Cue Points not working with your f4v ?

Recently encountered this technote from adobe reminding me why my cue points were not firing with my exported f4v,....

Go back to the good ole standard. FLV. the cue points work perfectly, and as they should.

Hopefully you haven't wasted too much time trying to figure out why they aren't there, when the Media exporter clearly shows them.

Cheers!

SoundTransform, Sound objects AS3 help

Another great gotcha, my aim here is to save someone a few min. banging your head against the keyboard wondering why your SoundTransform is not working with the Sound Object in as3. So the logical way to apply a sound transform, imo, would be to apply it BEFORE the soundChannel gets applied the sound object, thus starting the playback.

But of course, it works the other way around....

Apply the Sound Transform to the soundChannel object associated with the Sound Object AFTER the play function,. like so :

private var sc:SoundChannel = new SoundChannel();
private var req:URLRequest = new URLRequest("someSound.mp3");
public var bk_music:Sound = new Sound(req);

function startMusic():void {

var transform:SoundTransform = new SoundTransform(.2, 0);
// sc.soundTransform = transform; ////THIS IS INCORRECT, DOH !
sc = bk_music.play();
sc.soundTransform = transform; /// correct placement of soundTransform... :}
}

This only wasted about 45min of my life,....just the op order of the soundTransform object.
Hope someone else saves some time when they finally get to this post...



btw: in case anyone is wondering how to start /stop their sound after getting the soundTransform to work, add some eventlisteners and control the soundChannel object very simply :

public function quietMusic():void {
sc.stop();
}
public function loudMusic():void {
sc = bk_music.play();
}


enjoy, frustrated flashers!

alpha not working gotcha papervision 2.0

Ever try to work with the alpha property in Papervision 2.0 and you're just banging your head against the wall, frustrated as to why it doesn't work?

try:
DisplayObject3D.useOwnContainer = true;

I hope this saves someone else some time, as it took me quite a while to figure this one out...the documentation is still a little few and far between for Papervision, but it's coming along....

Happy flashing.

e.target.name not working - as3 gotcha

Frustrated,...
So if you have ever encountered this :

head1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, headClick);

private function headClick(e:MouseEvent):void {

trace(e.target.name)
}
// outputs something random like "instance22" instead of the instance name of the MC you are targeting, which in this case is "head1".

So after some searching and anger, (I still don't know why but this is only a random occurrence for me), if you add currentTarget in place of target

like so:
e.currentTarget.name

I get the proper results.
trace(e.currentTarget.name) // outputs "head1"; woohoo!

so if you keep seeing instance22, or instance286 instead of the instance name your looking for,. try the above.
if it still doesn't work, then something else is wrong,...

;}

processing - flash integration amazing

i have been looking at processing.org for a while now and i've finally jumped in headfirst.

Incredible.

I am blown away at the "sketch" mentality of this language and it's sizzling performance.

Super cool, super fast prototyping will never be the same.

Being a flash developer by trade for many years, all i kept thinking was how do i get this into flash?...
well my questions were answered with a great post from

an as3 port i found created earlier this year is located here on googleCode.
It's an as3 api that allows for the inclusion of js files to be loaded into a swf container via javascript.
SUPA cool huh?

i've only scratched the surface of processing, which is still in beta after 4 years, yet i can't wait to keep working with it and i'm really excited to progress with it's ever developing features and functionality.

The community behind it is also extremely helpful and sharing.

Keep up the great work guys and thanks for an awesome, awe-inspiring extension of my third-eye.

two stone balances in maine. felt good.

Papervision 2.0 InteractiveScene3DEvent Gotcha

So has anyone spent any real time frustrated as to why something simple like :

item.addEventListener(InteractiveScene3DEvent.OBJECT_PRESS, planeClicked);

public function planeClicked(ev:InteractiveScene3DEvent) {
trace("planeClicked");
}

isn't working??

Well I have just finished spending time(1.5+ hours) on something such as this, so you may be in luck having now found this, if you happen to be in a similar situation.

yes, yes you have already tried to make the Material's interactive property true,
or the plane's interactive to true, etc,
whatever.

What i forgot about was the viewport. DOH!

viewport.interactive = true;

fixed.
I love this stuff..

i'll vote for "that one"

Wow.
I swear I can SEE his 72 year old synapses firing like they are that old.
Standing next to the next president, he's exactly what he appears to be:
An old man, with old views and deep seeded anger, the maverick who can't debate to save his life, nor understand and relate to the generation that's going to push his decrepit ass out of this race on November 4th.
How frustrated it makes me to listen to him utter over and over " Obama wants to attack Pakistan". Yet the way Barack handled it, as he has again and again, was superb, cool and collected.
Barack moves me in way I have never felt before. He has, and I want to shout it, moved me to tears on several occasions.

I love this race. I love Barack Obama.

