dll that you will find in the plugin folder. <--- This is essential!!!!

Internet Explorer

First, this is how to uninstall the Netscape plugin which is no longer supported from Internet Exporer 5.5 SP1. Microsoft stopped supporting Netscape-style plugins because they are not specified in the HTML 4 standards.

. Locate the IE plugin folder - by default it is going to be

C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS

. Locate the folder called NP32ASW and delete it.
. Also delete the dll file np32asw.dll that you will find in the plugin folder.<--- This is essential!!!!

Now the ActiveX control:-

. Browse to

C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files

or

C:\WINNT\Downloaded Program Files

. Right click the file Macromedia Authorware Web Player Control and select Remove.
. If you want to be thorough, go to:-

C:\WINDOWS\system\Macromed
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed
C:\WINNT\system32\Macromed

(depends on your system)

... and delete the folder AUTHORWA - although it is not strictly necessary.

Now reinstall - only install the Netscape plugin to Netscape and the ActiveX plugin to IE.

Need to find the installers in a hurry? Look on your Authorware CD.

Rumours of my demise have been .. er ... just rumours

I am back and here to stay. Or something. You would not believe how busy I have been since February - between work, EuroTAAC and studying.

Obviously EuroTAAC is out of the way now. It really was a great week. The weather in Friedrichshafen was outstanding - blue skies and sunshine all week. If you want to know what you missed, head over to the EuroTAAC 2003 downloads page. We are still waiting for some of the presenters to post their files, but there is enough for you to get your teeth into for now.

There are also some photographs of the event and the location available if you want to see them:-

Day 1
Friedrichshafen
Lindau
Meersburg
Meet 'n' Greet
Precon training

Please note that they were posted in a hurry - I have still not turned them around the right way :-) I will soon ...

OK that was EuroTAAC. Now studying. The last of my assignments for the year was handed in on Monday. My the end of next week I should know if they were up to scratch. Things have been going pretty good so far so I am looking forward to decent grades. After all the time it has taken it is a relief to get this leg out of the way.

Now I just have to spend the whole summer on The Big Project ...

DirectXtras release new 3D transitions

DirectXtras this week announced a brand new set of 3D transitions. This is the second set of 3D transitions from DirectXtras.

Tomer Berda said
"DirectTransition3D Xtra is a collection of high quality, hardware accelerated, platform independent transitions for Macromedia Director, Authorware and Shockwave. DirectTransition3D Xtra, Set II, features the following customizable transitions:"

• Black Hole: Simulates the before image sucked in to or blown out of a point.
• Circular Wipe: Simulates the before image being wiped in a circular shape to reveal the after image.
• Color Fade: Simulates the before image fading in to a color and fading out to the after image.
• Four Part Door: Simulates the before image opening in a four part door to reveal the after image.
• One Part Door: Simulates the before image opening in a one part door to reveal the after image.
• Ripples: Simulates circular ripples oscillating, expanding and wiping to reveal the after image.
• Rotating Boxes: Simulates boxes with the before image on one side and the after image on another side rotating.
• Simple Fade: Simulates a simple fade from the before image to the after image.
• Simple Wipe: Simulates a simple wipe in any direction from the before image to the after image.
• Squeeze: Simulates the before image squeezing into an outer edge to reveal the after image.
• Three Part Door: Simulates the before image opening in a three part door to reveal the after image.
• Twist: Simulates a plane with the before image on one side and the after image on the other side twisting to reveal the after image.
• Two Part Door: Simulates the before image opening in a two part door to reveal the after image.
• Two Way Wipe: Simulates a wipe from any two opposite direction converging to reveal the after image.
• Zoom: Simulates the before image zooming in and the after image zooming out while the images fade.

An evaluation version downloaded from this web page http://www.directxtras.com/DTransition3DSetII_home.asp

EuroTAAC 2003

Nearly there. Only 4 weeks until I fly out to Germany for this year's EuroTAAC conference. A few more days and we start another wonderful week of information sharing, meeting friends old and new and seeing what incredible things other people do with Authorware.

