KickTheLinks
Friday, December 30, 2005
Fun: Most Popular Toys Of The Last 100 Years
Interesting Forbes article which lists the most popular toys over the past century, broken down by decade. So you can see what toys your greatgrandmothers or grandmothers were fighting for at Christmas time in the local dimestore or department store. Interesting trivia fact: According to the Forbes article, Mr. Potato Head was the first toy advertised on television.http://www.forbes.com/collecting/2005/12/01/mattel-hasbro-toys-cx_lh_1202feat_ls.html
Slideshow by decade:
http://www.forbes.com/2005/12/01/cx_lh_1202featlide.html
MSNBC.com article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10387831/
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Flash: Web_Development: RIA: Increase the the frame rate of your Flash movies
Guy Watson recently wrote an interesting article for the MX Developer's Journal discussung ways to increase performance of Flash movies. The article provides useful information on the new Bitmap Caching feature in the latest Flash player. If used properly, the Bitmap Caching feature can increase the movie's performance by reducing the amount of work that the renderer must perform on every frame. Essentially, it works by converting a movie clip's content into a bitmap copy, which is then stored in memory. The renderer displays the bitmap copy of the clip instead of processing the vector data of the clip for every frame. This is useful for clips that do not contain changing content or are being animated (at which point a new bitmap copy is created). The Bitmap Caching feature can be turned on and off in the development environment or via Actionscript.
Take a look at the article, which has some sample code provided:
http://mxdj.sys-con.com/read/142694.htm
Take a look at the article, which has some sample code provided:
http://mxdj.sys-con.com/read/142694.htm
Flash: Web_Development: RIA: Uploading files with Flash 8
Here is an example showing how to use the new FileReference class to upload a file to a server. Flash 8 player needed to test the example. Source files are provided at the bottom of the page:
http://www.flash-db.com/Tutorials/upload/
http://www.flash-db.com/Tutorials/upload/
Fun: Baby Name Wizard's NameVoyager
The Baby Name Wizard allows users to track a name's popularity in America over the past 120+ years. You may narrow the name choices on the chart by typing in a few letters. Sort by boy names, girl names, or both. Even if you are not currently in the process of trying to pick a baby name, this wizard is still quite interesting. http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html
(Java required)
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Google: The Ultimate Guide to Google Services
TipMonkies put together the the "ultimate" list of Google services and a brief description of what each does.
http://www.tipmonkies.com/2005/11/17/the-penultimate-guide-to-google-services
http://www.tipmonkies.com/2005/11/17/the-penultimate-guide-to-google-services
Flash: Fun: Activision The Movies SceneMaker
Make a movie with your friends! Invite your friends to storyboard a movie together. Each person gets a chance to direct a scene by adding settings, props, characters, and dialogue boxes. My working title was "These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty!" The Movie.
http://www.themoviesgame.com/scenemaker/
http://www.themoviesgame.com/scenemaker/
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Flex: Flash: Design: Web_Development: RIA: FLEX 2 and the Multimedia Designer
Macromedia has a great article on what Flex means to the designer:
http://www.macromedia.com/newsletters/edge/november2005/index.html?sectionIndex=4
"Macromedia has introduced Flex, and everyone seems to be excited about it. But Flex looks like it's for application developers. Does that mean designers are being left behind? Does it mean I have to learn a completely new set of skills? No, in both cases. It's true that Flex brings the power of the Macromedia Flash Platform to developers, but the applications that developers build require the knowledge and expertise of designers style and appearance, information architecture, interaction design, not to mention great content. So all the skills you've developed around Macromedia Flash, Fireworks, Photoshop, UI design, and so on, can be must be applied to building application interfaces with Flex. "
http://www.macromedia.com/newsletters/edge/november2005/index.html?sectionIndex=4
"Macromedia has introduced Flex, and everyone seems to be excited about it. But Flex looks like it's for application developers. Does that mean designers are being left behind? Does it mean I have to learn a completely new set of skills? No, in both cases. It's true that Flex brings the power of the Macromedia Flash Platform to developers, but the applications that developers build require the knowledge and expertise of designers style and appearance, information architecture, interaction design, not to mention great content. So all the skills you've developed around Macromedia Flash, Fireworks, Photoshop, UI design, and so on, can be must be applied to building application interfaces with Flex. "
Flash: Flex: Web_Development: RIA :Reference for Actionscript 2.0 to Actionscript 3.0 Migration
Macromedia Labs has posted a reference for AS 2.0 to AS 3.0 migration. Comments are included in the reference as well.
http://livedocs.macromedia.com/labs/1/flex/langref/migration.html
Monday, December 05, 2005
Gadgets: Only if I can fast forward through all of the Stuart Scott segments
ESPN looks to score iTunes deal - Booyah!
