Free Android App with source code

James Ward and I collaborated and wrote a simple demo app called "Scribbler".  It demonstrates some really simple concepts such as detecting screen capture and saving to the local file system on Android.  This application is a regular Flex applications that uses standard Flex 4 components (Not the new Hero/Slider framework) hence demonstrating that in some cases you can use MXML to build mobile apps.    The application is available now on the Google Android Marketplace.  We made this lame icon with "Sp" based on an indecisive moment of what to call the damn app.  If you end up having to explain it to someone say SP stands for "Sribbler Pad".

The full source code is downloadable from here.  Have fun with it!  Please tweet this (button is below) if you think others might like it.  More to follow if we are encouraged properly!

A Week in the Life of an Adobe Evangelist

I've heard many people tell our team that they would love to be on the evangelism team. It sort of sounds glamorous and full of adventure. This is half of the truth. The adventure is there but the downside is complete chaos. When my friends hear my schedule they get visions of me sitting around a sunny terrace in Southern Italy casually sipping a chilled pinot gris while relaxing. Below is the reality. I have removed various names to protect the identity of those who I meet with but this leaves you with the impression.

Duane's Schedule from Nov 13 to Nov 19 2010.

Saturday November 13, 2010

3:00 – Taxi to YVR airport
6:15 PM - Air Canada Flight Number: 854
Sleep on plane

Sunday November 14, 2010

11:50 - Arrive: London Heathrow, UK
15:25 - Lufthansa German Airlines Flight Number: 2477
18:15 - Arrive: Munich, Germany
18:40 - Taxi to hotel
19:00 - Check in to Hotel (Sofitel Munich Bayerpost)
19:30 Meet A.P. fur Abendessen.

Monday Nov 15, 2010

9:00 PK will pick me up from hotel, take me to Augsburg and back to Munich. 80 km drive.
10:00 – 12:00 Partner Meeting, Augsburg
12:00 - 13:00 Drive back to Munich
14:00 – 16:30 Second Meeting
16:10 - Taxi back to Hotel
18:15 - Leave for UG meeting in Taxi 15 min
19:00 - Munich Flex UG
Adobe Munich office
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 58
(anyone is welcome to come to this meeting!)
21:00 After meeting activities.
24:00 - back to hotel

Tuesday Nov 16
07:45 - awake and packed
08:30 Check out of Hotel & walk to Munich hauptBahnhof
08:55 Travel from Munich to Frankfurt 8:55 ICE 724 to Frankfurt
12:07 – Arrive Frankfurth HBh
12:30 - taxi to meeting
13:00 – 16:00 Partner Meeting
16:00 - Taxi to Frankfurt HBh
17:17 Dept., ICE 814 to Cologne (1:22)
18:39 Arrive Cologne HBH – Taxi to UG meeting
19:00 PM – Cologne Flex UG meeting
Adobe Cologne office
Anna-Scheider-Steig 10
(Note: this is an open User Group meeting - please join me)

21:00 - 24:00 After UG meeting activities (eat, drinks)
24:00 - Go to Hotel:
art'otel cologne, by Park Plaza
Holzmarkt 4, Cologne, Germany 50676,

Wednesday Nov 17

07:30 – leave for Cologne HBh.
08:10 - ICE 616 Cologne Dept. 8:10 to Essen HBh
Taxi to Meeting place(15 Min)
9:30 – 12:00 Meeting
12:00 – Taxi to HBH
12:59 - Train (ICE 510) Travel from Essen Station to Frankfurt Airport
17:20 PM – Lufthansa German Airlines Flight Number: 276
Depart: Frankfurt, Germany 5:20 Pm November 17, 2010
Arrive: Milan Linate, Italy 6:30 Pm November 17, 2010
19:00 - get bags and take taxi to hotel
19:30 - Check in Art Hotel Navigli (2 nights)
Via Angelo Fumagalli 4
20143 Milan, Italy

Thursday Nov 18

08:00 - awake and ready to travel
10:00 – 14:00 Meetings
14:00 - 15:00 Taxi to different meeting area
15:00 – 18:00 Meetings
18:30 - back to Hotel

Friday Nov 19

04:00 - awake
05:00 - Check out of hotel - taxi to Malpensa Airport
7:10 AM - Lufthansa German Airlines Flight Number: 3770
Depart: Milan Malpensa, Italy 7:10 Am November 19, 2010
08:05 Arrive: London Heathrow, UK
13:00 – LHR to YVR Air Canada 855
15:00  - Arrive: Vancouver, Canada 3:00 Pm November 19, 2010
Total Flight Time: 10 Hours 0 Minutes Non-Stop


OK - that is this week. Next week starts again at 04:00 AM Monday with a trip to Ottawa, CA.  This is an average week in the life of an Adobe Evangelist.

