I have just been checking out Asual’s SWFAddress.

If you haven’t come across it yet, SWF Address is a tool for deep linking in Flash. It is a JavaScript based code which will set hash (anchor) link path from your Flash content. Not only does this mean users can now use their back buttons, but it also means permalinks can be created to content deep inside the Flash movie. For example http://www.yoursite.com/#/projects/project-name/ // Read More

In PHP there is a very useful function called array_count_values. It sorts an array by returning a 2 dimensional array consisting of non duplicate elements as keys, and values determined by how many times these elements appeared in the original array.

So, for example, an array [“red”,”green”,”blue”,”red”] would be converted into [“red” => 2, “green” =>1, “blue” => 1]. Duplicate elements are removed and the new array indicates how many times each, now unique value occurred in the array.

Unfortunately, Actionscript has no such function built in, so I made one. It is a modification of Senocular’s array.unique() prototype (which you can find in his Actionscript library), however rather than simply returning a unique array, it returns the 2 dimensional array mentioned above. // Read More

A decent computer and lots of volume is recommended.

Well, due to the fear of slipping behind, I felt I better start learning the new Flash language, Actionscript 3, and at first glance, one of the coolest features is definitely the SoundMixer.computeSpectrum function. // Read More

In this experiment, you can drag the boxes; when you release them the stack will shuffle to accommodate the dropped box.

I have recently been working on building an application in which I wanted to use Photoshop style ‘layers’ which the user could create, drag onto different depths and delete.

The basic idea was for the user to click and drag ‘layers’, and drop them in between others. This would cause the other layers to reposition to accommodate the new layer and to fill the gap which it had left in it’s old position. Get it? // Read More

I became interested in the I Ching after reading biography of Philip K Dick, who used the I Ching to establish a lot of the content for his novel ‘The Man in the High Castle’. // Read More

Download the source files

Following another post regarding using stage listeners to dynamically resize and position MovieClips in Flash, I was asked to upload and FLA as an example. The previous code can just be pasted into the actions panel and will run without any MovieClips needed, and was designed to show the StageListener function rather than showcase a particular dynamic layout. // Read More

I have always liked the neat and compact menu system Group94 often use in their projects. It is really useful for lists or menus and is also of course very elegant.

I don’t know how Group94 do it, but here is my attempt. I have created two prototypes to make it easy to use multiple times within a project. // Read More

Experiments in the Revival of Organisms is a short animation exploring Dr. S.S. Bryukhonenko’s invention; the Autojector. // Read More

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Photography/

Oh Tony, Tony Blair, how wise and infinite in wisdom. We all know that everyone with a beard must be a terrorist (it seems a watertight argument), and now it is apparent that everyone with a camera is plotting some kind of attack on our civil liberties. Of course, having surveillance cameras all over the place is acceptable and right - the authorities need to see us buying carrots and walking the dog. However it appears that soon, if we wish to take a photograph of our beautiful planet or indeed anything that exists in a public space – we will be committing an offence.

Thankfully, you can do something to stop this. There isn’t yet a petition to make the government admit some responsibility for several hundred thousand dead Iraqi civilians, however there is one which may grant you use of a camera. // Read More

During my research for Experiments in the Revival of Organisms, my tutor Matt Johnson handed me a newspaper clipping which he had saved concerning an experiment conducted by Dr Beaurieux in 1905, in which he quite reliably proved that a severed head (That of convicted murderer Languille) remains conscious and alert for some time after being separated from the body. // Read More