Friday, June 28, 2002

A New Home
Media Insites, Inc., my company, has finally set up its own dedicated server graciously hosted by the folks over at Rackspace. This means that I will soon be running a Jabber server on my own domain and that Eat Orange will soon be moving permanently to eatorange.com.

Once my Jabber server is up and running I can embed Jabber-enabled Flash chat programs and games directly into the pages here and not worry about the Flash security sandbox.

I'll also post the source to an "easy-bake" chat program using Flash JabberConf at this time.

   Saturday, June 22, 2002

Announcing: Flash JabberConf
I finally finished it. Flash JabberConf (FJC) is an API for Flash MX that I wrote. It should allow anyone familiar with MX and the new event model to quickly create chat and messaging applications in Flash.

FJC was written to allow communication with a Jabber server running the Jabber conferencing component (also known as group chat). It is essentially an "MX-erized," light-weight version of JabberFlash with the necessary extensions that allow it to easily support conferencing and group chat.

FJC is available here in zip format. I'm always looking for ways to make it better, so take a look at the code, try it out, and let me know what you think! There is plenty of accompanying documentation to get you started.

   Friday, June 21, 2002

More Fun Flash Ideas
It's a great time to be a member of the Flash community. With such amazing projects as Philter Design's Flash RSS Reader and The Feasible Impossibilities Talking Blog we are really beginning to see the power behind MX.

I came up with few ideas that would incorporate both Jabber and these new technologies. In the good-natured spirit of sharing, here they are:

• A scrolling Flash blog news ticker. This ticker would use a Jabber RSS component (similar to the example in DJ Adams' book Programming Jabber) to push feed data to a Flash-based ticker application.
• A talking chat room using the Feasibile Impossibilities technology and my <plug type="shameless"> soon to be released Flash JabberConf API </plug>.

If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them.
   Wednesday, June 19, 2002

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch . . .
I spent the last six days or so back at home in San Diego with my parents. It was definitely a welcome escape from the smog-ridden Los Angeles scenery and mayhem on highway 405. My parents' new spa was installed just as I was leaving. I guess I'll just have to head down there again as soon as possible.

On the Flash front, I made quite a bit of progress on Flash JabberConf (FJC), an API for quickly programming jabber "chat" or conferencing programs in Flash. It is based largely on Yannick Connan's JabberFlash but I've added the necessary conferencing additions and removed anything unnecessary for conferencing. It should be nice and light weight. I've also "MX-erized" it using the new event model (ASBroadcaster, etc.), and used Branden Hall's SHA1 implementation for the server authentication. Expect this one to be released by Monday.

   Monday, June 10, 2002

SVG and SWF: Have Your Cake and Eat It Too!
Recently, there has been a bit of a buzz around two different articles at O'Reilly that focus on the merits of SWF and SVG, respectively. Both of these articles very effectively illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of each vector graphics standard. Yet, they also seem to hint that there is no possiblility of peaceful coexistence between the two. (If you haven't read the articles, I highly recommend you do so. The first, entitled "SWF Is Not Flash" is available here. The second, "SVG On the Rise," is here.)

After working with Jabber for a while, I've quickly come to realize the strengths of XML representation. SVG is a very powerful tool. The problem is harnessing the power of SVG inside of Flash. It would open a whole new world of potential if Flash could export/communicate using SVG, but unfortunately this is not the case.

After taking a look at the JabberZilla whiteboarding client, I realized that the power of SVG could easily be used inside of a Flash MX application. Using Jabber as the transport, whiteboard clients could transmit data back and forth in SVG form. If I draw a circle on the Flash client, this client would call a function that creates the SVG representation of this circle and sends it on its merry way. This would allow a Flash/Jabber whiteboard client to seamlessly communicate with, say, a Java/Jabber whiteboard client. There are limitations, of course. This is mainly because Flash does not natively "speak" SVG. Circles and squares would be easy to implement, for instance, but a series of hand drawn squiggles might be more difficult. This is just an idea, mind you. But I plan on actively pursuing it in the future.

If you have any thoughts/ideas on SVG and Flash, I'd enjoy hearing them.

   Saturday, June 8, 2002

JabberCheckers Update
I took some time out last night to finish up the game engine for JabberCheckers. Fixes include:

• Disabling of pieces on other player's turn (using my GameModerator class)
• Forced jumping: If a jump is available, you must take it.
• Square highlighting: If a jump is forced then the available squares are highlighted. This is also used to enable multiple jumps.
• Red moves first ("Fire before smoke.")

As always, the latest version is available here. Flash Player 6 required.
   Friday, June 7, 2002

Jabber and Radio
It was brought to my attention by Jarle Bergersen over at JDB Cyberspace that there has been work underfoot to integrate Jabber with Radio. I had absolutely no clue, but I guess it is not too much of a suprise considering DJ Adams uses Radio for his own blog. Check out RadioJabber and jerf.org for more.

Now all I need to do is find a way to integrate Flash, Jabber and Radio all into one.

Correction: DJ Adams does not use Radio for his blog. He uses Blosxom. Sorry for the mixup.