This year we have decided to change the format of the Authorware challenge. Instead of announcing the challenge right at the start, then consigning a few hardened coders to spendthe rest of the conference cloistered in their hotel rooms dreaming up outlandish code that "only took four hours" ;-) we will not announce teh exact nature of the challange until Saturday afternoon. Teams will have 2 hours to complete the task before presenting for judging.

Integrity eLearning have been kind enough to sponsor the challenge, and are providing the prizes for the winning competitors.

EuroTAAC - Go on. You know you want to ...

Somebody broke my template

Grrrrrrrr. It seems Blogger had hiccoughs last week. My page no longer fits right in the window. Or maybe I broke the template? Not sure yet. I keep tinkering, trying to see if I did something. Normal service will resume as soon as I figure out what buttons to press! Or something.

AHA!!!! I found the problem. It was me all along. The bug report below contains some code. The last 6 lines of that code **should be all on one line** but if I write it like that, of vourse they insist on BEING on one line in the browser. So be aware of that if you are copy/pasting the updated text for your AW ini file.

Steve

A small bug with Authorware 6.5. OBP and wmv files

Recently a developer posted to the macromedia.authorware newsgroup, voicing concerns that his wmv file would play in authoring mode, but not when packaged. He received this error "Unable to load external movie driver for: movieName.wmf. Possibly the driver is missing or there is not enough memory."

After some exploration I realised that his problem was caused by an error in OBP (the One button Publishing feature). It seems that OBP does not pick up the fact that the file a6wmp32.xmo is required for movie files that use the new Windows Media Player support within the Movie icon. I mailed Macromedia about this and Stefan van As replied with the full solution.

The OBP settings are held in an ini file called Xtras.ini which by default should be located in the folder C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Authorware 6.5. The version of the file distributed with Authorware 6.5 contains a small error. The [movies] section should be replaced with this updated text:-

.AVI="A%sVFW32.XMO"
.MOV="A%sQT32.XMO"
.QT="A%sQT32.XMO"
.MPG="A%sMPEG32.XMO"
.MPEG="A%sMPEG32.XMO"
.ASF="A%sWMP32.XMO"
.ASX="A%sWMP32.XMO"
.WMV="A%sWMP32.XMO"
.IVF="A%sWMP32.XMO"
.WMP="A%sWMP32.XMO"
.DIR="A%sDIR32.XMO", "DIRECTOR\M5DRVR32.EXE", "DIRECTOR\M5DRVR32.RSR", "DIRECTOR\M5IF32.DLL", "DIRECTOR\XOBGLU32.DLL", "DIRECTOR\D60XTRA.MCH", "DIRECTOR\ASIPORT.RSR", "DIRECTOR\ASIFONT.MAP", "DIRECTOR\FONTMAP.TXT", "DIRECTOR\MACROMIX.DLL", "DIRECTOR\DIRDIB.DRV", "DIRECTOR\LINGO.INI", "DIRECTOR\FILEIO.DLL", "DIRECTOR\XTRAS\SNDIMP.X32", "DIRECTOR\XTRAS\GIFIMP.X32", "DIRECTOR\XTRAS\JPEGIMP.X32", "DIRECTOR\XTRAS\MIX32.X32", "DIRECTOR\XTRAS\SWADCMPR.X32"

If you cannot spot it, the problem is that the first several lines begin with two periods in the original file - they should actually begin with only a single period as shown above.

link to the web browser version macromedia.authorware newsgroup

newsreader link to the macromedia.authorware newsgroup

Steve

Design issues

Readers will be familiar with the fact that I am studying right now. Part of my studies involves looking at web and multimedia design. As a developer, my knowledge and understanding of design issues is generally limited to what "feels right", what I see elsewhere and what "works" for me and my colleagues. Often this means I get involved in heated discussion with designers more interested in pretty stuff than they are in usability.