Don't try this at home or at all. 

;-)

AIR for Android Tutorial (Part 2)

In the first AIR for Android tutorial, we showed just how to get started.  This tutorial is a complete video along with the source code.  This blog post includes the necessary instructions for building your first application and then adding a transform gesture.  With many smartphones using touch screens, the desired behavior is to allow an application to scale upwards but never scale below a certain minimum size.  This tutorial and the accompanying source code or Flash Builder 4.1 project explain how to accomplish this task.

Untitled from Technoracle on Vimeo.

Source Code: (download)

AIR for Android Tutorial

I've been developing a few AIR applications using AIR 2.5 and packaging them up as *.apk's for Android O/S.  The steps are relatively easy. You must have the following items to complete this tutorial:

1. An unlocked and tethered Google Android device with Android 2.2 or later installed;
2. Flash Builder 4.1;
3. The Adobe AIR 2.5 SDK;
4. The Google Android SDK;

First you need to get Flash Builder 4.1 and overlay the AIR 2.5 SDK.  Copy the AIR 2.5 from the Adobe Labs site to your desktop.

Copy the AIR SDK to the directory where you installed Flash Builder /sdks/.

Before unpackaging the AIR SDK to that directory, make a copy of the sdk you will overlay the AIR SDK on to.

With a terminal window, navigate to the directory /sdks/ and type:

tar -jxvf AIR25_mac_sdk_XXXXXX.tbz2

This should unpackage the *.tar file and overlay your SDK. 

2. Building your AIR application

1.     Start a new project in Flash Builder with the following parameters:

Application Type: AIR
SDK: 4.1 (use the SDK you wrote AIR 2.5 into above)

2.     Change the root element from <s:WindowedApplication> to <s:Application>.

3.     Open the application descriptor file and navigate to lines 154 and175. Uncomment the entire android manifest section.

4.     Navigate to line 96 and uncomment, make “mobileDevice”.

5.     Save the descriptor and close it.

3. Packaging and putting your app onto your device

1.     Open a terminal and navigate to

             /AIR25_mac_sdk_20100930/bin

         For example:


              
     cd /Users/duane/Desktop/Android/AIR25_mac_sdk_20100930/bin

2.     Using finder, copy the SWF and the app descriptor from the Flash Builder /bin-debug folder of your workspace over to the SDK.  (N.B. SDK must be the same version!)

3.     In the terminal, type in the following.  You will need a PKCS12 certificate set up to do this and modify the path to point at your certificate.  The next parameter is the name of the output *.apk (in this example "Android-REST.apk") following by parameters of the XML descriptor and the main swf file.

./adt -package -target apk -storetype pkcs12 -keystore ../../certificates/Sharkswithlaserbeamsinc.p12 Android-REST.apk ./Main-app.xml ./Main.swf

4.     In your terminal, CD to /android-sdk-mac_86/tools.  Test the device connection by running the ADB devices command:

./adb devices

5. Install your application by typing ./adb install -r ../../AIR25_mac_sdk_20100930/bin/Main.apk

Substitute the path to the newly created *.apk.

Launch the app on Android.  It should run as any other app but the name of the original *.mxml file will be the name of the app.

Flash and the City 2!

I have just received word that I'll be back to next year's Flash and the City event in New York. Event organizers have found a larger venue for the event and have expanded the length to include some half day workshops. The goal is to repeat the MAX AIR 2 Code Camp in one of these time slots. This is a course that ended up being ranked very well including a score of 4.96/5 with 70 evaluations.

See you at FATC2011!

Pimp My App - Adobe MAX Keynote

This is a video of our antics during the day 2 keynote.  I had never seen the TV show "Pimp my Automobile" before so I had no idea what the script was getting at in terms of slang.  Paul, Ming, Lee and I put this together in 4 days with minimal rehearsal and an ever changing script.  This was fun and I love my co-actors!

Catch me if you can in LA and win Prizes!

Find me at Adobe MAX, have your photo taken with me and win tons of really cool prizes!

That's correct. The “I’m With Adobe CEM” photo contest is simple. Find me at MAX. I’ll be carrying a sign that says “I’m With Adobe CEM.” Take your photo with me and tweet the pic to our @AdobeCEM Twitter handle to be entered to win. Full details are here.

