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

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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.

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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!

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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?

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Need a laugh?

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

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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.

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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!!!

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