Here are some great web-based alternatives to Word and Google Docs I just shared with her:

• Thinkfree’s Write: an amazingly well-done (and purely Web-based) MS Word knockoff.
• Zoho’s Writer: feels like Google Docs but fancier.
• Adobe’s Buzzword: Part of the new Acrobat.com. Sure to have good integration with the PDF format.

If you don’t mind skipping web-based services, you can also download and install the free open-source and standards-based Open Office 3 suite, which is very MS Office-like, and is compatible with Office, too. It includes spreadsheet (Excel), database (Access), and presentation (PowerPoint) tools, all weighing in under 200MB, which is considerably less bloat than MS Office.

I’m sure there are other free apps/web services out there, but these are probably the most popular and well-supported of the bunch.

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Assumptions: You have Parallels v4 for Mac, and have already created an Ubuntu 8.10 image.

Instructions:

1. Launch your Ubuntu image (in window mode).
2. Go to Virtual Machine > Install Parallels Tools
   
   
3. A dialog box appears. It contains vague instructions that aren’t very helpful for Linux newbies (hence this blog post). Ignore the instructions and click “continue”.
   
   
4. A CD icon appears on the desktop, and the window opens displaying the CD contents.  You won’t be clicking anything in this window, so go ahead and close it.
   
   
5. Launch the Terminal by going to Applications > Accessories > Terminal
   
   
6. Next run the installer by typing sudo sh /cdrom/install and pressing the return button on the keyboard. You will be prompted to enter your system administrator password.
7. The Parallels Tools installer appears. Follow the instructions.
   
   

That’s it! You’ll need to reboot the virtual machine, and then you’re good to go.

Possibly related journal entries:

• June 14, 2008 — Just the Macs, ma’am

Possibly related journal entries:

• August 28, 2008 — Target settles accessibility lawsuit for $6 million
• March 16, 2008 — Make your Captivate movies more accessible
• March 11, 2008 — Introducing the pipwerks e-learning development forum
• February 28, 2008 — Accessibility development tools
• February 7, 2008 — Development standards for e-learning… a starting point
• February 4, 2008 — Why don’t more e-learning developers use standards?

The benefits of using this service are many, with my favorites being:

• You will not need to maintain your own copy of the library (which for many developers means we don’t have to maintain multiple copies spread all over the place).
• Load time should be very fast because A) Google has speedy servers, B) Google’s versions are minified, and C) Google’s versions are properly gzipped.
• Downloading from Google’s server benefits your page’s load time because if other people also use Google’s API service, there’s a good chance the swfobject.js file is already cached in your browser and won’t need to be downloaded again.

The AJAX Libraries API also hosts other script files, most notably the JS frameworks MooTools, jQuery and Dojo. There’s a great intro to the AJAX Libraries API by Dion Almaer at ajaxian.com.

Bobby Van der Sluis has updated the SWFObject documentation to include instructions for using the hosted version of swfobject.js.

Note:  I have updated all of my SWFObject 2.0 examples to use the AJAX Libraries API; if you encounter any examples that don’t work properly, please let me know.

Possibly related journal entries:

• October 1, 2008 — Introducing PDFObject
• May 26, 2008 — SWFObject example links fixed
• May 24, 2008 — More SWFObject 2.0 examples
• May 24, 2008 — SWFObject examples have been updated
• March 16, 2008 — SWFObject is officially at 2.0
• July 21, 2007 — New: SWFObject examples page

Here’s a quick list of topics covered.

Versions of Dreamweaver and Flash in E-Learning Suite will NOT be same as those in CS4 suites, and will include e-learning specific bits.

No date for E-Learning Suite given; will only say 2009.

Captivate 4 will include:

• Automatic panning that follow your screen actions.
• Previewing in Device Central
  • Allows you to preview on an actual mobile device
  • Allows you to preview with fake screen reflections
• Inline text editing for captions (no more dialog boxes)
• Basic drawing tools (shapes)
• Integration with Adobe Bridge
• Import > Photoshop files (PSD)
  • Can flatten layers or choose to have them import to separate layers
  • Converts each layer to hi-res PNG
  • Allow syou to animate layers individually on a single slide
• Support for custom variables, such as using a person’s first name throughout the course
  • Uses $$variablename$$ syntax
  • Means you can use custom static variables throughout a course
  • You can customize an external RDL file to templatize variable use; means you can instruct Captivate to automatically insert variables when recording a demo without having to manually edit the recording afterwards
• Support for Flash widgets
  • Will work much like components in Flash Professional
  • Captivate 4 will ship with many widgets (including source FLA)
  • Widgets can be customized, and users can create own from scratch
  • Can talk to Captivate (including quizzes) and retrieve variables
  • Example: certificate widget can display person’s name, score for course, date, etc.
  • Example: “perpetual buttons” widget that customizes navigation (forward/back) for movie; hides “back” biutton when on first slide, hide “next” button when on last slide
  • Captivate Exchange on Adobe site will be available for users to post and download custom widgets
• Support for multiple actions on a single slide
• Support for ActionScript 3 (can publish to AS2 or AS3 depending on user settings)
• Can create image slideshow
• Ability to show/hide toolbar during a course without using customizations
• Captivate 4 will be on Windows, but work will soon begin on a Mac version
• Can publish directly to PDF (embeds SWF into new PDF file)
• Single-SWF output (all files are embedded into single SWF, including nav and full-motion recordings)
• Auto-generation of Table of Contents (embedded into SWF)
• SWFs are searchable (text caption content is searchable)
• “Aggregator” feature allows you to add external Captivate SWFs to project (package multiple SWFs together… is a SWF that loads other SWFs)
• Supports Flash Player 7, 8, 9 & 10
• “Reviewer” feature allows users without Captivate to comment on a Captivate SWF
  • Uses Adobe AIR
  • Synchronizes comments form multiple reviewers
• Supports placeholders to demonstrate where content will be, such as an FLV that isn’t available yet.
  • Helpful when using Reviewer feature so others can know what you have planned
  • Placeholders make it easy to insert content when it becomes available
• Improved Support for PowerPoint imports
  • Support for dynamic link to PowerPoint presentation — if PowerPoint file is updated, changes wil be reflected in Captivate file
  • Makes PPT file a smart object; you can open and edit PPT file via Captivate (just like how smart vector objects in Photoshop open in Illustrator)

Possibly related journal entries:

• September 8, 2008 — Control a Captivate SWF using JavaScript: The basics
• September 7, 2008 — Send Captivate Quiz Data to JavaScript
• August 16, 2008 — Adobe Captivate 4 beta coming soon… testers needed!
• April 8, 2008 — LegacyCaptivateLoader: dealing with pre-existing scripts in your Captivate SWF
• April 3, 2008 — New: LegacyCaptivateLoader class
• March 28, 2008 — Lines in the sand