Once this extension is installed on the system and dragged into the fla file in Adobe Flash IDE, it gives you JSON parsability. BUT if you then want to get rid of the this functionality, deleting the extension from the fla doesn’t clean it out. I can tell because of the swf size - it goes up by 20kb when I add JSON extension, and doesn’t go down again even when I delete it. This is a bug! Now if I actually reported it instead of just bitching about it… ok fine I’ll report it now…. ok just did it. Bug for didn’t give me a tracking url at all - they should really trac their bugs.I want to slim my swf down again, so I switch to XML. I am using this handy xml parsing (AS 2.0) library that converts the xml into multi-dimensional arrays. Its a simple file include in the code:include "xmlBuilder.singular_names.as"Then use it:
var media_metadata=new Object();
media_metadata.addXML=addXML;
media_metadata.addXML(full_path);
media_metadata.loadXML();
media_metadata.xmlOBJ.onLoad = function(success:Boolean) {
//If not success, call woopsy_daizy function
if (!success) {
woopsy_daizy("no success");
return;
}
media_metadata.buildXMLObjects();
if (media_metadata.error[0]) {
woopsy_daizy("error");
return;
}
//do your other onload stuff accessing your data
if (media_metadata.profiles[0].original[0].ready[0].xmltext == "false") {
resolve_status(2);
return;
}
Aite, so the
original file I got at my old job at USA Network written by that famous creative agency I cant remember the name of right now. They added an ’s’ to every array name for pluralization. I didn’t like it so I took out the pluralization stuff in this
version.
The unfortunate events related in the previous entry are escalating. Wafaa and others were locked out of the RPI Arts building where they work because the campus security changed access id codes rendering their swipe cards unusable. Tomorrow the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy is hosting another lecture by Wafaa and ‘republicans’ from the area are coming to protest, including some higher ups like the Mayor’s associate (forget his name). I’ll report back with how it all goes down. For now here is the interview with Wafaa: Wafaa Bilal interview
Rensselaer Polytecnic Institute’s Campus Republicans force shut down of art piece.
Read these oh so wonderful news from my school:
the sorry story
I can’t fathom this statement: “”If Bilal was making a point about the vulnerability of Iraqi civilians to the travesties of the current war, I failed to see it, as did every other student I spoke to,” Leusner said.”
If the reaction to this work is to shut it down because it is either a threat to national security or that it will inspire people to do bad things, then it is the complete confirmation of the artists intention.
His exhibit’s stated intention is to highlight vulnerability to recruitment by groups like al-Qaida “because of the U.S.’s failed strategy in securing Iraq.”
If this ‘game’ is dangerous, we are indeed vulnerable!
The release of the iPhone/iPod Touch SDK will lead to innovations in the modern wireless lifestyle. With access to all of the device’s input and output, developers will be able to recombine them for endless uses. Access to the microphone, output speaker, multi-touch screen, bluetooth, nearest cell tower signal strength, and several others create a buffet of useful sensor data that can be used for many novel applications. It would be possible to create Personal Media Force-fields around users with these devices. Each iPhone will be able to broadcast their wireless network signal and provide a list of music available on the device. Other devices will pick up this list, and be able to stream audio from the server device allowing the user to hear the music. Thus, merely being in the presence of people will allow you to listen to their collections. How will you find the sounds you like? Ideally WiFi signal strength could be used as a measure of proximity and affect the volume directly. Walking away from a user’s device to which you are listening to would lower its volume.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
I was determined to get there on time, and we went a day early to stay with Buster. In the morning we met up with Liz for breakfast at ‘Egg’ restaurant. We saw some art in Chelsea and off course wasted hours trying to find a very special Japanese Wings joint in midtown. We were running late but determined to miss none of the LCD or Arcade Fire.
After metro to Randall Island bus purgatory, we finally landed at Icaal Stadium. One of the friends we were supposed to meet bailed to provide a punctuality lesson for Buster (and us by proxy). We finally got in having missed only one LCD song.
The show was marvelous. The LCD was loud and surprisingly punky. The main guy was a bit sloshed and ranting with full confidence: a bona-fide rock star! The ended with that long-ass jam that they did for Nike, and at the end seemed totally warned out. Even his voice got all tired and mumbly right after that last one, and completed a perfect show arc.
