Today is Flash's 10th birthday! From 1996's FutureSplash Animator to today's Flash 8...we've come a long way baby! It's been a great ride and there's no end in sight!
So sit down and make a simple timeline animation, make a button that starts and stops your movie, make a shape tween, add a sound effect, get in touch with your inner Flasher and remember the first time you started Flash up. And if you want to celebrate Flash with some other folks, then check out an Adobe User Group in your area for the August meeting. Many groups are having a Flash-themed meeting this month. Get out and join the community!
On a separate note: Weblogsinc, the owner of FlashInsider, has decided to discontinue publishing FlashInsider (there will be an official note tomorrow sometime). The site will remain here as an archive, but no new content will be added. So this will be my final post here, and I just wanted to personally say thank you to all of you for reading. I appreciate your support over the last year or so. Hope to see you all at MAX!
Friends of ED has been releasing competently compiled web design books made with collaboration from some of the best for quite a few years now and when they offered a few books to the Flash Insider team to read I jumped at the chance. The first book I cracked open was the latest in their Essentials series, Flash 8 Essentials. The Essentials books are meant to grab current and future web designers and give them a quick dip into the latest web design software. This book was written a quick guide to Flash 8 and includes enough tutorial and code to get most designers and developers up to speed. The writing style of this book is similar to a motivational seminar on Flash. This helps the reader become extremely excited about the new version and can make you feel like you can do everything in the book.
Flash 8 Essentials has six authors, but the reader will not notice a definite change from one chapter to the next. Each author has already made a name for himself in the Flash design and development world. Two of the authors have already written a few books on this subject and one helped to create the current Developer Certification Exam.
I posted earlier today about the FlashLite Application Contest being held by the Macromedia Mobile User Group of Boston. Mobile guru, Bill Perry, is in charge of helping to organize such groups. Do you think that there's enough of a demand for mobile specific user groups? I know it's the hot topics these days, but I'm wondering why not just introduce mobile programming into the larger MMUGs? I'm all for building the community, and I'm all for pushing mobile Flash development. But, even a lot of the ColdFusion User Groups have changed their names to become general Macromedia User Groups, so I'm curious about the need for specificity here. Any thoughts from the community here?
As we gear up to MAX, there's lots going on in the mobile devices arena. I'll be posting various mobile-related items throughout the day.
Let's start off with the Boston Macromedia User Group's FlashLite Application Contest! Win a copy of Studio 8! The rules are pretty straightforward. They are interested in applications, not games. Anyone can enter, and the deadline is November 25th.
So, get cracking! and get coding! Maybe come to MAX and get inspired!
The New Orleans Macromedia User Group has been 'indefinitely cancelled.' Adam Bell, founder and leader, has written a heart-felt letter to all members of the 6 month old MMUG announcing the current state of affairs for our group. Unfortunately the events of the past wee have left the members scattered around the country and looking to pick up the pieces of lives forever changed. This means the possible end of an up and coming user group in a major metropolitan area. It is my hope that some time in the coming year, after the city has been at least partially restored, that NOMMUG will be re-born. In the mean time I ask that all MMUGs around the country take a moment of silence in honor of one of your own.
If you're a FlashLite developer then you're probably also on the go all the time. Now you can keep up to date with all of the latest for the Macromedia Mobile User Group via their new feed reader application for Flash Lite enabled devices. The RSS section of Kero has been updated to include this new application for your downloading pleasure. Plus Alexandro, Mobile Flash extraordinaire, has made Kero available for free to the public so there is really no excuse for you not to have it already installed.
So I’m looking at the NOMMUG site for the last post and I notice the link to the upcoming DesignFest ’05 in Toronto (special rates for MMUGers, to bad I’m broke). One of the speakers, casual Flash game developer Brandon Flowers, is set to give a talk on FlashLite game design for cell phones and how to appeal to that ever growing market of female casual gamers. He will be presenting an in-depth case study of Japanese girl gamers and ways to design and market games specifically to them. After mulling this for a while, I have come to the conclusion that all those booth babes at Japanese tech shows flaunting the latest and greatest in cellular goodness with a strangely sexy school girl flair aren’t there to convince geeks to buy Sony. They are there for the FlashLite. Therefore, if you want the perfect tech-savvy Asian girl you need to get into FlashLite design.
Today is the monthly meeting of the New Orleans Macromedia User Group (MMUG) and of course they will be discussing the release of Studio 8 on Monday. Also, FlashInsider’s own David Robinson will be giving a talk on CSS web design with group founder Adam Bell and local web guru Mike Scott. I’ll be in the audience looking shameful for not volunteering to speak, but that shouldn’t stop you from saying hey. If you’re in the New Orleans area come on over and check out the meeting, if only to get some of that good old Macromedia schwag.
If you have a user group meeting you would like FlashInsider to report on, let us know via the tips page.
Our sister site The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) is reporting from Macworld in Boston this week and it rally seems to be boring them. The infamous C.K. is even longing for the old Macworld New York days. Well I have a solution. Tonight Macromedia is hosting their official ColdFusion birthday bash at Macromedia Newton just outside of Boston. Bored Mac geeks can meet and greet with original ColdFusion developers JJ and Jeremy Allaire plus the current team. Oh, and there will be food and drink. So shake off the boredom check out the party and come back to FlashInsider to tell us all about it in the comments below.
In honor of Macromedia ColdFusion's tenth birthday, I'm writing Macromedia user group themed posts all day. Up next is the newest MMUG, Georgetown University.
