
Wednesday, January 17th, 2006
CMX Weekly Newsletter News Fun and Freebies Recent CMX Content Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats Check the News! TODcon 2007 in VEGAS - Come To Learn and Meet Friends For the few who haven't experienced it yet, TODCon is the most informative yet informal Macromedia-related event you're ever going to find. Whether you're a seasoned veteran of Macromedia products or just starting out, you will have a great time learning a great deal from many knowledgeable speakers about CSS, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, ColdFusion, Flash, and even about running your business properly. Those who attend usually end up coming back every year because of the unique and informal atmosphere. You don't want to miss out on this event. This year, TODCon will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada. We predict that this year's turnout will be even bigger than last year's. You're invited to register for this fantastic, one of a kind event. Hurry, so you can get the early bird registration discount. CMX Mobile Device Reference Resource Information in general on CSS support for mobile browsers is scarce, often such browsers do not look for handheld media types and instead use the screen CSS to display the target page. The goal of the the CMX Mobile Device Reference Resource is to build an accurate resource for information on handheld devices. You will be able to search devices by: Manufacturer, Model names/numbers, Browser types and User Agent Strings. You can also check for CSS support, linked handheld and screen media, @import handheld and screen media and CSS 3s content switching support. Check out Adrian Senior's free article at CommunityMX.com. NetFlix Just Got Even Better NetFlix is the most popular way to rent DVDs on the internet. This week they announced that they're going to roll out a new service: Stream your DVD rentals over the internet instead of waiting for them in the mail. There have been rumblings about this for a while, but now it's not off in the future, they're rolling it out now. Another bit of good news: There is no extra charge for this new service. Of course, the higher your bandwidth, the better the video. You can learn more from Gizmodo.com or check out Netflix's press release. Oh- and Mac users are out of luck for the moment. Do You Ubuntu? If you've ever wanted to install Linux on your computer, you do worse than loading Ubuntu, especially right now. There is now a Windows-based installer for Ubuntu, making it even simpler to put the OS on your Windows computer. Interested? Check out this forum announcement on the Ubuntu forum. Many of the answers to users' questions about the installer are informative as well. Is Gimp The Photoshop Killer? Gimp is a free image editing application, and is not short on features. It's absolutely not a Photoshop killer, but it is extremely capable, especially for folks who aren't ready to take the Photoshop plunge (translation: Photoshop costs a lot). GrimThing.com has an article that compares these two photo editing apps, written by Philip McClure, who uses both apps nearly every day. You can also head over to Gimp.org and see what it's all about.
Satisfied Customers Speak Out! "Thanks for the very cool tips. I enjoy the Fireworks tutorials and articles very much." CMX Subscriber John S., commenting on Kim Cavanaugh's tutorial "Creating Metallic Effects with Curves" Whether you're just starting out or need advanced support, Community MX will give you answers and ideas to work through your tough issues. Don't miss out. Learn more about CMX or sign up for a free trial today!
Great Quotes: "To err is human... to really foul things up requires the root password."" — Unknown News Flash: Top Domains Taken, But Not Used Sometimes we assume that domains like wrestling.com, templates.com and other domain names that could generate a lot of traffic by virtue of their name recognition would be attached to a killer website that offers information about whatever their name implies. You might be suprised to know that only about 30% of those "big name" websites actually have "real" websites running under their name. Sure, someone owns domain names like HotelDeals.com, CreditCards.net, ex.com and the like, but many of them are simply pay-per-click sites. Some of these names are worth well over one million dollars, but are nothing more than links to other websites. DailyDomainer.com has more information on this. What Flash Is For Flash is overused, abused and doesn't get implemented in any original way most of the time. However, some people get it right. One such person is Jonathan Yuen, who has posted his personal thoughts online, but in an extremely creative way. Sites like this deserve to be showcased from time to time. Check out JonathanYuen.com Well, This Doesn't Sound Right Microsoft Outlook, which holds the greater share of email users, will be getting a makeover before the 2007 version hits the streets. Not all makeovers are a good thing though. Remember New Coke? Not so good. If you're a developer who creates any kind of html newsletter, watch out. While Outlook currently supports background images, CSS email designs and lends ok support to padding and margins, that all goes out the window with Outlook 2007. Weep all about it at CampaignMonitor.com. Dell Not So Happy About Sound-a-Likes Several websites like dxell.com, de3ll.com, were- at least according to Dell - set up by charlatans hoping to get people on their websites when someone wanting Dell.com entered a typo instead. Dell is suing the owners of those two domains, along with a handfull of other "almost Dell.com, but not quite" websites. But the thing is, those websites have affiliate links that help point traffic to Dell.com. In effect, Dell is getting sales from those websites, and even pay commissions to those site owners, which probably makes Dell even more upset. Kind of a gray area, but DomainDomainer.com has the story. Be sure to read the comments after finishing the story. iTune This Kind Of Thing Out... The iPod is the most popular personal audio player ever created. OK, we don't know for sure that's true, but we're going to throw it out there anyway. What's interesting is that it remains so popular, despite its shortcomings. Much has been said about how Digital Rights Management works with the iPod, but it sure hasn't stopped many folks from picking one up. Apple calls its copy protection "FairPlay" but NYTimes.com has an article that points out that their standard may not be totally fair...
