David Stiller’s blog

Earlier this month, I spent a week in Maryland working with Branden Hall at his Automata Studios.  The trip was a chance to get to know each other better, and we both had a great time.  We coded during the day, played Guitar Hero in the evenings, and discussed all sorts of geek topics in between.  Oh, and we had terrific food every day! 

I often played with Branden’s toddling son, Kai, who on more than one occasion conferred on me his “Harrison Ford grin” (mom Pattie called it that, and gosh, she’s right!).  The whole experience was very welcoming and down to earth.  I’ll be contracting for Automata Studios on a regular basis.  Keep reading »

Note:  I started this entry on the actual fourth day of Flashforward.  Clearly, several days have passed since then — still catching up! — but I’ll leave my wording as is.

Sessions

Back to Phil Heinz for another Flex Builder 2 session.  Today’s was a follow-up on his intro to Flex from yesterday, this time delving deeper into socket connections for real time applications.  Honestly, the workflow efficiency of Flex Builder 2, as compared with Flash — for this sort of application; that is, “programs” rather than intros, games, and relatively “lighter” content — really is phenomenal.  I’m excited to see where RIA development will lead in the coming years, now that the Flex SDK (with compiler) is free and the Flex Builder 2 IDE is priced comparably to Flash.  Keep reading »

Today was another good one.  I’m glad I budgeted for this conference, because the sessions are good — and on paper, that’s the reason folks come — but in addition to that, Flashforward is a great opportunity to meet people of like mind.  Keep reading »

I made it!

Caught the last half of the keynote address.  Saw some cool quick glimpses of an in-house Flash 9 beta that happened so quickly, I barely remember what blipped in front of my eyes — but I’ll say this:  there were nifty thin vertical toolbars, somewhat like the Tools panel, whose icons seemed to slide open traditional panels like the Timeline, then slide them away again, maximizing Stage real estate (much cleaner than collapsible panels, which nonetheless take up space while collapsed).  I downed two cups of coffee while watching, so my observation faculties only kicked in after the projection screens went idle.    Keep reading »

Shortly after I finished that last upbeat post, I boarded the plane to Houston; from there, it would be a short hop to Austin.  I shuffled my way to seat 15A and found a gentleman sitting in my seat.  He showed me his ticket — his also indicated 15A.    Keep reading »

lol  Well, you may have heard the expression, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”  That’s good advice, especially when things seem to go wrong all at once.  Keep reading »

I’ll be in Austin, Texas later today.  Just wrapping up loose ends before I leave.  It’s late, and I should really be in bed, but I’m excited!  I’m looking forward to meeting a number of virtual acquaintances from the Adobe forums, fellow Community MX partners, and other friends I know but haven’t yet met in person.

I crammed in a bit of overtime to allow myself this coming week off.  No freelance.  Minimal email — though I’ll keep an eye on the Community MX forums while I’m gone.  Interestingly, the date of my flight happens to be 9/11.  I feel … I don’t know, oddly indifferent about that.  It doesn’t make me nervous.

I plan to blog while I’m there, but we’ll see what kind of free time I have.  Got my business cards and Quip t-shirts.  If you see me there (this is what I look like), be sure to say hello!

Just wanted to drop a quick note and mention that new content is coming soon.    Last week’s hiatus was occasioned by my first serious toe-dipping into the comparatively deep end of the pool, ActionScript 3.0.  I’ve also been preparing for Flashforward — less than two weeks away! — by putting together business cards and t-shirt designs in order to advertise my services.  Keep reading »

Woo-hoo!  I’ve been accepted to the Adobe Community Experts program!    When I got the news the other day, this made my whole afternoon.  Heck, it made my week (heck, it made …).  See, working from home, for all its benefits, does put me at a disadvantage in the way of colleague interaction.  It’s for this reason I’m grateful to be a Community MX partner, as my involvement has brought me in contact with numerous other experts in the field.  This Adobe program increases this sort of opportunity all the more.  (My family, somehow, doesn’t nearly enjoy discussing Flash and HTML as much as I do. )

Thank you!

Ha, this had me rolling when I first saw it.  Cartoonist Chris Flick, a colleague over at Community MX, generally introduces new partners with a comic strip.  He happened to choose a hip-hop theme to familiarize subscribers with me (the comic and plenty of other content is free).  This is especially funny, in a completely coincidental way, because of a co-worker I knew from two jobs back.  He had this incredibly precise beard that would have made even Prince (the artist formerly known as “the artist formerly known as …”) envious.  This co-worker’s name was (is) Hector, and because of his facial object d’art, we called him Hector the Vector Connector, and would spout off many a mini freestyle rap about his superfly whiskers.  Those were good times.  His laughing reply was usually, “To dis the Stilloneous would be erroneous!”