News


This shocking story just in. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, may not always tell us the truth!!!!! Dun, dun duuuuuuuu!

Ok, so if you are involved in the Flash platform in any way then you already knew that. But, I came across more reckless ‘fact’ quotation from old Jobby which I thought I’d share with you all. The first ‘fact’ is about Nintendo and Sony, and the second one is about Google.

Read, laugh and take comfort that as Flash platform developers we are not alone.

PokerCoder announced that the 8th Adobe sponsored Poker tournament was now open for registration a few days ago and there are apparently only litarally a couple of places left so if you\’re quick and qualify to enter then get along to the PokerCoder site and register pronto.

The London Flash Developers and Designers user group meets at 7pm on the 26th this month (that’s this Thursday) at the South Bank University. It’s just round the corner from the Elephant and Castle tube station.

This month I will be giving a talk on Moving to OOP. So if you’re a beginner or intermediate developer, or a Designer with an interest in the code that controls and enhances much of your designs and you want to know how to move to Object Oriented Development and Design then come along.

You need to register to come along so get to the site and click on the big red “Join us” button. or go direct to the membership page. You can connect with over 350 fellow developers and designers.

It’s in the Keyworth Center on the 1st floor. On the map, that’s building no. 10. (Keyworth Street, SE1)

The Keyworth Building

It doesn’t normally meet so late in the month but unfortunately there were extenuating circumstances. See you all there :)

The Logic Bureau just posted on this user group. It’s not a new user group and though it has more than 350 members it is still relatively under the radar. I know I didn’t know about this group until a couple of months ago. They are an excellent group for beginners and intermediates, with incredible on site facilities like fully equipped developer/designer labs and lecture rooms available for the members, enabling them to not only hear great speakers but also to get their hands dirty in a work lab environment. There’s lots more but I won’t repeat what’s on the Logic Bureau site. Have a read and get along.

No, that’s not a typo in the title. This level of unreliable install, broken functionality and application incompatibility…actually, strike that, application sabotage, is utterly Microsoftesque. I left the Microsoft world behind me, for the most part, because I wanted to concentrate on using my software and hardware to develop on WITHOUT having to be an engineer in order to do so. I don’t want to be able to guarantee that I will have to check through and upgrade all my software and drivers just because I update to the latest version of the OS. I don’t want to be greeted with a huge list of software than is no longer compatible, or worse, discover it for myself. Yes, I know that some of this is unavoidable, but at least with Apple the OS is usually written with the idea that ‘people’ have to use it and so it should just work. It’s one of the things I love about Apple. As a software developer myself, I know this is not an unreasonable request. It’s how all software should work and on the whole, how Apple software and hardware works.
However, this release, Snow Leopard, is as close to Microsoft OS upgrade stress as you can get. Actually I would argue that at least Windows doesn’t cause MS’s own applications to die. Take for example the very commonly complained about “application exception has occurred” error than many, many people are getting. The most annoying example of which, is when Mail (Apple’s own Mail client) crashes when I attach any file to an email. Dear God!! Surely, given the number of people out there complaining about just this (never mind all the 3rd party applications that crash), surely Apple must have tested their own applications????

There is speculation that with the imminent release of Windows 7, Apple wanted to be first to launch their new OS. Well, I just want to say to whom ever made that decision at Apple: You sir, are an idiot of the highest calibre. Go back to Microsoft, where that kind of approach is lauded as promotion worthy, or at least is an excuse to wheel out the Ballmer Chimpanzee show.

Apple on the other hand, don’t need to care about that. They produce the best products (hardware and software) and people love them because of that. I’d rather wait another 6 months to get the usual quality of product I have come to expect from Apple than have them launch before another manufacturer’s desperately unreliable product that I have no intention of buying, BECAUSE it is desperately unreliable. Please Apple, don’t forget why we love you!

Roll up, roll up. No not you sir. The excellent Flash and Flex Developer magazine that I semi regularly bang on about is now releasing back issues free on line. Their content is truly great, covering less for the beginner and instead catering for the more experienced developers amongst us. Take a look at the content synopsis on the cover or any issue and you’ll definitely find something more advanced that you wanted to learn.
Flash and Flex June 09

June issue Free for Download now
http://www.ffdmag.com/prt/view/back-issues/issue/1015.html

In this case, literally. I normally reserve any card related mischief for the PokerCoder site, however, this sucker has it all: cards, magic and Flash based augmented reality. Check out Marco Tempest on the PokerCoder blog.

It’s magic!

This is sure to be a HUGE event (possibly even bigger than PokerCoder…possibly ;) ). There are over 450 people registered already. Check out the info below, then check out the site and sign up.

“Flash Camp London ‘09 is a FREE, community-run event for everyone interested in the Adobe Flash Platform! Whether you’re just getting started with Flash or you’re an expert, Flash Camp aims to provide something for you.

We’ve lined up some of the most experienced Flash creatives in the world who will share their knowledge on everything Flash related including, migrating from ActionScript 2 to ActionScript 3, 3D, Inverse Kinematices and video to list a few.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The publishers have just let me know that Flash and Flex Developer magazine (available as hard copy of for download) is nearly half price for a year’s subscription but only until tomorrow (Feb 14th). So if you’d like to get this excellent magazine at one-year USD 49.00 (Euro 39.00) / two-year USD 79.00 (Euro 69.00) then get to the site and sign up quick.

I can imagine nothing better than going to work in a bikini, uh, I mean in my speedos, oh God no, that’s probably a worse image. Well you know what I mean, dressed for the beach, as most of us Flash platform professionals optimistically do every day (at least here in London). So is there Flash in Miami? Well there seems to be a difference of opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

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