360Flex we ran, literally, into Brad Umbaugh at DisneyLand

Tom and I have roots in Southern CA, so we decided that we'd take a little break and hit up DisneyLand.

My wife loves the place and when we lived in SoCal we were there quite often. Tom's got kids, so yeah I'm sure he's familiar with the place. What SoCal'er isn't?

So we're walking through tomorrow land, having just finished kicking Zerg's ass in the Buzz lightyear ride, and we run into, well smack into is more like it, Brad Umbaugh, speaker at 360|Flex San Jose!

"hey guys! What're you doing here?" Brad asks us as we help him up.

"Taking a break from conference planning, getting our fun on." Tom answers. "We just had a blast in the Buzz Lightyear ride, you done that one?"

"Oh yeah I totally did that earlier today. I like to come out to DisneyLand to clear my head and think through things. The crowds suck, but the rides are a blast."

We start walking together toward Space Mtn, which is still boasting the Red Hot Chili Peppers, w00t! "So Brad, who should come to your session In San Jose? It's less than 30 days away you know?"

Dodging twelve small children with no apparent adult, he answered, "Anyone who has felt the guilt and shame of using callLater() or validateNow() inappropriately and longs for a better way."

Another troop of of children comes pushing past us, I trip one and ask, "Why should they come? Oh and little boy, you shouldn't run into people, it's rude."

Laughing Brad, replies, "Knowing the component lifecycle makes developing custom components a lot more fun and a lot less stressful."

For some strange reason, the line for Space Mtn, is almost non existant, sweet! We walk in and stand behind only 20 or so peeps. Over the din of Space Mtn music Tom asks, "What's the goal of your session?"

Brad looks at us, "I think the last season of Baywatch was one of the worst."

Tom and I look at each other, "No! He asked what the goal of your session is!" I shout.

"Ah! To go over the basics of the component lifecycle.  You can never be too solid on the fundamentals."

We're next in line for the ride. I love me the Space Mtn. I'm kinda excited and tuning out Tom and Brad, so Tom asks, "What two sessions are you looking forward to?"

Getting into the car, brad answers, "Chris Scott's Swiz presentation and Laura Arguello's  Mate presentation.  See a pattern?"

The ride starts, we're working our way p the "launch tube" thingy...

Higher Ground starts blasting out of the speakers behind our heads. We take off!

From the seat in front of me I can hear tom ask what Brad would Tell some one who was on the fence about 360|Flex. I hear Brad reply, "No I think Captain Kirk was by far the best Captain in Star Trek history."

Wanna talk Star Trek with Brad? Talk about all the cool rides at DisneyLand with me? Register now, we're filling up fast.

Make sure to check out our Sunday training, options. FREE to all registered attendees.

360Flex we ran into Laura Arguello at yoga class

Tom being the dabbler in just about everything thought we should try yoga one night after we got done reviewing our signage comps. I've done yoga before, my wife teaches it, but Tom was keen to try it out. 

Walking in, we see Laura Arguello in the back row. We rush over taking spots on either side of her. She's stretching and getting ready, Tom's trying to figure out how to get his mat to not curl up on him. "So Laura, who should come to your session?"

The class starts, with us in foward fold, working through several Sun Salutations. Between breaths, Laura replies in a whisper, "Do you work in a team?
Do you want to structure your code in a way that will make it easy to maintain?
Are you interested in frameworks?
Do you already use a framework but are curious about what is out there?
Do you dislike frameworks because they dictate how you should build your app?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should come to the session."

While the rest of us are in downward dog, Tom is plan. The instructor takes us into Warrior One, and I whisper, "Why should they come?"

 Laura moves into the more advanced form, while I'm in the most basic, and Tom is in something completely different. "Because Mate rocks! :) Seriously now, if you have any interest in learning Mate or even if you are just curious, this session will give you all the main concepts you need to know to get started."
 
We're going into eagle now, and right before toppling into the guy next to him, Tom asks, "What's the goal of your session?"


Laura starts to answer, and we get a shhh from the instructor, whispering, "I hope to give attendees a good taste of Mate, pun intended. :) I'll do that by showing how to build a complete application, while showing how to keep the code "clean" and well organized. I also hope to give some insight about why certain patterns help us writing decoupled applications, so that even if you don't use Mate, you can take some ideas with you."

 Getting back up, Tom gets into downward dog with the rest of us, "What two sessions are you looking forward to the most?"

Jumping up from upward facing dog into mountain with ease, Laura replies, "Flex Persistence with Hibernate, Introduction to the Swiz Framework for Flex, See the Data, Be the Data"

Back in eagle, wobbling a bit, I manage to ask before dropping my other foot back to the mat, "What would you tell folks who haven't registered yet, but are thinking about it."You won't find a better place to learn about Flex and to be among Flex developers. The 360|Flex conferences I couldn't attend I felt that I missed out."

