I love what Leo says at the very end after I had gotten off the phone, “This is how the web was, originally.”

Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

It’s a geek thing.

Vote in the top poll over in the right-sidebar ->

I’m all in favor with the name change because it clears up the confusion between the SDK and the authoring tool. I think they were correct in naming it Flex Builder when it initially came out so as to avoid a little of the vitriol that many existing developers – namely the Java crowd – had for all things Flash. Now that Flex is firmly established as the leading platform for developing RIAs and is differentiated from the typical Flash skip intro brand it’s time to give it a name that is more suitable to what it is.

While were at it
Lee Brimelow suggested the idea that the Flash Authoring Tool, aka Flash IDE, aka Flash CS2/3/4… could use a name change itself and suggested Flash Designer. Personally I love the idea but what do you think?

Vote in the bottom poll over in the right-sidebar ->

Personal title change
All of this name changing has gotten me to thinking that I should no longer call myself a Flash Platform Developer. Because it’s really not true. That name connotes a person who is serious and professional of which I’m neither. I’m more of a Flash Platform Slacker. I just like to play around with pretty things. Learn more about the platform and maybe every now and then accidentally make something useful.

Many of the new followers were of the social marketing variety and I thought it would be advantageous to follow them back just for marketing reasons. And besides, some of them have like 80k followers. If just one of them mentions RunPee.com then it’s a big deal for me.

The downside is that I’m following so many people now that the people that I really want to keep track of are being drowned out. I’ve been using Twhirl since it came out and loved it. But, it doesn’t do groups so I broke down and spent an hour or so setting up TweetDeck. Now I have the Everyone group by default, then I created a Got Flash group where I put everyone who has anything to do with Adobe Flash. Then my family/friends group which is handy because they don’t twitter much and so I almost never see what they say. Finally I have my The Gang group. That’s the 50, or so, twitterers that I want to keep up with the most. And it’s the only panel that’s always visible on my monitor. The Gang isn’t necessarily the most popular Flex/Flash twitterers. But they are the people that I’ve either met personally, probably at 360Flex conferences, or that I’ve been carrying on conversations with for years now.

Here’s my favorite 50 Twitterers

• 360Flex: Best Flex Conference out there!
• adamflater: Technical Architect and Evangelist for RoundArch
• adobeTed: Red no Blue, ahhhhhh….
• Algorithmist: Mathematician, Algorithmist, Programmer and tennis player, but not necessarily in that order.
• BenStucki: Awesome
• bit101: I am he as you are he as you are me as we are all together.
• brandon_ellis: 45, married, kids, Adobe UGM, Adobe ACE, C#, SQL, Flex, Flash, AIR, RIA Dev, Skateboarding, Cycling, Beer, Punk Rock
• crucial: Flash Designer, ActionScript Programmer and Motion Graphics Artist. A “Flash-Guy” by choice, it’s what I like, it’s what I do, and I make no apologies for it
• dan_mcweeney: Digital nomad working for adobe
• ddura: Platform Evangelist at Adobe Systems focusing on AIR, Flash, and Flex
• doloresjoya: RIA UI Brand Designer. ATM Working w/ PS, Ill, Flash, Maya, Mudbox, Flex. In free time Art 3d/CG, Drawing, Creativity.
• dougrdotnet: I am a Flex/ActionScript/CF developer with a passion for Web Technologies and Programming
• ericfickes: I program the internets, select the databases, skate the parks and score the goals in ice hockey. That is, when I’m not Family-ing
• instante:
• jenfloyd08: Web mistress (Coldfusion & Flex), foodie/chowhound, mom.
• jenschr: Freelance Flash developer
• jeremysaenz: The Flex Gangsta
• jesterxl: Flex and Flash Consultant.
• jdowdell: Some people meander down the center of the sidewalk; I walk alertly on the edges.
• joshtynjala: Flash and Flex RIA developer spending some time building casual games for the web and mobile devices. Sometimes known to wear a bowler hat.
• jwilker: Founder 360|Conferences, inc. ourstartupstory.com Disruptive conference organizer, community guy
• leifwells: RIA Evangelist at Roundbox Global, Adobe Community Expert, Flex Authority Editor in Chief [NOTE:My Tweets may not reflect the views of my employer.]
• LordBron: 360Conferences, http://OurStartupStory.com and family make up my life
• matt_legrand: Washed up jogger who enjoys sitting behind a computer and staring off into an oblivion . . . wait what was the question?
• mchotin: Sr. Product Manager, Flex SDK
• mdowney: Product Manager and Technology Evangelist. Expert in Adobe software including Flash, Flex, and AIR. Now building iPhone apps.
• merlinc:
  
