I was just watching the video before the keynote for WebDU2007 in Australia and I felt this pang of .... hmm.. regret I think, that made we wish I had gone to the conference.
I've been there the last two years talking about video and also Flash Media Server, but this year is just too busy for me to get away for a week. I mean.. I suppose I could have, but not without being hunted down later and assassinated in some way.
MXDU2005 and WebDU2006 were awesome and I've always said that Geoff and company put on the best conference in the world and the people I meet each and every time are great. Combined with that Australia is a really cool place to go.
*sniff*..
Next year I'll go.
Now I know why Jesse is back there. I met him in 2005 and hassled him in 2006 to go but he said that conferences might not be worth the investment. He's there this year though ;)
I've received a rather cool offer from the YMCA here in the lower mainland to teach web design and development from next month (sept). I'll be talking from the basics to a few advanced topics and most definitely will be talking about Flash and FMS. I've got to say though that there is so much to talk about in so little time.. should be fun though.
Since being back in Canada our local presence has grown quite fast and am starting to get quite a few local companies contacting me concerning all kinds of projects. It's quite exciting actually. Global clients are great but there is something about having a strong local presence that is pretty cool. I haven't quite put my thumb on it, but there is something that just gives a better overall feeling.
So anyways, if you happen to be in the lower mainland here and are looking to learn some web design/development at quite reasonable prices (not for profits are usually quite cheap in comparison) stop in at the Tong Louie YMCA on the #10 and 152st and ask about the class.
I've noticed a couple of items that irk me concerning MAX2006.
First up is the lack of sessions concerning Flash Media Server 2. Although I can't really say I'm too surprised because lately Adobe has just not even been trying to push FMS to the masses. There have been a couple of good big dollar items they've been working on and getting out, all concerning video of course, but for the community it's just been a serious lack of commitment for some reason. I'm guessing it's from a lack of time etc, but still... It's odd in a way because it's such a cool cool technology. It sure would be nice to see a bit more energy going FMS's way in the conferences and seminars.
The second item is the issue concerning the non payment nor reimbursement of travelling and lodging expenses. There are a couple of guys that blogged about it, Guy and Aral so far, and they bring up a good point in that if Adobe is charging 1000 bucks a head to have people come and listen to the speakers.. why not pay the speakers? No speakers no attendees right?
But on the flip side there are a lot of people out there that would present for free. Some will do it because they believe in the conference as a great idea or feeling etc, others will do it for their portfolio, that in itself is great payment to some. Others do it for a bit of fame, experience, fun, and whatnot.
This is most noticeable in WebDU in Australia run by Geoff Bowers and Daemon. I've been twice and wouldn't think for a second not to go again if invited on my own dime (if I have the money..). They pay NOTHING to the speakers, but you get treated very well, it's not a major corporate hand out tons of business cards, make all the contacts, lets-all-make-lots-of-money style of conference. WebDU is definitely the coolest conference I've been to so far and I've managed to make some very good friends there. I really like their style. I'm quite apalled that Aral has put WebDU in the same boat as MAX.. they are not even remotely close. Has Aral even been? Shame on you.
Back on topic on that though, I don't agree that Adobe can't afford to get the speakers there, or at least provide accomodation. Such a HUGE corporation should be doing these things for the community, and if that requires "supporting" the speakers, then so be it. Such is the way of the bean counter I suppose. It's just not worth it enough for them I guess. I'll never understand the workings into that.
First off, and more about this below, my presentation on Flash Media Server 2.0 Tricks and Tips, and example files will be up soon! Give me a day or two to settle down here and I'll have lots of info up.
I've just made it back yesterday afternoon from webdu2006 in Australia, and to start off I'd like to say it was a blast!! I haven't had much time to do anything other than go through my email and respond to emergency projects and support. I was stupid enough to forget my power supply for my laptop meaning that I had a very limited amount of juice to get me through the 8 days that I was there. Meaning that the lappy was used for emergencies, presentation and then very minimal email.
