Guys,
I had a friend put a new website together for me. Check it out and let me know what you think about the site and the race reports (newsletters). You need Macromedia Flash to view the site and Adobe Acrobat reader to read the newsletters. Oh and there's no pop ups or annoying ads. It's work safe. Only one picture is questionable in the picture section, which I'll just explain as an old pic from a bachelor party. (Blow up doll partial nudity) The rest is race related.
www.rayjonesfanclub.com
Yesterday I checked out a few of your sites and really liked them. Especially JeF4y's.
Thanks,
Ray
Very cool!
i like it.
much more cool than mine,
then again i am computer illiterate.
you can build your own site with yahoo for as little as $12 a month.
you update it when and with whatever you want
it is very simple to do.
I've never seen Bullwinkle so p*ssed before ;D
Oh, it's a donkey, nevermind.
Nice site, definitely put together by someone with some Flash experience...
The site is good but there are tweeks that need to be made. Yes I know FLASH very well.
1. Checck the alignment of figures, text and pics when items load. this should be done / opnimized for all screen sizes.
2. Bring the pictures up on the screen. They are too low.
3. Lengthen out the time line on the effect of the pic loading. It starts off slow but then pics up speed.
I saw some other items but that was a quick look. I look at it more once i get home
Smoke,
Thanks for the advice. I'll pass along the info to my buddy who did the site. I don't like how he has the pictures scrolling like that either, and they are fuzzy. Keep the comments coming. ;)
Thanks,
Ray
first I must say. the starwars rap was great...
ok.. kill the all black page that is the pre loader. If u are going to use a preloader it should grab u and hold u to the screen ( make u want more)
kill the sound effects on the bar/menu items going into place. its over kill as u have the song playing over top.
on the main screen dropy the donkey down to a lil above center line ( currently his left ear is cut off)
it might be my pc but u have dead links in the sponcer section
you are right the pics are grainy... after spending a lil time looking at it i don't like how the pics come in at all or the effects that was used
our team site( all flash MX pro based) should be up in about two weeks. i'm working on it now.
I just checked the original file.. it's huge. (I hacked the .SWF :) )
Make it less linear, use more movies and clips.
Also.. check and make sure you're using Motion, and not Shape tweening on the title and graphics.
Also... make the title thingy 1 symbol on 1 layer, instead of text, and the box on different layers and tweening them together.
And also.. resize the images BEFORE you import them into Flash. The blow up doll photo is sized in Flash.. that doesn't help the file size ;)
Who can name that movie?
Jeff
and when you publish the flash movie make sure you check off "protect from import" under publish settings.
so these hacks can't criticize what you did or didnt do ;D
"Hacks" huh..
interesting comment considering he asked for a different view point. Unlike someone else I did not "hack" the .SWF file.
WOW, :o
You guys really know what you're talking about. I have to pass all this info onto my friend. I don't know the first thing about flash.
I'll have to cut and paste your comments into an e-mail for him. I can't take any credit for the Starwars Ganster Rap, that's something we came across online and thought it was awesome. ;D
Anyone read the newsletters (race reports)? Any suggestions on my writting?
QuoteYesterday I checked out a few of your sites and really liked them. Especially JeF4y's.
Thanks Ray ;D www.cbr600rr.com was a large step ahead of www.cbr600f4.com. F4.com I started in 99 and wrote almost all of the HTML in notepad. RR.com I have been using dreamweaver.
In my humble opinion, flash is something which is best in moderation. A whole flash-based site can get big and slow. Additionally there are a lot of people who refuse to load flash on their PCs, so your site would be totally useless to them.
The only other comment I'd make would be to publish your reports in HTML, PHP or something OTHER than .PDF. .PDF sucks for web text. It's slow as can be and makes surfing/browsing annoying. i.e., I read your winter letter, but since it was in .pdf and took longer (opening the plugin, etc) I skipped your spring writeup. If they were htm/php/etc, I would have probably read both.
Other than that? Keep up the GOOD WORK! Keep the site as fresh as you can and update often... They grow quite fast! Right now, cbr600rr.com gets over 100,000 hits per DAY, and both sites have over 1Gig of content...
