dasPoda

It seems a new update to Flash 11 is out there, while Flash 11's big news item is and will likely remain the molehill API, it's good to see some other updates, here are few that I was excited about. Having a recursice removeChildren would be pretty awesome, as a lot of memory can get trapped easily with multilevel sprites/movieClips, previously I've been using the CasaMovieClip/CasaSprite to ease the pain.

Also exiting is the fact that it is available out-of-browser as AIR3

Garbage Collection Advice — Provides smoother, more responsive user experiences by allowing developers to provide hints (through System.pauseForGCIfCollectionImminent) to optimize garbage collection scheduling.

Cubic Bezier Curves — The Graphics.cubicCurveTo drawing API allows developers can easily create complex cubic Beziers without requiring custom ActionScript code.

DisplayObjectContainer.removeChildren and MovieClip.isPlaying — DisplayObjectContainer now implements a removeChildren API allowing developers to quickly remove all of a container's children using a single API.

64-bit Support — Native support for 64-bit operating systems and 64-bit web browsers on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows.

and of course...

Stage3D Accelerated Graphics Rendering — Stage3D ("Molehill") is a new architecture for hardware accelerated graphics rendering developed by Adobe. Stage3D provides a set of lowlevel APIs that enable advanced 2D/3D rendering capabilities across screens and devices (desktop, mobile, and TV). It gives 2D and 3D app and framework developers access to high performance GPU hardware acceleration, enabling the creation of new classes of rich, interactive experiences. Note: These pre-release builds include Flash Player and AIR desktop support; AIR for Android and iOS support will be enabled in a future pre-release build.

more at adobe labs or bytearray.org

anyone that's used getDefinitionByName for a library might very well know that the classes from a library cannot be accessed if they are not defined. I've done "that trick" many times where I have a function somewhere, anywhere that lists the classes that I might need so that they get compiled into the flash file for later retrieval. I remember comming across this workaround (right way of doing it) where I don't need to do this.

I keep forgetting that you can include the complete library. This menu is in FlashDevelop under Options(right click on library, under "Add To Library"), but it's a flex compiler option, presumably, available to all IDEs.

Downside, obviously, is that everything gets compiled so be careful not to include libraries you don't intend to use. For this reason I"m using two separate libraries, an asset library and a content library.

I almost missed this...

Aaron Clinger has released a new version of CASA Lib. 

CASA lib became one of those must have libraries taht a lot of my projects use. It is a series of classes that extend the core as3 functionality/classes.

CASA makes loading assets easier with classes like GroupLoad and CasaMovieClip. Using CasaMovieClip or CasaSprite has functionas that make removal easy with functions like destroy() and removeChildrenAndDestroy(). One of my favorites is the SwfLoad class which includes a createClassByName function. This makes it easy to load an swf and grab classes defined in an xml file. I've gotten quite attached, and looking forward to seeing what is new.

Speaking of great libraries, I should also point out that demonsterdebugger has a new version that came out not too long ago, that has heaps of improvements, like stepping through code.

Now I just need Branden Hall to release a new version of HYPE framework that he's been dangling in front of his talks' audiences and I'll be set for libraries.

(that's right, no MVC library for me)

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Change Log (FROM CASA WEBSITE)

• Added isMethod to ObjectUtil.
• Removed a cross-class constant initializer from StageEventProxyuntil Adobe fixes the issue.
• Fixed edge bug with VideoLoad that is only present in Flash Player 10.1.52.14.
• Fixed a bug in Stopwatch. Reported by Tim Walling.
• Fixed a bug in DateUtil. Reported by David Pett.
• Added flipRectangle, randomlyPlacePoint, andrandomlyPlaceRectangle to GeomUtil.
• Added children getter to CasaMovieClip and CasaSprite.
• Added multiton to SingletonUtil.
• Added spell and formatCurrency to NumberUtil.
• Optimized format in NumberUtil and rearranged the arguments to be move convenient.
• Updated NumberUtil‘s randomIntegerWithinRange so it returns a more evenly distributed random value.
• Added isAge to ValidationUtil.
• Added pluralize to StringUtil.
• Updated StringUtil‘s autoLink to use an updated RegEx for improved URL matching.
• Added normalizeDegree and distanceBetweenDegrees toGeomUtil.
• Added getChildByNameRecursive to DisplayObjectUtil.
• Added targetCoordinateSpace to alignment methods in AlignUtil. This means that no matter how many levels deep a Display Object in the display hierarchy tree it will align to the target coordinate space.
• Updated AlignUtil so it only aligns the properties selected.
• Updated Inactivity class to detect mouse wheel and clicks.
• Fixed typo in Error thrown by DrawUtil‘s drawPath.
• Removed unneeded code from CasaShape.
• Made a private function protected inside of the UrlVariablesUtilclass.
• Updated documentation to address typos, and add more examples and clarification.

I've had a look at the 3 Dreams of black site www.ro.me which includes a bunch of 3d content in your browser without the flash plugin. It uses HTML5 and WebGL. Do check out the technology part, or got right there: http://www.ro.me/tech/.  Enjoyed playing with the morphing of some of the animals. Pretty nifty.

half spider, half buffalo

half bear, half dog

But, before Steve Jobs and co. get excited abut the latest "flash killer", mobile device users can expect to see a message saying that their browser doesn't support WebGL.

Grant Skinner has started releasing his libraries on github.

The nice thing is that the code comes with descriptions and sample FLAs and SWFs.

This is some welcome news.

Microsoft kicked off a website called ie6countdown.com

in the words of microsoft...

"10 years ago a browser was born. Its name was Internet Explorer 6. Now that we’re in 2011, in an era of modern web standards, it’s time to say goodbye."

"There are many benefits of upgrading to a newer version of Internet Explorer – improved speed, tabbed browsing, and better privacy settings to name a few."

Let's hope these people, if they do upgrade, don't go for IE7. Maybe they'll consider Firefox or Chrome, though not very likely.

Now that Microsoft officially and publicly is asking people to stop using IE6, web developers can stop having to support it. Maybe that will reduce the road rage...

Adobe released 'Adobe Flash Player Incubator'

this release allows access to the new molehill api (set of low-level, GPU-accelerated 3D APIs for Flash and AIR)

head over to away3d.com and check out their latest build codenamed "broomstick" to see the demos utilizing the new features.

More Demos

jkiglibflash, the 3d physics engine has some more demos here

Quake 3 Map explorer

Coppercube Demo

but above all, do check out Zombie Tycoon the first 3d GPU accelerated Flash game

ps suck it S. Jobs

I am happy to announce that RIM emailed me this morning with an email that goes something like this

We’re pleased to inform you that your app submission qualifies for the free BlackBerry PlayBook tablet offer.

now I just need to wait ...

We appreciate your patience, as tablets will ship as soon as they are ready and commercially available in your region.

I didn't expect it. I was in a hurry to get it in, as I was expecting at least one round of revisions and it was getting pretty close to the deadline which I thought was February 1st or 2nd. I just found out that the offer was extended to March 15th, which I read as validation of the pushed back release date rumors.