• mesh: developer, video game player, father
• Monsanto: eMarketing, ColdFusion, Flex, SQL, IT Values
• parkerkrhoyt: I am a father, husband, photography enthusiast and pilot most of the time. I work for Adobe as a Senior Product Specialist the rest of that time.
• PeterBell: Application Generation
• peterelst: Flash Platform – Consultancy & Training
• phillip:
• Quasimondo: Computational Artisan, Speaker, Tinkerer, Mad Scientist, Radical Atheist, Sceptic, Scavenger, Dog Appreciator
• quetwo:
• randytroppmann: Web developer: Flash, Flex and Runningmap.com
• richtretola: AIR and Flex developer, author, and community evangelist. Adobe Community Expert and InsideRIA Community Manager.
• reboog711: Technical Entrepreneur, Adobe Community Expert for Flex, Podcaster
• ryanstewart: I obsess over Rich Internet Applications and work at Adobe as a Platform Evangelist
• savvasmalamas: Flex and Air love..
• scalenine: I am an Experience Architect for EffectiveUI.
• schmidt4brains: Software Geek @ EffectiveUI
• scottjanousek: Mobile Technologist – Flash, iPhone, Android, Gadgets, Mobile, Interactivity
• seantheflexguy: Author of ActionScript Cheatsheets, Adobe Flex Developer Champion, Owner of Kannopy, Inc.
• simBateman: Just a guy that seems to get stuff. Applying technology to business is my thing.
• thanksmister: Flex|AIR|RIA Developer
• thillerson: ‘m a bass player, electronic music maker, developer for effectiveUI, flash, flex, rails, java programmer, and I fancy myself a philosoper of sorts.
• tomcornilliac: Flex, AIR, RIA developer.
• twgonzalez: Dad/Husband, Data Visualization/UX Specialist, Consultant, Artist, Software Engineer, Entrepreneur, Surfer
• UnitZeroOne: http://www.linkedin.com/in/unitzeroone
• visualrinse: Designer/Developer WebAddict Adobe User
• wadearnold: Flex, PHP, and Banking… what could be better?

I needed to create this explorer because I’m looking for ways to increase the contrast of various objects in front of my webcam so that I can effectively track them. Turns out that the getColorBoundsRect() isn’t very effective at tracking moving objects by color because it looks at a specific ARGB color value. Even very slight changes in lighting or orientation throws the tracking out of whack.

Have you ever watched a movie in the theater and just had to pee – really badly – by the end of the movie? You don’t want to leave your seat, because you could miss something important. Your only options are to either: wait for the movie to end, or run and pee during what seems to be a break in the action. And when you sit back down, you sheepishly lean over and ask, “what did I miss?” …only to realize you really picked the wrong time to go.

Now you don’t have to wonder when to make your move. There’s an easier, third option: RunPee.com.

Before going to a movie you visit RunPee.com, select the movie that you are going to see, and find out what would be the best time to…well.. RunPee. RunPee.com will tell you approximately when a particular PeeTime occurs, what sort of cue to look for and a short synopsis of what happens during the few minutes that you’ll be away. You no longer have to ask, “What did I miss?”

