
Wednesday, July 12th, 2006
CMX Weekly Newsletter News Fun and Freebies Recent CMX Content Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats Check the News! Does Flex 2 Mean The End of Flash? The short answer is no, but we got your attention. Flex 2 has opened up a world of new possibilities for Flash developers, what with its flexible pricing and its potential for building Rich Internet Applications that Flash simply can't deliver. So what will keep developers interested in Flash? Check out this article at Adobe.com by Michael Koch as he weighs the pros and cons and makes a good argument for the interdependability of Flash and Flex. AOL On Their Last Legs? There are strong indicators that AOL will stop taking new subscribers and lay off a hefty number of their staff in a last-ditch attempt to be profitable. This strategy is meant to lose profits in the short term while making AOL stronger in the long term. With their increasingly poor profit margins, AOL has been trying to pull themselves out of the hole for a few years now. This move will either keep them in the game a while longer or completely bury them. Read more about this strategy (?) at Yahoo.com. Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is checking up on AOL to make sure that they are not making it difficult for current subscribers to cancel their accounts. After the very public hassle that Vincent Ferrari went through trying to cancel his account, Spitzer has reason to believe that AOL might not be letting go as easily as they should. More on this at Reuters.com. Windows Security Alert If you weren't aware of it yet, Windows just released some security patches for Excel, Office and the Windows operating system. Some of the patches are being called "critical." The patches fix several problems, including the threat of a self-replicating worm, which NCircle Network Security calls the biggest vulnerability found in Windows in 2006. They went on to say that these bugs have the potential to create a widespread worm if left unchecked. Read more about it at PCWorld.com and then head over to Windows Update if you haven't already. If He'd Traded His Car, He Probably Could've Got a Mansion Kyle MacDonald wanted a house, but didn't have much to offer in the way of cash. But... he had a paperclip. He was sure he could trade that paperclip for something of more value on CraigsList and repeatedly trade up from there until he could finally make a trade for a house. We hadn't heard of a crackpot idea like this since the Million Dollar Homepage. But, like the Million Dollar Homepage, Kyle was successful. He seals the deal for the house this week, and will move in shortly thereafter. You can check out his One Red Paperclip blog at BlogSpot.com to see how this bartering progressed, and read an interview with him at News.com. Ain't Technology Great? Yeah, overall technology is pretty cool. But that doesn't mean a few clunker ideas don't get farther than they should. News.com has this article about the 10 worst technologies in Q2 2006. Among them are the Nyko Intelligent Remote, which News.com jabs by saying "Hey, Nyko Intelligent Remote 360: If you're so "intelligent," how come we have to program each of your stupid buttons individually?" For more honest reviews like this, check out the 10 worst at News.com.
Satisfied Customers Speak Out! "Awesome article. This describes EXACTLY what I deal with every time I bid on a job." CMX Subscriber Michael O., commenting on Ray West's FREE (and extremely popular) article "What We Don't Account For" 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: "Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is everything." — Henri Poincare Oh Yeah? Well... You're a Dork Butt!! Robert Scoble, who has worked with Apple, Microsoft, and now works as VP for PodTech.net, made a little post on his popular blog that didn't go over well with some people. The title of Scoble's blog entry was "Why I Don't Use Flash." Using one website to paint his broad picture, Scoble didn't really raise a point, but certainly raised the hair on some people's backs, particularly Mike Chambers, Senior Product Manager for Developer Relations. In response to Scoble, using the same type of pointless example that Scoble did, Chambers illustrated on his blog why he doesn't use Windows Media Video for his websites. What a burn! OK, not really a burn so much as geeky act of revenge, but that's about as "burny" as it gets in the blogosphere. Firefox 2.0 Beta Released Mozilla has released the beta version of Firefox 2.0 this week. Mozilla is recommending that only developers and testers download and run the beta, as it is not meant for general use. There's much to read about over at the Mozilla Developer Center about this release, like the built-in phishing protection, the ability to reopen a tab if you've accidentally closed it, better support for RSS feeds, and plenty of other stuff. But again, if you're a casual user, you may not want to risk running the beta, as their could possibly be undesirable side effects. The download is available at Mozilla.org. Words To Live By If you're a developer who attends meetings, you'll appreciate this blog entry at Outer-Court.com. Learn the difference between a short meeting and a long meeting, as well as what steps you can take in order to make sure you survive the latter. We particularly enjoyed "The Coffee Maneuver" and fully intend on using it at our next meeting. Uh... not a Community MX meeting, of course. Noooo.... I'm a Messenger. I'm a Yahoo! Let's Chat. Users of Microsoft's MSN Messenger can now chat directly with users of Yahoo Messenger, using software made available by both companies. For the MS version, go to Microsoft's Live website, and for Yahoo Messenger, go to Yahoo's Messenger page. This news is not so new really, as MS and Yahoo agreed to make their IM software talk with each other last year. For IM users who don't want to change what they're using, or load "yet another" IM program on their computer, this is pretty good news. For more on this, Yahoo's got the news. It Seems Like Only Yesterday That We Were Changing Flash's Diapers Can you believe it? Flash is celebrating its 10th year of existence. To celebrate, Adobe wants to create a timeline of Flash achievements and milestones. They want your participation too, so if you've created any Flash content that you think helped propel Flash out of the "Skip Intro" phase and into the "oooh, that's nice..." phase, you might be part of history! For more information, go to John Dowdell's blog. Flash content from versions 1 through 4 are being specifically sought out.
