The future of web-based 3d games (and other 3d content) could become radically more interesting if developers begin to embrace this technology.  Amazing demos (especially the Beach Scene demo) and developer reference info are available at google code:

http://code.google.com/apis/o3d/

High-level overview on CNet: http://news.cnet.com/google-tries-jump-starting-3d-web-with-o3d/ .

var demo:XML = <wrapper>
<child id=”element1″ />
<child id=”element2″ />
</wrapper> ;

var element1:Object = {} ;
var element2:Object = {};

// Create an object reference to each child node
element1.xmlRef = demo.children()[0];
element2.xmlRef = demo.children()[1];

// Now, remove the second node
delete demo.children()[1];

// This should be ‘null’ or ‘undefined’, or throw an RTE, right?!
trace(element2.xmlRef.toXMLString());

However, such is not the case.  While trace(demo.toXMLString()) shows the correct document structure, the trace line above shows that the node reference has now morphed into what I call “the incredible orphaned XML”. So, of course, the question becomes how to tell whether these nodes are ‘real’ nodes, or just an orphaned remnant.  The solution appears to be in childIndex().  The orphaned node returns a childIndex() of -1.  Yes, that’s right - it essentially doesn’t exist (we already knew that!). So, you have to check the childIndex(), and if it returns -1, then it’s a zombie XML node:

// This returns -1
trace(element2.xmlRef.childIndex());

As I write this post, a new question comes to mind… perhaps does that orphaned XML later get GC’d by the Garbage Collector, or is this a potential memory leak?  More investigations to come…

On Mac OSX, when you startup, your previously open Finder (the Mac equivalent of the File Explorer) windows re-open automatically.  On Windows, you can get the same effect by opening the File Explorer and going to Tools > Folder Options.  Select the View tab, and check the Restore Previous folder windows at Logon option near the bottom of the Advanced Settings section.  Apply, and you won’t have to try to remember what folder windows you had open.  Suddenly, restarting Windows becomes less painful

A reason to finally make the jump to Vista, or a yawner?

Check out the Labs wiki for more -> http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Thermo