Are we here or are we over there?

For a second there I thought I was seeing double: Were-over-there.com in addition to Were-here.com. Note Were-over-there's tagline: Let's fragment this community. I hope this is some kind of joke and not some kind of feud. Anybody?

 posted by Vera (5/31/2003 11:41:00 PM);

Reinventing the Chalkboard: Using Online Technologies to Communicate Science and Mathematics

Yesterday evening, Kristin Henry, Marc Tanenbaum and I went to the Web Developer SIG (Special Interest Group) at the North Bay Multimedia Association. Marc organizes the Web Developer SIG every month, and this month Kristin was the speaker. Her presentation was titled Reinventing the Chalkboard: Using Online Technologies to Communicate Science and Mathematics, and she focused on instructional design and usability. I thought she did a really great job, and even though Kristin and I have had many conversations about related topics, she brought many new and supplementary points to the table, and I was completely taken in. Kristin even had live examples of what not to do, which made her presentation especially engaging and illustrative. I wish I could have had something like this a year and a half ago when I first started developing instructional Flash applications at the University of Virginia.

For an outline of Kristin's presentation, go here.

 posted by Vera (5/23/2003 06:12:00 PM);

Jessica Speigel is the May spotlight at Flash Goddess. It was about time! Go read about one of the most influential and interesting Flash developers out there. Congratulations, Jessica!

 posted by Vera (5/21/2003 09:21:00 AM);

I found a time capsule today: Dave Winer's 1997 post titled Macromedia Flash. First of all, I think this is the first blog entry from 1997 I have ever seen anywhere. Secondly, I think this is the earliest online reaction to Flash I have ever seen. According to this ancient post, Flash is perfect for creating digital brochures. Interesting. I don't think I have ever heard Flash-powered sites called brochures before, but maybe that was a common term before my time. The post also touches on ActionScript although it doesn't mention it by name because Flash scripting wasn't called ActionScript then. I am impressed by how prophetic some of Dave's musings were: "[...] if the development tools are scriptable they can be hooked into CGI applications for truly dynamic HTML, not just stuff that moves, but stuff that displays timely information." Of course we know now that Flash content is not dynamic HTML, but I'll be darned if Dave wasn't already talking about RIA's. Another quote worth noting: "The Macromedia site is pretty, at first, but gets old really quickly." Macromedia, as most of us, has since learned that when it comes to Flash and flashiness, less is more. Thanks, Dave, for keeping all your archives around so that someone like myself can do a little time traveling.

 posted by Vera (5/19/2003 12:59:00 PM);

The return of We're Here

We're Here is back! Well, the beta anyway.

 posted by Vera (5/12/2003 12:56:00 PM);

Another German Flashist wanted

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, speak German and know Flash, I have a six-month contract position for you. If you want to help us out at Macromedia and work on the German version of Flash (along with me!), contact me or Johnny Prewitt, the senior recruiter.

 posted by Vera (5/09/2003 01:25:00 PM);