The University's tutors are keen to express upon us that Jakob Nielson is the usability guru. He has certainly published a lot of useful information, and his web site is a great resource.

Web page design

He has published a great book called Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed which I bought and have used as a reference not just for home page design, but also for other aspects of web and multimedia design. I'll be sure to buy more of his books soon!

The book lists a total of 113 recommendations for home pages, backed up by statistical studies. Many recommendations are based on the frequency with which something is encountered on the web (e.g. the left-hand navigation area) whereas others are based on studies of useability preferences and on legibility.

Whilst the recommendations are useful in isolation, the book really begins to shine with its critiques of 50 major home pages using Nielson's recommendations, therefore helping the reader to see where the recommendations are applied. It is interesting to note that the book also makes it easy for the reader to times where some of the recommendations may be set aside for other considerations.

Other usability resources

While discussing this with Amy Blankenship, Amy shared her favourite resource for web usability from the http://webreference.com site. The Webreference Articles page lists loads of good resources. The whole site is also a valuable resource, and well worth exploring.

Steve

Whether the Weather be Hot

I was working in London this week. It snowed. About 3 inches at most so far as I could see. London came to a complete standstill.

London, apparently, did not realise it was winter.

I was supposed to travel to Germany on Saturday to visit the EuroTAAC venue and perhaps even finalise some arrangements. The snow fell on Thursday. Stanstead airport was still recovering, having closed overnight Thursday. So I arrived at the airport just in time to learn that all morning flights had been cancelled because they had decided that there was no way to catch up with the backlog of flights.

My flight was, of course, a morning flight :-( I left before the heat from all the flared tempers overwhelmed me.


Steve

EuroTAAC

Things are hotting up for the EuroTAAC conference. It's now only a few short weeks away until the annual European Alternative Authorware Conference, held this year in Friedrichshafen, South-West Germany.

This year we have again attrected the best Authorware gurus in the World both for pre- and post-conference training and for the three days of high-quality presentations. Three days of the hghest quality education in the use and extension of Authorware, and int he delivery of e-Learning via web and Learning Management System. All this for only £350.

Following popular request both from attendees and from presenters, we have several double-length sessions taking place so that the presenters are not having to rush through what is often complex and highly valuable information.

If you are concerned about the cost of travelling to Germany, don't be. We have secured the best hotel in the town for the conference for only 75 Euros per night per room (single or double occcupancy). And we have posted a large number of travel tips.

Watch this space for more information as it becomes available.

New stuff

Following are some new and updated product announcements from the last few weeks in no partucular order ...

Apurva has been writing a series of u32 tutorials. You can find his site here http://home3.pacific.net.sg/~apudeepa/. Sadly it is still impossible to bookmark pages on his site, so you have to navigate to the u32 Tutorials section using the menu on the left.

Apurva and Andrew Poulos of Apixel have released an updated version of alListView. To download the latest version and to read more about alListView go to:http://www.apixel.com/section05.htm#allistview.

Andew Poulos' has written a new article contribution for the Macromedia Designer & Developer Center: Tips for Manipulating Images and Text in Authorware 6.5:
http://www.macromedia.com/desdev/education/articles/aw_text_images.html. Get creative with your text display using these helpful suggestions.

Apixel and Apurva Lawale are pleased to announce the release of alMenu.u32. alMenu.u32 is an 32 bit Authorware UCD that creates menus with the ability to customise the colours used. A fully functional evaluation version of alMenu.u32 can be downloaded from http://www.apixel.com/section05.htm#almenu

DirectXtras is pleased to announce a new MacOS X compatible version of DirectOS Xtra. A fully functional evaluation version of DirectOS Xtra can be downloaded from: http://www.directxtras.com/DOS_home.asp. Not that the OSX version will work only with Director MX.

