Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Anyone know a better way to achieve this? Four Methods is okay I guess, wondering if the base class might be modified to allow this internally instead (I could always just add a param and check for it / set to null on default).
import gs.TweenFilterLite;Update:
function kickoff():void
{
TweenFilterLite.to( frame_mc, 0.5, {glowFilter:{
color:0x000000, strength:2, inner:true,
alpha:1, quality:3, blurX:22, blurY:22},
onComplete:reverse});
}
function reverse():void
{
TweenFilterLite.to( frame_mc, 0.1, {glowFilter:{
color:0x000000, strength:2, inner:true,
alpha:1, quality:3, blurX:0, blurY:0},
onComplete:outer});
}
function outer():void
{
TweenFilterLite.to( frame_mc, 0.5, {glowFilter:{
color:0x000000, strength:2, inner:false,
alpha:1, quality:3, blurX:22, blurY:22},
onComplete:reverseAgain});
}
function reverseAgain():void
{
TweenFilterLite.to( frame_mc, 0.1, {glowFilter:{
color:0x000000, strength:2, inner:false,
alpha:1, quality:3, blurX:0, blurY:0},
onComplete:kickoff});
}
kickoff();
TweenMax sure does the trick here. I have found a small little thing I need to work around somehow, but generally this is a super powerful engine.
I forgot about it because a while back I tried it and it wasn't working nearly as well as it does now (in fact I think for whatever reason it simply failed on most things except simple movements). Three cheers for TweenMax!
I was looking at GTween but honestly, I think this puppy will handle just about anything I can think of needing to do with a tweening engine.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Look at the top right of this photo taken at the Olympic Beach Volleyball gold medal ceremony. Steelers Nation turning that venue into Steelers Country ;) Saweeet!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Here are a few quick tips on getting up to snuff using OS X.
Get svnX. I actually prefer it to Versions. Versions looks great, but it doesn't feel as good to me, I feel like I can do a lot more using svnX (which is free by the way). Versions is dog slow compared to svnX too at the moment. If it ever gets a speed boost, I might reconsider.
If you try to connect to a subversion server using svnX and the certificate has expired on that server, you get an error message that's basically a dump of string data you'd see in the Terminal. Helpful, but you can't act on it (fingerprint). You'll need to do this:
svn list yourhttpsurl
And then you can deny, accept temporarily or accept permanently to allow for a connection. Works for me.
Now, to get Finder integration, you can grab this plugin (SCPlugin). The current build works for me in Leopard, previous versions were super buggy and crashed my system a whole lot. After download & installing (I used the one for Subversion 1.4.6 since my Subversion is actually 1.4.4) you'll need to log out and then back in. Interior files and folders will properly have status icons displayed, however root folders for me didn't. I had to right-click, and choose Update for the status icons to appear. Yes, right-click integration works!
It looks like this (it's all tucked away in the More menu item at the bottom of the contextual menu):
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Anyone know if MS is going to release one?
Monday, August 18, 2008
I read that traffic on the network can cause problems. I also noted that perhaps a corrupt file can stop the whole process dead in it's tracks. I placed an ignore on the Applications directory, and set it to start last night around 10PM in the basement, cabled to the TC itself.
Today at noon the backup was still going (that's a bonus... it hadn't erred), and that it was at 60GB out of 160GB. That's progress, but good grief this is taking AGES to complete.
Once the initial is created, I'll untether that laptop and backups after that point should be quick and all done on the wireless network.
This process hasn't been pain-free, I wish this was a bit easier out of the box. Perhaps we'll be seeing a firmware update to Time Capsules, or at least a utility provided as part of the package that will root out any files that could give the backup pause and allow for their removal or exclusion preemptively.
I had thought I bought a pretty expensive wireless router with a drive I could only use without TC integration. I am hopefully this sucker will complete it's task.
Update
Well, got an error around 60GB, but it keeps backing up. Weird. I suppose I can't complain if it actually finishes.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
- 2 TB of storage added
- 1 TimeCapsule (802.11n in full effect now)
- The AppleTV now using the new security on the TC (& flying at .11n speeds)
- The XBox360 is now configured to run on the TC
- Still have the FiOS wireless router providing wireless too
- Have the AirportExtreme and not sure what to do with it yet
- My AirportExpress isn't read on the network yet.
Fun days. Oh, and I picked up The Orange Box for cheap today too.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
My plans are this... we currently have FiOS in our home, but the wireless is relegated to the FiOS router and an older 802.11g Airport Extreme. While the Verizon router is cool, most of the time to print, etc. a connection to the AE is needed. So we use that a lot, and the AppleTV uses the older AE .11g.
The range of the older AE isn't bad, but 802.11n will be 2x and also take advantage of the FiOS service more (5x the throughput compared to .11g). Now, my wife's laptop is home to a lot of digital media. Backup to TimeMachine is a good idea, right? Yup. We haven't backed stuff up to MobileMe in a long time, and would like to keep that space cleaner for web galleries and things like that.
