I enjoyed Monday's meeting also! Although, it didn't seem I had much
to say on the teleconference. The reason being is because I was busy
listening and absorbing the creativity, ideas and teaching from each
of you. I look forward to more participation in the future meetings.

One topic I would like to discuss/learn is something I came across as
a challenge that I came across this week with regards to Flex
components. I  feel I am getting a handle on how I would go about
creating my own custom components based off of extending the standard
Flex components. My question is how to go about using other developers
components that people are sharing out there on the internet/blogs.
Examples of these developer components would be using FlexLib, Ely
Greenfields and Adobe AS3 classes on Google code.

I also would like to know how to load XML data from multiple sources.
This being I have XML coming from this server and another server that
I would want to tie it together in one application.

Flex is exciting stuff and I am enjoying learning all about it. This
is a great resource for me.

Bobby

Details here:

http://www.bfaig.org/blog/?p=14

See you there!  :)

Hi All,

I've posted another AIR prototype for my app at
http://www.bfaig.org/blog/?p=15.

The feedback I got last week was extremely helpful, and I look forward
to getting some more at tonight's meeting. If you can't attend, but
have feedback, please post it to this list.  :)

Douglas

http://www.bfaig.org/blog/?p=17

:)

Douglas

Hi All,

At Mondays meeting I promised to post a couple of code samples. Here
they are.

Example Code - Using data binding to implement percentage-based
container constraints:

http://www.bfaig.org/blog/?p=22

Example Code - Importing & parsing XML:

http://www.bfaig.org/blog/?p=23

Also, here's the URL for my Flex custom search engine. I've just
upgraded it to include 102 Flex-related URLs. :)

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=007474618155310509141%3Aybgzqzmzvbi

Enjoy. :)

Douglas

I came across this Flex/AIR application today. It reminded me of Cam &
my project we are building.

http://www.richapps.de/?p=115

I did ping the developer and he said he uses Ely's DisplayShelf Flex
component we had previously discussed in our meeting. Also, I believe
he uses Papervision 3D.

I now will be adding learning how to use Papervision 3D to my list of
things to learn with learning how to load/parse XML. :)Also, I think
learning how to develop custom components will be helpful in using
other developer's components.

Bobby

Perhaps in one of these meetings I can do a brain dump on custom
components for everyone. That is my specialty.


--- In BFAIG@yahoogroups.com, "bobby_world" <bobby_world@...> wrote:
>
> I came across this Flex/AIR application today. It reminded me of
Cam &
> my project we are building.
>
> http://www.richapps.de/?p=115
>
> I did ping the developer and he said he uses Ely's DisplayShelf
Flex
> component we had previously discussed in our meeting. Also, I
believe
> he uses Papervision 3D.
>
> I now will be adding learning how to use Papervision 3D to my list
of
> things to learn with learning how to load/parse XML. :)Also, I
think
> learning how to develop custom components will be helpful in using
> other developer's components.
>
> Bobby
>

Hi Mike,

> Perhaps in one of these meetings I can do a brain dump on custom
> components for everyone. That is my specialty.

That would be great. I suspect that we could spend several (many?)
meetings on this. From what I've seen so far it's fairly easy to
simply extend a component in simple ways with MXML, more complex to do
so with ActionScript, then even more complex if you are working with
the full component lifecycle. I've done the first two and need more
experience with those, and to get started with the third.

It might be good if you gave members an assignment of some sort, then
reviewed what they came up with, either before or after your brain dump...

Of course, all this would need to be tailored to fit into the amount
of time that you are comfortable contributing. I'm guessing that we
could suck up all your Monday evenings for the next few months on
this, if you let us.  :)  We should probably try to find a way to do
this that's not too structured, so that you can contribute when you
have the time and energy.

Thanks,

Douglas


--- In BFAIG@yahoogroups.com, "Michael Labriola" <labriola@...> wrote:
>
>
> Perhaps in one of these meetings I can do a brain dump on custom
> components for everyone. That is my specialty.
>
>
> --- In BFAIG@yahoogroups.com, "bobby_world" <bobby_world@> wrote:
> >
> > I came across this Flex/AIR application today. It reminded me of
> Cam &
> > my project we are building.
> >
> > http://www.richapps.de/?p=115
> >
> > I did ping the developer and he said he uses Ely's DisplayShelf
> Flex
> > component we had previously discussed in our meeting. Also, I
> believe
> > he uses Papervision 3D.
> >
> > I now will be adding learning how to use Papervision 3D to my list
> of
> > things to learn with learning how to load/parse XML. :)Also, I
> think
> > learning how to develop custom components will be helpful in using
> > other developer's components.
> >
> > Bobby
> >
>

Good idea. I actually do a 11 hour intense component development
session for a lot of the larger teams I work with. That's a lot of
meetings.

