Radley Marx

Detailed instructions for installing AIR 2.0 SDK (for OSX)

My friend Mike posted instructions for installing the AIR 2.0 beta a couple of months ago which was really helpful for non-programmers like me. Unfortunately only a week later the AIR team changed the file type of the download which essentially nixed Mike’s instructions.

The good news is that the new file version is actually pretty easy to install, but the instructions are geared towards people who think like a programmer instead of us Creative Suite people.

The new instructions are available in the Release Notes, which non-programmers might find a little confusing. Here’s detailed instructions (for the rest of us) on how to install AIR 2.0: More »

Best of MAX ‘09 on Adobe TV & Max Online

This year’s MAX was a blast. Lots of great announcements (but not many releases) from Adobe on what’s in store in the coming year. The best part: almost all of the sessions are now available as videos on Adobe TV and  MAX Online.

The big announcement was Flash-based app development for the iPhone which came as a great surprise for everyone. I’m very surprised how close I came in calling it in my pre-MAX blog post. If blogging was pool, my post would count if we’re playing “call pocket” and not “call shot”.

Most of my planned sessions focussed on P2P, AIR for Mobile, Collaboration, and Flex. Only a few ended up ditch-worthy (I’ll never attend “roadmap” sessions again, bah!) and in one case fell happily into a great iPhone session with AIR-master Arno Gourdol. In the end, I attended mostly P2P, video, iPhone, and Flex courses… yet there are more than a few that I missed.

This is a very subjective “best of” list based on my personal interests and skills. Thus, I’ve compiled a list of the best sessions I attended (*) as well as those recommended by others that I’ll catch up on over the next few weeks.



Flash / iPhone

XML based FLA: The New Flash File Format (Jeff Ahlquist)

Designing Flash Applications for iPhone * (Arno Gourdol)
(aka Designing Applications for Desktops and Mobile Devices with Adobe AIR)

Optimizing Flash Content for iPhone Applications (Scott Petersen & Chris Brichford)

Building Applications for iPhone with Flash Professional CS5 * (Aditya Bansod)

Multi-Touch and the Flash Platform * (Daniel Dura & Matt Bugbee)

Secret Session: Flash Professional (Richard  Galvan, long video: session repeats due to scheduling)

ActionScript 3.0 Tastes Good (and Is Good for You, Too!) (Phillip Kerman)

Things Every Flash Developer Should Know (Grant Skinner)



Video / P2P / OSMF

P2P on the Flash Platform with RTMFP * (Matthew Kaufman)

Social Media Experiences with Flash Media and RTMFP * (Tom Krcha)

Introduction to Adobe’s Open Source Media Framework (Will Law & Edwin van Rijkom)

Netflix on TVs Using Flash (Matt McCarthy & Michael Hoch)

Encoding Best Practices for H.264 Video Using Flash (Fabio Sonnati)



Flex / AIR

Preview: Flex for Mobile Devices (Ely Greenfield & Greg Burch)

Flash Builder 4 Advanced Tips and Tricks * (Scott Evans)

Effects in Flex 4 (Chet Haase)

What’s New in Flash Builder 4 (Tim Buntel)

Moving from Flex 3 to Flex 4 (Joan Lafferty)

Multitouch Development with Flex (Andrew Trice)

A Deep Dive into Flex 4 Lists and Layouts (Glenn Ruehle)

What’s Coming in Adobe AIR 2 (Christian Cantrell)



Flash Catalyst

Working with Flash Catalyst Projects in Flash Builder 4 (Andrew Shorten)

Prototyping and Interactive Wireframes Using Flash Catalyst (Peter Flynn)



Flash Platform

Killer Text in Flash with the Text Layout Framework (TLF) (Doug Benson & Rusty Williams)

Flash Player Internals (Lee Thomason)

GPU Acceleration in the next Flash Player (NVIDIA)

Adobe Wave: Increasing the Use of your Websites and Applications (John Shapiro & Joerg Beckert)

SEO Secrets, Technology, and Magic Behind Flash (Duane Nickull & Rich Tretola)



Design

Hot Tips and Cool Tools in Illustrator CS4 (David Macy)

Photoshop CS4: Hidden Gems and New Technologies (Brian O’Neil Hughes)



[Update: New videos and missing links added. A few session videos didn't get posted to Adobe TV, but are available via MAX Online (thank you @mesh).]

Flash on Twitter – 100+ essential people & topics

This is a list of some of the most influential and interesting sources on Twitter. It’s somewhat California-centric, but includes major Flash events, evangelists, and pros from around the world. It’s not absolute nor complete. But I did make a point of finding people that are active and often on topic.