Arcade Fire was off course very dramatic. They did this instrumental shift with the players trading positions between groups of songs. I really liked the main dude’s performance on the giant Pipe Organ (capitalized out of respect) they lug around all over the world. They did all their awesome songs, and came out for a 2 or 3 song encore. For the last number that was a bit of a pause and I said to Caitlin that I hoped they did ‘Wake Up’ - and she said a guy right ahead just said the same thing. So then they did it off course because they read minds. They were amazingly great with their harmonies especially, and very tight instrumentally. The venue had a really nice sounds - weird for an outdoor one. The landscape seemed super flat and it must have absorbed the sound well as there was no bad echo muddling up my ears.
At the end, the crazy drummer boy had climbed up the left riser with his drum and one drum stick. The music ended and then everyone realized he was up there and they put the spot on him. He banged on his drum and climbed down, and it was over.
We then waited for an hour for a ferry but had to take the bus anyway. By this point there was no one left on the island so it was just us and a gaggle of Spaniards who kept singing and doing the wave - we had to join in. The bus driver kept singing into the intercom over the speakers - I think he was singing all sorts of random crap in spanish and the Spaniards were loving him and cheering. Eventually we were all belting Arcade Fire anthems with our fists in the air.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
My memory of the event is a bit faded, the most important thing I remember is needing to get it up here. I remember a long ass 4 hour drive from Troy. Our previous drive, to see MIA also took 4 hours, and we ended up missing her. It was a Thursday night, and I had to be back to work Friday.
We got to Coney Island and met peoples at a tiki bar and had a bunch of shitty tequila. Soon we were elbowing our way between punks with deftness. That main stage at Coney turns everyone into a zooming freak, especially with a humid sky on the edge of storm.
The show was explosive, and was pleased that the two androids in people costumes are up there actually twiddling a knob or too. The stage setup was really awesome - the aesthetic matched the music exceptionally. The duo produce music that perfectly uses ‘limited inputs and achieves infinite permutations’. The lighting setup consisted of a repeating lattice patterns of long technicolor bulbs. The triangle was the main shape - the triangle that is the most geometrically robust shape represented their dependable music. It always makes you shake the booty!
For the encore they came out in total darkness with nothing but EL wire rimming the contours of their space suits, glowing red. The next day I was in the office around 1pm after a rainy 3 hour drive, and drew this diagram while recounting to the guys:
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Those silly collars they give you at the vet if you get your female cat spayed are no joke. In our case, after they were done with Alobar and Kudra, they said “put the collar on her if she starts liking the wound or pulling on the sutures”. I didn’t think this would be necessary since cats always lick themselves so what can be the harm in it? Well the next day, I got this feeling that the kittens were up to no good so I stopped home. I found Alobar to be better than ever, while Kudra’s incision was looking yanked on. She had obviously been licking and pulling on it since it was coming apart and one side of the incision was hanging out a bit longer than the other - no blood or anything, just some pink showing. I grabbed the collar and strapped it on her, and soon she was in the litter getting it all up in there. I called the vet and they said I should bring her in for a check up. I gave her the daily dose of pain killer and she was mellow for the ride.
At the vet’s I found out she had actually pulled out a suture! They said the other three will hold, and they glued the wound shut again with special glue, which I’m thinking is probably super glue. I hear that stuff was invented specifically for that reason. In anycase, we are keeping the collar on even though it looks redonculous, but I think it will slowly grow on me! They also recommended a different type of litter with a great name: “Yesterday’s News” which consists of processes paper clumps. This stuff doesn’t stick to wet stuff the same, so it probably wont kill the stank as well as the Arm and Hammer, but at least it will be more sanitary for Kudra. I still haven’t seen them use it, and this morning Caitlin found a load of cat turd in the kitchen sink! She bleached the sink after she got rid of it, so I’m guessing they are hating on this new litter. Only nine more days to go though.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
I’ve thrust myself into this with utter abandon the last few days. I’m using Flash Lite 2.0 and developing a client side app for the Nokia N95 and having some issues with the two orientations the phone can be in. The screen slides and the displayed content shifts between landscape and portrait mode. There is a nice code snippet here, but there is a big boo-boo in: Auto-Resize of Flash Lite application watch out for that else statement, it should be else if (Stage.width < Stage.height).
