the background colour of this page...
...indicates how busy i currently am. more red == more busy. more green == less
busy. i generally get more email than i respond to, so unfortunately i don't have time to answer most "how do i do this?" flash questions. with that in mind, here are some things to consider before you write:
- some moock.org code isn't working
if you've tried to implement something from moock.org and it's not working,
check the example on the live site to see if it is also broken in the moock.org
implementation of it. if it is broken on moock.org, mail me. i'll definitely
look into it. if, on the other hand, it works on moock.org, but not on your
site, re-download the sample and try again. if you're totally desperate, post
all related files to a test site somewhere and drop me a note describing the
problem, your o/s, browser type, browser version, and flash version. if i
have time i'll take a look.
where to find help
try searching the technotes at adobe's support centre for flash. the info there is extensive and very valuable.
you could also post your question to the flash coders mailing list (if your question is about ActionScript programming).
- you're on a mac, and you can't open a moock.org .fla file
the file probably has lost its resource.frk that tells flash what kind of file it is. try opening the file using flash's file>>open command with "All Files" selected. or, you can fix the .frk like this:
- download resedit from apple's site. install and launch it. then:
- open the fla file in resedit
- do get file/folder info. you'll see "type:" and "creator:"
- the type and creator both should have a 4 digit code, if they are missing, or appear as ????, go to next step.
- change the type to "SPA " (including the space, but not the quotes. use upper case.)
- change the creator to "MFL2" (remove the quotes. use upper case)
- you found a bug on moock.org
now you're talking. send it over immediately. i love bugs. please include
the offending os, browser type, browser version, flash version, and steps
to reproduce.
- you did something neat
great! send it over. i'm always eager to see other people's work.
- you need a freelancer
i do occasionally take on freelance work, but only if it's a nice self-contained
job that isn't suffering from deranged ebusiness-style deadlines or wigged
out clients who don't know how to empty their cache. the more fun and interesting
the work, the more likely it is i'll help out. specifically, that means no
damn intranets :). if that's cool, give me the details of what
you need done and we'll go from there.
- reprints, press coverage, etc.
i usually respond to this stuff pretty quickly. please don't just republish content from moock.org.
that's illegal not to mention pretty mean.
- can you use moock.org code freely on your site?
yes. see the terms of use.
- you want to advertise on moock.org
much as i love the purity of a completely advertisement-free web space, moock.org takes time and money to run. i
can therefore make arrangements for appropriate organizations who want to advertise on moock.org. by "appropriate organizations" i mean i like your stuff, use your software,
or otherwise actually care about whatever you're advertising. write for details.
- you just want to say hi
okay. that's cool.
- you're lonely
go play quake or maybe something on xbox live.
here's the address
thanks for reading all that predelivery crap. i'm trying to keep these activities
manageable so i can keep making new things. my address is: colin --a-t-- moock.org (duh ;). you have to replace --a-t-- with an @ sign (my futile attempt to reduce spam).
- revision history
- october 25, 1999: posted.
- january 06, 2000: code red. slaving away on proctor & gamble's upcoming contest at www.getoutandgo.ca.
- january 31, 2000: down to olive. contest site launched. still working on a couple of games for it though.
- march 15, 2000: recovering from sunnyd & royale work for the getoutandgo.ca contest.
- april 12, 2000: working on project x. added info about restoring .fla file type on mac.
- march 13, 2001: the "red colour project" is done. back off code red.
- may 28, 2001: fixed link to resedit.
- june 08, 2001: back on code red. working on a flash forward lecture & ice projects
- october 21, 2001: moved contact page to its own section.
- november 29, 2001: new email address...i moved the server to rackspace.com.
- june 20, 2002: down to orange. working solely on the second edition of actionscript: the definitive guide.
- may 8, 2004: down to pukey green! wow, after 2 straight years of orange, my schedule's almost sensible now...just finished essential actionscript 2.0 and plan to spend the rest of the summer making Unity 3.
- sept 8, 2004: off to japan. gonna be afk for a while...
- march 26, 2007: down to green. back, wrote another book (Essential ActionScript 3.0). that took a couple of years.
- january 13, 2008: red. currently on a training tour.