Well, bring on a 500GB Time Capsule ($299). Add an external 500GB drive to that, and the laptop has access to another drive altogether for fun. 1TB connected is looking pretty tasty though... 1TB of storage accessible from the laptop is pretty enticing.I was originally planning on procuring a 1TB TimeCapsule, but that's just too much space for us at the moment to have dedicated solely for backup. It's only another $100 on top of the 500MB but still.
I was thinking of attaching a 1TB drive to the TimeCapsule (a $329 LaCie), and I might talk myself into doing that once we get in store at The Natick Collection. As long as it shows up as a shared drive via TC, it's almost a no-brainer. Super-easy backup & an extra 1TB of accessible storage.However, that wouldn't be TimeMachined... or would it? I'd think Apple would have thought of that, but a question for a sales associate might be in order there.
Friday, August 15, 2008
You don't want to double up code or have a separate method in your resize event handler (the resize event handler requires an event type), so you can do it this way. I usually do this in a document class constructor, but you could do it anywhere you want.
stage.align = StageAlign.TOP_LEFT;
stage.scaleMode = StageScaleMode.NO_SCALE;
stage.displayState = StageDisplayState.FULL_SCREEN;
stage.addEventListener( Event.RESIZE, onResize );
// Here is where you can force the onResize
stage.dispatchEvent( new Event( Event.RESIZE ));
// Later on...
private function onResize( e:Event ):void
{
// code
}
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Flash'In'App classes enable your applications to interact with Flash Player.plugin and SWF files themselves.
Your users will need at least Mac OS X 10.4 or later and Flash Player 8 or newer to run applications that you develop with Flash'In'App. Note: transparency will only work correctly on Intel-based Macs (sorry, it's not our limitation, but Adobe's one)
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
If you had a $500 gift card to the Apple Store, what would you do with it?Would you get a touch, upgrade your Airport to 802.11n, get some software, get a camera, get a printer, etc.?
Monday, August 11, 2008
If you'd like the Steelerbaby widget for your Dashboard, head on over and install it. You can choose from preseason, opening day, the 35th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception (thanks Myron), the next Superbowl Victory, or the 2009 mini-Potty Training Camp. Funny & useful at the same time.
Let's go Stillers! Get this one for Myron.
Friday, August 8, 2008
I am not real fan of the Summer Olympics, I find it all pretty boring stuff. I wanted to check out the Olympics Silverlight player, because I am interested in technology.So I checked the player out. It took about 5 tries to actually get something to load, but finally I did see some video going.
The recorded stuff is kind of interesting, the quality of the video is good, especially when going to enhanced mode. I wanted to check out some LIVE footage though.
I hooked up my Verizon FiOS up to the player and then went to enhanced mode. Hey, Olympics without commentators -- sweet. Again, the video is sweet and smooth. But right-clicking on the player causes the whole front-end to drop out and display a big red block instead of UI. Sometimes the only way to get the UI back to show is to actually pop the Silverlight Preferences window. That's a weird bug. Firefox 3.0.1 on Leopard. Unless you can script an event to the right-click on the plugin.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
I thought that I had the recipe correct before, as I had taken it from an old Polish cookbook I picked up. It was close, but not entirely correct. I spent this past weekend with many of my relatives who straightened me out on Pra Babcia's recipe.During the family reunion we had a ton of food, and at the last minute I decided to make Mizeria for everyone. And it went pretty quickly. My great grandmother used to make it all the time up in Hamilton, Ontario. I had forgotten onion which makes a delicate yet overall substantial impact on the overall flavor. A few asked about onion and I had never made it that way, but ran to the store and picked one up.
After making the dish, a little light went off in my head, "That's it. I was missing it all the time but didn't notice. Now it's great." The fact that my family enjoyed it and it disappeared so quickly means I had finally gotten it right. And it brought back memories for everyone -- which was really the point.
Prep time: around 45 minutes, includes a lot of waiting for salt to draw moisture out of the cucumbers.
All that you need to make this dish are the following things (I always use this quantity):
- 4 thin cucumbers (don't go with the seedless English variety)
- a package of sour cream (don't get the light kind), will need 4-6 tbsp.
- white vinegar, 2-4 tsp.
- salt (traditional) 2 tsp.
- lots of dill, 2 tsp.
- a single white onion
- a large piece of Tupperware with a top
Take your tupperware container and then peel and thinly slice your cucumbers (as thinly as you can) into the tupperware. Thin slices allow the mixture you'll make later to more easily flavor the vegetable and also allows for the accelerated leeching of water from the slices. More surface area to drain.
When you've peeled and sliced all four cucumbers, place 2 tsp. of salt in, cover, swirl around, and sit the container on it's side. After 10 minute increments, drain the collected water out of a corner. After a few times, you shouldn't be pouring out much water anymore.
