ZendAMF Serialization Patch

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:55:47 -0800

In August I posted an issue on the Zend Tracker in regards to a noticeable bottleneck with serialization. ZendAMF performs at least 5x slower than AMFPHP, which is jarring when retrieving a high volume of rows. Many just shrugged it off and stayed with AMFPHP on more demanding data-retrieval projects. Today Mark Reidenbach contributed a patch; diff files. ZendAMF wasn’t using referenced variables, and was also sacrificing speed for size by checking for strings using array_search. The size difference resulting from the changes on his project are almost double, but still only kb: 179kb to 287kb. So pick your demon. Mark reports that these two changes have brought serialization time back to roughly what it was with AMFPHP. Big ups Mark, I salute you and will buy you a bucket of beer at the next RIAdventure !!

You can grab the .diff files here:
http://framework.zend.com/issues/browse/ZF-7493

Yes, I also go by Prabhu Singh, a name given by Yogi Bhajan

2009 :: What the Hell Happened?

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:51:26 -0800

One of my New Years resolution should be to keep a record of what went down, because it seems like we were all over the map this year. I won’t go over everything we accomplished, or show all of the details, but here’s a quick overview of some of the highlights I remember.

2009 Awards :: Motion GFX Resource

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:18:27 -0800

Video Copilot wins the prestigious “Best of 2009 Motion-GFX Resource” award. Andrew Kramer is a captivating edutainer, and has built Video Copilot into an immensely useful resource for AE tutorials, and inspiration. There are a ton of free tutorials & resources, as well as very useful content to include in your toolkit. They’re probably the most entertaining tutorials I’ve ever come across = )

Here are a few motion gfx I did in 2009 under the anonymous tutelage of the Andrew Kramer.

2009 Awards :: Conference of the Year

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:22:02 -0800

RIAdventure wins by being the only flash conference on the Caribbean. 7 days on a cruise ship lounging with an intrepid band of flash-wizards sounds like fun, right? Scuba diving, snorkeling, dancing, crooning karaoke, zip-lining, and venturing onto sandy beaches with attendee’s pushes RIAdventure over the top. If it’s your first time on a cruise you might be surprised at how affordable it can be. Our tickets, which include meals, were only $400. You can pay more for a tiny port-hole, or a balcony door, but you probably won’t spend much time in your room at all, and from what I saw they’re all about the same size. The ports included Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel, and each have fun tropical excursions. It’s a young conference, managed by the fun folks who put on 360|Flex, so it’s sure to grow. The presentations were great, ranging from the latest Flash CS5 iPhone-export teasers, Flex’s upcoming Slider framework, Android development, Data Visualization, and more. Unfortunately I missed the last day of presentations due to pressing work-related matters which involved extensive data gathering of the Norwegian Spirit’s Pina Colada supply, & lounge-chair efficacy. Thankfully I hear the presentations were video-taped...

I absolutely, highly recommend this conference for anyone interested in tropical destinations, networking, and hanging out with other flash geeks. My only warning, crazy stories are almost a guarantee, and do not attempt to slide the fancy staircase handrails.

http://riadventure.com/

Satkirin Kaur Khalsa - Purification REMIX

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:35:44 -0700

Had fun rocking the drums & synth to this beautiful Satkirin song from her ‘lightness of being’ album.

AS3 : Line of interpolated points

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:55:09 -0700

I wanted to capture a solid coordinate path using mouse positions with the MOUSE_MOVE event, and setPixels.

drawCircle() is for proof of concept, you wouldn’t want to draw with interpolated points where lineTo, or other Graphic methods were available.

var p1:Point = new Point(30, 40);
var p2:Point = new Point(400, 350);
spr1.graphics.moveTo(p1.x, p1.y);
spr1.graphics.lineStyle(20, 0x111111, 1, true, LineScaleMode.NORMAL, CapsStyle.ROUND, JointStyle.ROUND, 10);
spr1.graphics.lineTo(p2.x, p2.y);

spr2.graphics.moveTo(p1.x, p1.y);
var iPoints:Array = interpolationPoints(p1, p2);
var numPoints:Number = iPoints.length;
var interpolation:Point;
spr2.graphics.beginFill(0x111111, 1);
for(var i:int=0;i< numPoints;i++)
{
interpolation = iPoints[i];
spr2.graphics.drawCircle(interpolation.x, interpolation.y, 10);
}
spr2.graphics.endFill();

function interpolationPoints(p1:Point, p2:Point):Array
{
var arr:Array = [];
var distance:Number = Point.distance(p1, p2);
var percent:Number;
for(var i:int=0;i<distance;i++)
{
percent = i/distance;
arr.push(Point.interpolate(p1, p2, percent));
}
return arr;
}

Automator : convert audio to .mp3

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 17:49:02 -0700

The audio conversion options in Automator require that the files be imported into iTunes, and there aren’t available actions for removing those imported files from iTunes afterward. So if you want mp3’s out of an AIFF collection, and don’t want that collection in iTunes you’ll have to manually remove them (or write a script that will). Here’s a script I wrote that uses lame to handle the conversion instead of iTunes. Select the files in Finder, and run the service. A dialog provides the option for deleting or keeping the original-source files. A second dialog allows you to choose the destination for the converted mp3 files, defaulting to the parent location of the first file in your selection. If you’re looking for an easy way to compress audio collection’s, enjoy!
OS X doesn’t come bundled with lame, so converting to mp3‘s is slightly more complicated to setup than m4a. It’s possible to do by using macports to download, and build a lame “port”, which with a bit of reading from the macports site, is easy to do. I won’t detail the process but you install the proper macports version for your system, and then use the macports install command in Terminal to build a local binary of lame.

a ‘Get Selected Finder Items’ action is placed before the applescript in the Automator workflow.

