Vented grit, embraced generalizations. Forceful vice of lazy minds. Future is uncertain, blue rage grips the moment and limps ahead mightily without wane yet without circumference. Empty waif, a general phantom etching shadows on the cold cavernous walls.

Preamble, ramble, twittered, and bedeviled, full-head long onerous somersaults amongst herds of jumpy Rhinoceros. Their struggling dumpy legs ensnared by the Savannah, Stone horns crashing into the earth, driving up the white parched bones of our ancestors. Reasoned memories.

Blunted and useless, foolish and wanting. So tempted in gentle dew covered garden, where the metallic soil spews dead noxious mercury, raptured by an ivory lily who defies its poisoned roots.

Sorrow plays a heavy hand in hope against hope.

I’ve just updated to WordPress 2.5, (which is beta and still under development), and it is sweet. Probably the most surprising thing for me the ease of switching.

I was running version 2.2 just 2 days ago, and all I had to do was swap out a bunch of files, run the update page, and presto, version 2.5 is sputtering along. Anyway, most of the changes are behind the scenes, and more for the owners/writers to enjoy.

The interface is simpler, more minimal, there’s a full-port writing mode, more plugins for the dashboard and quite a few other options. What a rush!… (Have I shown myself to be a geek yet?) I have noticed quite a few bugs, but nothing to shy away from. Read the rest of this entry »

About three weeks ago Indusblue launched a new contest site for MSN Autos. This was actually the first project with my new employer, and a doozy at that. I was the principle programmer, and there was no mercy spared as I was even forced to roll back the clock and program this is in the dreaded AS2.

Well, it was baptism by fire, but the whole experience was well worth it. The site is getting incredible traffic, (projected at over 500,000 before contest end in early March), and it really forced me to stretch my programming muscles to achieve some of the insane effects demanded by the art directors and designers.

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I thought I would present a problem I seem to be having consistently in Flex builder, and see if anyone is searching for like issues.

For some reason, Flex Builder is not handling Bitmap Data with any sort of consistency when it is included as a class in a SWC exported from Flash. In my opinion, using SWCs to import visual content from the Flash IDE, is for the most part a fluid and excellent work flow. However, every once in a while, in seemingly inexplicable fashion, I get internal build errors.

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Ok, so I’m totally stoked about launching Champagne Valentine’s new site. It was about a month’s worth of spare time development, but I think the end result is class A. Which is important as Champagne Valentine is run by some of the most original and unique people on the web.

At this point there are still some minor bugs to work out, but I’m really loving what’s going on here. Everything was programmed from scratch using an Object Oriented Architecture in ActionScript 3.0. I refused to use any components, and most of the content is run on separate XML and HTML files.

In the near future I have plan to add some more functionality and to create a content management system. This will likely be done in PHP, but I may get adventurous and skin it with flash!

So if you have a second, why don’t you go over and visit the folks at Champagne Valentine and drop them some comments on the site.

Lately I’ve been using the Tween class included in the flash ActionScript 3.0 for Flash CS3 library, and I noticed some peculiar behavior with respect to the motion of the Tweens. Often, especially when the program was undergoing points of extreme activity, my tweens would not complete their motions. It was perplexing, and my first attempt to fix the bug was to simply to listen for the tween to stop

(tween.addListener(TweenEvent.MOTION_FINISH,
                   fixPosition)

, and then to force the asset to its intended end point. This worked on a simple application: Selected Works Site, but it completely failed when I tried it on one with heavy processor activity.

So, after trawling the internet in search of others experiencing the same problem, I believe I found the solution in the comments at a blog called Everything Cool. (I aslo found they talked about it on the live docs). Here I’ll explain what the problem is, how to solve it, and at the same time show you how to use the fl.transitions.Tween class in Flash CS3.

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Creating a fantasy world in Photoshop couldn’t be easier if you have a few tricks up your sleeve, and lots of resources to work from.

This 3 part tutorial will show you how to create a world like the one featured here. The techniques described are detailed, and are great ways to manage and manipulate all of your assets. In the end, you will have an adjustable Photoshop Document that allows for multiple edits, additions and potential enhancements with other software programs like AfterEffects or even the all mighty Flash!

Creating fantasy worlds is likely one of the most enjoyable activities for a creative professional, and after completing this tutorial series, you will have all the tools necessary to explore and expose your deep and hidden psychological ghosts. Read the rest of this entry »

A cross-breeze scent of pumpkin muffins laced in the rapture of cloves and cinnamon is the Lucid Embrace. And the herd lumbers toward their goal, linked together by the simple rules of emergence.

The beauty in the step, in the fractal necessity, is the familial hug. It illuminates the safe warmth of a guardian’s love.

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It takes three repetitions to absorb the vibrations… tangled weaving sounds, falling gently on tired burning synapses. In the vacillating motion of musical rhythm… release is being draped in the sinuous hosiery of temptation.

Zechy meconium & my beautiful baby-boy. Pattern recognition stops the wavering ether, and pushes eternity dangerously close to the singularity. A mouth-full of famous ideas swallowed and spit back up to depict the consciousness of the ape.

I mean: from chaos -> order arises -> intensifies -> implodes -> and then returns back to chaos

Circular fever, but the ape is the random variable. The specific mutation that excites the loop -> Pattern-Recognition attern-Manipulation.

Crunchy phantasmagoria, a chasm of delightful fanfare, and potential eternity.

**Warning: The following post is about Object Oriented Design, and may be VERY annoying for those who don’t spend a STUPID amount of time in front of the computer reading the driest material ever known to mankind. **

For those into OOD/OOP, please read on… This is my attempt to make lucid some very spiraling concepts. I’m no expert, I’m a budding programmer, so as such I may be able to present these ideas with a new perception. At any rate… getting them down on paper solidifies the methods in my mind. That’s why I’m sparse on code, and big on concept. So if I get anything wrong, feel free to send evocative comments, I love the sweet vigor of a verbal joust.

Note: All OOD jargon has been italicized and colored for no good reason at all.

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