Flash Player Switcher for Firefox

This is a great extension for Firefox, allowing you to switch between different Flash player versions. This is great considering the only other way to test Flash with different players is to uninstall your current Flash player and reinstall the one you want to test.
This extension comes with all the currently published flash player plugins (from the version 2 to the most recent 9,0,16) and allows you to easily switch from one plugin to another, or also to remove the currently installed plugin (maybe for testing the express install).

Once installed you will find the “flash switcher” icon in the Firefox statusbar at right. Click on it and a list of available options will appear.

Get it here!

Your Very Own “Vector Library” in Photoshop

If you find yourself in Photoshop using a certain vector item a lot (such as a logo) then consider turning it into a custom shape:

Copy the starz logo in Illustrator. In Photoshop, paste as a Smart Object.
With the object still selected, go to Edit > Define Custom Shape, and give it a name.
Anytime you want to use the logo just access it using your custom shape tool!

Works for any vector shape that doesn’t have color. And in Illustrator you can save it to your library and then save out the library.

Fonts for Small Point Sizes

Here are some sites that have free fonts that are pretty legible at a small size. especially on screen. All vector based. Good for Flash!

Miniml

http://www.miniml.com

Silkscreen

http://www.kottke.org/plus/type/silkscreen/

Sevenet

http://www.fountain.nu/catalogue/sevenet.asp

(bottom left of page)

Subatomic Screen

http://www.dafont.com/kevin-meinert.d1416

Handy

http://www.iamcal.com/misc/fonts/

Grixel Acme 7

http://www.grixel.gr/

(then under FREE FONTS) there are more there than just this one too.

The Eco Zoo

http://www.ecodazoo.com is a great Flash site. Very well designed and has a nice environmental message on living in a more eco friendly way. I think it’s made with Papervision 3D and a lot of hard work.

Streaming Video from Mobile Phone Straight to the Web!

Stream live video from your mobile phone using Qik. It will then save the stream so you can share it with others. It’s really that simple. Once it’s set up you can stream video and then check it out later.

Real World Example: We’re interested in a house and now I can go through, stream the video to Qik.com and have my realtor and family members check it out. Sweet.

Esquire Mag Uses E-Ink

The future of print or fancy gimmick?

NBC Dumps Silverlight after Olympics and goes back to Flash

Need I say more? Who knows if they were going to use it in the first place if MS didn’t sponsor the site. Go Flash!

See the full article here.

Useful Cheat Sheets for Web Designers

Jacob Gube from Six Revisions has posted 28 great cheat sheets for web designers. From program shortcuts (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc.) to hex, typography, and CSS shortcuts. Pretty much everything under the sun, located on one page.

And if you’re looking for developer cheat sheets (more CSS, HTML, JavaScript) he has those as well.

The only thing that’s missing is Flash.

CS4 is Coming!!

Adobe Creative Suite 4 is coming September 23rd at 12:01 A.M. (EST).
Sign up to view the live webcast here: www.adobe.com/go/somethingbrilliant
Be prepared to get your world rocked.

It’s Alive! Bring Your Design to Life with Flash!

With some fancy code that you can get here, you can bring your designs to life using Flash. A little ActionScript and a little thing called parallax, you can give designs depth.

Check out the example and download fully commented code here. Enjoy!