Hungry for some snacks?

Published
by
corbanb
on May 13, 2008
in air, flash and software
. 5 Comments

Well I've got a treat for you! Snackr, an AIR app developed by Narciso Jaramillo who is a product designer for Flex and is working on Thermo also from what I have heard!

Anyway Snackr is a RSS ticker that just fits onto the side of your desktop in place you would like it (Top, Bottom, Left, Right). It has some neat little features in it now but its very early in development it looks like and has lots of features to come on the wish list! I can't wait to get updates for this one! Some of these new features will help out a ton but its still great now and I would recommend it to anyone.

My use for it has been for blogs that update ALOT and that I don't have time to read all the time. Like engadget, gizmodo, espn and a few others! It defiantly and quickly made the list of AIR apps to have! Thanks NJ!

Snackr Desktop AIR App

You will also notice Doomi in the screenshot its a simple todo list AIR app that I like to use to help me keep some lists of things to do. It just makes to dos a bit more accessible for me...

Adobe Feeds and some Link Lovin

Published
by
corbanb
on May 6, 2008
in adobe, flash, life, links, technology and tutorial
. 0 Comments

So last night I was watching twitter and saw that Adobe got up the MXNA feeds.adobe.com! This is a great resource for flash developers or anything Adobe and more. It gives you a great centralized location to find great information on application development and creativity from many different backgrounds. Take a look for your self!

Also stealing a bit of a great idea from a favorite blog of mine (eismann-sf.com/news) I've decided to start posting some of my favorite links I have discovered. Not sure how often this is going to happen but it will  be easier for you all to find some fun links I found on here, instead of having to check my messy del.icio.us account!

With that said enjoy the links:
http://www.derailer.org/paparazzi/ - screenshot util for OSX that captures whats outside the view port.
http://twistori.com/ - twitter experiment
http://dev.papervision3d.org/ - papervision developers resource
http://tinyurl.com/68ppww - inspirational PDF magazines from smash magazine
http://www.footloosemoose.com/michael_wp/ - flash developer blog

Adobe Opens up the Mobile Platform

Published
by
corbanb
on May 1, 2008
in adobe
. 0 Comments

via: blog.wired.com/monkeybites/ and adobe.com

GREAT NEWS! Adobe has decided to open up the Flash Platform for phones, mobile internet devices (MIDs), and set top boxes! In a project from Adobe announced today called the Open Screen Project! This is going to allow developers to integrate the Flash player without ever even talking to Adobe about licensing. Which I'm all for cause now you might not have to own a Nokia phone to enjoy the Flash platform on a mobile device. If this only meant Apple would adopt! :( But at least the is a HUGE leap forward for Flash and its all most limitless boundaries for developing a cross platform world.

I mean whats there not to like about the Flash Platform now? Desktop, Web, Mobile and the list just goes on and on! Develop once and run on any device your little heart wants! Can any other platform do it this well and this easy? Not that I am aware of... at least to the ease and with the interaction capabilities flash has! Thanks Adobe for another step in the right direction!

Links:

http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/developers
http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject

24 hours without your main squeeze!

Published
by
corbanb
on April 16, 2008
in wordpress
. 2 Comments

Ok so hopefully not you main squeeze but maybe your PC. It's that time again for the global 2008 Shut Down Day! The event will take place May 3rd, 2008 and all you have to do is shut down all your PC's and go play out side for a day! Yes, really, outside! And no not in your Second Life's backyard with your binary dog! Outside under the UV rays and the hopefully clean air around you! :)

So to help spread the word and celebrate the event I have made not one but two Wordpress Badge Widgets for you to also help spread the word! You can see one in my side bar column! But I'd love to see them in your sidebar columns. So jump on it. Download the Badge of your choice and start spreading the word. We don't have much time so lets get this started! Thanks Guys!

Each of the widgets contains 6 different sizes to fit any of your needs. Sizes are 88x31, 120x60, 120x90, 120x240, 125x125 and 234x60. There are two color options RED and WHITE. They are simple to install too just download the ZIP extract it and upload the PHP doc to you wordpress plugins directory, activate and viola! Your all done!

Also if you'd like to use this on a page other than a wordpress blog just copy and paste the code below.

 
<div class="shutdowndayBadge">
<a href="http://projectx4.com/shutdownday" target="_blank">
<img src="http://projectx4.com/shutdownday/red/banner_88x31.gif" alt="Shut Down Day 2008" />
</a>
</div>
 

You can easily change the color by editing the img path from 'red' to 'white or vice versa. And change the size by simply changing the image name to the dimensions listed above. So a new image name could be src="http://projectx4.com/shutdownday/white/banner_125x125.gif".

If you find any problems with the widget please leave me a comment and I will get it fixed ASAP. I can't wait to see how many people we can reach out to and help our world by taking just one day off from our world of pixels!

