Oscar Trelles

The beta testing is over: Screenweaver MX commercial version has been released today by Rubberduck, the Netherlands-based company that developed it, and the creators of Flashcomponents.net. Screenweaver MX is an extension to the Macromedia Flash player that provides Flash MX developers with a framework to produce rich media desktop applications, using their existing knowledge of the Flash platform and extending it to new applications. A free trial version is available for download.
Screenweaver is not like many of the Flash add-ons out there, it helps with the creation of fully functional rich-media desktop applications, that take advantage of almost every aspect of the Windows environment. I had the opportunity of participating in the beta testing and got to see the coolest things developed thanks to Screenweaver, but I agree with many others in the coolest of all: Screenweaver MX itself.

Just a short reminder about the upcomming meeting of the LIFUG, featuring Ben Forta -the most notable ColdFusion superstar. Ben will be speaking about Flash MX – ColdFusion MX communication using Flash Remoting. For details about directions and meeting location, refer to the LIFUG’s website.

Last night, Macromedia released the second version of my Extensions for Flash 5: Bytes-based and Frames-based preloaders. You see, it’s not like I am obsessed with preloaders; the truth is that these Extensions were well received because of their simplicity, light weight and ease of use. People asked for extended features many times since the begining, so here is version 2.0. The two Extensions are available for download from the Macromedia Flash Exchange.
As always, your feedback is very welcome.

WhatIsFlash.com has already the attention of the Flash community in general. Beign in essence a project that stimulates the creativity, participants are having a Logo Competition, which has already numerous entries. This was my first entry:

Earlier, I came accross this short acticle in the last issue of InformationWeek: AOL Stamps Out Pop-Up Ads. The inclusion of anti-popup-windows features in the latest releases of AOL and Earthlink software certainly indicates that the average Internet consumer is tired of being bombed with advertisement when surfing the web. This not anything new, considering the number of tools we can find to get rid of popup windows, some of them even for free.
This is the reason online advertisers have started to use these transparent flash movies. If they think they will succeed with this technique…

The first place I pointed my browser to when I re-plugged myself to the net this afternoon (once the hangover was over) was WhatIsFlash.com. It’s doors are open since today thanks to Aral Balkan, and now its our opportunity to express our concerns about the future of Flash, as a valuable technology for delivering rich content.
As you may know, Flash’s reputation within the general public is being compromised, as the result of certain online advertising practices some of us (flash technology supporters) consider generally annoying and particularly “poorly creative”. The mission of WhatIsFlash.com is to propose standards and promote best-practices within the community of designers, developers and producers who work with Macromedia’s Flash.
By the way, have you ever asked what is Flash at googlism.com?
What is Flash?
What is Macromedia Flash?

A whole new year is ahead, and new challenges will arise. I think things are looking better everyday, or maybe I need glasses, but still: it’s our attitude what make things better even in the worst situation. Shall the New Year bring you prosperity and joy, as well as plenty of opportunities to succeed in your personal and professional life. Cheers!