So... assignment:

Read through this text.
http://livedocs.adobe.com/labs/flex3/html/Part3_as_components_1.html

I am mainly concered about the sections entitled :
   Simple Visual Components in ActionScript
   Advanced Visual Components in ActionScript

Don't worry if it is a bit over your head, the important part is
familiarity, not complete understanding.

Next week I am presenting in Atlanta for 360 Flex. If I can stop by
at all, it will be brief. The next week is your in person meeting
and I will likely be out of the country.

So, as a proposal, what if we made the 10th of March a component
development mentoring session?

Mike

--- In BFAIG@yahoogroups.com, "douglasmccarroll" <org.yahoo.001@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> > Perhaps in one of these meetings I can do a brain dump on custom
> > components for everyone. That is my specialty.
>
> That would be great. I suspect that we could spend several (many?)
> meetings on this. From what I've seen so far it's fairly easy to
> simply extend a component in simple ways with MXML, more complex
to do
> so with ActionScript, then even more complex if you are working
with
> the full component lifecycle. I've done the first two and need more
> experience with those, and to get started with the third.
>
> It might be good if you gave members an assignment of some sort,
then
> reviewed what they came up with, either before or after your brain
dump...
>
> Of course, all this would need to be tailored to fit into the
amount
> of time that you are comfortable contributing. I'm guessing that we
> could suck up all your Monday evenings for the next few months on
> this, if you let us.  :)  We should probably try to find a way to
do
> this that's not too structured, so that you can contribute when you
> have the time and energy.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Douglas
>
>
> --- In BFAIG@yahoogroups.com, "Michael Labriola" <labriola@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Perhaps in one of these meetings I can do a brain dump on custom
> > components for everyone. That is my specialty.
> >
> >
> > --- In BFAIG@yahoogroups.com, "bobby_world" <bobby_world@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I came across this Flex/AIR application today. It reminded me
of
> > Cam &
> > > my project we are building.
> > >
> > > http://www.richapps.de/?p=115
> > >
> > > I did ping the developer and he said he uses Ely's
DisplayShelf
> > Flex
> > > component we had previously discussed in our meeting. Also, I
> > believe
> > > he uses Papervision 3D.
> > >
> > > I now will be adding learning how to use Papervision 3D to my
list
> > of
> > > things to learn with learning how to load/parse XML. :)Also, I
> > think
> > > learning how to develop custom components will be helpful in
using
> > > other developer's components.
> > >
> > > Bobby
> > >
> >
>

I am going through the Flex 2 Training from the Source book and Total
Training for Flex 2 DVD. I also have Flex 2 Programming from O'Reilly.

I would love to learn about components and having homework assignments
to reinforce what is taught. I recently went to a Flex Camp here in
DC, but they didn't get into more in depth on components. I also am
unable to afford going to a conference like 360 Flex, MAX, or classes
because I am a student.  I continue to learn through the books,
videos, and whatever I can get my hands.

Bobby

Hi all,

One of the Instructional Design mailing lists I'm on recently included a
short discussion of strategies for learning languages online.

I'm passing along a few bits in case the concepts are helpful to Douglas'
Language Collaborative Player project.

One instructor listed the following as effective learning and practice
strategies:

1. Modeling: comparing pronunciation, mouth movements, etc. against a model
2. Repetition through self-paced drills
3. Structured conversation with partners in real-time or with virtual
avatars
4. Defining and applying grammatical rules to build phrases and sentences
5. Building vocabulary with the aid of visual cues and use in context
6. Studying the cultural context of the language

He created a proof of concept at http://voicethread.com/share/14823/.

Another person mentioned LoMasTv (http://lomastv.com/product/home.php) "a
weekly video magazine for people who wish to improve and maintain their
Spanish skills with authentic Spanish television and videos from throughout
the Spanish speaking world." Click on the "Free Demo" to see it in action.
It includes video, text-based Spanish/English translation, and the ability
to look up words and control the speed of the audio.

Both of these appear to be designed for people sitting in front of computer
screens rather than Douglas' plan for using mobile devices. I don't know if
either one uses Flex; it's mostly the language learning concepts I thought
might be of interest.


In response to other notes this week...

VoIP vs. Teleconference
Either method has the potential for including or excluding people. With the
options and rationale Douglas provided on the blog
(http://www.bfaig.org/blog/?p=13), it seems the teleconference method works
best for the group process (no lag time, etc.). As one of the people who
originally asked about using VoIP, I'm fine with using the teleconference
method and will probably experiment with Skype (personal VoIP instead of
group VoIP!). I hope this option proves helpful for Barry and others.

Components
Mike's proposal for the March 10 meeting along with the homework assignment
sounds great!

Bobby: Thanks for the link to the RichApps site. The more projects I look
at, the more I see what is possible with Flex.

Thanks,
   Cam