I was invited to talk about RunPee.com on the net@night show with Amber MacArthur, and Leo Laporte. I’m come on at about the 25 minute mark and talk for about 10 minutes. Of course I pimp Flex bigtime during the interview. I’m not sure if Leo knows exactly what Flex is. Maybe they’ll have me back on there someday just to talk about Flex. :)

I love what Leo says at the very end after I had gotten off the phone, “This is how the web was, originally.”

Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

It’s a geek thing.

The blogosphere and Twitterverse is all abuzz with news that Adobe has changed the name of Flex Builder 4 to Flash Builder 4 – at least the important parts of the blogosphere/Twitterverse. :) What do you think about the change?

Vote in the top poll over in the right-sidebar ->

I’m all in favor with the name change because it clears up the confusion between the SDK and the authoring tool. I think they were correct in naming it Flex Builder when it initially came out so as to avoid a little of the vitriol that many existing developers – namely the Java crowd – had for all things Flash. Now that Flex is firmly established as the leading platform for developing RIAs and is differentiated from the typical Flash skip intro brand it’s time to give it a name that is more suitable to what it is.

While were at it
Lee Brimelow suggested the idea that the Flash Authoring Tool, aka Flash IDE, aka Flash CS2/3/4… could use a name change itself and suggested Flash Designer. Personally I love the idea but what do you think?

Vote in the bottom poll over in the right-sidebar ->

Personal title change
All of this name changing has gotten me to thinking that I should no longer call myself a Flash Platform Developer. Because it’s really not true. That name connotes a person who is serious and professional of which I’m neither. I’m more of a Flash Platform Slacker. I just like to play around with pretty things. Learn more about the platform and maybe every now and then accidentally make something useful.

My general rule of thumb for following someone on Twitter is: do they mention Flex, Flash, AIR, or Actionscript in their recent twits or bio? If so then I follow. If they are designers then I almost always follow. And if they are into social marketing then I sometimes follow. However, a few days ago @LeoLaporte mentioned RunPee.com on his podcast. Over the next few days I picked up about 100 new followers to my Twitter account: @polyGeek.

Many of the new followers were of the social marketing variety and I thought it would be advantageous to follow them back just for marketing reasons. And besides, some of them have like 80k followers. If just one of them mentions RunPee.com then it’s a big deal for me.

The downside is that I’m following so many people now that the people that I really want to keep track of are being drowned out. I’ve been using Twhirl since it came out and loved it. But, it doesn’t do groups so I broke down and spent an hour or so setting up TweetDeck. Now I have the Everyone group by default, then I created a Got Flash group where I put everyone who has anything to do with Adobe Flash. Then my family/friends group which is handy because they don’t twitter much and so I almost never see what they say. Finally I have my The Gang group. That’s the 50, or so, twitterers that I want to keep up with the most. And it’s the only panel that’s always visible on my monitor. The Gang isn’t necessarily the most popular Flex/Flash twitterers. But they are the people that I’ve either met personally, probably at 360Flex conferences, or that I’ve been carrying on conversations with for years now.

