wow..... the announcement today from Adobe about opening the Flash Player up to the market to be placed on any imaginable device is just stunning. This is going to place even more demand on people with Flash skills as these companies begin to produce handheld devices using the Flash Player.

The only thing in the press release that set off my BS detector was this.. "“The Open Screen Project will make it simple for Verizon and our partners to deliver rich mobile experiences to more devices,”" .. yeah, and how big of a fee will they charge developers before they can develop for the Verizon network?

I also noticed that there was no mention of Apple in that press release.

Mike Chambers posted an update on his blog about the rebuilding-moving-updating of MXNA. I've been getting my fix from fullasagoog for a while since MXNA was beginning to be overwhelming.

Oh.. some random things.. Gregarius, Rubicon .. I've been having some fun with those.

Here's some interesting news from Adobe: They're going to unveil a piece of public art on top of their building in San Jose. It sounds like a really interesting piece of art, but so far no pics so no telling how it will be received. The fact that it's going to be on top of a building, includes lighted elements, and includes motion makes it a challenge for the artist to delineate it from signage.. but I'm betting he pulls it off.

The art will include a coded message and details of the mysterious message and why the public should care to decode it are supposed to be revealed at http://www.sanjosesemaphore.org/. The irony.. that a piece of art that's about communication (or hidden communication.. ) is tied to a web site that isn't online yet (so no communication coming from it) is not lost even if it's not intentional.

The unveiling date? Aug 7.. other art stuff going on in San Jose at that time? You bet.

If you've been to San Jose you may have noticed the art around the Cisco buildings. I don't have any photos and can't find any.. but they've place router, switch, and hub icons all around the public transit stops and around the roads. Some folks might say that the icons aren't art because they're used as "decoration" on everyday benches and walls.. but hey, art is in the eye of the beholder, eh? And how many folks are going to say this art on top of the Adobe building is just a sign?

Curious what other public art is in San Jose? Check out this list..

I was digging around looking for competitions that include a category for instructional, educational, or better yet simulations. I didn't find much beyond the ones I was already aware of (nicely listed here by Justin Everett-Church). Most of the ones that give awards for "educational" seem to lump the entire interface and course and all elements therein into one package. What if the Flash used is only one small (but important and technically awesome) part of an entire course?

One that I did come across that I kind of wish were still around was the "eLearning Innovation Award" from Macromedia, but it's not being offered now. I suppose it's been replaced by the awards at Max?

Anyway, if you come across others please let me know.. and maybe the competition folks will add a category for simulations. (think simulations of cell phone interfaces, training simulations of medical equipment, etc.. etc..