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Discussions about Flash emulation always delve to Flash games, but beyond that, I think one of the big benefits is several informational websites that still rel
by amjoshuamichael 3y ago
Discussions about Flash emulation always delve to Flash games, but beyond that, I think one of the big benefits is several informational websites that still rely on flash that haven't been able to catch up. The New York Historical Society exhibit Slavery in New York has a page called [The Merchant's House](https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/gallery_3_1.htm https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/gallery_3_1.htm) where they go through items and explain how "Everything was touched by slavery." The online version of the exhibit has a lot of information bits that rely on flash, but that one was personally my favorite. One of the benefits of a project like Ruffle is that we can maintain these works–now that the exhibit is gone, it's the only way to view this written work, and reap the benefits of the extensive historical research done.
The only thing I've seen it fail with is the [video galleries]https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/gallery_2_responses.htm https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/gallery_2_responses.htm) on the same exhibit site. They're supposed to be video clips that people took in dedicated booths after going through the exhibit. I've read about the exhibit extensively and it seems like these videos were a really good insight into the way the New York public viewed slavery at the time: "They have the awkwardness of amateur home videos: background noise, long silences, people looking away from the camera." (taken from The Anger and Shock of a City's Slave Past, New York Times) It's supposed to be a subset of some 400 videos, but I can't get Ruffle to work on these pages specifically. I've had a couple flashes of audio come out of the tab while trying to view one, so I know that something is going on, but I've never been able to watch any of the videos. Does anyone with more knowledge than me know what's going on here? I'd hate to see all that disappear.
- nosamu 3y agoI've passed this on to the Ruffle team, thanks! They are working on improving support for external videos, which was added only a few months ago.
- akx 3y agoFor what it's worth, the videos are still there (e.g. https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/flash/Gallery7Responses2.flv https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/flash/Gallery7Responses2.fl...; you can see these URLs getting requested in your browser's Network inspector) and can be readily played offline with e.g. VLC, ffplay, etc., and could be converted to a more modernly playable format just as well.
- amjoshuamichael 3y agoAh, good idea! For those who are curious, here is the completed set of links. https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/flash/Gallery2Responses2.flv https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/flash/Gallery2Responses2.fl... https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/flash/Gallery7Responses2.flv https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/flash/Gallery7Responses2.fl... https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/flash/Gallery9Responses2.flv https://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/flash/Gallery9Responses2.fl... The videos are densely packed with great insight from many different points of view. I'm very happy I was able to watch them.