Google doodles and more

Woohoo! Today's my birthday and I opened my browser to this  --

While I know it's a feature of Google+ membership that is programmed by Google staff, it still gives me a warm fuzzy.  As a thank-you, I rounded up some of what I think are the best Google Doodles. You can find them on my playlist at YouTube.  Here are two of them.

First is the Google balls interactive animation, published on September 7, 2010, and uploaded by rustybrick.  This animation features Java and HTML5.

For more HTML5 effects, try Aynilists, "All you need is lists." On the "10 Awesome HTML5 Effect Demos" page you will find HTML5 Canvas Liquid Particles by spielzeugz.de (definitely a page to have fun with).  Then there's the HTML5 Canvas and Audio Experiment by 9elements.  If you accidentally click and get the oversized messages, just reload the page.

Then there was Google's interactive guitar, celebrating Les Paul's 96th Birthday.   You could actually play a song on it.  This video was uploaded by paradigma.

At Google's "Web Audio API Demos," there is a link to plink by DinahMoe.  All of the demos here require Chrome, the plink demo is worth the extra effort (it's another of those can't-stop-playing experiences, so beware).  At Mozilla Labs Demoparty, the Demo Gallery, you can also find a number of interesting submissions, among them "dx - drum effect" by Egon Elbre.  At Egon's site you can play with a javascript sound effect generator.

-- Marge

Udacity U: HTML5 Game Development

HTML5 Game Development is a course offered by Udacity, which is an e-learning platform.  Courses offered by Udacity, edX, and Coursera (to name a few) are called massive open online courses (MOOCs).  So far they're not accredited, but Udacity's and edX's offerings are free. And good information is a valuable thing.

Why HTML5?  It holds the promise of being able to code once and publish (probably with a few adjustments) to a number of  different mobile platforms, as well as the web.  Apple products support HTML5; and, according to this article found at Mashable, Amazon Embraces HTML5 for New Ebooks.  Amazon's developer portal is at developer.amazon.com.  If you're interesting in marketing a mobile app you've developed, take a look at mobyaffiliates.  W3C states "HTML5 Definition Complete, W3C Moves to Interoperability Testing and Performance" in a December 2012 release.  This Wufoo page offers the current state of HTML5 forms for different platforms (I hoping it's truly current).

Returning to Udacity, I'm currently looking at the optional javascript crash course (because I tend to have a mental block against any C-based language).  This is what I see:

An "Ask a question" button is below the video and the discussions on the topic can be very helpful. Note: looks like you don't have to be signed in to view the discussion.

In closing here's a demotivational poster on programming by Tom Distler. 

Time for class.

-- Marge

Inkscape: a sweet SVG app -- and it's free

Tools that generate 2-dimensional digital art are divided into 2 main types--

• raster (often called bitmap), which is pixel-based and not easily resizable, and
• vector, which can be easily and smoothly resized.

Examples of apps that will generate raster files are Adobe Photoshop (.psd) and Corel Photo-Paint (.cpt); vector applications are CorelDraw (.cdr) and Adobe Illustrator (.ai). All of these are proprietary and must be purchased for full use.

Inkscape is an open source vector program that produces files in Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg) format.  The SVG format has been named the standard for vector graphics in HTML5.  And, because vector files can be resized, it's the most logical format to use for developing mobile content.  Raster files can also be used for mobile content, but extra steps are required to render them at a size appropriate for the device.

Not all browsers are fully HTML5 capable.  Here is a breakdown of what browsers can handle HTML5 and inline SVG.  Note that the usage is 65.79% as of that writing.  Here's a more detailed breakdown of browser usage from Sitepoint.

But back to Inkscape.  As said before it's open source; you can download it here.  By the way, the documentation is very good.  And here are some videos to get you started:

Bitmap to vector

Shiny button

 

If you find Inkscape useful, please remember to donate.  And while you're in the pass-it-on mood, please remember Wikipedia, as well (where would we be without it?).

--Marge