
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
CMX Weekly Newsletter News Fun and Freebies Recent CMX Content Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats Check the News! Newest JumpStart: Lake District The Lake District in rural North West England is famous for its gorgeous scenery and, of course, lakes. It is also associated with the poetry of William Wordsworth and the Lake Poets. And so to that region we travel for our latest JumpStart design, CMX JumpStart: The Lake District. CMX JumpStart: The Lake District features an accessible split level navigation system. The main navigation is a series of tabs that uses the Sliding Door method as described by Douglas Bowman. The sub navigation is an unordered list based system, and has rounded corners, as well as a decorative background image on the bottom that is reminiscent of CMX JumpStart North Pole. Both navigation systems provide clear "you are here" page markers. The design is a two column layout fixed at 750px wide, and utilizes subtle gradients on various page areas. The color scheme of this layout was selected to make sure that the eye goes to the subject matter rather than the design. Thus, The Lake District is composed of black, gray, and white to help make images pop. Of course The Lake District meets the W3C standards for CSS and XHTML, as well as the WAI accessibility requirements, too. The package includes the following: * Documentation * An extension to easily install The Lake District files from the New Document dialog box * Five tutorials * Three style sheets: one main, one for Internet Explorer, and a Design Time style sheet * Two Fireworks PNG documents for branding the graphics * A starter page The Lake District is available for $29.95 to non-members, but is absolutely free to CMX subscribers. Read more about how to make it yours. * CMX JumpStart The Lake District article for nonmembers and members who would like to read more about its features and see a modified The Lake District design. * CMX JumpStart The Lake District article for members and for those who would like to purchase The Lake District now. No News Is Good News? Community MX apologizes for not putting out our newsletter for a while. We had a lot of folks email us to say that they enjoy the newsletter and were sorry to see it go. Funny thing is, it didn't really go anywhere. It just got put to the side a bit while we were working on other things. We'll be putting the newsletter out on a consistent basis from now on, but you'll probably see it every other week rather than every week. Hey... better than not at all, right? And Another New JumpStart: Prague Sheri German: "Our local classical radio stations have offered summer tours of the Imperial Capitals (Budapest, Vienna, and Prague) for years, and my husband and I dream of going on one someday. I have been to Vienna, and adore it - I wanted to move there the minute I stepped foot into its intensely musical environment. My grandfather was from Budapest, so I definitely must go there someday to track down the relatives who still live there. Finally, there is the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, and it is as a tribute to this great city that we introduce our latest JumpStart design, CMX JumpStart Prague." CMX JumpStart: Prague is a centered, two-column, 770 pixel fixed-width layout that features rounded corners. Multiple wrappers, used in conjunction with the faux column technique, maintain the integrity of the structure even upon text resize. Additionally, the JumpStart provides an attractive example of overlapping areas within a design. The JumpStart filters styles for various versions of Internet Explorer, and includes a separate style sheet to address navigation issues found in IE 5.01. Of course Prague meets the W3C standards for CSS and XHTML, as well as the WAI accessibility requirements, too. Prague is available for $29.95 to non-members, but is absolutely free to CMX subscribers. Read more about how to make it yours. * CMX JumpStart Prague article for nonmembers and members who would like to read more about its features and see a modified Prague design. * CMX JumpStart Prague article for members and for those who would like to purchase Prague now. Linux Catches Some AIR I don’t use Linux, so it’s never occurred to me that there might be a lack of AIR applications built to run on it. But with Adobe Air For Linux, developers can now build applications they can deploy on Linux systems. “Like what?” I hear you ask. Well, http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-useful-adobe-air-applications-that-work-in-linux/ has a list of AIR applications that weren’t necessarily built just to run on Linux, but will run on it. Some great stuff in there to make users happy. LinuxJournal.com has a great article introducing Linux users to AIR. What In The World Are You Searching For? Google Insight just hit the public, and on the surface it looks like a very handy tool for finding trends in searches. For instance, in what year was the term “Duck-billed Platypus” searched for the most, and what country or state searched for it the most? This is the kind of information you can cull from Google Insight, but we’re betting that you can think of better things to do with it than search for trends on the term “duck-billed platypus.” After all, don’t you want to know when the term “Bennifer” really got hot?
