As the internet has matured it is no longer a media of static information. Interactive web pages are the rule rather than the exception. A lot of that interactivity has been made possible by Flash. Flash was originally created by the Macromedia Corporation as a way to animate two dimensional graphics to create cartoons that could be displayed on websites. Later it was used to create special effects such as sparkling and letting a picture fade in. Eventually the ability to add sound was incorporated. The final addition was the ability to drop video from actual cameras into the timeline.

As a result, Flash is the format of choice for most video applications currently in use on the internet and the basis of many computer games. Then a few years ago, a scripting language called action script was added to Flash which gave web developers the ability to create entire websites using just flash. The current version of action script has pretty much all of the capabilities of java script. Adobe bought Macromedia and now the product is called Adobe Flash.

Adobe Flash is also called just Flash. The name applies to both the flash player which is distributed freely by adobe as a stand alone application and as a plug in for almost all commonly used web browsers and the name is also used for the application development environment that creates movies and animated shows. Flash movies require only a relatively small file size which makes it perfect for use on websites.

The flash development program contains the action script programming language that can be used to create interactive web pages. An example of this would be the yahoo television listings. When you click on a specific program name, the details open directly below the link without replacing anything else on the page. Flash has to the ability to display new information using animation techniques to make it appear to be part of the original page.

Flash uses both vector and raster graphics and bi directional streaming of audio and video. Strictly speaking Flash is the development environment and the Flash player is the viewer but most people do not make any real distinction between the two. The flash player was originally designed to display two dimensional vector animations. While it is now capable of streaming video and audio, it still uses vector graphics to create much smaller file sizes that allow streaming. The smaller file sizes also reduce the necessary web page downloading time.

The latest version of Flash is version 9. It is available for Windows (all versions), Linux (most versions), Solaris (all versions) and the MAC OSX. At present it is only available as a 32 bit application. Fortunately most 64 bit operating systems can still run 32 bit applications. Adobe is working on providing a version that provides a native 64 bit environment. Additional versions of the player are available for many mobile device operating systems such as:

• Nokia phones
• OS/2
• Symbian OS
• Palm OS
• BeOS
• IRIX
• Kodak Easyshare One
• Leap Frog devices
• Playstation portables
• Nintendo’s Wii

The SWF format is a proprietary format owned by adobe which they have not been willing to release for free software development. However they have released the action script virtual machine for development under GPL licensing. Anyone wanting to use the SWF format must pay licensing fees to Adobe.

One of the potential problems of using flash player is the fact that when it is connected to a web page that uses flash elements it uses tracking files somewhat similar to cookies called persistent identification elements or a local shared object file that are stored on your local hard drive. This could allow a hacker to access personal information. The flash control panel provides methods to prevent any possible problems. Of course you could turn the flash player off, but why would you want to do that.

The Flash player can capture and play audio and video data from almost any web camera or microphone connected to the user’s computer while it is sending and receiving over the internet. The Flash Player comes embedded as an integral part of some of the latest versions of web browsers and is available as an add on for most other versions. The Flash development environment and its associated Flash Player have revolutionized how we share information on the internet.