Posted by brandonthedeveloper at May 17th, 2010

A few months back I was trying to think of a way to explain Robotlegs to my local Adobe Flash user group. I’ve always been a big believer that telling stories is the most effective way to teach and to retain information. So while trying to think of a cast of characters to use in my story, I realized that an ad agency in 1963 was the perfect environment and would provide the all the necessary characters.

Check out the presentation and tell me what you think. I’m still fairly new to Robotlegs but after using it for a few months I think its and excellent MVCS framework. Remember this preso was meant to give just a basic understanding of Robotlegs so it’s shown at a fairly high overhead view.

View it here.

Posted by brandonthedeveloper at April 9th, 2010

“We intend to still deliver this capability in CS5 and it is up to Apple whether they choose to allow or disallow applications as their rules shift over time.”

http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2010/04/cs5_countdown_is_on.html

Posted by brandonthedeveloper at March 22nd, 2010

Today Adobe released Flash Builder 4, the successor to Flex Builder 3. The name change reflects the move to move all Flash related products under one brand, the Flash Platform.

“Adobe® Flash® Builder™ 4 (formerly Adobe Flex® Builder™) software is designed to help software developers rapidly develop cross-platform rich Internet applications (RIAs) and content using the open source Flex framework. It includes support for intelligent coding, debugging, and visual design and features powerful testing tools that speed up development and lead to higher performing applications.”

More info on the Adobe Flash Builder 4 home page.

Posted by brandonthedeveloper at October 20th, 2009

******* UPDATE *******
Sorry I missed this the first time. You have to have purchased CS4 after Sept. 15, 2009.
***********************

Own a copy of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium or Master Collection? If so you are eligible to get a free copy of Flex Builder 3. Details here.

Posted by brandonthedeveloper at October 18th, 2009

Pal Joey

Some of you might remember in July of 2008 someone stole our 10 year old Boston Terrier Petey from our backyard. We looked for him for months following that with no luck. We did manage to find three other Bostons though. Good for them, not so good for us. Still, if someone contacted us with info about Petey we felt like we had to follow up.

During the second week of October, 2008 we received a message off Craigslist that said, “your dog is at the Chesterfield Animal Shelter.”. While I was certain it wasn’t Petey I couldn’t not check to make sure. So during my lunch break the next day I drove to the animal shelter to check this dog out. It wasn’t Petey (no surprise there) but an extremely malnourished Boston that drooled constantly and was losing hair. I took him out of the cage and he was very friendly. I walked him around and pet him for a while before putting him back. I sat in the car and thought about that dog and the immediate connection I felt with him. The next day, we all came back so the rest of the family could meet this pup and see how he was around children. When they brought him out the waiting area was full of people of all ages and this dog was friendly to everyone. Our biggest concern at that point was “how would a new dog behave around our other dog Alex, our two cats and the Angora bunny that lives in the house like a cat”? Yeah. I know. A zoo. We decided to take this pup home and give him a try.

That was October 17, 2008. Yesterday was Joey’s first full year with us. We named him after two of my favorite music heroes that are no longer with us, Joe Strummer and Joey Ramone. He’s never been a replacement for Petey but has been perfect fit in this family from the very first day. We’re so glad to have him.

Posted by brandonthedeveloper at September 25th, 2009

The new Adobe Cookbooks website is now live.

Adobe Cookbooks is an open program to anyone wanting to contribute code recipes and solutions to common coding tasks and problems associated with Adobe technologies. Recipes from the site are also featured in the O’Reilly Cookbook series. Users can also search and request recipes.

link: http://cookbooks.adobe.com

Posted by brandonthedeveloper at July 19th, 2009

Well not really what I would call a cheat sheet, more a collection of useful code snippets for common ActionScript tasks. Still, a handy utility for any Flash developer or designer.

Visit Code Cheatsheet.

Posted by brandonthedeveloper at June 3rd, 2009

From the BrowserLab homepage:

BrowserLab provides web designers exact renderings of their web pages in multiple browsers and operating systems, on demand. BrowserLab is a powerful solution for cross-browser compatibility testing, featuring multiple viewing and comparison tools, as well as customizable preferences. Since BrowserLab is an online service, it can be accessed from virtually any computer connected to the web. Also, Adobe Dreamweaver® CS4 software users have access to additional functionality such as testing local and active content.

Limited Free Preview
The BrowserLab free preview is available to a limited number of users, while we monitor its performance. Please visit our service status page for updates.

Browser renderings can be viewed alone, side by side or ‘Onion Skinned’ (on top of each other with an adjustable alpha transparency).

Currently, the test OS/browser combinations are limited to Windows XP – IE6,7, FF2,3 and OS X Safari 3, FF 2,3.

See the BrowserLab homepage for more info.
Try BrowserLab.

Posted by brandonthedeveloper at January 29th, 2009

I got hit with the 25 Random Things meme on Facebook and thought I’d repost here. Enjoy.

25 things you might not know about me:

1. I love math but suck at managing money.
2. I love the taste of black coffee and putting anything else in it aside from caffeine is a damn shame.
3. I love beer.
4. I most likely have Celiacs Disease but I am not very good at not eating products containing wheat even though I know I feel way better when I don’t.
5. I am super proud of my kids.
6. I have a blood disorder that has never been identified that has caused me to have two Pulmonary Embolisms in the last five years. And, unless they come up with something better, I will be taking blood thinners for the rest of my life. That means I am not supposed to skateboard or ride my bike because if I fell hard enough, it could cause internal bleeding.
7. I fell hard enough in 2005 and spent more time in the hospital.
8. I am really self conscious of the amount of weight I have gained due to side effects of the blood thinners.
9. I get choked up when I think about Joe Strummer.
10. I am a published author.
11. I am an Adobe User Group manager.
12. I have serious problems with organization.
13. I shave (on average) about once a week.
14. I’ve worked from home for the last four years.
15. I like the sense of calm from washing dishes or vacuuming but am not a neat person.
16. I think people should have patience with each other but if you drive slow in front of me, you don’t count.
17. I switched from years of Windows to Mac three years ago and love it.
18. If I were told all I could eat everyday forever was Vietnamese food that would be alright with me.
19. I love to write code.
20. If I could have a super power it would be the power to make people drop their lunch.
21. I daydream while I brush my teeth and will stand there brushing for 2-3 minutes before I realize I was daydreaming again.
22. I love living in Richmond.
23. I am a capable of finding the slowest line in ANY store without even trying.
24. I have almost nightly dreams since I was a kid that the sky is a living thing.
25. There is no better dessert than a Dairy Queen Pecan Cluster Blizzard.

Posted by brandonthedeveloper at December 18th, 2008

It’s that time again.

Just a reminder to my Flash and Flex friends that we (FDUG) are meeting tonight (12/18/2008) from 6 – 8 at ArtWorks in South Richmond.

I’ll be speaking about sharing External Font Libraries in Flash and Flex and Lou Barber will be talking about Loading External Content and Communicating with Loaded Objects. We’ll also have Lou’s wrap up of MAX 08 and the latest Adobe News.