Adobe's been busy

Today Adobe announced the release of CS3. I've just finished reviewing the new features in Flash CS3 and they are nothing short of amazing!
Now that you can edit PS files straight within Flash is amazing. The new content we'll see on the web with be outstanding. Another feature I think will be useful is the way the pen tool works, similar to Illustrator. I found the way it is now very difficult to use.
I'm also very excited to learn AS3. I've bought my first book on the subject and am just starting to read through it.
It looks like this year will be an action packed, fun-filled one!

It's HERE!!

Apollo is out! 'nuff said.

Get it here. Set it up here. And create apps like these.

It's coming..

It's been awhile since I've blogged because I've been busy with some big projects.
First, I've finally secured my webhost and domain name, www.noti.ca and I'm 60% done my website. I'm so close and excited that's it's almost. Personal projects always seem to drag on forever.
Second, Apollo camp is done (I didn't attend it), but that means the public beta is due to be released SOON. I'm going to get the Apollo reference book when the Alpha gets released.

I have to say.. I've set my goals and I'm hitting everyone.. this year has started out well, I'm hoping to finish it with a BIG bang.

Words to live by..

Someone quoted me a passage a couple of years back when I was making my career transition. It was about reading books everyday on the career path you've chosen. It was something that stuck on me for the past 5 years, and I finally decided to look it up:

Read an hour every day in your chosen field.
This works out to about one book per week, 50 books per year,
and will guarantee your success.
--Brian Tracy

I don't know who Brian Tracy is, but I really like his ideas. I found lots of quotes from him over here.
Another quote I really like is "Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution;". Now if I could get my boss and his clients to think like that ;)

The best book EVER...

I read a lot of books on Flash and actionscript in general.. well actually it's the only thing I read, except the newspaper. Ask anyone who has been to my house and they'll tell you every book I own is Flash.. all the way back to my first book Visual Guide to Flash MX.
I think everyone remembers the first book they bought on Flash because it teaches you the most (let's face you didn't know too much before that's why you bought it). So it's always hard to find a book that quite matches up. Well look no further...
Object Oriented Actionscript for Flash 8 by Peter Elst and Todd Yard is the way to go. I haven't learned so much since my first book. Everything from CVS, design patterns, animation, and External Interface is covered. With wonderful hands on examples that if you work through, will definitely teach someone to everybody. After applying what I've learned in this book to a couple of projects my work flow and understanding of classes has grown by leaps and bounds.. it's opened a door for that has flamed my passion for coding to an inferno. (Yes.. I know a little over the top, but I do love this book).
All I can say it that the pages are worn down from all my referencing back and forth. I can't wait for the AS 3.0 version of this book to come out.

One down...

Just came back from passing the Flash 8 Certification Exam. I didn't really study, (except reviewing the help files) because I wanted to see if I really knew my stuff, plus I was really bust this week.
I've read a lot of opinions around the net about the value of certification, some good and some bad. Here's my take on it.
First, I got certified because I'm always underestimating myself. I think (wrongly) that everyone knows more than me. This just validates that I AM good enough to continue my passion for scripting. (yes, it's a personality flaw). Second, people who hire Flash experts, in small companies (and some larger ones) don't know Flash. Not all companies are large design companies, and this is where most arguments fail. From the standpoint of the employer, they're looking for some validation that you know Flash, and this is a quick and easy way to validate it (Yes, most people want quick proof). So those are my primary reasons for getting certified, as for the exam...

The exam was actually very straightforward. If you work in Flash daily, the exam will not present a problem. Some of it was on the basics like symbols on the timeline and some on video integration. Good luck if you're going for the cert, I think it will be worth it.