CMX MapLink v1.0 - Server Behavior The CMX MapLink Server Behavior creates a link to Google Maps. You can use static values, or dynamic values from the data sources palette. The behavior creates a link around a selection (text, image, etc...). The only parameters are: Address, City, State, Zip. US Addresses only (sorry international users). ASP Server Behavior Only Check out the Extension by CMX Partner Joel Martinez
Fun and Freebies What? These Aren't True? Knowing.net has a funny article about the lame computer-related things that occur in the movies. For example: "Hackers can get into any system by way of "backdoors" that are left by the people who originally designed the system. The password of the backdoor is generally the name of the programmer's daughter." I think I've seen that movie... Dilbert Is Just Funny Dilbert's mom decides to install Linux and then email Bill Gates to let him know. Check out the cartoon at Lycos.com. Create An Instant Web 2.0 Logo Create your own Web 2.0 logo at h-Master.net. Sure, every logo looks the same, but it's... 2.0! You can even put a spiffy "beta" tag on it! If you want to see the creation our own Chris Flick came up with, check it out here.
Introducing CMX Design Element Gold I am sure you remember that the symbol for Gold, Au, comes from the Latin word "Aurum". No? You don't remember that? Well, then maybe you remember this: gold is one of the most valuable commodities in the world of commerce. And a good design is also one of the most valuable commodities on the Web. It catches your visitors' eyes and encourages them to stay and explore - and perhaps even to buy. There is almost no price tag for a great design, and fortunately you don't have to come up with one all by yourself. Gordon has done the creative work for you in our latest CMX Design Element Gold. Read all about it in this article. This free article by CMX Partner Sheri German can be found here.
Weekly Content Listing Get the Red Out Jim Babbage I was looking at a photo of me from last year's TODCON and I was again reminded how red my face can go, even when I'm not embarrassed! I have a mild case of rosacea, you see, and when you combine that with lots of sun, and the odd alcoholic drink, my face goes quite red. I liked the photo overall, but felt there had to be some way to reduce my redness in Fireworks and indeed there is! This article will show you a quick and easy way to reduce facial redness. We'll also cover a couple other basic imaging techniques for improving digital photo quality. Using my face as an example, we'll cover several different techniques in this tutorial, many of which can come in handy if you have to edit images for say, an online company employee directory. The following tools and features will be used to get me looking better than usual. Live Filters: Levels Gaussian Blur Unsharp Mask Bitmap Tools: Dodge Tool Replace Color Tool Rubber Stamp Tool Crop Tool Pencil tool The CMX Mobile Device Reference Resource [FREE] Adrian Senior Information in general on CSS support for mobile browsers is scarce, often such browsers do not look for handheld media types and instead use the screen CSS to display the target page. The goal of the the CMX Mobile Device Reference Resource is to build an accurate resource for information on handheld devices. You will be able to search devices by: Manufacturer, Model names/numbers, Browser types and User Agent Strings. You can also check for CSS support, linked handheld and screen media, @import handheld and screen media and CSS 3s content switching support. Implementing a Record Locking System in ColdFusion 7 - Part 2 Tom Muck Most databases have some sort of row-level locking of database records, however when building a web application you need more than that. Picture a scenario where a database will have multiple users and each user could potentially be working on the same record. This can happen in an e-commerce site, where different departments have access to a given order for fulfillment, or in an Intranet site where various employees have access to a given record. In this article I will show you how to implement a record locking system that relies on the Application.cfc file that was introduced in CF 7. This second part builds upon the files set up in part 1 and creates the record locking system. The Implementing a Record Locking System in ColdFusion 7 Series: Implementing a Record Locking System in ColdFusion 7 - Part 1 Implementing a Record Locking System in ColdFusion 7 - Part 2 Generate a Google Sitemap Using ASP.NET [FREE] Heidi Bautista Google's Webmaster Tools include a way for you to specify a sitemap file. Then, when Google indexes your site, it includes all the pages listed in the sitemap. At first blush you're probably thinking that you'll just use an ASP.NET .sitemap. After all, it's easy to create. You may even already have a .sitemap file that lists all the pages that you would want Google to index. The bad news is that Google doesn't support the format of ASP.NET .sitemap files. Bertrand Le Roy to the rescue. Read on to learn how to use Bertrand's HTTP handler to convert your ASP.NET .sitemap file to Google's own sitemap format. In addition, this article shows you how to modify