Development tidbits, struggles, revelations, and still some Flash

Let me apologize up front for this very non-Flash blog post.

Yesterday morning, I got up early to go clean up my yard, in particular, clean up the weeds. We were gone over Xmas and due to that trip and some laziness (ok… a lot of laziness), I let the landscaping go for a “bit”. It was an overcast day and perfect weather for this kind of work.

But what is the deal with weeds? I went over sections of landscaping and carefully pulled the weeds. I would turn around and there would be another one or two weeds. I KNOW I didn’t miss them the first time. They must have just decided to pop up when I turned my back… taunting me… making a mockery of my weed pulling skills. Its not like I missed the little weed.. but somehow I missed the big weed..that was in plain view…

Anyhow.. the job is done. or at least done enough. I am sure if I went out there this morning, I would find a new one.. probably was there yesterday.. laughing at me when I walked away yesterday….

I just read about this on a Flash blog and thought I would jot it down here so I don’t forget.

http://www.kaourantin.net

“For scroll-wheel zooming in Flash,
Hold SHIFT-CTRL while using the scroll wheel in the Stage.”

Pretty nice and much quicker than mousing over to the toolbar, grabbing the magnifying glass, zooming down and then back over to the toolbar to grab your previous tool.

My last class on “Introduction to Using Video in Flash” went well. I didn’t start pulling together the presentation until last night, but I knew I only had to produce about an hour of content. I had plenty, in fact, I went over. The students looked interested the entire time and I didnt’ see anyone look impatient once I had realized I had taken longer than I thought.

I saw some glossy eyes, particuarly when showing the AS code for using FLV (w/o components), but overall I think it was well received. I had prepared my presentation in PowerPoint thinking that the school would have PowerPoint… what school doesnt have it? Well.. that classroom didn’t. I brought a FlashPaper version of the presentation along just in case, and I am SUPER glad I did.

This was the last class for the beginning Flash class. I think the entire class went very well and I got a lot of people interested for my ActionScript class (starting April 2nd). I expect to see quite a few familiar faces there. I am glad I was able to co-teach with Dianne. It definitely made my intro to teaching at UNLV a lot easier. Dianne says that she, along with other UNLV instructors, are signing up for my ActionScript class. Sounds like it could be a very full class.

My next step is to sign up for the UNLV ColdFusion class. CF is something I have wanted to learn, just haven’t had time. This class will force me to learn it. I think I can even take it for free, if there are free seats, or I can bring my laptop with me.

[FLASH]http://www.yapiodesign.com/images/video_class.swf,450,350[/FLASH]

Saturday morning is the last day of class for the beginning Flash class I am co-teaching. I will be teaching my own ActionScript class in the spring (starts April), but this has been a good introduction into teaching a entire course.

On Saturday, the class will be turning in their final projects. The left over class time will be spent doing some extra stuff not covered by the book. Dianne, the other instructor, has asked me to do a bit on video within Flash. I really haven’t had much call for video in my Flash work, but I have worked with it and this might be something fun for the class.

I figured I would start off going over the basics and then walking them through the Macromedia video intro and then show them some completed video pieces and the ActionScript behind each one. The classroom is only outfitted with FlashMX2004 standard and not professional, so I will need to pre-build some SWFs to take into class.

I’ll blog back after class and let you know how the final projects looked and what the students thought about Flash video.

Another year, another MacWorld SF and Steve Jobs doesn’t dissapoint again.

The new Mac Mini and iPod Shuffle are two pretty cool products. The new iLife suite is good upgrade and I am very glad to see iWork released. This will at least keep MS innovating with MS Office since Mac users now have a good cheap alternative besides just OpenOffice.

I would have liked to see speed bumps on the laptops and desktops. My guess is those annoucements are coming but will happen quieter and later (maybe next month). Today was about the inexpensive options for Apple.

Well.. once OSX 10.4 Tiger comes out (if not before), I will definitely consider getting the new Mini. It will sit on top of my Shuttle SFF and will be easier (and faster) than my old dual G4/500.