28th April 2011 (28/04/2011)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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.

25th November 2010 (25/11/2010)

October 4th, 2010

Apps that Inspire (19:00 – 20:00) – Filip Visnjic
Filip will discuss digital ecosystems, designing for immersive experiences and what role both physical and digital play in our daily life. The talk will focus on iPhone and iPad platforms covering topics such as tools and frameworks, design, production, distribution and curation.

AS3 → openFrameworks: Taking the Next Step (20:15 – 21:15) – James Alliban
So you already know about openFrameworks, you’ve seen the incredible work built with it and lusted after the power it can afford an Actionscript developer with a creative brain and a bucketload of ambition. Maybe it’s time to crack open that toolkit and start realising those ideas.

In this session James will provide an introduction to openFrameworks from the perspective of an Actionscript developer. We’ll start off by talking about the community, introducing some resources and showing some oF projects. Things will progressively get more tech heavy as we’ll get into topics such as setting up a new project, working with addons such as ofxOpenCV and implementing a simple OOP project. In addition to this, James will also explain the process of setting up and developing for iOS devices using oF.

Prizes for the free raffle
1 Calendar & 1 Spreadsheet component for Flex (unlimited domain editions) donated by Flextras.
1 Teknision t-shirt donated by Teknision.

Sponsored by Skive, Flextras & Teknision.

When/Where
Date: 25th November 2010 (25/11/2010)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: Skive, 3rd Floor Compton Courtyard, 40 Compton Street, London, EC1V 0AP
Tube: Barbican, Faringdon

Sign-up is now closed for this event (as of 25th November, user akapain 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.

30th September 2010 (30/09/2010)

August 27th, 2010

Flash on the Beach: The Aftermath (19:00 – 21:00) – A plethora of Flash talent straight from the speaker line up at Flash on the Beach, including: Veronique Brossier Julian Dolce, Hugh Elliot, Ralph Hauwart, Jon Howard, Seb Lee-Delisle, Niqui Merret, Stacey Mulachy, Chris Pelsor, Rich Shupe, Grant Skinner, Tink & Conrad Winchester

An ‘open mic’ meeting with a panel of speakers direct from Flash on the Beach. Get you questions lined up, ask what you will!

If you have a question that you would like to put to the panel please leave a comment in this post below. We’ll pick a select of questions on the night.

Hosted by Mr Flash on the Beach himself, John Davey!

FDT 4 (15 mins) – Michael Plank & Bruno Fonzi of Powerflasher
A preview of the greatest new features in FDT 4, all crammed into 15 mins.

There will be no bar or drinks laid on at the venue. Bring you own booze.

Prizes for the free raffle
1 copy of FDT 4 Pure license donated by Powerflasher.
1 copy of The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash donated by friends of ED.
1 limited edition Fight Club Haiku screenprint donated by Movies in Haiku.

Sponsored by Guardian, Flash on the Beach & friends of ED

When/Where
Date: 30th September 2010 (30/09/2010)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue:
Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU

Tube: Kings Cross

Sign-up is now closed for this event (as of 27th September). 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.

26th August 2010 (26/08/2010)

July 1st, 2010

Robotlegs & Signals: A Match Made in Heaven (19:00 – 20:00) – Conrad Winchester
Robotlegs is an Actionscript framework that makes it easier to write and maintain applications. It can use almost any design pattern for the application’s architecture but comes with a built in version of the Model, View, Controller and Service design pattern. This is called its MVCS reference implementation.

This talk will explore developing a small but real-world application using the Robotlegs Framework along with this MVCS implementation. We’ll look at how the architecture of the application can easily be split into separate layers that all have clear areas of concern.

The talk will also demonstrate how well Robotlegs integrates with AS3 Signals to produce what I believe is one of the cleanest application frameworks available to Actionscript developers at the moment.

Arduino & ActionScript (20:15 – 21:15) – George Profenza
This talk will be a quick intro into Arduino, sensors, actuators and communication with Flash. I will present the different options for creating visuals using data from Arduino and the pros and cons of working using Flash for this sort of projects. Hopefully, if the hardware won’t fail, we’ll have some nice demos.

Prizes for the free raffle
1 Duemilanove Starter Kit donated by disturb media.
1 copy of Flex 4 Cookbook donated by O’Reilly.

Sponsored by RGA, disturb media & O’Reilly

When/Where
Date: 26th August 2010 (26/08/2010)
Time: 19:00 – 23:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue:
RGA, Level4, 42 St. John’s Square, London, EC1M 4EA
Tube: Farringdon/Barbican

Sign-up is now closed for this event. You will not be able to attend if you haven’t signed up. Those signed up will need to confirm their username and email address when you enter the venue.

29th July 2010 (29/07/2010)

June 10th, 2010

Re-Architecting the Designer-Developer Workflow (19:00 – 20:00) – Richard Lord
Most application development follows a pattern where the designers design it then the developers build it. Any change in the design requires more work from the developers, who have to implement each change request.

It doesn’t have to be this way. By modifying the application architecture, we can enable the developer to do their work before the designer, leaving the designer free to alter the design as frequently as they wish without recourse to developer time.

This frees designers to respond to client requests in a timely manner and frees developers to work on a more strategic level, adding functionality to the tools the designers use without being bogged down in day-to-day client projects.

In this session I’ll describe this new architecture, how and why I developed it, the benefits and pitfalls of its use, and how to implement it using any of the current dependency injection frameworks

Managing a Monster Flash Project (20:15 – 21:15) – Cat Burton & Martyn Jones
Moshi Monsters is an extremely popular online social game for kids with over 20 million members and growing…fast!!! We will share some of our secrets in managing such a large, on-going flash project and give an account of a day in the life of a Front-End Developer at Mind Candy.

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

Sponsored by AKQA, Flash on the Beach & friends of ED

When/Where
Date: 29th July 2010 (29/07/2010)
Time: 19:00 – 22:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: AKQA, 1 St. John’s Lane, London, EC1M 4BL
Tube: Farringdon/Barbican

Sign-up is now closed for this event. You will not be able to attend if you haven’t signed up. Those signed up will need to confirm their username and email address when you enter the venue.

24th June 2010 (24/06/2010)

April 30th, 2010

Digital Storytelling – Creative Technology in the Newsroom and Beyond (19:00 – 20:00) – Alastair Dant
A tour of interactive authoring at the Guardian. Topics include storyfinding, cross-department workflows, rapid development, data visualisation and open APIs. We’ll take a peek behind the scenes of several apps such as live results for the election, the world cup in words and something to ponder for Stevie Jobs.

Flash Contracting (20:15 – 21:15) – David Fox
Becoming a contract developer in London can be a pretty stressful decision. Setting up limited companies, finding jobs, getting paid and generally fitting in are just a few things you need to master before you can even begin to deal with crazy deadlines, difficult clients, switching workspaces every other week and the occasional piece of badly written code.

This session will show the pro’s and con’s of contract life for those considering stepping over to the dark side and for those who have already taken the plunge, we’ll be going through ways in which you can make the market work for you, dealing with recruiters, how to minimize the pain of contracting’s disadvantages and also a few tips on how to push your day rate up.

Prizes for the free raffle
2 full conference passes to Flash on the Beach donated by Flash on the Beach.
1 copy of The Essential Guide to 3D in Flash donated by friends of ED.

Sponsored by Flash on the Beach & friends of ED

When/Where
Date: 24th June 2010 (24/06/2010)
Time: 19:00 – 23:00 (doors open at 18:30)
Venue: CosmoBar, 50-54 Clerkenwell Road, EC1M 5PS (click for map)
Tube: Barbican/Farringdon

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.