Proudly Announcing GameTripping.com (re-launch)
With a goal of 500 reviews by May 1st, I have re-launched Gametripping.com. Originally launched in June 2004, GameTripping received some early press when I gave a radio interview almost 2 years ago.
Recently, I found some time to enhance the old code, and with the power of Flex 2, I was able to really enhance the user experience as well.
In this powerful and exciting re-launch, a new feature called Ballpark Collection lets you track, view and share all the ballparks you have visited and reviewed throughout Major League baseball. Additional new features on the ballpark’s profile include the GameTripping guide (powered by Yahoo! Maps) and the GameTripping Gallery (powered by Flickr). In essence, the ballpark’s profile becomes a pretty compelling mashup driven by 2 of the most popular APIs.
Also new is the addition of the GameTripping badge. Once you create an account, you will be given free code to put on your blog or MySpace page. This code displays a special Flash module that will show your audience how many reviews you have made on GameTripping.com. When the module is clicked, your readers will be led right to your Ballpark Collection. [You can view my badge on the sidebar of my blog!]
GameTripping.com has always been driven by the community, and with each ballpark review made, the site grows as a comprehensive resource for people visiting ballparks. A fun and informative ballpark review can take just take one minute to write. By entering your reviews you will share your ballpark experiences with the thousands (hopefully millions) of users Gametripping.com will entertain this coming season.
Enjoy, write reviews, spread the word and help me reach the modest goal of making GameTripping.com the most entertaining and comprehensive ballpark guide ever!
> go to GameTripping.com | view my BallPark Collection
view my brother’s mySpace featuring his GameTripping badge
Yahoo! Maps Mashups – From the back cover
Less than two weeks to go!
Amazon.com has added details from the book’s back cover. I like this becuase it sheds some light on the books voice and direction. In addition to covering, in detail, the maps API methods, I spent some time helping the reader from from Ajax to JS-Flash. Another thing revealed here, and one I am really proud of, is the time I spent in the book working with Flex 2.
Here it is:
From the Back Cover
Your development world is about to greatly expand because of the new wave of Yahoo! Maps APIs. Written by Charles Freedman, a senior Flash developer at Yahoo!, this book provides you with all the information you’ll need to know about these APIs in order to build amazing map mashups. You’ll find in-depth coverage of Yahoo! mapping tools and technologies and a variety of techniques for working with the APIs.
Yahoo! Maps Mashups explores each API flavor, guiding you through the simple yet comprehensive sets of API calls. This will help you gain a strong understanding of the capabilities of each map technology through its respective API. Freedman also uses each API’s uniqueness to explore the basic and advanced set of API methods, classes, and events. With this information, you’ll be able to download, install, and develop mashups with one or all of the Yahoo! Maps APIs.
What you will learn from this book
- All about each Yahoo! Maps API and the technology that drives it
- How to build mashups featuring popular web services like Flickr; Hot Jobs; Yahoo! Travel; local, real-time traffic; and video
- How to easily adapt from Ajax to the JS-Flash API
- Techniques for building Flex 2 mashups by using the AS-Flash API
- How to use map features such as panning and zooming, markers, overlays, and geocoding
Who this book is for
This book is for Web developers who have some experience with languages and technologies such as HTML, JavaScript/Ajax, XML, or Flash/ActionScript. Everything in the book is explained in detail along with source code, which makes this a useful resource regardless of your experience level.
Faith in Dell restored
It was a nice sunny day and I was enjoying a rather calm morning meeting. And then that burning smell came into the conference room. As I wrote about months ago, turns out a Dell laptop caught fire 5 floors north of ours and we had to evacuate.
I was a loyal Dell customer from 1999, when I leased my first few business workstations all the way through 2005 when I bought a refurbished desktop [named BigPapi]. Somewhere in the middle, I enjoyed other refurbished (outlet) prices on a 2x 19 inch LCD’s and a laptop. That laptop, a 600m [named Tek], turned 3 last November. That’s like 60 in computer years. I wrote my entire book on it last year and used Tek when I consulted for eBay in 2005. It started slowing on me as it approached the tender age, but with an upgrade to 1GB, it runs Flex 2 like a champ.
Something happened with my upgrade to 1GB. The CDRW/DVD drive just stopped working. I used ‘all my powers and all my skills’ to try and restore it, but alas it seems by IT support abilities had faded with the laptop’s performance.
I turned to Dell’s online chat site for support. It took a short 10 minutes for the remote (really remote) support agent named Vinket to assist me. He/she recommended I download a remoting tool to allow them to fix the issue. Another 10 minutes was all it took for them to remotely fudge some regedit configurations (I couldn’t keep up) and bang, the CDRW/DVD drive worked.
My faith in Michael Dell’s company was restored.