CMX User Password Component CFC This ready-to-use ColdFusion component (CFC) provides a simple mechanism to handle assigning passwords to user accounts, verifying passwords provided by users, and generating random passwords for accounts. Check out this CFC by CMX Partner Arman Danesh
Fun and Freebies I'm a Mac. I'm a PC, Now Shut The %$&* Up The Get a Mac campaign at Apple has been getting a lot of attention lately. With any successful campaign - or even an unsuccessful campaign for that matter, there are bound to be copycats and parodies. We found one such parody at AralBalkan.com. Cartoon Network Appeals To The Very Odd Kid In Us Cartoon Network has been running some promos that we found a bit odd, but compelling nonetheless. We're suckers for odd, compelling stuff and we appreciate the efforts of 3dMartini.com for gathering all of these Cartoon Network web promos in one place. Enjoy. Don't Play With Your Food. Unless It looks Like This. There are plenty of food items that look like historical figures, but what about Ramen noodles that look like a happy face, or a lemon with teeth? Haven't seen these? No problem. Just head over to Hanttula.com to see their freaky food photos.
Podcasting 101 - Part 1 Podcasting is either the "Next Big Thing", or the buzzword of the day ... destined to go the way of the dodo. But all signals are pointing to podcasting being huge. With the FCC breathing down the necks of traditional broadcasters, many are looking to alternate venues to transmit their content. While some big names are moving to satelite radio (a costly venture to be sure), the rest of us are left behind on this big ball of dirt, rocks, and water. Enter the podcast -- the internet's media "broadcasting" format. While it is mostly being used for audio right now, there's nothing stopping the podcast from linking to other media such as video. This opens up tons of opportunities for media publishing that you have the opportunity to be a part of right now ... and the technical requirements for creating a podcast are tools that you, as web developers, already have/use (mostly). This article goes through the basics of Podcasting, and what it takes to start your very own Podcast. This free article by CMXpert Joel Martinez can be found here.
Weekly Content Listing Full-Text Searching with MySQL and PHP Gordon Mackay As a general rule of thumb, web sites that contain a large amount of content adopt some form of fuctionality that allows users to search through content held within their database. The methods for searching database content vary from server model to server model and can often be rather complicated. However, if your web site holds its content in a MySQL database, you can very quickly add a simple but effective search mechanism using MySQL's FULLTEXT indexing. In this tutorial we will look at using FULLTEXT indexing to create a simple content search engine that can quickly be implemented on any web site running PHP and pulling content from a MySQL database. 3D Graphs Using Illustrator Kim Dudley A bunch of facts and figures on a page can be pretty boring to look at. Why not make them a bit more interesting using Illustrator's graph tools. Graphs are great for presenting complex information and numerical data in a simple and compact layout that is quick and easy to understand. In this tutorial we will use Illustrator's Pie graph tool to create a colorful 3D pie chart. Use it in a layout for a brochure or on a web page and quickly spruce up that page full of numbers. File Uploading in ASP.NET - Part 3 Heidi Bautista The File Uploading in ASP.NET series has covered the following aspects so far: Part 1 - upload three files at the same time and allow the user to change the filename before the upload occurs. Part 2 - upload a single file and then insert the name of the uploaded file into the database. In Part 3 we'll upload a single file again but this time we'll automatically rename the file after uploading it. We'll use the Stored Procedure server behavior rather than the Insert Record server behavior (used in Part 2) so that we can insert the row and change the filename in a single round trip to the database. Along the way you'll get a chance to use the File and Path classes, both from the System.IO namespace and you'll see another example of controlling the execute of the MM:DataSet using its Expression attribute. The File Uploading in ASP.NET Series: File Uploading in ASP.NET - Part 1 File Uploading in ASP.NET - Part 2 File Uploading in ASP.NET - Part 3 Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 4b - Building a Dynamic List Menu Adrian Senior In Part 4 you created a dsn - Data Source Name - and we discussed how a dsn allowed you to connect to a database. The second key in this process is passing information to the database in order to get the information you want back from the database. It is this concept that we will learn in this lesson and to complete the lesson you will build a dynamic list menu as a proof of concept. The Let's Learn ColdFusion Series: Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 