Looking at cartographic animations (from a design and multimedia standpoint)

Animation with moving symbol
Another example with a historical bend (warning...has sounds)
A moving symbol in a hurricane simulation

A "faux-GIS" style animation
Another one about Michigan
And one more

And this is just an interesting way to search for news geographically
And this is just a very unique visualization of movie box office domestic grosses

How to get your Flash file on your blog

Blogger accepts pictures and movies and hyperlinks, but for some reason it does not like Flash movies. Therefore, we need to use a different website to store our .swf and .html files (the 2 files generated when you Publish your movie) and then link to that site from our blog.

One option is to use your Mason webs-pace account. Simply ftp the 2 files to your public.html folder and then link to them in you blog post (follow the instructions in the lab). If your haven't set-up your account, follow the instructions at the ITU Support page or swing by the STAR lab in the Johnson Center

If you are not on friendly terms with your Mason web-space, you can try a third-party site. There are a few free sites online that will host files for you. The one I'm most comfortable suggesting is SwfUP since it does not require you to download anything to your computer. Another site is imageshack but it might ask you to download a toolbar (I did not want to so I have not fully tried it, but I had one student with good luck). Krystal suggested Pages by Google (but I'm still testing that).

In summary, your Mason account is optimal -- no registration, no toolbar, just your file safe and sound. But I'm not picky...I just need a link on your blog to your published Flash movie!

Note: If you are using Flash 9 (as the lab instructions are currently geared for), you will publish 2 files: .swf and .html
If you are using CS2 (in the classroom and the version of the free trials), you will be asked to publish an additional javascript .js file.

Lab 2 -- Football Flash

I've heard from a few students that they are having problems with their Flash assignment. It is, unfortunately, easy to make small mistakes in Flash (esp. with the scripting) that cause errors when the movie plays. I really want the whole class to get comfortable with Flash so we will spend some time talking through the most common problems. We will also go through the best ways to get your Flash file linked to your blog (Blogger, unfortunately, does not accept the .swf files so we must store them somewhere else and link to them in Blogger).

Although I will introduce a new lab this evening, I want you to ask for help when we get over to the RA113 lab. I won't officially start reviewing Lab 2 until the weekend so you will have a little more time to make any needed corrections. Lab 2 covers quite a bit of key concepts....

Wed. Feb 20th

There are a few things you should know about this evening's class (yes! we're planning to meet...)
1. There is a basketball game so traffic and parking might be miserable (see parking services notice below). This will also be an issue for next Wed, Feb 27th.
2. We are trying a different classroom -- IN 336. I'm not sure if the computer projector will be better, but it is definitely worth a try! Please meet in 336.
3. Snow. I'm assuming the snow today will be minimal and GMU will remain open all night, but PLEASE check http://www.gmu.edu/ before you head to campus. I will send an email out if I learn of any closings.