Apurva and Andrew Poulos of Apixel have released a new speech recognition UCD for Authorware - alSR.u32.It can work in one of two ways:
- free dictation, where it attempts to recognize any and all spoken phrases
- command and control, where you first setup a set of rules (a text grammar file) against which spoken phrases are checked. Only complying phrases are accepted. This results in significantly more accurate recognition. You need to have a speech engine installed on you computer. More information, a fully functional trial version, sample files, and documentation is available from:
http://www.apixel.com/section05.htm#alsr

WHEW - December and January were busy months!

Steve

Happy New Year!

Forgive me, I have been rather neglectful. Between holidays, work and school I have not posted anything here for several weeks. Not since LAST YEAR :-O I am ashamed. I promise to be less neglectful in the future.

In the meantime there have been many new additions to the Authorware world that I must catch up with. Since you get to read this in reverse chronological order you will have learnt about them before you saw this ... so now you are confused :-)

Steve

Scooby Doo

I am slowly getting into DVD movies. They usually have so much extra stuff that you are obliged to use a PC to view them. Last year my girlfriend was wonderful enough to buy me Shrek for Christmas. If you haven't seen it, you should rush out now and watch n on your best PC screen. The animation quality is nothing short of stunning. And the Xtras on the disc are sooper qool too.

I just bought Scooby Doo - hence the title of this entry. All I need now is the time to watch it :-(

On a work note. Has anybody tried Macromedia's Contribute yet? Impressed?

There is also an update for Dreamweaver MX, taking it up to Dreamweaver MX 6.1, or Dreamweaver 6.1? Whatever. It includes an update to DW so it too can work like Contribute, plus some bug fixes.

At last, a book on standards-compliant training

I broke the first page I tried to post with this information. I cannot see how to fix it, hence two titles :-(

Carol Fallon and Sharon Brown of Integrity eLearning have written a book called E-Learning Standards: A Guide to Purchasing, Developing, and Deploying Standards-Conformant E-Learning

If you need a guide you through standards compliance - AICC, SCORM etc - then here is your new favourite book.

At last, a book on standards-compliant training

Apurva is putting together some tutorials to show us how to build our own u32s in C. I understand Chris Swenson of Dazzletech and MojoMole fame is going to help with this project by adding information for Delphi programmers. Go to Aurva's site and select the U32 tutorials link.
Sorry, due to the format of the site, I have not managed to get a direct link.

And now for something a little more personal

I found a great book for my studies at UCLAN. There is only one copy in the University library and it seems like a popular book, so I decided to buy it. Off I went to my favourite on-line book store (no names) and tried to order it.

No joy on the UK site, the book is out of print :-(

Try the US site.

Cool, they have it. Not only that they have a link to an organisation that has copies at 25% of list price :-) Lovely. Let's order it.

Ehem ... nope. You need a US address, we won't mail overseas. :-(

No sweat. i have a good friend in the US and I visit regulary. I'll mail it there and collect it :-)

So pleased was I, that I contacted a fellow student. He asked me to buy him a copy too for such a great deal. 3 minutes later, order accepted :-)

Two days later I get a mail Sorry we are out of stock. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR :'-(

What company fails to know what they have in stock these days. Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

Steve

DirectImage Xtra updated

DirectXtras has announced an update to DirectImage Xtra. More in the words of Tomer Berda:-

New in Version 3.0
• Images may now include multiple frames / layers. A new set of functions was added for manipulating the image frames.
• The Xtra can now import from and export to image file formats that support multiple frames / layers, such as animated GIF, Photoshop (PSD), DCX and MNG files.
• New methods to enhance an image: imageContrast(), imageModulate() and imageNormalize().
• New imaging effects: imageMorph() and imageCoalesce().
• New methods for importing to and exporting from image objects, with alpha channel support: imageLoadFromImage() and imageSaveToImage().
• The Xtra now natively supports MacOS X.
• The Xtra is now available for Authorware.
• imageGetColorCount() was added to count the number of unique colors in an image.
• Various minor bug fixes and improvements.

