April 17, 2007 at 2:42 pm · Filed under Actionscript 3, Adobe, AIR (Apollo), Books, Flash, Flex
The Pittsburgh Flash Users Group (specifically Ben Pritchard) has posted an informative podcast interview with Colin Moock (author of Essential ActionScript 3.0 from O'Reilly, among others). The podcast does a great job of providing a behind-the-scenes look at the writing of a book, as well as general thoughts from an industry leader on the Flash Platform. If you have also been wondering why the book hasn't hit shelves yet, Colin provides some thoughts on that as well.
Also, as a bonus check out Colin's notes from his upcoming FITC talk, "ActionScript 3.0 and Flash CS3", here:
http://moock.org/lectures/ActionScriptAndFlashCS3/
January 10, 2007 at 2:04 pm · Filed under Books, Design Inspiration, Flash
For the past few months I have had several of Taschen's Web Design series books sitting next to my desk. I often spend a few minutes flipping through one of them when I need to take a break from coding, and I always get inspired.
These small-format books offer what they promise: screen grabs of (usually) well designed and well thought out sites. And at less than $10 a piece, it's pretty easy to build up a collection.
What I enjoy the most is that there is very little discussion on the sites. Every book starts with one or two case studies, but after that you get just a screenshot, tools used, budget (hours and/or money) and people involved. It allows me to form my own opinions on the site, and the ones I am interested in I'll go check out online.
Pick one up if you get a chance. If you are in Portland, Oregon, Powell's in the Pearl District has the whole collection on the floor with the art and design books.