Satisfied Customers Speak Out! "Really good article. Cannot wait for Part 2. Keep up the good work." - Howard A., CMX Subscriber, commenting on Steven Seiller's article, "Processing Submitted HTML Form Data - Part 1". 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: "The average user doesn't give a damn what happens, as long as (1) it works and (2) it's fast." — Daniel J. Bernstein Say It Ain’t So! Oh… You ARE Saying It Ain’t So… What do you do when your system gets sluggish? Blame the registry? Extra files mucking up your system? A slow hard drive? Bad Windows settings? There are tried and true methods to getting your system back up to speed, but there are some methods that although they are widely rumored to help your computer, really do little or nothing at all. Lifehacker debunks some of the more popular myths that have been going around for years. I have to admit I’ve tried a couple of these, and/or tried products that promised to get my system in top shape again, and I've never been impressed. Now I know why... I’ve Seen The Future, And It Is… Sorry, But I’m Saving It For Mozilla The Mozilla Foundation is looking for your help in determining how user interfaces and browsers might look and function in the future. Don’t worry about sending them a finished product. They’re mostly looking for sketched-out ideas that could realistically be developed in an open source environment. Adaptive Path, the folks who made over YouTube.com, teamed up with Mozilla to give hopefuls a good idea of the type of thing they’re looking for, with their fictitious browser, “Aurora.” It Says “Adobe.” They Wouldn’t Lie, Would They? This article isn’t for you. We know that you know better than to download malicious software disguised as the real thing on social networking sites like Twitter, right? Of course you do. So do we. We’re going to download Flash Player through Adobe’s website, not from some almost official dialog box that pops up at Twitter. But someone’s clicking those links, otherwise we wouldn’t see so many instances of it happening. It’s probably my sister. In any case, I’ll send her this article from PCWorld.com. SQL Server At Your Service SQL Server 2008 has just been released. Microsoft has decided that SQL Server will be available in six different editions, including a Web version for Microsoft’s hosting partners. Didn’t they learn their lesson with the umpteen million versions of Vista? Their Compact and Express versions are free and will fill the needs of the basic developer. Whether or not there is really a compelling to upgrade from your current version of SQL Server is up to you. You can read more about this release at WashingtonPost.com and get more straight from the horse’s mouth at Microsoft.com.
CMX Robot File Dreamweaver Extension The CMX Robots.txt Creator will create a robots.txt file formatted according to the standards set for this type of file and save it to your local site. Quickly create your robots.txt files with this extension and stop worrying about the syntax! Take a look at this extension by Paul Davis
Fun and Freebies! Calvin & Jobs Pretty much what you'd hope it would be. Calvin and Jobs. If Her Boyfriend Is The Jolly Green Giant, It Should Fit Fine When Cassie says "Welcome to my blog about my quest- my quest to knit the entire first level map of Super Mario Brothers", it's not a euphemism. I've Been Looking For That Button What to do when your robot servant becomes self-aware.
Building Click-and-Rotate Content in Flash - Part 1 In one implementation of the QuickTime VR format, known as QTVR Object Movies, the user can click-and-drag an image to seemingly rotate it, as if spinning the real-life object on a lazy Susan. This simulated 3D interactivity can improve multimedia curb appeal, and makes for a nifty way to showcase merchandise. But it doesn't stop there: the same basic principle can also bring click-and-drag responsiveness to short video sequences and even user input widgets, such as the click-and-scrub input fields of numerous Adobe dialog boxes. Adobe often uses click-and-drag input to update text fields. If you're a Flash developer and interested in click-and-drag functionality, you've come to the right tutorial series! Here in Part 1, we'll start by exploring the Flash version of a QTVR Object Movie that rotates an F-15A aircraft. In future articles, we'll work through a common "gotcha" in regard to direction reversal. We'll also load images from external files and explore alternate uses for the same programmatic concept. This free article by author David Stiller can be found here.
Weekly Content Listing CMX JumpStart: Prague Adrian Senior The Prague JumpStart looks at how we can lay out over-lapping elements within our designs and investigates the use of multiple wrappers to ensure that our layout maintains its structure on resize. In previous JumpStarts we have looked at how we can filter our CSS rules to one browser or another; with Prague we will be filtering our CSS in a slightly different way by providing a style sheet to take care of specific navigation problems that can be found in IE 5.01. Introducing CMX JumpStart Prague [FREE] Sheri German It's that time again! CMX is proud to introduce our latest JumpStart design, CMX JumpStart Prague. CMX JumpStart: Prague is a two-column, centered, 770 pixel fixed-width layout that features rounded corners. Multiple wrappers, used in conjunction with faux column technique, maintain the integrity of the structure even upon text resize. Additionally, the JumpStart provides an attractive example of overlapping areas within a design. This JumpStart filters styles for various versions of Internet Explorer, and includes a separate style sheet to address navigation issues found in IE 5.01. Of course Prague meets the W3C standards for CSS and XHTML, as well as the WAI accessibility requirements, too. Editing Vectors with the Reshape Area and Freeform Tools Jim Babbage Vectors are great because you can scale them up or down, and still retain image quality. But what if you aren't much of an artist when it comes to vector shapes? How can you take a simple, blocky drawing and make it look more real, more organic? Fireworks has a couple tools which can help take a simple flat drawing and give it some life: the Reshape Area and Freeform tools. We'll take a look at these tools and some Live Filters as we transform a drab simple t-shirt into an art statement! Processing Submitted HTML Form Data - Part 1 [FREE] Steven Seiller This tutorial will walk through the essentials of processing submitted HTML form data. Whether you are processing information submitted through a contact form, a blog or a content management system, you must understand the essential