the HTTP handler so that it can deal with any ASP.NET .sitemap file, not just the default Web.sitemap file. If your default Web.sitemap contains an incomplete list of site pages you'll want to modify Bertrand's HTTP handler and use it to tell Google about an alternate .sitemap file. Providing Google with a robust sitemap to your site increases your odds of having all pages from your site included in their index. Secure File Delivery with eEnvelopes Derrick Ypenburg Another use for Acrobat is its ability to encrypt file(s) for secure delivery to your intended recipients. This is done with Acrobat's eEnvelope feature. You can easily encrypt/secure files without modifying the original files themselves. The intended recipient can have full ownership and editability of the documents once the envelope has been opened. Unintended recipients who might have acquired the PDF eEnvelope by one means or another will not be able to open the envelope without a password or certificate. This tutorial will cover how to secure files with an eEnvelope for delivery and the different security methods and envelopes types Acrobat offers. JavaScript Random Image Done with DOM Paul Davis Create a JavaScript random image using the DOM model that is accessible and even shows an image when JavaScript is turned off Create Mixed Alignment Forms with CSS Zoe Gillenwater In Vertically Align Labels and Inputs with CSS, you learned how to create a basic form layout where the labels are placed to the left of their input fields with right-aligned text. In all but the simplest forms, however, this strict label-left field-right layout is not sufficient to the varied types of content that typical forms contain. If you have any checkboxes or radio buttons in your forms, or textareas with very long labels, you will not want all your labels floated to the left of their inputs. In this tutorial, you'lll learn how to create custom classes for questions with checkboxes and radio buttons where you want the labels placed to the right and for textareas where you want the labels placed above. This tutorial assumes you're already familiar with the building blocks of forms and how to use them correctly to build accessible forms, and that you've read the previous tutorial Vertically Align Labels and Inputs with CSS. The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 5: Variables by Reference Rob Williams One of the key components of any scripting or programming language are control structures; statements that tell a language interpretter to stop reading code in a linear line-by-line fashion and start to make more complex operations based on simple logic. While most developers are aware of the common "if else" and "for" structures, there are many others available in PHP (and other languages I might add) that allow you to save a great deal of time and make your coding more efficient and easier to understand. In this series we're going to take a look at some of those "forgotten" structures and some practical examples of how they can be used to clean up your coding techniques. We're going to take a bit of a detour from our usual control structures discussions today to explore a slightly more basic but extremely useful technique called variable referencing. The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures Series: The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 1: Switch Statements The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 2: The Break Command The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 3: Advanced Loops and Arrays The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 4: Internal Array Pointers The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 5: Variables by Reference My First MacWorld (with Flashforward!) [FREE] Robert Reinhardt Whoah. As in a Joey Lawrence, "whoah." Cheesy, but it's pretty much how I felt as a Macworld newbie this week in San Francisco. Lynda Weinman had asked me back in October if I was interested in presenting a Flash Video session at Macworld. Since I had never been to a Macworld conference, I took the opportunity to go. I arrived Sunday night and prepped my slides and sample files on my brand new black MacBook, packing a sweet Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Little did I know that night just how rewarding the following two days were going to be. 9-Slice Scaling in Flash Tom Green 9-Slice scaling? What's that? Read on...
Better Sharpening Using Photoshop's Lab Mode If you've ever wondered if there's a better way to use the Unsharp Mask Filter in Photoshop, here it is. By using USM in conjunction with the Lab Mode in Photoshop, you'll produce image sharpening with less artifacting as well as have easier control. Check out the Article by CMX partner Knut Kubenz
Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats! This week's Tip, Trick or Dirty Cheat is courtesy of CMX partner Big John Gallant Tricks With Borders and CSS You can't always tell what's happening on a CSS page just by looking. Weird things often seem to occur with no visible explanation. Well the answer is simple. Make it visible! Simply put borders or background colors on page elements to define exactly where they really are. Be careful though, because borders will add to the dimensions of a rigid box. If that box is in a tight layout the test border itself can cause the layout to break. Backgrounds don't have this problem, but being opaque they can obscure important bug related clues. For a quick look, you can also use the Webdeveloper's toolbar, in Mozilla-based browsers, and choose the "outline" command to make red dotted outlines appear. Borders and backgrounds are the single most powerful weapon in the CSS bughunter's arsenal, so use the heck out of them! Would you like your tip published? Submit it to tips@communitymx.com. That's it for this week. Stay tuned for the next CMX newsletter!