The clincher in all this is that if you disable stage scaling (required), you will be able to detect when the orientation shift happens. What’s weird is how flash re-positions all the elements on the stage - it shifts everything down and to the left. I’m using this super simple transform to accommodate for this: orientation_transform_value = (stageWidth - stageHeight)/2 and its doing the trick.
I’m picking portrait as my default orientation and positioning my elements on the stage so they look right. Then when it switches into landscape mode, I iterate through all the movie clips on the stage and apply the transform to their positions:
for ( mc in _root ) {
if ( typeof _root[mc] == “movieclip” ) {
//trace (mc._x)
_root[mc]._x += orientation_transform_value
_root[mc]._y -= orientation_transform_value
}
}
(note how the transform is applied in an opposite way to the y - that is because of the top left orientation of the flash stage)
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
“Aliens” dont have to be from other planets to be beneficial or detrimental. I like to think of animals as ‘aliens’ in some ways. If I come across a wild buffalo, I can perhaps get a new perspective on my surroundings. I would try to relate to that animal’s size, speed, and diet and try to imagine what its like - quite different I bet! Just being around a wild animal is interesting as you can really feel a different type of intelligence, yet one you can somehow relate to.
In the same way, organizations of people can be seen as aliens. I had a day-dream the other day of a monster movie, where this big giant monster is laying waste to a city. People are scurrying about everywhere, but the monster is far away for the viewer to see. As the camera moves and pivots during an action shot, the tail of the monster swings by really close, and we see that it consists of … people. Yes, the skin of the monster is translucent, and inside there is a tough skeleton of metal. The somewhat parallel beams of the skeleton are arranged in such a way to allow people to sit alongside between the beams on seats while strapped in for security. It looks a bit like a roller coaster - and the speed with which its moving certainly makes it one. The tail swings away quickly, but it leaves an impression - an impression of the people inside. Their faces were not scared or angry, they were excited. They do not see the destruction this beast they are a part of is causing; they are on a wonderful ride, they are accomplishing things. Each of them is doing some task to help the whole thing move forward - but each task is small and does not give away the main movement of the beast.
This is a mental image is useful for thinking of the complexity of organizations that people are part of - in this case in a negative light. Looking at corporatism and the growing power of corporations often leads us to examine the legal status they have that equates them to individual citizens. This allows them certain inalienable rights such as free speech (which has been used to sue a town in Vermont because of bill-board limitations source needed). In essence, a giant corporation is thus a sort of mega-being - it has rights of an individual person, but it potentially lives much longer and commands greater resources. A corporation seeking profit in the face of all sorts of human right abuses and environmental pollution is like a monstrous beast trudging through a city - leaving destruction in its wake. But behind this presence, right under the skin, are people just like you and I - people that want to have a challenging job, health insurance, early fridays in the summer, and vacation time to be with their family.
This is turning into a bit of rant, so I’ll close it with this statement: its easy to make generalizations, but if you dig deeper you realize that things are complex. Thats why its important to pick a goal and go for it. If I only did that before writing this entry!
After doing some more research, I have more to add in regards to traveling to Russia as an ex-pat. I have a previous post dealign with this issue, and this is an update. Apparently, this new law is very real, and a few people that my mom (happy bday mom!) knows personally have been denied entry for leaving during specific times. The crux of the matter is citizenship status: people that left after a certain cut-off year need to either renew their passport, or reject their citizenship outright to be able to go back as citizen or tourist. A lot of people, including my family, left without ‘officially’ denying their citizenship. Everyone that left as a refugee pretty much has this dillema.
But, the key thing is that the cut-off year is not ‘91 - it is ‘92! It makes sense, because in ‘92 russians got Russian citizenship, where as before they only had USSR citizenship. Since we left in ‘91, it turns out we are off the hook. Maybe in December people will be harkening back on this post as a swan song (if I end up rotting in Russia unable to leave) but everything will go well and our visit should be smooth as ’salo’. If they look us up, they will find USSR citizenship status, and at this point, this means total bubkis! Our US citizenship status will surely trump our status as members of a failed state; USA is still going after all.
All in all I’m happy I will be able to go back once again (I’ve only been back once since we escaped). I also hope this post doesn’t piss off any russian visa-granting official, as there is nothing offensive here. Hurrah!