If you find me, you can also get one of 99 exclusive LiveCycle ES Developer tattoos!  All you have to do is show me you're registered for at least one LiveCycle ES session and say the magic passphrase.  If you don't know the passphrase, you may have to do some searching.  It is linked to the outcome of the best hockey game ever, the 2010 Olympic finals between Canada and the USA!

If you have not registered for a LiveCycle ES session yet, I'll be at this really cool one Monday from 5:00 - 6:30 PM called Extending LiveCycle ES for Java Developers and we still have a few seats left!

That's it.  Now I am going to disguise myself and start running really fast.  Catch me if you can!

VMWare and Flex at Adobe MAX

I just got word from my good friend Pratima Rao that she will be speaking on a pivotal session at Adobe MAX this year.  Pratima has god-like intelligence and has been leading a Flex project at VMWare for the VMWare View product.  This advanced project required some really state of the art technology and new management console work.  The real world experience sessions like the one she will deliver are my favorite type of sessions at MAX as they give the opportunity to ask questions about what went right and what could have been done better.  Real world use of Flex in a critical enterprise setting is something that is now becoming more popular and this session should provide some great insights.

Here is the session (highly recommended on my list):

Title: The New Standard for VMware Management Consoles
Description: Flex is already in use in two VMware applications in the VMware management suite: VMware View (which delivers personalized virtual desktops as a managed service) and VMware vCloud Director (which enables provisioning, deploying, and managing virtualized workloads in internal and external clouds). Moving forward, the Flex footprint expands into VMware's broad customer base with its next-generation management console for vSphere. VMware's 25,000-plus strong partner and customer ecosystems will soon be able to leverage Flex to integrate their solutions into the VMware management UIs. Join the VMWare team to hear about how they use Flex to improve VMware product experiences.

Speakers:
Pratima Rao, Harish Dhurvasula, Saul Bancroft
Times:
Monday, October, 25th, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Sometimes a Picture says it all.

We do use and love Firefox. We support Mozilla fully.

Silicon Valley Code Camp Cloud Session

Last weekend I taught two sessions at the Silicon Valley Code Camp in Sunnyvale, CA.  One of the sessions was on cloud computing called "Manipulating PDF with Java on the Cloud: For fun and profit!".  The slide deck is available to anyone who wants to have it.  Please email me if you wish to get it.

The slide deck was not the main part however.  Here are the steps required to repeat the code camp.

1. First, you have to have an instance of LiveCycle ES2 up and running on the cloud.  Adobe has this all bundled up for you and if you are a member of the Adobe Enterprise Developer Program (AEDP), you have ten free hours per month (YAMMV).  You can also set up another cloud account and install it yourself.  I've looked around and found some cloud accounts that seem to be good for this.  See the note at the end of this post for more details.

2. Log in to the cloud and start your instance. 

3. Press the start instance button.  When your instance is up and running, there are two methods to use to connect.  The easiest is to download and install the Developer Express Desktop network client.  This simply intercepts all traffic bound for localhost (http://127.0.0.1) on port 8080 and redirects it to the cloud.  The second methods is to use the public URL for the cloud instance.  Either way is fine.

Note: the rest of this tutorial will assume you are using the network desktop client.



4. If using the LiveCycle Desktop networking application, log in with the same credentials you used to log into the cloud.

5. Start up Eclipse and start a new Java project.  Within your project, add a new package, then add a Java class called "CreatePDF".

6. You will need several core Java libs from the LiveCycle ES install.  These are located under the /sdks directory.  For this example, you will need the following *.jars:

• adobe-encryption-client.jar
• adobe-livecycle-client.jar
• adobe-usermanager-client.jarThese JAR files are located in the following path:
  {install directory}/LiveCycle/LiveCycle_ES_SDK/client-libs/common
• adobe-utilities.jar This file is located in the following path:
  {install directory}/LiveCycle/LiveCycle_ES_SDK/client-libs/jboss
• jbossall-client.jar This file is located in the following path:
  {install directory}/LiveCycle/jboss/client
  (Use a different JAR file if LiveCycle ES is not deployed on JBoss.)
• You will also need the third-party JAR files to use the SOAP stack rather than EJB endpoints. If you want to invoke a remote LiveCycle ES instance and there is a firewall between the client application and LiveCycle ES, then it is recommended that you use the SOAP mode. When using the SOAP mode, you have to include additional JAR files located in the following path:
  
  {install directory}/LiveCycle/LiveCycle_ES_SDK/client-libs/thirdparty

Within your class, you should see some skeleton code under your new project. Highlight all code, delete it and replace the deleted skeleton code with this source code:

package org.duanesworldtv.samples;

