GalaxyGoo Blogs

I recently started a new job where I'm working on library software and the technology we work with is Intersystem's Caché database engine (based on MUMPS). The language used to build the software is Caché ObjectScript, and last week I took an intensive 4-day course in writing OO applications using this language. So consider Caché ObjectScript the latest addition to the list of languages we at GalayGoo are familiar with :)

Continue reading "New GalaxyGoo skillset: Caché ObjectScript" »

Posted by Edwin at 01:20 AM | Permalink

Recently, I started a new blog for my coding and personal projects. I'll be doing most of my code related posting there.

While most of my blogging on GalaxyGoo will focus on science and GalaxyGoo related subjects, I will still post about coding here from time to time, when it's relevant to GalaxyGoo projects.

Posted by Kristin at 02:29 PM | Permalink

A sneak peak at what the color of spam may look like:

Posted by Kristin at 01:25 PM | Permalink

I've made progress with Mathematica, and now have my code extracting ip addresses and dates from a mailbox and exporting the formatted data as an xml file. On the Flash side, I'm playing around with some display ideas. I'll post more on that later.

For an explanation of this code, please visit my new code-centric blog: underground flash.

Posted by Kristin at 11:32 AM | Permalink

Introduction:
At FOTB, Seb's talk on particle systems was on my short list of sessions I wanted to see, and meeting him was a real treat. I was delighted when he joined the GalaxyGoo Flash-a-thon. His snow effect is great, and the fact that he wrote it so quickly is a testament to both his skill as a coder and his familiarity with particles. ~Kristin

Author: Seb Lee-Delisle, Technical Director, Plug-in Media
Author's comments:
At FlashBrighton's Big Day Out a couple of weeks ago, I set myself the somewhat crazy challenge of programming a dynamically generated snowstorm in fifteen minutes from scratch. No pre-written classes, no graphics, nothing!

Needless to say it was a somewhat frenetic, but exciting session, and I just about made it with a few seconds to spare. And, as I felt that producing 2D particle snow would be a little too easy, I decided halfway through that it'd look better in 3D. And then I added some wind. As I always say, it'd be boring if it were too easy. :-)

Support the educational projects at GalaxyGoo, and make an online donation through Network for Good or Facebook Causes..

For live version, and source files, continue reading.

Continue reading "Snowstorm in 15 minutes" »

Posted by Seb Lee-Delisle at 11:27 AM | Permalink

Introduction:
We're going to start with a fantastic piece by Keith Peters. What a great way to kick off the Flash-a-thon! ~Kristin

Author: Keith Peters
Author's comments:
The Chaos Game is a simple algorithm that can produce some surprising fractal forms. This one has been done in 3D. More info here: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ChaosGame.html

Support the educational projects at GalaxyGoo, and make an online donation through Network for Good or Facebook Causes..

For live version, and source files, continue reading.

Continue reading "Chaos Game" »

Posted by Keith at 11:50 AM | Permalink

The moo cards I ordered, to take to FOTB, arrived today! Yeah!

Looks like the conference is completely sold out! Wow! Really looking forward to it! I just hope my presentation stands up to all the other great sessions on the schedule. I'm having a great time preparing it! Atoms, and fractals, and algorithms...oh my!

Thanks to a temp license from Wolfram Research, I now have a copy of Mathematica installed on my laptop. Yeah! If you're going to FOTB, and you're curious, look for me at the conference.

Posted by Kristin at 02:08 PM | Permalink

My session description for Flash on the Beach is up. I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one!

The complexity of the universe and all of life is based on simple building blocks. A metal is a metal, no matter how many times you melt or pound it. It's the sub-atomic particles of each atom that determine its character, and how it interacts with others.

Posted by Kristin at 01:31 PM | Permalink

GalaxyGoo has participated in the Blogathon twice now. It's been a lot of fun and we posted some great experimental Flash projects.

It's time for us to spin off on our own, with a less hectic schedule and more community participation. I'm thinking that we should spread the posts out over a few weeks and encourage the community to post links to their adaptations. Perhaps we should arrange some nice prizes.

We need a name! Current candidates are "GalaxyGoo-a-thon" and "Flash-a-thon". Obviously, we need more ideas.

Posted by Kristin at 01:42 PM | Permalink

Often, I'm asked how I "learned Flash". I don't always know how to answer, since I don't think the way I learned it would work out for others. I also started programming before I even knew Flash existed.

People learning Flash, have a big challenge in finding good material amid all the noise. Some of the material really frustrates me. In fact, I recently had an "argument" with someone who wants to teach the old "on()" event model to high school students, instead of teaching best practices. For a lot of people, ActionScript is their first programming language, and I don't think it's a good idea to teach an outmoded event model that they will have to unlearn before they can make real progress in Flash.

What resources do you point people to, when they're starting out? Do you think there is a shortage of online resources that help people start out, with a solid foundation that prepares them to continue on?

Posted by Kristin at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

The blogathon is almost upon us, and we're working furiously to get ready. We've got a fantastic group of Flash coders contributing files to this event. Some participated back in 2003, and some are joining us for the first time.

• Edwin Heijmen
• Kristin Henry
• Mike Johnson
• Stacey Mulcahy
• Paul Ortchanian

The projects will be in various version of Flash, including AS3.

During the event, we'll publish source files as well as finished swf. We hope that you will join in on the fun, play around with the code, and post your own variations.

The event starts at 6am (pacific), on Saturday, July 29th, and ends 24 hours later.

You can help support the educational programs at GalaxyGoo, by making a pledge of support on the blogathon.org website.

Posted by Kristin at 12:53 PM | Permalink

Just saw today, that Keith Peters' fantastic book, ActionScript Animation: Making Things Move, is sold out. Wow! Congratulations Keith!

It just so happens that we were about to list a signed copy of the book in our MissionFish/Ebay auctions. So, if you've just got to have a copy, and you'd like to support our programs at the same time, the timing couldn't be better. The listing is scheduled to go live tonight at 9pm, Pacific.

Legal note: GalaxyGoo is a registered charity in the State of California. This is not a solicitation for donations outside of California.

Posted by Kristin at 12:58 PM | Permalink

VPython
has jumped to the top of my list of things to learn, as soon as I have time.

I've picked up two books on Python, and I'm ready to dig in.

That is, as soon as I'm done with my writing job. Well, I have turned in all of my first drafts...and I don't have any rewrites yet...so maybe I'll forgo the self control and learn some Python :)

Posted by Kristin at 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Joe Rinehart has posted a great commentary on Patterns and how to approach them. It's always refreshing to see someone cut through the dogma and hype. Thank you Joe!

clearsoftware.net - joe rinehart on CF and more

Posted by Kristin at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

If you are even remotely interested in Lindenmayer Systems or LOGO or such, you might find ContextFree a fascinating program to play around with.

Continue reading "ContextFree" »

Posted by Edwin at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This article's been in my primary bookmarks for a long time, and I figured it was about time I shared it--also created a new category for it: coding (ideas for any language).

perl.com: A Chromosome at a Time with Perl, Part 2 Basically, the idea is when "searching for a pattern in a very large file by keeping only a small "window" of the file in memory at any one time, in a buffer." This could apply to any large data set. One could think of it as internal data packets.

Posted by Kristin at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)