Today, I have a number of news items that have caught my attention over the last month: YouTube finally evolves out of the computer room, NASA uses yet more tricks to get us excited about their missions, making money with Flash and JavaScript everywhere (this last one is for techies). It’s just a small sampling of what’s happening.
YouTube Leanback
Finally, finally, a pretty nice way to watch YouTube from the couch, without the need for specialized software or hardware. Just browse to YouTube Leanback, go fullscreen and you’re ready for hours of entertainment (your mileage may vary).
They already have YouTube XL, but, in all honesty, I don’t think any one ever liked that interface. Even the YouTube programmers themselves. Leanback has a slick UI, a minimal interface with just the right playlists.
I’m not sure what took them so long, but the imminent launch of Google TV might be related.
Moonbase Alpha
“If the American army can do it, so can we”. That must have been what NASA thought when they started developing Moonbase Alpha. Just like America’s Army, this game is a simulation. So don’t storm in expecting to discover aliens that need to be killed.
Probably not the cheapest solution, but it’s a great look at what NASA is all about.
Moonbase Alpha is available through Steam, right now.
Making money with Flash
If you’re writing any program in any language, at some point, you might want to earn a little something with that program. Flash programs are notoriously difficult to monetize. Most probably because there are so many options unknown to many developers.
The July issue of the Flash & Flex Developer’s Magazine has an in depth look at the different possibilities: from protecting and selling your Flash program to add networks.
JavaScript for the server
It’s been around for a while now, but it appears frameworks like NodeJS are finally getting traction. As all webframeworks, they want to make it easy to develop web applications. What’s special is that you program the web application in JavaScript.
I can’t tell you which framework is the best, but here’s a list of why you might want to give RingoJS a try. You’re probably going to find similar lists for NodeJS. So why not give both of them a try?
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