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June 30, 2004
Webforum downtime, redux
As JD posted earlier today (thx, JD!), there's been some downtime with the Macromedia web forums this week that's currently expected to extend a little longer- ETA for their return is still being sorted out. There's been very heavy database load this week due to increased overall site traffic which required the web forums (the most performance-intensive application on MM.com) to be brought down in order to help minimize the load.
However, the NNTP/newsreader interface remains open for business, and I'll post updates on the situation with the web interface as I hear 'em going forward. Sincere apologies for any inconvenience in the interim, please keep posted...
Posted by sfegette at 07:54 PM | Comments (4)
Ellipsis Roundup
Lots of questions have been circulating in the ether about the oft-rumored second update to Flash MX 2004 (code named 'Ellipsis')- and the Flash team has recently launched their own 'blog to help set the record straight. In two recent postings, they've spilled some beans about the general areas the updater will address, and also confirmed a specific fix to improve compile speed degradation over time. Definitely worth bookmarking- give it a read!
Posted by sfegette at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2004
Feeding Frenzy
Christian Cantrell reports the 'trial' CF, JRun and Flex TechNote RSS feeds were very well received, so the ante has been upped to 14 Macromedia products. And now the feeds are not only syndicating new Macromedia TechNotes, but new Security Bulletins and product updates as well!
You can subscribe to the new feeds here:
http://www.macromedia.com/go/rss_info
As noted in Christian's aforementioned blog post, make sure to use the 'go' links on the page above and not their final destinations- as these feeds may need to move from time to time.
Enjoy!
Posted by sfegette at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2004
Webmonkey & Contribute
WebMonkey's revival was noted yesterday in JD's blog, and one of the first new pieces of content up at the site is an interesting look at strategies for planning and deploying websites using Contribute 2. Nothing really new for experienced DW/CT developers, but if you're new to the Contribute publishing ecosystem and interested in learning more, it's worth a read.
Posted by sfegette at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)
PulpFiction 1.0.1
Followup to an earlier post of mine- if you'd tried PulpFiction 1.0 (a very promising new RSS/Atom feedreader for Mac OSX) and were turned away by the bugs, prerelease/beta versions of 1.0.1 are now available- initially supporting registered users and soon to provide a reset demo period for trial users. You can get more information on Erik Barzeski's related blog posting here. Current prognosis- very solid and much speedier to boot, definitely worth a second look.
Posted by sfegette at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2004
Confessions of a Gmail late bloomer
So, I finally hopped off the fence and got a Gmail account yesterday (much thanks to John Olson on the FlashLounge list), and so far am very, very impressed. The biggest advantage of Gmail - to me - is it's search features- I use Outlook for my main email client, and have gotten accustomed to pruning back my archives every month to avoid getting bit by onerous server space quotas. Hence, any real historical searching for discussion across lists tends to be thru Google anyway. Obviously I can't use Gmail for all my lists (as I'd likely break that 1 gig limit quickly), but my intent is to at least use it for the ones I refer to regularly so I can leverage the searching/indexing features. Sweet. However, given my current rate of disk space consumption, I'm likely to run out of space in 2 months or so and be back in the same boat. Not so sweet. Hope they eventually roll out premium options for increasing disk space- I'd gladly pay for the Gmail features on top of, say 10 gigs of storage space (which I'm sure I could find a way to use up).
I cannot speak more highly of the Gmail UI/experience, tho- the keyboard shortcuts work flawlessly for me on both platforms, and with the possible exception of better filtering/filing options (filtering messages into subdirectories, for example), it's been very intuitive to navigate my account and mail. Far more so than Hotmail/Yahoo mail, IMHO.
The only feature I'd really like to see in the near future (probably not a revelation to any current Gmail user) would be POP access to my Gmail account, in lieu of a better way to get pinged when I receive new mail. No similar options yet that I'm aware of for Macs (let me know if you hear of any- please!), but in lieu of POP access to Gmail I'm trying out the third-party app Gtray on my PC laptop to get notification of new Gmail. There's also the well-recieved Pop Goes the GMail available, which I'll likely try out soon just for sake of comparison.
So far, two thumbs up from this late adopter...
Posted by sfegette at 01:35 PM | Comments (7)
June 10, 2004
Flash Remoting Components for AS2
You heard it- get 'em while they're hot: http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashremoting/downloads/components/
Excerpt from the release page:
Updates to the Flash Remoting Components include:
- The Flash Remoting ActionScript API has been updated to comply with ActionScript 2.0.
- The new RemotingConnector component allows you to work directly with the new data binding features in Flash MX 2004 Professional
- Significant improvements to the Documentation, including new ASDoc format and sample applications.