According to Reuters, ESPN is mulling a deal to distribute some television programs on Apple Computer's iTunes music and video service, possibly joining its corporate cousin in a landmark deal, ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer said on Monday.
Although ESPN has not held talks with Apple Computer yet, the top-rated cable sports network plans to offer its diet of original shows and game clips to "any pipe, any device," Bodenheimer said at the UBS global media conference.
ESPN could join Walt Disney's ABC television networks, which announced a deal in October to offer recently broadcasted episodes of hit shows "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" for $1.99 per episode on Apple's service.
The deal ignited a fresh round of distribution deal making, leading to recent announcement of deals including one between General Electric's NBC and DirecTV Group.
ESPN earlier had announced plans to launch its a cell phone service under its own brand, called Mobile ESPN, by leasing space on Sprint Nextel's cell phone network.
http://news.com.com/ESPN+looks+to+score+iTunes+deal/2100-1038_3-5982937.html?tag=nefd.top
Holla!
According to Reuters, ESPN is mulling a deal to distribute some television programs on Apple Computer's iTunes music and video service, possibly joining its corporate cousin in a landmark deal, ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer said on Monday.
Although ESPN has not held talks with Apple Computer yet, the top-rated cable sports network plans to offer its diet of original shows and game clips to "any pipe, any device," Bodenheimer said at the UBS global media conference.
ESPN could join Walt Disney's ABC television networks, which announced a deal in October to offer recently broadcasted episodes of hit shows "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" for $1.99 per episode on Apple's service.
The deal ignited a fresh round of distribution deal making, leading to recent announcement of deals including one between General Electric's NBC and DirecTV Group.
ESPN earlier had announced plans to launch its a cell phone service under its own brand, called Mobile ESPN, by leasing space on Sprint Nextel's cell phone network.
http://news.com.com/ESPN+looks+to+score+iTunes+deal/2100-1038_3-5982937.html?tag=nefd.top
Holla!
Flash: Flex: FlashVNC
Darron Schall has created a Flash-based VNC client. The client was written in Actionscript 3.0 for the 8.5 Player. The client supports screen sharing and screen control over TCP/IP connection.
http://www.darronschall.com/weblog/archives/000192.cfm
Apparently the source code is avaliable through Flex By Example, but it will cost $250 for an annual subscription. I haven't read any reviews on it, but the Flash By Example series seems like it may be useful. I did not see any Flex by Example examples in the gallery as of yet. Perhaps I did not dig deep enough on the site though.
http://www.ifbin.com/?page=xbe&code=dschall
http://www.darronschall.com/weblog/archives/000192.cfm
Apparently the source code is avaliable through Flex By Example, but it will cost $250 for an annual subscription. I haven't read any reviews on it, but the Flash By Example series seems like it may be useful. I did not see any Flex by Example examples in the gallery as of yet. Perhaps I did not dig deep enough on the site though.
http://www.ifbin.com/?page=xbe&code=dschall
Flash: Adobe acquisition of Macromedia now official
Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia was made official a couple of days ago. Visiting http://www.macromedia.com will now take users to an Adobe branded site.
From a Flash design standpoint, this could be a great things for future releases of some of the design tools, as one might hope Illustrator and Photoshop will work seemlessly with Flash. Although Illustrator can already export swf files, those swfs do not always import into Flash as one might hope.
Adobe has put together a list of frequently asked questions, including information on integration of the Flash Player and the Adobe Reader. It remains to be seen how well that will work. The flash plugin is so much smaller than the adobe reader plugin right now.
http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/invrelations/adobeandmacromedia_faq.html
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Blog: Nice technique for adding categories to your blog
Unfortunately, Blogger does not give you a way to set up categories at this time. I looked around for ways to get around this and found quite a few people using a technique where they were using del.icio.us and other sites to enable them to "categorize" their content. However, I didn't find that to be an acceptable solution for this blog, and having categories was a must. I was actually about to migrate to a different blogging solution (Movable Type) when I stumbled upon a post on netcf2 where the author has developed a terrific technique for enabling categorization that doesn't require using any other site to help organize the content.
