Richard Willis

It was a bit of a mad scramble at times but we did it. 100 punters turned up from all over the south-east on Saturday to hear some great speakers, some that had come all the way from Colorado, although granted not just for our event. The WHOLE THING was FREE! That included the event itself, t-shirts, stickers, sweets, a beer, a pizza, an after-party… and most astonishingly of all a copy of Flex Builder 2 for each and every attendee, courtesy of Adobe! As well as a single copy of CS3 Web Premium as a raffle prize at the end of the conference. That’s right kids, if you were one of the 20 or so people who registered but didn’t actually turn up then you’ll have missed out on all that. And it should be stressed that we didn’t badger Adobe for the stuff. Sure, we asked them for some sponsorship money - hotel rooms, food, beer, PA systems: they all cost money - but the software? Nah, that was their idea and a very generous one too. Thanks guys!

Thanks also to the speakers who, again, generously gave their time pretty much for free. But thanks mainly go to the punters who turned up to what i hope they found an enjoyable and engaging event. Cos, y’know, at-heart, bottom-line, end-of-the-day:

We did it for YOU!

:)

if you are looking for ‘HowTo: Build a multi-language dynamic Flex application’, you’ll find it here.

I attend and occasionally help organise events for the local FlashBrighton users group run by Seb Lee-Delisle. It just so happens that in a couple of weeks we’re running a COMPLETELY FREE event for the Flash community called our ‘Big Day Out‘. Concentrating on Flex, AIR & AS3 its a day long event down by the pier here and will feature the combined speaking talents of some of the best in the business, such as Mike Jones, Adobe’s Andrew Shorten, Real Eyes’ David Hassoun & John Crosby and Brighton’s very own Aral Balkan!

That freeness I just mentioned includes a free lunch of pizza and beer. I’m usually pretty cynical about these sorts of things, assuming - as it largely true - that nothing is free. However as one of the people organising this event I can give you an behind-the-scenes exclusive: this is GENUINELY free, JUST for you benefit with NO CATCHES.

Spaces are limited kids, so get on over and register just as soon as you can!

I’m reading a lot of books about play and games at the moment. I’m interested in what Alexander Galloway has to say about what he calls ‘countergaming’ in his book ‘Gaming - Essays on algorhymthic culture‘. he has a look at many of the well-known examples of counter-gaming such as jodi, velvet strike and the work of Cory Arcangel and, whilst appreciative of their work, finds that their emphasis and the emphasis of the majority of those involved in countergaming is on hacking existing games software into aesthetic experiences as opposed to attempting to create games that redefine the unwritten rules of gaming itself.

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We’ve all just got back from this fantastic conference. I’ve been spared the task of a comprehensive review by the sterling work of my estimable peer Owen Bennett whose reaction largely echoes my own. hey, it’s late and i’m tired, so thanks Owen!

So I’ll just add that i was moved to tears twice by events at FOTB07 and… yes, leave it at that.

I have been mentally and quite literally physically underground for weeks now. I won’t bore you with quite how or why but take my word for it: I have been busy. I return following my lengthy subterranean hiatus with the intention of informing you all of a troubling experience I had with AS3 whilst away, a thoroughly unpleasant compile-time gotcha!have a look at this charming getter method:

public function get playerAnswerToSeek ():PlayerAnswer
{
	var p:PlayerAnswer = _playerAnswers[0];
	if ( Math.random() > 0.9.5 ){
		p.distance = p.distance + 1;
	}
	return p;
};

Can you see anything wrong with it?

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