> Eric: (do _you really want to chase down _every
> link and change its style? Manually? I do not,
> though a script could probably
> be written to do it).
Alain: Syntax coloring and such is usually a scripted
process, as it should be. Nothing stopping you from
doing this manually, but I feel that life is too short
for such mundane tasks. That's what computers were
originally designed for, eh!
> Eric: ... the aesthetics are an aspect of the GUI
> that metaCard expects to get in exchange for its
> support of this project.
Alain: If you are saying that Scott chose to
participate in FreeCard for the purpose of improving
the GUI and thus improve MetaCard's success in the
market-place, then I agree with you. But that is where
it stops. We do NOT OWE Scott or MetaCard anything
whatsoever, except perhaps our gratitude. The rest is
a gamble that we all share in, as individuals with
mutual interests working towards a common goal.
> Eric: Function determines form, but
> within function paramaters form should be
> aesthetically pleasing ... MC places function
> over form which is good, but there is plenty
> of room within functional parameters for
> improvement.
Alain: I tend to agree with you, Eric, that function
precedes and is more important than form. But I have
just completed a Masters in Interactive Multimedia
surrounded by artistic-types that would argue
precisely the contrary, adding that that is why
computer stuff is so drab, dweeby, un-artistic, etc.
Case in point: MC.
> Eric: MetaCard's demo is really generous and
> deserves to be supported.
Alain: I have also been pleasantly surprised at how
generous and easy-going Scott has been. It is a
sincere pleasure to have him aboard on this
open-source xCard adventure.
> Eric: I have developed new menus. They work nicely
> (amazing what can be done with the DO command).
Alain: Aha! The infamous DO command at work.
> Eric: ...adding submenus (lineSize, polySides)...
Alain: Sub-menus would indeed be nice, for stuff like:
fontSize, fontFace, lineSize, etc. It groups together
related things and makes the interface less cluttered.
But please make the sub-menus only one level deep.
> Eric: However adding submenus (lineSize,
> polySides) would, i think, require more than 10
> lines.
Alain: It was my understanding that once we got the
organisation and licencing issues worked out, that
Scott was going to provide us with a special licence
on the full-fledged version of MetaCard (e.g. no
10-line limit)
> Eric: The new menus ... I would also like to
> move some menuItems within existing menus ...
Alain: This may be a stupid question but here goes.
Are you aiming for something quite similar to the
current HyperCard interface, or a better-looking
variation on MetaCard's current GUI, or are you aiming
for something radically different? I have no
well-formed opinion on this matter yet, except to say
that the latter 2 options might make us stray far away
from what HyperCard users will expect from a
HyperCard-clone.
>> Alain: ... but I lost the list.
> Eric: do you have a find function? :)
Alain: The list was scribbled on a piece of paper that
used to adorn the billboard over my desk.
> Alain: And the situation
> has perhaps changed since the lost-list was made.
Alain: Besides, my above statement goes much more to
the heart of the matter. The old list, even if I still
had it, might not be relevant anymore.
>> Alain: (re-reading my own message,
>> I realized that I had not completed my thought).
> Eric: think first then write? thimk?
Alain: I systematically re-read each part of my
letters, while I am composing it (in-situo), and
afterwards too (globally) once my message is composed.
I make sure that I have responded to every item that I
wanted to respond to, as evidenced by my infamous
habit of chopping up posts and prefixing them with the
interlocutor's name. And I also screen out typos and
grammatical errors - my own mostly.
Alain: But no one is perfect, eh! In my defense, I
caught it myself immediately after I committed the
omission. ;-)
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