Greatest Podcast Episode Ever!

Be sure to check out this weeks episode of the Annabelle’s Bistro Podcast. It’s Spring Break! Time to get crazy and key some frames! This week is a special spring break edition of the podcast. We are joined by Anron Wang, Josh Mcarthy, Bob Wiese and Maggie the basset hound. Insanity ensues, but thankfully Matt resists the urge for plastic beads and keeps his top on.

For more information, please visit: annabelles-bistro.com and be sure to subscribe to the RSS for regular updates.

In Praise of… “Service Capture”

Just a quick note to clue my visitors in on a fantastic little Firefox addon/cross platform app named Service Capture. From the site…

ServiceCapture runs on your computer(pc or mac) and captures all HTTP traffic sent from your browser or IDE. It is designed to help Rich Internet Application(RIA) developers in the debugging, analysis, and testing of their applications.

It is a time saver and a conundrum killer. It’s a verbose little HTTP sniffer, Flash tracer and bandwidth simulator all in one. It thoroughly rocks. One thing that it certainly shows, is just how many people publish SWF content without either removing or turning off trace statements before pushing files to their sites.

Besides Flash Trace statements, it shows XML files, AMF requests, system logs and tons of other stuff. It’s well spent. I’m always looking for little utilities like this to help me out, so if you have some you like to use, let me know, I’ll check ‘em out.

links for 2009-03-26

• Selective JPEG compression in Photoshop
  A pretty cool technique for adding some selective compression to your images in Photoshop
  (tags: photoshop selectivecompression)
• Web Development Timeline
  A pretty nice and thorough graphic depicting most all tech components on the web.
  (tags: timeline webtechnologies)

links for 2009-03-24

• 13 Great WordPress Speed Tips & Tricks for MAX Performance | Noupe
  Some tips for fixing up your WP install. Some nice advice here.
  (tags: wordpress)

OMG That’s Some Funky Sh*t! New Interactive Installation Up At Shure.

The Iona Group recently launched a multi-screen 1080P installation at The S.N. Shure Inc. headquarters. Shure is the world’s leading manufacturer of microphones. They make great equipment. They have for decades. Their name is synonymous with quality, integrity and audio history. We were contracted by them to create a media experience for their new theater at the headquarters (which happens to be an architectural masterpiece, by the way). Some details on the theater can be found here. Some highlights:

• Meyer Loudspeakers: CQ1 (mains), HP700 Sub-Woofer and UPJ Surround
• a Dolby Lake Loudspeaker Processor
• a custom-built, 200-inch diagonal Stewart projection screen
• a 20,000 lumen Digital Projection Model 40-1080p projector
• a dual input windowing processor allowing multiple images on screen
• a custom demonstration cart and lectern, featuring Shure MX412 microphones and a Crestron control system for the lighting and other audio visual systems
• Shure UHF-R® wireless systems
• a Yamaha LS9 digital mixing console.

Beyond that, the space has some great aesthetic characteristics… check this out:

• A single, large English Sycamore tree was sourced from the Black Forest in Germany to produce the 11-foot lengths needed for this project. This one tree was used for ALL veneered surfaces inside the theater (approximately 23,000 square feet), which were all laid by hand.
• The ceiling incorporates both absorptive and non-absorptive surfaces and consists of multiple layers of drywall and insulation. A stretch fabric system was used to cover these surfaces and create a uniform, clean appearance. Microphone drop points are integrated into the ceiling.
• To reduce fan noise from the building’s HVAC system, the exterior walls surrounding the theater consist of multiple layers of drywall, and acoustical and rigid insulation. An under floor air distribution system also was installed under the theater seating.
• Temperature and humidity in the room are maintained independent of the building’s system. In addition, all interior surfaces (floor, walls, and ceiling) incorporate a continuous vapor barrier to ensure that the wood is kept within acceptable humidification ranges at all times, which will prevent it from constricting and contracting.
• The theater seating was manufactured by Poltrona Frau in Tolentino, Italy. Each piece, which was individually constructed by hand, comes equipped with a flip up work surface for taking notes.
• A Steinway B, 7-foot Concert Grand Piano, which will be stored in its own humidity-controlled alcove.
• The back stage area of the theater includes a Green Room with a 40” LCD display, a restroom, and an elevator.
• A motorized theatrical curtain is available for further control of onstage acoustics for amplified events.