/*
 * This Java Quick Start uses the following JAR files
 * 1. adobe-distiller-client.jar
 * 2. adobe-livecycle-client.jar
 * 3. adobe-usermanager-client.jar
 * 4. adobe-utilities.jar
 * 5. jbossall-client.jar (use a different JAR file if LiveCycle ES is not deployed
 * on JBoss)

 *
 *  These JAR files are located in the following path:
 * /LiveCycle/LiveCycle_ES_SDK/client-libs
 *
 * For complete details about the location of these JAR files,
 * see "Including LiveCycle ES library files" in Programming
 * with LiveCycle ES
 */
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.util.Properties;
import com.adobe.livecycle.generatepdf.client.CreatePDFResult;
import com.adobe.idp.Document;
import com.adobe.idp.dsc.clientsdk.ServiceClientFactory;
import com.adobe.idp.dsc.clientsdk.ServiceClientFactoryProperties;
import com.adobe.livecycle.distiller.client.DistillerServiceClient;
 
public class CreatePDF {
 
 public static void main(String[] args)
 {
  try
  {
      //Set connection properties required to invoke LiveCycle ES                                          
      Properties ConnectionProps = new Properties();
      ConnectionProps.setProperty(ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_DEFAULT_SOAP_ENDPOINT, "http://127.0.0.1:8080");
      ConnectionProps.setProperty(ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_TRANSPORT_PROTOCOL,ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_SOAP_PROTOCOL);        
      ConnectionProps.setProperty(ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_SERVER_TYPE, "JBoss");
      ConnectionProps.setProperty(ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_CREDENTIAL_USERNAME, "administrator");
      ConnectionProps.setProperty(ServiceClientFactoryProperties.DSC_CREDENTIAL_PASSWORD, "{password}");
 
  // Create a ServiceClientFactory instance
  ServiceClientFactory factory = ServiceClientFactory.createInstance(ConnectionProps);
 
  DistillerServiceClient disClient = new DistillerServiceClient(factory );
 
  // Get a PS file document to convert to a PDF document and populate a com.adobe.idp.Document object
  String inputFileName = "/Users/duane/Desktop/eclipse/workspace/JavaOne2009-docs/test.ps";
  FileInputStream fileInputStream = new FileInputStream(inputFileName);
  Document inDoc = new Document(fileInputStream);
  
  //Set run-time options
  String adobePDFSettings = "Standard";
  String securitySettings = "No Security";
    
  //Convert a PS  file into a PDF file
  CreatePDFResult result = new CreatePDFResult();
  result = disClient.createPDF(
    inDoc, inputFileName, adobePDFSettings,
    securitySettings, null, null
  );
     
  //Get the newly created document
  Document createdDocument = result.getCreatedDocument();
     
  //Save the PDF file
  createdDocument.copyToFile(new File("/Users/duane/Desktop/eclipse/workspace/JavaOne2009-docs/DuanesWorldTest.pdf"));
  }
  catch (Exception e) {
   e.printStackTrace();
  }
 }
} 

Be sure to replace the package name, class name and paths with your own.

7. Now compile your class and run it.  When Eclipse runs this, it should try to hit 127.0.0.1:8080 to make the request.  This will be intercepted by the desktop networking client and forwarded to the cloud instance where the invocation request will be fulfilled.  When completed, you should find a new instance of a PDF document under the path you used at the end of this code!

We've also been doing some research into cloud computing providers.  While Adobe uses The Amazon cloud for various reasons (including legal, compliance, support and technical), We've found some hidden gems.   After testing a few, we found the best VPS Cloud Hosting at sherweb.com.  Regardless of where you go for cloud hosting, this tutorial should work fine once you get Livecycle ES up and running.

Adobe MAX 2010 - Final LiveCycle Sessions

This will be the last blog post before Adobe MAX 2010.  Every week Technoracle has been picking a new LiveCycle ES session and promoting it as the "Pick of the Week".  Unfortunately, this approach hasn't really done justice to the entire slate of LiveCycle related topics available at MAX this year.  As a result, we are publishing the remaining sessions below.

Again, if you have never been to MAX, please consider it as a place where your tech skills get an annual boost, where really cool new stuff can be learned, and where we share the latest news.  See you there in 5 days!

Advanced Dynamic Form Design

Join author J.P. Terry for a hands-on lab covering advanced form design techniques and his latest tips and tricks. For instance, you'll learn how to add an auto-completion feature to a PDF form that provides relevant suggestions as the user...

