I always figured there was a land mass under all of Antarctica that, give or take, was well above sea level. Turns out that isn’t the case at all. Take the ice cap off Antarctica and you end up with a land mass about half the size of what you would expect surrounded by a bunch of islands.

Drag the slider up and down and you can see just what parts of Antarctica are sitting on land and what parts are sitting on the sea floor.

This isn’t a prediction of what would happen if Antarctica melted. It’s just a map of what Antarctica would look like if you couldn’t see the ice.

Now I can see why scientists are so concerned about Western Antarctica. That’s the part they believe will go first and it could, according to some, go very quickly.

Lets talk code

From a code perspective I love this example Flex application because of it’s simplicity. It’s a great example of how powerful the Flex framework is because there is absolutely no Actionscript in the source code here. I didn’t have to write code to load the images, or to change the alpha of the top image when the slider changes. Nothing like that. All made possible through the magic of data binding.

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package com.polyGeek.patterns { 

    import flash.display.Sprite; 

    public class WavyCircle extends Sprite {

        public function WavyCircle( s:Sprite, radius:int, amplitude:int, period:int, rotation:Number ) {

            super();

            var step:Number = 0.01;

            var len:Number = 2 * Math.PI + step;

            for( var i:Number = -0.01; i < len; i+= step ) {

                var r:Number = radius + amplitude * ( Math.sin( period * i ) * Math.cos( period * i ) );

                if( i >= 0 ) {

                    s.graphics.lineTo( Math.sin( i + rotation ) * r, Math.cos( i + rotation ) * r ); 

                } else {

                    s.graphics.moveTo( Math.sin( i + rotation ) * r, Math.cos( i + rotation ) * r ); 

                }

            }

        }

    }

}

During my first two years of college I majored in astronomy, and physics. But most of my classes were in mathematics and I determined that I liked them a much more than anything else. Then I dropped out of college for a while to work at the US Space Academy in Huntsville, AL. When I went back to school it was only as a mathematics major.

One thing led to another and I ended up with philosophy and history – after taking a short break to get a degree in massage therapy. So it seems that I majored in just about everything I was interested in other than computer science.

In many ways I’m very glad that I didn’t do CS. Because I learned a great deal in my philosophy classes that I would really miss today. And as it turns out I spent a lot of time playing around with HTML/CSS/Javascript and Photoshop. So my time in college was well spent.

These days when someone asks me for advise on becoming a software developer I tell them to pick up a few books and work on some projects that might interest them. A formal education is great but it’s expensive and time consuming. I think a person can learn much faster on their own. And if they don’t have what it takes to be self taught in this field then they probably don’t want to be in it in the first place.

How about you? What was your experience with school and getting into software development?

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?

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?

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.

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A common UI for volume controls is a series of vertical bars laid out horizontally. The volume level is indicated by the percentage of the bars that are the filled color versus the empty color. So if there are 10 bars and the volume level is at 85% then 8 of the bars would be filled – say green – and the other 2 bars would be gray – empty.

That’s fine but there’s the issue that the component cannot represent the true percentage. That’s why I made this BarSlider component. It works exactly the same except as the transition bar fills partially with the filled color and partially with the empty color. You see, here at polyGeek.com we like to go the extra pixel. :) Check it out below.

Properties

• barWidth:int=5 – the width of each individual bar
• barHeight:int=15 – the height of each bar
• gap:int=2 – space between bars
• barCount:int=10 – how many bars are drawn
• value:Number=0 – the current value
• min:Number=0 – the minimum value the BarSlider can reach
• max:Number=1 – the maximum value the BarSlider can reach
• buttonMode:Boolean=true – to use the mouse hand pointer or not
• preciseMode:Boolean=true – to draw the transition bar as partially filled/empty or not
• colorFull:uint=0×00FF00 – color of the filled bars
• colorEmpty:uint=0×666666 – color of the empty bars

As you can see in the Explorer above the min/max don’t have to be 0/1. For instance the gap ranges from 1-10.

Events dispatched
The component dispatches the change event whenever the value changes.

Suppose you’ve made an awesome Flex component and you want to share it with others and make a few bucks along the way. There are a few sites sprouting up to help you do just that. What follows isn’t as much a review as a features comparison. I hope it helps.

Note: as of May 2009 there are three sites that I know of where you can sell your Flex components: FlashDen.net, FlexDen.net and Adobe Exchange. I have been unable to contact anyone at Adobe about details on using Exchange so this post will focus on comparing the ‘Dens to each other. I’ll add more info as it becomes available.

Because the names FlashDen.net and FlexDen.net are so similar I will always lead a section by talking about FlashDen first for consistency and ease of reading.

Revenue Sharing
At FlashDen.net the percentage you receive depends on whether you agree to sell your component  exclusively at FlashDen.net or not. If you agree to exclusivity then your percentage starts out at 40% and climbs from there – see their rate schedule here. If you do not agree to exclusivity then you start out at 25%.

FlexDen.net makes no distinction between exclusive/non-exclusive. Everyone starts out at 60% and climbs from there. Here’s the breakdown:

• 60% = $0 – $4,999
• 65% = $5,000 – $9,999
• 70% = $10,000 – $14,999
• 75% = $15,000 – 19,999
• 80% = > $20,000

As a comparison FlashDen.net offers about 48% at $21,970 if you are exclusive. So FlexDen.net offers much higher revenue sharing.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that FlashDen.net offers less revenue potential based solely on the percentages. FlashDen.net has been around for 3+ years and has an established following. On the other hand FlexDen.net was just recently launched. So the traffic at FlexDen.net is automatically going to trail FlashDen.net for some time.

