Leif Wells: RIA Evangelist

Announcing the Flex Authority Schedule for Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:01:00 -0400

After a long delay, I am pleased that Flex Authority Issue 3 has shipped to subscribers. While this was not the way anyone planned things to happen, my focus is now on getting Flex Authority back on track.

I am excited to announce the schedule for the upcoming issues of Flex Authority. Below are our themes and publishing dates for our next two issues as well as a sneak peek at what our sixth issue will be about. Feel free to offer to write on a suggested topic, suggest other theme-related topics or simply suggest a topic that you would like to write about. We typically advise our authors to write articles from an advanced point of view so that our all of our readers may get something from every issue. Typical article length is between 2000 and 3000 words.

Flex Authority Issue 4

Theme: Future Flex
Description: This issue covers the next version of the Flex SDK and all the new features that developers have to look forward to in 2010. Along side of the Flex SDK is the next version of the IDE now named Flash Builder. With the Flash Builder Beta 2 publicly released at Adobe MAX 2009, everyone has access to the IDE but do they know everything that they can do with it?

PLEASE NOTE: While we have quite a few articles already in our editorial, we are still looking for some articles about skinning, as well as any number of advanced topics.

Articles Due: November 16, 2009
Publish Date: December 20, 2009

Flex Authority Issue 5

Theme: UX (basically user experience design)
Description: This issue covers user experience design and all the related areas. Think of this issue as a primer for developers looking to create better applications through the application of user experience design.

Suggested Topics:
Flex UX 101
10 Things to Avoid in your Next Flex Application
Why Are Users Not Using Our App?
Success Story: How UX Saved the Day
Using Flash Catalyst Effectively with Flex Developers
Smoothing Out the Designer and Developer Workflow

Topic Submissions Due: January 11, 2010
Articles Due: February 1, 2010
Publish Date: March 15, 2010

Flex Authority Issue 6

Theme: Flash Player 10 and Flash Player 10.1
Description: In this issue we dive into all the new features of Flash Player 10 and Flash Player 10.1. Consider this a primer for all the new features in the Flash Player for Flex developers who haven't used them yet.

Suggested Topics:
Audio and Sound Features of Flash Player 10 (Microphone Access)
Flex and P2P (Peer Assisted Networking)
Global Error Handling
HTTP Streaming of Video

Topic Submissions Due: March 8, 2010
Articles Due: April 5, 2010
Publish Date: June 15, 2010

Please assist Flex Authority and myself in providing our community with great content. I can be contacted at leif[dot]wells[at]gmail[dot]com.

The Summer of Flash Page on My Site

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:50:00 -0400

I just wanted to point folks to the Summer of Flash Podcast page on my blog. I thought it might be good to have a place on my site where the podcast that features Garth Braithwaite, Stacy Mulcahy, Zach Stepek, and myself droning on and on about the Flash Platform. The "info" links are to the InsideRIA site pages that Garth put together for us, but I wanted to put all the information in one place so that I can refer people to it.

I totally enjoy recording this podcast. It is so much fun and honestly it's almost therapeutic for me. I don't work in a work site environment where there are a lot of Flash and Flex developers. In fact, I am the only one in the office who does that type of work, so getting to "hang out" online with the Summer of Flash crew is pretty healthy.

I want to thank the people at O'Reilly who have been so supportive. This was their idea and I feel lucky to have been asked to come along.

Oh, boy. Did I just say that hanging out with Stacy was healthy? What was I thinking?

Summer of Flash Podcast Episdode 1

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:23:00 -0400

I am pleased to announce that the first episode of O'Reilly's InsideRIA Summer of Flash podcast has been released.

In this episode, Garth, Stacy, Zach and I discuss the recently released Flash Catalyst Public Beta and what we like and dislike about the product.

We're continuing to record episodes and have lined up a few people from the Flash Platform to waterboard... er, grill for infor... er, interview about all things Flash.

If you have any thoughts, ideas, questions or requests, feel free to leave them in the comments for my entry here or at the entry on the InsideRIA site.

Introducing Leif Wells, Editor-in-Chief of Flex Authority Magazine

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:02:00 -0400

I'd like to officially announce my new role in the Flex community; I am now the Editor-in-Chief of Flex Authority magazine. Flex Authority was started last year by House of Fusion and currently is in production for Issue 3.