Read more »

Building Composite Rich Internet Applications

Join product experts and learn how to build an enterprise composite application using Adobe LiveCycle Mosaic ES. Discover how to assemble and integrate multiple enterprise applications on the client side while ensuring user interface integrity of your enterprise look and...

Read more »

Building Model-Driven Forms

Get an introduction to Adobe application modeling technology, and learn how to define a single data model that can be leveraged by multiple form types, including PDF forms and forms created in Flash. Attendees will learn how to build a...

Read more »

Building Real-time Collaborative Applications: LiveCycle Collaboration Services Deep-dive

Learn about the client-side architecture of the Adobe LiveCycle Collaboration Service development model, which enables peer-to-peer, collaborative apps with Flex and Adobe AIR. See how to structure your Flex apps to enable synchronized, multiuser participation, complete with rich audio/video communication...

Read more »

Creating Enterprise RIAs: From Design to Implementation

Use best-in-class tools to create an enterprise RIA that enables users to browse and view documents, connect to a document management store, display a master detail list (of users, customers, invoices, or similar), and display associated secured documents. You'll learn...

Read more »

Delivering Repeatable Solutions with Deloitte Consulting and Adobe Enterprise Solutions

Learn how Deloitte Consulting has leveraged the Adobe Flash Platform and Adobe LiveCycle Enterprise Suite to develop highly repeatable solutions for citizen engagement management at state and federal government agencies. By attending this session, you'll find out how Deloitte has...

Read more »

Developing a LiveCycle ES2.5 Application

This program for enterprise developers combines 1.5 days of introductory preconference training on LiveCycle ES2.5 (Enterprise Suite) with a full conference pass to MAX 2010.

The preconference lab, "Developing a LiveCycle ES2.5 Application," is an essential introduction to developing user-centric applications...

Read more »

Extending LiveCycle ES for Java Developers

Join product experts and others as we work through the process of creating a Plain Old Java Object (POJO) that will be packaged and deployed to the Adobe LiveCycle Enterprise Suite service container as a custom component. Once your component...

Read more »

FutuRIA: The Convergence of Rich Internet and Enterprise Applications

Hear top design professionals explain how to unlock new value hidden in complex enterprise systems through the expression of user-centric goals in design patterns. You'll learn how Adobe is converging solutions, platforms, and tools to help you better serve your...

Read more »

Hidden Gems for the LiveCycle Community

Hear from Adobe insiders and learn about the hidden gems and community resources that can help you build, share, and leverage the LiveCycle Enterprise Suite developer ecosystem. This session will review the Adobe Developer Connection program, the latest Adobe forums,...

Read more »

Improving the User Experience: Contract Servicing Improvements at Northwestern Mutual

Find out how Northwestern Mutual improved customer service in its Service Request Center by leveraging Adobe LiveCycle Enterprise Suite and other integrated technologies. By intelligently providing access only to those forms applicable to a specific contract, the financial services company...

Read more »

Introducing Flex and LiveCycle Integration

Learn how to take advantage of the built-in hooks between Flex and Adobe LiveCycle ES, building a web-based, data-driven application. You'll create complex data models using the latest modeling elements and exchange data between Flex and LiveCycle via built-in LiveCycle...

Read more »

Rapid Development using LiveCycle in the Cloud

Learn how Adobe has embraced Amazon EC2 to deliver a comprehensive cloud offering for Adobe LiveCycle ES2. Hear from product experts how the cloud is quickly becoming the definition of rapid application development environments, with the ability to start up...

Read more »

Realizing Great Customer Experiences with LiveCycle ES Next

Hear how focusing on user experience can improve the value of the enterprise applications you deliver. Also learn about architectural changes in the next release of Adobe LiveCycle Enterprise Suite as well as new features in servers, client runtimes, and...

Read more »

Strengthening Adobe’s Enterprise Platform with Day Software and Open Development

Learn how the combination of Day's leading web solutions and Adobe's enterprise portfolio provides a unique opportunity to developers: a unified web content and application delivery platform. By introducing web content management, digital asset management, and social collaboration to Adobe’s...

Read more »

The Convergence of Flash and PDF: Interactive Statements

Explore the innovation in PDF and Adobe Flash and how these two technologies converge to enable the next generation of correspondence. Learn how to speed up the development of a correspondence application, leveraging the new Interactive Statement Solution Accelerator within...

Read more »

The Mobile Enterprise

Hear from product experts and discover how you can extend your enterprise to iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry devices by leveraging the Adobe LiveCycle Enterprise Suite platform. The session will include best practices for integrating business processes, accessing...