Because my father went to George Washington University, I’m always up for DC college news and this is a big one. Tonight is not just a ColdFusion birthday party; it’s a new Macromedia user group celebration too. GMMUG is having their first ever meeting on campus tonight for all interested in Macromedia (students, staff, faculty and the rest of us). They have a brand new web site up and are looking for new members so if you are in the Washington DC area head down to campus tonight and check them out.
In honor of Macromedia ColdFusion’s tenth birthday, I’m writing Macromedia user group themed posts all day. Now on to Drew Carey’s hometown, Cleveland, Ohio.
The Cleveland Macromedia users group’s March 2005 meeting featured a course in color theory for the web. Not every design has a degree in art, and it definitely shows, so when Brian Meloche noticed a fellow developer’s bad design he decided to give the MMUG a quick into Color Theory. His presentation includes hints about creating complex color schemes that don’t scare off the user. The full presentation is available for download as a PowerPoint file from the Cleveland MMUG site just scroll down to March 2005 after following the link.
In honor of Macromedia ColdFusion’s tenth birthday, I’m writing Macromedia user group themed posts all day. Let’s see what Chicago is up to.
Next Monday the Chicago area Macromedia users group will be meeting with Flash gaming guru Michael to check out the ActionScript behind a lunch box tossing game created for Catoon Network. Those of you in the area will find the game physics concepts interesting plus you will have a chance to win some software. Before you decide to attend Monday’s meet be sure to go to the ColdFusion Birthday party tonight that will be co-hosted by CFLunch, the Chicago Central ColdFusion User Group and the Midwest Macromedia Studio Users Group.
In honor of Macromedia ColdFusion’s tenth birthday, I’m writing Macromedia user group themed posts all day. And now, AKMMUG, Anchorage, Alaska.
Just yesterday we were discussing SVG standards and integration with Flash for the future and today I find out the Alaska Macromedia user group has a full power point presentation with sample SVGs for download. The presentation has links to various SVG sites and SVG code snippets for your perusal. The zip includes ten SVGs, eight HTML pages and two ColdFusion (CFM) files. Feel free to download and check out these simple vector graphics, then modify the CFMs to create you own dynamic SVGs. While you’re at the AKMMUG site be sure to wander around and check out their resources section for the latest public MMUG Wednesday Webcasts straight from Macromedia.
The Alaska MMUG is celebrating the big b-day with a special pre-recorded Breeze presentation from Boston, cake and ColdFusion trivia.
In honor of Macromedia ColdFusion’s tenth birthday, I’m writing Macromedia user group themed posts all day. Next up, NMMUG, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
This summer the NMMUG has had Let’s Talk sessions instead of regular user group meetings. These informal events feature free form discussion on web topics including Flash, Dreamweaver and ColdFusion. This month’s session will include the ColdFusion celebration, an update on last month’s CFUnited, and a soon to be infamous ColdFusion Tag game.
The official NMMUG site also features various tutorials including a quick Flash-based simple search application that loads an external text file.
Today is the tenth birthday of Macromedia ColdFusion (tag based dynamic web language and more) and to celebrate Macromedia is throwing a worldwide party for all user groups via webcast starting at 6 pm EST. They have a special page setup with more information on the event plus ways for you to register to attend your local MMUG’s party.
In honor of the occasion, I’ll be writing MMUG related posts for FlashInsider.com all day long.
Up first, New Orleans. In my hometown, they’ll have a live webcast of the ColdFusion birthday celebrations from Boston coupled with special ColdFusion beverages. This will be followed by a Photoshop CS2 demo and a CSS for data formatting tutorial. On the NOMMUG site is a link to more information on last month’s Flash MP3 player tutorial and the FarCry ColdFusion CMS. Also, there will be new information on the future MiniMAX3 team up of the New Orleans user group and the LA Flash user group to before MAX this fall.
Today is Flash's 10th birthday! From 1996's FutureSplash Animator to today's Flash 8...we've come a long way baby! It's been a great ride and there's no end in sight!
Friends of ED has been releasing competently compiled web design books made with collaboration from some of the best for quite a few years now and when they offered a few books to the Flash Insider team to read I jumped at the chance. The first book I cracked open was the latest in their Essentials series, 
The New Orleans Macromedia User Group has been 'indefinitely cancelled.' Adam Bell, founder and leader, has written a heart-felt letter to all members of the 6 month old MMUG announcing the current state of affairs for our group. Unfortunately the events of the past wee have left the members scattered around the country and looking to pick up the pieces of lives forever changed. This means the possible end of an up and coming user group in a major metropolitan area. It is my hope that some time in the coming year, after the city has been at least partially restored, that NOMMUG will be re-born. In the mean time I ask that all MMUGs around the country take a moment of silence in honor of one of your own.
If you're a FlashLite developer then you're probably also on the go all the time. Now you can keep up to date with all of the latest for the 
So I’m looking at the 
Today is the monthly meeting of the New Orleans Macromedia User Group (MMUG) and of course they will be discussing the release of Studio 8 on Monday. Also, FlashInsider’s own David Robinson will be giving a talk on CSS web design with group founder 
Our sister site The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) is reporting from Macworld in Boston this week and it rally seems to be boring them. The infamous C.K. is even longing for the old 
In honor of Macromedia ColdFusion's 
In honor of Macromedia ColdFusion’s 
In honor of Macromedia ColdFusion’s 
In honor of Macromedia ColdFusion’s 
In honor of Macromedia ColdFusion’s 
Today is the tenth birthday of 