Automator : convert audio to .m4a

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 14:20:11 -0700

Automator : substr_replace (update)

Wed, 7 Oct 2009 14:12:25 -0700

In order to simplify the interface, and mimic the PHP equivalent more closely; I updated an old applescript I’d written for use with OS X’s Automator services. I use this for batch-editing filenames in the Finder.

substr_replace ( replacement : start : length )

Parameters
replacement
The replacement string.
start
If start is positive, the replacing will begin at the start 'th offset into string .
If start is negative, the replacing will begin at the start 'th character from the end of string .
length
If given and is positive, it represents the length of the portion of string which is to be replaced. If it is negative, it represents the number of characters from the end of string at which to stop replacing. If it is not given, then it will default to strlen( string ); i.e. end the replacing at the end of string . Of course, if length is zero then this function will have the effect of inserting replacement into string at the given start offset.

Can It Be All So Simple...

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 08:06:33 -0700

The Finder icon is kind of creepy when given more than a glance. It’s either a multiracial smiley-box-face, or the profile of two faces making out... Besides that it’s a great interface for managing the contents of your filesystem. However, in my opinion the column-view would benefit from a little enhancement. I’ve made some mockups, and explanations below.

Squiggly - spellcheck engine

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:53:02 -0700

Adobe’s finally come around with a spellcheck engine. Unfortunately in it’s beta stage, the UI classes require the Flex mx components, so if you’ve still not dived into the Flex framework, it’s up to you to build an interface for displaying misspelled words, and providing suggestions. On the bright side, they’ve included a binary english-dictionary, and
it’s really very easy to start adding realtime spellchecking using the SpellChecker, and SpellingDictionary classes.

Checkout Squiggly on labs.adobe.com

Scale 9 Grid with Gradient

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:51:16 -0700

I noticed that simple vector gradients with a Scale9Grid applied inside the IDE wouldn’t slice the gradient as one might expect. A simple yet non-obvious solution I found is using the ‘Combine Objects > Union’ tool on the gradient in the “outer” areas of the grid.

Example: http://leefernandes.com/share/9sliceGradient.fla.zip

mootools or jQuery for tweening?

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:03:23 -0700

I’ve been quickly scanning for a javascript library to handle some basic purposes, such as tweening. Reliability, performance, documentation, and syntax are what I value in such a choice, and favor in that order. But with limited time one can only measure reliability & performance with limited effectiveness, so documentation, and syntax become more important. Based on those two considerations I’ve chosen to move forward with mootools.

mootools
var myFx = new Fx.Tween(myElement);
myFx.addEvents({
'start': function() { alert('Start'); }
'complete': function() { alert('Done'); }
});
myFx.start(‘opacity’, ‘0’);
//start & complete events on opacity tween
or
$(myElement).fade('out');
//Fades myElement out.
http://mootools.net/docs/core/Fx/Fx.Tween

jQuery
$(myElement).fadeOut(2000, function(){ alert('Done');});
http://docs.jquery.com/Effects/fadeOut

Height Adjustable Workstations pt II

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:31:56 -0700

It’s cheap, fairly fiimsy, not my ideal width, but I can finally stand while working, and it only cost $150. No regrets here, I’m glad to be rid of an old behemoth corner desk, and 8-12 hours of sitting. On top of that, you can either blow 1k+ on a herman miller stool, or a hundred for any one of the inexpensive drafting stool’s on amazon.com. The desk has a glossy surface, so laser-mice will require a mouse-pad, and handstands.com has a great ultra-thin pad.

Standing Desk: http://www.amazon.com/Metropolis-Desk-By-Altra-Furniture/dp/B001RQAWIG/

Drafting Stools: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_hg?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=drafting+stool&x=0&y=0

Ultra thin mouse-pad: http://www.handstands.com/retail/computer-accessories/white-ultra-thin-mousepad.php

Automator/Applescript : substr_replace

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:50:21 -0800

Automator is a great tool for customizing batch processes, such as renaming a bunch of files; all without leaving the Finder. Converting, and info-tagging audio formats, are other ways I’ve put Automator to work as a Finder plugin. The workflow typically looks like:

- Get Selected Finder Items
- Do some stuff (rename, convert)

The ‘Rename Finder Items’ action has a Replace-Text command that can allow you to select your files in Finder, right-click to run the process, and decide what text to replace at runtime; as a batch process. This is great when you have a bunch of files that have something arbitrary in the filename, which you’d either prefer removes, or replaced.