Rob Rusher

The fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) is been slung around by profiteers like folding chairs at a WWE event. The haters are still being haters. Nothing new there. But now I see JavaScript companies’ desperate pleas for Flex developers to start using their HTML5 software. The context is all wrong here.  Very, very few Flex developers have shifted, moved, changed over, or whatever you want to call it… to HTML5 (or anything else JS-based.) There is not a move to HTML5 I will go as far as to say that there is not a move to HTML5. The simple fact is that, developers are being developers. No matter the background, we are always trying to broadening our skill sets. This includes HTML5 since it started showing up a few years ago. For anyone to imply, or state outright, that there is some mass exodus from Flex is completely false! The reality is still the same, Flash Player ... (more)

Adobe Flash Player licensing doesn’t apply to you!

Let me start with the punch line: Adobe’s announcement only applies to browser-based applications that use domain memory IN COMBINATION WITH hardware accelerated Stage3D in Flash Player If you don’t know what these features are, this announcement does not effect you. Read the official announcement It’s funny to me how a simple statement gets construed when passed on to even one person. This phenomenon is called  Chinese Whispers. Unfortunately, in our fast paced world, we don’t actually pay attention enough to prevent this from happening nor the erroneous blow back regarding th... (more)

Tips for submitting to “Call for Papers”

I often get asked, “How did you get to where you are?” To which I respond, “Mediocrity?” The real answer… public speaking, community involvement, not sucking at what I do and genuinely enjoying my work. Now, I can’t help you with all these topics. But I can give you some advice on getting start with being recognized. Start submitting to speak at conferences. Conference organizers love new faces. Start with smaller conferences and user groups to build your skill. Here are a few tips you should find helpful when submitting: Be authentic! Your peers need real-world scenarios they ca... (more)

Adobe Flex is open source… really!!

For years the Adobe Flex SDK has been “open source.” And it was, kinda. But they had never opened it up to the community to help work on the project. Then last 360 Flex 2011 in Denver, Adobe announced that they’d support the Spoon project which would essentially spoon feed updates and additions to the Adobe Flex SDK team that were created by the community. But that is really still in infancy. That is until the other day. Adobe announced that they were donating the Flex SDK to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). It’s about effen time! I give the Adobe Flex team a lot of credit ... (more)

Back and Forth

For over a decade now, we have been trained to use the "back" and "forward" buttons in our Web browser to review or backtrack previously viewed content. We are trained to the point that there are even keyboard shortcuts. Unfortunately, this can be a problem when browsing Flex applications. Being the well-trained users that we are, we often forget that we could cause the Flex application to reload unwittingly. Fortunately, there is a solution that is built into the Flex SDK and HTML templates that are generated in a Flex Builder project. By default, Flex enables history managemen... (more)