Hey Raul, Developing a tool that can be used to create labs as they are imagined now is mostly an update from the previous lab author, so most of the heavy lifting has been done. The next level is to come up with what labs might become; incorporating a number of communications methods that html5 makes available with an interface that reduces the overhead to lab creation. I would like to say it is the interface design that I find most difficult, but really the biggest challenge is personal time management. :-)
Cheers, bob On May 26, 2014, at 5:21 PM, Raul Miller <[email protected]> wrote: > Keep in mind that my "don't like video" is limited - I *would* like it > under a variety of circumstances and I would not hesitate to recommend it > for some purposes. > > I'm not trying to say it's bad or anything. But I guess I do avoid it in > some contexts. > > Meanwhile, it can't be that hard to document the data format for labs. > > Thanks, > > -- > Raul > > > > On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 4:36 PM, robert therriault > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Hey Raul, >> >> 1) One of the advantages of scripted video is that there is a written >> artefact that could be included for search purposes. Similar to the way >> that SVG includes its text as searchable content as opposed to bitmaps of >> words on canvas. >> >> 2) This is a little trickier because it implicitly dives through the >> levels that we interact with video. The pixelmator video example was one >> that I was looking at as a viewer (because it is pretty) and as a content >> creator (by the way it conveyed information so efficiently). The level you >> are talking about is the level of the tool to create such a video or image. >> The reason that J doesn't have such a tool is probably because this level >> of UI is really difficult to get right and even when you do, the users may >> turn on you, such as when Apple introduced the new version of Final Cut >> Pro. Also, there may not be reasons for J to manipulate video in this way >> when there are other tools already available, but you already referred to >> this when you talked of bringing other tools such as Blender. Currently, I >> am taking a hard look at the labs feature in J to provide this type of >> glue. Amazingly, we lack a creation tool for labs in the newer versions of >> J and if there were a tool that would be >> worth building, I think that would be it. >> >> 3) In signing off (and even though you don't like video) I just opened a >> link to this orientation/welcoming tutorial produced by processing.orgthat >> also has content that involves the visual aspects and power of >> computer programming. Might be worth a look. http://hello.processing.org/ >> >> Cheers, bob >> >> On May 26, 2014, at 10:46 AM, Raul Miller <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I guess I have two thoughts looking at that: >>> >>> (1) I personally prefer reading over video. Video is really hard to find >>> using search, and it's slow to watch. >>> >>> (2) Why don't I know how to generate a UI like that, using J? >>> >>> Of course anything worth doing takes time, and I have to allow for that. >>> But video is particularly frustrating for me, also because I don't know >> how >>> to manipulate the raw underlying data in J. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> -- >>> Raul >>> >>> >>> On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 1:23 PM, robert therriault < >> [email protected]>wrote: >>> >>>> Thanks Raul, >>>> >>>> Another (albeit market driven) approach is the short video tutorial to >>>> describe use of a specific tooll. These short tutorials for the use of >>>> pixelmator software are good because they have actually provided very >>>> precise instruction on use of a tool in about a minute. The amount of >> time >>>> required to create these tutorials is even more than writing, as it >>>> includes video production, but the result is a just in time tutorial >> that >>>> does not feel too pedantic. >>>> >>>> http://www.pixelmator.com/tutorials/featured/transform-tool/ >>>> >>>> Cheers, bob >>>> >>>> On May 26, 2014, at 10:06 AM, Raul Miller <[email protected]> >> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Writing decent tutorial documentation can be hard. >>>>> >>>>> So here's an example of how one guy who has written a fair amount of >>>>> documentation has approached things: >>>>> >>>>> http://www.xess.com/static/media/appnotes/FpgasNowWhatBook.pdf >>>>> >>>>> Personally, I'm not all that fond of pdf - I personally prefer working >>>> more >>>>> directly with the underlying medium. But everybody has to make their >> own >>>>> choices. >>>>> >>>>> Thanks, >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Raul >>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>>> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm >>>> >>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm >>>> >>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm >> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