Read more »

Transforming the Value of IT for Government through Modernization at South African Revenue Service

Come see how the South African Revenue Service (SARS) provides improved benefits and services delivery to customers through online, automated tax filing. e@syFile is a set of Adobe AIR applications that leverage the Flash Platform and Adobe LiveCycle to enable...

Read more »

Three great LiveCycle@MAX picks

For the LiveCycle@MAX pick of the week for Oct 11, I am going to break tradition and highlight three separate sessions instead of one.  The links lead directly to the formal descriptions and registration. 

This first is a case study based on repeatable patterns.  I am a huge fan of case studies as they give attendees the opportunity to not only learn what went right, but also to learn what could have gone better and avoid making the same choices.  The session entitled “Delivering Repeatable Solutions with Deloitte Consulting and Adobe Enterprise Solutions" is bang on with a deep dive into real world experiences. In this session, attendees will learn how the $26B company drives the success of its customers using Adobe LiveCycle, the Adobe Flash Platform and more.  Deloitte has a long history of working with Adobe in the enterprise, specifically around LiveCycle ES, and their expertise is something we can all learn from. 

The second case study is more specific to an individual enterprise. “Transforming the Value of IT for Government through Modernization” will give attendees insights into the experiences of the South African Revenue Service and learn how this historically rich country leveraged Adobe LiveCycle and the Adobe Flash Platform to implement one of the first and largest Adobe AIR applications ever delivered.  

The third case study is entitled “Improving the User Experience: Contract Servicing Improvements at Northwestern Mutual”.  This one I want to attend myself to learn how this $21B company is transforming how it does business with its independent brokers using Adobe LiveCycle. 

Speaking of LiveCycle, the LiveCycle@MAX tracks are over half sold out.  The word seems to be getting out that LiveCycle developers are in ultra high demand and MAX is the one place per year where a complete LiveCycle training program is available for developers.  See you there!

LiveCycle ES Pick of the week for Adobe MAX 2010

This week, Technoracle is picking a session that is related to LiveCycle ES yet very specific to the client technologies. In fact, this is probably one of the more important sessions for Adobe LiveCycle Developers to attend given the rise in exploit attempts based on the ISO PDF standard. Join product experts Steve Gottwals and Suchit Mishra as they help separate fact from fiction in the buzz around Adobe Reader security. They will outline the motivation behind Protected Mode and give a demonstration of Reader running in the sandbox. They will also discuss how Reader Protected Mode works and how it can protect end users from Internet attacks via malicious PDF files.

Sandboxing Adobe Reader: Protected Mode

Join Suchit Mishra, Acrobat lead security researcher, and Steve Gottwals, group product manager, as they help separate fact from fiction in the buzz around Adobe Reader security. We'll outline the motivation behind Protected Mode and give a demonstration of Reader running in the sandbox. We'll discuss how Reader Protected Mode works and how it can protect end users from Internet attacks via malicious PDF files.

Tracks: Envision, Design, Develop
Audience: Architect, IS/IT, Application Developer, Business Decision Maker
Skill Level: General Audience
Product: Acrobat
Speakers: Suchit Mishra, Steve Gottwals
Times:
Wednesday, October, 27th, 8:00 am - 9:00 am

Also - please don't forget that Technoracle is giving out 99 special LiveCycle developers tattoos!  If you want one of these, you have to:

1. Register and attend at least one LiveCycle session;
2. Find Duane Nickull in the hallways; and
3. Say the pass phrase "Canada won the Gold"

See you there!

RIA Unleashed in Boston November 11-12

RIA Unleashed is the premier event for Adobe Flash, Flex, AIR, and ColdFusion developers in the New England area. This year the event has expanded to two days, November 11th and 12th. Day one is devoted to your choice of hands-on training in areas such as Flex, Flash, AIR, AIR for Android, and ColdFusion. Some highlights of day one include Scott Janousek covering AIR for Android, Mike Labriola teaching component development in Flex 4, and Bob Silverberg on ColdFusion 9 ORM.

Day 2 is the conference day, featuring 4 tracks and over 20 sessions on Adobe technologies and development. This is the best event to get all the scoop on the announcements and releases from Adobe MAX. Speakers from Adobe include Ryan Stewart, Adam Lehman, James Ward, Greg Wilson, Christophe Coenraets, and Terrence Ryan. RIA Unleashed also features some of the most well known and respected members of the Flash, Flex, and ColdFusion developer communities including Jesse Warden, Jesse Freeman, Raymond Camden, Charles Schulze, Brian Diette, Jeff Tapper, and Chuck Freedman among others.

