Viewing PDFs in a Browser on a Mac
As a Mac user, one of the more annoying issues I frequently encounter is funky PDF handling in Firefox and Safari. Here are some things you can do to get PDFs working in your browser(s).
Not so crazy about Moodle? Try Chamilo
Tired of Moodle? Former Dokeos developers have forked Dokeos’ open-source code and used it to create a new LMS named Chamilo. It’s basically Dokeos under-the-hood, but with newer features and a new direction.
Best Practices in E-Learning
There’s a big difference between best practices in terms of learning theory — something that’s difficult to quantify and/or prove — and technology.
Captivate 4 variables gone wild
The folks at Adobe recently published a list of Captivate 4 variables. While it’s a solid list, it’s not really a complete list.
Gotchas in Internet Explorer 8
Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) is at Release Candidate 1, which means it will be released very shortly. IE8 is a brand-new browser and will represent a considerable shift from IE7/IE6; it will follow standards more closely and will offer much improved CSS 2.1 support. However, because of some of these changes, it is also widely understood that IE8 might ‘break’ websites that have relied on IE-specific hacks targeted at previous versions if Internet Explorer.
Lazy loading excanvas.js
I started by developing an HTML example page that used the canvas element and had the excanvas.js file hard-coded. Everything worked as planned. I then took out the hard-coded excanvas.js file and replaced it with a JavaScript-based lazy loader. Guess what? It didn’t work. A simple modification to the excanvas.js file fixed the problem.
Font replacement techniques
Like many other web professionals, I’m tired of the limited font set we have to work with. Gee, should I use Verdana on this site or Georgia? Maybe Arial? Meh. Bor-ing.
Hawaiian diacriticals
This brings me to one of my pet peeves and the purpose of this post: misuse of the backtick (`) character. Many of the afore-mentioned well-intentioned folks mistakenly use a backtick to represent an ‘okina, and it drives me absolutely bonkers.
SCORM resources
I recently emailed a shortlist of good SCORM development resources to a colleague, and figured I should probably post a list here, too. This is a quickie list, and I’m sure I’m leaving someone out. If you know of any resources I’ve missed, please add a link in the comments. This list is presented in no particular order.
Disabling those pesky pop-up blockers
Here’s a list of common pop-up blockers with links to the manufacturer’s instructions for handling said blocker. Enjoy.