A caveat to the previous caveat is that there is no telling how many Flex developers visit FlashDen.net. FlashDen.net may have substantial traffic but they are just as new to selling Flex components as FlexDen.net.  In fact FlexDen.net launched before FlashDen.net added their Flex category.

If both sites wanted to be completely transparent then they could display user traffic, or better yet, the number of sales in the past month/week/whatever. Both sites do display the total sales and upload date for each component – so you do the math. And FlashDen.net also shows the number of sales per week/month for the top 20 selling components.

Price Setting
Both sites set the price of your component. That’s because they want to have a balance in prices between similar components. Otherwise it could turn into a jungle that would be confusing to buyers. If you have a problem with the price that they set then both sites are willing to talk to you and hopefully come to some agreement.

Source Code
FlashDen.net and FlexDen.net differ on how they treat source code. At FlashDen.net you must supply the source code in order to sell a component. And FlashDen.net requires code commenting and detailed instructions.

However at FlexDen.net you can chose whether or not you want to supply the source code with your component. If you do not supply the source code then it will be reflected by reducing the sale price of your component.

This might be a deal breaker for you. For one reason or another you may not be able to supply the source code and so you are left with to choice but to go with FlexDen.net.

FlashDen.net says that they require the source code because many of their buyers need to be able to tinker with the code in order for it to work in their projects. That is certainly true of Flash but does not apply so much to the Flex environment. If I have a component and I need to tinker with it then I just extend the component and do as I wish. Sure it helps to have the source code but isn’t necessary.

Removing a file
Both sites allow you to quickly and easily remove a file from public sale. At FlashDen.net you just go to your author page and click the delete button for the component you want to remove and it is removed instantly.

At FlexDen.net you contact the staff and they will remove it immediately.

Copy right policy
A concern anytime you are trying to make money from a component is that someone else will download it and then repackage your work and try to sell it themselves. This is an inevitable result in any market. One of the bonuses to the fact that both sites set the price of the component is that they will be intimately aware of what is in the library and can hopefully spot knockoffs at that time. If not and you notice that someone has copied your code you can contact the staff and they will work with you to resolve the conflict. FlexDen.net also has a flagging system that allows users to alert the staff should anything slip through.

You can read more about FlashDen’s copyright policy here.

Payout schedule
At FlashDen you can use your earnings to purchase things at FlashDen.net or any of the Envato Marketplaces. If you want your money in pocket then you have to make a request. If your balance is over $50 they will make a payout on the 15th of the following month. Check out the details at FlashDen for more info.

FlexDen.net has a very simple payout schedule: you get paid every Friday via Paypal and there is no minimum payout. FlexDen.net is also gearing toward a daily payout in the near future.

Brief history
Here’s brief history of FlashDen.net ( written by the site manager )

FlashDen.net was launched in November of 2006 with just a handful of Flash files. Sales were slow, but steady at first until a $10,000 giveaway promotion launched FlashDen to new heights. High quality files and a great community helped it grow even more. In just two and a half years, the site has reached over 160,000 members, with over 7000 files. In mid April, we started accepting Adobe Flex files, which we expect to flourish like the Flash categories. There’s been a recent influx of authors due to the significant increase in payout percentage. We just had our first member break the quarter million dollar sales mark, with others not far behind.

Here’s a brief history of FlexDen.net written by one of the partners:

In 2006, Brandon Broga, Web Designer, Programmer and CEO of Web Technologies had the idea to build a online Flex component marketplace. He then presented this idea to FlashDen to see if they were going to have a Flex section but they weren’t interested.  He was learning Flex at the time and found it very hard to find examples, resources and or working applications. Knowing the popularity and the high demand for RIA’s he bought the domain name FlexDen.net because he felt it was time to put the idea into action. Brandon partnered with Investor/Realtor, Marketing Expert Candace Clark from Hawaii, and with the help of Drupal Specialist Dzung Nova, FlexDen was born!

Conclusion
I hope that both sites are successful. This is a new and growing environment and there is room for many sites to offer Flex components. And competition between those sites is good for us developers.

As soon as I come up with an idea for a decent component I plan on putting it up for sale on both sites. I feel that the advantage FlashDen.net has with selling Flash components is washed out with the fact that they are just as new to selling Flex components as is FlexDen.net.

Plus, by not going with exclusivity at FlashDen.net I take a 15% reduction in revenue sharing. But I feel confident that I’ll make up for that by getting 60% at FlexDen.net.

It is also worth noting that both sites offer much more than just selling Flex components. FlashDen.net is part of a large family of websites that offer freelance advice, tutorials on many topics, themes, music, videos, et al.

And FlexDen.net also has more up its sleeve than just Flex components. You can currently look for freelance gigs and they are rapidly expanding. FlexDen.net encourages feedback from their users and they have set up a forum for that purpose. It is their intention to build a community website by listening to what the community wants. Soon they will have user pages where members can post their own articles and aggregate their various social media.

Personally I hope to see FlexDen.net grow into something like FlexExamples.com. Except where FlexExamples.com offers very concise examples for free FlexDen.net will offer more complete components that are ready to be dropped into your application for a small fee.

AIR
I didn’t mention AIR apps for either site because there are hundreds of sites where you can sell your AIR apps. And it’s likely that neither one of of the ‘Dens get anywhere near the traffic as someplace like Download.com. So if you’re looking to sell your AIR apps you have lots of options, including either of the ‘Dens.

Addendum : Info on Adobe Exchange
Copied from the comment below by Jeffry Houser: With the Adobe Developer Exchange, it is not an e-ecommerce site, it is just a directory. If you want to submit a commercial component, you have to provide the link to where people can buy it, which means building your own infrastructure for making the sale. For Flextras I built my own infrastructure.