CMX Weekly Newsletter

News
Fun and Freebies
Recent CMX Content
Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats

Check the News!

TODcon 2007 in VEGAS - Come To Learn and Meet Friends

For the few who haven't experienced it yet, TODCon is the most informative yet informal Macromedia-related event you're ever going to find. Whether you're a seasoned veteran of Macromedia products or just starting out, you will have a great time learning a great deal from many knowledgeable speakers about CSS, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, ColdFusion, Flash, and even about running your business properly. Those who attend usually end up coming back every year because of the unique and informal atmosphere. You don't want to miss out on this event. This year, TODCon will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada. We predict that this year's turnout will be even bigger than last year's.

You're invited to register for this fantastic, one of a kind event. Hurry, so you can get the early bird registration discount.

CMX Mobile Device Reference Resource

Information in general on CSS support for mobile browsers is scarce, often such browsers do not look for handheld media types and instead use the screen CSS to display the target page. The goal of the the CMX Mobile Device Reference Resource is to build an accurate resource for information on handheld devices. You will be able to search devices by: Manufacturer, Model names/numbers, Browser types and User Agent Strings. You can also check for CSS support, linked handheld and screen media, @import handheld and screen media and CSS 3s content switching support. Check out Adrian Senior's free article at CommunityMX.com.

NetFlix Just Got Even Better

NetFlix is the most popular way to rent DVDs on the internet. This week they announced that they're going to roll out a new service: Stream your DVD rentals over the internet instead of waiting for them in the mail. There have been rumblings about this for a while, but now it's not off in the future, they're rolling it out now. Another bit of good news: There is no extra charge for this new service. Of course, the higher your bandwidth, the better the video. You can learn more from Gizmodo.com or check out Netflix's press release. Oh- and Mac users are out of luck for the moment.

Do You Ubuntu?

