Documents Ctrl-Tab switching enhancement
During you supplanting reports inserted CorelDRAW v11—X4 with Ctrl-Tab your first mouse press enclosed by the new window verdict be ignored making you suppose there's nothing wrong with the pointing idiot box :-), so to adopt a habit you take in to browse once to boot.
I've offbeat this behaviour to a again comfortable together with natural a extent accomplished using AutoHotKey.
Besides thanks to I've incorporated document InstaSwitch :-) consider into wx_ToggleToolbars which somehow suits its wonderful primary potential (toggling of editable nearly fullscreen habitude).
So that gadget that once the macro is installed it intercepts switching of windows sending the naughty other press — plus thus you're able to manage initiates realizable the indeed first visit, no distractions!
That judge operates within CorelDRAW v12,X3,X4 including does not halfway v11 (no VBA event curve rigged out). Of polity editable fullscreen toggling appliance interpolated v11 meanwhile stockpile as halfway v12,X3,X4 but that's the lower justification.
Download
November 8, 2008
Big options dialog [patch] for CorelDRAW / PhotoPAINT 11,12,X3,X4
This patch extends strength of some dialogs at intervals DRAW & PhotoPAINT 11, 12, X3, X4 furthermore conjointly FontNavigator
Updated to v1.2, go here
November 8, 2008
Help files font size override
The CHMFontSize guidance starts help font larger finished converting pixel/pt values hardset amidst internal css into homologous percentage relative values. The succor can still resort to an place arbitrary pocket money of the font, esteem textboxes mid the bottom detail. Also finally: your maintenance files cover an inferior font changing on-the-fly toolbar button!
November 1, 2008
Reality dawns?
Bear in mind that I've already identified (for pragmatic reasons) a primary niche for my activities, namely visualization (and, yes, I know there are problems and alternatives there as well), and that I don't have the time or experience to mount an evidence-based defence. Few do at this stage (and the evidence is scant and can't be taken as canonical given that SL is a work-in-progress). For me, SL is partly an exercise in what Disney calls imagineering (and where is Disney in SL?). However, I hope that what I do is grounded in the reality of current SL experience, the scepticism it evokes and the need to assist students in managing the complexity of 21st century biology. If I have a pedagogy driving this forward, it is probably just as much connectivism as constructionism; indeed, not so much pedagogy as tool development at this stage.
Many of the (sometimes reluctant) nay-sayers come from the K-12 fraternity and I think they have a different (and, speaking as a parent, justified) perspective on the weirder aspects of SL. It would be a pity, however, if this restricted adult staff and student access to the social context SL provides for networking (an important part of "the game") and just chatting to (and being friendly with) folk from far-flung places. For some (like Stephen Downes) this itself is nothing new, just online gaming revisited. Finally, the user experience is for many currently half-baked and this will be enough to put people off who are not inveterate early-adopters .
This made me wonder where one would put SL on the Gartner Hype Cycle from an educational perspective. I came across this blog which had it heading into the Trough of Disillusionment from a marketing perspective as early as December 2006 (but see this rebuttal of common business myths). One of the comments, however, makes it clear that it depends on your perspective. In education early adopters will want it to be on the rising curve following the technology trigger, nay-sayers will see it as being close or just over the peak of inflated expectations, while all with a modicum of goodwill hope it is on the slope of enlightenment, headed for the plateau of productivity. Indeed, some early, early adopters (such as Desi Stockton) may already be on the plateau, waiting for the rest of us to catch up.
The other technology of note at the moment is Facebook. This is much more popular than SL with students (though most surveys show that they're not sure they want staff there as witnessed by the recent Oxford experience). As an alternative time sink, it would appear to lack the serendipity of chance acquaintance inherent in SL. I'm sticking to SL for the moment.
November 1, 2008
Random Monday stuff
Yesterday I friended a wind dragon I met on Genome. She very generously gave me some cool avs in her genre (I have to remember to copy my male shape into the folder though!) despite the fact I didn't feel I had time (or, let's face it, the ability or overwhelming inclination) to become her student and fight in her sim. I could certainly use some of her skills though and I hope she won't mind if I tap them occasionally so I joined her group.
The day previously I met my next-door-neighbour but one who turns out to be a Cornish teacher trainer. He has identified some useful gadgets, some familiar, some not, and has kindly allowed us to access his holoemitter.November 1, 2008
Eduserv-sponsored report on UK SL activity
As far as the report is concerned, there is, unsurprisingly, much dipping of toes and one slightly scarey mention of an unnamed university press/marketing office banning SL activity until university management are comfortable with the development from a marketing and branding perspective. I can picture the corporate response to informational soft furnishings (bet a lot of RL branded sweat-shirts get sold though).
Anyway, a useful summary and I look forward to seeing next year's update... which is a call to action if ever I heard one.
November 1, 2008
Attempts at video conversion
I previously made a video of GenomeThing in avi format using the onboard SL facility. This is hosted at vimeo. Torley Linden has a good how-to describing the procedure she uses. She employs vixy to do the flv-to-mp4 conversion. This supports YouTube but not, alas, Vimeo. One of the comments on her site suggested using zamzar.com but, double alas, my file was too large (100 Mb max; perhaps I could edit/compress it?). I therefore converted the avi to mp4 using the downloadable version of the (commercial) AVS video converter though this puts an annoying watermark in the centre if you use the unregistered version and, of course, sucks up processor cycles on your own PC.
In terms of hosting, Torley recommends trying blip.tv (though she actually uses her own hosting service). I made an account in my av's name but, sadly, my upload stalled 70% of the way through on the first attempt. Second time it uploaded suspiciously fast and then stalled. Attempts to upload to my university account also stalled. Maybe a local problem? [update: the upload to my university account had worked and I was able to configure the About land...|Media dialog to recognise the URL, choose a texture for display and then to play the video back on a prim configured with the same texture. Not a long-term hosting solution but it works. I also need to get rid of the watermark].
Torley also suggested use of Google Video on the basis that it does mp4 out-of-the-box. She (implicitly) doesn't like the quality and absence of comment moderation. I tend to agree and am keeping this one in reserve.
Torley has a separate how-to describing how you can use YouTube Mobile mp4 without further modification, though the quality is compromised. For some reason I couldn't play these in my QuickTime player or (unsurprisingly) inworld. Maybe I need to update Qt?
I'll keep working at this. I need to find an alternative hosting service, a better conversion utility and a means of changing channel.