Quoteand when you publish the flash movie make sure you check off "protect from import" under publish settings.
so these hacks can't criticize what you did or didnt do ;D
LOL... it takes about 3 (SMALL) lines of html code in a notepad doc to pull down any .swf for hacking...
Thanks Jeff,
I was bored at work the other day and checked out your site. I read all your race reports. It helps pass the time at work, plus I can daydream about racing while it's snowing outside my window.
PDF wasn't my choice either. I sent the write ups to my friend in word format. But, I guess it was easier for him to do it that way. I haven't written anyting in html in a long time.
I sent him the link to this site so he can check out the comments for himself. I can't complain though. He did a great job in a short amount of time, and he works for free. ;D Thanks Guzzo!
Quoteand when you publish the flash movie make sure you check off "protect from import" under publish settings.
so these hacks can't criticize what you did or didnt do ;D
HEHEHE.. that won't do anything. I can still 'hack' it using this software I have. I can tell you all the actions used, frames, symbols and everything about any .SWF file
Oh, and don't try the fake movie front that imports another movie...I can find that also using the log window of my proxy software :)
HEHE.. your a bad boy. :o Once I get my site up I will email u to see if u can get into my swf file. I have a few tricks ;D I too have a few tricks ;)
A'ight.. IT'S ON!
;D
QuoteHEHEHE.. that won't do anything. I can still 'hack' it using this software I have. I can tell you all the actions used, frames, symbols and everything about any .SWF file
Oh, and don't try the fake movie front that imports another movie...I can find that also using the log window of my proxy software :)
well you if you ever noticed, you would see how I rarely use any flash? ;D
I would like to see you crack the source codes of my pages... I would probably pay you if you could ;)
does all the swf files get cached? if so why would you even need to see the log, just dig it out from the cache directory... if it doesn't get cached then I got a way to stop ya ;)
QuoteI would like to see you crack the source codes of my pages... I would probably pay you if you could ;)
Where is Flash on your site? I couldn't find any
Quotedoes all the swf files get cached? if so why would you even need to see the log, just dig it out from the cache directory... if it doesn't get cached then I got a way to stop ya ;)
Yes, .SWFs get cached but that doesn't matter, it's easier to look in the code or my log window and find the SWF file requested. Technically, there is no way to stop someone from finding a .SWF movie/file, unless you know a trick I don't. ;)
if I can make your system not cache the file, then I can have the server not serve the file if requested from your browser. I can have it that only a script on the server side can request the file.
but it is just going to get cached and you can fish it out of your temp. file directory anyway.
what they need is server side flash ;)
Or... you can have the server side script act as the main flash movie, to serve up clips. That way you will never get to see the scripting and interactions behind the main movie, just a thought....
but secure app's are rarely done with flash anyway, so why protect the source?
or, how about, the movie in the browser must receive keys from server side to function... session based. so once session expires the movie won't run. and new session can only be initiated by the server side.
just thinking and talking... you can figure out what I do for a living now can't you ;) hahaha
That kinda doesn't make sense.
To get all technical...
Once I request the HTML page, the browser/HTML code will request the embedded Flash.. I can see ANY and ALL requests from my browser, since I have a proxy software.
So going on that.. once I have the Flash file in my browser window (loaded) then to make any communication back to the server it has to send a request... well guess what.. I'll see that request.
So once that original Flash file is loaded in my browser.. there's no way out :)
no you not getting what I mean...
I can create a flash file that won't play without server input.
so you load up the flash file in your brower, and each time you make a request, the server will process it and return a response. The response will contain the instruction for the flash movie to play.
But the server will only process and return a response if the session is directly initiated from the server. which means, you requested and received the movie from the server right before you played it. If the movie is cached and played afterwards without a continuous session (lets say after you turn your computer off and back on) the session expires and the server will not respond to your requests and the movie won't play.
So even if you hack the file and see what the structure the movie have, you will never figure out how it suppose to work.
