RE: METACARD ACQUIRED BY RUN REV!!!
Shari wrote: I envy those of you who are 35 and under, who at least had computer access as a teenager. I am 40+. And my primary goal is Gypsy King Software. It isn't a hobby. It is my company. My heart and soul :-) So beware what criteria you use to define a * serious programmer *. I'm approaching 60, Shari. When I was in school, IBM didn't exist. I appreciate the irony in your reply. I stand by my original observation. If you're creating a company that is your future around software, you really cannot afford NOT to have at least a couple of languages in your toolkit. That doesn't mean you have to stop everything for a year or two while you master another language/tool, but I think it *does* mean you have to start working into your jammed schedule some time to begin that process. Take it from someone who's started a half-dozen software companies over the years: standardizing on one tool, unless that tool is something like C++ or Java or even Smalltalk with a lot of company and industry momentum, is a recipe for serious heartache.
RE: METACARD ACQUIRED BY RUN REV!!!
I'm approaching 60, Shari. When I was in school, IBM didn't exist. Thats interesting Dan, as IBM has been around since 1924! Yeah, bad choice of words. IBM didn't exist in the broad consciousness of the community. In 1960, when I was in high school, computers were even less evident and known than when Shari was in school. That was the point I tried to make, badly.
Re: METACARD ACQUIRED BY RUN REV!!!
I have a different perspective from most people on this list and probably don't have a right to a strong opinion on MC vs. RR but I figured I'd chime in anyway. Irrepressible, you know. I looked closely at both MC and RR when I decided to join the Revolution when it was still in 1.1.1 release. Yeah, there were some bugs. But when I looked at the applications I was able to build in the two environments, what struck me was that getting to an app that looked and felt polished and professional and had the appropriate platform look-and-feel on all the platforms I cared about was much more feasible in RR than in MC. The lean UI in MC put me off. It felt like a *nix application builder to which cross-platform capabilities had been added (which I gather is precisely what it was). I have built several apps in RR2 and encountered, for all practical purposes, no bugs. I've found glitches in the IDE UI and every once in a while something doesn't seem to work quite the way the docs say it does, but no show-stoppers. And the joy of seeing a really professional-looking application emerge from my beloved OS X machine and run straight-up on Windows is hard to describe. Separating engine development and UI design/development into two companies was a recipe for problems. Across the chasm, all kinds of things can happen. I for one welcome the merger; I suspect we will now see more rapid and consistent development of both the engine and the IDE UI together. And I've seldom seen a company that listens better to its users than RR. On with the Revolution!
RE: METACARD ACQUIRED BY RUN REV!!!
(WARNING: This is a bit of a long rant and is probably of marginal interest unless you are a programming language junkie or just interested in the history of our business. You've been warned.) Chipp Walters wrote: But, the question is, will RR sellout? Meaning, what if Oracle or Adobe or someone decides they need a next-generation cross-platform app? They could certainly afford to purchase a company like RR - then what happens. This is (to me) a bigger potential issue than the one before us now. My best thinking tells me Kevin and the team will do nothing but create a better product. Here's why I don't think an aquistion like this is likely short term. 1) Companies aren't in the mad acquistion mode in this economy -- and I doubt this will turn around very soon; That's not how I read things right now, Chipp. Oracle is certainly in acquisition mode. Always is. They're trying a hostile takeover of PeopleSoft as we speak. There seems to me to be a LOT of consolidation and acquisition going on at the moment. 2) Scotland is far far away; Not in a networked world. 3) At this time, RR and MC aren't a big enough *dot* on the radar screen -- though I expect that will change. Yes and yes. As someone who was an insider during Oracle's acquisition of Spinnaker/Format's PLUS product back in the halcyon days of HyperCard and xTalk, let me make an observation or two here that may or may not be interesting to any significant number of people. 1. Failure to own your core technology is often fatal, either because investors won't give you money or because you bet your company on someone else's business plan. Those of us who choose to use RR (or MC for that matter) as a development platform run a HUGE risk and we shouldn't minimize that risk. If Oracle or Macromedia or Microsoft or anyone else came along and dangled enough dollars in front of the RR owners, they would be forced to sell; their shareholders wouldn't allow them to do any less. Similarly, if we choose to use not RR but, say, Python (still my favorite development language, suffering from all-but-nonexistent IDE), we still face a risk. The risk is arguably smaller because there are a lot of people who can maintain Python and keep it going. But there is always a risk that the core team will decide to retire and abandon the project. Its continuation then is tenuous. 2. When big companies acquire small ones for their technology, they most often botch it up or bury it. OracleCard, which is what Oracle turned PLUS into, was a fantastic, dynamite product. But its price tag was necessarily low, profit margins modest, and demand for it anemic. Eventually, Oracle cut it loose. I spent a lot of time developing OracleCard apps and writing about it. All that time went down the toilet except for what I learned that turns out to be useful elsewhere. 