Make sure all who feel the same actually go out and vote,....
McCrazy is not the future. And now he's scared, and he should be.

All hail!, Barack the VOTE.

flashforward and arrowLove

Whenever I doodle I draw arrows. Usually the same type, an ever-branching system of four-stroke arrows that continue to spiral out. I’ve never really thought much about it, just seeing it as an ever-present need for direction and expansion.

Years ago, when I started seeing the arrows for flashForward I was instantly intrigued, thinking it was my dream environ for TWO of my great passions—Flash and arrows.

The first day of this event has been nothing short of inspirational. From magnificent, awe-inspiring Hodgin visualizations to Miha Pogacnik's metaphorical Bach brilliance and chaos perspectives in the lifespan of a creative mind.

Reminded of the passion in me, I was beginning to forget about.

Reminded of why I love what I do and how cool Flash was, is and will continue to be.

Inspired to a "future that is present" as Craig Swann so succinctly described—all the decisions for our future are decided as soon as we make them, start now and marry what you eventually want with what you do right now.


So far it's great. I feel this is exactly what I was looking for.

Stone Balance at Gem Show

I had the pleasure of being invited to balance stones at a Gem/Fossil Show last weekend. My father snapped a handful of pics that can be seen here, please check them out if you have a chance...

I'm progressively getting more and more addicted to this pastime, and it's excitement is growing. I was amazed at the response I received and the crowds I drew just balancing stones...

I will have more pics to post soon.

i am god

After a wonderfully entertaining conversation last night about two catholic's view of "god" and my view, I've decided to continue the conversation here. At least I can't be bludgeoned by two godHeads "blinded by faith" telling me I haven't "lived" enough to understand. I might be, but at least I'll be able to finish a sentence :}

I post now in response, probably the first of many, to being ruthlessly double-teamed in matters of my faith, or in their eyes, my lack thereof.

The hypocrisy, oh the humanity....

Any direct question I provided for discussion was so easily dismissed as "childish" or regarded simply as, so absurd, with a wave of the hand and some exhalation of air, it was recockulous.

Honestly, I'm 31.
Was born and raised Roman Catholic, son of a Sicilian, which has quite effectively led me down a path of diverse religious inquisition. I like to think I make educated decisions and am an astute observer. I am very passionate about debate, and this is the mother of them all.

Let it be known up front, I think the notion of organized religion, even based on fairy tales, to be a wonderfully enriching and enlightening part of a lot of people's lives. The idea of anything keeping people happy and determined is a great thing; I'll just ask for some further clarification, that's what this is.

Some questions, I will continue to post regularly to start the conversation I love so much... Hope this format allows for no one speaking over one another....and We certainly won't be cut off mid sentence. Please feel free to comment, yet at the very least I'll finally be able to shout my "evil truth".....

i am my god.
the rest have just fear and lack personal strength.

kittens in my tarp, they are taking control.

a miserable day today was. practice went well, woman still close to eva's release onto this realm. virus taking it's final toll on the boy and i, vitamin C to credit surely for our quick recovery. kittens born under my xr200 yesterday.

balancing on my doorStep

Some collected stones from around the house.

Free time that is so serene.

this morning some small acts.

Stone Balance

My father, the sly dog he is, mentioned an interesting blog the other day about stone balancing( I can't remember the name ) and I was like " What !!! ".

What's stone balancing? I just clicked the link and there it was.

Magnificent serenity flowing through balanced rocks.

At first I was confounded, How does it work? I thought it looked fake, but then I picked up the phone, cynical and called my pops and he said, "Just try it..."

I ventured out front of my house and there they were. A few dingy rocks scattered amidst a rain runoff erosion.


Wow.


It felt very soothing, like meditating, and when I first did it I was instantly hooked.
Try It.

I can't wait to get my hands on some bigger stones...

Time, it flys.

In the blink of an eye, I've lost a few weeks. Job hunting, House-hunting, pregnant woman-calming: It's a blur. I can't believe it's been more than two weeks since I've last posted to my blog. I have not abandoned the new-found world of blogging. Just still trying to find my beat, the comfortable walk. I've got too much to say, so grouping it into nice categories is what I'm after. I'm trying to focus to allow further exploration into what really means something to me, and not just flounder, wasting keystrokes. Which, so far, I seem to have no trouble doing most of the time.
Brainstorms like el nino erupt daily, all centered around the focus. What focus? I really just want to post questions about anything to get most of them off my chest. Will anyone answer? I' I want to touch subjects most people are ignoring, for whatever reason. Well I'm back to my chaotic mess of a plan for this blog. I wish I could just stick to my mustache monologues and be done with it, but the setting is all wrong,...I'm working on it, my next house will have a dedicated room for audio recording,. I'm just too much of a stickler to listen to car noise and bad acoustics while I got something to share,. while shaving. Until then.

