joshbuhler.com

I’m changing blogs. If you currently subscribe to joshbuhler.com for Flash, Flex, or other development-type stuff, you’ll want to update your subscriptions.

My new blog is located at ghostRadio.net. The new feed address is http://www.ghostradio.net/feed/

So… what is the new site, and why did I bother? For a long time, I’ve been wanting to redesign my site, and separate the development-related stuff I write from the more personal stuff I post. I’ve also wanted to create a portfolio site of sorts, to show off my past and current work. I’ve created a few different designs for this new site over the last year or so, but have never settled on a design that I was in love with. As much as I wanted to do a site that was strictly portfolio style, I really like the format that a blog allows. So, rather than build a new site from scratch, with a separate blog portion, I’m merging them into one site.

I’ve been posting here on joshbuhler.com for a few years now, and that content will remain here, but I’m also transferring some of my favorite posts from here to the new site. Some things there will be familiar if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, but if you haven’t, consider this a good way to browse the archives of my old site, but with an “only the good stuff” filter applied. It’s been a lot fun to browse my archives, look at old stuff, and take a new look at older posts. In some cases, I’ve even gone back and taken a new approach to things. Currently, there are only two posts live there, and I still have a few tasks to finish up before the site is complete, but you’ll want to stick around, as there’s a steady stream of stuff ready to roll out over the next few weeks.

While I can’t guarantee that things there will be 100% development-related, a majority of it will be. I’ll still be posting here on joshbuhler.com, but that stuff will be more non-developer stuff. If you want to follow my development-related stuff, then you’ll want to subscribe to the posts there. Also, I keep saying “development-related” because while 90% of the work I do is Flash-based, I’ve been working with XNA game development, and iPhone stuff as well. So things won’t be all Flash, Flex, and Actionscript. Just a majority of it will be.

See you at the new site!

I just found out this morning that I’ll be speaking at 360|Flex Indy in May! I’ll be speaking on using Events, and how to do more with them beyond the basic addEventListener() call that we all know and love.

Luckily, I just checked out the schedule, and I get to present on the first day, right after the keynote, so I can get my session out of the way, and enjoy the rest of the conference, stress free.

You can check out the schedule for the conference and see who else will be there, and what there presenting here: http://360conferences.com/360flex/downloads/schedule.pdf

If you’re thinking about going, you’ll want to register ASAP, as the tickets are cheaper on a first come, first serve basis. So register at http://360flex.eventbrite.com now to get the best possible price.

Now, in case you’re curious, here’s the session description I submitted:

Working with Events in Flex and ActionScript 3.0 is something that we all do on a regular basis - but do we really know how to take advantage of everything that the Event flow in AS3 has to offer? What are the different phases of an event’s life? What exactly is an Event’s priority? This session will cover the life of an Event - how to create one, listen to it though various stages of it’s life, and if needs be, kill it without mercy. We’ll also cover creating your own custom events, and how to clean up after yourself when you’re done using an Event.

See you in May!

Have you ever launched a new Flash or Flex application, only to start receiving reports of it crashing, but there are no other details to work off of other than “it’s broken”?

I’m sure I’m not the first person to want this, but I thought of this recently: How awesome would it be if the Flash Player provided the option to send a bug report or crash log back to the developer if they wanted to receive them?

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Pop quiz: In AS3, are static methods & variables inherited by subclasses?

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The commercial for it is a joke.

The resulting sound quality is terrible.

It comes from Microsoft.

All good reasons to brush it off as one big joke, right?

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Those of you that follow me on Twitter, may have seen the post where I mentioned the awesome New Years “party” that we did - flying over Salt Lake City at midnight to see the fireworks from the air.

My brother-in-law Chris, was our pilot for that night and was kind enough to take my wife and I with him and my sister. We took off from Airport #2 out in West Jordan, flew down over Utah County for a bit, and made it back up to SLC just in time for midnight to fly over downtown.

Chris got a new HD camera for Christmas, and so we were able to shoot some video while we were up there. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to fly directly over a fireworks show, now you can see it. The fireworks were being launched from near the Gallivan Center.

Watching the show there was great, but it was also pretty amazing to be able to see all the various fireworks displays across the valley all at once. This is easily one of the most memorable New Years that I’ve had so far, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Fireworks by Air - 5D MKII from Chris Palmer on Vimeo.

Last night I received the following email through my blog, referring to the Flash version of Duck Hunt that I built a few years back:

From: thanksbro@gmail.com

You know, it’s sort of annoying when people get arrogant and try to put in some terrible protection.

com.joshbuhler.games.utils.TheftBlock.checkURL("www.joshbuhler.com", this);

I’m sure anyone who wanted to host your game could just as easily decompile it as I did. I only did it to put it on a flash drive, as well. Having your name on the main screen isn’t enough?

Huh? A few things:
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Got home from MAX, and the next morning I fired up my Xbox360 to get the dashboard update. Best feature so far? The Netflix streaming. I love 30 Rock, and one of my favorite episodes is “Hard Ball”, especially the ending musical number. (Season 1, ep 15, if you’d like to watch it.) That was the first thing I watched once I got my Netflix account linked to the Xbox. Being able to stream several seasons of 30 Rock, The Office, and even The Addams Family has been great so far.

Another feature I didn’t really think I’d have too much fun with was the Avatars. I built mine last night, and think I did a fair job getting something that looks like me. Of course, if I could get a black Fender or Flex hat for the little guy, he’d look even more like me. Though, the most fun I’ve had with this guy is playing with my (almost) 2-year old daughter Brooklynn. You can use the controller to move the avatar’s head around, make them talk, etc. Once this guy appeared on the screen, Brooklynn was captivated, and we spent a fair amount of time with me controlling him like a virtual puppet, and her giggling. Good times.

So, did you guys get avatar’d, and do they look anything like you? You can share your avatars easily online by using the following URL:

http://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/GAMERTAG/avatar-body.png

Just replace GAMERTAG with your own, and you’re in business.

I’ve been having a blast with this thing, and if you haven’t downloaded it yet for some reason, do it now.

Unfortunately, I got a bit ahead of myself, and posted this application with a few (stupid) bugs. I’ve fixed those, and posted a new version online:

ElectionDashboard 1.1.1

Versions 1.1.0 and up have auto-updating built into them, in case I find another bug. Anything prior to that, and you’ll need to first uninstall the app before installing the latest.