Don't feel that way yourself, register now! We had Laura with us in San Jose in '07, and are thrilled to have her back talking about Mate! Don't miss out! Register now!

360Flex Ran into Tony Hillerson on the 16th St Mall

I finally managed to get Tom to come out to Denver for a "retreat" so we could so some planning, and taking a break at the Paramount, we ran into Tony Hillerson, All around great guy and frequent speaker at 360|Flex.


"hey you guys! Tom, good to see you again!" Tony was walking down the 16th St Mall. 


"Hey Tony! Come have a seat, watch the weirdos with us for a minute." Tom waves him into the patio area, moving his backpack off the seat.


Tony sits down just as a troop of skinny goth kids walk past, smoking and trying their hardest to look like scary bad ass zombies, while clutching their Frapaccinos.


The waitress takes Tony's drink order, and heads back into the restaraunt, Tom asks, "Who should come to your session?"


Tony points out what must be a group of tourists from Wyoming... they just have that look :) "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, free from heavyweight Java app servers and constricting languages. Come and hear the good news of how to use Flex with a back-end framework that makes programming fun! (Err, you know, people that want to learn how to use Rails the Flex way, with RubyAMF)"


The waitress brings out our food, I went with chicken strips, Tom went with a buffalo burger, a side of the big stack onion rings, and a milkshake. Tom's swishing his shake around, wishing I had ordered one I asked, "Why should folks come?"

Tony takes a sip of his drink, thinks a bit, points at a street vendor arguing with a customer, then says, "Because Rails is awesome, and RubyAMF hooks up Rails with Flex, and this "they" you speak of will want to know how and why."

Tom grabs an onion ring, "What's the goal of your session?"

Tony, replies without a seconds pause, "To try and go for 80 minutes on stage without dropping a 'Mom joke'"

I'm thinking Tony's set himself a pretty lofty goal, but more power to him. I glance past Tony to some one walking up the sidewalk, what looks like a prom dress, except it's gray, and covered in rhinestones. The wearer, a 'she' I think, has bright orange hair, done in spikes. "What two sessions are you looking forward to most?"

Tony sees Orange hair, tries not to stare, gotta give him credit for not watching her. "Gotta love 16th Street.
That's a hard call, John and Tom, a real hard call. I'm looking forward to Mate and Swiz, but I also want to see how fun Brad and RJ are going to make their talk. Brad is a professional comedian, you know! Ben Stucki's "How to build a framework" is probably a must see too, and I owe Ben a beer from WebManiacs, so I'll be there too. You like how I talked about more than two? How I just ignored your limits and dove right in? Here's another one - I want to see Renaun's testing talk too. And probably Adam's Merapi talk. Reflection in Actionscript sounds fun too. In fact I'm going to skip my talk altogether and see someone else's. Other people are encouraged to do the same."
 
Putting down his buffalo burger, Tom says, "Huh, so that's what buffalo tastes like. What would you like to tell people about 360|Flex if they're on the fence about attending?"

Tony ponders that for a bit, stealing some of Tom's onion rings, "Look, this is not some heartless, automated, de-humanizing sheep-fest. This is 360|Flex! Where the logo is actually only 180 degrees! It's a much more intimate (but not *too* intimate) and fun conference than any of the others you've attended."

Even if Tony won't be there, his session is still gonna rock! Don't miss out! Register now!

360Flex and the Labriola Vineyards

Taking a break from Conference planning, and writing Flex apps, Tom and I went wine tasting in MI. Actually I went wine tasting, Tom doesn't drink. Never a fan of drinking alone (not that I'm opposed to it, mind you, but...), we drug our pal Carrot Top. Bet ya didn't know we knew Carrot Top did'ja, we met him in Vegas at MAX '06. Great guy, a bit strange when he pulls something weird out of a pocket, 19 egg beaters tied together with dental floss? Weird. Anyhoo.


We're about three wineries into our little tour when we caught sight of Michael Labriola chatting with one of the vintners  over in the corner. "Hey Mike!! What're you doing here!?" Tom calls over. CT and I grab our tasting glasses and follow Tom over.


"Oh, hey guys. Enjoying this years vintage?" he says good buy to his friend and joins us at a small table.


"Check this out, it's for when you've been drinking too much and can't walk straight." CT pulls out a converse high top with some sort of support struts coming out of it, presumably for stability.


Tom and I look at CT, then at Mike, then shrug. Tom asks, "So Mike, you excited about 360|Flex San Jose? Who should come to your session?"

