Ever since I became a Red Sox fan during the season of 1987, when baseball cards had wooden borders, I dreamed of running on to the field at Fenway while my name was being announced. As I got older and started going to more and more games, that dream grew to one day sitting in a luxury suite at Fenway. Earlier this week, I learned that our generous CEO at litl had made a contribution in the company’s name to the Foundation to be Named Later, an organization run by Paul Epstein which raises money for charities. To coincide with the foundation’s upcoming Hot Stove Cool Music summer concert event, they had invited significant contributors to be honored at a pre-game ceremony and meet Theo Epstein and Peter Gammons. I will let the following video and photos tell the rest of the tail of one of the coolest experiences at Fenway I’ve ever had…

And now for the photos..

With Theo Epstein:

With Theo Epstein:

With Jay Santos, of Hell’s Kitchen, and Jordan Newman, of litl:

Thanks again to Jordan for accompanying me to the presentation, taking photos, and helping me represent litl so well!

My work-to-fun ratio with software reached about 50 to 1 many years ago. I stopped playing PC games and have spent almost all of my time using software for coding (admittedly fun – sometimes) and for work and personal productivity.

The timing was good to see this tweet last week just days after I off loaded my first batch (on flickr here and here) of photos taken from my new Canon T2i (550D) and EF-S 18-135 and 55-250 lenses. While very impressed with the upgraded quality of the images (from my slightly older Rebel Xsi), I was eager to see how I could enhance them with Adobe’s Lightroom 3. I downloaded the trial. While usually lost in Photoshop, I found Lightroom quick and easy to get started and I was able to tweak and enhance photos to an exciting level.

The post production process for me, a former Editor of photography and darkroom dweller back in my high school and college days, is as much fun as taking the photos themselves. To re-discover this in the digital photography world is just awesome.

You can clearly see the richness and difference in photos from left to right. In Lightroom 3, I found adjusting “Temp” and “Recovery” instantly effective. I also found additional detail when playing and increasing “Blacks”, “Brightness” and “Contrast” against each other. Even with these amazing results, there are still Lens Corrections and Effects to add.

If you’ve got a great camera and want the best out of your photos, you should start playing with Lightroom.

Links:
My “Stage Fort Park” set
My “T2i Selections” set
Adobe Lightroom 3

UPDATE: Visit FlashCommunityCares.com right now to bid on tickets to FITC Toronto, FlashBelt and FlashAndTheCity!

There is no doubt in my mind that the Flash Community is the most creative, energetic and vocal designer & developer community out there. The combination of talent, across many skills of designing and coding, along with its longevity and the activity Flash fosters of its members to contribute code, support one another and engage each other, is really unprecedented. Perhaps because ‘both sides of the brain’ are involved with Flash more so than other software platforms, or maybe its the abundance of conferences we all congregate to… It’s not just about cutting & pasting actionscript, mxml, or drawing lines, tweening, building components… It’s about the people involved and the character of its members.

When the Flash community gets crossed by something, they are as vocal as anybody. The solidarity amongst this vast, international network is a strong force. As the world continues to need our help, its time to harness this community into something that everyone can benefit from.

FlashCommunityCares.com was launched to give the Flash community a collective point of light to do some great things for everyone. We’ve already raised over $5000 for various organizations including Toys for Tots, Doctors Without Borders, The American Red Cross and various funds for Haiti relief.

Our efforts are supported by various and generous Flash community members, conference organizers and some special people wanting to make a difference! Most notably, we’ve received tremendous support from FITC, FlashBelt, FlashAndTheCity, 360Flex, and individual item donators and contributors like Jesse Freeman, Lee Brimelow, Brian Connatser, Michelle Yaiser and several more!

Please help us help others. Spread the word about FlashCommunityCares.com.

I recently launched a new side-blog project with super-talented friend and former colleague of mine, Brendan Lee. The idea came to use way back in August 2009, but like so many worthy things, it took some time to establish.

We take to a naturally unique conversation style, where the tangent and non sequitur are instrumental, fueling intellectually bizarre and fascinating topics that emerge from our conversations. These are observations on culture and things, with an acute, artistic twist. When we become aware of (reveal) these topics, it is often as if no one else has every realized what we are seeing. To put it bluntly and to coin an eloquent phrase of Brendan’s that inspired us to create the blog, these are “the flowers in the cracks“.

The blog is called “The Daily Interfacer” and has offered me an outlet, a cloud-based and collaborative ‘notebook’, to share these observations, directly and indirectly, with Brendan and the entire world observing community.

Enjoy: http://www.thedailyinterfacer.com. On Twitter as: @dailyinterfacer.

I’ve had a lot of business cards in my career, but none have been as expressive as what I’ll be giving out as Chief Channel Evangelist from litl. So far, I have been very impressed with our internal design team. Not only did they apply incredible ingenuity to the hardware design of our device, but they have tons of creativity to spare to come with these incredible cards. The design team has also been effective in putting a litl-spin on some of the channels now available in our catalog to litl users!

