Spread the word, an iPad app built in Flash!

Near the end of June, I started a little experiment, just for fun, which would just immitate fridge magnets. I wanted to make it a multi-user experience. So everybody hitting the page would see the changes that are being made realtime. I built the first version and was quite happy.

But a few days ago, it struck me: I can just use the code I used for that experiment and port it to the iPad using the iPhone Packager (which comes with Flash CS5). So I did!

Although I had to change some of the code (loading settings files, etc), I was actually able to build this application rather quickly. I also added a multi-room feature, so everybody can have their own fridge with magnets
So you can now actually leave your boy/girlfriend a message on a virtual fridge (with no food in it) and then mail him/her the link! He/She can then rearrange the letters and leave you a message in return; Fridge-magnet style! That’s geeky, right!?

About the application

‘Spread the word’ is both an iPad and a browser application.
The clients are built using Flash Builder (for the browser app) and Flash CS5 (iPad app). The multi-user support is a Red5 application.

‘Spread the word’ online

You can view the application in the browser by hitting the following URL:

http://spreadtheword.nocreativity.com

If you want to have your own fridge, just add ‘?myOwnFridge’ (replace ‘myOwnFridge‘ with a name of your choice). For example

• http://spreadtheword.nocreativity.com?test
• http://spreadtheword.nocreativity.com?mySecretRoom
• http://spreadtheword.nocreativity.com?imOnAHorse

‘Spread the word’ for iPad

Currently the iPad application is only available though my Cydia repo. I will however be trying to get it into the Apple App Store (I know about 3.3.1, I’m still giving it a shot ). The app also supports rooms, so feel free to go crazy (but be nice, there’s kids on the internet ) Read the rest of this entry »

Want to learn Red5? Request some tutorials here!

For the longest time I wanted to create video tutorials that would help others create cool stuff; that really would help people get started with something.

I thought about creating bitmapdata tutorials. I thought about covering some of the soundSpectrum stuff. And I even wanted to explain a bit of magic behind advanced runtime effects (done easy). But none of those really made me believe I could help a lot of people out.
But during the past weeks, it came to my attention that a lot of people really want to get started with Red5, but can’t because they can’t find any simple, straight forward tutorials. That’s where I come in.

Starting from september 3rd, I’ll be recording as much video tutorials about Red5 as I can, covering small topics. I’ll keep it short and real simple. It’s about helping you understand the basics and getting you started. I’ll post them as fast as I can upload them. I’ve got some topics in mind, but I’d love to hear from you guys what you really want to know.

A few of the topics I had in mind:

1. Your first Red5 app: Multi-user Hello World (remote shared objects)!
2. How to create the Shared Ball demo app (remote shared objects)?
3. How to create a fridge-magnet app (remote shared objects)?
4. How to tell other users to do something (remote methods)
5. How to build a basic chat app?
6. How to stream video & audio?
7. Building a custom Red5 application in JAVA
8. Executing methods on connected clients, from the server.
9. Sending data to a client (from JAVA to AS3)
10. Recording a complete audio/video stream.
11. Recording a part of a audio/video stream.
12. Room management done right
13. [more to come... Post your ideas in the comments]

Post whatever questions you have in the comments. I’ll try to answer every single one of them in the upcoming video tutorials, using simple demo’s and examples.

Note (again): I’m trying to get you to understand the very basics, and interesting tricks. I’m not going to help you build insane custom apps.

Frash, Flash on the iPhone

Well, this time it’s for real. It isn’t powered by Adobe or supported by Apple but the fact is: Flash is now running on the iPhone. I said ‘is running on’; I did not say ‘is running perfectly smooth’.
There’s still a lot of work but this first step is a very good one, and everybody should be excited about this!

I took the time to test a few of the experiments I made over the past years on my iPad. I am pretty surprised about how well everything is going. In the following video I’ll show some of the tests I did.

About the ‘Red5-Letter-demo’: For some reason I wasn’t able to drag and drop during the demo. However it does work from time to time (still buggy as explained in the video though).

After seeing this video, you’ll probably wonder why I didn’t just give ‘real Flash sites’ a run for their money. Well, I already did. I tried DerBauer.de and 2Advanced.com. I saw intro screens but that’s it (site died after I tried clicking stuff). For the sake of making this thing look good, I prefer not to show how bad it performs on ‘high-end production‘ sites I mean, it’s still an alpha version. Give him/them a chance of getting there before saying it’s performing poorly

How to install Flash on your iDevice?

1. Make sure your iDevice is jailbroken. If it’s not you won’t be able to install Frash on your device. If you want to jailbreak, the simplest way I know at this point is by visiting jailbreakme.com using your iDevice. (Works for most iOS’s and devices). Other ways of jailbreaking can be found on the internet. (I will not assist anybody, just saying…)
2. Open Cydia on your device, go to sources and add ‘http://repo.benm.at‘.
3. When Cydia’s done adding the new repo to its database, go to the ‘Search‘ tab and look for ‘Frash‘.
4. Install it!
5. Go to Safari and visit a site using Flash. You should see a ‘Click to Flash’-like space where the Flash object should be. (If you don’t, you might want to try rebooting your device. It worked for me straight away) Click it and enjoy!

Breadcrumbs back to creativity

Over the past couple of weeks I came to realize I almost lost something very important in my life. I only realized it in the very end – probably too late. The will to be creative; the will to create stuff just for the heck of it. Only after days weeks of trying to get myself back together, I came to realize that I hadn’t lost the will to create at all. In fact I never wanted it more… However I let go a few of ‘my tools‘ that gave me the ideas and motivation to create stuff.

What follows is a (bit like a) ‘note to self‘ of what I should never ever forget again.

Let your inner child be your guide

If you have kids you’ll most definitely already know this: Kids are insanely mindblowing when they try to explain something they saw. They have the craziest visions of the world. Not because they are smarter than we are but because we are smarter than them. While they are talking about a huge television in a room, we talk about a cinema.

You know what they’re trying to say but they just see the whole world differently. That is a great thing to do/have. Make sure you keep this alive in yourself. Let yourself be amazed by flying birds and soap bubbles. It’s okay to be blown away by cool and simple stuff. It’s okay to actually enjoy life at its fullest.

Make sure you bring back that inner child in yourself. It’s fun! (and cute! Girls love it, believe you me!) It’ll make you think up the craziest stuff in the world. No reason. Just fun. And who doesn’t like fun?
Your inner child knows what you want. You don’t. The only thing you know is you want to pay your bills before it’s too late. The inner child in you wants chocolate. I suggest you give it to him. Read the rest of this entry »

Heaven and hell

It’s been quite some time since I did a photography experiment/project/thingy… So here goes my first in <insert timespan here>.

I went out for a shoot at the well known bridge-spot in Kortrijk and by accident I made 2 great color-discoveries. A mighty blue shot and a horrifying red one… I love ‘m both.
I wanted to do some post-editing but after some feedback it turns out I shouldn’t tamper with the originals after all. I also recorded 2 timelapse shots, featuring the same awesome colors. Yesterday was an amazing day.

Read the rest of this entry »