This is important... you really do want most of the excess water removed. If you rush this step, your end product may still taste okay (since water really doesn't have any taste to it), but the texture will be all wrong.
With that finally done, place 2 tsp. of dill, 2-4 tsp. of vinegar (to taste... I ALWAYS side with a heavier vinegar concentration), and 4-6 tbsp. of sour cream. I normally end up using 5 or 6 tbsp.
Cut the onion in half, and then cut one of the halves in half. Dice one side, slice the other (both thinly). Put the onions in with the cukes, put the top on, and swirl the mixture around until it's all mixed well.
If you've done things correctly, you shouldn't see any bubbles in the sour cream (which has now become more of a thickish sauce.) Give the Mizeria a litttle time in the fridge for the onions and dill and vinegar to flavor everything. The onions really do top of the signature flavor of this simple and refreshing dish.
Good to go. Enjoy it. Perfect for the summer.
My parents have a bunch of packages on their satellite... and each one has a bunch of dedicated channels to it so that every game that day will be broadcast.
Does FiOS have anything like this? I'd surely pay extra for an NHL and NFL package like this. I am looking for pricing, but I only find some information on NFL Network.
?
I immediately fetched it, shook the water off, and looked at the screen.
Powering off device.
Ooops. It indeed turned itself off. I took the battery out, and dried it off as best I could. Without thinking, I replaced the battery and powered it back on.
This time it booted up, got past all that Verizon VCast nonsense, and there I had my home screen. With one caveat. Below my custom string were the words in bold:
Car Kit
Weird. So this thing has some kind of hidden car kit mode? It began to power down again, and the screen changed to the Verizon logo, beneath that a large LG icon, and below that in debug text
Downloading...
What was it trying to download? Was this a pristine state whereby the software needed to be downloaded in order to run? Was I looking at firmware?
I thought the phone was screwed, and I shouldn't have been playing with it since obviously there was still some precipitate within the device messing things up. It wasn't in the water but a second, but that might have been enough.
I took the battery out, opened the clamshell, and let her air dry over night. Initially this morning the menu button didn't do anything, but after an hour, the phone is back to normal as far as I can tell. I thought I was going to have to buck up for a new phone or another two years or something as my wife's phone has the insurance on it, not mine (she uses hers twelve thousand times more than I do mine).
I suppose the key is to remove power and just let it dry out. Hopefully it will come back to life. I wonder how well an iPhone can handle water submersion?
Sunday, August 3, 2008
The Pennsic War is an annual late summer 17 day camping event held by the Society for Creative Anachronism. The event centers on pre-17th century history and culture. Campers dress in appropriate clothing and generally act as one from medieval times.
It's located in Slippery Rock, PA -- you can see it from the highway (I-79). It's mostly a collection of mostly smelly (unless they bathe in the nude or nudeless ponds), hippy-flowery folk dancing, singing, bongo-playing, drinking, and whining about politics.
Then there are the ass-kickers who long to beat the snot out of the hippies who decide to try and don armor and amuse the masses with their feeble attempts at leg and head wraps. That's the main draw for me... watching fields of guys in armor sweating their asses off, smacking the crap out of one another. Steel gets bent, angers are raised, bruises are produced, and armor broken. Good times. Go Camp Shadowwolf (from NC).
I have video of the tents, as far as one's eye can see. I have yet to take the footage off the SD card, but plan to shortly.
Reunion.
The weather was pristine with weekend, and I attended a family reunion that was an incredible time. Polka band, horses, tons of food, a big tent, great weather, bonfire, Canadians drinking Canadian beer, and the fellowship of family. I flew into Pittsburgh and drove up to the reunion. I stopped for some Oil City water too, the best water in the world.
I listened to Lanny on the car radio broadcasting a Pirates game and it took me back to the living room of my Grandparents when I was growing up. I love the sound of the crowd in the background and Lanny's gentle mannerisms. They won the game too.
Eleven acres of pristine beauty, the forests in Pennsylvania are amazing -- and in my opinion not replicated anywhere. Their subtle defining characteristics make them so striking when totaled: delicate and thick ferns, the general density of the trunks, the types of moss, lack of birch, etc.
I spent an hour at Walnut Creek -- wading up to my hips in some spots, making my way to Buttermilk Falls. The water was still brisk, bubbling out of a fresh water spring to cascade over a gumdrop shaped eroded formation... and directly across from it on the bank the location where I spent so many nights growing up camped in a tent with campfire, listening to the falls loudly singing above the crackling of the maple.
I built a series of steps 21 years ago, and the same stick posts holding one of the stone slabs firmly in place within the dirt wall are STILL there. It would appear that I had done a decent job of shoring that stone up, allowing many who followed access to the bluff above the creek.
A monsigniour that taught at my Prep school said mass, which my parents and I attended together. After all of these years, he still knew my mother's first name and remembered that I attended Prep... graduating in 89. What a memory!