If you've ever wanted to install Linux on your computer, you do worse than loading Ubuntu, especially right now. There is now a Windows-based installer for Ubuntu, making it even simpler to put the OS on your Windows computer. Interested? Check out this forum announcement on the Ubuntu forum. Many of the answers to users' questions about the installer are informative as well.

Is Gimp The Photoshop Killer?

Gimp is a free image editing application, and is not short on features. It's absolutely not a Photoshop killer, but it is extremely capable, especially for folks who aren't ready to take the Photoshop plunge (translation: Photoshop costs a lot). GrimThing.com has an article that compares these two photo editing apps, written by Philip McClure, who uses both apps nearly every day. You can also head over to Gimp.org and see what it's all about.

Satisfied Customers Speak Out!

"Thanks for the very cool tips. I enjoy the Fireworks tutorials and articles very much."

CMX Subscriber John S., commenting on Kim Cavanaugh's tutorial "Creating Metallic Effects with Curves"

Whether you're just starting out or need advanced support, Community MX will give you answers and ideas to work through your tough issues. Don't miss out. Learn more about CMX or sign up for a free trial today!

Great Quotes:

"To err is human... to really foul things up requires the root password."" — Unknown

News Flash: Top Domains Taken, But Not Used

Sometimes we assume that domains like wrestling.com, templates.com and other domain names that could generate a lot of traffic by virtue of their name recognition would be attached to a killer website that offers information about whatever their name implies. You might be suprised to know that only about 30% of those "big name" websites actually have "real" websites running under their name. Sure, someone owns domain names like HotelDeals.com, CreditCards.net, ex.com and the like, but many of them are simply pay-per-click sites. Some of these names are worth well over one million dollars, but are nothing more than links to other websites. DailyDomainer.com has more information on this.

What Flash Is For

Flash is overused, abused and doesn't get implemented in any original way most of the time. However, some people get it right. One such person is Jonathan Yuen, who has posted his personal thoughts online, but in an extremely creative way. Sites like this deserve to be showcased from time to time. Check out JonathanYuen.com

Well, This Doesn't Sound Right

Microsoft Outlook, which holds the greater share of email users, will be getting a makeover before the 2007 version hits the streets. Not all makeovers are a good thing though. Remember New Coke? Not so good. If you're a developer who creates any kind of html newsletter, watch out. While Outlook currently supports background images, CSS email designs and lends ok support to padding and margins, that all goes out the window with Outlook 2007. Weep all about it at CampaignMonitor.com.

Dell Not So Happy About Sound-a-Likes

Several websites like dxell.com, de3ll.com, were- at least according to Dell - set up by charlatans hoping to get people on their websites when someone wanting Dell.com entered a typo instead. Dell is suing the owners of those two domains, along with a handfull of other "almost Dell.com, but not quite" websites. But the thing is, those websites have affiliate links that help point traffic to Dell.com. In effect, Dell is getting sales from those websites, and even pay commissions to those site owners, which probably makes Dell even more upset. Kind of a gray area, but DomainDomainer.com has the story. Be sure to read the comments after finishing the story.

iTune This Kind Of Thing Out...

The iPod is the most popular personal audio player ever created. OK, we don't know for sure that's true, but we're going to throw it out there anyway. What's interesting is that it remains so popular, despite its shortcomings. Much has been said about how Digital Rights Management works with the iPod, but it sure hasn't stopped many folks from picking one up. Apple calls its copy protection "FairPlay" but NYTimes.com has an article that points out that their standard may not be totally fair...

CMX MapLink v1.0 - Server Behavior

The CMX MapLink Server Behavior creates a link to Google Maps. You can use static values, or dynamic values from the data sources palette. The behavior creates a link around a selection (text, image, etc...). The only parameters are: Address, City, State, Zip. US Addresses only (sorry international users). ASP Server Behavior Only

Check out the Extension by CMX Partner Joel Martinez

Fun and Freebies

What? These Aren't True?

Knowing.net has a funny article about the lame computer-related things that occur in the movies. For example: "Hackers can get into any system by way of "backdoors" that are left by the people who originally designed the system. The password of the backdoor is generally the name of the programmer's daughter." I think I've seen that movie...