Taking a sip of cab sauvignon, "Geeks. People who want to know an insane amount about a narrow topic because, while they currently don’t have an immediate use for such knowledge, they are sure they absolutely will someday. Oh, and I think they are right."



Tom and I nod, Mike's other sessions are are hard core and always get great marks. CT looks over at the counter and pulls out some sort of telescoping arm thing with a wine glass on the end. He smiles and winks at all three of us, "Why should they come?"

Mike's a bit shocked that CT asked the question, Tom and I are too, frankly.

"Because statistically, people that exit my sessions (at its conclusion) are .061 percent cooler than when they entered."

I got up and decided to try the Reisling, I'm a sucker for the sweeter wines. I'm about open my mouth when CT whips out some sort of blown glass contraption and starts pouring his glass into it. Some how it all fits inside, then comes out 2x the volume that went in. Mike and I both stare slack jawed, CT ust nods, "That's right."


Regaining my composure, what's let after so many glasses, I ask, "What's the goal of your session?"


Mike is still staring at CT, who's showing the people at the next table some sort of inflatable something-er-other, with the Presidents face taped to it. he shakes it off, "Alright, so I am sort of obsessive about certain things. When I learned to cook, I decided I could only do it right If I understood the chemistry behind it. Magic irritates the hell out of me until I understand the trick. Then one day I started using Flex and someone told me ‘just put these stupid curly brackets around your variable and magically update when the data changes.’ Completely and totally unacceptable. I had to know why, get in the middle of it, figure out how it works, break it, fix it…. You know, normal stuff. So, this session is about taking all of the magic and wonderful mystery out of those stupid curly brackets and boiling it down to a tool that you can use, manipulate, break, rebuild, hang out with, you know, normal stuff."

Tom and I both say, "Sweet" in unison. Now CT is looking at us weird, that's quite a strange feeling, I gotta tell ya. I get up to try the port (my weakness), and Tom asks, "What two sessions are you looking forward to most?"


I bring a glass back for Mike, hoping he doesn't drink port so I can have it, he answers, "I think Alex’s session on versioning support and Renaun’s session on testing, but there are a lot at this conference I actually want to see. Sometimes at a conference you have seen many (most) of the topics presented before, San Jose seems to be a lot of great, fresh stuff. Tom didn’t even pay me to say that."

Truth be told, I write the checks for things like that, but that's neither here nor there.


As Mike tips a sip of a really well ages port, that I was totally hoping he didn't like, I asked him what he'd tell some one that wasn't sure if they wanted to register for 360|Flex San Jose.


"If my sessions makes you .061 percent cool, imagine what might happen if you went to one of the sessions from the cool kids instead?"

Mike's totally right! Coming to a 360|Flex has been statistically proven to increase braininess and over all "let's hire him, he's smart" osity. Oh and we're the best damn Flex Conference out there! Register now, talk wine with Mike! He know's his stuff!

360Flex did you miss the Spring Ribbit Spawn?

Did you miss this springs Ribbit Spawn? Take a look here, and see what you missed!

The Ribbit team covered the API A-Z, talked about the business of implementing telephony into your applications, showed more code samples than a red head has freckles!

Do you really want to miss out on that, AGAIN?

Our FREE Pre-Conference training is open to all registered attendees. Email us at info@360flex.com and let us know you'd like to take part in this summers Spawn!





Not registered yet? Why the heck not! You're gonna miss out on crazy awesome Sunday training, not to mention 3 regular days of the best Flex/ActionScript/AIR content, ANYWHERE. not just in the US, ANYWHERE on this planet! Do you really want to be that person? Register now!

360Flex Free Sunday training for the Java Peeps!

To quote the sidebar at riaone.com, "HttpService does too little; Blah Data Service is too much. R1-RPC/J is just right!"

We're really happy to have James Huang with us for our FREE pre-conference training, covering R1-RPC/J as well as the D.eval() API. Curious? You should be if you've ever wanted eval() in AS3, or wished there was a better way to do RPC calls in your Flex apps.

James will cover a ton of great content on these two incredible offerings, all hands on! This ain't no, 'sit around and listen' training, this is get your hands dirty, code writing, come out a better developer' training!

The Schedule

1:00-2:30:	R1-RPC/J Toolkit hands-on training
3:00-3:45:	D.eval API hands-on training
4:00-5:00:	R1-RPC/J Toolkit hands-on training

About the Training Classes

The R1-RPC/J Toolkit Training

RPC is the necessary evil in client-server systems. You don't like to think about it, just want to use it. Low-level network services in Flex, Flash, and AJAX make RPC possible in RIAs, but using them directly for RPC demands too much mechanical coding. Many home-grown solutions try to shield the unwanted details, but come short in various ways.
R1-RPC/J is a well designed, tested, and supported solution for you to handle all your RPC needs in Flex/Flash-Java systems. It is light-weight, easy to own and use, and friendly for system design. It will also foster better teamwork and improved development process with its unit testing feature.
Seeing is believing. Come to our pre-conference hands-on training at 360|Flex and learn the ideas, solution, and how it will help your development!

