Lately I’ve been diving deeper into Adobe Flex Builder 3 for developing Adobe AIR applications.  It’s a great development environment especially if you have any experience with Eclipse (Flex Builder 3 runs as a plug-in for Eclipse). Despite my positive experience, I have encountered a few “oddities” with Flex Builder 3 such as how to preserve the aspect ratio when resizing images.

Click-n-drag to resize

Flex Builder 3 has a “design” view that allows you to drag and drop visual components into the application space making it easier to design your application (whether it be for the web or as a desktop application using AIR).  Nearly all of these components can be “resized” by clicking and dragging the object handles to a desired size. Most times you can just “free hand” the click and drag but when it comes to something like an image, you might want to preserve its aspect ratio as you resize it which is easily done by holding down the shift key while you click and drag the object handles.

Click first and then shift

My experience with similar click-n-drag resize features in other applications always required that I hold down the shift key first, and then click and drag.  In Flex Builder 3 the process is reversed.  You need to click with your mouse on a resize handle FIRST, and then you press and hold the shift key.  At this point you can begin to resize the image by dragging the handle of the image box.  Once you have the size you want, simply release the mouse and then the shift key.

This tech-tip isn’t an earth shattering discovery; however, some people might not be used to the order in which you need to click, hold shift, and drag. Hopefully this little tip has helped someone overcome a minor aggravation.

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Most of us have heard that heat can kill a computer. Just browse any online computer store and you’ll find countless computer cooling products. And while keeping components cool makes perfect sense, is there such a thing as “too cool?” Is is possible that my computer is similar to my car and needs a little time to “warm up?” Normally I’d said no to those questions but my current computer problem is starting to make me think otherwise.

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How to clone a SIM chip has been a hot topic here on TechTraction since early 2008. It all got started on January 28 when I posted an article detailing why cloning a SIM chip was impossible. Then, on October 1, 2008 I followed up with another article offering one possible cloning solution based on a reader’s comments. Both articles have generated a long list of comments and now I’m back with yet another follow up article based on another readers comments explaining why it is still IMPOSSIBLE to clone a SIM chip.

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Ever come across a web site or image that used an amazing color and wanted the hex code so you could use the same color elsewhere? I know I have but always had to use Photoshop to determine the hex code. Well, not everyone has Photoshop and those that do, like me, don’t want to load the program just to figure out a hex code. Fortunately, there is an answer and it’s free: ColorPix.

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Everyone loves free stuff and free online education is no exception. If you’re wondering what the “Great Big Internet” has to offer in the way of free education, check out a nice compilation of resources that Ace Online Schools has put together. The list is short, sweet, and very useful.

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Ever wanted to create your own cell phone ringtone but didn’t know how to get started? If so, check out this ringtone creation tutorial from SimpleHelp.net. The tutorial is well written and easy to follow. Unfortunately, if your phone doesn’t support MP3 or simple WAV style ringtones, then this tutorial won’t help you much.

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More and more consumers join the world of online shopping each year. For one reason or another some consumers have remained on the sidelines when it comes to online shopping. If you, or someone you know, has just started shopping online (and yes there are people out there who have just started) the Money Saving Blog has a nice list of useful tips to help make shopping safe and secure. These suggestions are even good for a seasoned online shopper so take a look.

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When does the Christmas shopping season “officially” begin? I used to think it was the day after Thanksgiving. These days, however, retailers waste no time converting from Halloween to Christmas. Regardless when the season starts, shopping for deals this year will be on the top of everyone’s list. One web site that might be able to help is a place called DealLocker. Check out Rick Broida’s (CNet) post about this coupon collecting site to learn about how it works and where to find it.

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In my previous article I broke the URL acronyms for the popular Craig’s List “cars & trucks” category. To take the idea a step further here’s a quick tutorial outlining the steps necessary to create a Windows desktop launch icon that will open your browser to your preferred sub-section of the cars & trucks category.

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Like searching Craig’s List “cars & trucks” category but hate seeing any listings “by Dealers?” If so, here’s a quick tip for “manually” narrowing your search to listings “by Owner” only.

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