So, anyways I'm back now and want to quickly note that my preso and the examples that I showed will be available pretty quick. I also video taped the whole session and will be posting that when I get some time to capture it all to my computer, edit it up, get it with cue points and captions and up onto the server. It should be pretty much like my other presos (see the side bar on the main page of this blog) with synced slides and stuff.
webdu2006 was awesome again. I'm proud to say that we'll be getting another voice of the people up again to show what people are saying about the conference and the new technology racing around the internet. Especially flex and flex builder 2 actually, it most definitely stole the show this year.
Lots of great presos going on, and of course the activities on the side were a-hell-of-a-lot of fun. Starting with the story making (last year was a sort of treasure hunt thingy..) with pics and spoofs on old fairy tale stories and ending with some truly cool Brazilian dancing (got video of that too). Hopefully Geoff will get a couple of those stories up on the webdu site to show others that couldn't make it how funny it was.
Last but by far not least, a huge thanks and congrats to the Daemon team for again putting together a truly cool conference. I hope I can make it next year..
Yup, for a second year in a row I'm lucky enough to be speaking in Australia at the famed and most awesome conference webdu2006 (formerly known as MXDU). I've been to quite a few conferences (mainly Macromedia's MAX) and even though there has been some seriously nice stuff going on, nothing yet has topped my experience last year at MXDU 2005 when I spoke on Flash Video. This conference truly rules!
Anyhow..
My session is going to be on FMS 2.0, I'll be talking about Tips and Tricks and Good Practices For Building Flash Media Server 2.0 Applications, which should be lotsa fun. I'm looking forward to see how much interest there is in FMS2.0 down under and hopefully meeting/catching up with lots of peeps that I've been speaking with for the last couple of years.
Here's a direct link to the session details:
http://www.webdu.com.au/go/session/flash-media-server
Here is my presentation I did at MAX Hong Kong 2005 on Testing for Security Holes in Flash and Flash Media Server 2.0. This is the second in a pair of sessions I did at all three MAX conferences in Asia this year, here is the other presentation (Best Practices & Architecture for Flash & Flash Media Server 2.0).
This one too has streamed video with captions and syncronized slides and once again I have to thank Captionate 2.0 for the excellent functionality to get captions and cue points embedded in an FLV file that just fits in the seminar app. This time I took advantage of the importing of the captions text file and formatting that is in Captionate 2.0.. I can't believe I didn't use this before. I had actually copy and pasted in every line last time.. it took far too long. With this importing stuff, it parses out the file into bite size lines and then all you have to do is press the "add caption" button and it adds in the line that you want to add in the file as it plays along.
Truly simple and efficient.. I can't rave enough.
Anyways, the presentation is a bit drab and dry.. it's security centric so what more can you ask for right? But there are quite a few points in there worth listening to I think if you are an intermediate FMS developer or budding FCS/FMS developer looking for tips and concepts on making your apps a bit more safe for the "real world".
Anyways, here is the link to the presentation files again, just in case.
Again, any comments are very appreciated (I only got one on the last one.. I hope the preso was useful to some..), and any questions should be answered as soon as I can, so freely post any and all :)
I've finally managed to get the video I took of my session on Best Practices & Architecture for Flash & Flash Media Server 2.0 that I did at MAX Korea 2005. I did have two other versions, one from Singapore and one from Hong Kong, but the Korea one seemed best because we had over an hour for our sessions, whereas the others were one hour or less. So there is more content in this one.
The video is Flash 8 streamed from FMS2 with the captions put in for the whole video with Captionate 2.0. I've got to say that this app rules! It's a serious pain to get all the captions (took me 4 hours for 1 hour of video to type them all out), but once you have them, Captionate just makes it easy to embed in the FLV file and in turn integrate into the our Flash application.
Anyways, I have one more video I want to get up, Testing for Security Holes in Flash and Flash Media Server which I have captured but just need to edit. The one I am using is from the Hong Kong MAX conference. It shouldn't take me too much longer, but I am doing it only in my spare time.. which I'm lacking more and more of lately. Either way, I expect to have it up next week at the latest.
Here is the link again to the presentation files just in case.
And the session details:
Best Practices for Development and Architecture for Flash Media Server
I've put together the presentation files and examples into a zip to be downloaded.
