Sprockets

My Flash artist dabs and squints:

Trial and error is right for an artist. Picture Renoir dabbing at his picture and stepping back to squint at it, over and over.

Drawing That worked for drawing and painting, for years.

Scripts That even worked for scripts, when those were ten-line scripts in ActionScript 2, and she could find an example to start from.

XML But now she buys components for the price of dinner and wine, and configures them with XML. XML is unforgiving. A little off, and you’re left with nothing, a wild nonsense. … Continue Reading

Working lately with a Flash artist on the far side of the earth, at twelve hours time difference. We Skype to exchange files, chat, talk live.

ActionScript 3 is traumatic to her. Flash was whimsical until lately, and she would dash together her own ten-line script now and then, copying an example she found somewhere, and altering it by trial and error. Trial and error is right for an artist. Picture Renoir dabbing at his picture and stepping back to squint at it, over and over. That worked for her ActionScript as well, until … Continue Reading

You know this, but you’ve forgotten. Or I had.

Two things I remembered this week, while the wife is away two weeks on a business trip, leaving Dad in charge of homework and eating and activities and injuries and whatever else might come up…

I will remember this next time I pick a project manager. First do the job you ask others to do, so you know what you’re asking of them, and how to measure their effort and result. And how to help them do it.

Each kid brings home a planner now. Each different. … Continue Reading