I had never heard of February Album Writing Month [FAWM] before this year but it seems to have actually been around for quite some time. The idea behind it is that you commit to writing 14 songs in 28 days. Since 2012 is a leap year, it’s going to be 14 1/2 songs over 29 days this time around. So basically 15 songs over the entire month.

The approach I’m taking is one of experimentalism and fun. With all of the ‘serious’ [contractual] work I’m doing on other projects, I have felt a strong desire to just goof around and create something. FAWM provides this opportunity to me.

I want to make it very clear that none of these recordings are “An Early Morning Letter, Displaced” material. I may pull ideas from these tracks for future work – but as of now this all stands on its own as simple, raw, sonic experimentalism…

Visit my FAWM page and listen to recordings at http://fawm.org/fawmers/josephlabrecque/.

Also of note; the image I’m using to represent this body of work was created with Photoshop Touch on my Transformer Prime tablet. I’m having a bit of fun with PS Touch and thought this rough sketch would work perfectly along with the raw tracks being recorded.

Joseph Labrecque demonstrates how to use Adobe Edge Preview 4 to create Symbol Playback Actions within an Edge composition timeline.

Related Videos:

• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Using Web Fonts
• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Using Symbols
• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Embedding a Composition

Visit my personal Adobe Edge resource page.

Download Adobe Edge Preview 4 from Adobe Labs.

Joseph Labrecque demonstrates how to use Adobe Edge Preview 4 to create Symbols within an Edge composition.

Related Videos:

• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Using Web Fonts
• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Playback Actions
• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Embedding a Composition

Visit my personal Adobe Edge resource page.

Download Adobe Edge Preview 4 from Adobe Labs.

With Adobe announcing the abandonment of all mobile Flash Player efforts, developers who formerly specialized in this platform are branching out a bit more and taking up both new and old technologies in exploration of other opportunities. This article is not meant to be comprehensive rundown in any way. I’m simply working through a number of thoughts in regard to certain avenues which I’ve considered approaching.

One of the excellent problems Flash has, is that it is good for such a variety of things. With such a tool (especially if you know it well enough) at your disposal, this makes it difficult to look beyond to other technologies. With that said, most Flash developers do already have a grasp on a variety of other tech simply because Flash is so great at working alongside other platforms. This is good for developers who are expanding their investigations into these technologies; considering what may be, at the least, a passive familiarity with a number of other avenues.

As an author and video trainer heavily invested in the Flash Platform, I fortunately don’t feel the bite as badly as some others in this industry. Since the announcements of November the 9th 2011, I’ve actually signed a number of new contracts focused upon Flash content (though I’m under contract for non-Flash subjects as well, now). With that said, I’m also a consultant and full time software engineer… so I do need to stay ahead of where things are moving so that I can advise others and make intelligent choices for any active projects.

HTML/CSS/JS

This seems to be where most developers are moving. It makes sense in a way since this is often where these developers working in Flash actually began their careers. This is certainly true for myself. In fact, I was championing standards based web design and table-less layouts before it was popular to do so… back in Mozilla Phoenix times… so I am no stranger to this stuff.

While I never completely left the HTML/CSS side of things- JavaScript is something I’ve avoided simply because there was historically very little that could be done with it. Differences across browsers compounded this problem to the point where I just didn’t bother – if it could be avoided. This isn’t the case now, of course; as JavaScript engines have become much more capable, differences across browsers have diminished, and a number of very useful frameworks are beginning to emerge.
http://www.html5rocks.com/

jQuery/jQuery Mobile

For some years now, I’ve used jQuery to take some of the pain points away from any JavaScript work I’ve had to undertake. jQuery provides what I have thought of a nice cushion to the difficulties one would normally experience in using this language – though, in truth… it provides a whole lot more that I’ve yet to take advantage of. With the proliferation of mobile devices, jQuery Mobile has emerged as a complimentary set of libraries when dealing with mobile websites, or even HTML-based applications.
http://jquerymobile.com/

PhoneGap

PhoneGap (Apache Cordova) provides developers with the ability to write a mobile app using web standards and then bundle everything up for distribution to a wide number of mobile platforms… a much greater number than AIR. This is a pretty big draw, and the PhoneGap Build service allows cloud-based bundling of an app to any of the supported platforms. Very convenient all around.