Back in February 2008, I was helping my friends Tom and John with 360|Flex Atlanta by allowing them to send packages to the Roundbox Global office so that they wouldn't have to pay the insane storage fees at the conference site, which happened to be a couple of miles from our office. Needless to say, the pile of boxes got fairly impressive fairly quickly. Adobe sent posters and t-shirts, there were boxes of "The Cluetrain Manifesto" , and a ton of other stuff.

Then a call came in from Judith Dinowitz requesting assistance transporting some printed materials, fliers for the attendee bag they were having printed in Atlanta to avoid some difficult shipping costs. I believe that is the first time I had heard about Flex Authority. Judith confirmed that it was in the works and that they were going to launch the magazine in the middle of 2008. My reaction was, as with a lot of things that promote the community I work in every day, "What can I do to help?"

And help I did. I was Technical Editor for several articles in the first issue, authored a "10 Questions with..." column with Adam and Dave from the Merapi project , and even took the time to write a couple of filler pieces at the eleventh hour. I was excited about Flex Authority and hopeful for its future.

Flash forward to January 2009. Judith calls me to discuss a change in the magazine management; the position of Editor-in-Chief was open. She said that my name had risen to the top of the list of candidates. She presented me with an opportunity, one that I was sure I'd regret letting pass.

The Editor-in-Chief position at a magazine the size of Flex Authority isn't a high paying gig. In fact, I am not getting paid at all. The position requires a lot of reading and re-reading of articles, balancing grammatical and technical corrections while considering the author's voice, herding cat-like authors, technical editors and copy editors who are balancing full-time jobs (and lives) with a magazine schedule; it's not an easy job. Sure, I'll avoid the stereotypical publishing industry traps like hard drinking, chain smoking and womanizing, but those activities actually sound like rewards compared to these responsibilities.

So, why did I agree to become Editor-in-Chief of Flex Authority?

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Atlanta Adobe Community Events for March 2009

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:57:00 -0400

Adobe Community Events
for March 2009

Monday, March 2, 2009, 7PM
Atlanta InDesign User Group
InDesign and Flash: The Digital Transition
Paul Omeda, Chris Stalcup

Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 6PM
Atlanta ColdFusion User Group

Thursday, March 12, 7PM
Atlanta Adobe XD User Group

Wednesday, March 18, 6PM
Atlanta Flash and Flex User Group

Tuesday, March 24, 7PM
Adobe Flash Platform User Group
Simplified Logic's Andrew Westberg
Digital Rights Management and the Flash Platform

Thursday, March 26, 7PM
Adobe User Group of Atlanta
Illustrator CS4 with Adobe's Robert McDaniels

Related Events:

Monday, March 9, 7PM
Atlanta Flex & Actionscript Coders

Monday, March 16, 7PM
Atlanta JavaScript Developers Meetup

Wednesday, March 18, 7PM
AIGA - Atlanta

Wednesday, March 25, 6:30PM
AiMA

Thursday, March 26, 7PM
Atlanta Web Design Group

This Thursday: Adobe is in the house! And they're showing Acrobat Professional

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:59:00 -0400

UPDATE: Find out how things went by reading the Meeting Recap.

This Thursday: Adobe is in the house! And they're showing Acrobat Professional

Adobe's Acrobat has been in the news a lot lately and for some bizarre reasons. Last week it was the whole Facebook and their redaction problem. On the same day, Rush Limbaugh ranted on-air that Democrats were hiding information in the stimulus bill by preventing search inside the published PDF.

Sigh. Good times, good times.

So, how wonderfully timely is this week's meeting of the Adobe User Group of Atlanta? I mean, seriously. We are featuring the Adobe Acrobat Professional product for the first time in our history! And some of our friends from Adobe will be doing the presentation. And these guys are good. No doubt that the Facebook lawyers and Mr. Limbaugh wished we had scheduled this meeting earlier this year. In fact, one of the topics at Thursday night's meeting is "Securing Your Intellectual Property", so you can learn what some in the legal profession don't know (and perhaps Rush would be interested in the "I didn't know Acrobat could do that!" topic, but it might actually be too advanced for him).