Here’s a reminder of what the device looks like in its unique easel mode:

I look forward to giving you one of my new business cards at an upcoming event!

I am proud to present my official Flash And The City 2010 Speaker Video.

The idea came to me based on Egon’s awesome line: “I’m terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought”, while standing on the roof of a high rise over New York City. I think this line reflects, with some humor, how many folks in the Flash community had initially reacted to the iPad not having Flash Player. The whole situation makes our session panel at Flash And The City more significant. Moderating the panel of Elad, Scott, Thomas and Lee, we will discuss “Devices with Flash”, widening the understanding, scope and potential for developers to continue building Flash applications for mobile and devices. There are a lot of great products and OEMs out there that include and are even built around Flash Player!

More on Flash And The City:

Session Panel: http://blog.flashandthecity.com/schedule/2010-sessions/day-2/technical-track/thomas-elad-scott-session/
Speaker Bio: http://blog.flashandthecity.com/speakers/chuck-freedman/
Main site: http://www.flashandthecity.com
Blog: http://blog.flashandthecity.com

Details on Flashliner, bus from Boston to NYC: http://flashliner.eventbrite.com/

In addition to making a few random donations for Haiti relief, I wanted to contribute to the HaitiNeeds.us effort led by Jesse Freeman.

Partially inspired by something Ted Patrick did several years ago, I decided to take a bunch of conference schwag items and post them on eBay. 100% of the proceeds go to charity towards Haiti relief.
 
 

	Photo	Item	Starting Bid
#1		Flashforward 2008 rare conference schwag set	$5.00
#2		AjaxWorld 2008 conference schwag set	$5.00
#3		Red5.org & Chris Allen Collector’s Set	$5.00
#4		Limited Edition Flash on The Beach sign bag 2009	$5.00
#5		High quality FITC laptop bag 2008	$5.00
#6		Adobe MAX 2006 bag	$5.00
#7		FITC messenger bag and beanie	$5.00
#8		Silverlight 3 Starter Kit	$5.00

 
 
If you have even a little interest in owning one of these items, please bid high for it. Again, all money raised goes to charity for Haiti.

It’s Sunday morning, January 3, and I’m on a natural sugar high after drinking a cup of Cran-Peach juice from Massachusetts-based Ocean Spray. I wanted to be in the most positive frame of mind (not easy when my Celtics lose 3 in-a-row to end the year / but easier when you wake up to relaxing snow powder wrapped around your house and trees like Mother nature’s cold, yet warm blanket). So here is a recap of my personal and technical wins of 2009, in chronological order…

1. WIN > Successfully and safely relocated my family from the West to East coast.

After just over 3 years in CA, we moved back to and settled in MA. The combination of family, friends and affordability were leading factors. Since both my wife and I grew up in MA, our childhood memories were so engrained that it became too challenging to see us raising our family without the key elements back here we were so fond of. After one year, we are totally settled in our home and are very happy with the decision.

2. WIN > Launched getMicrophone.com and improved Flash Player with a community initiative.

As the story goes, it was mid-March and I had reached a limit with the microphone capabilities of Flash. After bumping into friend and former colleague Justin Church at MIX in Las Vegas, I was encouraged to launch getMicrophone.com and lead a community campaign urging Adobe to add open Microphone to Flash. 6 months later, Adobe demoed open microphone features in AIR (at Flash on the Beach), followed by the announcement and release of open microphone in Flash Player 10.1 (at MAX). Huge win and fun effort.

3. WIN > Coded and presented my own project at Flash on the Beach and MAX.

The reasons behind this really deserve and will get their own post. After 4 years of presenting and evangelizing my work-related platform and applications at Flash conferences, I grew the desire and inspiration to show off my own stuff. Not that I didn’t have fun doing my job, but between Yahoo Maps and Ribbit, I started to long for the ability to share my own ideas and build something from scratch. Just in time for the big shows in Brighton and LA in October, I completed something I had wanted to do for years. My project used a stereo microphone C# based application to control a Flash UI, using the distinct left and right audio channels to move a stick figure from one of the screen to another. It was a lot of fun and allowed me to connect with my audiences in a whole new way.

4. WIN > Transitioned into a new role with a new company.

The 2.5 years I spent at Ribbit was my 2nd longest tenure at any company in my career. It was by far the most rewarding, for many reasons. An interest in the mobile space and the desire to work with a device-based platform led me to accept a position with litl as Chief Channel Evangelist. We are still a few months away from releasing our SDK, but it should create a wonderful new opportunity for Flash content and the developer community.

5. WIN > Safely traveled nearly 40 flights, to 18 cities and towns in 3 countries, for nearly 20 conferences and user groups, while staying in over 20 hotels.