Please visit http://www.directxtras.com/order_inDirectImage.asp for a complete licensing information and fees.

Bring a new dimension to interactive learning with the i3D Xtra

The former owners of EuroTAAC have released a 3D Xtra for Authorware. These wonderfully talented developers are going to change the way we use Authorware! More in the words of Erik de Bruin.

i3D Xtra, the world's first native Authorware Xtra for 3D content. This easy to use Xtra enables you to create a 3D interactive world within Authorware based applications.

A powerful solution for 3D interactive training, 3D product presentations, creative panoramic and VR applications, custom animated scenes and 3D games in Authorware.

i3D Xtra gives your e-learning projects extra impact, functionality and most of all impressive new interactive possibilities.

Download a fully functional evalution version at www.i3dxtra.com

Thanks guys!

Oops ... I have been slacking!

I have been a busy boy for the last week or so and have fallen behind my Blog duties. Fear not. Today will be a bumper day as I post lots of announcements for new Authorware add-ons. Read on.

Oh ... since this shows in reverse chronological order you have already read the announcements. Did you enjoy them?

Need a laugh?

Thanks go to Amy Blankenship for this link to The Flat Earth Society. Thanks for this Amy :-)

More updates to toys for Authorware!

Andrew Poulos of Apixel and Apurva Lawale have announced updates to alListView.u32 - it's now at version 1.03. Updates include:-

• Unicode support
• Custom fonts
• Custom colors for individual items

For more details and a trial download, documentation and example files, visit http://www.apixel.com/section05.htm

If that is not enough, Apurva Lawale has announced a bugfixing update to alTools.u32. Find it on his web site.

More cool things for AW 6.5

Hot on the heels of Wednesday's note about the new spell-checker in AW 6.5, Ron Lubensky has realeased two great new KOs for Authorware 6.5. I'll let him tell you in his own words:-

"With the release of Authorware 6.5 I'd like to introduce two items that may be of interest, available from http://www.clickcraft.com/aware:

"1. The Find & Fix Command does just what it says. Have it search for icons in your file based on a range of criteria, including your own custom "find" script. Then have it modify the found icons or their neighbours. You can set it to change the icon properties or you can write a "fix" script that does more substantial work. The command settings and scripts are saved as XML and can be reused later or transmitted to somebody else using the Find & Fix command. There are lots of options and subtleties to it, so I've included a Help file too. I use it constantly in my own development work, saving me heaps of time. Experiment with it and see if you find it useful too.

"2. AW6.5 now uses the same WinterTree spell checker that all the other Macromedia products use. I've created a Spell Check Knowledge Object that makes spell checking available to your own commands, Knowledge Objects and even applications. It can check the contents of string variables and WinCtrls.

"In addition, most of the Knowledge Objects and Commands previously available have been updated to Authorware 6.5. If you migrate your developments from AW6.0 to AW6.5 and used one of my products, you should obtain the newest version so the wizards can open. Your existing registration codes remain valid."

Nice work Ron!!!

Little Extras in AW 6.5

Icons

Did you know the AW 6.5 now supports the use of full-colour desktop icons? I stress desktop icons to make it plain I do not mean the icons you use to build your flow! Those who like to use the new XP icons will love this feature. MicroAngelo is the favourite tool for editing your icons.

Spell-checker

Did you know Authorware 6.5 has a new spell checker? Hmmm. Missing from the documentation is it? Well "Gee whizz" I hear you say. Before you dismiss it as insignificant, take a lool at it. Open an existing AW 6.5 file and launch the spell checker by selecting Xtras > Spelling, or Alt+X+S and have a play. In particular, take a look at what is hiding behind the options button. Phonetic suggestions anyone.

P.S. ...

