What the heck?!? Is that a Windows XP running … err crashed… on the OLPC XO-1?

Almost! There are rumors about it but the picture above is an edited photo by an OLPC volunteer to protest on the idea of having XP as pre-installed OS on XO-1.

On the side note, Phlashers has started to participate to OLPC development through OLPC Philippines. The idea came from Carlos Nazareno to target XO-1 as a Flash game platform.

Not quite! I hyped blogger posted that Alternativa3D got semi-opensource.

Well, yes, you can get the engine for free after being forced to register. Another thing is, you get the engine on a SWC format — I mean, come on.

So what would you want on this so-called semi-opensource engine? The demos look very promising but there is something fishy about not sharing the sources to this demos while they usually release sources before.

The video to the Adobe CS4 Launch is now available online at Adobe.tv. Watch it here.

Version 3.0.0 Beta 9 of the popular AS 2.0/3.0 FOSS editor Flashdevelop has been released.

Changes:

• First version of super() completion added
• Installer improments and user file preserving started
• Bug fixes on user plugins, vista 64bit compability, tracing, etc…
• The comment block indent is now a global setting and a runtime variable $(CBI)

Grab it at the release page.

Driving Adobe: Co-founder Charles Geschke on Challenges, Change and Values

In 2007, Adobe Systems marked its 25th anniversary, a relatively long tenure for a company that sells personal computer software, an industry barely more than 30 years old. Surviving so long in this rapidly-changing business has required a certain nimbleness. Adobe’s products — and its business models — have evolved as computing moved from standalone PCs to the global communications network of the Internet and worldwide web. But behind these changing technologies is a consistent set of business principles established by Adobe’s two co-founders and current co-chairmen Charles M. (Chuck) Geschke and John Warnock.

Read the entire article here.

Keith Peters has just started The 25-Line ActionScript Contest which basically asks:

What can you do in 25 lines of AS3 code?

KP says:

Back in the early 2000’s, in the good old days of FlashKit and Were-Here, I used to host this “25 Line ActionScript” contest. This was Flash MX (6), ActionScript 1.0. The idea was simple: Create whatever you want in 25 lines of code. Just code. No library assets, nothing loaded in. Just code. But, wow! The things people made were just unbelievable.So, with the coming of the new version of Flash, speculatively titled “Flash CS4″, I decided to revive the contest to see what people would make now with all the new tools we’ve acquired in the last few years.

This contest brings back memories of the5k.org competition wherein participants exerted their creativity by showing off what they could accomplish with 5kb of browser tech (html, javascript, etc).

The most exciting part? When CS4 comes out, courtesy of Adobe will be a free copy of an Adobe CS4 Suite to the grand prize winner!!! And: “not just for the first month, but each month well into the contest”

???

Whoah!

Phlashers, rev your coding engines and check out the rules here!

The reigning king of ActionScript editors has been updated to Beta8!

Download it here.

Changes:

GUI:
* New “fullscreen” editor mode
* New common GUI for AS2Api and ASDoc
* SWF exploration shows the frame where definitions are imported

ActionScript:
* Fine tuned code completion
* Dynamic syntax highlighting: custom classes get colored like flash classes (MovieClip, Event, etc)
* Completion for package-level declarations and Flash 10’s Vector.<T> type
* New generator: Ctrl+Shift+1 on a non-imported type to generate the import
* Go To Declaration (F4) with SWC classes display a generated pseudo-class
* Improved generators

MXML:
* Tags with ID now appear in outline view and <script> code completion
* Updated completion (generated using a tool available in SVN)

Templates:
* Improved MXML projects templates
* New optimized AS3 project template with preloader (no Flex dependencies)
* Templates now include an index.html with swfobject.js

PHP:
* Now featuring simple PHP completion

Jan Kolařík & Ondřej Vaverka, 2 young programmers from Czech Republic, authored InstantStorm, a Windows freeware tool for creating Flash based screensavers with many advanced features.

Instantstorm is free as in beer and allows you to create screensavers from Flash SWFs ranging in version from Flash 5 AS1 to Flash 9 AS3.

This is a must-have for Flash developers/designers looking to do more with their SWFs!

Download version 1.53 from the InstantStorm website.

Adobe is looking for Adobe Student Reps for RIAs. Adobe Student Reps receive community recognition, speaking opportunities in some Adobe sponsored events, access to Adobe resources (presentation slides, information posters, contact with AIR and Flex team) and some funding available for approved events.

The Reps will receive:

1. Adobe product choice between CS3 Web or CS3 Design Premium when they successfully organize an event at their campus
2. Enriching work experience that can be added to their resume
3. An Adobe Student Rep for RIAs certificate, authenticating your participation in the program
4. Networking opportunities with Adobe Flex and AIR teams and other Student Rep for RIAs

Read more about it here and tell your student friends about it!