I just read over at iteration::two that they’ve been acquired by Macromedia.
These guys have been phenomenal for the Flex community. They’re the brains behind cairngorm as well as the authors of the first Flex book. This is going to be a great thing for Macromedia and a great thing for Flex developers.
I wish them all the best.
TweetTim O’Reilly posted his Web 2.0 Meme Map and it got me thinking about where our group at Wharton fits into the map, and more generally, where learning simulations fit into it.
With Flex, we are really able to make the most of the Web as a platform and create simulations that are perfect examples of Web 2.0. We can easily build applications with desktop like functionality and user interface, but with the scalability and ubiquitous nature of the web. With the learning simulations we build, we need the experience to be flawless so students can focus all of their energy on learning, and not on figuring out how to use the application. With Flex we can make a great UI and spend most of our development time perfecting the educational value.
The thing that most excites me about Web 2.0 and learning simulations is that with Web 2.0 is going to come a culture of software as a service. We will be able to deliver the power of desktop applications to users anywhere in the world. All of Wharton’s e-learning and distance learning initiatives will be able to make use of the applications we build. And as more and more people accept the philosophy of Web 2.0, they’ll feel empowered to give instant feedback and expect quick enhancements. We can build an app, constantly make it better, and deliver those updates instantly.
We?ve always been ahead of the curve, and the Learning Lab has been creating Web 2.0 applications for a long time. The big difference is that now Flex has given us the ability to present our apps with the look, feel and robustness of normal desktop applications. This has enhanced the usability and gotten people away from thinking of the simulations as a website based game to a rich learning experience.
Learning simulations are going to fall under rich user experiences on the map, but they will also take advantage of the user as a contributor. That means everybody wins.
Commentary on the map can be found here and here.
TweetThe Flash Media Server 2 public beta was released today. I know how I’m spending (part) of my evening.
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I saw this on FlashInsider, it’s a South Park character creator. What better way to relax than build yourself with this thing.
I have a striped shirt like that, and figured I wear khakis a lot, so I should be wearing them. If you knew me in college, you know I would always wear a hat everywhere, so I needed a hat in South Park.
If I were to actually be in South Park, I would go to Casa Bonita all the time. I love that place.
TweetThe introNetworks application is up over at the MAX site. I thought this thing was great last year so I’m excited about it this year as well. If you’re going to MAX, go over and fill out your profile – http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/events/max/attendees/#intro.
If you’re not going to MAX, then get signed up!
TweetI had hoped to get some of the links that you see below the picture working over the weekend but between a project at work and football, my weekend was taken away. I’m planning to use sIFR so that I can make use of the Microsoft fonts in an accessible way, but with deadlines coming up, my free time seems to be non-existant.
Luckily, there’s always time for alternative happy hour.
TweetI moved into the second phase of the redesign by adding new stylesheets which all contain different pictures. So if you’re visiting you should be able to refresh the page and see a new picture. I haven’t gotten around to changing the colors of each stylesheet, but hopefully I’ll get around to that tomorrow. All of the pictures were taken by either myself or Ciara.
TweetAfter doing some testing today, I think Joe fixed the Eclipse problem I mentioned yesterday.
I’ve been using it for a while, trying to get the files that usually give me the error message to pop the error up, but to no avail.
So for anyone who is getting the error, try turning off auto-scanning of network drives in your AntiVirus.
Related entries: Eclipse Bug
TweetI upgraded to Eclipse version 3.2 M1 today in hopes that I could fix the “Save could not be completed” “Reason: Has been changed on the file system” error, but no luck.
Has anyone else found a solution to this? From what I can tell, the problem is that I’m working off of mapped network drives but not using those drives isn’t a solution.
Background on the error is here and here.
TweetAs you probably saw over at Ben Forta’s blog, we’re looking for a CF/Flex developer for one of our teams here at The Wharton School. If you’re interested e-mail tpryan@wharton.upenn.edu
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