Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
CMX Weekly Newsletter
Check the News!
TODcon 2006 Announced!
For the few who haven't experience it yet, TODCon is the most informative yet informal Macromedia-related event you're 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, Central 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 beautiful Orlando, Florida, just a hop, skip and jump from Disney World. You're invited to register for this fantastic, one of a kind event.
Skim Some CSS
While we realize that the CSS tutorials at Community MX are among the best out there, believe it or not, there are other places that have some darn good tutorials on CSS as well. If you want a quick way to find them, head over to SkimCSS.com. If you can't find it at Community MX, then you may find it there. Keep in mind, we do consider requests! Thanks go out to Judy (you know who you are) for pointing this website out to us. Oh... and the one below...
Are You In a Blue Mood?
For that matter, are you in a red or green mood? KrazyDad.com has a cool online utility called Colr Pickr that lets you pull images directly from Flickr and a few other websites. The neat part is that it pulls only pictures of a hue that you select with the color picker. Choose a particular shade of red for instance, and you'll get only images back that predominantly have that shade of red in them.
Wal-Mart - Trendsetter, or Hipster Doofus?
Wal-mart has announced a new online service where they'll make music videos and audio available for download. Their music videos will stream for free at Walmart.com, but downloading music comes with a fee. Some of the videos will be exclusive studio performances by several artists. The new service, called "Wal-Mart Soundcheck", will also feature interviews with recording artists, including punk and pop bands. It's unknown whether or not Wal-mart will censor the videos... Read more about it at Yahoo.com.
Please Let This Be The End Of FrontPage
Microsoft announced this week that they are releasing two new trial applications, or Community Technology Previews, as Microsoft is calling them. Expression Interactive Designer and Expression Graphic Designer are a web design program and a graphic design program, respectively. Neither program is quite complete, as the engineers say there are still features that need to be built into each application. Expression Interactive Designer is a WYSIWYG editor, but generates code in XAML, an XML-based programming language. Microsoft is hoping that releasing these barely-past-the-beta-stage programs that they can get plenty of feedback and get these apps up to par with the competitors. Read all about it ZDNet.com.
Satisfied Customers Speak Out!
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"Great article - thanks! I never seem to have enough time to figure out these things on my own. This was short, easy to follow and I now know how to make a new animation"
- William W., CMX Subscriber, commenting on Kim Cavanaugh's article, Add Some Sparkle to Your Text with Fireworks Symbols
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:
"Human beings are human beings. They say what they want, don't they? They used to say it across the fence while they were hanging wash. Now they just say it on the Internet." — Dennis Miller
Spyware, Thy Name Be Mud
No one likes spyware. It's like the buddy that crashes at your house. It's great for a couple of days until he starts eating all of your food, spilling beer on the carpet and lighting your drapes on fire. Spyware usually comes in the form of a free utility or program for your computer, but wears out its welcome quickly by sending your personal information to people who shouldn't have it. A new project called Stop Badware is being sponsored by Google, Lenovo and Sun Microsystems, and it aims to... well, read the name. At StopBadware.org, users will be able to report spyware, share spyware horror stories. They also hope to shine a bright light on the people who manufacture spyware so that people don't download their wares in the first place. See the full story at InformationWeek.com. Meanwhile, some programs that purport to remove spyware may do the opposite. Thankfully Microsoft is there to sue their pants off, according to this InformationWeek.com article.
It Was Twenty Years Ago Today. Sargent Pepper Taught The Band To Make a Virus
This month marks twenty years since the discovery of the first computer virus. It was called the Brain virus, and could only be spread via floppy disk, rendering a floppy boot disk unusable. Computer viruses became famous in the movies, and had people believing that Matthew Broderick really could accidentally blow up the world simply by playing chess with an infected computer. These days, people have a greater idea of what computer viruses are and what they can do, and they've become a pervasive force to be reckoned with every day. If you're interested in reading more on the history of our little infectious friends, check out virus-scan-software.com for a lesson.
Take The Test And See If You Myth Any
Do cats really always land on their feet? Yes, pretty much. Is it true that chickens can live without their heads? Suprisingly, they can. Does it take years to fully digest a stick of gum? Heck no. How do we know all this? LiveScience.com has a list of the twenty most popular scientific myths and gives you the scoop on each one.
Darn. Almost Mythed This One
Speaking of myths, we've found a list of the top twenty PC myths. Included are "Magnets zap your data" and the ever-popular "Turning off your PC daily to save power shortens its life." Interesting reading, as some of these myths are pervasive on the internet, and can fuel some great arguments among folks. Check the list at PCWorld.com. The article's a bit old, but the information still holds true.
