Interactive Web Graphics: A look at HTML5 Canvas .vs. SVG .vs. Flash .vs. Silverlight .vs. Unity .vs. Java .vs. VRML
Image by tonynetone via Flickr
Something has happened recently on the World Wide Web that really impresses me. The web has finally begun to come alive with rich, interactive, high-performance, animated graphics. Not only are these graphics becoming comparable to any previously achievable only in a Desktop Application running on the OS, but they are also pushing the boundaries in terms of what’s possible in UI design, HCI and Data Visualization. From graphs and plots for mathematics to 3D maps and models for architecture, and from immersive panoramic real estate tours to high fidelity gaming engines for emergency healthcare scenarios, the possibilities are endless.
This all serves to help in bringing about a ubiquitous Semantic Web not just for document archiving and sharing information, but for the development of a shared understanding (Knowledge Base), that has long been envisioned by the World Wide Web’s founders. These new interaction platforms offer an incredible venue for cutting through immense amounts of data and explaining complicated ideas in an easy to comprehend manner. Now is the time to take stock of the leading technologies and attempt to make sense of which technologies will be most useful going forward towards a 3D Web. The obvious leaders are Canvas, SVG, Flash, Unity, Silverlight, Java and VRML.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Is Google Making It Harder To Run A Successful Business Online?
Google refrigerator (Photo credit: Aray Chen)
Ok, despite similar accusations of monopoly attempts and/or info theft from the likes of Washington Post, NY Times, Reuters, TechCrunch, ZDnet and others; Google-bashing seems like the thing to do. I’m certainly guilty of writing yet another sensationalist and wildly accusing title pitting Google’s ever-encroaching yet seemingly undefined business model, against their supposedly well-defined “don’t be evil” motto.
Seriously though, we’re feeling this one at BCmoney all the way to the bank. Take a look at some of our latest monthly traffic logs from Google’s Index web crawler:
The growth in the size and frequency of visits by the Googlebot spider is starting to possibly interfere with regular traffic, and certainly seems excessive, when technically speaking they shouldn’t have to go much further than visiting the first few kb of any page on the BCmoney site, which has a page-rank of 4.
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From Flash to JavaScript and back AGAIN
Image via Wikipedia
Inspired by several tutorials I did back in University, I decided to update a little script to pass data in between Flash and AJAX using only pure JavaScript and ActionScript to talk to one another.
In fact, this was arguably even easier back in ActionScript 2.0, where you could simply reference JavaScript variables directly. Now, there is a slightly more complicated API, but before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s list all possible options…
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SCORM, LMS’s and the E-Learning standards mess
Image via Wikipedia
The field of E-Learning is desperately in need of a new standard; one which unifies rather than further divides the existing options for course and class content Packaging, Run-Time, Metadata and Sequencing.
I don’t mean to disregard or unfairly diminish the value of the work that has gone into the current ot past editions of the SCORM standard, however the fact remains that after almost 5 years it has still not yet replaced SCORM 1.2 as the de facto E-Learning format. Many say that is alot of vendor preference after already being tied to a SCORM 1.2 format for so long, while others say it is a political stance on the part of most SCORM developers, while others and that people are busy so it takes time to upgrade a standard, and this all makes sense. But look how the developer and open source communities are embracing the new HTML5 spec as an example in positive developments and updates to an old spec (old in terms of web years) being actively embraced rather than delayed and procrastinated. Although the (almost sarcastic sounding) announced 2022 release date of the W3C HTML5 Recommendation spec speaks hands to the problems of releasing a successive version of a software standard that is more rather than less complex, and thus, more difficult to implement and switch to across the industry.
Learning Management Systems (LMS) are perhaps equally as confusing for users and developers alike. They vary widely in functionality and implementations.
I’m no expert in the field of E-Learning, this much is certain, but I can’t help but see some patterns there’s also the following links on various technical aspects: Read the rest of this entry »
The Server-Side Proxy
Image via Wikipedia
The Server Side Proxy… oh how I despise thee.
It’s a technique which we wouldn’t have to utilize at all, were it not for Browser security restrictions (which are admittedly in place for a good reason, to save us from ourselves).
Problem
The Same-origin policy, also known as same-domain limitation.
Reaction
After IE4 and a number of other browsers had vulnerabilities revealed where Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks were exploited to gain access to user data, jeopardize accessibility of, or otherwise vandalize popular Web Services and Web Applications, the Browser vendors got together and decided to lock down their browsers into a “sandbox”.
What is a sandbox you ask? In non-developer speak its just like you can find in public parks, a set of boundaries around a soft and malleable plot of land where you can play safely and fall down as much as you want without hurting yourself (or others). Even if you did decide to go on an all-out rampage, you could only at most hurt other people inside the sandbox. In geek speak, its a security mechanism for separating running programs whereby code is isolated to its own space in memory and/or its own path on the network. This effectively means your client-side code can’t make a request to any URL above its own path, let alone to an external Web Service or application.
Solution
BC$ = Behavior, Content, Money
The goal of the BC$ project is to raise awareness and make changes with respect to the three pillars of information freedom - Behavior (pursuit of interests and passions), Content (sharing/exchanging ideas in various formats), Money (fairness and accessibility) - bringing to light the fact that:
1. We regularly hand over our browser histories, search histories and daily online activities to companies that want our money, or, to benefit from our use of their services with lucrative ad deals or sales of personal information.
2. We create and/or consume interesting content on their services, but we aren't adequately rewarded for our creative efforts or loyalty.
3. We pay money to be connected online (and possibly also over mobile), yet we lose both time and money by allowing companies to market to us with unsolicited advertisements, irrelevant product offers and unfairly structured service pricing plans.