Development tidbits, struggles, revelations, and still some Flash

If you haven’t looked into AdminTool, the remote Flash debugger, you need to. It comes with a connector (MXP) and the AdminTool Interface (mac and pc).

Admin Tool

It allows you to remotely browse your Flash SWF, look at parent/child relationships, view properties and methods, call those methods and change those properties, and a lot more. All of this and minimal impact on performance. This is a really great tool.

Switched blogging software
I switched over from using Blogger to using WordPress last night. I don’t have any real issues with Blogger, but its a pain to have to log in each time and then it has to upload all the files back to my server. Plus, I like having the control to edit the code as I see fit.

Bought an iPod and Mac Mini too
Yesterday, after the new iPod mini’s were announced, I finally bought an iPod. Its for my wife but I am sure I’ll get to use it now and then also. While ordering, I also threw in a Mac Mini for good measure. I have an older dual G4/500 Mac, but its huge and not easy to hook into my current system. The Mac mini will sit on top of my small form factor Shuttle and plug into one of my LCDs DVI inputs.

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]