David Hassoun

Here is an important tech note about how the new Flash Player 9.0.124.0 update has adversely affected H.264 MPEG video streaming from the Flash Media Server 3.0. The general jist is it wont work now with the secuirty updated player, but if you upgrade to Flash Media Server 3.01 then you are all good.

Tech Note about issue:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb403400&sliceId=1

FMS Support Center to download 3.01
http://www.adobe.com/support/flashmediaserver/downloads_updaters.html

So looks like I will be writing a few chapters arounf Flash Video, advanced integration (Flex > Flash, Flash < Flex) techniques and Flash Media Server for the new Professional Flex 3 book. Amazon has the details all botched but can get a little info here: http://www.joeflash.ca/blog/2008/03/the-professional-flex-3-book.html

The article I we wrote for the Flash Video Dynamic Stream Switching is now live on Adobe Devnet!!

Check it out!

Devnet Article

Felt like throwing out props to some of my fav people in the industry. Can be people I just really respect, have had the pleasure to work with, or just people who’s community involvement has been noteworthy and greatly appreciated. (In no specific order)

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ADOBE- All the great people there that make all what we do possible.
Some of the many to note:

Ken Toley – Badass guy, been around a bunch of the teams there around Flash technology
Kevin Hoyt – One of the few local Coloradans. Awesome man for the community – great presenter and great info on his blog. Also a great photographer.
Kevin Towes – Of Flash Media (Communication) Server fame and from the land of silly canadians, a good guy and leader in the FMS community for years.
Mike Downey – Always a great place for whats hot with the Flash tech
Ted Patrick – The man! One of the great community evangelists and badasses as far back as ifbin and now on the path to rule the world from Adobe
Matt Chotin – Great guy, always on top of his game and really good for the technology and the community as a whole.
Deepa Subramaniam – Amazing lady on the Flex team. Some of my favorite features can be attributed largely to her, and an awesome speaker to boot.
Renaun Erickson – An all around awesome guy. Been great contributor in many ways to the community and working on some super slick stuff at Adobe. Great presenter and super smart. Always excited to hear whats new from him.

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OPEN SOURCERS & DEVELOPERS
Doug McCune – Hehe come on if you dont know Doug then your missing out. Foul mouther and punkd out, but a major contributor and booming voice for the community. Hail Doug!
Adam Flater – Another local Colorado badass. One of the evil slick masterminds behind Artemis – helping AIR be what it should be. Great presenter as well!
Juan Sanchez – Amazing UI and skinning contributions were only the beginning. DEGRAFA is one of my fav open source projects and hes one of the key players. Great presenter as well.
Andy McIntosh – Amazing developer, great speaker and sied to read his new book I believe writing with Juan.
Tony Hillerson – The man when it come to rails and all things Flex. All around good guy, and badass developer. Havnt had the pleasure to hear him present but heard great things.
Digital Primates – All these guys are awesome. Labriola, Nimer, Tapper, etc. are all some of the people I respect most in this industry. Phenomenal developers, great community leaders, top notch presenters, and some great guys to drink with. The merging of the companies which now makes up the primates is a force to reckon with.

There are many many more, but this is what came to mind on a whim. Thanks to all above for the great work you guys churn out. It helps the whole industry.

Here is a sneak peak at an upcoming article we wrote for Adobe on Dynamic Stream Switching for the Flash Media Server 3 family of servers. Check it out here and on the Adobe Devnet soon!

Table of contents:

• Introduction
• Understanding the multi-bit rate solution
• Step 1: Encoding for multi-bit rate
• Step 2: Bandwidth detection
• Step 3: Bit rate selection
• Step 4: Stream switching
• Step 5: Bandwidth monitoring / dynamic stream switching

This article provides an overview of the concepts involved in dynamic stream switching of Flash video using Flash Media Server 3 (using both Flash Media Streaming Server 3 and Flash Media Interactive Server 3). This technique employs the power of Flash Media Server 3 to enhance the experience for users, taking into account the varying network conditions they may encounter while viewing streaming content. I’ve included techniques and recommendations for bandwidth detection and the process to follow when preparing and encoding your video files for multi-bit rate delivery. The provided code examples demonstrate how to implement an effective mechanism for dynamically managing stream switching based upon the end user’s bandwidth over time.

( Article in PDF format )
( Hands-on Files – 76MB )

UPDATE: Here is the live article –

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashmediaserver/articles/dynamic_stream_switching.html

The WebManiacs 2008 conference schedule has been finalized
and registration is open. Early bird pricing ends Jan 31. Consisting of a
two-day ColdFusion conference (“CFManiacs”) coupled with a three-day
Flex conference (FlexManiacs), hosting over 70 speakers and 130 distinct topics
(some of which are hands-on), WebManiacs promises to have the most
comprehensive coverage of Flex, AIR, and ColdFusion at the lowest price.
Seating is limited, so folks should register early in order to get into the
more popular sessions.