FLASHNUTZ

var myKeyListener = new Object();
myKeyListener.onKeyUp = function() {
var myString = myTextfield.text;
var firstLetter = (myString.charAt(0)).toUpperCase();
var remainderLetters = (myString.substring(1)).toLowerCase();
var myNewString = firstLetter+remainderLetters;
myTextfield.text = myNewString;
};
Key.addListener(myKeyListener);

The following was extracted from smh.com.au and written by Asher Moses

Some people are born with a chip on their shoulder, but Jonathan Oxer's chip is surgically embedded in his left arm.

The 37-year-old from Melbourne's outer-east never has to worry about forgetting his keys because the tiny chip, typically used to tag pets, opens his front door.

A swipe of his arm under a small scanner identifies Oxer with the house computer, which then unlocks the door.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg for Australia's biggest nerd, whose entire house is connected to a central processor and can be controlled remotely via a computer or mobile phone.

Teeming with technology, the abode conjures up images of The Jetsons but, much to the surprise of visitors, the house looks no less ordinary than a typical suburban dwelling. Wires, switches and gizmos are concealed, true to Oxer's philosophy of "having everything work invisibly".

A magnetic switch installed inside his letterbox detects when mail is inserted and occupants are notified via either the house computer, email or SMS. The garden irrigation system, too, is fully automated and computer-controlled.

Oxer's doorbell doesn't ring - instead, button presses are detected by the computer, which then activates a camera to stream video to TVs around the house showing who is at the door. If nobody is home, a picture message is sent to Oxer's mobile and he can choose to let the person in remotely.

Inside, curtains, doors, lights and windows are all wired up so they can be controlled electronically.

"You can go to bed and realise that you left the light on at the other end of the house and be able to turn it off without getting out of bed, using an interface on a mobile phone or using a telephone keypad," said Oxer.

"You can do things like issue a single command when you leave the house to tell it to go into lock mode and know that every single door is locked, all the curtains are closed and all the windows are closed, without checking them individually."

In the bathroom, lights and curtains are computer controlled and a keypad on the wall lets Oxer set the water temperature. Issuing the "shower" command turns all the lights on, closes the windows and curtains and sets the water temperature to 41C.

Oxer, who recently retired as head of the Linux Australia community group, holds down a full-time job as technical director of Internet Vision Technologies, which he formed in 2000.

He said the entire home automation project cost him "a couple of thousand dollars" because he did most of the work himself.

Crazy Japs have invented some sort of metallic liquid that reacts to magnetic fields to create mathematically perfect objects. I think this falls under nano technology and could obviously become the basis of some hardcore futuristic ideas. For example morphing cars that change into other vehicles at the press of a button.

I know this has nothing to do with flash but I though it was to cool not to blog.

Thanks Red for showing this to me.

Imagine building a flash website just by thinking about it. We'll by the end of the year you probably will be able to.

The following was extracted from news.com.au written by Andrew Ramadge, technology reporter.

A NEUROHEADSET that allows the wearer to play videogames simply by thinking has been unveiled at the Game DevelopersConference in San Francisco and will go on sale later this year.

The Emotiv EPOC "brain-computer interface device" looks like a headphone strap with 14 neurosensors that branch off it like fingers. The sensorssit on the sides of the temple and top of the head.

The device can detect conscious thoughts, areas of brain activity, facial expressions and even some emotions such as frustration, shock and anger, and will cost about $US300 ($326) when it is released inlate 2008.

The EPOC will ship with a range of games designed specifically forthe headset, but gamers will also be able to use it with existing PC titles by mapping certain thoughts to keystroke patterns.

"Being able to control a computer with your mind is the ultimate quest of human-machine interaction," said Emotiv Systems CEO, Nam Do.

"When integrated into games, virtual worlds and other simulated environments, this technology will have a profound impact on the user’s experience."

Gaming journalist Brian Crecente, who tried the EPOC at the conference, said the sensation of having his thoughts affect actions on the screen was "quite strange".

"To start you need to quickly synch your brain, teaching the computer to recognise the thought you use to perform the specific action. In my case I imagined the box in the centre of the monitor drifting away," he said.

"After doing this for a second or two, while the program 'recorded' they asked me to give it a try and it worked. Imagining the box floating up off the top of the screen, I was surprised to see it waver and then slowly move upwards until it disappeared.

"I laughed in surprise and the box immediately dropped back down again."

Emotiv also said it would work with computer giant IBM to explore potential business uses for the technology, including virtual training and simulation courses.

"As interactions in virtual environments become more complex, mice and keyboards alone may soon be inadequate," said vice-president of IBM's digital convergence division Paul Ledak.

"BCI (brain-computer interfacing) is an important component of the 3D internet and the future of virtual communication."

Use encoding to ensure that variables are passed correctly.The example below illustrates how special characters can be retained using URL encoding:

A text file containing the following variable value:

Cost=+85
Will read into Flash as ‘Cost= 85′, dropping the + character.

However, using URL encoding to replace the + character the original text:

Cost=%2b85
Will result in Flash displaying ‘Cost= +85′ correctly.

Use this URL Encoding table for special characters:

Additional information
The TAB character (URL encoded with %09) is not supported in Flash or HTML. In Flash and HTML, the TAB key is reserved for switching focus between form fields.

Papervision3D is an open source 3D engine for Flash. Its fairly new but it has allowed flash developers to produce some amazing work. More information on Papervision3D can be found @ http://blog.papervision3d.org/.

Below are some of my favorite sites that make use of Papervision3D.

• http://www.whitevoid.com/application.html
• http://www.varywell.com/
• http://www.ludoescrime.com/
• http://www.egonmagazine.com/
• http://www.komodomedia.co.uk/
• http://redbulletin.hi-res.net/index.html
• http://www.pillandpillow.com/growAXmasTree/

//construct the listener object
myListenerObject = new Object();
 
myListenerObject.onChanged = function(txt) {
//perform this when textfield value has changed
execute();
}
 
//call the TextField.addListener method to register the object
Textfield.addListener(myListenerObject);

I always find my self trying to dig up old projects to rip out code for new project. So i decided to start saving re-usable code for me and others to use in form of a blog. This blog...

Hopefully you find it usefull as I have...

Peace!!!