I’ve had terrible luck with all of my PhoneGap experiments so far. I keep telling myself this is because I’m unfamiliar with the technology. Not sure if this is the case or not. Everything just “looks/feels” so much crappier in HTML than it does in Flash. I attempted to port a mobile app I created as an experiment back when mobile Flex became possible for Android and just gave up. I’m hoping that it’s just a reflection of my inexperience in this area since I know people have had great success with it.
http://phonegap.com/

Dart

Dart is a new language being offered by Google. They pretty much want this to take the place of JavaScript due to that languages shortcomings. I haven’t done anything substantial in Dart yet aside from downloading the editor and running through their tutorials and samples. It does seem much closer to ActionScript 3 than JavaScript does… and the editor is based on Eclipse so even that aspect is familiar if coming from Flash Builder or FDT. I’m hoping Dart catches on and that it does become an alternative to JavaScript. In the meanwhile though… it will compile to JavaScript… so that’s something.
http://www.dartlang.org/

HaXe

If I remember correctly, HaXe emerged from the ScreenWeaver project… someone please correct me if I’m wrong. I used ScreenWeaver quite a bit (back before Adobe AIR was a possibility) for specialized projection software systems. It basically created enhanced projectors for Flash content similar to what applications such as MDM Zinc are now doing. HaXe has been on my radar for years – though I’ve never gotten around to actually using it.

The HaXe platform is very interesting because it allows us to develop in one common language… and output to whatever supported platform we wish. Target platforms include; JavaScript, Flash, Neko, PHP, C++, with C# and Java in the works. There is this gnawing in my brain telling me that, in the near future, this is going to be the preferred model of programming. It’s almost like “run once deploy anywhere” – except where that phrase was used to target a single runtime, this newer model targets multiple runtimes, VMs, and environments by adopting them and their standards. Very different way of doing things, but something I feel we are going to see more and more.
http://haxe.org/

Adobe Edge

Adobe Edge is a new motion and interactivity tool from Adobe which can output rich, interactive compositions using standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript – basically Flash Professional 4 for HTML output. I don’t say this to put down Edge – this is actually a really nice thing. One absolutely great thing about Flash when it was focused on animation and basic activity, was how fun it was to push things, experiment, and see what the technology could do. I get the same feeling from Edge. Is it basic nostalgia or something more substantial? To see HTML do the things only Flash could do even a few years ago – and to do it with such ease and control… is a wonderful thing.

I’m doing a lot with Edge right now. It’s a major focus of mine for 2012.
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/edge/

“Alternative” ActionScript/Flex IDEs

I like Flash Builder a lot and am quite comfortable in it. I now have a number of reservations around this IDE though (thanks, Adobe!)… I mean, what if they decide they just don’t want to make dev tools at all anymore? On that note; I’m actually floored that they’re trashing design view from Flash Builder. Having always found design view to be very useful in layng out components and configuring item renderers. This affects my workflow and makes Flash Builder less useful to me. For a “creative” and design-focused company, I cannot imagine the internal justification for this.

Anyhow… I’ve installed both FDT5 (free version) and FlashDevelop on my laptop. Even if one of these does not become my primary dev environment for Flash-based work, at least I may be comfortable enough in something else for when Adobe finally does pull a coup de grâce on Flash Builder. as I mentioned above – I’m not leaving Flash and need a dependable environment to work in. Not so sure if Flash Builder will be that environment in the future.
http://fdt.powerflasher.com/ / http://www.flashdevelop.org/

Moving Forward

I fully expected by now to have done some real work in these alternate technologies… but have been far too busy with Flash, Flex, and AIR work to really get involved and commit to anything new. Like all things, it just takes time I suppose.

I remain a huge champion of the Flash Platform and will continue as such in 2012 while looking into other things. I believe one of the best ways of getting some footing with any new tech is to survey what others in the community are up to. transitioning.to is a great example of this sort of effort, but simply speaking to others that are going through these pains as well will go a long way to understanding what might be the smart choices to make. I expect to see a lot of conference talks in the coming year focused on these very topics.

