End of line

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

- Seneca

Introduction

This was a week of endings. After many weeks it felt rather strange to have no textbook readings. The planning stages of my website development are completely at an end. I can see very clearly in my mind’s eye what the finished product will look like, and design work on the majority of the pages has ended as well. I am always saddened by endings and long for a sense of the familiar. But every ending carries with it a new beginning, and with every beginning is hope.

Website Reviews

http://www.flashvista.com/

FlashVista was an interesting site with a lot of resources available. I was not quite sure how some of them were related to Flash, but if nothing else it showed me how versatile a tool Flash is. The tutorials were especially helpful.

http://www.lukamaras.com/tutorials/cool-design/hitech-floating-menu.html

The floating menu tutorial was quite long and involved but the final product looked very beautiful. I did not quite understand all of it and it seems to be giving instructions to using software that I do not have. It is definitely something that I would like to learn to do someday and it showed how very involved and difficult Flash is to use.

http://www.sitepal.com/

SitePal was an amazing and somewhat unsettling site. The avatars were realistic to the point that it made me a bit uneasy. Still, it looks like a feature that could be combined with “semantic web” technology to improve navigability and accessibility by leaps and bounds. I don’t think I would want to pay $10 a month for it however.

http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/

The Adobe Flash site was beautifully designed and certainly looked very impressive. Like all Adobe products, however, the price tag caused sufficient sticker shock to dissuade me from even considering a purchase. Even an educational license was way outside of my price range, and I don’t think immersive 3D imaging is a necessary enough component of a website to merit the cost.

http://www.erain.com/Products/swift3d/

Swift 3D is another software that looked very impressive. The reflections and shadows certainly make the images look very convincing. It was not nearly as expensive as Adobe Flash, but it was still well outside of my price range.

http://www.swishzone.com/index.php

SWiSH was another site full of beautifully designed 3D graphics. Their MiniMax3 product was almost affordable as well. If I ever decide to purchase Flash software, this will most likely be it.

http://www.hotscripts.com/

The HotScripts site is impressive with the sheer volume of scripts available. Looking through their JavaScript folder I didn’t see anything that I thought would really improve my site. It is definitely good to know it is there however.

http://www.soundstageav.com/mastersonaudio/20050201.htm

The SoundStageAV site contained some very interesting information. I found the history of the format especially interesting and it is good to know the information on how people react to certain wavelengths of sound as well. I do not plan on any audio component to my site, but this will definitely be helpful should I do so in the future.

http://www.selfseo.com/story-13698.php

The information on streaming audio looks very useful. The instructions do not seem to be that complicated and were quite easy to understand. If I ever decide to set up streaming audio I will definitely look into this method.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Audacity definitely looks like very impressive software. I am very glad that software like this is available on an open source basis. If I should ever require sound editing then I will certainly start here.

http://musicovery.com/

Musicovery is a very beautifully designed site and the concept looked interesting. I did not want to sign up for an account due to spam concerns, so I did not get to test it very much. It did look like an interesting way to find some of those “deeper cuts” that never get played on traditional radio.

http://www.pandora.com/

Pandora was a very impressive site. I have heard about it often but this was my first experience with it. As soon as i logged in it began playing music that I liked based on artists I had “liked” on my facebook page. It definitely looks like Pandora is deserving of it’s reputation.

http://www.w3.org/Amaya/Amaya.html

Amaya looks like a very easy to use WYSIWYG web editor. I don’t see myself using it as I have become somewhat spoiled by Dreamweaver’s split view option that allows me to make changes to the code and see the effects of those changes simultaneously. I would recommend it to friends who have no prior experience with web design.

http://www.trellian.com/webpage/

Trellian looks like a very useful code entry module. It would definitely be easier to use than notepad and the color change and automatic indentation features would be very appreciated. I would miss the ability to see the code I am entering being rendered in real time that I enjoy with Dreamweaver though.

http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Of all of the free editors I have looked at so far, SeaMonkey definitely looks like the best. The ability to see the XHTML code as well as a browser preview would be quite helpful. I have been a fan of Firefox for many years and I am very glad to see that Mozilla offers a Web editor as well. If I ever need an alternative to Dreamweaver, SeaMonkey will be it.

Final Thoughts

As my journey comes nearer to the end than the beginning, I must say I am nearly as excited now as I was when I first started. The biggest problem I am having is resisting the urge to perfectionism. I find myself having to evaluate features that I am learning and only including those that would make a genuine contribution to the site. I believe this to be related to my love of this journey and my desire for it to continue. But all good things must come to an end, and there will always be a new road beckoning the expectant traveller.

Until next time, take care of yourselves, and one another.

Farley