Oscar Trelles

Macromedia Flex, the long awaited server technology to deliver enterprise level Rich Internet Applications is already out! Lots of information on Flex’s product page and in the DevNet home, including articles, tutorials and case studies.

If you didn’t make it to the beta, this is your opportunity to catch up. I’m yet to read all the information available out there, but it seems like there is something for everyone. Visit the Macromedia Flex Developer Center for a chock full of information that will get you started. To mention a few, Nigel Pegg presents Flex from the Flash developer perspective, while Ben Forta does the proper from a ColdFusion stand point, using a sample application. Also, join the FlexCoders mailing list, for up to date information and discussion.

A CD containing a trial version of Macromedia Flex is available for $8.99, which seems reasonable to me, as I wouldn’t like to clog my servers allowing thousands of users to download such a piece of software…

I just finished writing a long over due review of the book written by Jonathan Kaye, in collaboration with David Castillo, publication which is giving the title to this post. Coincidentally, Kristin Henry over at Galaxygoo was sharing her thoughts about Jonathan’s book today too, and I have to say that I also enjoyed reading it and is one of the best ActionScript/Flash books out there.

Contrary to what it’s title may suggest so some, including me at the beginning, the book has lots more to offer than solely Simulation and related matters, which it does cover extensively. Although it might not be an easy reading for beginners, Flash MX for Interactive Simulation is a valuable source for Object-oriented programming with ActionScript, Flash components, and Project management, specially if those projects require complex interaction with the user.

You can read the complete review here.

Also, as Kristin was commenting on her post, Jonathan is offering a free Breeze session to those interested in building interactive simulations with Flash. Preference will be given to groups using a single a connection, so contact Jonathan at your earliest convenience to secure a slot. You can reach him at FlashSim the book’s companion site. You can also find more details about the presentation here.

Doing something useful while I take a break, due to a Flash crash the way (the first time it happens since I added an extra 512Mb memory chip to my workstation). Here are some fresh statistics regarding browsers, screen resolutions and OS, from the W3C. Those charts might give us an idea of what the current trends are.

But make no mistake, you need to do your own home work for the particular projects you are involved in. The statistics they are offering are based on the log files yield by the W3Schools traffic, which may not be a 100% accurate or reliable. Make sure you read at the bottom:

“Global averages may not always be relevant to your web site. Different sites attract different audiences. Some web sites attract professional developers using professional hardware, other sites attract hobbyists using older low spec computers. “

Thanks to Joe Garraffo for the link. [via LIFUG's mailing list]

I haven’t heard or read anybody using the term before, but that’s what I’ve started calling applications built using any version of Flash older than MX. No offense intended to those who may still using Flash 5, or Flash 5 ActionScript syntax for that matter, but attention to best practices can’t be stressed enough. Applications’ maintenance is always a pain, specially when source files were modified for the last time on May 2001.

I got a contract to update an old and (fortunately) not to big application, which was created using Flash 5 and put to service almost three years ago. Most of the functionality is still working, but from some time now, some things have started to break, according to the client. After a couple of hours of source files scrutiny, I came to the conclusion that it would be faster and better to just redo everything from scratch. “Duh!” would you say, of course it would be easier to start over and build that sucker with what we have at hands today, and I would agree; the thing is I could have probably updated this particular piece if the source files weren’t such a mess! I wish I could show you…

So, it’s not only about the Flash version, is about how our development practices have been evolving throughout the years. Probably most entry-level developers weren’t aware of proposed best practices and standards 2 or 3 years ago, or they just weren’t interested (or able) to plan ahead and build something that wouldn’t be a pain in the neck to maintain. This is not the first time I find myself in a similar situation, but most certainly is the most outstanding: mixed syntax, code unnecessarily scattered all along the timelines, no reuse of elements, etc.

It took a little more talking that I expected but the client finally agreed to my proposition, after showing them the guts of their source files. I guess it isn’t too easy to accept that you spent a lot of money on something poorly done, and that it barely made it to the next cycle.

I don’t think there has been an official announcement, but some of the MXDU presentations are already available as Breezos. I found mine while reviewing my referrers pages, and you can see it here. As far as I know there’s no index page available as of yet, so to find what other presentation have been converted, you will have to browse through the Agenda page, select a presentation and look for the Breeze presentation link.

By the way, that Breezo for my session was made based on the Powerpoint draft I sent Geoff a couple of weeks before the conference, then I made some changes and built a Flash presentation. Those materials are available here, if you want to take a look.

I don’t know if this is already old news, but while browsing through Amazon.com during the weekend, I noticed they have this new section (apparently in beta) where you can order a variety of food items. For a moment I thought you would only find canned or bottled stuff, but to my surprise, you can also order meals.

There are other sections being tested at the moment, but Gourmet Food caught my attention almost instantly. I couldn’t believe the huge selection they are offering, though I don’t think I would wait 1-2 business days to get my lunch

Reading some other members of the community share their misfortunes regarding business, I thought I would share my story too. Well, it’s not like I was an actual employee anyway. For the last year I’ve been working for this company, and although I was the lead Flash developer, I still billed them as a freelancer, as they contracted me on a per-project basis, which was great as I had the freedom I needed to pursue my own interests, on the side.

But the loads of work we were having during the last few months made me work almost like a full-time employee, in terms of time spent with them at their offices. Things were goes so great and I was so busy, I stopped looking elsewhere for jobs, as I was being provided with all the work I needed. Then, last week I received a call from one of the partners, he told me that the company is being closed, because of some differences between the partners regarding the management of the company. Lesson learned: never stop looking elsewhere.

My closest friends and the guys that got my card at MXDU know that I was planning going corporate in the near future, as a matter of fact, I incorporated my company last year and started billing through it since January of this year. It was nowhere in my plans to start operating on my own this soon, but that’s what I decided to do under the current circumstances.

So, while I’m still doing business with one of the partners of the company I was working for, I’m taking advantage of the low work level and already started re-conditioning my home-office (read: my office space is taking over my living room), preparing material for the company’s website and architecting a business plan. Seems like my education in business management will pay off after all

Going on your own is so exciting as it is scary, and paying yourself from your own money is not funny at all. Most probably the next few weeks will be as quiet as the past two around here, but I’ll make sure to share with you whatever I find valuable.

This month’s NYMMUG meeting will be having Ego7′s Anthony Jones, who will be speaking about Flash and how Ego7 has been using it to deliver unique interface functionality. Ego7 is a well-known interactive studio based in NYC.

As usual, the meeting will be held at Motion Over Time: 18 West 21st St, 5th Floor. For more information and to RSVP, please visit the NYMMUG website.

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Update: The meeting has been re-scheduled for next Thursday.

I know it’s been more than a week since my last post, and thus comments traffic in this site is not significant right now. However, I will be updating my comments system during the following couple of hours, since I’ve found evidence of comment spammers trying to break in (at last).

As most of you may already know, I run a blogging system of own, and that has kept blog spammers out or misfiring, until last night at least. It appears that one or more of these spamming bastards has finally taken the time to come and manually probe my comments processor. So, in before it happens and in order to avoid having to delete tens or hundreds of garbage comments, I’m adding some extra security to the system.

You will be able to comment without interruption, but maybe you won’t see your comments posted right away during the update.

The latest from Gates: Buy stamps to send e-mail:

“NEW YORK (AP) — If the U.S. Postal Service delivered mail for free, our mailboxes would surely runneth over with more credit-card offers, sweepstakes entries, and supermarket fliers. That’s why we get so much junk e-mail: It’s essentially free to send. So Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates, among others, is now suggesting that we start buying “stamps” for e-mail.”