visualcondition blog - flash & ruby on rails

The Desuade Partigen 1.1 update has been released, featuring numerous enhancements and tweaks, such as a much lower file size and optimized UI. This is the first update of Partigen since the initial release last summer, which attests to the stability of the product.

It also uses my very own Twease tweening engine in place of the weightier Fuse, dropping about 12k off the exported SWF size. Nice!

There’s a coupon for Partigen that’ll get you 11% off: pgpromo11

Hurry up and use it though, it’s only good for the next 11 days.

Wow some big news from Adobe. Seems like they’re ready to conquer the rich media world with Flash with this one. What the hell am I talking about? Good question.

It’s called the Open Screen Project.

Long story short, Adobe is opening up the safe on Flash, removing licensing restrictions, fees, and publishing protocols.

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For those of you trying to install the Java 5 Runtime J2SE 1.5 on Ubuntu Linux Gusty on a fresh Slicehost install (or any Ubuntu box) that cant install it via aptitude, I may have a solution.

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So I’ve came across this little gem of a demo, which isn’t exactly a new idea or concept by any means, but the execution is brilliant and runs silky smooth.

It’s pretty sick, I’m not even going to lie: Paradox Engine

I’d post pictures and a more detailed post on it, but the demo speaks for itself. Trust me.

So the wait is finally over: Twease is now available in both AS2 and AS3!

I just started learning AS3 Monday, and today I have finished porting Twease 2.0 Beta into AS3. To be honest, most of if it really didn’t need to be rewritten, but a lot of the new compiler requirements made the loose checking of the AS2 version give me nightmares. I mean really, so what if it’s undefined? Ugh, but I digress.

This port was just to get the engine functional. There are almost zero optimizations made in regards to new AS3 features, but even so, I’m positive it will run fine for your average uses.

As i look back on the old Twease code after getting into AS3, I see a lot of places where things should be totally redone. But it works. And it works the same on both sides, so I’ll be letting it be.

There’s really not much more to say, except that Twease is now Beta 2, and that you should head on over to Google Code to get your AS3 fix on.

When you create a class that makes other developer’s lives easier, and see something that you made help make something pretty rad, it’s truly a magical feeling. When I see Partigen being used in the real world, I get giddy like a school girl. Albeit Twease is a bit different, it’s still a nice feeling.

So that’s why I’ve been hard at work on version 2 of this compact, yet powerful and robust tweening engine, packing in more bang-for-your-bytes. Originally it was just going to be a minor upgrade with added color and simple bezier tweening, but it ended up so much more.

This beta is, in my opinion, fairly stable, and is being used in my own production projects. In fact, some of the features have been birthed due to necessity. I’d like to package this up nicely with docs et all, but first want to give it a test-drive with the public.

So without further adue, here’s what’s new with Twease 2.0 Beta (from the change log):

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Lack of updates mostly due to getting ready and making move down to beautiful Mission Viejo in Orange County, CA. I have started part-time work at Pixabit/Final Motive doing Flash work, leaving me time for my own business things and ample free time.

I should be more active here, now that things are starting to stabilize, so expect new stuff soon!

First off, I wish everyone (anyone) who reads my blog, has had a great holiday season last year.

Since going on blog hiatus back in October (actually beforehand), I was working on a Rails project for a family friend. It was going well, and was working on it well into November. Unfortunately, to make a ridiculously long and complicated, even more ridiculously short, things went sour and it caused a lot of stress. After threats of being sued due to greed and pretty allegations, things we’re crazy for me, and the upcoming holidays were no help either.

So I took a bit of a break. About a month’s time, much needed after all the hard work I was pulling day after day. I would show off the work I did, but the client pretty much had somebody ruin the design so bad, I don’t even want to mention it, let alone show it off.

Well it’s now the new year, and it’s time to get focused and back into action. I’m good to go. So let’s go.

I just setup my portfolio homage (visualcondition.com) to just redirect here. That page is so old and outdated it’s not even funny. So until I do something else, it’ll just redirect to my blog for now.

@item.expires_on = Time.now + 3.months

Yeah, I did just write an entry on this one line of Ruby. We’re engaged, Ruby and I, and I didn’t even have to buy a diamond.