Google Officially Becomes Corporate
Google has agreed to offer China a revamped version of its services to accommodate China's restrictions on free speech. So while the Chinese people will have access to Google, there will be some terms that they will not be able to get hits on. Google recognizes that China is a huge market, and apparently want to get their foot in the door, even if it means aiding the government in keeping information from its people. To their credit, Google is not offering their Gmail, chatroom or blogging services to China for fear that the Chinese government would ask them to turn over user's personal data. More on this at bbc.co.uk.
CMX Mp3 Player for Flash
- The CMX MP3 Player component enables you to load external MP3s from an XML playlist. Features include track info display (title, artist), elapsed and remaining time, audio scrubber, volume slider, and playlist navigation.
Check out the Extension by CMX Partner Paul Newman
Fun and Freebies
Something Most Of Us Can Sympathize With
We've provided a link to ClientCopia.com before, where people post about unusual things that have happened to them at work. Usually it involves a client who is unreasonable or perhaps a bit dim. But we just found TechTales.com, where tech folks can go and read about other tech folks who are worse off than they are.
Magazine Covers... Of The Future!! Bum-bum-bum (imagine dramatic music there)
What will magazine covers of the future look like, and what will their subject matter be? Magazine.org shares some of the more popular magazine covers of the future with us, like Good Housekeeping, Maxim and Elle, whose cover story is "How He Feels About Your Face Transplant" and "Claudia Schiffer - Still Sexy at 135!"
Blast From The Not So Distant Past...
One of the Community MX staffers stumbled upon a video from one of the past MTV Movie Award shows, and it's pretty funny. The premise is what if William Shatner played the three main characters from the movie "Seven", and played them as TJ Hooker, Captain Kirk and William Shatner? Check it out at Google Video.
Using Swap Image with a Select List/Menu - Part 1
- Dreamweaver is good at what it does, very good in fact, but good can only take you so far. Go beyond what it is built for and you will have to start digging into the code and get your hands a little dirty. Swapping images based upon user interaction — such as mouseing over images or links, or clicking buttons — can be implemented with point-and-click ease using Dreamweaver's Swap Image behavior. The Swap Image behavior is one example of where you need to get into the code is if you want to go beyond the built in functionality. If you wanted to use the Swap Image behavior with a list and allow your visitors to change an image that is shown based upon the option chosen in a list, you couldn't readily do it with the way that the Swap Image behavior is set up to work. You can, however, with a carefully created list, and a quick modification in the code, turn the code used by the Swap Image behavior into something that will work well for you when applied to a list menu.
In Part 1 of this article, we'll take a look at working with static pages, that is, pages where you do not need any database interaction. Part 2 will take into consideration the needs of dynamic pages to allow swapping of images from a data driven list menu.
This free article by CMX Partner Danilo Celic can be found here.
Weekly Content Listing
Flash Text Effects and Adobe After Effects 7
Ever wondered how to do a cool motion graphic text effect without knowing how to use Flash or even do a tween? If you have After Effects, a simple drag and drop is all you need to know.
Cool Adobe GoLive Features - Part 2: Extending With Smart Forms [FREE]
In the second article of the cool GoLive features series we will look at GoLive Smart Forms and International Smart Forms, two free extensions created by Adam Pratt that add 50 commonly used forms to your pages. If you ever laboriously typed out all the labels and values for a country list, or found yourself constructing an elaborate eCommerce form, you're going to love these starter forms and form objects.
The Cool GoLive Features Series:
Cool Adobe GoLive Features: Part 1 - The Site Diagram Tool
Cool Adobe GoLive Features: Part 2 - Extending With Smart Forms
The Future of the Adobe Flash Player [FREE]
Web designers and developers alike have been speculating wildly about the fate of the Flash Player, now that Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia is history. The most popular rumor is that the Flash Player will become one with Adobe Reader. If you've been flying solo with Macromedia products and never touched Adobe's line, you've probably still used the Adobe Reader, formerly known as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Adobe Reader can open, display, and print PDF files. PDF stands for Portable Document Format, and accomplished very similar feats for the printing industry as SWF did for the web industry.
Managing HTML and CSS to Keep Clients Happy and Avoid 'Disaster' - Part Two
Last time, we talked about little things coders can do to avoid friction with clients and co-workers when code is being prepared. This time we will examine the 'stage' on which we all present our content to the world.
That stage is the viewer's screen, and it's a rather changable place, so understanding what can happen to your content in different devices is crucial when handling the 'front end' of a web site. We'll go over some of the basics, including screen resolution, the viewport, how layouts behave, and more.
