[Hopperxx] ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Re: Re: yay hopper

[Buzz Kettles]

btw - our internal website had a few wonderfully psycho Dennis Hopper
pictures (mostly from Waterworld).
I think Mike Seery had a big hand in that.

In the beginning, Hopper was known as Director 5.5 (I have a t-shirt with
the same frog frog as above, & much, much bigger on the back).
but at some point, there were enough features for a full-digit release &
the for-sale Xtras got included in & that became D6.


On Thu, Jul 10, 2025 at 4:09 PM Dana <dana at nuon.me> wrote:

> Also, Hopper's mascot was a green frog. I think it would have been funny
> to use Dennis Hopper, but I imagine there could have been legal issues with
> that.
>
> Here's the front of the beta tester t-shirt. The back has a list of team
> member names fit inside the number 6. If anyone wants a high resolution
> copy, I can email it to you directly, as the names are too blurry to read
> when the image is downsized to fit within the 40kb list limits.
>
>
>
>
> On Thursday, July 10th, 2025 at 12:30 PM, Darrel Plant <
> dplant at moshplant.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Jim,
> >
> > I didn’t start Hopper.
> >
> > (Dennis) Hopper was the beta code name of Director 6. At the time it was
> in development, I had just written my Shockwave book and that got me into
> the beta testing group, which had a Macromedia-moderated listserv called
> hopper-l. (“L” for list).
> >
> > When the beta was ending, Macromedia announced that they were going to
> be shutting the list down but a number people expressed how much they
> enjoyed the signal-to-noise ratio of the beta list compared to the (then)
> incredibly busy Direct-L. So I offered to set something up and that became
> hopper-ex.
> >
> > There’s still a web page on my site, though the animation at the top is
> missing. If I remember correctly, it was a color version of the from from
> the famous Sam Gross “National Lampoon” cartoon.
> >
> > https://moshplant.com/hopper-ex/
> >
> > https://www.marksverylarge.com/2023/05/17/sam-gross-r-i-p/
> >
> > James Newton and I were contracted to write behaviors for Director 6.5.
> By coincidence, I just heard from James the other day. We both contributed
> to the BL for a couple of versions, some of the staff made updates to them
> over time, and I think at least some of our work shipped through to the
> final version of the app.
> >
> > Darrel
> >
> > > On Jul 9, 2025, at 8:12 PM, Jim Andrews jim at vispo.com wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Darrel,
> > >
> > > Great to hear from you. Did you start the Hopper listserv? My memory
> isn't what it used to be, but I seem to recall you probably did. In any
> case, I do remember you were the Hopper list's previous admin, Darrel.
> > >
> > > Would love to hear more of your involvement in Director stuff, Darrel.
> You wrote some behaviors that came with Director, didn't you? I probably
> used more than a few of them, or learned from them.
> > >
> > > ja
> > >
> > > On 2025-07-09 6:20 p.m., Darrel Plant wrote:
> > >
> > > > I used to have a thing back when Macromedia still controlled the
> site but were trying to say “Flash isn’t Shockwave!” tracking how many
> Shockwave Site of the Day sites were Flash rather than Director.
> > > >
> > > > "I love surf music but I can't swim." —Darrel Plant
> > > >
> > > > > On Jul 9, 2025, at 5:46 PM, Robert Gordon rob at article19.com wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Love seeing all of your names again!
> > > > >
> > > > > I went from Director to Flash to HTML5/CSS (first with CreateJS
> then with PIXI with lots of content working right in the DOM).
> > > > >
> > > > > Among other things I STILL release games over on Shockwave.com, a
> spin-out from Macromedia in the late 90s. I remember auditioning my Jigsaw
> Player - created in Director - in front of the Director lead engineers who
> did their best to break it (they did not) and a career pivot was born…
> > > > >
> > > > > Stay well all!
> > > > >
> > > > > r o b
> > > > >
> > > > > Robert Gordon
> > > > > The Article 19 Group Inc.
> > > > > 514.938.8512
> > > > > rob at article19.com
> > > > > www.article19.com
> > > > >
> > > > > On Wed, Jul 9, 2025 at 7:06 PM Jim Andrews jim at vispo.com wrote:
> > > > > The SPAM subject line is probably my fault. My Thunderbird email
> program adds it to a lot of email, and sometimes I forget to get rid of it
> before I send. Sorry.
> > > > >
> > > > > I still have Director 10 installed. Last time I checked, it was
> freely available on the web. Does anyone know what that official situation
> is?
> > > > >
> > > > > I encourage people on the list to give us an update on what you've
> done and what you're doing since Director bit the dust.
> > > > >
> > > > > I retooled to JavaScript/HTML/CSS. I'd done a little of that since
> 1996, but after Director, I really learned JavaScript/HTML/CSS.
> > > > >
> > > > > Here are some recent online pages/works of mine:
> > > > >
> > > > > VISPO.COM HISTORY (1996-present)
> > > > > https://vispo.com/misc/whatsnew.html
> > > > > I've maintained this page since 1998. When I post a new thing on
> vispo.com, I generally make an entry in this page, with a link. Not
> always, but usually. Anyway, I updated it recently to HTML5 cuz it had
> deprecated <font> tags and whatnot. I also put in an interactive timeline
> and an icon for most of the entries.
> > > > >
> > > > > LETTERS FROM LEIBNIZ (2024)
> > > > > https://vispo.com/aleph4/images/jim_andrews/leibniz/alchemy
> > > > > 158 images (3840x2160) generated in Aleph Null, the graphic
> synthesizer I wrote in JavaScript. These are images of Leibniz's writing,
> mainly. There's an essay I wrote about the project, also. I wrote the
> slideshow software (Slidvid) also.
> > > > >
> > > > > SEA OF PO (2024)
> > > > > https://seaofpo.vispo.com
> > > > > It's an appzine of 52 poets in a generative, kinetic, interactive,
> never-the-same-twice experience of 15 languages. It's a new experience of
> poetry and poetry magazines. It also animates and saves your texts, and
> creates deluxe screenshots. Yes, it's the Swiss army knife of digital
> poetry magazines and a literary blast of computer art.
> > > > >
> > > > > ENIGMA N2022 (2022)
> > > > > https://enigman.vispo.com
> > > > > Granular synthesis + colour music + digital poetry.
> > > > >
> > > > > NEONIO (2021)
> > > > > https://neonio.vispo.com
> > > > > This is an HTML5 version of a piece I created in Director,
> originally, in 2000 called Nio. Nio was the first piece of art I got paid
