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About 'icontexts' Using the Icontext software Saving icontexts Browse existing icontexts Technical problems Alternative interface (No Java required) File upload
| /* About Icontexts */ Icontexts are images and, at the same time, they are, potentially, legible texts. The XPM image format allows for pixels to be signified by keyboard characters. Each icontext is 50 pixels square. There are, consequently, 2500 characters in each icontext. Icontexts also contain one hyper link to another icontext, so that ideas of more than 2500 characters can be built out of a sequence of icontexts. |
/* Using the Icontext Software */
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/* Using the non-Java form interface to create an icontext */ If you have a Java enabled browser, you will be able to use the ASCII art engine that combines text and a mosaic of pixel points. But if not, there are other ways to use this site. One is a more stripped down, form-submission method for creating icontexts. In this case, the ASCII art is composed within text-input fields, and, when sent to the server, the information is turned into an icontext (file) and added to the archive. It is also possible, with almost any browser, to edit the link relationships among the various icontexts. Some visitors will wish to create related texts/icons and these editorial tools are intended to facilitate this sort of organization. Search methods that look for key words are also available. Lastly, an upload utility is provided. People with graphics software and some experience using it can upload GIF files that conform to the icontext specifications. |
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/* Browsing existing icontexts */
The archive of icontexts resides on
the artcontext.com server. It can be accessed
in several different ways: |
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/* Technical Problems */ Your help in reporting [Webmaster] any problems is appreciated. A few words about firewalls: Many organizations, and particularly corporations, use firewalls to protect themselves from unknown forces lurking on the Internet. Consequently, the synchronous communication features of the Icontext applet may not work "behind" these software gates. A strong indicator that this is the case would be a message like "Disconnected" appearing in the message field of the Icontext software. Regardless of firewalls, you can still use the non-Java techniques provided to create and edit relationships among icontexts. Another scenario that commonly occurs: browsers that have no Java functionality due to incomplete installation or paranoid configuration. Solution: reconfigure or upgrade your browser and return to this site after restarting the browser software. |
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/* File upload */ The file [upload] interface is intended to allow people to add images to the site, but it is not intended to encourage people to upload any icon that is at hand. In order to be uploaded, images need to be in a specific format, GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), and they need to be of a particular size: 50 pixels square. |