c. scott andreas

I’ve spent half of my last three Saturdays coding and experimenting with new languages, APIs, frameworks, and the like. This weekend brings you a functional three-click videoblogging app for WordPress, Moveable Type, Drupal, and more.

To recap, earlier hackathons brought:

• A stable version of Phoreo Elements (with documentation). Launching very soon.
• ESV for iPhone, Mac OS X Dashboard, and Adobe AIR (Mac + PC).

This week’s pièce de résistance:

Three-Click Videoblogging. It’s really that simple. Open the app, click Record and bark into your iSight for awhile, then hit Stop when you’re done. Preview it if you like. Bang out a Title and Body content, then hit Publish to WordPress.

How’s it work? The app records video from your webcam via Flex / Flash, sends it off to a Flash Media Server to be encoded as an FLV, then communicates with your WordPress blog via XML-RPC to create a new post and embed the video automagically.  This is (mostly) sample code from Adobe that wasn’t functional (i.e., the blogging component did not work properly).  That’s been fixed, and this (along with some other tools, like WordPress MU) could form the basis of a really cool app.

The result?

Ultra-easy, brainless, painless videoblogging in just 3 clicks. Screenshot:

(I look like a total tool in this photo. Sorry. It was an early test - I was surprised that it worked.)

What went into it? ::

• Adobe Flex ( + Flex Builder 3)
• Adobe AIR / a web browser
• Adobe Flash Media Server
• A little XML + RPC magic
• A Mac / PC with a camera

It’s not ready for primetime yet, but it does work. Handy! Thanks to Mike Potter of Adobe for this week’s Legos.

But…my development / testing environment was a nightmare. Imagine a PowerBook G4 running Flex Builder 3 in OS X and Flash Media Server in a Windows 2000 Virtual PC session communicating with each other via a VPN tunnel looping from England to southern Indiana and back. Uh, slow. Painfully slow. Thanks, University of Kent, for your awesome IT policies. Bleah.

So here’s the new deal: Buy me a new MacBook Pro and I’ll make you something cool. Maybe a nice shrimp fettucine alfredo with a bottle Savignon Blanc or something.

Might be on hiatus next weekend - I’m headed to Cut & Paste London. Curious about this app or heading to C&P, too? Hit me up at scott att phoreo dawt com.

This morning’s experiment with Adobe AIR really got out of hand. I’ve created tools to access the English Standard Version of the Bible via your iPhone, a Mac OS X Dashboard widget, and an Adobe AIR app for Mac + PC (the original project). Pheew!

I’m not convinced that anyone needs all of this (or that it’s even useful!), but it was a fun project that involved coding on a Saturday morning.

Want ESV on iPhone?

Head to http://esv.phoreo.com.

Crave the Dashboard widget?

Click to install.

Intrigued by the AIR app (Mac + PC)?

Grab it here (and Adobe AIR if you don’t have it).

As some of you know, I’m a web developer and Wordpress is my platform. Though it started as a simple blogging tool, many such as myself see potential for Wordpress as a robust content management system (CMS).

However, Wordpress has a lot of shortcomings – not the least of which is the lack of a “blocks” component that would allow you to easily create an unlimited number of editable regions on your Wordpress site (a la Drupal). That could mean editable sidebars, special content blocks that only show up on certain pages, or a few editable items that are displayed everywhere. It’s time to do something about this.

In a few weeks, I’ll be releasing a plugin + widget called “Elements.”

Right now, I’m using it to create editable sidebar blocks that can display text, images, forms, etc. – all managed in Wordpress’ rich editor. I’m also mixing in some Mootools and sIFR – these sidebar blocks slide in and out when users click the element titles (which generate SEO-friendly rich typography using Flash). It’s flippin’ sweet.

Easy to use. No more template hacks. Based on Wordpress’ built-in “Page” architecture.

Wordpress is awesome. But the dial on this thing goes to 11, right? Let’s crank it.

Calling all Mac users: I’ve just finished coding a Dashboard Widget for eBible.com.

eBible is a cool Web 2.0 take on scripture that lets you view translations in parallel, verse-by-verse commentaries, and a ton of premium resources, too.

I’ve been a beta tester for about a year. Their commentaries don’t quite suit my tastes and there are no lexical tools yet, but I’m hoping more are in the works.

Now, without further ado…

get it now!

This is the very first release (0.1) and there are certainly bugs. By using this widget, you agree not to hold me or Phoreo, LLC responsible for any incidental damages - yada yada yada. Here are a couple issues that I know of:

1. It’s a bit ugly.
2. “Study” and “Read More” links don’t work.
3. Search queries flash briefly before displaying results.
4. The widget does not function when off-line (of course).

Don’t have a Mac but want to try it out? Click here.

Want to get ahold of me? Send any feedback, issues, requests, free lattés, or hate mail to scott@phoreo.com.

Cheers!