Re: New on this list but not a newbie
Hey Alain - Good to see you here. ... I have been doing this web stuff for about 7 years now, and I've tried countless pure-Web solutions, and still none of the Web stuff compares to the interactivity and performance that can be achieved with *real* software. Particularly software like MetaCard which is as multi-platform as any existing web-browser; for playback (like the Web) as well as authoring (unlike the Web); client-side as well as server-side (just like Java but incomparably simpler). Web pages, even with JavaScript in them, are severely limited in terms of client-side interactivity. You cannot easily allow the users to move things around, do drag-and-drop stuff, and so on. ... The point of all of this is that I am trying to convince the lab I work for to opt for an xCard approach (breakthru) instead of the web-only approach (conformity mediocrity) that so many are resorting to now. My presentations on this issue have had a definite impact on my colleagues, but they are still hesitating a bit because not-conforming to what everyone is doing is perceived as risky. Everything worth doing has some element of risk, but any experienced business person shoud appreciate the relationship between risk and reward. With MetaCard you're almost cheating: you can build things so quickly that the cost-benefit analysis is nearly always favorable over alternatives, and that's before you consider the usability benefits of doing anything but browsing outside of the browser's limitations. Here's some fuel for the fire - Beyond the Browser: Rediscovering the Role of the Desktop in a Net-centric World http://www.fourthworld.com/embassy/articles/netapps.html -- Richard Gaskin Fourth World Media Corporation Developer of WebMerge 2.0: 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
Re: New on this list but not a newbie
There is no breakthru in using Metacard for your project just a more efficient spending of time and energy but I know what you mean. It's not a breakthru for you or for me, given that we have been using one or more xCards for years now. It is a breakthru though, when compared to what web-browsing internauts are commonly settling for. It's a breakthru for the lab I work for, furthermore, because they didn't even know that such a thing exists. Relativity man! ;-) Alain __ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
Re: New on this list but not a newbie
I am new on this list but, judging by the glance I took at the archives of this mailing list, I'm going to feel right at home. Welcome Alain! I remember you from the other list :-) Yes you're going to like it here a lot. Shari C -- --Shareware Games for the Mac-- http://www.gypsyware.com ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
New on this list but not a newbie
Hello everyone, I am new on this list but, judging by the glance I took at the archives of this mailing list, I'm going to feel right at home. I noticed, for instance, that my three buddies from OPN are very active on this list ; specifically Xavier Bury, David Bovill and Monte Goulding. What's shaking guys? What became of our MetaCard-based Jabber client? This is not just an off-hand question, BTW, because the lab I work for is desperately seeking a Web-based chat whose content is XML and, thereby, interoperable with other Web-based clients for other communication means, forming a cohesive whole where all the different components of a complete groupware solution interoperate seamlessly. All the better if this solution can also interoperate with other existing chats like Jabber does. You were dead-on, David, about the relevance of Jabber. Things in the lab I work for are at a turning-point right now. One of our objectives is to create a communication, collaboration and E-learning platform where the components can be mixed-and-matched at will, forming whole systems ( value-added solutions ) whose components interoperate seemlessly. This objective is not the issue though. Nor is open-source versus closed-source the issue because we have definitely opted for OPEN source, adherence to as many open standards as possible, and multi-platform deployment. The turning-point I alluded to has to do with *HOW* we should go about achieving it. To make it multi-platform, many of my colleagues are arguing that we should make it entirely web-based. You know the drill : PHP, mySQL, and that sort of thing. Technologies that are indeed very mainstream these days among web developers. And most of them are open-source and free of charge. There is no denying that this is a safe and rational approach, but genuine breakthru innovation requires more than this. I have been doing this web stuff for about 7 years now, and I've tried countless pure-Web solutions, and still none of the Web stuff compares to the interactivity and performance that can be achieved with *real* software. Particularly software like MetaCard which is as multi-platform as any existing web-browser; for playback (like the Web) as well as authoring (unlike the Web); client-side as well as server-side (just like Java but incomparably simpler). Web pages, even with JavaScript in them, are severely limited in terms of client-side interactivity. You cannot easily allow the users to move things around, do drag-and-drop stuff, and so on. I could go on-and-on about the downsides of the Web versus MetaCard's upsides, but I don't want to turn this post into an essay. Besides it's a moot issue because MetaCard is web-savvy, e.g. it can do anything that a web-browser can in terms of accessing the Internet. The only web thing that MetaCard cannot do as well as web-browsers can is to render HTML (which I suggested to Scott many months ago, but he rejected this feature-request). The Java-based version of FreeCard, OTOH, will be able to do this when it's released, in which case what the Web offers becomes a subset of what our xCard can offer. On the development side of things, a scripted xCard is easier for most non-professionals to build on their own than all of the Web stuff based on PHP, let alone programming something multi-platform with a traditional programming language and development environment. Scripting with an xTalk instead of JavaScript or VBscript and/or one or more server-side languages. Precise WYSIWYG placement instead of the approximate layout suggested by a markup language. And so much more. The point of all of this is that I am trying to convince the lab I work for to opt for an xCard approach (breakthru) instead of the web-only approach (conformity mediocrity) that so many are resorting to now. My presentations on this issue have had a definite impact on my colleagues, but they are still hesitating a bit because not-conforming to what everyone is doing is perceived as risky. I believe that providing them with a MC-based Jabber-client that is XML-compliant would put them over the top and, more generally, other Web-savvy MC-based solutions would also be persuasive and, ultimately, a large collection of existing stacks to demonstrate the versatility and usefulness of an xCard would be nice too ( IOW a MetaCard Pantechnicon ). Just so you know where my 'head' is at, Alain Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
Re: New on this list but not a newbie
--On Saturday, November 02, 2002 16:38:37 -0800 Alain Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Things in the lab I work for are at a turning-point right now. One of our objectives is to create a communication, collaboration and E-learning platform where the components can be mixed-and-matched at will, forming whole systems ( value-added solutions ) whose components interoperate seemlessly. I've heard this before mostly in ads for various java[script] based products but never could figure out what exactly such contraption would look like and how exactly could one mix-and-match components and with what purpose, could you please enlighten me? snip The point of all of this is that I am trying to convince the lab I work for to opt for an xCard approach (breakthru) instead of the web-only approach (conformity mediocrity) that so many are resorting to now. My presentations on this issue have had a definite impact on my colleagues, but they are still hesitating a bit because not-conforming to what everyone is doing is perceived as risky. The only things really missing in Metacard regarding your project are direct database integration and maybe encryption. There is no breakthru in using Metacard for your project just a more efficient spending of time and energy but I know what you mean. Alain Farmer [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard Regards, Andu Novac ___ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard
