Archive for the ‘Meetings’ Category

29th September 2011 (29/09/2011)

Monday, August 1st, 2011

Flex Mobile (19:00 – 20:00) – Rob McMichael
The rapid growth and development of smart phones and tablets has pushed application development to the forefront of many developers agendas.

As the devices become more powerful, applications more complex and new platforms enter the fray, developers face a tough choice of how to realize their ideas.

Last year Adobe release AIR for Android, and then later added support for iOS and Blackberry. With the Flash platform hitting mobile it was only a matter of time before Flex got a mobile makeover.

This session will look at what new features were added with Flex and Flash Builder 4.5, the pros and cons of using the Flex and AIR for mobile and some insight into where it’s all headed.

Flex Navigators (20:15 – 21:15) – Tink
When Adobe released Flex 4 there were many known gaps in the Spark component set, and one of the big ones were navigators. No ViewStack, TabNavigator or Accordion left many relying on MX, others turned to states due to their large upgrade in mxml syntax.

This session will look at some open source navigators I released for Flex 4 using the spark ethos. I’ll cover the development process, a look at the code, what they’re capable of and how they can be used alongside other components. We’ll also cover when to use navigators over states and how you can create more dynamic applications that require less maintenance with some practical examples thrown in.

Prizes for the free raffle
Flex 4 Cookbook donated by O’Reilly.

Hosted by Mind Candy and sponsored by O’Reilly.

When/Where
Date: 29th September 2011 (29/09/2011)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: Mind Candy, Unit 4.01, Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JJ
Tube: Shoreditch High Street

Sign-up is now closed for this event (user ‘ hjwatso1’ being the last valid signup). Although you may still be able to add you name to the list below, the venue will not have your details and you will not be able to gain entry to the venue. Those signed up will need to confirm their username and email address when you enter the venue. If you are signed-up but cannot attend, please remove yourself to give others a chance to attend.

25th August 2011 (25/08/2011)

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Love at First Byte (19:00 – 20:00) – Conrad Winchester
If you are an Actionscript 3 developer then your compiled code runs on a thing called the Actionscript Virtual Machine 2 (AVM2). It is the CPU of the flash player and usually you are not even aware it is there. It is quite an amazing machine and this sessiom will introduce to its inner details, revealing what compiled Actionscript 3 looks like and explain how it runs on the AVM2.

The session will then go into how it is possible to alter this compiled code and and generate completely new code while the flash player is running and show you why you might want to do this and demonstrate a few real world examples, some fun and some serious. So hold your breath and take a deep dive with me into the heart of the AVM2.

Digital Archeology (20:15 – 21:15) – Steven Goodwin
In a few years time, it will be impossible to study the history of home computers since its software was either proprietary, closed-source, written in a now-obsolete language, or encumbered by software “protection” to prevent copying. Furthermore, the hardware upon which it ran is dying, and the cassette tapes holding the software are physically disintegrating.

This talk is a ten-point plan outlining the primary issues of digital archaeology, the methods necessary to preserve our computing legacy, and how emulation can help with this endeavour. We end with an overview describing how to build a ZX81/Spectrum emulator in Flash, with enough information and inspiration to convince you to go and preserve your own!

Prizes for the free raffle
2 tickets to Flash unplugged donated by Flash unplugged.

Hosted by Draftfcb and sponsored by Flash unplugged.

When/Where
Date: 25th August 2011 (25/08/2011)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: Draftfcb, 84 Eccleston Square, London, United Kingdom, SW1V 1PX
Tube: Victoria

Sign-up is now closed for this event.

28th July 2011 (28/07/2011)

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

BlackBerry PlayBook Development Roadmap (19:00 – 20:00) – Sanyu Kiruluta
This session will introduce the power and flexibility of the BlackBerry Tablet OS and show how easy it is for developers to create, package and debug applications for the BlackBerry PlayBook. This technical overview will cover the different development environments, tools and, commercialization services and offer insight into both the future roadmap for developing apps on the BlackBerry platform and how to best monetize your through BlackBerry App World.

Entity Systems – A Better Way to Develop Games (20:15 – 21:15) – Tom Davies
Ever wondered how they make modern console games or how Unity3D works? Well the answer is both elegant and counter-intuitive like most good ideas. This talk aims to point out the issues with traditional game development practices and how to address them. It will look at how various types of Entity systems are implemented and the pros and cons of each. Finally it will cover my open-source framework Ember and explain my reasoning behind it.

Prizes for the free raffle
AdvancED Game Design with Flash donated by Apress.
An Away3D Ornament donated by Away3D.

Hosted by glueisobar & sponsored by Apress.

When/Where
Date: 28th July 2011 (28/07/2011)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: glueisobar, Floor 7, 10 Triton Street, London NW1 3BF
Tube: Great Portland Street/Regent’s Park/Warren Street

Sign-up is now closed for this event.

30th June 2011 (30/06/2011)

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

Introduction to AlivePDF (19:00 – 20:00) – David Kinross
This talk is geared at kick starting your project by giving you all the tips and source code you’ll need to start developing straight away. Will walk you through the methods and limitations of the library with examples of how the Telegraph is using the technology followed up with a fun PHP and AS3 twitter mash up which produces pdf word clouds on the fly using live data.

Developing for Kids and Families (20:15 – 21:15) – Andrew Skinner & Tadhg McCarthy
In this session we will share our experiences, insights and research gathered developing content for kids and families. We will explore technology’s ability to evoke wonder, surprise and emotion in our very demanding audience. We’ll also give some insight into how we test our content and how we feed this back into the fun.

Prizes for the free raffle
The Essential Guide to HTML5: Using Games to learn HTML5 and JavaScript donated by friends of ED.

Hosted by Digital Outlook & sponsored by friends of ED.

When/Where
Date: 30th June 2011 (30/06/2011)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: Digital Outlook, 7-11 Lexington Street, London, W1F 9AF
Tube: Piccadilly/Oxford Street

Sign-up is now closed for this event.

26th May 2011 (26/05/2011)

Friday, April 1st, 2011

An Emotional Experience: How to Grab Your Audience by the Heart with Clever Game Design (19:00 – 20:00) – Luke Whittaker
IDespite it feeling like we’re the ones playing the games, they’re the ones playing with us. Everything in a well designed game is geared towards encouraging a response, sometimes this is physical, and increasingly it’s emotional. If we’re designing these experiences, we need to understand how to design like an author chooses their words – with the aim of shaping the audience’s response. This isn’t just about making ‘art’ games, this is about making great games which people will love and return to, whether that’s an indie adventure game or a twitch-reflex FPS. It’s about how to turn a bunch of random squares on your screen into something with form, function and heart.

Simulating the Real (20:15 – 21:15) – Rob Bateman
The natural world is responsible for many human preconceptions when viewing or interacting with our environment. When constructing a digital experience (be it game, website, app or toy), re-creating familiar features of nature can provoke a powerful response. But what provides the best approach to creating such an experience, and what kind of cues provide the best emulation results?

The addition of hardware accelerated graphics in the Flash Player Incubator is set to open a new world of possibility for creating and using real world simulations. In this presentation, Rob Bateman explores how new releases of OS software libraries such as Away3D, Jiglib and others offer access to the power and speed of GPU processing from within Flash, leading to a wide range of visual and interactive effects that take full advantage of these impressive new features.

Prizes for the free raffle
The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash donated by friends of ED.

Hosted by Dare & sponsored by friends of ED.

When/Where
Date: 26th May 2011 (26/05/2011)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: Dare, 101 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6XH
Tube: Goodge Street

Sign-up is now closed for this event (as of 24th May, user ‘eva0882’ being the last valid signup). Although you may still be able to add you name to the list below, the venue will not have your details and you will not be able to gain entry to the venue. Those signed up will need to confirm their username and email address when you enter the venue. If you are signed-up but cannot attend, please remove yourself to give others a chance to attend.

