Tag Archives: AIR

Flex User Group to Tackle Building Flex/Air Apps for Custom Electronics

The Flex User Group meets in Lansing tonight, May 19, 2011. The topic of tonight’s meeting is building Flex and AIR applications for custom electronics, like Arduino. Here’s the summary that has me intrigued, from their mailing list:

“We will be going through basic electronic concepts, hooking up an Ardunio Microcontroller to a computer, and interacting with it from a Flex application.  We will be working with LEDs, push buttons, gas sensors, etc. to make a an application that you can not only control with a mouse, but can also interact with physically.”

Sounds like fun. Note that the summer meeting location is different from previous months. They will be meeting at 7 pm at 1345 Engineering on Michigan State’s campus. The room is the northwest-most room in the Engineering Building complex.

Free parking is available a block south in the Communication Arts and Sciences parking ramp (Ramp 5).

Directions are included below. Enjoy!

From Detroit:

  • Take Interstate 96 towards Lansing. Take exit 106B / US-127 NORTH (labeled DOWNTOWN Lansing) for approximately 2.7 miles to exit 9 / Trowbridge Rd. When on Trowbridge Road, continue EAST onto the campus of MSU. Take Trowbridge Road 0.6 miles to the parking garage on your right. Meters are valid only until 6pm. The Engineering Building is one block north of the parking ramp, on the north/east corner of Wilson and Red Cedar.  Enter the building and go to the north/west corner of the building to find room 1345.  The room is right next to the coffee shop.

From Grand Rapids:

  • Take Interstate 96 towards Lansing. Take exit 95 / I-496 (labeled DOWNTOWN Lansing) for approximately 9 miles to exit 9 / Trowbridge Road.. When on Trowbridge Road, continue EAST onto the campus of MSU. Take Trowbridge Road 0.6 miles to the parking garage on your right. Meters are valid only until 6pm. The Engineering Building is one block north of the parking ramp, on the north/east corner of Wilson and Red Cedar.  Enter the building and go to the north/west corner of the building to find room 1345.  The room is right next to the coffee shop.

Events Worth the Travel

Upcoming Events Outside of Michigan

Anyone who has read this blog knows that I am a huge fan of Open Spaces events.  In particular, I've really enjoyed the Open Spaces events that Bruce Eckel has offered, in Crested Butte, Colorado.

In about a week, you could travel to Crested Butte (about a 5 hr drive from Denver), and combine the Flex & AIR Jam and the Rich Internet Application Summit all in one.  Since Adobe is giving away a $499 license for FlexBuilder with the Flex & AIR Jam registration, that conference is an amazing value.  James Ward, Adobe Flex Evangelist, will be there too, of course. James is a great guy and also a great contributor to Open Spaces events.  He has a really great knack at distilling a problem into manageable chunks and showing you how to use Flex to solve it.

Immediately following the Flex & AIR Jam is the Rich Internet Application Summit.  Bruce is even offering a discount if you attend both events.  Sounds like a good deal to me.

If your employer is wincing at the expense, it's way less expensive than attending a traditional conference like Java One and, in my experience, more useful. And, you can always get a room at the International Hostel to save money on lodging. It's a great place!

I wish that I were going.  If things shake out just right around here, I may end up out there yet.  It's hard to stay home when I know that there is a really great learning experience going on. And the hiking and mountain biking are great out there this time of year as well!

Bruce Eckel's Open Spaces Events