1 - Installation and the Testing Server Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 2 - The URL Scope, Variable Names and Values Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 3 - Adding Simple Logic and Error Checking Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 4a - Creating a Datasource Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 4b - Building a Dynamic List Menu Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 4c - Filtering Your Queries and the cfqueryparam Tag Coming Soon Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 4d - Error Checking Your ColdFusion Queries Coming Soon Handling Double-Clicks in Flash - Part 1 David Stiller As anyone who uses Windows or Macintosh can attest, the double-click is among the most familiar of user interface actions. Curiously, neither buttons nor movie clips in Flash raise an onDoubleClick event. Despite the many events they do raise, they cannot be instructed to handle double-clicks without custom programming. In this three-part series, we will step through a solution to this strange omission and learn a bit about writing ActionScript 2.0 classes in the process. Part 1 of this series looks at a convenient, basic edition solution that stands on its own. Parts 2 and 3 build on this workaround to accommodate additional functionality. At the end of each tutorial, you will have a functioning class that is progressively more useful. Polarized Sky Effect Without the Expensive Filters Knut Kubenz Have you ever wanted a rich, Polarized sky look to your images, but you didn't have the money for the often expensive photographic filters to do it? Photoshop's Gradients come to the rescue. In this tutorial we'll look at how to easily improve the richness and saturation of a faded blue sky using the Gradient Adjustment layer and paint brushes. Ubuntu & You, Part 5: Be a Dapper Dude (or Dude-ette) Thomas Pletcher There's a new version of Ubuntu, the world's most popular Linux distribution, and it's better than ever! This article will show you how to take the new "Dapper" distribution for a test run. It will also provide an overview of the different versions of Ubuntu so you can select the one that's right for you. Finally, the article will provide a review of Ubuntu installation options, including a brand-new install, a dual-boot scenario or an upgrade. The Ubuntu & You Series: Ubuntu & You - Part 1: Trying Today's Most Popular Linux Distribution Ubuntu & You - Part 2: Using Today's Most Popular Linux Distribution Ubuntu & You - Part 3: Breezy is Easy Ubuntu & You - Part 4: Breezy is Better Ubuntu & You - Part 5: Be A Dapper Dude (or Dudette) Ubuntu & You - Part 6: The Dapper Difference Coming Soon CMX Insert SWFObject 1.4 Paul Newman SWFObject is an external JavaScript file, created by Geoff Stearns, that enables you to embed Flash movies into web pages using XHTML-compliant code. The CMX Insert SWFObject extension automatically inserts SWFObject code into Dreamweaver documents, and copies swfobject.js into the folder you specify. Now supports major, minor, and revision Flash Player detection. Requirements: Dreamweaver MX or higher, Flash Player Automatic Shipping Address Fill-in with Dreamweaver and JavaScript Paul Davis How many times have you been to a website which wants you to fill out the billing and shipping addresses and they are the same and you just want to copy the information over from one set of fields to another? Or you have a client who wants these fields always filled out and you want to ensure the visitor can do this efficiently and easily? In this tutorial, we will show you how with a little JavaScript and a checkbox in the form, you can make this happen easily! ColdFusion Mapping Charles Chumley If you've been developing for awhile you may have created some code that you've wanted to reuse and, if you're like me, you've created a folder for CFCs (ColdFusion Components), UDFs (user defined functions) or even a generalized site header and footer. This is great and easily accessible using a cfinclude, cfmodule or invoking a component using cfinvoke or cfobject, until you need to move your folders outside of your web root for whatever reason. This is when everything breaks. Until now... The ColdFusion "How To" Series: ColdFusion Mapping cfstoredproc Tag Coming Soon
Build Seamless Background Image Tiles out of Shapes in Fireworks Tiled background images where a small shape repeats across the web page have come back into style. There are web sites devoted to providing free patterns for you to download and apply to your sites, but what if you want to create your own pattern? You can create any shape you like, using your favorite graphics program, and then set it as a tiling background image using CSS. However, creating a pattern out of your shape that tiles well—without any seams or gutters—takes some work. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create seamless background patterns using Fireworks (but the principles can just as easily be used in Photoshop or any other graphics program). Note: This tutorial doesn't cover how to draw a shape or apply it to your page as a background. Rather, it shows how to take a shape that you want to turn into a seamless pattern and use Fireworks to do just that. Check out the Article by CMX partner Zoe Gillenwater
Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats! This week's Tip, Trick or Dirty Cheat is courtesy of CMX Partner Joseph Balderson Opening Images From The Web If you cut and paste a URL to an image file in the Open dialog in Photoshop, Fireworks or Illustrator CS2, it will download the image and open it up for editing. This applies to SVG, PNG, JPG, or any file format that Photoshop, Fireworks or Illustrator can open. A quick and easy way to edit web images on the fly. 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!