Another day, dreaming about motocross

Well I've had to put a slight hold on the Mustache Monologue's recording sessions. I have to find a suitable area to record and shave at the same time, as my bathroom is too close to my sleeping fiancee for me to be chatting with my ipod at 6:30am. I think I can just shave in my car before I leave for work. This should be much better for the acoustics as well. More from that later this week .

I bought a 1991 Honda XR200 on Saturday, for $900 from a guy in Western MD. It's beautiful, looks like it's only been ridden around someone's property, never seen a trail at all. This will give me something to play with while I wait for a month for my Ducati to get fixed. Ram Cycles in Gaithersburg is doing the the work , the guys there are great. I can't wait to hear and see my new Zard Full Exhaust system either.

Quite a bit more brainstorming for the blog direction, currently I'm trying to incorporate several blogs into a few of the wine sites I've done in the past. After really looking into the blogosphere regarding the wine industry, I see quite a future in conversational marketing with regards to these products. Reading Ross Dawson's blog , lots of great stuff about the future of this medium and it's business applications, well worth a read.

Mustache Monologue 1

This evening I would like to upload the first in a series of installments entitled

"The Mustache Monologues"

Mustache Monologue 1.mp3

In which I share my morning thoughts with you over a shave.

Currently an electric, Norelco Model #5814XL, amidst maintaining a pretty solid mustache and small sliver under the center of my lower lip for over two months now.

Green Cadillacs

From BusinessWeek Green Biz
The new hybrid design is a smart blend, combining a new organization of the gas-electric drive train with GM's existing engine technology that imperceptibly turns off cylinders at cruising speeds. The combination improves mileage at both low speeds in the city and at high speeds while cruising on highways. GM pledges this approach will deliver a 20-25% mileage boost overall, even on big SUVs and pickups, and without sacrificing the horsepower American car buyers crave.

Reading about General Motor's laggard response to our consumption concerns, a hybrid Escalade would be nice...
But the gas mileage might still only be 12 MPG with that big 6.2L engine they use !


Soon there after, the 2-mode hybrid will appear in 2008 models, including a hybrid Cadillac Escalade

My current 1998 Cadillac Eldorado was one of the first GM models to introduce the turning off of cylinders at highway speeds, and it makes a considerable difference in my gas mileage. From around 20-22 MPG in the city and on my commute to work. While when I'm cruising to New York on 95N going at least 70 the whole time, I see around 30 MPG. All the while I've been wondering,

"Why hasn't this system been incorporated into all their V8 engines?"

And a few years ago I read about a 'Hydrogen Combustion Adapter' to retrofit existing gas engines to allow the burning temp of the gas to get much higher because of the hydrogen injected. This led to stated MPG gains of 40% on the SUV's they were fitting them on. I believe it was a Canadian company that made it. I haven't been able to find anything else on it since. Anyone hear of this ?
I'd love to get 40 MPG cruising a '59 beauty...

A Beginner's Blog Brainstorm

The rain was falling all weekend in my head about jumping into the blogosphere the 'right' way. Yes, I realize there is no "right" way, but you understand. Just educate myself a little more before really posting a few times a day in a 'less than focused' direction.

The initial question I kept asking myself was,

"Should I have different blogs for different passions / aspects of my life?"

and the answer I've come to so far is

"Yes, but not too many, or just one, but efficiently structured....ahhh I'm still thinking about it ....."

Dissecting the closer and more passionate aspects of my persona, I came to realize that outside of my profession and my external interests and hobbies there are a few quirky things I'm incredibly passionate about in my personal daily life. I really could blog about quite a few subjects, as I'm sure many people could as well. But another question kept ringing...

"Should I ?"

I would really like to hear other people's opinions regarding these sometimes idiosyncratic passions I have. I believe whole-heartedly that this is the ideal forum to indulge my obsessive-compulsive needs to converse about this kind of thing.
I put it to a friend yesterday like this regarding the blogosphere and myself.

"Of all the people I PERSONALLY interact with on a daily basis, a very small percentage actually and honestly care what I'm asking or talking about."

I went on to express that especially with the fact that my personality, (ahem) brutal honesty, turns another portion of my potential companions away as well. Realistically leaving me with very few people to honestly talk to about what I'm curious about or just feel like randomly expressing." - ( Just for the record I AM capable of existing in a realm of niceties and BULLSHIT for the sake of smiles and society's commongood, but I'd just rather not LIE all the time. )

"So enter the blog," I said, "where people decide to find ME and what I'm talking about and make their own decisions to join my conversations, instead of me wasting my time ( and pissing some people off ) trying to honestly converse with those that don't care, don't want to, don't like me, or just don't have the time..."

"Wow, you've found the perfect world for YOU! " He said.

I really think he's right.

the fair was a blast

worth a thousand words or more.....