I should have the video of the presentations up sometime within the next 2 weeks. Just a bit too busy to get to that at the moment.
ZIP File of MAX presentations and examples
I've included the MP3 player that uses the File object on the server side to grab the files in a virtual directory, the limit access example that was in my security related presentation, and the virtual keys example that grabs a video depending on the virtual key of the client.
Any questions can be posted in the comments area.
MAX Hong Kong has finished up today. It was great with even greater after hours activities along with superb food and a terrific hotel to stay at.
I can't say enough about the 3 conferences and I've got so much information to post. Especially my presentations and example files. So please give me a couple of days to get out of Hong Kong first and get settled into the normal rhythm of work and I will be posting all kinds of things.
I'd like to say to MM that it's be awesome. What a way to finish up with a bang as "Macromedia". 3 great MAX conferences.. I can't say it enough. It's been a blast and I've learnt so much about the Asia Pacific region while here. Thanks MM!!
MAX Korea ruled.. that's all I can say. I can't wait to get some pics and video up. Very impressive and a great round of speakers and sessions to go with it.
I'm currently in Hong Kong now with 2 sessions today at the end of the day. Hong Kong definitely has energy and I can't wait to see how this conference turns out.
Anyways, to all the people looking for the preso files and the examples that I created for them, I will be posting them once Hong Kong is finished up (expect the chat application). Mainly because I'm doing the same presentation here too, so I don't want people to DL them just yet.
All in all, I should also be able to get up a video version of my presentations because I'm video taping them all. I'll choose the easiest to see ones and hopefully people will be able to view/review them and get some good points that I was trying to get across.
I will be heading to Seoul on Monday to attend Max Korea. If any readers out there will be in attendance, I would love the chance to meet up and maybe talk shop over a beer (or soju). I will be attending the mobile/devices sessions.
With Graeme speaking and myself wondering about, any takers should be able to track one of us down.
MAX Singapore finished up yesterday with a bang with Yugo Nakamura. He had some pretty neat examples going with some of his old work and the latest. I've gotta say though that Mario's presentations on bitmaps and the VJ application came up tops in my books along with Jared's presos on making stuff just move by itself. I suck at stuff like that, so it's quite interesting and a good learning experience for me to watch and see how it all works. Very very cool stuff going on there, and Mario says he's going to post his examples and presos on his blog for everybody to check out later.
My sessions on FMS2 went quite well, with a good turnout of about 1/3 of the attendees. There were about 350 people there in all I think. The first session on best practices and architecture did much better than the security topic.. Security for FMS is quite bland, so no surprise there.
Tomorrow morning, I head off to Korea for the MAX conference there on the 15th and 16th. I've only got one session there but after that it's off to Hong Kong and back to 2 sessions. Supposedly there are already 700 people or so registered for that event.. it's going to be fun I think.
It's pretty neat to see how each region is doing in certain areas. I've noticed there isn't a huge market at the moment for FMS2 here, but there sure seems to be a growing interest.
Anyways, I'll make sure to get my presentations up after Hong Kong, which is when I'm sure you'll see a lot of the other presenters presos going up. This is mainly because a lot of us are just doing the same presentations over and over again.
Just wanted to note really quickly here that I've got 2 sessions each at 3 upcoming MAX Conferences in Asia on Flash Media Server 2. I'll be speaking about two items, one is Best Practices for Development and Architecture for Flash Media Server and the other is Testing for Security Holes in Flash and Flash Media Server. They are in Singapore, Korea and Hong Kong and all in November. I'm really looking forward to this, although I expect to be a bit tired after them all because they are one after another, and I'll literally be country hopping..