RunPee.com is a wiki based website. That means people like you contribute the content. So if you go and see a movie that doesn’t have any entries you can add your own suggestions as to when to RunPee. You can even modify an existing PeeTime if you see something that you can improve.

Be sure to check out RunPee.com if you plan on seeing the new Star Trek movie because there is already a PeeTime entered to help you enjoy the movie even more!

RunPee.com – the next best thing to a pause button.

Movie review - no spoilers
I loved everything about the movie: great character building, great action, decent plot and the Star Trek aesthetic has never been portrayed so beautifully.  The pacing was a bit frenetic at times. The movie is packed full of action or character building so that there is hardly a moment to take a breath, or even leave to RunPee. :)

The acting was superb. I’m pretty sure that Zachary Quinto will get the most prase for his work as Spock but I think that Carl Urban did the best work as McCoy. Was Chris Pine believable as Kirk? Yes and no. I didn’t really see Kirk as much as I saw a young brash cadet. But there were moments that Kirk shined through.

The Best Trek?
I’m still going to say that Wrath of Khan is the best movie in the Star Trek pantheon. But this one was right there in a photo finish with it. Where the new Star Trek betters Khan is in the moments of levity. There were many occasions where the audience laughed out loud and not just at the Trekie references.

But you know what, this crew is on a similar but different timeline than the original. Is there room to remake Khan? Please? Pretty please?

A common UI for volume controls is a series of vertical bars laid out horizontally. The volume level is indicated by the percentage of the bars that are the filled color versus the empty color. So if there are 10 bars and the volume level is at 85% then 8 of the bars would be filled – say green – and the other 2 bars would be gray – empty.

That’s fine but there’s the issue that the component cannot represent the true percentage. That’s why I made this BarSlider component. It works exactly the same except as the transition bar fills partially with the filled color and partially with the empty color. You see, here at polyGeek.com we like to go the extra pixel. :) Check it out below.

Properties

• barWidth:int=5 – the width of each individual bar
• barHeight:int=15 – the height of each bar
• gap:int=2 – space between bars
• barCount:int=10 – how many bars are drawn
• value:Number=0 – the current value
• min:Number=0 – the minimum value the BarSlider can reach
• max:Number=1 – the maximum value the BarSlider can reach
• buttonMode:Boolean=true – to use the mouse hand pointer or not
• preciseMode:Boolean=true – to draw the transition bar as partially filled/empty or not
• colorFull:uint=0×00FF00 – color of the filled bars
• colorEmpty:uint=0×666666 – color of the empty bars

As you can see in the Explorer above the min/max don’t have to be 0/1. For instance the gap ranges from 1-10.

Events dispatched
The component dispatches the change event whenever the value changes.

With the launch of FlexDen.net and the Flex component section at FlashDen.net some Flex developers are wondering what to do if they decide sell their components and then change their mind and decide to give it away. Will people who purchased the component be upset? Will they expect a refund? These are things that developers need to know.

Please tell us your opinion by voting and hopefully commenting below.

Personally I don’t think I would care that much. First, it was probably a client who paid for it, but even if it was my own money then something in the $20 range wouldn’t bother me. Now if we are talking about Adobe suddenly giving away the Flex Charting Components then I might be a bit peeved. I spent hundreds of dollars on those things. But I wouldn’t demand a refund or anything.

Besides, if someone gave away a component that I really liked and used often then I’d likely donate a few bucks to them in my end of year giving back spree.

Note: as of May 2009 there are three sites that I know of where you can sell your Flex components: FlashDen.net, FlexDen.net and Adobe Exchange. I have been unable to contact anyone at Adobe about details on using Exchange so this post will focus on comparing the ‘Dens to each other. I’ll add more info as it becomes available.

Because the names FlashDen.net and FlexDen.net are so similar I will always lead a section by talking about FlashDen first for consistency and ease of reading.

