Lingo in a Nutshell

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to many people, some of whom I’ve undoubtedly omitted from the list below. Please buy this book and recommend it to friends so that I can thank the people I’ve forgotten in the next revision.

My deep appreciation goes out to the entire staff at O’Reilly, whose patience, professionalism, and unwavering dedication to quality are directly responsible for bringing these books to market. Special thanks go to my editors, Tim O’Reilly, Katie Gardner, and Troy Mott, and to Edie Freedman, Sheryl Avruch, Frank Willison, Nancy Priest, Rob Romano, Mike Sierra, Paula Carroll, Nancy Kruse Hannigan, Greg deZarn-O’Hare, and all the people who turn a manuscript into a book. My thanks also to the sales and marketing staff who ensure that my efforts were not in vain. Last, I want to thank all of the O’Reilly authors whose company I am proud to be in.

This project would not have happened without the efforts of my agent, David Rogelberg of Studio B Productions (http://www.studiob.com). He was instrumental in the development and genesis of both Director in a Nutshell and Lingo in a Nutshell, for which I am forever grateful. My thanks also to Sherry Rogelberg and to the participants of Studio B’s Computer Book Publishing list.

The quality of the manuscript reflects my excellent technical reviewers, all of whom made time for this semi-thankless job despite their busy schedules: Lisa Kushins, who verified items to an extent that astounded me and provided feedback that improved every chapter she touched; Hudson Ansley, whose keen eye and unique perspective also improved the book immeasurably; Mark Castle (http://www.the-castle.com), who helped shape the style and content from the earliest stages; and Matthew Pirrone and James Terry (http://www.kandu.com), who both provided excellent feedback on Chapter 4, and Chapter 20, Lingo for C Programmers, (downloadable from the web site). My thanks also goes out to all my beta-readers who provided useful feedback, most notably Miles Lightwood and Birnou Sdarte.

I cannot begin to thank all the Macromedians who develop and support Director, many of whom provide technical support on their own time on various mailing lists. My special thanks goes to Buzz Kettles for all his feedback regarding Shockwave audio and to Michael Seery for being my inside connection at Macromedia all these years. My thanks also to Lalit Balchandani, David Calaprice, Jim Corbett, Landon Cox, Ken Day, Peter DeCrescenzo, David Dennick, John Dowdell, Mike Edmunds, John Embow, Eliot Greenfield, Jim Inscore, David Jennings, James Khazar, Leona Lapez, S Page, Bill Schulze, Karen Silvey, Joe Sparks, John Thompson, Karen Tucker, Anders Wallgren (expatriot), John Ware, Eric Wittman, Doug Wyrick, and Greg Yachuk, all of whom fight the good fight on a daily basis.

My thanks go out to the wider Director community, including but not limited to Stephen Hsu, Brian “Bam Bam” Johansen, Peter Fierlinger, Brian Gray, Roger Jones, Tab Julius, Irv Kalb, Kathy Kozel, Alan Levine, Gretchen Macdowall, Myron Mandell, Kevin McFarland, Hai Ng, Roy Pardi, Darrel Plant, Peter Small, Kam Stewart, Stephen Taylor, Andrew White, John Williams, Alex Zavatone, all the participants of the super-secret mailing lists that I cannot name, and all the users who have given me feedback over the years, including the AOL old-timers.

Thank you also to Caroline Lovell-Malmberg, who can now forgive her husband, Mark, for leaving her out of his acceptance speech. Perhaps he’ll thank whomever I’ve inadvertently left out next time he wins an Oscar.

I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read this book. If I never get around to stand-up comedy, it is nice to know I still have an audience somewhere. If you enjoy the book, you owe a debt of gratitude to Professor David Thorburn, who taught me more about writing than anyone before or since.

Last, I want to acknowledge my entire family, whose sacrifices and support truly made this book possible. If this book saves you time that you can then devote to your family, my efforts will not have been in vain. Good luck in all your multimedia pursuits.

Bruce A. Epstein

May 1998

Franklin Park, NJ

“All the love that you miss...all the people that you can recall...do they really exist at all?” — Lowell George, anticipating Virtual Reality by 20 years