2010 – the year of Flash on mobile devices.
Wow! What an exciting year this is going to be! Adobe has been releasing some exciting video of Flash Player 10.1 on mobile devices. With the web experience lacking on mobile devices, these advancements in Flash truly bring the “desktop” internet experience to your phone. Not only can you now show content written in ActionScript 3 on mobile devices, you also get these added features and optimizations mentioned here.
Check out this video showing FP 10.1 on the Motorola Droid:
And here it is on the new Google Nexus One:
This truly brings the full web experience to mobile devices. Now if only Apple would get with the program. 
It’s an exciting time to be a Flash developer! If you haven’t taken the plunge into ActionScript 3, now is the time!
To an exciting new year,
iBrent
Ask iBrent
One of the things I enjoy most is helping people solve their Flash/Flex bugs. Whether helping coworkers, or answering forum posts at GTAL, I enjoy the challenge of solving problems. I’m in the process of ramping up my tutorial production and as part of the increase in tutorials, I’m adding a forum to the site.
Ask iBrent is a place where you can ask about any of the tutorials I’ve written as well as any other Flash Platform and related technologies questions. No, I don’t have all the answers, but I’m hoping others will lend a hand to help answer your questions. =D
– iBrent
Have Flex will travel
Need Flex training? Looking to get your Flash development team up to speed with Flex and AIR? Contact me for offsite/onsite Flex training opportunities here. Be sure to check out my professional Flex training tutorials available exclusively at CartoonSmart.
Updated MyFlexPortfolio.com
I’ve added a small sample of portfolio projects to “Computer” and added my tutorial information under “Tutorials”. I’m still not satisfied with the layout of the portfolio component, but it’s getting there.
Also, I’ve fixed the clock so it updates more often (and correctly, DOH!). Thanks Daniel for the suggestion!
Anywho, check it out here –> MyFlexPortfolio.com
– iBrent
My Flex Portfolio
Awhile ago I bought the domain name myflexportfolio.com. As you can imagine, it’s to show off my Flex portfolio. =D
I went with a computer desktop theme and so it’s organized with “desktop” icons, and a taskbar and such. You can switch themes by right-clicking and choosing the custom context menu item. Feel free to ‘View source” as well to see how I implemented my design.
Currently it’s a work in progress, but I figure I’d get it out there, and force myself to get it finished. Anywho, feel free to check it out, and keep coming back as I update it.
iBrent
Ask iBrent –> Free online Flash Q&A
Announcing the first ever “Ask iBrent” free online Flash Q&A session. The idea is to get a number of questions from anyone interested in Flash or Flex. I’ll spend about an hour responding to these questions with a live demonstration and code samples. It’s my way of giving back to the awesome Flash community. If this first session is a success, I’ll plan to do more in the future.
Be sure to check out my post over at GTAL here –> http://www.gotoandlearnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=24520 for more info. Please note that the free online meeting service I’m using only has room for 20 users, so be sure to add your question to the GTAL post in order to attend this free online session.
iBrent
Respect the Caps…
If you ever find yourself creating registration forms where you allow users to create their own username, please make sure that when the data is saved to the database, that you respect the caps! What do I mean? Well, for the past 3 years I’ve gone by the username iBrent. That’s a lower-case i and an uppercase B. As you can guess, my first name is Brent. Since I’m a tech junkie, and a closet Apple fan-boy, I added the i to give my name a techie feel.
Lately, when I’ve registered for a few new forums, or software beta’s, I’ve used my moniker, iBrent. Some of the registration forms end up ignoring the capitalization, and destroy my identity by changing it to ibrent, or even more absurd Ibrent! Forever will my username be spelled wrong on these forums.
So, just a suggestion to all you folks who work with registration forms, please, please, PLEASE, respect the captilization that people put in their usernames. After all it is their identity we’re talking about. =D
– iBrent
Unity 2.5 released for Windows !!
If you’ve had any interest in 3D game development, you may have heard of Unity. It allows you to create standalone and web-based 3D games, as well as producing content for the Wii, and the iPhone. Before today, the authoring environment was only for the Mac. Well, they just released version 2.5 for Windows!
It’s an exciting time to be a 3D game developer!
iBrent
I Passed!!
You’re looking at a newly Adobe Certified Expert! =D
I took the Adobe Flex 3 with AIR ACE exam this afternoon and passed with a score of 74% (you only need 67% to pass). As soon as the test results are sent to Adobe, I’ll be able to get that fancy logo added to my site. W00t!
Regarding my preparation for the test, the best thing I did, aside from my years of experience was to review the free documentation that comes with Flex. Basically I took the ACE exam guide, and highlighted all the terms that I needed to brush up on, and then I did a search through the Flex documentation, and read each chapter that discussed those terms (I downloaded the complete set of pdfs, and using the advanced search in Acrobat, I was able to search quickly through all the documents).
All in all I spent about 6 hours of studying, over the course of 3 days. I thought I had reviewed all the sections I needed to, until I got half-way through the test and hit the questions on accessing a local database in AIR. DOH! I forgot to review that, and sure enough, that was my worse section –> Interacting with data sources and servers 37% (oops). Luckily I did well enough on all the rest to pass the exam. Of course with only 50 questions, missing 13, gave me a 74%.
What a coincidence! I took the test on Friday the 13th, and I missed 13 questions. Who would have thought?
Anyway, I’m happy with the results, and I’m excited to get that logo on my site. Because as they say, it’s not what you know, it’s what people think you know, that matters.
But seriously, thanks for all the kind words of encouragement.
– iBrent
I’m gettin’ certified!
Ever since I learned about the Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) program back in the early 00′s, I’ve always wanted to get certified. I think it helps with getting new clients, to set yourself apart from the crowd with a certification next to your name. Some people argue that it’s unnecessary, and that experience and a good portfolio are the true test of a good developer. Well, I agree, but I also feel it’s important to show that you meet certain industry standards. The Adobe Certification exams are tried and true programs that give you more credibility. Besides, you get to put a cool new logo on your site. =D
Well, now I’ve officially scheduled my exam, and I’m going to get certified! I’m taking the Flex 3 with AIR exam, and I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes. I’ve noticed a lot of people blogging about it on the Adobe feeds lately, and I’m now more motivated than ever, so here I go. Wish me luck!
– iBrent