Does Flex 2 Mean The End of Flash?

The short answer is no, but we got your attention. Flex 2 has opened up a world of new possibilities for Flash developers, what with its flexible pricing and its potential for building Rich Internet Applications that Flash simply can't deliver. So what will keep developers interested in Flash? Check out this article at Adobe.com by Michael Koch as he weighs the pros and cons and makes a good argument for the interdependability of Flash and Flex.

AOL On Their Last Legs?

There are strong indicators that AOL will stop taking new subscribers and lay off a hefty number of their staff in a last-ditch attempt to be profitable. This strategy is meant to lose profits in the short term while making AOL stronger in the long term. With their increasingly poor profit margins, AOL has been trying to pull themselves out of the hole for a few years now. This move will either keep them in the game a while longer or completely bury them. Read more about this strategy (?) at Yahoo.com. Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is checking up on AOL to make sure that they are not making it difficult for current subscribers to cancel their accounts. After the very public hassle that Vincent Ferrari went through trying to cancel his account, Spitzer has reason to believe that AOL might not be letting go as easily as they should. More on this at Reuters.com.

Windows Security Alert

If you weren't aware of it yet, Windows just released some security patches for Excel, Office and the Windows operating system. Some of the patches are being called "critical." The patches fix several problems, including the threat of a self-replicating worm, which NCircle Network Security calls the biggest vulnerability found in Windows in 2006. They went on to say that these bugs have the potential to create a widespread worm if left unchecked. Read more about it at PCWorld.com and then head over to Windows Update if you haven't already.

If He'd Traded His Car, He Probably Could've Got a Mansion

Kyle MacDonald wanted a house, but didn't have much to offer in the way of cash. But... he had a paperclip. He was sure he could trade that paperclip for something of more value on CraigsList and repeatedly trade up from there until he could finally make a trade for a house. We hadn't heard of a crackpot idea like this since the Million Dollar Homepage. But, like the Million Dollar Homepage, Kyle was successful. He seals the deal for the house this week, and will move in shortly thereafter. You can check out his One Red Paperclip blog at BlogSpot.com to see how this bartering progressed, and read an interview with him at News.com.