28th April 2011 (28/04/2011)

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Introducing xJSFL (19:00 – 20:00) – Dave Stewart
If you’ve never heard of JSFL, you’re not alone.

JSFL, or the Flash extensibility layer, is the JavaScript-based scripting language built into Flash, that can control virtually every aspect of the Flash IDE through code.

Although initially seen as the new “must-know” tool in the power-user’s arsenal, in the real world users found the JSFL syntax unintuitive, the development environment poor, and ultimately the massive potential of JSFL was never really realised beyond a few 2 or 3-line scripts languishing on the more adventurous developers’ hard drive.

8 years after its release, xJSFL is a modern jQuery-like framework that allows you to write JSFL in a manner more intuitive to normal JavaScript / ActionScript folk. It provides structured object model, common libraries, a clean, intuitive syntax, a world-class development environment, and front-end tools for the Flash IDE to integrate, manage and launch anything from single scripts to larger xJSFL modules.

The talk will introduce JSFL to those who don’t know about it, demo some real-world JSFL & xJSFL code, look at some xJSFL tools, and show how xJSFL can be used in both your design and code-only development projects.

Surviving the Industry (20:15 – 21:15) – Alias Cummins
The modern creative professional is beset on all sides by various pressures and sources of stress, be they from family, co-workers, contemporaries, or wider industry forces. All of these things can intertwine to create a toxic and fatal working environment, causing premature aging, bad health, loss of sanity and general professional or personal ruin. Maintaining a healthy work/life balance is therefore essential for the modern multimedia creative genius. It’s hard. I’ll be discussing various coping strategies, and how to avoid being the guy who ruins everything for everyone.

Prizes for the free raffle
The Definitive Guide to HTML5 Video donated by Apress.

Hosted by EHS 4D Group & sponsored by Apress.

When/Where
Date: 28th April 2011 (28/04/2011)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: EHS 4D, 6 Briset Street, London, EC1M 5NR
Tube: Farringdon/Barbican

Sign-up is now closed for this event. Although you may still be able to add you name to the list below, the venue will not have your details and you will not be able to gain entry to the venue. Those signed up will need to confirm their username and email address when you enter the venue. If you are signed-up but cannot attend, please remove yourself to give others a chance to attend.

31st March 2011 (31/03/2011)

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Exploring the Kinect (19:00 – 20:00) – Dennis Ippel
Microsoft’s Kinect allows players to interact without using any controllers. Hackers were quickly able to connect it to a computer and extract the data coming from the Kinect Sensor. What followed was a flood of impressive experiments that utilized the Kinect in a completely different way.

In this Session Dennis will tell you how the Kinect works, what frameworks are available and how you can use the Kinect Sensor’s data. Basic ActionScript examples will be given but he will also venture beyond Flash to show other powerful libraries and their capabilities.

What’s Faster? A Plane, a Car or a Fridge? (20:15 – 21:15) – Juan Delgado
Answer: Depends on which Flash Player they run.

With Android being installed in all types of devices a huge new field opens up for Flash developers: cars, planes, fridges, alarm clocks…. and phones, of course.

With such a variety is necessary comparing the performance of different devices so we can get an idea how our applications are going to run. If my app runs OK in the Samsung Galaxy TAB, how is it going to run in the Nexus One? And in the Electrolux Infinity I-Kitchen?

It is kindly requested from attendants with Android devices to bring them over for science abuse : )

Prizes for the free raffle
AdvancED Game Design with Flash donated by friends of ED.

Hosted by ustwo™ & sponsored by friends of ED.

When/Where
Date: 31st March 2011 (31/03/2011)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: ustwo™, Unit G.01, TEA building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JJ
Tube: Shoreditch High Street

Sign-up is now closed for this event (as of 22nd March, user ‘tobystreet’ being the last valid signup). Although you may still be able to add you name to the list below, the venue will not have your details and you will not be able to gain entry to the venue. Those signed up will need to confirm their username and email address when you enter the venue.If you are signed-up but cannot attend, please remove yourself to give others a chance to attend.