Here are a few details:
Singapore - 11/9th and 10th
Singapore MAX 2005
Korea - 11/15th and 16th
Korea MAX 2005
Hong Kong - 11/17th 18th
Hong Kong MAX 2005
Session details:
Best Practices for Development and Architecture for Flash Media Server
Testing for Security Holes in Flash and Flash Media Server
Just to note, my birthday falls on the 17th of November, which is pretty cool because I'll be in Hong Kong to celebrate it :D
In 2 more days I'm off to Sydney to go and present about Flash video. I'm seriously excited about this and can't wait to get there. Here's the snippet on what I'm going to talk about:
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As I'm sure you can tell, Flash video is quickly becoming (if it hasn't already) the most popular medium to get video out onto the web lately. The reason, as I'm sure you know, is that it's not just video when it's in Flash, it's now a new experience as you have interaction and power over what you can do with that video in your web site or application. Now, whether you are going to put your video into Flash or not there are some basics that are required to know so you can make the web experience a bit better for the user.
In this session I'm going to cover most of the basics of shooting, importing, editing, and rendering the video that you plan to put up. Combining that with tips and tricks for chroma keying, captioning, and adding other effects to get a better experience for your buck along with the final encoding so you don't make your users wait around until the cows come home for it to buffer.
You will also see the basic 3 ways to get video into Flash (coded straight in Flash, Dreamweaver Video Extension, and Flash Communication Server), though I do consider this the easiest part of the whole process, so we'll keep this part to the minimum. Then to top it all off, I'll go over a couple of examples pointing out things that could have been improved and where to take the project from there if you wanted to get it to the next level.
If you are interested in more than just importing video into Flash and are keen to see the details on pre-deployment, then this session is for you.
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My last presentation (3 of them) at MAX in Taipei was on FCS so I'm really glad that I've been given a chance to talk about something else. Flash video rules, but it's not just the Flash part of it really. So many people want to make really cool stuff with Flash and MM makes it looks so easy. I was actually asked by a friend that if they buy the video kit for DW, can they make videos like the ones on MM's site really easily. Well.. we all know the answer to that one, so that's what I'm going to concentrate on this time.
It's not the Flash part that is hard, it's the preparation before getting it into flash. Although I will try to steer the session around getting video ready for the web, I think most people have that part figured out as there are a lot of articles on the web about that, and all the MM people have covered that stuff over and over again.
Anyways, if you see me before I see you please come and say hi. I'll most likely be the guy toting around a laptop and video camera for the MXDU super secret project we have planned :)
I have been honoured with an offer from Macromedia to be a speaker at MAX 2004 in Taiwan coming up this November 9,10. I don't think many know about this MAX event because almost it's at the exact same time as the one in the US, which is a bit disappointing as this is the very first time for Macromedia China to have a MAX event. I would think that MM would advertise a bit more.
I'll be speaking about Flash Communication Server with Mike Downey for 2 sessions. The topics are:
Developers introduction to Flash Communication Server and application development
Starting from the basics of Flash Communication Server and moving quickly on to building a simple application with and without components, this session should help you understand what Flash Communicatin Server is capable of doing and how you can take advantage of it in your applications. This session is tuned more towards the first timers to FCS but even a slightly experienced FCS application developer should be able to take advantage of the information presented.
Performance Tuning and Troubleshooting Flash Communication Server
Learn how to avoid common mistakes and how to keep your applications running in an efficient manner when developing with Flash Communication Server Common stumbling blocks are covered along with multiple ways of what you can do to debug your application when it won't run the way you expect. Beginners can take advantage of this session to brush up on recommended styles of developing for FCS while the more intermediate crowd can use the presented information as a stepping stone onto more advanced topics.
The second session is on day 2 at 9 in the morning.. ugh.. tough crowd them morningers...
Originally there was only going to be one session, but I have so much in my head to get out about FCS that there is no way I was going to be able to explain it all in an hour. Even 2 hours in total is extremely short, but hopefully most will get the idea of what is up if they don't already know by now. I really wonder how much FCS has infiltrated the apps and sites in China, but am not having much luck finding out by searching as I can't read Chinese. Although I have been informed by MM China that people will probably know how to mess with FCS and will most likely have some hardcore questions for me. Sounds like fun :D
Anyways, this should be pretty exciting I think and I hope there is a large turnout to get the info out to as wide an audience as possible.
Also from what I understand the sessions are taped, hopefully I can snag a copy and stick it up on my blog. I will try to get the materials that I use up here though, so if you're looking for some free study materials pop back in when I post 'em up.