This laptop, Tek, my reliable and now 1GB powerful laptop (with working CDRW/DVD drive) will be retired from active duty and be sent to my 84 year-old grandmother. I will optimize it, of course, so she can remotely view the growth of her great-grandson by way of a Flash Media Server-driven app I built (hosted on Influxis), I affectionately call BabyTV. (More on this in a future post).
And for Dell’s kick-ass and efficient support efforts I have ditched my interest in a Sony Vaio, HP or Toshiba laptop. This week my 5th straight Dell outlet purchase will arrive. A 2GB, 15.4 wide screen, Dual Core 2 powered Latitude 820 laptop. It shall be named DiceK.
IMAX Rules
IMAX rules and it may, just may, save the theater going experience. Let’s face it, paying $10 to go see a movie is decently economical. But having to drive, park, wait in line, pay $6 for a snack, $4 for a drink, oh and the inconvenience of not being able to go to the bathroom without missing part of it… these factors are usually outweighed by the option of buying a movie for $15. That’s right, since the DVD came out, I’ve progressively seen less movies every year. In 2005 we went to the movies 5 times, last year a total of 4.
My wife and I went to what will likely be our last movie for a while (baby coming NEXT MONTH). We saw “A Night at the Museum”, the subject of which used to be a re-occurring dream, literally a nighttime sleeping dream, of mine between the ages of 8 and 11. I remember it quite vividly. I would go to the Museum of Science in Boston on a field trip, fall asleep, and wake up at night. And yes, all the exhibits would come alive.
So I was delighted when I first saw the trailer. Understanding the appeal was geared towards kids, I hoped for a Shrek-like wittiness to it. My wife and I were delighted with the movie, but not nearly as much as the experience of seeing it in IMAX. Everything about the experience in IMAX is “bigger”. The chairs are more comfortable, it’s a true stadium experience, the sound blows you away, and the picture quality is unparralled.
Like I said, I’ve never been to a feature length IMAX movie before, so I hope to see more exciting movies being transferred and released in this format. One thing to note; I’ve never heard a movie audience oooh and ahhh at the “green ratings screen”. In IMAX, you’ll awe at everything.
Yahoo! Maps Mashups – Official Table of Contents
Wiley, the publisher of my first book Yahoo! Maps Mashups, has released the table of contents. The book is due on February 12 and it’s going to be a very exciting time. With just about a month to go before it’s release, here is the official list of chapters for the book:
1. Your Map, Your World.
2. Developing with Yahoo! Maps.
3. The Ajax API.
4. Get Started with the Ajax API.
5. Ajax API Basics.
6. Ajax API Advanced Features.
7. The Ajax Mashup.
8. The JS-Flash API.
9. Get Started with the JS-Flash API.
10. JS-Flash API Basics.
11. JS-Flash API Advanced Features.
12. The JS-Flash Mashup.
13. The AS-Flash API.
14. Get Started with the AS-Flash API.
15. AS-Flash API Basics.
16. AS-Flash API Advanced Features.
17. The AS-Flash Mashup.
18. Yahoo! Maps and Flex 2.
19. Get Started with Yahoo! Maps and Flex 2.
20. Basic Methods: Flex 2 using the AS-Flash API.
21. Advanced Features: Flex 2 using the AS-Flash API.
22. The Flex 2 Mashup.
Appendix A. API Method Comparison Chart.
Appendix B. API Example and Mashup Index.
You’ll likely notice that pretty much an equal share of the book is dedicated to each of Yahoo!’s Maps APIs. Starting with an intro chapter of the API and its technology, moving on to steps to getting started, then basic and advanced methods of the API. Each section culminates in a mashup with another popular Yahoo! API. The last section works with the AS-Flash API and Flex 2 using Local Connection.
Purchase the book at Amazon
Wiley’s TOC and book details
The Red Camera (Oakley) and The End of Film
Most of you know I am a huge Oakley buff, flashing my watch, sunglasses, prescription (Rx) glasses, shoes, shirts, golf glove and shoes, laptop bag, etc. nearly everyday. My passion for the company comes mostly from their design and style, closely followed by the comfort and innovation of their products. Their brand trademark “Driven to Ignite the Imagination through the Fusion of Art and Science” is a creed I personally strive for with almost everything I do. In fact, I apply this spirit to my approach with Flash Platform development, both desktop and now mobile.
This enthusiasm for the brand’s unique and successful design, combined with my another passion of mine, Film and Digital Photography/Video has me going nuts over a recent discovery. Jim Jannard, founder of Oakley, has founded Red Digital Camera Company and produced a digital camera which claims resolution exceeding that of 35mm film.
With an astounding resolution of 4520 x 2540, the camera is equally amazingly priced at $17,500 which is very aggressive for a high definition camera, period. The simplicity of its design and function is true to form of Oakley’s products and I now dream of the day where I may shoot with one of these babies.
Special thanks to up and coming filmmaker Sergio Pinheiro (my roommate and friend from BU Film school) for bringing this very cool camera to my attention.
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