While data compression will be a non-issue in Actionscript 3 thanks to the native compression in zlib format, every now and then the need for data compression appears on Actionscript 2 – when you want to send large amounts of user-created data to a server, for example. Recently I had a project in which a […]

From the very start, one of the main aspects I wanted to focus on with Tweener was forgetting about the whole Actionscript/Flash API, forgetting there were “MovieClips” and “TextFields” and similar visual class instances. Instead, I wanted Tweener to be an engine focused on tweening any property of any object of any class, as long […]

One of the nice new things introduced by Flash Lite 2 is the ability to use Actionscript 2 when programming. For those of you who don’t remember, Flash Lite 1 was more or less a freak of the nature, with a language that was a mix of old Flash 4-ish “actions” and Flash 5 objects. […]

In 2003, I was pretty pissed with the tweening extensions available at the time. I found them to be too clumsy and overly complex, requiring a lot of code just to create a single transition. I didn’t want to use 3+ lines just to change the way a button looked like when it was rolled […]

Adobe labs has just unveiled kuler, a color selector application that allows designers to create harmonic color palettes. Although there are many other similar websites around (I used to like this and this), this one is built with Flash technology, has some pretty cool (visual!) color selection rules, and exports palettes in a way that […]

Sony has just released the new PS3, and Chris Remo has just now his PS3 preview/review on the Shack. The semi-surprise is that the PS3 browser does run Flash content; see an screenshot here. This has been the center of a recent discussion on Flashcoders: whether or not the PS3 would run Flash. It seemed […]

Mainly fixes to the previous versions – and yes, in case you didn’t know, AS3 is supported. Get it here.

A new beta Flash 9 update adds fullscreen functionality to Flash Player. This raises two concerns: first and foremost, the ability for malicious developers to exploit the feature (specially for ads). This seems to be well addressed by way of the security features and rules that you have to follow when triggering the fullscreen mode. […]

In the Flash development community, many people seem to agree that having interface elements animation – say, a button fading, menu elements sliding, etc – is pretty cool, even if they can’t theorize more about the reasons why. Some people, however, argue it’s not needed – it’s only wasting the user’s and the developer’s time. […]

Brazil-based web studio Grafikonstruct is looking for a Flash developer to join their ranks. They’re looking for someone with recognized ActionScript experience when building real web sites, including integration with XML-based data. This is an on-site job offer, for people living in São Paulo, Brazil (this means it’s not a freelance offer and they’re not […]