And some vector symbols can be drawn on the fly with script instructions, and I can have the server send the instruction only "in-session". So you will not be able see those "dynamic" symbols. and the dynamic instructions wont be saved with the swf file so those symbols would just be missing.
it seem like a lot of trouble, but it can be done... if I ever need to make a movie that can't be hacked, or re-used (more importantly), that would be the way to go.
but since I deal with non-flash stuff most of the time, the interaction on the server is secure enough. you can see the output, but never the mechenism...
remember, I make web applications, not web sites... I refuse to make anything that is static and not dynamic anymore ... ;D
QuoteThat kinda doesn't make sense.
To get all technical...
Once I request the HTML page, the browser/HTML code will request the embedded Flash.. I can see ANY and ALL requests from my browser, since I have a proxy software.
So going on that.. once I have the Flash file in my browser window (loaded) then to make any communication back to the server it has to send a request... well guess what.. I'll see that request.
So once that original Flash file is loaded in my browser.. there's no way out :)
and to clarify, I wouldn't care if you see the request or not, I care when you can't figure out how to generate the response output based on the request.
so unless you go and try out every possible request and then record all the possible response, then embed them directly into the movie.
I guess in the end it can still be defeated, but it would heck lot harder!!!
OK .. I see what you're getting at, but that's not how a browser works. The browser can send data via POST or GET (which I can also see in my log window :)) or request a file, then the server returns a file. That's it. You can't send 'instructions' to the browser. The only thing a browser receives is a file.
So you can't 'really' have the server send only instructions.. it can only send the browser a new file.
And I hear ya with that static crap. PHP is my new vise :)
QuoteOK .. I see what you're getting at, but that's not how a browser works. The browser can send data via POST or GET (which I can also see in my log window :)) or request a file, then the server returns a file. That's it. You can't send 'instructions' to the browser. The only thing a browser receives is a file.
So you can't 'really' have the server send only instructions.. it can only send the browser a new file.
And I hear ya with that static crap. PHP is my new vise :)
don't fool yourself, you can receive stream of text "instructions" or code by your flash movie on the client side since Flash 4...
a file is a stream of text characters, what to with the http response is up to the browser, or what is loaded in the browser.
a java app or a flash movie can NOT replace whats already loaded in the browser with the new received http response. rather it can respond based on what has been received.
in another words. you can set info back and forth between the loaded flash movie and the server without ever refreshing the page.
and by instruction, I mean text streams that can be parsed by the loaded flash movie to use within itself.
I am not talking outta my a$$ I have done it many times before. I have been building web or intranet based apps for almost 10 years.
like you can play a flash game online, then send your score, then have the ranking sent back after the server queries the db...
one of the earliers project I did in Flash 4 was make a game that display various things based on what is sent back from the server each time the movie needed a new phrase...
that was along time ago too... you wouldn't be able to duplicate that movie because you wouldn't know which phrase will get sent.
Oh, I'm not calling your bluff, I'm just a little hyper right now (just took a Ripped Fuel) and feel like debating. :)
Yea I know, load a .txt file.. BUT.. all you're doing is telling the .SWF to play or do something.. so it's still the same .SWF movie. It doesn't matter how big it is, once I have it, I can see the whole thing. Make sense?
So if you pass in some sorta secret code that tells the current SWF file to go get a new one.. then I'm gonna see that new file request. :)
Like you can have a game that starts with an intro screen, and you can tell it not to start until it receives some sorta secret code from the server in the form of a file called 'code.txt'
So you import the .txt file and if the code is correct, then 'start the game' ....Well... it's still the same Flash movie.. so all you would be doing is like '_root.gotoAndPlay("Begin");'
So my point being.. it's all 1 big flash movie, so I can see it all, actions and frames. If you have an action in there to POST var code="1234".. then I'll see that button action. As well as if/when data gets passed back to that movie.. there has to be an action to evaluate that data. So I'd be able to see what the secret 'code' is supposed to be.
QuoteOh, I'm not calling your bluff, I'm just a little hyper right now (just took a Ripped Fuel) and feel like debating. :)
Yea I know, load a .txt file.. BUT.. all you're doing is telling the .SWF to play or do something.. so it's still the same .SWF movie. It doesn't matter how big it is, once I have it, I can see the whole thing. Make sense?