The D.eval API Training

It is all about eval(), or lack thereof, in ActionScript 3.
Adobe chose not to have eval() in AS3 for good reasons. But people find other good reasons to have it. With D.eval API, the dispute is silenced — now, you can happily eval() in AS3 if you want to. The question is, how powerful is the supported language for the dynamic code? Here is the good news: D.eval API supports a very potent scripting language embedded in AS3.
For those who have been yearning and crying for the lack of eval() in AS3, come to share the joy and fun of eval()'ing with the D.eval API at our 360|Flex pre-conference training!

360Flex ran into Jonathan Branam at the Apple store

Tom and I were at the Apple store buying a new power adapter for my MacBook Air (There must be a whole market for lost power adapters! or trolls that use them as construction blocks), and guess who we bumped into browsing iPhone covers? Jonathan Branam, speaker at 360|Flex San Jose!

"Hey man, go for the clear one." I say from the software aisle.

"Oh hey guys!" Jonathan says from the display, he's holding a good half dozen iPhone covers. "What brings you here?"

"John lost his power cord again. I think he's single handedly keeping Apple in business, we buy one of these like every week." Tom replies picking up some sort of nubby ipod case that looks like a sea anenemy. "So Jonathan, who do you think should be in your session?"

"Anyone developing Flex components that has pulled their hair out at the AdvancedDataGrid, tried to extend ViewStack, built their own containers, or just decided to roll their own component because the Flex SDK never has the right properties, styles, and too many PRIVATE VARIABLES! Anyone who has said something like "but the dark inner recesses of flex can be a scary place :)" or "My explorations in the source code didn't leave me any the wiser about this" (both overheard online)."He answered, putting the anenemy down and picking up a pack of 5 iPod socks. Really socks? Wouldn't a crew sock do the same? you can get like two 8 packs at Costco.


I pick up my power brick and stop to look at the Apple Keyboard, that came out recently, sans number pad, "Lame, why would I want one without a number pad?Why should they come?"

"I'm going to show them how to get the most out of the Flex SDK by reading the source code so you can make the decision 'stock or custom' ASAP and know which classes to extend to build your masterpiece. They will understand the difference between a UIComponent, a UITextField, a Shape and a Sprite and when to choose each. They'll see how to build solid components and learn from the SDK while avoiding its pitfalls."


Tom is looking at the AppleTV display, trying to get it to show the latest Battlestar Galactica. Suddenly Rainbow Bright pops up on the big screen attached to the AppleTV, Tom sits the remote down and walks back towards us, "So Jonathan, what's the goal of your session?"

"To destroy fear and liberate Flex developers; to turn "I can't figure this OUT! I guess I'll have to look at the source code. OH NO!" into "yes, I know this will work because I read the source code. OH YEAH!" (cue the Kool-Aid Man and stay away from the wall)."

Looking over the external Hard Drives, complete with Apple Store 30% mark up, "What two sessions are you looking forward to most?"

Jonathan walks over to the Mac Pro section, Tom and I stay in the accessories section, the Mac Pro section is guarded by Apple Store militia. "Only 2??? I love the work that Juan Sanchez and Tony Hillerson do. They are two people that I follow. When they present "See the Data, Be the Data." I'll be there learning about custom advanced data visualizations.
I think I'll have to hit Ben Stucki's session on "How to Build a Framework." I really respect his work and am interested in getting involved in some of his efforts. And I am tempted to skip my session and go to Jacob Wright's Advanced ActionScript APIs, but you never know, someone might show up for mine!"

"So jonathan, what do you think Tom and I should tell people who are sitting on the fence of attending 360|Flex?" I ask, walking over to the MacBook Air section, some one is cutting cake with one of the display models.

"It's simple. If you follow Flex development blogs, flexcoders, Flexers on Twitter, and the best agencies and solo acts, you know why you should come:

Adam Flater, Alex Harui, Ben Clinkinbeard, Ben Stuki, Brad Umbaugh, RJ Owen, Chet Haase, Jeff Houser, Josh Tynjala, Juan Sanchez, Tony Hillerson, Jun Heider, Justin Everett-Church, Renaun Erickson, Ryan Campbell, Ryan Friggin' Stewart, Tom Gonzalez (just to name a few).

It just doesn't get better than that."

Jonathan's right. It doesn't get better than that, and if you're thinking about joining us, you'd better not dilly dally. Register Now!