These ActionScript 2.0 components should be used for all Flash MX 2004 and Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 projects, especially if you are working with ActionScript 2.0 in your Flash project. You can still use the ActionScript 1.0 components below, if you like, but the ActionScript 2.0 components represent the best integration with Flash, Remoting, and ActionScript.
Posted by sfegette at 02:03 PM | Comments (0)
Exchange article on C/Net
Here's a link to an interview David Becker of C/Net held with Jeff Whatcott (our VP of product management) and myself, in which he examines the open-source-esque natures of the Macromedia Exchange, alongside other software vendors who've implemented the same type of 'code exchange' model. Nice write-up, although I always seem to come off as far more stuffy in 'official' interviews than I would in meat/blogspace.
Posted by sfegette at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2004
OT: My next gadget...
Fresh off the FlashLounge list- it looks like a Swiss Army knife, but stores files like a USB microdrive. Their 128mb version isn't coming out until July, at which time I'll be retiring my tired old Leatherman Micra posthaste.
Posted by sfegette at 03:47 PM | Comments (8)
CSS Background Revolution
Not yet televised, however- Team Macromedia member Aziz Peregrino-Brimah has put a quick page demo of a centered background that spans the full height of the browser window- but also uses a full doctype and validates as XHTML-strict. He gives credit to a page design seen on Blogger's site- but regardless of the source, it's definitely a CSS layout tip to have at your disposal.
Posted by sfegette at 03:42 PM | Comments (2)
June 04, 2004
Dreamweaver/PHP Tutorials
I keep hearing general requests for more Dreamweaver/PHP content on the Macromedia web site across my various online travels, but few specific topics that people are interested in. I'd love to provide a good focused list of topics to our editors for consideration, so what do you think- what PHP topics would you like to see covered in relation to Dreamweaver? Fire away and I'll make sure they get to the right eyes...
Posted by sfegette at 04:20 PM | Comments (5)
Palm-sized Desktop?
OQO announced a Palm-sized computer capable of running Windows XP at CES 2004, and the preliminary stats are impressive. Based on a 1ghz Crusoe processor, 256 megs of RAM and a 20 gig hard drive, this little powerhouse reportedly also includes a built-in keyboard, slide-out display, onboard 802.11b and Bluetooth, USB 1.1 and FireWire ports, it can also take stylus input and docks neatly for recharging and use as a (miniscule) desktop, supporting up to 1280x1024 external monitor resolutions. And all for a price between $1500 and $2000 USD, a solution that could drop into your shirt pocket and replace your PDA/laptop in one fell swoop. Interesting- I'll be keeping an eye on that for sure...
Posted by sfegette at 03:27 PM | Comments (2)
DOOM Reloaded
Some very nice work with the Shockwave 3D engine by Necromanthus- DOOM Reloaded is a remake of everyone's favorite 1st-person shooter game, completely in SW3D. No enemies in the game yet, but I must pass Necro my kudos for a great job 'reloading' the DOOM environment and physics models so far. When do we get some levels? I want to frag a demon or three. ;-)
Posted by sfegette at 10:24 AM | Comments (14)
June 02, 2004
Toshiba's 60GB 1.8" drive
Toshiba today announced plans to release a 1.8 inch, 60GB hard drive in the third quarter of 2004. The former high-capacity leader in their 1.8 inch HD line (40GB) used two disc platters of 20GB each, and the new model uses two disc platters of 30GB each. First customers placing orders include Apple Computer, so one can expect we'll see 60GB iPods hitting the market soon.
Posted by sfegette at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)
New Audio CD/DRM Technology
According to News.com, the recording industry is working on new DRM technology that would limit the number of CD copies that can be burned from the original source. Although I'll respectfully withhold from personal opinions on this for the moment, it's interesting to watch how the tail is wagging the dog these days in the recording industry. The implications to online download services such as Napster, iTunes and others should inevitably start to convolute matters, as current arrangements with the labels currently allow for unlimited burning of purchased audio downloads.
Posted by sfegette at 01:46 PM | Comments (0)
OT: 'Meatspace Cataloging'
I spent a good two months ripping and cataloging my gigantic CD collection onto a half-terabyte of hard drive space a year ago, often wondering if and when a good way of organizing/categorizing my physical collections of books, games and movies would be possible- without requiring weeks of typing. Well, it doesn't address digital conversion/storage (and appears to be available for Mac OSX only), but now Intelli's Cordless Collector is out- a Bluetooth-enabled barcode scanner that lets you scan the barcode data on your videos, DVDs, games and music, transferring them in batches of 250 at a time (it's onboard memory restriction) to their 'Collection' desktop software for further organization/cover art retrieval/online lookups. Interesting- given the amount of HD space I've already allotted to my stupidly-monstrous CD collection, I suppose this may be a reasonable next step...
Posted by sfegette at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)