http://mchristoff.com Participating in Life. Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:18:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Adobe AIR has been a big step forward in creating cross-platform applications. Unfortunately, there are still some big gotchas. For us at cloud.tv our biggest issue are the lack of media playback options. Our AIR-based media center, cloudskipper, can play any media Flash supports, which has gotten better since Adobe ... http://mchristoff.com/2009/12/using-the-air-2-0-nativeprocess-api-to-control-mplayer/ I'm sure I'm not the only one who was super stoked when Adobe released the beta of AIR 2.0. For those not familiar,  Adobe added a laundry list of new toys, like support for mass storage devices, UDP sockets, and my personal favorite native code integration. You can check out ... http://mchristoff.com/2009/12/installing-the-adobe-air-2-beta-sdk-on-os-x/ If you've more than dabbled with Flex I'm sure you've come to a point where your excitement for all the whiz-bang awesomeness you can do so easily is replaced by dread when you realize a component is doing about 90% of what you want. Sometimes 90% just aint good enough ... http://mchristoff.com/2009/08/extending-flex-3-components/ It's been a while, but I'm drawing a line in the sand. This blog has a lot updating coming to it. But before I switch to some code for a while let me leave you with a treat from the physical realm that deserves its own post in the near ... http://mchristoff.com/2009/08/bikes-code-and-a-little-more-love/ It's been quite a bit of time since I last posted, but I just wanted to take a moment to extend a belated thanks to all of those who donated to my campaign to aid the victims of cyclone Nargis. I didn't quite reach my goal, but we managed to ... http://mchristoff.com/2009/03/a-change-is-gonna-come/ The plight of those devastated by Cyclone Nargis seems worse that ever.  The AP released some stunning facts about the current situation in a recent article: A survey of families in 291 villages showed that 55 percent have less than one day of food left and no stocks to fall back ... http://mchristoff.com/2008/08/plight-worse-for-survivors-worse-than-thought/ Doctor's Without Borders (MSF), the non-profit that I'm supporting with this blog series, posted their latest update on the great work they've done in Myanmar a few weeks ago (sorry for my lateness on this one). In addition to an in-depth report on the help MSF is providing with mental ... http://mchristoff.com/2008/07/msf-delivers-results-in-myanmar/ The UN just released a statement saying that it's seeking $300 million more to support the relief efforts in Myanmar.  "60,000 children were at risk of acute malnutrition," according to U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes. Furthermore: .. the cyclone had destroyed 42 percent of Myanmar's food stocks and 55 percent ... http://mchristoff.com/2008/07/60000-children-at-risk-of-malnurition-says-the-un/ A few people have asked over the past couple of weeks if the funds donated to Doctors Without Borders will be earmarked specifically for the relief effort in Myanmar. I'm happy to report that I received confirmation before the holiday this weekend that all funds donated via my firstgiving page ... http://mchristoff.com/2008/07/funds-earmarked/ [...] a great number more suffered far worse conditions and had nothing left but the clothes on their backs. Some did not even have that: the storm blew them off while they clung to trees for survival as the cyclone tore away their homes and their families. via eFoodAlert http://mchristoff.com/2008/07/eyewitness-report/