Here’s my favorite 50 Twitterers

• 360Flex: Best Flex Conference out there!
• adamflater: Technical Architect and Evangelist for RoundArch
• adobeTed: Red no Blue, ahhhhhh….
• Algorithmist: Mathematician, Algorithmist, Programmer and tennis player, but not necessarily in that order.
• BenStucki: Awesome
• bit101: I am he as you are he as you are me as we are all together.
• brandon_ellis: 45, married, kids, Adobe UGM, Adobe ACE, C#, SQL, Flex, Flash, AIR, RIA Dev, Skateboarding, Cycling, Beer, Punk Rock
• crucial: Flash Designer, ActionScript Programmer and Motion Graphics Artist. A “Flash-Guy” by choice, it’s what I like, it’s what I do, and I make no apologies for it
• dan_mcweeney: Digital nomad working for adobe
• ddura: Platform Evangelist at Adobe Systems focusing on AIR, Flash, and Flex
• doloresjoya: RIA UI Brand Designer. ATM Working w/ PS, Ill, Flash, Maya, Mudbox, Flex. In free time Art 3d/CG, Drawing, Creativity.
• dougrdotnet: I am a Flex/ActionScript/CF developer with a passion for Web Technologies and Programming
• ericfickes: I program the internets, select the databases, skate the parks and score the goals in ice hockey. That is, when I’m not Family-ing
• instante:
• jenfloyd08: Web mistress (Coldfusion & Flex), foodie/chowhound, mom.
• jenschr: Freelance Flash developer
• jeremysaenz: The Flex Gangsta
• jesterxl: Flex and Flash Consultant.
• jdowdell: Some people meander down the center of the sidewalk; I walk alertly on the edges.
• joshtynjala: Flash and Flex RIA developer spending some time building casual games for the web and mobile devices. Sometimes known to wear a bowler hat.
• jwilker: Founder 360|Conferences, inc. ourstartupstory.com Disruptive conference organizer, community guy
• leifwells: RIA Evangelist at Roundbox Global, Adobe Community Expert, Flex Authority Editor in Chief [NOTE:My Tweets may not reflect the views of my employer.]
• LordBron: 360Conferences, http://OurStartupStory.com and family make up my life
• matt_legrand: Washed up jogger who enjoys sitting behind a computer and staring off into an oblivion . . . wait what was the question?
• mchotin: Sr. Product Manager, Flex SDK
• mdowney: Product Manager and Technology Evangelist. Expert in Adobe software including Flash, Flex, and AIR. Now building iPhone apps.
• merlinc:
  
• mesh: developer, video game player, father
• Monsanto: eMarketing, ColdFusion, Flex, SQL, IT Values
• parkerkrhoyt: I am a father, husband, photography enthusiast and pilot most of the time. I work for Adobe as a Senior Product Specialist the rest of that time.
• PeterBell: Application Generation
• peterelst: Flash Platform – Consultancy & Training
• phillip:
• Quasimondo: Computational Artisan, Speaker, Tinkerer, Mad Scientist, Radical Atheist, Sceptic, Scavenger, Dog Appreciator
• quetwo:
• randytroppmann: Web developer: Flash, Flex and Runningmap.com
• richtretola: AIR and Flex developer, author, and community evangelist. Adobe Community Expert and InsideRIA Community Manager.
• reboog711: Technical Entrepreneur, Adobe Community Expert for Flex, Podcaster
• ryanstewart: I obsess over Rich Internet Applications and work at Adobe as a Platform Evangelist
• savvasmalamas: Flex and Air love..
• scalenine: I am an Experience Architect for EffectiveUI.
• schmidt4brains: Software Geek @ EffectiveUI
• scottjanousek: Mobile Technologist – Flash, iPhone, Android, Gadgets, Mobile, Interactivity
• seantheflexguy: Author of ActionScript Cheatsheets, Adobe Flex Developer Champion, Owner of Kannopy, Inc.
• simBateman: Just a guy that seems to get stuff. Applying technology to business is my thing.
• thanksmister: Flex|AIR|RIA Developer
• thillerson: ‘m a bass player, electronic music maker, developer for effectiveUI, flash, flex, rails, java programmer, and I fancy myself a philosoper of sorts.
• tomcornilliac: Flex, AIR, RIA developer.
• twgonzalez: Dad/Husband, Data Visualization/UX Specialist, Consultant, Artist, Software Engineer, Entrepreneur, Surfer
• UnitZeroOne: http://www.linkedin.com/in/unitzeroone
• visualrinse: Designer/Developer WebAddict Adobe User
• wadearnold: Flex, PHP, and Banking… what could be better?

Applying a ColorTransform() to BitmapData is probably the easiest and most predictable of the BitmapData methods. But it still deserves an Explorer.

I needed to create this explorer because I’m looking for ways to increase the contrast of various objects in front of my webcam so that I can effectively track them. Turns out that the getColorBoundsRect() isn’t very effective at tracking moving objects by color because it looks at a specific ARGB color value. Even very slight changes in lighting or orientation throws the tracking out of whack.