Registration is currently just $200 for both days--that includes the hands-on training, conference day, the Thursday night party, and lunch on both days. You can also just attend the conference day sessions for only $75. Tickets are limited at both prices, so get them before the price goes up. Also, the hands-on training has limited seating, so register soon before it fills up. Keep in mind, this event sold out early last year, so register soon!

Full details at: http://riaunleashed.com
Register at: http://riaunleashed2010.eventbrite.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/riaunleashed
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/riaunleashed

LiveCycle ES Pick of the week for Adobe MAX 2010

This is a new post in a series of ongoing recommendations for various LiveCycle ES sessions at Adobe MAX 2010.   This week I want to showcase a session by Paul McNamara and Philip Copeland.  Since Adobe LiveCycle ES has been available on the cloud, I have been regularly using it and trying to get developers to see how easy it is.  From my perspective, the cloud based offering is clearly the single best way to get an instance of LiveCycle ES up and running to develop against.  The program is available to anyone in the Adobe Enterprise Developer Program and this session is a must attend if you are interested.  Here it is:

Rapid Development using LiveCycle in the Cloud

Learn how Adobe has embraced Amazon EC2 to deliver a comprehensive cloud offering for Adobe LiveCycle ES2. Hear from product experts how the cloud is quickly becoming the definition of rapid application development environments, with the ability to start up a server instance with no hardware or software investment. You'll learn how this approach provides a low barrier and faster time to development. Also hear best practices as we walk through development to staging and production in a completely hosted manner, featuring a case study to illustrate the process using an application currently deployed on Adobe LiveCycle Managed Services.


Tracks:    Develop
Audience:    Architect, Partner Decision Maker, Web Developer, Application Developer, Business Decision Maker
Skill Level:    General Audience
Product:    LiveCycle ES
Speakers:    Philip Copeland, Paul McNamara
Times:   
Monday, October, 25th, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Tuesday, October, 26th, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

Register here!

Video: LiveCycle at MAX with Secret Intel!

This is video explains details about a special giveaway that will transpire at Adobe MAX 2010 in Los Angeles, CA! Basically, we have 99 specially designed LiveCycle developer tattoos that are going to be given away by those who know the secret phrase "Canada won the Gold!" and also are registered for at least one LiveCycle ES class.   In order to get one, you will also have to find myself or Valerie Snider-Lynch on the grounds of MAX before others get the giveaway.

Keep in mind that the LiveCycle sessions are filling up and selling out fast but there are some still with room in them such as "Extending LiveCycle ES for Java Developers", which walks through creating a custom component and deploying it to the server, then using it within a process.

LiveCycle ES Pick of the week for Adobe MAX 2010

Continuing the weekly series of LiveCycle@MAX picks of the week, this week we selected a track for developers and community members to learn more about where to find special interest content related to Adobe LiveCycle ES. For those who do not know Dan or Marc, they are major forces within the LiveCycle community. Dan is putting together the core LiveCycle@MAX content for Adobe MAX 2010. Marc Eaman is the guru behind the Adobe Enterprise Cafe. Adobe Enterprise Café helps you stay in touch with the enterprise community, receive news, find information, and aggregate content related to Adobe LiveCycle ES (Enterprise Suite), Acrobat, Connect, ColdFusion, and the Adobe Flash Platform in a timely and customized fashion. Targeted at developers and technical staff, Café is the one tool you need to search across the entire community knowledge base and stay in touch with the Adobe teams. Technoracle encourages you to download and install the Adobe Enterprise Cafe from this URL.

Here is Technoracle's Adobe MAX pick of the week:

Hidden Gems for the LiveCycle Community
Hear from Adobe insiders and learn about the hidden gems and community resources that can help you build, share, and leverage the LiveCycle Enterprise Suite developer ecosystem. This session will review the Adobe Developer Connection program, the latest Adobe forums, and the developer website and include demonstrations of tools including Enterprise Cafe, Tour de LiveCycle, and Developer Express.

Tracks: Develop
Audience: Architect, Creative Designer, Partner Decision Maker, Web Designer, IS/IT, Web Developer, Application Developer, Business Decision Maker
Skill Level: General Audience
Product: LiveCycle ES
Speakers: Marc Eaman, Daniel Heick
Times:
Tuesday, October, 26th, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Wednesday, October, 27th, 9:30 am - 10:30 am

These will fill up fast so register here now!  See you at MAX!

Adobe MAX AIR Code Camp - Second Instance Added!

Adobe MAX 2010 staff informed James Ward and me that our AIR 2 Code Camp sold out last week.  While we were stoked, we realized that this means there is a lot of people who will miss out on it.  To solve this problem, Sarah Eaton added a second instance of the lab.   The second instance was added this morning and is already starting to fill up as space is limited.  If you want to take this course or you're even just thinking about it, we recommend you book it now to reserve a seat.