3. A product like RR gives its small band of adherents a ton of advantages, one of which (let's face it) is that not very many of our comopetitors in the software development world can truly compete with us on price adn time frame. If everyone started using RR, many of the advantages we gain from using it would fade. That's not to say we'd stop using it, of course, but as long as it's a well-kept secret, our big upside is really, really big. 4. It is not inevitable that RR will ever be acquired by BigCo. But it's not entirely unlikely, either. If and when that happens, regardless of the protestations of all the parties involved, it's time to make another key choice: bail out to something in which we can have greater long-term confidence because it's some SmallCo's Big Idea, or stay with the horse we know and hope the new owners don't put it out to pasture. (Wow, talk about mixing metaphors!) For me, if a true Open Source product with an eminently learnable and usable language and a powerful cross-platform IDE existed, I'd be using it exclusively. As far as I can tell, no such beast exists and Heaven knows I've looked. So as far as I can tell right now, RR is the best development platform for the kinds of apps I like to build, bar none. As long as that's the case, I will ride the crests and troughs of the waves with it. Developers who moan and complain when their favorite development tool shifts gears and the rules change are simply revealing how good they've had it for as long as the rules haven't changed. My bottom line: be grateful for the power of RR while keeping your eyes open for what comes next if and when BigCo takes over. If BigCo never arrives, you're still better for having explored other environments and learned from them. Besides, no *serious* programmer has only one tool in his or her kit because no one tool is a panacea.
Re: OracleCard=OMO?
Dan Shaefer wrote: ...OracleCard, which is what Oracle turned PLUS into, was a fantastic, dynamite product. But its price tag was necessarily low, profit margins modest, and demand for it anemic. Eventually, Oracle cut it loose Is this the same product that was known as Oracle Media Objects? -Kurt Yep, one and the same. OMO came later and had some nifty MM extensions.
RE: [ANN] Game Available for Test
Seems to run fine on OS X. I hate the game, always have. It always shows me up. Yours did, too. But it worked fine. Right up to the point I smashed my LCD display. :-) Scott, Very Cool! Works great on XP. 2nd time thru, used only 5 slotsmust admit to being a bit lucky! ;-) -Chipp -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Scott Rossi Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 7:04 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [ANN] Game Available for Test Greetings List: I've recently been working on a small game called KodeKraker, a variation of the classic logic game Mastermind. I'd like to invite folks with a few spare moments (!) to take it for a test run. What started out a programming exercise turned into a fairly involved little project. The game features audio feedback, a custom UI (typical Tactile Media eye candy), and a fun little custom dialog system (note: no Flash was used in the making of this game). To grab the game, type the following in your message box: go stack url http://www.tactilemedia.com/test/stacks/kodekraker.mc; The stack runs 285K (folks with slower connections please be patient). Thanks for reporting any problems or otherwise. Regards, Scott Rossi Creative Director Tactile Media, Multimedia Design - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] W: http://www.tactilemedia.com ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
Re: [ANN] Game Available for Test
Actually, it's one of my favorite pastimes. I've just never been as good at it as I'd like! Recently, Dan Shafer wrote: go stack url http://www.tactilemedia.com/test/stacks/kodekraker.mc; Seems to run fine on OS X. I hate the game, always have. It always shows me up. Yours did, too. But it worked fine. Right up to the point I smashed my LCD display. Thanks for the rant, er, feedback. :-) What would you rather play? A shooter?... Regards, Scott Rossi Creative Director Tactile Media, Multimedia Design Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: www.tactilemedia.com ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
Re: resolution stats
Do any of you have a link to current stats of the marketshare for various default screen resolutions? http://www.servustats.com/screen_resolutionex.php Shows 43.7% at 1024x768, 39.5% at 800x600. My guess? It's not going to change any time soon. I think it's been in that ballpark for several years. My specific question today is: What percentage of computer users are running a resolution of 1024x768 or greater? Extra bonus points if we can turn up something that shows cross-tabs with demographic data. I'm wondering when it will become a good idea to start optimizing screen layouts for larger resolutions, when the majority will move past 800x600. Of course it would still be desirable to suport 800x600 for the next few years, just wondering if designing to optimize for that resolution is a mistake vs. focusing on making things look especially good at 1024x768 -- Richard Gaskin Fourth World Media Corporation Developer of WebMerge 2.2: Publish any database on any site ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.FourthWorld.com Tel: 323-225-3717 AIM: FourthWorldInc ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
Re: [ANN] News Reader Stack Available
Scott Rossi wrote: In any event, specialized browsers seem like an area worth exploring. I agree. I've been touting specialized browsers for about five years now. Some have appeared. I think this is going to become an even more significant trend now that MS has dropped IE development. The days of the general-purpose, one-size-fits-all browser are definitely numbered IMNSHO. ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
Re: [OT] Info about MS dropping IE development
to become an even more significant trend now that MS has dropped IE development. this has been mentioned a few times on this list and i tried finding information regarding it on microsoft's website but to no avail.. anyone have any URL's they can email me offlist There are literally dozens of URLs. I suggest anyone interested go to Google News and search on Internet Explorer. You'll see a lot of recent stories about their discontinuation of IE for the Mac, but scroll down a bit and you'll see that they've also announced that they will no longer have a separate IE product for Windows, either. They plan to integrate the capability into their next version of the Windows OS, codenamed Longhorn. -Sean How about putting the URLs onlist? This is pretty big news for those of us who use IE. Shari C -- --Shareware Games for the Mac-- http://www.gypsyware.com ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
Re: Fwd: altBrowser Question and MAC version of altBrowser...