So, that all said… What did we do? Our fantastic creative team came up with an amazing idea. 3 52″ touchscreens lined to create a seamless multi-screen presentation. We developed a multi-user synced experience using the Red5 server and Flash Player. Live spectrum analysis. Triggered by motion detection via Flash Camera activity. Decades of historical photos. Narration by the great Bill Curtis. Video Interviews from dozens of employees. All in all, a great project. Amazing.

The space is gorgeous. The software is cool! The content, historic! Take a look at the install…

Pictured from left to right. Jim Ferolo, Creative Director, Jeremy Lebeau Technical Director, Heather Ford, Designer, Jeff Idleman, Account Consultant.

What a cool project to be part of. The creative team was fantastic. The development process was a ton of fun. The industrial design is tight and the client is top notch. So fun!

Two prominent Peoria area service organizations, the American Red Cross and Catholic Charities began using Iona’s Doctum® eLearning Development System in March. Both organizations will be using Doctum to create their own, custom eLearning courses that can be delivered to employees, volunteers as well as those who use the services of Catholic Charities and the Red Cross.

Doctum, with its easy to use interface and variety of output options, offers several advantages for service organizations looking to produce eLearning content. Doctum’s web-based interface allows training professionals and individuals who have little or no eLearning development experience to quickly and easily produce eLearning modules. In addition, Doctum facilitates collaboration between individuals by providing an easy way to review and comment on modules as they are being developed. Doctum’s Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription model makes it simple for those new to eLearning to experiment without incurring the higher costs associated with purchasing packaged software or hiring outside consultants to do the work. “The Red Cross is always searching for effective ways to reach more people with disaster prevention and health education. Iona’s Doctum eLearning Development System is an exciting opportunity to expand our training.” Anne Fox, CEO, American Red Cross Central Illinois Chapter.

In today’s economic times, organizations are turning to eLearning as a way to do more for less. The “create once, share with many” nature of eLearning allows non-profits who have a large constituency to distribute learning to many people at a significantly lower cost than delivering on-site, instructor-led training. “Using this software will be a great asset for our workers and help us reduce travel costs and time away from the office for training,” says Becky Cobb, Training Coordinator/HR Specialist at Catholic Charities Diocese of Peoria. ELearning also has the advantage that it can provide people the ability to work at their own pace. Plus, once they have taken a course, it can be easily used as a reference or taken again at a later time as a refresher.

links for 2009-03-18

• Breadcrumbs In Web Design: Examples And Best Practices | Design Showcase | Smashing Magazine
  A patterntap like collection of Breadcrumb implementations. Lots of samples here.
  (tags: UI patterns breadcrumbs)

Annabelle’s Bistro Podcast Episode 12

Well Spring Break has begun. And you know what that means! It’s time to buckle down and get some work done! WHOOOOOO!

We have been working diligently to stay ahead of schedule on the film. Nearly all of my students have volunteered to give up their spring breaks to do so and have been putting in the hours. It makes me very happy to see my students working so hard on something they are passionate about. Way to go guys!

Our busyness has lead to fewer blog posts and podcasts, but fear not friends! I bring you yet another episode of the Annabelle’s Bistro Podcast (It’s actually been out for a whole week already but whatever.)
If you would like to subscribe to the podcast, you may do so by visiting our page on iTunes or grabbing the RSS.

Tonight we are recording a special SPRING BREAK EDITION of the podcast with a special guest. Look for that to go up soon as well.

links for 2009-03-17

• TidBITS Home Macs: Ten Surprising Uses of BBEdit
  I still ue BBEdit to this day. I can't get rid of it. Anyway, here are some of the cooler things you can do with it that you may not be aware of.
  (tags: tools bbedit)
• Adobe – Developer Center : Search optimization checklist for RIAs
  The much needed whitepaper on RIA SEO from Adobe. RIA SEO FTW, OMG!
  (tags: seo ria)
• 8 CSS tips for better linking | Design daily news
  Add some pizazz to those drab little hyperlinks on your site!
  (tags: css tips links style)

The difference between setting up Drupal Services for a Flex 3 project and for an Air project is a few slight modifications. Using my tutorial for connecting a Flex project with Services and making the changes below will get Air connected with Drupal Services.

1. You will need to create an Air project instead of a Flex project in the initial setup in Flex Builder (WindowedApplication vs. Application)
2. If you did not give the services-config.xml a full path to Drupal Services for the endpoint uri you will need to do that (http://www.mydomain.com/services/amfphp)

That’s it, 2 steps. Air is up and working.