Ain't Technology Great?

Yeah, overall technology is pretty cool. But that doesn't mean a few clunker ideas don't get farther than they should. News.com has this article about the 10 worst technologies in Q2 2006. Among them are the Nyko Intelligent Remote, which News.com jabs by saying "Hey, Nyko Intelligent Remote 360: If you're so "intelligent," how come we have to program each of your stupid buttons individually?" For more honest reviews like this, check out the 10 worst at News.com.

Satisfied Customers Speak Out!

"Awesome article. This describes EXACTLY what I deal with every time I bid on a job."

CMX Subscriber Michael O., commenting on Ray West's FREE (and extremely popular) article "What We Don't Account For"

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:

"Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is everything." — Henri Poincare

Oh Yeah? Well... You're a Dork Butt!!

Robert Scoble, who has worked with Apple, Microsoft, and now works as VP for PodTech.net, made a little post on his popular blog that didn't go over well with some people. The title of Scoble's blog entry was "Why I Don't Use Flash." Using one website to paint his broad picture, Scoble didn't really raise a point, but certainly raised the hair on some people's backs, particularly Mike Chambers, Senior Product Manager for Developer Relations. In response to Scoble, using the same type of pointless example that Scoble did, Chambers illustrated on his blog why he doesn't use Windows Media Video for his websites. What a burn! OK, not really a burn so much as geeky act of revenge, but that's about as "burny" as it gets in the blogosphere.

Firefox 2.0 Beta Released

Mozilla has released the beta version of Firefox 2.0 this week. Mozilla is recommending that only developers and testers download and run the beta, as it is not meant for general use. There's much to read about over at the Mozilla Developer Center about this release, like the built-in phishing protection, the ability to reopen a tab if you've accidentally closed it, better support for RSS feeds, and plenty of other stuff. But again, if you're a casual user, you may not want to risk running the beta, as their could possibly be undesirable side effects. The download is available at Mozilla.org.

Words To Live By

If you're a developer who attends meetings, you'll appreciate this blog entry at Outer-Court.com. Learn the difference between a short meeting and a long meeting, as well as what steps you can take in order to make sure you survive the latter. We particularly enjoyed "The Coffee Maneuver" and fully intend on using it at our next meeting. Uh... not a Community MX meeting, of course. Noooo....

I'm a Messenger. I'm a Yahoo! Let's Chat.

Users of Microsoft's MSN Messenger can now chat directly with users of Yahoo Messenger, using software made available by both companies. For the MS version, go to Microsoft's Live website, and for Yahoo Messenger, go to Yahoo's Messenger page. This news is not so new really, as MS and Yahoo agreed to make their IM software talk with each other last year. For IM users who don't want to change what they're using, or load "yet another" IM program on their computer, this is pretty good news. For more on this, Yahoo's got the news.

It Seems Like Only Yesterday That We Were Changing Flash's Diapers

Can you believe it? Flash is celebrating its 10th year of existence. To celebrate, Adobe wants to create a timeline of Flash achievements and milestones. They want your participation too, so if you've created any Flash content that you think helped propel Flash out of the "Skip Intro" phase and into the "oooh, that's nice..." phase, you might be part of history! For more information, go to John Dowdell's blog. Flash content from versions 1 through 4 are being specifically sought out.

CMX User Password Component CFC

This ready-to-use ColdFusion component (CFC) provides a simple mechanism to handle assigning passwords to user accounts, verifying passwords provided by users, and generating random passwords for accounts.

Check out this CFC by CMX Partner Arman Danesh

Fun and Freebies

I'm a Mac. I'm a PC, Now Shut The %$&* Up

The Get a Mac campaign at Apple has been getting a lot of attention lately. With any successful campaign - or even an unsuccessful campaign for that matter, there are bound to be copycats and parodies. We found one such parody at AralBalkan.com.

Cartoon Network Appeals To The Very Odd Kid In Us

Cartoon Network has been running some promos that we found a bit odd, but compelling nonetheless. We're suckers for odd, compelling stuff and we appreciate the efforts of 3dMartini.com for gathering all of these Cartoon Network web promos in one place. Enjoy.

Don't Play With Your Food. Unless It looks Like This.

