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Subject:Re: New toy (for virtual equipment manipulation) From:Dave Chisma & Gail Hodgson <chisma -at- C031 -dot- AONE -dot- NET -dot- AU> Date:Sun, 17 Aug 1997 08:07:59 +1000
Buck & Tilly Buchanan wrote:
>
> > I found a fun tool at http://www.altia.com (it seems to be Altia's flagship
> > product.) But it's more for people who document consumer electronics or
> > other hardware, and (so far as I can tell) you can only use it as a plug-in
> > to Netscape, so it's limited to those who put their documentation on
> > intranets or on the Web.
>
> It's a bummer to log on to a download site then repeatedly read "you're
> not authorized to download this document."
>
> I wonder what I'm doing wrong.
>
>
Could it be that you're trying to download the full application instead
of the demo? For the full app, Altia says on their page:
"Note that a "User Name" and "Password" will be required
to access and download the software while another password is
required to unpack, install and run Altia Design 2.3."
I had no trouble downloading the demo. Can't wait to try it out.
Here's another application that has interesting possibilites. I wonder
if Macromedia Shockwave files could be used for similar effect. With
Shocked sites like http://www.msn.com/default.asp, Shockwave might
become a de-facto standard for animation plug-ins.
Shockwave is a type of file format that allows a web site developer to
include interactivity animations, sounds, and zoom (magnification) with
relatively small files (therefore fast to view on the Internet).
When you view a Shocked web site, remember to right-click on the window.
Some sites will give you a pop-up menu that includes Zoom, something
'normal' sites don't have.
Here's a few sites that demonstrate what Shockwave is about. The first
is the Simpsons page. Enter the Simpsons house and look at the TV. You
can zoom in on the TV screen until it fills your screen and it's still a
clear image. (The technical reason behind this is that Shockwave allows
vector graphics in addition to the regular bitmaps.)
Cheers,
Dave Chisma
dchisma -at- c031 -dot- aone -dot- net -dot- au
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