Friday, September 04, 2009

Adobe MAX promotional offer

I have been given a code for anyone to use when registering for Adobe MAX 2009 in Los Angeles this year. For anyone doing business with or using Adobe technology, this is the once a year chance to meet the company in a fun environment and learn all about what we are focusing on, learn new skills and more. If you are registering between today (Sept 4) and Sept 11, you can use the following pass to save money.

Regular pricing is here: http://max.adobe.com/registration/fees/

Promotion code: DAN992

Discount Price $1095 for full conference and $1595 for LiveCycle

Expiry: The program lasts for one week and you must use the code by September 11.

Terms & Conditions

The following general restrictions apply to all special Adobe MAX 2009 registration promotions:

Offer good for new Adobe MAX 2009 registrants only. Offer good for Adobe MAX 2009 full conference pass registration only. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer, package or registration code. Offer expires at 11:59pm PST on September 11, 2009. Offer is not transferable and valid only for intended recipient. Void where prohibited. Terms and conditions for Adobe MAX registrations will also apply.

Instructions for Redeeming Discounts with Promotion Codes

Adobe MAX 2009 takes place October 4-7 in Los Angeles, California.

Learn more about Adobe MAX worldwide online at max.adobe.com

Follow these steps to receive your Adobe MAX 2009 registration discount:

Step 1: Visit the MAX 2009 registration site at max.adobe.com/register

Step 2: Select the button for "Yes, I have a promotion code."

Step 3: Enter promotion code DAN992

Step 4: Complete the steps for online registration.

Step 5: Come to MAX and party with us!!! Don't forget to come to the special MAX bash and see the band 22nd Century play live!

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

New Video Tutorial - Drawing Lines in Flex

This is an application based on the James Ward and Bruce Eckel book "First Steps in Flex". The tutorial shows you how to build a simple program to scribble all over your screen as shown in the graphic below. This is done by using the flash.events.MouseEvent class to track mouse movements and then feeding coordinates to the graphics package and invoking the lineTo(event.localX, event.localY) method.



I never realized the irony until now that I had scribbled over the nice lines Eddie Van Halen had hand painted onto his EVH Frankenstein (the guitar I am playing in the photo below). This was by far one of the best guitars I have ever played in my life.



If you want the full source code for this, please email me dnickull at adobe dot com.

Tschuss!

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

The First new Flex 4 book!!!

Peter Armstrong, Flex expert and author of Flexible Rails, is working on a simple Flex 4 beginner book: Hello! Flex 4 <http://www.manning.com/armstrong3> . It's a intro manual to get up and running on Flex 4 without getting bogged down in too much technical detail. Along the way, Peter walks the reader through building their own Flex app called SocialStalkr, which is a mashup of Yahoo! Maps and Twitter.



The book is currently in the Manning Early Access Program <http://manning.com/about/meap.html> , which enables readers to get the book as it's being written. If you or someone you know is eager to get started with Flex, this would be the perfect primer to pick up.

Here is what the site says about the book:

Table of Contents Resources

1. Getting started - FREE
2. ActionScript 3, XML and E4X - AVAILABLE
3. Hello Spark: Primitives, Components, FXG and MXML Graphics and Video - AVAILABLE
4. Beyond Basics: Spark Containers and Layouts, View States, Effects, Styling and the Component Lifecycle - AVAILABLE
5. Halo Flex 4: Using Halo Components like DataGrid, ViewStack, TabNavigator Accordion and Title Window - AVAILABLE
6. Building User Friendly Forms using Flex Formatters and Validators - AVAILABLE
7. Building a Real Application using Cairngorm: SocialStalkr, A Twitter plus Yahoo Maps Mashup - AVAILABLE

DESCRIPTION

With Flex 4 you can easily add color and life to your web applications by introducing dynamic user features, slick transitions, and eye-catching animations. Flex also provides powerful data handling capabilities so you can build industrial-strength applications. And it's open source, so you can get started without forking over a lot of your hard-earned cash.

We think it should be just as much fun to learn Flex as it is to use Flex. Hello! Flex 4 shows you everything you need to know to get started with Flex 4 without bogging you down in obscure detail or academic edge cases. In this entertaining, hands-on book, you'll quickly move from Hello World into the techniques you'll need to use Flex effectively.

You'll start by progressing through 26 self-contained workshop items, which include everything from small one-page examples, to a 3D rotating haiku, to building a Connect Four game. Finally, in the last chapter you'll build a full Flex application called 'SocialStalkr': an interesting mashup of Twitter and Yahoo Maps that lets you 'stalk' your friends by showing specially formatted Twitter tweets on a Yahoo map.

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  • Create engaging animations and transitions
  • Handle and manage user input
  • Access and display data
  • Communicate effectively with the server
  • Build a complete Flex 4 application

Whether you're a weekend developer or you have great plans for Flex, Hello! Flex 4 is a great place to start.