24th February 2011 (24/02/2011)

Friday, January 7th, 2011

Social, Casual, Games (19:00 – 20:00) – Jasper Stocker
Although games have been around for over 4600 years, computers and later the internet have revolutionised how we play them. But how much do we understand about social gaming? What is Zynga doing right and what keeps people playing their games? This talk will outline of some of the fundamental aspects of social gaming we take for granted, looking at what works and why it works.

Introduction to HTML5 (20:15 – 21:15) – Gareth Slinn
HTML5 is still a work in progress but when complete will be the new standard for HTML, XHTML, and the HTML DOM. This presentation will aim to give an introduction to HTML5, the new elements and their API’s.

Prizes for the free raffle
1 copy of Pro HTML5 Programming donated by Apress.

Sponsored by Apress & hosted by Sapient.

When/Where
Date: 24th February 2011 (24/02/2011)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: Sapient, Eden House, 8 Spital Square, London, E1 6DU
Tube: Shoreditch High Street/Liverpool Street

Sign-up is now closed for this event (as of 23rd February, user ‘Dennis’ being the last valid signup). Although you may still be able to add you name to the list below, the venue will not have your details and you will not be able to gain entry to the venue. Those signed up will need to confirm their username and email address when you enter the venue.

27th January 2011 (27/01/2011)

Monday, November 29th, 2010

Android Development: The Next Steps (19:00 – 20:00) – Adam Robertson
A lot has changed since we last covered Android development way back in May with Richard Leggett. We’ve seen an update to the OS, new screen resolutions and form factors, and a multitude of new high powered devices. In this talk Adam will continue our Android exploration from roughly where Richard wrapped up last time and bring you up to speed on the fast moving Android ecosystem.

We’ll take a look at a couple of the most popular native Android games libraries from the perspective of a Flash/Flex developer and discuss some of the pitfalls you need to be aware of when developing performant Android games. We’ll also discover how easy it is to port your existing apps directly to Android using Adobe Air.

Lastly, we’ll cover the Android Market place, deploying and licensing your applications, and how to promote and hopefully even profit from them.

OpenGL ES (20:15 – 21:15) – Liam Flynn
OpenGL ES is a popular cross-platform API for 2D and 3D graphics on embedded systems. This includes not only mobile phones but also consoles, appliances and vehicles. Most notably it is fully supported on both iOS and Android. It provides a flexible and powerful low-level interface between software and graphics acceleration.

This session will aim to provide an introduction to OpenGL ES specifically aimed at Flash developers. In addition, it briefly undertakes to investigate techniques for ensuring that the code-base can be ported from device to device.

Prizes for the free raffle
1 copy of The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash donated by friends of ED.

Sponsored by friends of ED & The Hoxton Mix. Hosted by Square Circle & Solid State Group.

When/Where
Date: 27th January 2010 (27/01/2011)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: Square Circle Media, 4th Floor, 86 – 90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE
Tube: Old Street/Liverpool Street

Sign-up is now closed for this event (as of 23rd January, user ‘Jase’ being the last valid signup). Although you may still be able to add you name to the list below, the venue will not have your details and you will not be able to gain entry to the venue. Those signed up will need to confirm their username and email address when you enter the venue.

16th December 2010 (16/12/2010)

Friday, November 5th, 2010

Piss-up
Come and join us at the appropriately named Jerusalem Tavern for a few festive drinks.

Prizes for the free raffle
2 Festival Tickets for FITC Amsterdam 2011 donated by FiTC .

Sponsored by FiTC.

When/Where
Date: 16th December 2010 (16/12/2010)
Time: 19:00 – ??:??
Venue: The Jerusalem Tavern, 55 Britton Street, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 5UQ
Tube: Farringdon/Barbican

You need to register and sign-up if you wish to attend and be entered into the raffle. You can sign-up in the sidebar on the right of the front page or at the bottom of the post here. Please do not sign-up if you don’t plan to attend. You cannot win unless you attend the event.