I was lucky enough to get my hands on the first edition of the new Flex Authority magazine, the sibling magazine of the ColdFusion oriented Fusion Authority Quarterly Update (FAQU).
Other than the dimensions of the magazine, it has a totally separate life of it's own under the direction of Jeffry Houser (editor in chief). However because of that FAQU relationship I have very high expectations as FAQU has been able to deliver a consistently high quality periodical.
Focusing on AIR this round was probably a good move, as AIR is still relatively new. A lot of Flex folks out there are aware of AIR, but haven't really gotten into it, so this issue gives you a deeper background as to what it takes to make that leap and how you can start leveraging this technology.
However the reality is not all Flex developers want to get into AIR, so the issue equally covers non AIR related subjects including practical subjects such as Yahoo Maps integration, and the MATE Flex framework (which has been getting a lot of buzz).
As for the content itself - totally high quality, and well written (difficult to do when you're relying on external writers). I like the structure and layout (love the use of color and the font set used), easy to read, and lots of editing to ensure consistency towards the overall theme of the magazine. My only constructive feedback is on the Flick and Flack concept, which is an interesting idea but mentally I found the flow a bit challenging to track.
So ya, bottom line - time is money, your bosses want results out of you, and you can give yourself a boost by staying on top of things through this magazine. The week or so it would take to ramp yourself up on any of these topics, or trying to read up on it through searching blog postings and what not... save yourself some time and get this magazine.
::