More ammunition for those that say Flash is the answer to every problem. Flash has no spell checker ;-)

New stuff for Authorware - alMessageBox

Do these guys never stop? Andrew Poulos and Apurva Lawale have a little production line of great u32s for Authorware. Their most recent addition is alMessageBox, a great little utility that offers more power than the in-built MessageBox KO and functions of Authorware 5 and 6. "it displays a message box, much like a normal message box, except that you get an additional 16 icons to choose".

Earthquakes? In ENGLAND?

Manchester in the UK has been victim to (at last count) over 40 earthquakes in the last month! All are of small magnitute, but big enough to scare people out of their high-rise offices and homes. I found an interesting link that tries to reassure us "Though they are unusual, earthquake swarms have happened before in other regions of the UK".

But the UK is not used to such seismic activity - some people in Manchester are going to be worried right now.

• Seismograms
• Map of recent quakes
• Manchester University has excellent maps and information
• Keele University has even more information

Incidentally if you view the map above, you may be interested to learn that I live very close to the red spot that is above and to the left of Blackburn.

A few weeks ago there was a larger quake in Dudley, near Birmingham "which caused minor damage to chimneypots and a church spire". This was at around 1 am. I was in bed - and it's a rare thing thing for me to be asleep so early! My bed was rocking and furniture rattling and they woke me up. Dudley is over 100 miles away!

We are not used to this sort of thing in the UK. At this rate we could beat Los Angeles into the sea!

Thought for the day

Insignificance has an important place in our lives.

Authorware 6.5 - Wincontrols help update

Andrew Poulos of Apixel fame has kindly revised his help file for Winconrols. This help file fully documents the Wincontrols u32 complete with all the updates in Authorware 6.5. This is a must-have document. Get it while it is hot!!

TAAC 7 Updates

From Mark Henry of Rampant Lion Interactive, Inc.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we've completed some great
updates to the TAAC7 website:

Here's a small sampling of what we have available:

• Download TAAC7 Presentations and Keynotes
    (select resourses->downloads)
• Share with us your opinions in our hand-dandy TAAC7 Survey
• Missed TAAC7? Don't fret, checkout the TAAC7 Videography
• Need to see, before you buy? Download the Videography Sampler

As always, great stuff from Mark!!!

Handy Windows shortcuts

This is a handy set of Windows shortcut tips from Paul Glizow.

Have you seen how cheap RAM is?

I decided today that I need a little extra RAM in my laptop. Nothing outrageous. Just 256Mb extra if possible. My machine is a Dell Inspiron. I love it. I take it everywhere with me. I am a sad geek. OK, a happy one :-).

So I called Dell and they will happily supply me with 256 Mb of RAM for a mere £65, including taxes and delivery (roughly $100). Not so long ago, that same RAM would have cost a few hundred - $$s or ££s.

I looked a little further and found some other surprising prices at Novatech, a British company. And their PC RAM prices are equally stunning, with 512 MB o PC2100 DDR selling for a mere £98.70, including taxes and (I think) delivery. No wonder the number of people running up against the 2Gb RAM bug that Authorware 6.0 and earlier have when running NT, 2000 or XP. There is a workaround, but Authorware 6.5 has it licked.

ELearning - a complicated process

Mark Steiner has put together an interesting article on eLearning projects on the Macromedia Designer and Developer Center.

"Today's emerging technologies are enhancing human cognitive, affective, and social capabilities at an astonishing rate. Nowhere is this more evident than in the e-learning arena. Recent advances in e-learning (which I loosely define as computer-supported collaborative learning and experiential simulation) now enable guided, inquiry-based education to overcome barriers of time and distance."

View the complete article.

Ugrading to Authorware 6.5

I have seen many people posting massages that they are having difficulty updating older Authorware projects to Authoware 6.5. The problem is that Authorware is only ever able to open files from the previous version.