2009 was definitely the year of unprecedented travel for me. I was making 3 trips a month at some points and spoke/presented at nearly a few dozen events. I got to travel to the UK for the first time in 11 years, since my semester abroad in 1998. From new conferences like Flash on Tap, to the always special FITC and MAX, to my appearance at Flash on the Beach, I really enjoyed getting to know the other speakers more and now consider several colleagues and friends.

BONUS WIN > Led RIA/Flash Community to raise over $3200 for Marine’s Toys for Tots.

Since this is so recent, I’ll keep it short. I’m overwhelmed at the response for the community. Many of the most respected developers in the business contributed and participated. Some of my favorite people and agencies really stepped up with big donations. Total win for the community and for kids who, I’m sure, got loads of cool toys as a result of this beard growing effort!

So, 2009 will go down as an extra special year covering many personal and technical achievements.
As I look ahead, there are so many things I can’t wait to do this coming year. At litl, we’ll launch a new platform that should revive ‘flash’ content in the form of engaging channels on our device. I’ve also taken the assignment of tech reviewing a new Flex 4 book, which should help me to sharpen my coding skills. As for conferences and travel, I expect to do quite a bit and hope to mix my evangelism with some of my own potions.

I wish all a happy and prosperous New Year.

UPDATE: 49 donations and with $3100 in total donations, we’ve blown way past our goal!
[as of 12/3, 2:20 PM EST]

Congrats to all and thanks for your tremendous heart and support.

The Beard Off Leaderboard [updated avatars only]
   
   
   

Thank you for your support!
Several members of the RIA/Flash community have rallied to raise money in support of The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Basically, we’ve shaved and are now growing (or trying to grow) beards so that more needy and deserving kids can have toys to open this holiday season.

You can DONATE NOW to support our cause.

The following are RIA/Flash professionals and others with big enough hearts who donated $50 to shave and participate in this cause:

Elad Elrom (@EladElrom) [+ Also offering incentive]
Brian Connatser (@connatser) [+ Also offering incentive]
Kevin Suttle (@kevinSuttle)
Jesse Freeman (@theflashbum)
Joseph Labrecque (@JosephLabrecque) [+ Also offering incentive]
Robert Hall (@rhall)
Todd Anderson (@bustardcelly)
Ben Stucki (@BenStucki)
Curt Staubach (@curtStaubach)
Chris Allen (@mrchrisallen)
Scott Janousek (@scottjanousek)
Stacey Mulcahy (@BitchWhoCodes)
LordAlex Leon (@LordAlex)
Sean McCracken (@Seantron)
and
me, Chuck Freedman (@chuckstar)

And the following people have generously supported our efforts (in order of their generosity):

@influxis, donated $350, with love, on behalf of its great company, to support the community
Branden Hall (@waxpraxis, @2geeks), donated $300 supporting the community
@universalmind, donated $300 on behalf of its great company, to support the community
@infrared5, donated $300 on behalf of its great company, to support the community
Bernie & Erikka Perkins, donated $100 supporting @chuckstar
Brian Deitte (@bdeitte), donated $100 to support the community
Jose Russo (@joseeight), donated $88.00 because he can’t grow a beard himself
Elad Elrom (@EladElrom), donated $65 to round the total raised to $3000 << AWESOME!
Jerry Chabolla (Influxis), donated $50.00 supporting @bitchwhocodes & because he loves @chuckstar
TomGreen, donated $50 supporting @bitchwhocodes
Rachel Luxemburg, (@rlux) donated $50 supporting @bitchwhocodes
Mims H. Wright, donated $50 supporting @TheFlashBum
Dave Isbitski (@theDaveDev), donated $50 to support the cause
Bruno Fonzi @BrunoFonzi, donated $50 on behalf of @PowerFlasher
Matt Gitchell @fixative, donated $50.00 to support the cause
Dan Johnson (@eclecticdan), donated $50 to support @CurtStaubach and @KevinSuttle
@schmidtkevinall, donated $27 to support the community and round the total to $2100
Val Head, donated $25 supporting @bitchwhocodes
Joel Hooks (@jhooks), donated $25 to support the cause
@fishstic, donated $25 to support the cause
@Jonathan_Design, donated $25 to support the cause
LeifWells, donated $25, to support @bitchwhocodes
Kathryn Rotondo (@flashionista), donated $25 to support the @litl guys
Even Schechtman, donated $25 to support @TheFlashBum
@kristinhenry, donated $20 to support the cause
Tim @kindberg, donated $20 supporting @KevinSuttle
Jason Roberts (@jfrobertstn), donated $20 supporting @connatser
Joao Goncalves (@joaopapin), donated $20 to support our cause
Teresa Brosnihan, donated $15 to support our cause
@mrayinteractive , donated $10 to support @bitchwhocodes
Art W, donated $10 supporting @JosephLabrecque
Paul Gregoire (@mondain), donated $10 to support the cause
Garth Braithwaite, donated $10 to support the cause
Yee Peng Chia, donated $10 to support the cause

Watch this page for updates, and please visit HERE (http://www.firstgiving.com/riabeardoff) to donate!