--On Sunday, June 15, 2003 19:06:46 -0700 Dan Shafer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: And I would prefer a product I pay for and which is therefore supported to a free, Open Source solution for which I'd be on my own for support. This is a little off subject but you don't seem to have it very clear about open source software versus payed for, and support. I've been using both free operating system and software for more then I can remember and support was as good as metacard's which is the only not free one with still good support. All the tips we share on this list amount to free software. Most of the web that you use comes from free software: server, server side scripting, databases, browser, email, you name it. Doing some research before repeating Microsoft's mantra may prove beneficial to your mental health. This idea that you get what you pay for is so outdated that I'm surprised some people still remember it. And perhaps you'd benefit by doing a bit of research and careful reading before firing off such a silly comment. First, my observation didn't imply that Open Source software support is poor, only that I'd prefer to pay for software than to end up with a poorly supported Open Source product in this case. Second, you couldn't necessarily know this but I'm one of the beset-known Microsoft attack dogs on the planet. I am not spouting their mantra and I'm sure as hell not backing their strategy. Careful reading is preferable to flames. Regards, Andu Novac ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
Re: Fwd: altBrowser Question and MAC version of altBrowser...
--On Monday, June 16, 2003 00:25:57 -0700 Dan Shafer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: And I would prefer a product I pay for and which is therefore supported to a free, Open Source solution for which I'd be on my own for support. snip First, my observation didn't imply that Open Source software support is poor, only that I'd prefer to pay for software than to end up with a poorly supported Open Source product in this case. What is that I'm missing here? Simply this: there are a LOT of Open Source products that either never have support or whose support fades into the sunset as the community using them declines and moves on. When that happens, there's no underlying company or organization to provide support, which often renders the product less than useful. I don't speak C or Java or most of the other programming languages in which Open Source products are written. So the fact that they are Open Source is interesting to me, but in the end not very useful. I personally couldn't modify them if I had to. I'd have to hire someone else to do that. I am aware that this also happens with proprietary commercial software, but my experience -- and that is all I have to go by -- is that it is more rare. And very often when it *does* happen, the company finds a way to manage continuing to support its customer base. Microsoft just discontinued development of IE for Windows and for Mac. altBrowser, as I understand it, relies in part on IE as a plugin technology. (I believe it also supports Mozilla, though.) So IE is now a dead-end technology; as Web standards evolve, it won't. That makes it borerline useless to me. If the products on which it is built (like altBrowser) are Open Source and freely distributed, as one list member proposed, there's little incentive for the developer(s) to adapt to that change. OTOH, if it's a source of revenue, they might be motivated to do so. Long-winded answer, and I thought my original comment was pretty self-explanatory, but I guess not. Regards, Andu Novac ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
Re: Fwd: altBrowser Question and MAC version of altBrowser...
I would absolutely be willing to pay for a multi-platform browser tool like this one accessible from RR/MC. The free access to a browser in MC isn't what I need; launching the user's browser rather than keeping the user in the context of my application isn't acceptable for much of my Web-centric development work. And I would prefer a product I pay for and which is therefore supported to a free, Open Source solution for which I'd be on my own for support. --On Monday, June 16, 2003 12:11:18 +1200 Rodney Tamblyn [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Forwarded posting Chipp Walters, to use-revolution. If members of this list are seriously interested in seeing a Mac external to display web content within a MC window, read on... Something like this would make sense to be based on Mozilla, I think. There are so many free products based on Mozilla that I think this one should be free too. It would be certainly convenient to have such an external but considering metacard can launch urls in browses as it is, I would definitely not pay for it (donations, maybe). I would pay for better integration with a web server and database though. Regards, Andu Novac ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