There are plenty of food items that look like historical figures, but what about Ramen noodles that look like a happy face, or a lemon with teeth? Haven't seen these? No problem. Just head over to Hanttula.com to see their freaky food photos.

Podcasting 101 - Part 1

Podcasting is either the "Next Big Thing", or the buzzword of the day ... destined to go the way of the dodo. But all signals are pointing to podcasting being huge. With the FCC breathing down the necks of traditional broadcasters, many are looking to alternate venues to transmit their content. While some big names are moving to satelite radio (a costly venture to be sure), the rest of us are left behind on this big ball of dirt, rocks, and water. Enter the podcast -- the internet's media "broadcasting" format. While it is mostly being used for audio right now, there's nothing stopping the podcast from linking to other media such as video. This opens up tons of opportunities for media publishing that you have the opportunity to be a part of right now ... and the technical requirements for creating a podcast are tools that you, as web developers, already have/use (mostly). This article goes through the basics of Podcasting, and what it takes to start your very own Podcast.

This free article by CMXpert Joel Martinez can be found here.

Weekly Content Listing

Full-Text Searching with MySQL and PHP

Gordon Mackay

As a general rule of thumb, web sites that contain a large amount of content adopt some form of fuctionality that allows users to search through content held within their database.

The methods for searching database content vary from server model to server model and can often be rather complicated. However, if your web site holds its content in a MySQL database, you can very quickly add a simple but effective search mechanism using MySQL's FULLTEXT indexing.

In this tutorial we will look at using FULLTEXT indexing to create a simple content search engine that can quickly be implemented on any web site running PHP and pulling content from a MySQL database.

3D Graphs Using Illustrator

Kim Dudley

A bunch of facts and figures on a page can be pretty boring to look at. Why not make them a bit more interesting using Illustrator's graph tools. Graphs are great for presenting complex information and numerical data in a simple and compact layout that is quick and easy to understand.

In this tutorial we will use Illustrator's Pie graph tool to create a colorful 3D pie chart. Use it in a layout for a brochure or on a web page and quickly spruce up that page full of numbers.

File Uploading in ASP.NET - Part 3

Heidi Bautista

The File Uploading in ASP.NET series has covered the following aspects so far:

Part 1 - upload three files at the same time and allow the user to change the filename before the upload occurs.
Part 2 - upload a single file and then insert the name of the uploaded file into the database.

In Part 3 we'll upload a single file again but this time we'll automatically rename the file after uploading it. We'll use the Stored Procedure server behavior rather than the Insert Record server behavior (used in Part 2) so that we can insert the row and change the filename in a single round trip to the database.

Along the way you'll get a chance to use the File and Path classes, both from the System.IO namespace and you'll see another example of controlling the execute of the MM:DataSet using its Expression attribute.

The File Uploading in ASP.NET Series:

File Uploading in ASP.NET - Part 1
File Uploading in ASP.NET - Part 2
File Uploading in ASP.NET - Part 3

Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 4b - Building a Dynamic List Menu

Adrian Senior

In Part 4 you created a dsn - Data Source Name - and we discussed how a dsn allowed you to connect to a database. The second key in this process is passing information to the database in order to get the information you want back from the database.

It is this concept that we will learn in this lesson and to complete the lesson you will build a dynamic list menu as a proof of concept.

The Let's Learn ColdFusion Series:
Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 1 - Installation and the Testing Server
Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 2 - The URL Scope, Variable Names and Values
Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 3 - Adding Simple Logic and Error Checking
Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 4a - Creating a Datasource
Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 4b - Building a Dynamic List Menu
Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 4c - Filtering Your Queries and the cfqueryparam Tag Coming Soon
Let's Learn ColdFusion: Part 4d - Error Checking Your ColdFusion Queries Coming Soon

Handling Double-Clicks in Flash - Part 1

David Stiller

As anyone who uses Windows or Macintosh can attest, the double-click is among the most familiar of user interface actions. Curiously, neither buttons nor movie clips in Flash raise an onDoubleClick event. Despite the many events they do raise, they cannot be instructed to handle double-clicks without custom programming.

