How to: for current trends

Sorry this isn’t a how to, but more of a request for tutorials on how-tos.

A few trends I would like to have a better idea of how to do.

Pattern Fills in Flash to create the overlays of patterns like lines or cris-crosses Exp. http://www.simplyinteractive.net/

Blur effect with flash. Is this done with images from photoshop or with flash? Exp. http://www.elementzoffoto.com the loading image.

Thanks