Although a "point upgrade", Authorware 6.5 is effectively a full update for the purposes of updating older files. This means that 6.5 can open 6.0 files but it cannot open 5.0, 5.1 or 5.2 files. Or 4.0 files for that matter. So people upgrading direct from AW 5.2 to 6.5 have been concerned.

But Macromedia have been wise to this concern since Authorware 6.0. On the Authorware 6 CD there is a folder "D:\Macromedia\Previous versions of Authorware", where D is the CD drive. In this folder are special, fully-working, Not For Commercial Use versions of Authorware 3.5, 4.03 and 5.2. You can use these to progressivly update files as ancient as those produced by Authorware 2.

Authorware 6.5 has a similar folder, but only goes back to Authorware 4.03.

Slow delivery of CDs

Some people have complained that their boxed copies of Authorware, complete with CDs, are taking a while to arrive and this has caused them difficulties when wishing to upgrade. I believe these delays are settling down. In the meantime if you have a problem with upgrades you have a number of options. Here's a couple of them:-

• Locate a copy of the 6.0 demo. You can find it on recent Macromedia demo discs. It is also on the CD that comes with Jennie Thorton's book Authorware 6, inside Macromedia.

• Find a local Authorware developer who is willing to update files for you.

Authorware v.s Flash MX

People often want to know what are the relative strengths of each tool. Following is a sample of the many conversations on the macromedia.authorware newsgroup:

[1] Utilizing identical content, activities and questions (including format of activities and questions), which platform is a more efficient development platform and why?

Identical content? Identical is not really going to happen, but "equivalent" is close enough. Authorware is the better tool for the development of training - it has been designed for that task and has many features that make the job easier and faster than with Flash.

[2] If a team develops the same course with the same content, activities and questions, utilizing the same graphics, animations, audio and video, which is more bandwidth efficient. Why?

Essentially they are the same. 10Mb of data is 10Mb of data, regardless of whether it is Flash or AW. Exactly how the user experiences it will vary according to the skill of the developer and the speed of network connection. Both tools make it possible to stream content and to preload (OK, AW does not actually stream, but it appears to from the user perspective) .

[3] What are the advantages of each platform? Where does each platform excel?

There is a lot to say, but in short :-

• Flash does cool vector graphics, Authorware does not.
• Flash is true OOP, Authorware is not.
• Flash has players for several platforms, Authorware for just two - Mac and PC, although anywhere you can run a Windows emulator you can run Authorware content. Whilst Flash has all these players, in reality many of the players are not up to date. Some only support Flash 5 - or even Flash 4.
• Authorware has access to the Windows API, U32, Xtras and DLLs for extensability. Flash does not.
• Authorware can read/write/move/copy, generally manipulate files on the user's machine, Flash cannot.
• You can play almost any media inside Authorware, including Flash. You cannot do the same with Flash - in particular you cannot play Authorware files in Flash.
• Flash has sickly internal video support, and can play external Mp3s and Jpegs.
• Authorware can play most movie and audio formats, and media of any type (just about) can be external for Authorware.
• Authorware is designed from the ground up as a training tool.

I have not covered all of the pros and cons. More detail is available from Macromedia's own site and from numerous public discussions.

It's official! I love wireless networking

I got to try out the wireless network at UCLAN today. How cool :-D I can sit in the canteen, or in the pub around the corner and surf the net, or the University network. I can even access my University desktop via the Citrix logon thingummy. Don't you just love these technical terms?

A word of warning though, to anyone using a 'public' network like that. I discovered that I could see files on some other users' machines. Then I realised I had folders on my machine shared over the network too. Be careful out there!

Accessability in Authorware 6.5

There have been interesting discussions on the Aware list this week about the new Text to Speech features. Particularly about delivery over the web. If you are interested in this stuff you should take a look at the following notes, and follow the threads to their conclusion:-

6.5 - text to speech through the web player...

TTS Switch - AW 6.5


We are all going to need to know more about this over time. Thanks go to Ron Lubenski for putting together the Accessability KOs!!!