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January 31  |  Interviews + Video  |  42 comments

Flasher Magazine issue 2 now live

Despite being sick with the flu, I finally managed to get issue 2 done tonight. This one contains a great interview with Doug McCune about Flex and then we go over to a local gun range to bust some caps. Next I talk to Phillip Kerman about everything from his YouTube videos to his opinions on what Adobe has been up to. I attended the Macworld expo this year and shot a little bit of footage which is included in this issue. Finally I ask Flash video expert Robert Reinhardt some of the most frequently asked questions about Flash video. Go on over and watch this issue and let me know what you think. If you would prefer to download the file for offline viewing you can download the MP4. You can also subscribe to this podcast via iTunes.

Hope you enjoy it!
Lee


January 28  |  General  |  30 comments

First dead drop has been found

Amazingly it was retrieved around 2:30am. I didn’t think anyone would attempt it in the dead of night. I received an email with the code word so it is legit. They sent the following photo to me. Looks like they left a note for others in case they get there. The next drop will have to be a little more challenging :-) .

Stay tuned for the next drop,
Lee


January 27  |  General  |  112 comments

CS4 Master Collection dead drop

This is your chance to get a free copy of CS4 Master Collection which is valued at over $2500. I have long been a fan of spy movies and the various aspects of tradecraft that intelligence agencies use. With that being said I have created a dead drop which now contains the software. Watch the video below to get all the clues you’ll need to find the drop. This one is all about who wants it the most. Now obviously this will only be applicable to people who live relatively close to the area. But I would drive a few hours in order to get this if I wasn’t already working for Adobe. There are instructions in the drop about how to contact me. As soon as the software has been picked and verified I will notify you here. Now as you know, I travel quite a bit and I plan to do this in each city I visit, if possible. This software can be installed on up to 3 machines so you can team up to make things easier if you want. Also, the version in the drop is for Mac. If you are a PC person you can either sell it or send it back to me to swap. But the shrink wrap must be intact for that exchange. Be safe and enjoy the view.

As a side note, I know that there is a hobby called geocaching but that is not really what I’m doing here. There are a bunch of silly rules to that hobby and is more about socializing with fellow trackers. This is all about a one time drop and there are no rules.

Lee


January 26  |  Actionscript 3 + Flex + Tutorials + Video  |  44 comments

Introduction to Flex tutorial (part 1)

I just uploaded a new tutorial that explains the basics of using the Flex framework. It highlights certain features that don’t exist in Flash like automatic layout and data binding. In the tutorial we build a simple Twitter search application. In part 2 we will take this application and add some more functionality as well as skin it. If you want to be a Flash polymath you have to learn Flex. Plus it will make you much more marketable to employers.

Update: I asked Kevin Hoyt to take a look at this to see if I was doing things according to Flex best practices. He reminded me that the HTML wrapper includes all the code to handle the browser back button and history management. It isn’t simple the “crappy embed code”.

Lee


January 23  |  3D + Actionscript 3 + Flash CS4 + Tutorials + Video  |  28 comments

New tutorial on 3D Flash video without code

I just uploaded a new tutorial that shows you how to create a cool 3D video piece without using any ActionScript at all. These types of things are simple for experienced AS3 developers but, up until Flash CS4, designers have been left out the fun. This tutorial starts in Photoshop where we tweak an image of a plasma TV. Then inside of Flash we use the new 3D tools to position a video component so that it plays external video files on the TV. A simple, yet cool effect.

Note: In the tutorial I position the video component using a lot of trial and error. If anyone knows of a better way please let us know in the comments.

Lee


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