Aside from changes in programming, I’m hoping to swing back into the design side of things a bit more as well. I’ve been in strict development mode for far too long and recent events are a good excuse to strengthen my skills in other areas. Back in graduate school, I began my studies strictly as a designer thinking Photoshop and Illustrator would be the applications that defined my career. It wasn’t until I was introduced to Lingo, ActionScript, and ASP (of all things…) that I shifted to a career in software development. Moving back into design a bit would be good for me.

I believe it is also important to step out of the sphere of creating software for balance and release. In the coming months, I plan to resume recording through my aural project “An Early Morning Letter, Displaced” with a new collection of work. This will be difficult with the rigorous authoring schedule I have committed to for the first few months of the year, but it’s a necessary creative outlet and one that I am very excited about. I encourage anyone so involved in programming, engineering, or anything similar to do something raw and free on the side. I often joke about leaving this field of work to become a gardener or a baker… maybe I’m not joking so much about that any longer.

Happy travels.

Joseph Labrecque demonstrates how to use Adobe Edge Preview 4 to create text elements which use custom web fonts in an Edge composition.

Related Videos:

• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Using Symbols
• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Playback Actions
• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Embedding a Composition

Visit my personal Adobe Edge resource page.

Download Adobe Edge Preview 4 from Adobe Labs.

Joseph Labrecque demonstrates how to embed a composition created with Adobe Edge Preview 4 into an existing web page design.

Related Videos:

• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Using Web Fonts
• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Using Symbols
• Adobe Edge Preview 4 – Playback Actions

Visit my personal Adobe Edge resource page.

Download Adobe Edge Preview 4 from Adobe Labs.

My editor and I actually began talking about this book while I was still in the process of writing Flash Development for Android Cookbook. This was right after the “EDGE Prototype” was shown at the Adobe MAX 2010 conference. I thought it was an interesting concept, at the time, but wasn’t personally hyped up around it at all. It was simply a conceptual prototype – not a real product… and I didn’t see an immediate need for a tool like that anyhow.

How things change over the span of a year! Since MAX 2010, I’ve been using early builds of the software and have honestly been so impressed with the team behind Edge and what they’ve been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. It’s really quite amazing what can be done with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript if you have the right tooling. With each new build of Edge released on Adobe Labs, we gain more power through the application and the runtime behind it – all of this atop a constantly improving user experience. I’m also thrilled that the product that is so fun to use!

Adobe Edge is a solid application – I’m half way through what is turning out to be a solid book. It’s my hope that readers agree on both points.

The book will be out this Summer – in the meantime, we’ve come up with a small quickstart guide book (~100pp) which focuses on the Adobe Edge Preview and that should become available in the next couple of weeks!

(Special thanks to Christer Kaitila, author of the Adobe Flash 11 Stage3D (Molehill) Game Programming Beginner’s Guide, for taking some time to tech review the quickstart guide.)

Learning Adobe Edge

Create engaging motion and rich interactivity with Adobe Edge

Author: Joseph Labrecque
Publisher: Packt Publishing (~July 2012)
ISBN-10: 1849692424
ISBN-13: 978-1-84969-242-7
Pages: ~300

Learning Adobe Edge will detail how to use this professional authoring software to create highly engaging content which targets HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Content created in Adobe Edge does not rely on a plugin – so it can be run within any standard browser– even on mobile.

With the advent of HTML5 and CSS3, web designers can now create sophisticated animations without the need of additional plugins such as Flash. However, there hasn’t been an easy way for creating animations with web standards until now. This book enables even those with little knowledge of HTML or programming web content to freely create a variety of rich compositions involving motion and interactivity.

Last week, I took part in a recording of The Flex Show that centered around Apache Flex and the state of Flash in 2012. I thought it was a pretty interesting discussion – a lot of good points were brought up and you can listen to the entire recording from the show website:
Flexing into 2012 w/ Joseph Labrecque and Mark Ehlert: The Flex Show Episode 159

Apache Flex Re-branding Initiative

Submit your design to the Apache Flex Logo Contest!