Please come and show Adobe some love.

WHAT: Adobe User Group of Atlanta February 2009 Meeting
WHEN: Thursday, February 19, 2009 starting at 7PM
WHO: Adobe's Ann Fracas and Phil Lee
WHERE: Roundbox Global (directions [PDF], Google Maps)
RSVP: link

Thursday Night: Photoshop with Jim DiVitale

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:05:00 -0400

Most of our local Photoshop artists, designers and photographers enjoy it when Jim DiVitale presents at the Adobe User Group of Atlanta (Tomorrow night, Thursday, January 22, 2009).

But why is that?

Could it be that he has a great deal of experience? He's been a commercial advertising photographer for 28 years and has a long list of certifications and degrees.

Could it be that he is a great Photoshop presenter? He's been touring around the country presenting Photoshop and other related Adobe products like Lightroom for years.

Could it be that he continues to give back to the community? On his blog and in a ton of publications.

No. I think that it is because he always presents ways to to reduce time and effort using Photoshop. And he almost always announces every keyboard shortcut while he presents. That is cool.

Haven't Gotten Enough of CS4? Go See CS4 Design Premium in Action!

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:27:00 -0400

If you don't think that you've had enough of Adobe's Creative Suite 4 over the past month, on November 17th you'll have an opportunity to have more! The Atlanta InDesign User Group Fall meeting is coming up and they have Robert McDaniels presenting the new features and workflows for CS4 Web Premium.

You'll get more info via the link, but here are some of the details:

WHAT: Atlanta InDesign User Group Fall Meeting: CS4 Launch Meeting
WHEN: Monday, November 17, 2008 at 7:00 PM
WHERE: Portfolio Center, 125 Bennett Street, Atlanta, 30309
RSVP on the site, please.

Thursday Night: InDesign with Paul Omeda

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:03:00 -0400

I wanted to remind everyone about the Adobe User Group of Atlanta meeting tomorrow night featuring, for the very first time, InDesign.

Here's the details:

The Meeting:
WHEN: Thursday, October 23, 2008 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
WHO: Paul Olmeda, Atlanta InDesign User Group Chapter Leader
TOPIC: InDesign and Workflow with Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign
WHERE: Rounbox Global - King Plow Arts Center (directions in pdf)
RSVP

The Topic:
In our first meeting featuring InDesign, Paul Olmeda, the Atlanta InDesign User Group Chapter Leader, will be giving us an overview of InDesign. He will also show us some real-world workflow techniques using the other Creative Suite products like Bridge, Photoshop and Illustrator.

The Speaker:
Paul Omeda is a Graphic Designer for Deep Design in Atlanta, GA. He has an extensive background in design, print production, and various other facets of visual communications. He prides himself on his versatility and his "jack of all trades" persona. Overall, he is a hardworking designer with a true passion for design and is a real nice guy.

Wiley AIR Bible Ships!

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:59:00 -0400

I received a copy of the AIR Bible on my porch this week. This book marks my first foray into the madness that is technical editing for industry books. Having had a little taste of writing part of a book in my past, I can tell you that technical editing a book can be almost as difficult as writing a book.

Ryan Taylor, a great local resource here in Atlanta, is one of the authors of this book. Ryan has presented at a couple of our user group events locally. He has really gotten into Flash CS4's Pixel Bender functionality. You should take a look at his site for more on that. Ryan will be presenting "Pixel Bender Unleashed" at MAX 2008.

Flex and Localization: Setting the default new file encoding in Flex Builder

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:39:00 -0400

[Note: I recently presented at 360Flex San Jose on the topic of localization (L10N). During that session, several questions were asked that I did not have the answers to. Over the next few months I will be attempting to answer all of those questions and more.]

In Flex, resource bundles are used to provide localization features — that is, the ability for your application to provide the user with a different language and regional preference — to your applications. All Flex applications start up with US English as the base language here in the United States of America. Even Flex Builder's default compiler options includes "-locale en_US" making it possible for you to begin localizing your application.

