Free Flex Classes in Utah
08.30.2010If you’re interesting in learning Flex and live in Utah, feel free to join us in American Fork for free classes. Visit our Utah Flex Class Google group to learn more.
DisplayObject Quirks and Tips
08.28.2010After having worked a great deal on the Rain SVG library, I’ve come to learn and re-learn some of the quirks and workarounds of DisplayObject, the fundamental UI class in ActionScript. For your benefit and mine, here they are. It’s only a short list of the many so if you’d like to add on, feel free to post a comment. Continue reading »
JavaUtils: Detecting and Installing Java from AIR
06.25.2010Adobe AIR is a great way to bring the sexiness of Flash to the desktop. However, sometimes you need more low-level power for things like connecting to peripherals. For this reason, AIR applications are sometimes paired with Java applications to accomplish such tasks. But first, the user’s system must have an adequate Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed in order for the Java application to run in the first place. Continue reading »
Washer and Dryer Pedestals
06.11.2010This week I took on another man project. Our washer broke after a whole 1 1/2 years of use. Considering we were planning on getting a replacement, I figured it would be a good time to make pedestals for the washer and dryer.
A pedestal elevates a washer or dryer so you don’t have to bend down as far. Yes, we’re that lazy. And tall. And the wifers has a bad back. And apparently the rest of America is in the same boat because you can purchase them at your nearest appliance store for a mere $200 or more per pedestal. No thanks. Instead, I bought a bunch of wood, screws, and paint from Home Depot and made our own. Homemade they cost around $30 per pedestal. Continue reading »
RedLiteGreenLite
05.30.2010Please upgrade your Flash Player This is the content that would be shown if the user does not have Flash Player 9.0.115 or higher installed.
What is it?
RedLiteGreenLite is a small, simple app that allows a group of people to communicate the status of something. The status can be either red or green and the subject can be whatever. That may sound a bit general, but that’s the point. It can be used for whatever purpose your crazy mind can come up with. I’ll get you started:
- At work, we have a single shower and a lot of shweaty guys after soccer. So we know when the shower’s available, someone can turn the status red when he enters the shower and turn it green when he exits. This way nobody has to keep stopping by the shower to see if it’s available. When it’s green, it’s available. When it’s red, it’s not.
- At a call center, representatives are split into groups. When one group is on break, no other group is allowed to go on break. Again, when the status is red, a group is on break and other groups must continue attending the phones. When the lite is green, the next group is free to take a break.
The process is pretty simple: join a group. Other people join the same group. When others in the group change the status, you’ll be notified. When you change the status, others in the group will be notified. The status of the group will be persisted across sessions. In other words, if everyone logs out and then logs back in a week later, the status will remain as it was the last time it was set. Continue reading »
ImageInspector: An Image Zoom & Pan Component
05.11.2010This type of component is becoming quite popular these days and for good reason: it makes it extremely easy to quickly zoom in and pan around an image. I imagine most all of us have seen an example of this but I’ve never found the code for one that suits my fancy. So here you go. Here are some possibly unique features I wanted and implemented along with the usual goodies: Continue reading »
Size Text to Container
04.27.2010The new Text Layout Framework for Flash Player is a huge improvement over the historic TextField. Even so, it’s still not easy to have text auto-size to fit its container(s). In the demo app below I’ve implemented one solution that makes the text as large as possible without being cropped. Go head, type something in the box. Right-click the app to get to the source.
The basic methodology is very similar to the Guess the Number game where you whittle down the options until you get to the one you’re after. With a few smart guesses, this can be decently efficient (~20ms). If you can come up with a more efficient or elegant way to accomplish the same task, post a comment below!
Processes and Responsibility
04.05.2010If there’s one thing I’ve learned to both love and hate in life it’s the concept of processes and responsibility. I’ve learned they can be either invaluable or detrimental depending on when and how they’re used. A few experiences come to mind:
Exhibit A
As a boy scout I remember being taught principles of emergency preparedness. One of the principles stated that, when in an emergency, never say “Someone call 9-1-1!” Instead, point to a specific person and say, “You–call 9-1-1!”
The principle was simple and the difference small, but the effect of assigning specific responsibility could be a matter of life and death. Continue reading »
Universal Health Care: Because You’re Worth It
03.26.2010A few months ago my TV told me something that has quite possibly become my favorite product tagline ever. Whilst L’Oréal women tossed their hair to and fro in the shimmering light of the photo room, the British, always-sophisticated accent reached out to me with this final bold, convincing statement that absolutely sealed the deal: “Because you’re worth it.”
That’s right! I’m worth it! I’m worth L’Oréal beauty product and nobody can take that away from me. What else must I need for convincing? Why buy anything else? I’m going bold with L’Oréal and never coming back because I’m worth it.
But that’s not all. This morning my TV once again reminded me I’m worth it. Continue reading »
Container Panner
03.15.2010In Flex, the ability to scroll a container is commonplace. The ability to pan a container is not. By panning a container, I mean clicking down and dragging the content area, effectively scrolling the container.
I present the container panner. It’s a single class. Instantiate it and set the container property. That’s it. If you want, you can toggle the panning functionality and set custom cursors. Right-click to view the source. Go make something crazy.