Kirupa and Senocular - AS3 Tip of the Day

Published
by
corbanb
on April 14, 2008
in actionscript, adobe and flash
. 0 Comments

Hey guys I had heard about this a while back but hadn't been reading it much. But today I was taking some time to get some AS3 work under my belt and decided to spend sometime with it. Although its not super deep information it gives you some great high level tips on AS3 and its changes. So If you are still new to AS3 and looking for a few more little tips jump over to Kirupa's site and get started reading the AS3 Tips of the Day!

Flickr + Video

Published
by
corbanb
on April 9, 2008
in animation, flash and technology
. 0 Comments

Hey just a quick FYI for you Flickr users they now are allowing us to upload videos. Only downside is the 90 sec max time stuck to it. Here is the first video I saw on Flickr and its some Flash art by Eric Natzke. If you are not familiar with Eric Natzke I think its time you start watching his work in Flash, it will inspire anyone.

No Crossdomain?

Published
by
corbanb
on April 4, 2008
in actionscript and adobe
. 1 Comment

I just ran across nocrossdomain.com for the first time! This is super interesting. Anyone else trying this? Seems almost to good to be true. Anyone have any good stories about it?

Google Analytics + Flash = Easy Peasy…

Published
by
corbanb
on March 28, 2008
in actionscript, adobe, flash and tutorial
. 6 Comments

You're clients will love it! And in the end you will know more about the sites you build and how to better drive traffic to certain areas! Win! Win!

googleanalytics.jpg

Ok so I have been using Google Analytics for quite sometime now and I must say i love it! So if you don't know by now Google provides FREE website statistics that go above and beyond any stat tracking systems I have seen to date. Well that is for something that is FREE. Anyway I want encourage all of you to get out there and start using Google Analytics for all your flash site going forward. Its really very simple to implement into your flash sites and even track individual events that occur in each of your sites. Please see analytics.google.com for more information on setting up your personal analytics with google and to get the Javascript needed for the code below to work. With that said let's get on to some actionscript!

googleAnalytics.as (right click - save as)

 
/// GOOGLE ANALYTICS SIMPLE TRACKING
/// Script by: corban baxter
 
import flash.external.ExternalInterface;
 
function gaTracking(page) {
	ExternalInterface.call("pageTracker._trackPageview", page);
}
 
//end

Code for simple call

 
gaTracking("/flash/home"); //sends event to google's analytics system

Now what you can understand from this is... You can call this function during ANY event function etc that you so desire. And any string combination that you want to pass to it is fair game. Use best practices when passing in the strings though so its easier for you and your clients to read when you all are reviewing the numbers. Ok so thats that! Cheers!

Twitter, twhirl and tweetpotatos!

Published
by
corbanb
on March 26, 2008
in adobe, air and flash
. 1 Comment

Ok so for those of you out there using Twitter or thinking about using Twitter more often this post is for you. I have been using Twitter very regularly for about 6 months now. Its a great place to share all the great moments in life with your friends and colleges. Its super easy and super quick to learn and start sending updates. Twitter gives you about 20 options for posting updates to the site. So it is convenient for just about anyone.

So to top off the convince factor to twitter I stumbled on Twhirl! Ok so for a lot of you seasoned veterns I'm sure you are fully aware of Twhirl and all of its greatness. But I wanted to go ahead and just reiterate how great Twhril really is! Twhirl is an AIR application that brings twitter to your desktop in a slick convenient interface that has about everything the Twitter site has to offer! So far its my favorite and most used AIR app I have become accustomed to, to date. Which I will go ahead and say this. Thats a big step to get a new app in my life. I am a hard sell to keep an app around for more than a week or so if I barely use it. Ok with that said... Go sign up for Twitter, download Twhirl and start getting involved in the great new social community that is Twitter! Oh and don't forget to add me!

twhril.jpg

Ok and last a couple new interesting twitter links...
http://quotably.com/ - Follow entire Twitter conversations from first post to every related reply.
http://tweetpotato.com/ - Haha... Not sure what all this is going to be. But it could be pretty intresting to see how it all plays out!
http://www.hashtags.org/ - great way to keep some of your tweets organized! This should be built into Twitter! Anyway to make it work you must follow @hashtags on twitter...

Flash at WordCamp

Published
by
corbanb
on March 24, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Good morning! Hey guys, gals and all other bloggers. I was just doing some browsing of the nets and found out there is going to be a WordCamp meeting in Frisco, Tx. I was just wondering if any of you other Flash bloggers in the area would be attending! I am thinking about going. But I'm not sure I can make the whole event due to previous plans. Are you going? I'd love to know if so! Ping me on Twitter or just comment below! Thanks!

wordcamp.jpg

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