The "gotcha" that hit me the first time I created a resource bundle for localization in a Flex application was the file encoding. The default file encoding setting in Flex Builder (Eclipse) is ISO-8859-1, which if you use is ok for English, but if you choose to copy this file and use it for someone to translate your English text to, say, Spanish it could cause you some problems. For instance, I had a main.properties file that I was translating line by line with Google Translate (I know, lame) from English to Spanish. When I had completed the process and saved the new file, boy was I disappointed. All the special characters that Spanish uses were replaced by triangles with question marks. Converting that ISO-8859-1 file to UTF-8 with the tools at hand made things worse. My choice at the time was to start over from scratch making certain that my English file was UTF-8 and then all my future copies would also be UTF-8.

And, of course, when I told this sad story during my presentation at 360Flex San Jose an attendee asked "Isn't there a preference setting for that inside Flex Builder?" My response at the time was, "I'm sure there is but I have not found it." But I have now!

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Twitter Causes My Site to Fail to Load (what a surprise)

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:06:00 -0400

I was afraid of this, and I should have known better. I believe that the Twitter pod I placed on my BlogCFC site has been preventing my site from loading. Since I updated my site this week-end, I can't be certain that the Twitter pod is the guilty party, but turning it off has certainly sped things up.

There are other Twitter widgets available, but for now I am going to do without. Perhaps I'll spend some time creating a Twitter widget in Flex for the purpose of creating an example application. We'll see.

For now, I'm going to try to keep an eye on my logs and visit my site often. If you want to follow me on Twitter, you can find me here.

First Entry with BlogCFC, Database and Layout Updates

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:38:00 -0400

Greetings to you all. As you may have noticed, my blog has been dark for over a month. Although I have been extremely busy, the main reason I have not made an entry is very simply this: I hate my blog.

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AIR Window Explorer: I Owe Daniel Rinehart A Beer

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:59:00 -0400

Daniel R., if you are listening, I know that you don't know me, but I owe you a beer.

This afternoon as I was working on my 360Flex presentation and example code I became very, very frustrated with NativeWindow and Window and all the various similarities and differences in the options for creating and manipulating this much-used feature in AIR. So I thought, "Let's Google this bugger and see if there is a chart out there that can help."

No charts, but I was intrigued by a link to Daniel's site: AIR Window Explorer. You've seen the Flex Component Explorer and the Flex Style Explorer, well, Daniel's app is in the same vein. Decide on your Window options, create and open the window. Click on the "Show Code" button, and you will see the code used to create the Window. Nice! This application isn't perfect, mind you, but it does give you a a good idea of what you can do with the Window and NativeWindow classes in AIR.

So, for saving me an hour (and a lot of frustration) today, I owe Daniel R. a beer. Not a crappy beer. A really great beer.

Hopefully Daniel will be attending 360Flex in August so I can repay him properly.

User Group Overload Ends with Tonight's XD Atlanta User Group Gathering

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:41:00 -0400

This week has been totally user group overload for me.

Tuesday we had Ryan Taylor present "Intro to Flash Player 10 and Pixel Bender" at the Adobe Flash Platform User Group of Atlanta. Ryan always wows us with his giant brain full of math. The part of his presentation that I thought was most interesting was his examples of Pixel Bender, the tool kit that lets you (yes, you. It looks like it's that simple) script filters and effects for Flash. Ryan has posted his presentation and demo files on his blog if you want to take a look.

Wednesday had me visiting the Atlanta ColdFusion User Group where I was pummeled by comments "Where the heck have you been?" and "You didn't RSVP!" Mea Culpa, my CF friends, I have been neglecting you badly. But tonight's meeting was a must-see event; John Mason gave us an overview of "BlazeDS for ColdFusion Developers" and he did so without showing a chat example (thanks for taking the high road, John). He replaced the unfortunately stereotypical chat messaging example with the much more pertinent ColdFusion error message widget example. John's presentation will be posted on his labs site.

Tonight should also be fun as Michael Hagel has arranged for the XD Atlanta User Group to have a "Summer Social Gathering" at STATS Atlanta, you know, the place where all the 360Flex parties were held (and the only place you could have seen me during 360Flex because I was too busy at work to attend sessions :-( ). It should be great. By the way, Michael, the site is looking great!

See you there!