If you are a little hazy about these issues, join us as we clarify things for you. Let's go!
The Managing HTML and CSS to Keep Clients Happy Series:
Managing HTML and CSS to Keep Clients Happy and Avoid 'Disaster' - Part One
Managing HTML and CSS to Keep Clients Happy and Avoid 'Disaster' - Part Two
WordPress 2.0: Wonderful As Ever [FREE]
WordPress has always been both powerful and empowering, and the new 2.0 ("Duke") release is no exception. This review discusses the new features in the latest edition of WordPress, and offers tips on installation and/or upgrading.
Text on a Path in Fireworks 8
The release of Fireworks 8 brought with it many enhancements from both creative and production perspectives. This article focuses on one of the old FW features that was revamped for Fireworks 8 — editing text on a path. Adding text to a path breaks you out of the rigid formality of text blocks and gives you the freedom to make the text fit into your design in an almost organic fashion.
In the old days, changing the shape of a path that was attached to text was a multiple step process, and not a very intuitive one. In order to edit the path, you had to detach the text, change the path and then re-attach the text. Very much a trial and error process. In FW 8, it's just as easy to edit the path shape as it is to add text to a path. This makes it easier — and more fun — to create what you want. Control like this has been asked for many times in Fireworks, I'm happy to say it's finally arrived.
Exploring ASP.NET v2 - Part 2: VWD's ASP.NET Web Site Administration Tool
Part 2 of the series exploring ASP.NET v2 membership tags, the MS Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition, and the Cassini web server. The emphasis of this part is using the built-in ASP.NET Web Site Administration tool to enable roles and create access rules such that certain folders are protected from unauthorized access.
The Exploring ASP.NET v2 Series:
Exploring ASP.NET v2 - Part 1: Membership Tags, VWD, and Cassini
Exploring ASP.NET v2 - Part 2: VWD's ASP.NET Web Site Administration Tool
Exploring ASP.NET v2 - Part 3: Graduate to SQL Server 2000 and IIS Coming Soon
Re-running a Google Search on Your Web Site
In this tutorial we will learn how we can access the search data a user entered on Google. We will then use that information to re-run a search on our web site to provide the user with more specific information about the item(s) they originally searched for on Google.
Add Some Sparkle to Your Text with Fireworks Symbols
You've probably seen this little effect on television or in web graphic here and there. A little starburst effect is added at the edge of text or on top of some other object. Even though it's just a a little bit of eye candy, the results are quite effective when you want to make something shine just a bit and draw the viewer's eye to the graphic.
You can use Fireworks animated symbols to create this effect in a flash. Since symbols are reusable objects all you really need to do is create one animated sparkle and the symbol can be used over and over in your composition. This allows you to take much of the work out of creating this little effect while adding something that makes your text shine.
In this tutorial you will learn how to create an animated symbol, how to draw the starburst sparkle, how to animate the starburst, and how to incorporate the animated symbols into your composition.
Flash Video Cue Points: Part 2 - Embedded Navigation Cue Points with Flash Pro 8
In the last tutorial of this series, you learned how cue points can be used to enhance video in Flash. In this installment, you learn how to add navigation cue points to a video source clip that will be compressed as a Flash Video file (flv).
The Flash Video Cue Points Series:
Flash Video Cue Points: Part 1 - Overview of Cue Points
Flash Video Cue Points: Part 2 - Embedded Navigation Cue Points with Flash Pro 8
Flash Video Cue Points: Part 3 - Building a List of Embedded Cue Points Coming Soon
A Gentle Introduction to SimpleXML
- Once upon a time PHP developers wishing to take advantage of XML when building their applications were forced to jump through many hoops in order to parse even the most simple XML documents.
PHP 5 however has proved to be a complete rethink of the way in which PHP is able to handle simple and complex XML documents. It sports a new extension called simpleXML that allows even the most novice of PHP developers to work with XML without the urge to tear their hair from its roots.
In this tutorial we will have a look at how PHP's simpleXML could allow us to utilize XML in the real world of web development.
Check out the Article by CMX Partner Gordon Mackay
Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats!
This week's Tip, Trick or Dirty Cheat is courtesy of Linda Rathgeber-Stewart
Use Your Own Swatches
Make a GIF of color swatches in Fireworks and export it to your assets folder for the site. When you want to sample a color from it, open the DW Assets panel and click on the Images button. Click on the swatches GIF so that it shows up in the preview pane of the assets panel. Use the eyedropper tool from one of the DW swatches pop-ups to pick a color from the GIF.
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!