Revenue Sharing
At FlashDen.net the percentage you receive depends on whether you agree to sell your component  exclusively at FlashDen.net or not. If you agree to exclusivity then your percentage starts out at 40% and climbs from there – see their rate schedule here. If you do not agree to exclusivity then you start out at 25%.

FlexDen.net makes no distinction between exclusive/non-exclusive. Everyone starts out at 60% and climbs from there. Here’s the breakdown:

• 60% = $0 – $4,999
• 65% = $5,000 – $9,999
• 70% = $10,000 – $14,999
• 75% = $15,000 – 19,999
• 80% = > $20,000

As a comparison FlashDen.net offers about 48% at $21,970 if you are exclusive. So FlexDen.net offers much higher revenue sharing.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that FlashDen.net offers less revenue potential based solely on the percentages. FlashDen.net has been around for 3+ years and has an established following. On the other hand FlexDen.net was just recently launched. So the traffic at FlexDen.net is automatically going to trail FlashDen.net for some time.

A caveat to the previous caveat is that there is no telling how many Flex developers visit FlashDen.net. FlashDen.net may have substantial traffic but they are just as new to selling Flex components as FlexDen.net.  In fact FlexDen.net launched before FlashDen.net added their Flex category.

If both sites wanted to be completely transparent then they could display user traffic, or better yet, the number of sales in the past month/week/whatever. Both sites do display the total sales and upload date for each component – so you do the math. And FlashDen.net also shows the number of sales per week/month for the top 20 selling components.

Price Setting
Both sites set the price of your component. That’s because they want to have a balance in prices between similar components. Otherwise it could turn into a jungle that would be confusing to buyers. If you have a problem with the price that they set then both sites are willing to talk to you and hopefully come to some agreement.

Source Code
FlashDen.net and FlexDen.net differ on how they treat source code. At FlashDen.net you must supply the source code in order to sell a component. And FlashDen.net requires code commenting and detailed instructions.

However at FlexDen.net you can chose whether or not you want to supply the source code with your component. If you do not supply the source code then it will be reflected by reducing the sale price of your component.

This might be a deal breaker for you. For one reason or another you may not be able to supply the source code and so you are left with to choice but to go with FlexDen.net.

FlashDen.net says that they require the source code because many of their buyers need to be able to tinker with the code in order for it to work in their projects. That is certainly true of Flash but does not apply so much to the Flex environment. If I have a component and I need to tinker with it then I just extend the component and do as I wish. Sure it helps to have the source code but isn’t necessary.

Removing a file
Both sites allow you to quickly and easily remove a file from public sale. At FlashDen.net you just go to your author page and click the delete button for the component you want to remove and it is removed instantly.

At FlexDen.net you contact the staff and they will remove it immediately.

Copy right policy
A concern anytime you are trying to make money from a component is that someone else will download it and then repackage your work and try to sell it themselves. This is an inevitable result in any market. One of the bonuses to the fact that both sites set the price of the component is that they will be intimately aware of what is in the library and can hopefully spot knockoffs at that time. If not and you notice that someone has copied your code you can contact the staff and they will work with you to resolve the conflict. FlexDen.net also has a flagging system that allows users to alert the staff should anything slip through.

You can read more about FlashDen’s copyright policy here.

Payout schedule
At FlashDen you can use your earnings to purchase things at FlashDen.net or any of the Envato Marketplaces. If you want your money in pocket then you have to make a request. If your balance is over $50 they will make a payout on the 15th of the following month. Check out the details at FlashDen for more info.

FlexDen.net has a very simple payout schedule: you get paid every Friday via Paypal and there is no minimum payout. FlexDen.net is also gearing toward a daily payout in the near future.

Brief history
Here’s brief history of FlashDen.net ( written by the site manager )

FlashDen.net was launched in November of 2006 with just a handful of Flash files. Sales were slow, but steady at first until a $10,000 giveaway promotion launched FlashDen to new heights. High quality files and a great community helped it grow even more. In just two and a half years, the site has reached over 160,000 members, with over 7000 files. In mid April, we started accepting Adobe Flex files, which we expect to flourish like the Flash categories. There’s been a recent influx of authors due to the significant increase in payout percentage. We just had our first member break the quarter million dollar sales mark, with others not far behind.