> to create; it was commissioned by turbulence.org. NeoNio uses the
> original 16 sounds and the original 16 animations. My wife converted the
> original 16 SWF animations into SVG. I used the Web Audio API to do the
> synchronizing and playing of sounds in NeoNio.
> > > > >
> > > > > ja
> > > > >
> > > > > On 2025-07-09 2:57 p.m., Dana wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > It's nice to see that this little community is still together
> after all this time. I do primarily iOS development nowadays, but there are
> so many developers that you don't get the tight-knit feel.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > My last Director project was around 2010, though I've had a few
> requests since then to update some old projects. I still wonder if I have
> some kiosks chugging along in a museum or visitor center somewhere.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Director made transitioning to iOS development fairly easy,
> having touch screen experience, and Lingo sharing Smalltalk roots with
> Objective-C.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > BTW, is anyone else seeing *** SPAM *** added to the subject
> line?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On Wednesday, July 9th, 2025 at 7:17 AM, Danny Kodicek
> dragon at well-spring.co.uk wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > I was reading an article the other day talking about how
> modern websites are overengineered and full of unnecessary animations and
> complex JavaScript packages, and it made me think again how unfair it was
> back in the day when Flash (and Shockwave to a lesser extent) got the blame
> for people doing exactly the same thing. Surprise, surprise: killing Flash
> didn't stop bad design, it just made developers' lives harder.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On Wed, 9 Jul 2025 at 10:04, Jim Andrews jim at vispo.com wrote:
> > > > > > > It's great to hear from the amazing developers of Hopper.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > There are 38 members, all of whom have email addresses that
> are not bouncing.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I had to delete some bouncing email addresses from the list
> yesterday cuz the bouncing was causing me not to be able to send any email
> from my jim at vispo.com address, which is my main email address ("Domain
> vispo.com has exceeded the max defers and failures per hour (10/10
> (100%)) allowed. Message discarded.")
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I talked with my hosting service three times on the phone
> about it.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Consequently, today I sent an email to everyone, not from the
> list, but from me, so I could see if it bounced. None of them bounced,
> today. Which must mean I got rid of the bouncing addresses yesterday.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > So the re-start of the list was a little ragged, but I think
> it's working OK now.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Yes, Noisecrime, I too was very disappointed with the fate
> Adobe inflicted on Director.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ja
> > > > > > > https://vispo.com
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On 2025-07-09 1:28 a.m., Noise-Mail wrote:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Thanks Jim for keeping the list alive.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Every few years there seems to be a message that gets people
> back together, but sadly those messages are getting less frequent.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Can't quite believe this has been going for over a quarter
> of a century, though I guess I also never thought that Director would die.
> In many ways I feel it was ahead of its time, or at least could have been
> maintained and updated to have become a force in the indie scene.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Anyway nice to see some familiar names in here.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > NoiseCrime
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > On 08/07/2025 07:18, Jim Andrews wrote:
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Great to see some messages on Hopper again!
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > I am the administer of the list.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > All the best to you, my friends!
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > ja
> > > > > > > > > https://vispo.com
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > > > > Hopperxx mailing list
> > > > > > > > > Hopperxx at vispo.com
> > > > > > > > > http://vispo.com/mailman/listinfo/hopperxx_vispo.com
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > > > Hopperxx mailing list
> > > > > > > > Hopperxx at vispo.com
> > > > > > > > http://vispo.com/mailman/listinfo/hopperxx_vispo.com
> > > > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > > > Hopperxx mailing list
> > > > > > > > Hopperxx at vispo.com
> > > > > > > > http://vispo.com/mailman/listinfo/hopperxx_vispo.com
> > > > > >
> > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > Hopperxx mailing list
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Hopperxx at vispo.com
> > > > > > http://vispo.com/mailman/listinfo/hopperxx_vispo.com
> > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > Hopperxx mailing list
> > > > > > Hopperxx at vispo.com
> > > > > > http://vispo.com/mailman/listinfo/hopperxx_vispo.com
> > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > Hopperxx mailing list
> > > > > > Hopperxx at vispo.com
> > > > > > http://vispo.com/mailman/listinfo/hopperxx_vispo.com
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Hopperxx mailing list
> > > >
> > > > Hopperxx at vispo.com
> > > > http://vispo.com/mailman/listinfo/hopperxx_vispo.com
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Hopperxx mailing list
> > > > Hopperxx at vispo.com
> > > > http://vispo.com/mailman/listinfo/hopperxx_vispo.com
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Darrel Plant phone: 503-490-1388 dplant at moshplant.com
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > "I triple-down on trickle-down." -- Darrel Plant
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Hopperxx mailing list
> > Hopperxx at vispo.com
> > http://vispo.com/mailman/listinfo/hopperxx_vispo.com
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>
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