My sincerest thanks to all who are participating and all who have donated to support us! You should be very proud to help bring a smile to a child in time for the holidays.

Lastly, please add this code to your blog or facebook page to help us raise money and awareness:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowNetworking="all" height="230" width="150" align="middle" data="http://www.firstgiving.com/widgets/fgwidget.swf" flashvars="EggId=1009631"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.firstgiving.com/widgets/fgwidget.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="flashvars" value="EggId=1009631" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff" /></object>

I have left Ribbit to evangelize Channel content and application development on the litl device. This is the 2nd post in a two part story, of where I was and where I am going.

Where I am going…

The love for consumer electronics is in my blood. I was raised as a gadget nutball. My father went to CES every year for something like 22 years straight. I remember him returning with tails of gadgets and new technologies. These were my bed time stories. The technology in our house wasn’t lavish, but appeared essential. My grandfather opened a typewriter sales and repair shop in 1947, fresh off of WWII. 60+ years later, my dad, aunt and uncle run the business as a leading regional consumer electronics and appliance store. We had early access to all the 80s good stuff as it came out. If a dentist’s kids have great teeth, then I had more than my filling of electronics growing up.

After 11 years of coding web applications, I can’t show you a darn thing online. The DOW chart I did for Fidelity.com has long been gone. The widgets Rob Abbott and I worked on for eBay.com and eBay China, while cutting edge, didn’t last past 2006. All the Flex 2 work I did with an amazing team at Yahoo! Maps, an app once used by 40 million people a month, is no longer viewable. [Also gone are my Easter eggs... Shft+F zoomed into Fenway Park.] Even the original code for the breakthrough Ribbit API has all been paved over. These projects represent the years upon years of coding I’ve done. Poof. Gone.

I’ve known for a while that eventually I needed to find a project to work on that would deliver something REAL… something tangible… something you can hold in your hand. I can say quite honestly that I was not actively looking for new opportunities. However, when you get to be doing what I do for a few years and have the visibility that many in our community do, you get contacted by recruiters a lot. When one of those “do you know anyone who is interested in…” emails came across that interested me, I took a closer look.

So, these are some of the key aspects of litl that more than appealed to me. Effectively, here is why I joined the company (in no particular order):

- litl is a device AND a developer platform, with huge potential

I love that litl has the dual opportunity to promote both a device and a developer platform. This should make for a much different experience not just evangelizing what developers can do on a platform, but also talking about the product itself. Effectively, we’re bringing two products to market: 1) the device, 2) the SDK to build/deploy custom content and application channels on the device. Having had experience with startups, I have a pretty good sense of what to look for at the management level. The leaders of this company appear to have the vision and patience necessary to make this a successful venture.

- litl is based in Boston

The last time I worked at a Boston based company was June 2005. I miss the city, its culture and the convenience of catching a Red Sox or Celtics game after work. I’ll still work almost full time out of my well-equipped home office, but having the company’s HQ within driving distance of where I live should cut down the length of my trips (especially to the West coast), considerably.

- litl had the perfect position for me

They were looking for an established Flash Platform evangelist. This is actually my 3rd evangelist role, after Ribbit and Yahoo! Maps. I love engaging developers, giving you new opportunities, and new things to extend Flash Platform with.

- litl is committed to Flash

They’ve already built an impressive Flash developer team, led by the very respected Flash/AIR coder Kathryn Rotondo. As you learn more about litl, and the unique way its channels will allow a streaming web page experience, you’ll see just how essential Flash is. Currently supporting Flash Lite (as2), we’ll eventually roll out a stand alone Flash Player 10 (as3) SDK for channel development.

- litl will create opportunities for the Flash community

There will be an ecosystem for Flash developers to build/contribute custom channels, which will be made available for sale/free, in a revenue sharing iPhone store-like model, to litl customers.

- litl is a chance to evangelize a product-based platform over a service-based platform

Basically, evangelizing a service-based platform, like Ribbit, has some interesting complexities. Beyond the challenge of just promoting the service, you need to encourage developers to get their own accounts, and in some cases, require developers to purchase your service just to work with it. It’s also more about “how does our service work IN your apps?” With a product/device based platform, like litl, it will be more about “how does your application work ON our platform?” The former is more invasive, where the latter is more enabling, I think. [I really owe this concept its own post...]

So, I’m a few days into my new job and love it so far. I had a chance today, at RIAunleashed, to start showing off litl. The reception is great and very encouraging that litl WILL BE an amazing outlet for Flash development on mobile devices, and a break though web experience overall.