The solution is quite simple and the author has even created a script generator to generate the code you will need to place in your template. His technique is so easy and well documented that anyone can add categories to their blog in only a few minutes.
Definitely check it out if you use blogger and want to add categories:
http://netcf2.blogspot.com/2005/11/blogging-categories-categories.html
The solution is quite simple and the author has even created a script generator to generate the code you will need to place in your template. His technique is so easy and well documented that anyone can add categories to their blog in only a few minutes.
Definitely check it out if you use blogger and want to add categories:
http://netcf2.blogspot.com/2005/11/blogging-categories-categories.html
Flash: Fun: Comcastic
This is a fun site done in flash:
http://www.comcastic.com
Check out the On Demand puppet. You direct the entertainment. You can use a microphone or actually call and record a message for your puppet to speak. The message appears almost instantly when you record over the phone. Also, great job of doing physics inside of Flash.
http://www.comcastic.com
Check out the On Demand puppet. You direct the entertainment. You can use a microphone or actually call and record a message for your puppet to speak. The message appears almost instantly when you record over the phone. Also, great job of doing physics inside of Flash.
Fonts: dafont.com
A good site to get a wide variety of fonts:
http://www.dafont.com
Type in your own text and see what it will look like in each font right there on the site. Very handy for doing graphic design.
http://www.dafont.com
Type in your own text and see what it will look like in each font right there on the site. Very handy for doing graphic design.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Skype: Skype offers video (and more)
Selected text from a cnet news article:
Skype has announced that it is adding high-resolution picture phone features to its free telephone replacement service. Version 2.0 of the Skype software aims to make it easier for customers to sign up and use its phone-over-Internet services, which are free on computers and offer low per-minute charges when calling conventional phones. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am able to call the UK from the United States for 2 cents a minute.
In addition, Six Apart, the top maker of Web blog software based in San Francisco, has agreed to embed links to Skype as an option for millions of users of Six Apart's Typepad blog service, the two companies said.
The new Skype software also will allow users of the popular Microsoft Outlook e-mail management software to install a browser-based toolbar that offers instant links to Skype and notifications when other Skype users are online.
The deal with Six Apart will enable Web users to place instant Web-based phone calls to bloggers via Skype, further enhancing the two-way nature of blog communications.
The option of adding Skype will be available early next year on Typepad, and eventually on Live Journal, a second blogging service from Six Apart with which almost 9 million blogs have been created, the companies said in a statement.
Logitech and Creative, which collectively sell around two-thirds of the world's Webcams--the miniature cameras used for video conferencing via computer--have agreed to distribution partnerships with Skype. For high quality video calls, users need to use a broadband connection.
The upgraded Skype software also features "mood indicator" software that offers phone personalization features, allowing users to signal whether they are happy, sad, listening to music, available or busy.
These features also include ring tones to alert Skype users to callers and customizable personal images, known as avatars, for which users will pay around $1 apiece. Among the companies supplying avatars are American Greetings and U.K.-based Weemees.
Other related articles:
http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=69529&cat_id=547
In addition, Six Apart, the top maker of Web blog software based in San Francisco, has agreed to embed links to Skype as an option for millions of users of Six Apart's Typepad blog service, the two companies said.
The new Skype software also will allow users of the popular Microsoft Outlook e-mail management software to install a browser-based toolbar that offers instant links to Skype and notifications when other Skype users are online.
The deal with Six Apart will enable Web users to place instant Web-based phone calls to bloggers via Skype, further enhancing the two-way nature of blog communications.
The option of adding Skype will be available early next year on Typepad, and eventually on Live Journal, a second blogging service from Six Apart with which almost 9 million blogs have been created, the companies said in a statement.
Logitech and Creative, which collectively sell around two-thirds of the world's Webcams--the miniature cameras used for video conferencing via computer--have agreed to distribution partnerships with Skype. For high quality video calls, users need to use a broadband connection.
The upgraded Skype software also features "mood indicator" software that offers phone personalization features, allowing users to signal whether they are happy, sad, listening to music, available or busy.
These features also include ring tones to alert Skype users to callers and customizable personal images, known as avatars, for which users will pay around $1 apiece. Among the companies supplying avatars are American Greetings and U.K.-based Weemees.
Other related articles:
http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=69529&cat_id=547
