Pixels for the People

Seb Lee-Delisle @seb_ly

With other great talks on it was a tough choice but I plumped for this one after reading the blurb about his large scale installation experience and how he planned to use the audiences devices! It promised to be very interesting and I wasn’t disappointed!

In a great session he started off with a small demo with a few willing volunteers on stage. Although I’m well aware it wasn’t simple but he made it look simple! Syncing up the mobile devices and locating them through a camera linked to the laptop and then making them all flash different colours in time!

It was very impressive but this was just the taster! Turning the camera around to face the Corn audience he asked everyone to try to connect to the local network, successfully getting around 40 devices held up. He then synced them and with the house lights down the light show began!

It was a clever presentation and demonstrated not only the capabilities of mobile devices and Wi-Fi but also his skill as a presenter and coder! He is a video snippet – http://vimeo.com/28984329

Paper.js: Vector Graphics Scripting on top of HTML5

Dr Wooho @DrWoohoo

This talk was in the large Dome venue but there seemed to be lots of interest and the venue was pretty much full. He started off talking about work-life balance and how in this industry perhaps we should strive to even out the balance somewhat.

This talk was quite technical so perhaps slightly over my head but still very interesting to hear the thoughts of someone so well respected on browser advancements, HTML5 and Flash propping up said browsers. His opinion that the 5 in HTML5 means “5 times more expensive and 5 times as long” is something that a lot of people seem to agree with. Do clients just want a project built in HTML5 because they think it’s the latest and greatest? Is it just a fad? Why do clients love IE6? He gave a lot of food for thought and it was a very insightful talk.

Slide to unlock

Sarah Parmenter @sazzy

Being a recruiter of developers and programmers this was out of my “comfort zone” but as n iPhone owner I was keen to listen to the views from the other side! It was a really interesting and well presented talk. It was also very insightful, detailing the amount of work that goes into the design and UX for an app. Perhaps something we users sometimes take for granted when tapping and sliding away at our iOS devices! As the blurb said it was stuffed full of practical advice and for a fellow iOS designer I can imagine it was extremely useful. As a developer friend put it, it was useful to watch so that advice and knowledge is “always in the back of your mind”. Judging from the feedback on Twitter the talk was well received and appreciated by the FOTB audience.

HTML5: Where Flas isn’t needed anymore.

Remy Sharp @Rem

As Remy put it at the start, he hoped to get out for the presentation alive given the controversial nature of the talk at a Flash conference!

That said, he didn’t risk a lynching, engaging his audience well talking about Flash propping up browsers and the advancements in native browser technology. He also talked about where Action Script can be ported directly to JavaScript. It was a funny and interesting talk, touching on similar subjects to earlier sessions and again gave the audience lots to think about. It was also his birthday so he got two rounds of “Happy Birthday”!

It was my first time at FOTB and I really enjoyed my time there. It was a hectic day, session after session and it seemed to be very busy with all the sessions full

What did I get out of it? Well I got to listen to some very talented people talk about things I’m interested in. Not just from a recruitment point of view but also a personal interest. Met some great people and soaked up the atmosphere before making the long trip back to Essex!

Reporter: Matthew Challis. Follow me @mattchallis for job news, London transport rants, funny pictures and occasional words of wisdom.

• Categories
• Creative and Brand Design