FlipStory

Here's a great new item - FlipStory!  The website is in French, the video is "silent", but the photos do all the talking!  Looks like this goes on my "check it out later" list.  The way I found this website? Classmate Rosalyn says she's using PrestaShop Open-Source E-Commerce software, and FlipStory was one of the websites advertised by PrestaShop.  Guess I'll have to look into the software site also!  Here's a quick video on FlipStory:

Flipstory - create your flipbook - créez votre flipbook from FlipStory on Vimeo.

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What Skills Do I Need?

Here's a great video that interviews four computer industry experts, and asks them 4 key questions:

• "What Do I Need to Get Hired?"
• "What Do You Look For in a New Hire?"
• "What Does It Take to Get Promoted?"
• "How Has the Workplace Changed?"

The answers might surprise you!  These experts, from Apple, IBM, Google, and "a senior software engineer", all emphasize communication.  Whether one listens or talks, persuades or describes, the emphasis in today's collaborative environment is not on SKILLS, but the ability to communicate.  The movie illustrates the point well, with 4 great communicators.  Produced by a team of 4 (including COIN 71 instructor Elaine Haight), with sponsorship from Foothill College, DeAnza College, SRI International, and the National Science Foundation, this film both says and shows that technical skills may open the door, but it's one's ability to communicate and collaborate that will cinch the deal.



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JavaScript and HTML Select

I've been stuck on Assignment #2 for 3 weeks now, because I can't figure out how to manipulate the options within a select list using JavaScript and the DOM. When all else fails, lately, I find myself turning towards YouTube, to see if anyone's made a video about the problem. Sure enough, there are such videos available. Here's Part II of a video series called Handling the HTML Select onchange event.


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Ajax, Forms, and Dreamweaver

I use Adobe's Dreamweaver CS4 as my web editor, and I just came across something I've rarely paid attention to: the videos featured on the splash page.  For some reason, they caught my eye today.  Well, I suppose I know why - I'm trying to figure out how to do my next assignment, the one that was due yesterday morning at 8am.  What I found was a video on Using AJAX with Forms, embedded below.  While this was only tangentially relevant to my immediate needs, it did serve to remind me that Dreamweaver, and Adobe, have so much more to offer me.  I think I'll start investigating their resources more regularly.  The big news from today's video is that there are plugins for the JQuery framework.  That means I could access those tools right within the Dreamweaver environment.  Cool!  Well, that will be an exploration for another day.  For now, I'll simply share the video.


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ScanSnap S1300

Here's just the thing for me - ScanSnap now has a portable scanner, the S1300.  I can't wait!  It is so nice to be able to quickly and easily scan several items at a time, to various formats (photos, pdf, word, excel), and to save or send them directly.  I've used the S1500 for about a year now, and just wish I had "one for the road".  Well, here she is!


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JavaScript and the DOM

The Document Object Model (the DOM) is like the architectural frame of the "buildings" (or web pages) we create with HTML.  And JavaScript is the tool we use to crawl up and down the DOM.  Why would you want to do that?  Well, for various reasons you may want to identify an individual part of the framework of the web page.  For instance, you may want to find the particular paragraph that holds the link for another website. JavaScript is essentially a "language" that helps us identify, describe, and even change, parts of the page, by relating each part of the page to all other parts, via the DOM. In fact, JavaScript even allows you to re-frame your building. It allows you to change the link unobtrusively, without the web visitor being disrupted by your change-of-scenery (to switch metaphors).  Anyway, enough intro.  Let's look at a good video, by the JavaScript Teacher, who shows us how to navigate the DOM of a web page using JavaScript.


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Falling...

Sad to say, I've fallen behind in my studies (and my blogging!). My current class is COIN 71, a course on AJAX (which began it's history as Asynchronous JavaScript And XML, but now is so much more).  I'm still pursuing the Web Development track at Foothill College, but suddenly the classes are much more dependent on programming.  I seem to be woefully inadequate in that arena.  In fact, I feel like I'm flailing in the deep end of this pool of knowledge, instead of learning individual strokes in comfortable waters.  Well, I'll keep plugging away at it a bit more, and see if I can't make some sense of it. It's as if I don't know HOW to study this material.  It's an interesting situation.  I've always been able to figure things out on my own, but now I find I have to rely on the help of others. That's something that doesn't come natural to me! OK, I've said my piece.  Now, it's time to move on...  
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