So if you pass in some sorta secret code that tells the current SWF file to go get a new one.. then I'm gonna see that new file request. :)
no not to get a new one, but how to play the current one. Or how to generate a symbol, or how to tween the existing symbols.
the point I am trying to make is that a movie does NOT have to be premade to pay. It can be completed AFTER it loads in your browser. and just because you can hack my front movie doesnt mean you can get the parts that comes to the movie after its starts playing.
for example.
I make a stock ticker movie. each time you load it on my page, I stream stock info to the movie. But if you take the swf file, and place it on your desk top, my server will refuse to stream you the info, then it is useless.
I can stream the text instructions (not premade) on how to make ANY vector symbol in the main movie after you start the front movie and gets authenticated as being in-session.
so you can monitor the info sent to and from the movie. So you would have to try every possible request the movie can make and see what the response the server will return. Then you would have to make a server, or embed all the possible responses in to the swf to make it server independent. It can be done, but will take a very long time.
and then I will just encrypt the info being sent to and front the movie, then you have to figure out how to crack the encryption...
as in anything that has to deal with IT security. NOTHING is truly secure. But I can make it darn difficult that its not worth the time to crack it :P
QuoteLike you can have a game that starts with an intro screen, and you can tell it not to start until it receives some sorta secret code from the server in the form of a file called 'code.txt'
So you import the .txt file and if the code is correct, then 'start the game' ....Well... it's still the same Flash movie.. so all you would be doing is like '_root.gotoAndPlay("Begin");'
So my point being.. it's all 1 big flash movie, so I can see it all, actions and frames. If you have an action in there to POST var code="1234".. then I'll see that button action. As well as if/when data gets passed back to that movie.. there has to be an action to evaluate that data. So I'd be able to see what the secret 'code' is supposed to be.
you are thinking too simple. you are thinking that all the data that the movie needs to play comes with you inital download. and I am just going to activate it.
well I am telling the the data movie needs to play, is not going to come through the main movie. it will come when and however I choose to. and once you end session, you don't get it anymore. So unless you sit around and make sure you get every bit of the movie after how many long it takes, then you can probably make it run off your site.
if you click the button that says "new box". request is sent to the server, servers returns the coordinates needed to draw the new box. But... this is important. Each time you request it, the server will responde a little different. So the box may have a different color, or different shape, whatever. Some random/dynamic is added to it.
so basically you can never duplicate the movie. Maybe some part of it. But not all of it.
the point is to withhold data. And have the symbols drawn instead of pre-made.
QuoteBut... this is important. Each time you request it, the server will responde a little different. So the box may have a different color, or different shape, whatever. Some random/dynamic is added to it.
so basically you can never duplicate the movie. Maybe some part of it. But not all of it.
the point is to withhold data. And have the symbols drawn instead of pre-made.
Right.. I agree with you, and sure, you wouldn't be able to 'duplicate/replicate' the movie exactly, but I would be able to see how you are making it and could make a spin off of it, or use that snippet in my own movie.
It doesn't reverse-engineer the SWF exactly and totally correctly, but it does pretty close, and does allow you to see the actions used. Which is mainly what I would use it for. If I see something cool that I wanna be able to use.. I can look in the SWF and see how it was done.
Say for in your example.. I don't know how to do it, dynamically, as you did. I could just look at you actions and see how, then edit for my own use.
I'm not trying to replicate/duplicate movies, but rather to use/look at the symbols or actions or whatever.
QuoteI make a stock ticker movie. each time you load it on my page, I stream stock info to the movie. But if you take the swf file, and place it on your desk top, my server will refuse to stream you the info, then it is useless.
Right.. and 'suppose' I didn't know how you made that ticker... I could look in the SWF file and see that you import a data file and parse the variables from it. OK, so now I can use that same 'action' but feed in my own data for whatever I wanted to feed into.
My point being, that I can see HOW you made the movie, symbols used, actions used, etc. Not that I can duplicate it exactly.