Dilbert Is Just Funny

Dilbert's mom decides to install Linux and then email Bill Gates to let him know. Check out the cartoon at Lycos.com.

Create An Instant Web 2.0 Logo

Create your own Web 2.0 logo at h-Master.net. Sure, every logo looks the same, but it's... 2.0! You can even put a spiffy "beta" tag on it! If you want to see the creation our own Chris Flick came up with, check it out here.

Introducing CMX Design Element Gold

I am sure you remember that the symbol for Gold, Au, comes from the Latin word "Aurum". No? You don't remember that? Well, then maybe you remember this: gold is one of the most valuable commodities in the world of commerce. And a good design is also one of the most valuable commodities on the Web. It catches your visitors' eyes and encourages them to stay and explore - and perhaps even to buy. There is almost no price tag for a great design, and fortunately you don't have to come up with one all by yourself. Gordon has done the creative work for you in our latest CMX Design Element Gold. Read all about it in this article.

This free article by CMX Partner Sheri German can be found here.

Weekly Content Listing

Get the Red Out

Jim Babbage

I was looking at a photo of me from last year's TODCON and I was again reminded how red my face can go, even when I'm not embarrassed! I have a mild case of rosacea, you see, and when you combine that with lots of sun, and the odd alcoholic drink, my face goes quite red. I liked the photo overall, but felt there had to be some way to reduce my redness in Fireworks and indeed there is!

This article will show you a quick and easy way to reduce facial redness. We'll also cover a couple other basic imaging techniques for improving digital photo quality.

Using my face as an example, we'll cover several different techniques in this tutorial, many of which can come in handy if you have to edit images for say, an online company employee directory. The following tools and features will be used to get me looking better than usual.

Live Filters:

Levels
Gaussian Blur
Unsharp Mask

Bitmap Tools:

Dodge Tool
Replace Color Tool
Rubber Stamp Tool
Crop Tool
Pencil tool

The CMX Mobile Device Reference Resource [FREE]

Adrian Senior

Implementing a Record Locking System in ColdFusion 7 - Part 2

Tom Muck

Most databases have some sort of row-level locking of database records, however when building a web application you need more than that. Picture a scenario where a database will have multiple users and each user could potentially be working on the same record. This can happen in an e-commerce site, where different departments have access to a given order for fulfillment, or in an Intranet site where various employees have access to a given record.

In this article I will show you how to implement a record locking system that relies on the Application.cfc file that was introduced in CF 7. This second part builds upon the files set up in part 1 and creates the record locking system.

The Implementing a Record Locking System in ColdFusion 7 Series:
Implementing a Record Locking System in ColdFusion 7 - Part 1
Implementing a Record Locking System in ColdFusion 7 - Part 2

Generate a Google Sitemap Using ASP.NET [FREE]

Heidi Bautista

Google's Webmaster Tools include a way for you to specify a sitemap file. Then, when Google indexes your site, it includes all the pages listed in the sitemap. At first blush you're probably thinking that you'll just use an ASP.NET .sitemap. After all, it's easy to create. You may even already have a .sitemap file that lists all the pages that you would want Google to index. The bad news is that Google doesn't support the format of ASP.NET .sitemap files. Bertrand Le Roy to the rescue.

Read on to learn how to use Bertrand's HTTP handler to convert your ASP.NET .sitemap file to Google's own sitemap format. In addition, this article shows you how to modify the HTTP handler so that it can deal with any ASP.NET .sitemap file, not just the default Web.sitemap file. If your default Web.sitemap contains an incomplete list of site pages you'll want to modify Bertrand's HTTP handler and use it to tell Google about an alternate .sitemap file. Providing Google with a robust sitemap to your site increases your odds of having all pages from your site included in their index.