Update: I’ll update the list over the next few days for accuracy and add/remove names if requested. I also created an Addendum for 15 19 new names & sources (added on Wed), so if you’ve already gone through the list, you don’t have to guess what’s new.

Basics
@adobeflash – Adobe Flash
@adobegroups – Adobe Groups
@AdobeTV – Adobe TV
@air – Adobe AIR (by @ryanstewart)
@Flash_Platform – Flash Platform (by Matt Rozen)
@pixelbender – Adobe Pixel Bender

Events & Groups
@360Flex – 360 Flex Conference
@adobemax – Adobe MAX
@BugQuash – BugQuash (Seattle based Flex SDK bug fix event)
@FITC – FITC Conference
@flashallstars – Flash Allstars
@flashbelt – dave schroeder
@FlashDenNet – FlashDen
@flashontap – Flash on Tap
@flashtuts – Flashtuts+ (Flash tutorials)
@FOTB – Flash on the Beach
@fwa – Rob Ford (Flash Website Awards)
@insideria – InsideRIA
@silvafug – Silicon Valley Flex User Group

Adobe Team & Evangelists
@adobeted – Ted Patrick (Events & Community)
@arnog – Arno Gourdol (Sr. Engineering Manager, AIR)
@ashorten – Andrew Shorten (Platform Evangelist)
@cantrell – Christian Cantrell (Technical Product Manager)
@ccoenraets – Christophe Coenraets (Flex Lead)
@ddura – Daniel Dura (Platform Evangelist)
@duanechaos – Duane Nickull (Evangelist)
@ehadobe – Eric Herrmann (Flex Bugs)
@esulliva – Edward Sullivan (DevNet)
@garazi – Greg Rewis (Worldwide Evangelist)
@gburch – Greg Burch (Flex Mobile)
@gregorywilson – Greg Wilson (Enterprise Platform Evangelist)
@jdowdell – John Dowdell
@jlward4th – James Ward (Flex Evangelist)
@joshdura – Josh Dura (Technical Account Manager – FMS)
@kevinlynch – Kevin Lynch (Chief Software Architect) – private
@leebrimelow – Lee Brimelow (Platform Evangelist)
@mchaize – Michaël Chaize (Adobe France)
@mchotin – Matt Chotin (Sr. Product Manager, Flex SDK)
@mesh – Mike Chambers (Principal Product Manager for Developer Relations)
@nigelpegg – Nigel Pegg (FCS, ConnectNow)
@parkerkrhoyt – Kevin Hoyt (Senior Product Specialist)
@pdehaan – Peter deHaan (Flex SDK QE)
@pburnett – Paul Burnett (Flash Evangelist)
@rlux – Rachel Luxemburg (Community Manager)
@robchristensen – Rob Christensen (Product Manager, AIR)
@robdixon – Rob Dixon (Flashlit.com)
@ryanstewart – Ryan Stewart (Platform Evangelist)
@sfdesigner – Doug Winnie (Group Product Manager for Workflow and Web Tools)
@sjespers – Serge Jespers (Platform Evangelist)
@tomkrcha – Tom Krcha (Platform Evangelist)
@vortex – Matt Voerman (Senior Technical Consultant)

Community
@andremichelle – Andre Michelle (Flash audio dev)
@bartekd – Bartek Drozdz
@BenStucki – Ben Stucki
@bigspaceship – Big Spaceship
@bit101 – Keith Peters
@bitchwhocodes – stacey mulcahy
@BK4D – Ben Kanizay
@BrianDunphy – Brian Dunphy (Flex Authority)
@brianjeremy – Brian Jeremy (JUXT Interactive)
@C4RL05 – Carlos Ulloa (Papervision3D)
@cg219 – Clemente G
@dalerankine – Dale Rankine (Flash mobile dev)
@daringfireball – John Gruber
@darronschall – Darron Schall
@dougmccune – Doug McCune
@drawlogic – Ryan Christensen
@drwoohoo – Dr. Woohoo!
@flashfreaker – Robert Reinhardt
@FlashGuru – Guy Watson
@flight404 – Robert Hodgin
@gillesguillemin – Gilles Guillemin
@gruber – John Gruber
@gskinner – Grant Skinner
@jesterxl – Jesse Warden
@jnbeck – Nate Beck (@BugQuash)
@joa – Joa Ebert
@johnlindquist – John Lindquist (pv3d.org)
@joshtynjala – Josh Tynjala
@joshua – Joshua Kinberg (PBS)
@JoshuaDavis – Joshua Davis
@kristoferjoseph – Kristofer Joseph
@lisamarienyc – Lisa Larson-Kelley
@lordalex – Alex Leon
@LordBron – Tom Ortega
@mdowney – Mike Downey (Silverlight evangelist)
@ Michael_Plank – Michael Plank (FDT Master)
@neave – Paul Neave
@NeoRiley – John Grden
@peterelst – Peter Elst
@phillip – Phillip Kerman
@Pucknell – Shawn Pucknell (FITC)
@Quasimondo – Mario Klingemann
@rblank9 – R Blank (Rich Media Institute)
@richtretola – Rich Tretola (EverythingFlex)
@robpenner – Robert Penner
@scalenine – Juan Sanchez
@scottjanousek – Scott Janousek – private
@sebleedelisle – Seb Lee-Delisle (Papervision3D)
@stevensacks – Steven Sacks
@TheFlashBum – Jesse Freeman
@thenewstuff – OneZeroThrice (ARtisan)
@tmtek – Tony MacDonell (Teknision)
@UnitZeroOne – Ralph Hauwert (Core Developer for Papervision3D)
@waxpraxis – Branden Hall
@webr3 – Nathan