Adobe AIR Code Camp
Attend this mega-lab for a comprehensive, hands-on dive into Adobe AIR for Flex 4 developers. You'll learn how to use the latest features of AIR by building several applications on your own computer, and leave with source code for more than 12 applications. We'll cover using the microphone class, writing to a local drive, launching a native process, and more. The lab includes a sneak peek at developing AIR applications for the Android OS. The courseware is modularized so beginners can follow along.


Tracks:    Develop
Audience:    Architect, Creative Designer, Application Developer
Skill Level:    General Audience
Products:    AIR, Flash Builder, Flex
Speakers:    James Ward, Duane Nickull
Times:   
Tuesday, October, 26th, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm (SOLD OUT)
Wednesday, October, 27th, 1:30 pm - 5:30 pm

UPDATE!

The second instance is now also sold out.  After Adobe MAX, I promise that the assets will all be shared via this blog including complete access to source code.

A worry about HTML5. Fragmentation.

I am very stoked to see HTML5 coming on so strong and I'm feeling like the web is going to be full of new possibilities.  The HTML spec has been stagnant far too long and its new features, combined with CSS, JavaScript, AJAX and other peripheral technologies will be able to do some pretty cool things.  There is one trend I see though that is worrying.  FRAGMENTATION!!

I have looked at a few HTML5 examples.  One of them I went to see is apparently financed by Microsoft at this URL: http://www.beautifulexplorer.com/  I clicked on the link using Firefox and got the following message displayed.

This is not the only time I have seen such a message.  I went to see Apple's HTML5 gallery and this is what I saw.

Oh - and there are similar messages from Chrome sites done in HTML5 such as http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/.

OK.  Adobe loves HTML5 and I think it is a great thing for the web if the standards are adhered to. Having worked for standards for over a decade, I know the standard must be written in a manner that multiple implementations are 100% interoperable.  What will harm the web is if sites start becoming specialized or optimized for different browsers.  Most people shouldn't have to download and use different browsers for different sites.  I am worried because I saw this trend with CSS.  There are still nuances between the manners in which different browsers handle various CSS declarations (just ask anyone who has recently skinned a Drupal site).

My ask for HTML5 is as follows:

1. Let's make sure we all work together to create a good standard for HTML5
2. Let's ensure that we have consistent implementations.  If the W3C recommendation is ambiguous, those who note the ambiguities have a responsibility to work this out at the standards development table so the web does not become fragmented.
3. Let's ensure that the enumerated lists of codecs for things like video is not fragmented in HTML5.
4. Let's not start mixing HTML5 specs with O/S specific hardware acceleration features that break interoperability.

I trust standards and I am going to remain optimistic about HTML5's future.  I am presuming that the current state is only a temporary one due to the fact it will take some browsers a while to fully implement the specification (which is understandable).  Nevertheless, it means a great deal to Adobe, as the leading tools provider for web development, and it means a lot to me personally and I felt I had to say what I said here.  Let's move HTML5 into the next generation and do it right!

Dimmable 120 volt LEDs for the house?

In the past there have been multiple articles on Technoracle about energy efficiency and ideas for greener, lower footprint living.  Recently we came across a number of really cool LED products that advertise they are ready to replace conventional bulbs and save consumers money while using far less energy.  We're going to test a number of them over the next year and report back.

The first item is a 120 volt, 2 watt LED Dimmable G16.5 Decorative Globe.   This is a product from TCP, which is advertised as a medium base that throws off Halogen white color.  We have ordered two of these (Cost is $17-18 each) to test to see if they do pay for themselves, which we suspect they will.

Click here for more info and how to order

The second is a comparable product, which is also dimmable. It has slightly more power (rated at 3 watts) and is the dimmable G16.5 Decorative Globe with Candelabra Base.  This product also advertises Halogen  white light.  Our hope is that both of these are able to do the job of regular light bulbs while saving money and throwing off a light that is indistinguishable from conventional bulbs.  

Both of these are advertised as comparable to a 15 watt conventional bulb.  These should therefore be effectively reducing electrical bills by 80% and lasting much longer.  Given conventional incandescent bulbs last around 2 years and cost $1, these should have an ROI of around 4 years based on 1500 hours per year at 8c/kwh.

Technoracle will also begin testing some LED Ceiling Lights to replace conventional Halogen designs. 1000bulbs.com has these on sale for 50% below retail price today so we will order a few and report back.