Flash
Flash on the Beach 2008 – Tuesday
Aral Balkan
Man than guy has some energy at 9 in the morning 
. Interesting talk about that you should just make and share more. This is very true for me, there are too many occasions where I thought of a cool idea and started coding it. Then decided not to put it on my blog because it wasn’t finished enough.
Also interesting one was that you should just put your idea out there. So others can comment on it and also because other people now know about it you will have to complete it.
- Scratch software from MIT that allows you to program in a very visual way. Simple but effective. I like it.
Jeremy Thorp
This session was about showing and approaching very complex stuff in a simple way. Also talked about Agent Oriented Programming. Instead of creating relatively dumb objects, he gave certain agents the possibility to take decision on their own. A simple example of this is the Flocking behavior. Where all the rules are quite simple but each bird can make its own decisions on what to do.
Another example was the ages old Conway’s game of life. I think every programmer should have programmed one in his/her lifetime .
Another interesting point was the ‘fitness landscape’. Great way to show that even though you think you found the best solution, there might be a better one.
Grant Skinner
Grant Skinner showed a couple interesting points that every developer should know. The main ones for me were:
- You must learn the rules before you can break them.
- Learn about every API. Not learn to use every API. Just learn enough so you know what’s possible.
- Spiking. Just try bits of code.
- Great way to debug: hit TAB + SPACE repeatedly.
- Write handy stuff for your designers/developers to use in Flash using JSFL. Adobe Link & Actionscript.org link.
- Have a look at a decent code editor like FDT or FLex builder.
After this was the Jam Session which was ace. Loved the performance art style coding in 10 minutes with Drum n Bass 
Hoss Gifford
Although it was an interesting session I think I enjoyed his session from last year more. Still couple interesting things.
- Ecotonoha. Interesting way of displaying messages that people have send.
- If you allow people to create something on your website, don’t start them off with an empty canvas.
I think that is definitely a good point. People sometimes don’t know where to start and it would be good to kick start their creative process. - Show the process of creation, not just the end result. This creates a narrative.
One of his examples was a drawing tool that didn’t just show the end result but the exact time line how people had drawn their pictures. This allowed the user to create a story. Simple but clever. - Design the experience not the user interface.
Small difference in approach could make a huge difference in the user experience.
After all of this I went to the session by Nando Costa and after diner to the GMUNK session. Both good.
Conway’s Game of Life in Flash
Sorry, not the most original thing to build but it felt like I had to do it
I love that something that is based on only 4 simple rules can create something so cool. Have a read through this article on Wikipedia if you want to know more about it.
These are the rules:
- Any live cell with fewer than two live neighbors dies, as if by loneliness.
- Any live cell with more than three live neighbors dies, as if by overcrowding.
- Any live cell with two or three live neighbors lives, unchanged, to the next generation.
- Any dead cell with exactly three live neighbors comes to life.
Have fun playing! Here is the source if you’re interested.