Addendum
(names in list added after original posting)

@BugQuash – BugQuash (Seattle based Flex SDK bug fix event)
@jnbeck – Nate Beck (@BugQuash)
@johnlindquist – John Lindquist (pv3d.org)
@bartekd – Bartek Drozdz
@Michael_Plank – Michael Plank (FDT Master)
@cg219 – Clemente G
@BK4D – Ben Kanizay
@sjespers – Serge Jespers (Platform Evangelist)
@ashorten – Andrew Shorten (Platform Evangelist)
@UnitZeroOne – Ralph Hauwert (Core Developer for Papervision3D)
@drwoohoo – Dr. Woohoo!
@lisamarienyc – Lisa Larson-Kelley
@fwa – Rob Ford (Flash Website Awards)
@gregorywilson – Greg Wilson (Enterprise Platform Evangelist)
@tomkrcha – Tom Krcha (Platform Evangelist)
@insideria – InsideRIA
@C4RL05 – Carlos Ulloa (Papervision3D)
@webr3 – Nathan
@thenewstuff – OneZeroThrice (ARtisan)

Update part 2:
I didn’t add all of the suggested names – there’s too many great people (~150+ suggestions). I filtered for “signal to noise” and relevance to SilvaFUG users.

I highly recommend that you take the time to make personalized lists for your UGs and friends. They’ll appreciate it =)

Schematic’s Flash / Flex Multi-Touch Wall

Behind the scenes of the Schematic multi-touch wall from Serge Jespers on Vimeo.

(webkitchen.be) Microsoft has (rightfully) gotten a lot of attention with their Surface multi-touch table. Schematic has now raised the bar. In Cannes at the Cannes Lions festival, they were showing a 3.5m (12ft) x 1.5m (5ft) multi-touch/multi-user intelligent wall which puts the Surface to shame.

The massive display gives attendees instant access to the complete festival program, 3D maps of the event and surrounding area, and information on local restaurants and bars. The Touchwall also helps delegates schedule meetings with each other and trade contact information via email. The presentation layer is built with the Flex 4 framework and runs on Flash Player 10.

Link to blog post

You know that coffee you’re drinking? It’s really Flash

Remember those coffee commercials in which a fine restaurant would replace really good coffee with a mega-corporate canned version and nobody would know the difference? (or maybe they would…)

This weekend Adobe Flex evangelist Ted Patrick officially leaked the upcoming name & branding change of Flex Builder to Flash Builder.

While most of us Flash developers know that Flex runs on the Flash Player, this info isn’t known to a particular group: enterprise managers.

For years, Adobe was doing a “reverse switch” – packaging their premium blend of Flash as a common enterprise IDE (Flex Builder) to attract the Java crowd with corporate swill that was actually yummy and visually gorgeous. 

 Flex on Flash Player wasn’t a secret. But enterprise developers have had to be careful to avoid mentioning this detail for fear they’d be forced to switch back due to prejudices and misunderstanding of their higher-ups. In their minds, Flash was bad: a proprietary platform used by memory-leaking, processor-sucking, SEO-less eyesores. In contrast, Flex Builder was a true application IDE with dev-happy concepts like Eclipse under the hood and the open source Flash SDK.

Many of the Flash/Flex technorati have weighed in on the change and all offer full support.

My only regret is this is one more nail in the coffin of Flash maintaining it’s artful nature and slowly dissolving into “just another” Java project. The good news is that the Flash Builder naming debate can start now… and be old news by FlashCamp. This debate has already impacted a few events for me, and I prefer FlashCamp to remain productive and fun.

I embrace Flash Builder. But I’ll miss the awesome Fx logo (and stickers).