After studying theatre in London, then working for several years as an actor in the U.S.,�Todd Yard�was introduced to Flash in 2000 and was quickly taken by how it allowed for both stunning creativity and programmatic logic application�a truly left-brain, right brain approach to production�and has not looked back. He now freelances as a Flash developer in New York City, creating both silly animations and utilitarian applications. His personal work and experimentation can be found at his website, 27Bobs.com.

• Overview of 8Ball, includes IDE overview. Include to friendsofed.com useful links list - Matt Voerman.- Blending Modes - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- Filters - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- Drawing Improvements - this includes strokes, fills, and gradients - Todd Yard.- Getting Creative with Filters, Masks and Animation - Guy Watson.- Video - Alpha channels and other improvements - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- TextField Improvements. Include Saffron – background behind it, and examples of how much better the display is. Compare to previous Flash versions. Also, include Anti-Alias, quick resizing of textfields without distorting text in the field, and improvements to HTML support, including HTML tags for justified text - Matt Voerman.- Speed Improvements, including Caching MovieClips as Bitmaps - Guy Watson.- The new Image API - Guy Watson.- Asset Caching - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- Goodbye FSCommand, Hello ExternalInterface - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- Low-level Data and Sockets - Craig Swann/Glen Rhodes.- Appendix A: Gallery of 8Ball examples - Tink (Stephen Downs).