Quiet Time
Many of the breeders are in the middle of their fall sale, so demand for updates to their sites have slacked off. I’m taking this opportunity to continue pushing towards the end of a project I started over nearly a year ago: migrating the legacy GoLive web sites to Dreamweaver. The ones that are left have either: 1) Not updated their site in the past year; 2) Updated their site, but ended up with complications in transitioning to Dreamweaver and were put on hold; or 3) Were takeover sites that never began in GoLive and have no consistent coding from one page to the next.
The last stretch of any project is the hardest part for me. Pushing towards the finish line is hard to do when sexy, new projects are calling from the sidelines. Discipline and keeping my word are the biggest motivation I have for finishing this thing. No one is requiring me to do it; I won’t be rewarded or punished if I don’t finish it at all. What real consequences are there, then? The inability to focus wholly on a new project, with the “I should finish…” and “This update takes forever!” constantly echoing in the back of my mind.
After migrating to the sites to Dreamweaver, I can at least be reassured that new content put into the sites comes with cleanly written code and has met minimum standards. The switch to CSS layouts have been happening naturally, as we come across sites that need it, so I feel no need to push that into a set deadline. I’m aiming to transition the stragglers by the end of November, but how far I get depends on how busy I am with other work. I’ll let you know the progress in November.
Fun with the Flash Media Server
We have Flash Media Server 3 to dish out our streaming videos. Eventually, the company also wants to develop a live streaming video service that lets people watch any event we are covering: conventions, shows, meetings, etc. With the Flash Media Encoder, it takes literally seconds to set up a live streaming video. The main downside to the Encoder is its platform. The convenient little application is only available on Windows XP. And, from what I read in the forums, it doesn’t work on Vista. Since it’s a free application from Adobe, there is no official support for it and they aren’t planning on developing it for other platforms either. Too bad, really, because a Mac version would be nice to have.
It didn’t take long for my boss to ask if we could custom build our own Flash application that could do what the Flash Media Encoder did. I started with the basics, but without all the tools to build what we need, I can only create a wooden wheel. I have Flash and FTP access to post files. For anyone else starting with the rudimentary tools and access like my situation, you might find these articles handy.
How does live streaming video work and where do I need to put my files?
Overview of streaming with Flash Media Server 3
How do I build my own application that works similar to the Flash Media Encoder?
Building a Simple Live Video Broadcaster and Receiver
Other tutorials are offered on Adobe’s site, but these two did the best job of answering all of my questions. The second article builds the application in ActionScript 2 and does a better job of explaining why and how it works.
Participating in the My Success Event
I know things have been pretty quiet on this site. I have been training a new person and attempting to keep up with busy season. My co-worker and I were invited to participate in the My Success Event this year, so I’m pulling together materials that will help me demonstrate my job and responsibilities.
A description of the My Success Event and its goals:
Designed to attract high school sophomores, the My Success Event aims to help retain as many young people as possible to meet the workforce needs of employers in the St. Joseph / Northwest Missouri area. To achieve this goal, the event will help students discover multiple possible career paths and provide area businesses an opportunity to promote quality jobs.
I used to scoff at the idea that I would need speaking and presentational skills. My train of thought used to be, “I’m going to be a web developer. Why would I ever have to give a speech? It’s not like I’m working at Google! And I’ll never have to talk to a customer, so why would I ever have to do a presentation?” Now I understand. Thanks to my past laziness in speech and classroom presentations, I have to work twice as hard at it today.
Don’t fall for the same stupidity as I did. I have been asked to give presentations for students in college and high school; asked to give a speech at an Angus event; asked to give impromptu speeches to clients who regularly tour the Angus Productions Inc. building; and I have even been asked to give long technical explanations over the phone to (gasp!) clients.
Give me a new server-side language or web technology any day. It is by far the easier task when compared to public speaking. Learning to speak clearly, offering concise examples and projecting confidence are skills I have been forced to work the hardest on, for the last two years. Who knew?
