When the concept of Rich Internet Applications was formally introduced, it required developers to start thinking about the web a little differently. RIA’s are capable of providing a much smoother user experience, but there are other design changes that we must consider as well….beyond the user interface.
One of the most obvious differences [...]
Cliff Hall hosted his “PureMVC Pirate Radio Conference Takeover” tonight, and I must say it was very cool to hear how the framework is being put to the test in production. Technical (Acrobat Connect) difficulties aside, it’s obvious that PureMVC is the real deal.
Thanks guys, for taking the time to talk about [...]
Good news from Techcrunch:
Adobe has created a special Flash player for the search engines that acts like a virtual user going through each application. It actually goes through the runtime of each Flash application and translates it into something the search engines can understand. So all of those fancy interactive Flash Websites and other rich [...]
Every now and then, there is an idea executed on the internet so well, it could make almost any concept look wonderful. But what if the concept was great to begin with AND was executed flawlessly? This is rare, but a friend of mine turned me onto such a case: Grooveshark.
Grooveshark allows you to search [...]
So Adobe finally released their online version of Photoshop. It is a Flex based RIA called Photoshop Express. While the tool is a very nice tool, it only slightly similar to the desktop version, and IMO doesn’t really deserve the “Photoshop” name. The Express version seems like more of an online photo [...]
Here is a cool link for you to check out.. If you were ever a fan of IPIX this goes a few steps further!
Immersive Media
www.searchme.com
http://www.thepocketgeek.com/
Pretty interesting Flash game/site which seems to fall in with “The Sims” or one of those virtual pet-type websites. It’s a fun idea, but the audio gets annoying real quick so you’ll probably want to toggle it off.
http://www.planetdan.net/pics/misc/hillary.htm
A little Flash game that is addictive and creepy all at the same time. Makes me wonder if ole’ Bill isn’t sitting at a computer somewhere, dragging her all over the screen, and laughing his head off. There are also some other variations - “Falling Hillary in a Bikini” (think I just threw up a [...]
http://robobrawl.com/
This little gem definitely takes the cake as “site of the month.” RoboBrawl, promotional minisite for Intel Xeon, is very well executed on so many fronts - user experience, design, illustration, typography, animation, usability, sound, music… it’s the total package. Build a robot, fight in matches, upgrade your weapons, and challenge friends to a full-on [...]
This is something that I’ve heard come up a lot in conversation and in a lot of different places across the web. Lee Brimlow brings up some interesting points in an article worth reading over at
The Flash Blog. Check it out. Flash is Not a Stepping Stone!
I have worked some with the AS2 Yahoo! maps components, and the AS2 version integrated pretty well with Flex, but I have been anxiously waiting for an AS3 version.
With only a couple of lines of code, literally, you can get their mapping component working in your own Flex app…
Check it out here:
Yahoo! Maps AS3
MINUIT
http://www.minuit.co.nz/
Cool site. I love the illustrative style and the game-like play. The overall concept reminds me a lot of Red Interactive, which is an awesome site. It was launched about a year ago, but since then they’ve added several extras.
RED INTERACTIVE
http://www.ff0000.com/
The ASTRA website (Yahoo/Flash Developer Center) sums it up best:
ASTRA, the ActionScript Toolkit for Rich Applications, is a collection of Flash and Flex components, code libraries, toolkits and utilties developed by Yahoo! for ActionScript developers. These libraries available under the terms of the open source BSD license.
Yahoo has built components that are available for Flex [...]
simplifyyourwork2008.com
So you’re telling me there’s a Microsoft site out there that is clean, simple, creative, AND playful? Is the universe ripping apart at the seams? But I guess they only get partial credit because the site is targeting Mac users.
The Ultrashock community has been a big inspiration for me over the years. I haven’t spent as much time on their site lately, but I used to really enjoy reading through their forums.
A site upgrade may have been long overdue, but they have certainly outdone themselves this time around. They have [...]
I follow Ryan Stewart’s blog. He is well versed in Flex and other RIA technologies, and is employed at Adobe as an RIA Evangelist. His opinions are generally not heavily weighted in Adobe’s favor. There were no big surprises here, but it’s nice to know that we’re moving the right direction.
His post [...]
Hornall Anderson
Saw this site and thought it was worth a post. Slick interface showcasing some good-looking, diverse work. I really like the clean and tidy approach to the UI - it doesn’t compete with the content, and it lets the work speak for itself.
Cool idea for a physics game. I’m not sure how it could be used, but it’s crazy addictive even at an early stage.
I ran across a site called FillColors.com that is promoting the separation of style and layout in Flex applications.
The concept isn’t new; CSS Zen Garden has been using a similar tactic for ages to generate buzz around CSS styling in HTML pages, but I think this could be a great way to derail [...]
Thought you guys might be interested to know about a cool usage of Papervision3D I just found. They are first person shooter environments.
Click the top two links on that page and use the following keys for control:
Mouse click and move - look around
e - walk forward
d - backward
s - strafe left
f - strafe right
I don’t know if you guys have checked out VW.com lately, but I did last night, and I’m thoroughly impressed. Anywhere you go on the site, you will find an equally immersive environment full of smooth animation, and rarely a seam anywhere. This site is the kind of quality we should strive for.
Adobe has replaced the “Apollo” codename with Adobe Integrated Runtime, or AIR. AIR M4 build is now available on the Adobe Labs site. Adobe has added improved support for HTML as an application base. As I mentioned in an earlier post, AIR also includes integrated SQLLite database for storing data while the [...]
Nope, not a teen abstinence conference, apparently it’s an outdoor music festival with some major headliners. I thought this site was worthy enough to point out not based on technical execution, but on design alone. It has some great text treatments as well as a strong color palette.
http://www.virginfestival.com
Ted Patrick of Adobe has blogged that he will be releasing details on some of the new features that Adobe is building into Flex 3 next week. He is making some bold statements on Flex 3: “Game changing platform capabilites”, “Trust me, you will not be disappointed.”
Ted also pointed out that [...]
Mike Chambers posted some awesome news today. This is a big step for Apollo and a much needed feature. The Apollo Beta (to be released “sooner rather than later”) will include an embedded SQLite database to aid in the creation of occasionally connected Apollo applications.
I’m anxious to see how the developer [...]
Google has quietly implemented a new feature on Google Maps that allows the user to zoom all the way into a street, and view panoramas of certain areas of the map! You have to see it to appreciate it. Be sure to spin the image around to see the full pano effect…
Google Maps [...]
While AJAX has some minor advantages over the Flash platform (requires no plugin…and….um, I’m sure there are others ), I usually find myself really having to dig to find any significant advantages in AJAX development. James Ward has put together a nice little Flex 2 app that gracefully shows performance comparisons between various [...]
http://curecd.com/
Very cool site.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070211005079&newsLang=en
