Adobe AIR 1.5 Cookbook

Credits

Author Bios

David Tucker is a software engineer with Universal Mind (http://www.universalmind.com) and is located in Savannah, Georgia. David’s current focus is developing the next generation of rich Internet applications with Adobe AIR, Flex, and Flash. David is the author of the AIR for Flash Developers video training series (Lynda.com, 2008). David has worked on a variety of development platforms including ColdFusion and PHP. When David does not have a computer in front of him, he is probably playing guitar. David writes regularly at http://www.insideria.com, and his blog can be found at http://www.davidtucker.net.

Marco Casario is the founder and CTO of Comtaste (http://www.comtaste.com), a company dedicated to exploring new frontiers in rich Internet applications in the enterprise field. He’s an Adobe Community Expert, an Adobe Master Instructor for Flex, and a professional speaker at international conferences like Adobe MAX, Flash on the Beach, 360Flex, FITC, AJAXWorld, and Web 2.0 Expo. Marco is the author of Flex Solutions: Essential Techniques for Flex 3 Developers (friends of ED, 2007) and The Essential Guide to AIR with Flash (friends of ED, 2008), as well as a coauthor of Advanced AIR Applications (friends of ED, 2009). He runs his well-known personal blog at http://casario.blogs.com.

Koen De Weggheleire is a faculty member of the Technical University of West-Flanders (HOWEST) where he teaches Flash Platform solutions (Flash, Flex, and AIR) with a smile. As the Adobe User Group manager for Belgium (http://www.adobeusergroup.be) and Adobe Community Expert for Flash, Koen is heavily addicted to the community; he inspires the community by his blog at http://www.newmovieclip.com and by speaking at several events (Adobe MAX, FITC, 360 Flex, Flashbelt, Flash in the Can, and Flash on the Beach). Koen also is a coauthor of Foundation Flex for Developers (friends of ED, 2007). When there is still some time left, you can find Koen at his company, Happy-Banana, together with Wouter Verweirder doing Flash Platform consultancy on advanced, award-winning rich Internet applications. When Koen is not talking ActionScript, you can find him producing music, collecting goodies, eating pizza, or renovating his 100-year-old house.

Rich Tretola currently is the rich applications technical lead at Herff Jones. An award-winning Flex developer, he is the lead author of Professional Flex 2 (Wrox, 2007) and the sole author of Beginning AIR (Wrox, 2008). Rich has been building Internet applications for more than 10 years and has worked with Flex since the original Royale beta version of Flex in 2003. Other than Flex, Rich builds applications using ColdFusion, Flash, and Java. Rich is highly regarded within the Flex community as an expert in RIA and is also an Adobe Community Expert. He runs a popular Flex and AIR blog at http://everythingflex.com, is the community manager of http://insideria.com, and was also a speaker at the Adobe MAX 2007 conference in Chicago. Rich will be speaking at MAX 2008 in San Francisco. For a nontechnical escape, Rich is also a co-owner of a company that manufactures chocolate bars located on Maui named WowWee Maui.

Technical Editor Bios

Ikezi Kamanu is a senior technical consultant at Adobe Systems and longtime RIA enthusiast, with more than 10 years of experience with Adobe technologies. His career in software and multimedia development has been centered on rich, innovative user experiences and overall cool factor. An aspiring “efficiency architect,” Ikezi can be seen near his New York home studying checkout counter queues, taxi patterns, or favorable flight routes for his next great escape. His website is http://www.efficiencyarchitect.com.

Aaron Brownlee is a senior technical consultant for Adobe Systems and makes his home in Oakland, California. He started doing web development in 1997, spent a decade orienting objects using Java, and currently dazzles the clients of Adobe Consulting using Flex and AIR. When not causing his MacBook to overheat, he enjoys family, bicycles, and motorcycles. His blog can be found at http://blogs.adobe.com/viab.

Peter Elst is an Adobe Community Expert, is a certified instructor, and is active in the Adobe User Group Belgium. As a freelance Flash Platform consultant and respected member of the online community, Peter has spoken at various international industry events and has published his work in leading journals. Most recently, Peter was lead author of Object-Oriented ActionScript 3.0 (friends of ED, 2007).

Community Contributor Bios

Luca Mezzalira is an Italian Adobe Certified Expert and Adobe Certified Instructor for Flash and Flash Lite. Luca is the owner of M.art3, the first Italian Flash Platform agency that works exclusively on Flex, Flash, AIR, and Flash Lite. M.art3 is based in Padova near Venice, Italy. Luca works with national and international companies on many types of projects utilizing the Flash Platform, from mobile devices to touch screens. He also created a training project, called Let’s Course, with other Italian companies that organize courses and important events in Italy. In May 2008, Luca became a consultant for Adobe Italy on the Flash Platform. He writes for national and international technical magazines, and he is a staff member of actionscript.it, the Italian Adobe User Group. In addition, Luca is a speaker for national and international conferences and community events.

Marin Todorov is a software engineer with experience in building web applications and desktop software going back to the mid-90s. Professionally as a developer and manager, he has utilized various technologies, mostly focusing on the server programming side of the Web. In addition to his career as a developer, he has also been an associate university teacher, and he has written many technical articles and published a book about Perl. Marin started using Flash with version 4 and has been developing desktop software in Adobe AIR ever since its early betas. In his free time, Marin fancies composing music and studying languages.

Jeff Tapper has over a decade of experience developing Internet applications for many clients, including Condé Nast, IBM, and Morgan Stanley. He is an Adobe Certified Instructor for all of their Flex, ColdFusion, and AIR development courses. Jeff has worked as an author on ten books, including Flex 3: Training from the Source (Adobe Press, 2008) and Breaking Out of the Web Browser with Adobe AIR (New Riders Press, 2008). He sits on the editorial board of Flex Developer’s Journal. Jeff is a senior consultant at Digital Primates IT Consulting Group.

Matt Poole is a freelance Flash platform consultant and developer working in London, United Kingdom and is active in the London Flex and Flash Platform user groups. Matt has consulted on making the most of breaking Flash Platform features in the social networking and online gambling arenas, and has more recently been involved in the high profile BBC iPlayer.

Greg Jastrab is a Flex/Flash/AIR developer working at SmartLogic Solutions, LLC, in Baltimore, Maryland. He has been using Flash since Flash 5 and Flex since 1.5. When not coding, Greg enjoys playing poker, guitar, video games, and relaxing with his wife and dog.

Ryan Stewart is a Platform Evangelist for Adobe and lives in Seattle, Washington. He has been doing Flex development for almost five years and has a passion for all things rich Internet application. He has had speaking engagements at industry conferences like Adobe MAX, Web 2.0 Expo, and Web Design World. He also has an industry-leading blog on ZDNet, where he covers all aspects of the RIA space. In his free time, he hikes, goes mountaineering, and codes.