Here’s a brief history of FlexDen.net written by one of the partners:

In 2006, Brandon Broga, Web Designer, Programmer and CEO of Web Technologies had the idea to build a online Flex component marketplace. He then presented this idea to FlashDen to see if they were going to have a Flex section but they weren’t interested.  He was learning Flex at the time and found it very hard to find examples, resources and or working applications. Knowing the popularity and the high demand for RIA’s he bought the domain name FlexDen.net because he felt it was time to put the idea into action. Brandon partnered with Investor/Realtor, Marketing Expert Candace Clark from Hawaii, and with the help of Drupal Specialist Dzung Nova, FlexDen was born!

Conclusion
I hope that both sites are successful. This is a new and growing environment and there is room for many sites to offer Flex components. And competition between those sites is good for us developers.

As soon as I come up with an idea for a decent component I plan on putting it up for sale on both sites. I feel that the advantage FlashDen.net has with selling Flash components is washed out with the fact that they are just as new to selling Flex components as is FlexDen.net.

Plus, by not going with exclusivity at FlashDen.net I take a 15% reduction in revenue sharing. But I feel confident that I’ll make up for that by getting 60% at FlexDen.net.

It is also worth noting that both sites offer much more than just selling Flex components. FlashDen.net is part of a large family of websites that offer freelance advice, tutorials on many topics, themes, music, videos, et al.

And FlexDen.net also has more up its sleeve than just Flex components. You can currently look for freelance gigs and they are rapidly expanding. FlexDen.net encourages feedback from their users and they have set up a forum for that purpose. It is their intention to build a community website by listening to what the community wants. Soon they will have user pages where members can post their own articles and aggregate their various social media.

Personally I hope to see FlexDen.net grow into something like FlexExamples.com. Except where FlexExamples.com offers very concise examples for free FlexDen.net will offer more complete components that are ready to be dropped into your application for a small fee.

AIR
I didn’t mention AIR apps for either site because there are hundreds of sites where you can sell your AIR apps. And it’s likely that neither one of of the ‘Dens get anywhere near the traffic as someplace like Download.com. So if you’re looking to sell your AIR apps you have lots of options, including either of the ‘Dens.

Addendum : Info on Adobe Exchange
Copied from the comment below by Jeffry Houser: With the Adobe Developer Exchange, it is not an e-ecommerce site, it is just a directory. If you want to submit a commercial component, you have to provide the link to where people can buy it, which means building your own infrastructure for making the sale. For Flextras I built my own infrastructure.

If you charge just $1 for your component/app then you will get a fraction of the users you could have gotten had you given it away. You have to ask yourself, “Do I want money or recognition.” If you already have an abundance of either then perhaps you should go for the other. Suppose you’re a rock star Flex developer living in San Francisco and working remotely for a company based in Denver – you know who you are. You have climbed to the top of the recognition latter so why not make a few bucks off your latest work?

On the other hand if know one knows who you are then releasing a kickass component or app free to the public can get you some recognition. That can turn into more friends on Facebook, more followers on Twitter and that can in turn lead to better job opportunities. So giving away your component/app can indirectly lead to more money as well.

Personally I had to make this decision a few years ago with a project of mine called videoMaru. I decided to give it away and it soon caught the eye of Collis at FlashDen.net. Even though FlashDen.net is about selling Flash components Collis featured videoMaru in many places on his site so that visitors would know all about it. About a year and a half later the recognition I had gained from videoMaru allowed me to quit my day job and become a fulltime freelance developer – something I’m very happy with. There is no doubt that it would have been much harder to make that transition had it not been for the recognition I received from videoMaru.

What are your thoughts and/or experiences on this topic?