In this three-part series, we will step through a solution to this strange omission and learn a bit about writing ActionScript 2.0 classes in the process. Part 1 of this series looks at a convenient, basic edition solution that stands on its own. Parts 2 and 3 build on this workaround to accommodate additional functionality. At the end of each tutorial, you will have a functioning class that is progressively more useful.

Polarized Sky Effect Without the Expensive Filters

Knut Kubenz

Have you ever wanted a rich, Polarized sky look to your images, but you didn't have the money for the often expensive photographic filters to do it? Photoshop's Gradients come to the rescue.

In this tutorial we'll look at how to easily improve the richness and saturation of a faded blue sky using the Gradient Adjustment layer and paint brushes.

Ubuntu & You, Part 5: Be a Dapper Dude (or Dude-ette)

Thomas Pletcher

There's a new version of Ubuntu, the world's most popular Linux distribution, and it's better than ever! This article will show you how to take the new "Dapper" distribution for a test run. It will also provide an overview of the different versions of Ubuntu so you can select the one that's right for you. Finally, the article will provide a review of Ubuntu installation options, including a brand-new install, a dual-boot scenario or an upgrade.

The Ubuntu & You Series:
Ubuntu & You - Part 1: Trying Today's Most Popular Linux Distribution
Ubuntu & You - Part 2: Using Today's Most Popular Linux Distribution
Ubuntu & You - Part 3: Breezy is Easy
Ubuntu & You - Part 4: Breezy is Better
Ubuntu & You - Part 5: Be A Dapper Dude (or Dudette)
Ubuntu & You - Part 6: The Dapper Difference Coming Soon

CMX Insert SWFObject 1.4

Paul Newman

SWFObject is an external JavaScript file, created by Geoff Stearns, that enables you to embed Flash movies into web pages using XHTML-compliant code. The CMX Insert SWFObject extension automatically inserts SWFObject code into Dreamweaver documents, and copies swfobject.js into the folder you specify. Now supports major, minor, and revision Flash Player detection. Requirements: Dreamweaver MX or higher, Flash Player

Automatic Shipping Address Fill-in with Dreamweaver and JavaScript

Paul Davis

How many times have you been to a website which wants you to fill out the billing and shipping addresses and they are the same and you just want to copy the information over from one set of fields to another? Or you have a client who wants these fields always filled out and you want to ensure the visitor can do this efficiently and easily?

In this tutorial, we will show you how with a little JavaScript and a checkbox in the form, you can make this happen easily!

ColdFusion Mapping

Charles Chumley

If you've been developing for awhile you may have created some code that you've wanted to reuse and, if you're like me, you've created a folder for CFCs (ColdFusion Components), UDFs (user defined functions) or even a generalized site header and footer. This is great and easily accessible using a cfinclude, cfmodule or invoking a component using cfinvoke or cfobject, until you need to move your folders outside of your web root for whatever reason. This is when everything breaks. Until now...

The ColdFusion "How To" Series:
ColdFusion Mapping
cfstoredproc Tag Coming Soon

Build Seamless Background Image Tiles out of Shapes in Fireworks

Tiled background images where a small shape repeats across the web page have come back into style. There are web sites devoted to providing free patterns for you to download and apply to your sites, but what if you want to create your own pattern? You can create any shape you like, using your favorite graphics program, and then set it as a tiling background image using CSS. However, creating a pattern out of your shape that tiles well—without any seams or gutters—takes some work. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create seamless background patterns using Fireworks (but the principles can just as easily be used in Photoshop or any other graphics program). Note: This tutorial doesn't cover how to draw a shape or apply it to your page as a background. Rather, it shows how to take a shape that you want to turn into a seamless pattern and use Fireworks to do just that.

Check out the Article by CMX partner Zoe Gillenwater

Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats!

This week's Tip, Trick or Dirty Cheat is courtesy of CMX Partner Joseph Balderson

Opening Images From The Web

If you cut and paste a URL to an image file in the Open dialog in Photoshop, Fireworks or Illustrator CS2, it will download the image and open it up for editing. This applies to SVG, PNG, JPG, or any file format that Photoshop, Fireworks or Illustrator can open. A quick and easy way to edit web images on the fly.

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!