Secure File Delivery with eEnvelopes

Derrick Ypenburg

Another use for Acrobat is its ability to encrypt file(s) for secure delivery to your intended recipients. This is done with Acrobat's eEnvelope feature. You can easily encrypt/secure files without modifying the original files themselves. The intended recipient can have full ownership and editability of the documents once the envelope has been opened. Unintended recipients who might have acquired the PDF eEnvelope by one means or another will not be able to open the envelope without a password or certificate. This tutorial will cover how to secure files with an eEnvelope for delivery and the different security methods and envelopes types Acrobat offers.

JavaScript Random Image Done with DOM

Paul Davis

Create a JavaScript random image using the DOM model that is accessible and even shows an image when JavaScript is turned off

Create Mixed Alignment Forms with CSS

Zoe Gillenwater

In Vertically Align Labels and Inputs with CSS, you learned how to create a basic form layout where the labels are placed to the left of their input fields with right-aligned text. In all but the simplest forms, however, this strict label-left field-right layout is not sufficient to the varied types of content that typical forms contain. If you have any checkboxes or radio buttons in your forms, or textareas with very long labels, you will not want all your labels floated to the left of their inputs. In this tutorial, you'lll learn how to create custom classes for questions with checkboxes and radio buttons where you want the labels placed to the right and for textareas where you want the labels placed above.

This tutorial assumes you're already familiar with the building blocks of forms and how to use them correctly to build accessible forms, and that you've read the previous tutorial Vertically Align Labels and Inputs with CSS.

The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 5: Variables by Reference

Rob Williams

One of the key components of any scripting or programming language are control structures; statements that tell a language interpretter to stop reading code in a linear line-by-line fashion and start to make more complex operations based on simple logic. While most developers are aware of the common "if else" and "for" structures, there are many others available in PHP (and other languages I might add) that allow you to save a great deal of time and make your coding more efficient and easier to understand.

In this series we're going to take a look at some of those "forgotten" structures and some practical examples of how they can be used to clean up your coding techniques. We're going to take a bit of a detour from our usual control structures discussions today to explore a slightly more basic but extremely useful technique called variable referencing.

The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures Series:
The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 1: Switch Statements
The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 2: The Break Command
The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 3: Advanced Loops and Arrays
The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 4: Internal Array Pointers
The Lost Art of PHP Control Structures - Part 5: Variables by Reference

My First MacWorld (with Flashforward!) [FREE]

Robert Reinhardt

Whoah. As in a Joey Lawrence, "whoah." Cheesy, but it's pretty much how I felt as a Macworld newbie this week in San Francisco. Lynda Weinman had asked me back in October if I was interested in presenting a Flash Video session at Macworld. Since I had never been to a Macworld conference, I took the opportunity to go. I arrived Sunday night and prepped my slides and sample files on my brand new black MacBook, packing a sweet Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Little did I know that night just how rewarding the following two days were going to be.

9-Slice Scaling in Flash

Tom Green

9-Slice scaling? What's that? Read on...

Better Sharpening Using Photoshop's Lab Mode

If you've ever wondered if there's a better way to use the Unsharp Mask Filter in Photoshop, here it is. By using USM in conjunction with the Lab Mode in Photoshop, you'll produce image sharpening with less artifacting as well as have easier control.

Check out the Article by CMX partner Knut Kubenz

Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats!

This week's Tip, Trick or Dirty Cheat is courtesy of CMX partner Big John Gallant

Tricks With Borders and CSS

You can't always tell what's happening on a CSS page just by looking. Weird things often seem to occur with no visible explanation. Well the answer is simple. Make it visible! Simply put borders or background colors on page elements to define exactly where they really are. Be careful though, because borders will add to the dimensions of a rigid box. If that box is in a tight layout the test border itself can cause the layout to break. Backgrounds don't have this problem, but being opaque they can obscure important bug related clues. For a quick look, you can also use the Webdeveloper's toolbar, in Mozilla-based browsers, and choose the "outline" command to make red dotted outlines appear.

Borders and backgrounds are the single most powerful weapon in the CSS bughunter's arsenal, so use the heck out of them!

Would you like your tip published? Submit it to tips@communitymx.com.

That's it for this week. Stay tuned for the next CMX newsletter!