Today we made a big announcement that will make huge improvements in how SWF files will be indexed in top search engines. You can read the full details by checking out the official press release.

So what exactly has happened here? Basically we have created some new technology that we are providing to leading search engines like Google and Yahoo! which allow them to fully parse and index Flash files. Google is already using this new technology and Yahoo! is will be coming onboard shortly. This will greatly improve how your Flash sites will show up in search engines.

Since this is brand-spanking new technology there aren’t yet any “best practices” that have developed for how to make your SWF files take the most advantage of this new technology. These will develop over time. Look for details here as things develop. But this is a groundbreaking partnership that is a huge step forward for helping Flash become fully searchable.

Lee

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Now that the travel has died down for a little while, it’s time to start recording some new tutorials. First up is a tutorial showing you how to embed Flash content into HTML pages using SWFObject 2.0. I also cover how to use Flashvars in ActionScript 3, as it has changed considerably. Adobe will be using SWFObject throughout the CS4 suite so it is now the “official” way off embedding content. Go and check it out at http://www.gotoandlearn.com.

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Grant Skinner has released an immensely useful slide deck from his Introductory AS3 workshop. There are 165 slides in the deck and they are filled with useful code snippets. This could basically be a book, it’s that in-depth.

Lee

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I just returned from FITC Chicago which was a great conference. While there I got a chance to interview R Blank who did a session on transitioning from AS 2 to AS 3. This is still proving to be a struggle for many people and I wish there more sessions like this at conferences.

Lee

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The evangelism team was asked to record a series of video tutorials for the launch of Adobe TV. If you haven’t checked it out before, Adobe TV is the new home for all video content coming out of Adobe, as well as some from the community. In this first video, I show the basics of creating AIR applications in Flash CS3. These were recorded in a studio in front of a green screen. Not my usual tutorial style but it is still pretty cool.

Lee

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The last stop on our European adventure was marked by thunderstorms, football, and concrete. When we arrived at the Straf Hotel it was clear that it was not a typical place. The rooms were 100% bare concrete. Check out this photo to see what I mean. It was actually really cool and surprisingly comfortable.

The venue for this event was very nice and featured a two-story floor plan. The downstairs was reserved for food, video games, and tables for us to work at. The upstairs was the presentation room and there was also another room for food. The food was really good at this event and featured a slew of different pastries, pastas, and other Italian fare. We had a lot of people asking us questions during the event which is always nice. The crowd was good and they seemed to really enjoy my session.

That night in Milan the big event was the football match. There was a huge TV in the square by our hotel with thousands of people there watching the game. It was one of the coolest things I saw on the trip. You’ll see it once I edit together the video. In the middle of the game there was a huge thunderstorm which sent the crowd scurrying. I loved Milan and I’m looking forward to going back for MAX. The photo above was taken by Kevin Hoyt.

Lee

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I’m a little late in writing this due to some extreme jetlag that I’ve been having since returning from Europe. I have to say that tourist-wise, Munich is my favorite city in Germany. The architecture is nice and it seems small enough to easily walk around and sightsee. I’m still trying to work off all of the sausages and pastries that I ate there.

The venue for this event was nice but it wasn’t nearly as nice as our place in Berlin. My main focus on this day was to solidify my domination in the Guitar Hero competition. Check out this video to see the results . We had a fairly packed crowd in Munich and they seemed to really enjoy our presentations. We had the guys from SAP also deliver a session on the work they have been doing with AIR. It’s always good to have members of the community speaking to back us up when we tell people how cool AIR is.

I would really love to visit Munich again although I may try to lay off the sausages a little bit. BTW, the photo above was taken by Mark Thiele.

Lee

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