On the 31th of December, 2011, the Apache Software Foundation has accepted the Flex SDK into incubation. Apache Flex is now a community project managed by Apache (ASF). The migration from Adobe to Apache involves a re-branding and you can contribute by proposing the new Apache Flex logo.

What do I mean by permanent? When mapping a share on Windows as a user, when that user logs off… the share will disconnect. For an installed Windows Service that requires access to defined network shares – this is unworkable. We need to create network shares that retain their connection no matter whether or not a particular user is logged on.

Why do I need to do this? For a server-based AIR project ;D

Took a lot of searching – but here is how to do it!

First, we need to get into the Windows Server Group Policy Editor. The simplest way to access this is to type “gpedit” into the start menu search. The Group Policy Editor will now appear.

Using the left navigation menu, drill down through Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Scripts (Startup/Shutdown). Double-click on Startup to open the Startup Properties dialog.

From the Scripts tab, we will want to click on the Show Files… button to open a File Explorer window.

Right-click in this window to create a new text file called mapping.bat (or whatever you want to call it). This needs to be a .bat file though to execute commands properly.

Edit the file and add the following lines of code:
net use m: \\servername\share

Add one command like this for each share you wish to add.

Now, return to the Startup Properties dialog and click Add… to browse to and select the .bat file we just created. It will appear in the list of startup scripts.

Exit the dialog by clicking OK.

You’ll now need to restart the server for this to take effect. This will allow the startup process to run the required commands to mount these network shares without any user being logged on.

Such is the case with the email reproduced below regarding Flex. I’ve asked permission from the individual author but have blanked out his name for reasons of privacy.

Greetings Joseph.
I have several decades of programming experience on desktops and (in the old old days) mainframes, using a variety of languages and technologies.

I am interested in application development for mobile platforms, both Android and the Apple platforms. However I am unable to find anyone who can give an unbiased and straightforward answer to this question: Is the Adobe Flex platform (1) a good choice to devote my limited time resources to for learning mobile development (2) is it or is it not true that the Adobe Flex platform is dying / going away / not really a good choice etc. etc. etc.

Would you be kind enough to give me some guidance regarding this? I don’t have enough time available to learn every technology so I must focus and get the biggest bang for my buck.

What do you recommend?

Thank you so much for your guidance with this.

-Xxxxx

My response [though slightly modified for this public post] follows.

Hi Xxxxx.

I don’t think anyone has 100% fool-proof, solid-as-stone answers around this just yet… but I’ll answer you the best I can.

1) I believe that AIR/Flex is still quite valuable for mobile apps. Buried amid the 11/9 announcements is a repeated statement that Adobe is “doubling-down” on AIR for mobile. One of the reasons cited for dropping mobile Flash Player in the browser was to divert resources to mobile AIR. Furthermore, Adobe’s new line of Touch Apps for Android are (almost) all built upon AIR for Android (though my understanding is that Flex was not used).

2) Flex is now an Apache incubator podling. Assuming that the Apache Flex team is able to organize everything enough to put out a release or two (normally achievable over 4-6 months), the project is expected to graduate to full Apache project status – putting it on the same level as ANT, Tomcat, HTTPD, and other well-known, popular projects used worldwide. Note that PhoneGap was also contributed to Apache by Adobe directly after the Nitobi acquisition – so this is by no means a death sentence or dismissal of the framework.

With Flex in the hands of the wider community, there are actually more resources available in light of the number of individual contributors. Even if not an Apache contributor yourself, if you have a patch for Flex that would be useful for others – get in touch with a contributor to see whether they might see value in the patch and perform the contribution in your stead. Don’t forget that a number of contributors are Adobe engineers and that they the company has stated that even though the runtimes are still under their care – they will align releases in light of what is going on at Apache.

I am confident that we will see some great things come out of the Apache Flex effort from members of the Spoon project and the greater community.

I hope this is helpful.

-Joseph

I hope this is useful for others out there. If you want to gather information on-the-ground, be sure to check out the 360|Flex conference in April!