components of submitted form data in order to process the submitted information. You might process the submitted data with ASP, ColdFusion, PHP or Perl but regardless of the scripting language you choose, the data submitted through the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) remains the same. In Part 1 of this tutorial, we will review the CGI process and the two methods of submitting form data via HTML. Additionally, we will look at the range of form controls at your disposal and the nature of the data returned by each control. In Part 2 of this tutorial, I will use PHP to demonstrate the structure and values of typical form data with sample processing routines. The Processing Submitted HTML Form Data Series: Processing Submitted HTML Form Data - Part 1 Processing Submitted HTML Form Data - Part 2: PHP Coming Soon Photoshop Experiments - Part 2: Basic Filter Fun Scott Valentine Building your core Photoshop skills doesn't have to mean taking classes, or reading books. But you do need to spend some quality time with the application. This means poking around the tender parts and paying attention to cause and effect. One great way to do this is to play with filter effects on abstract images. The results are not usually something you would put up in a portfolio, though you both will be happier in the long run. So, put on your pajamas and get ready for some cuddle time with Photoshop as I kick off this series with a look at building up filter effects. The Experimenting in Photoshop Series: Experimenting in Photoshop - Part 1 Experimenting in Photoshop - Part 2: Basic Filter Fun The jQuery UI Components - Part 2: Draggables Rob Williams The jQuery library goes a long way to help make AJAX-oriented applications easier to develop and deploy. One of the things that makes jQuery stand out from the other libraries available though is its expandibility. The jQuery UI plugins, built on top of the original jQuery library, take that original ease of development and expand it to apply to interactive interface components, rather than just the underlying code that drives them. In this series we're going to look at the various modules and components that make up the jQuery UI system to see how they can help to make building rich interfaces on top of our existing jQuery systems a piece of cake. Today, in the second part of the series we'll begin our explorations of the Core Interaction components by looking at the Draggable extension. The jQuery UI Components Series: The jQuery UI Components - Part 1: Introduction The jQuery UI Components - Part 2: Draggables Sketch-A-Frame Knut Kubenz You've probably tried, or at least read about, the many different ways to create a decorative border or frame around the edge of your images. Some of the methods can be quite complex and then there are other methods which are quite easy and quite predictable. This tutorial will demonstrate more of the latter, although at times not always predictable. The Lasso Tool in Photoshop has long been used as a selection tool to make irregular selections from your image. Today, however, we're going to use the tool to create a decorative frame which can take on all kinds of shapes based upon how you you sketch the selection. Let's begin. Ditching the Chipmunks: Choosing the Right Sample Rate for Flash Audio David Stiller Flash is a terrific Web audio medium for a number of reasons. Most importantly, Flash Player is one of the most popular browser plug-ins in the world. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and even other operating systems, and it works fairly consistently across the board. In addition to that, Flash is capable of loading audio files dynamically. This makes it a popular choice for podcasters, who like to speak their mind, upload an MP3 file, and go. In fact, there are a number of Flash-based MP3 players specifically made for podcasters, such as the PodPress plugin for WordPress. But an interesting bug happens for certain listeners, and it isn't always easy to pin down. Some listeners hear — are you ready for this? — chipmunks. Not the chirping of actual animals, but a too-speedy distortion of the actual recording. Think Alvin and the Chipmunks. Thanks to a change in the way Flash Player 9 handles external audio files, this issue doesn't come up as often as it used to on the forums, but if it happens to you ... now you'll know how to fix it. Flash CS3: A Poor Man's Animation Tool Tom Green Did you know that Flash can actually be used as a "poor man's animation tool" ? You didn't? Let's add to your knowledege,then, shall we? Approximate download size: 32MB Flash-Flex Integration - Part 8: Creating Custom Flex Components with Flash CS3 Joseph Balderson Sometimes, when you're coding a Flex application, don't you just wish you could use a Flash animation, right there? And in Flash, don't you sometimes wish you could use that one class in Flex, or that one component, which would make your life so much easier? It is at such times that a developer encounters the limitations of their tools, be it in Flex or in Flash. This series aims to explore the possibilities inherent in an integrated Flash-Flex workflow, bridging the gap between the two technologies, enabling a greater range of development options. In this tutorial we will examine creating a custom Flex component in Flash CS3 using the Flex Component Kit for Flash CS3. You will learn how to design a Flex button having custom states and timeline animation. A flash-flex component takes advantage of the best of both worlds: Flex state-based events and component-based API, combined with Flash timeline animation. We will also be taking a look at a few best practices for using both Flash CS3- and Flex-compiled files in the same project workflow. And as a bonus, we'll end up with an advanced look at incorporating Flex states with the StateChangeEvent class and the undocumented MovieClip.addFrameScript method. Introducing The Flex MonkeyButton The Flash-Flex Integration Series: Flash-Flex Integration - Part 1: Workflows Flash-Flex Integration - Part 2: Flex 2 Component Skinning Flash-Flex Integration - Part 3: Flex Component Skinning with Scale-9 Flash-Flex Integration - Part 4: Skinning the Scale-9 Flex Component Flash-Flex Integration - Part 5: Building the DragPanel Component Flash-Flex Integration - Part 6: Editing Flash Code in Flex Builder Flash-Flex Integration - Part 7: Coding With Flash Components in Flex Builder Flash-Flex Integration - Part 8: Creating Custom Flex Components with Flash CS3
Photoshop Goes To The Movies Who would have ever thought Photoshop CS3 could be a video creation tool? In this article, which kicks off an irregular series designed to show you how the tools in the CS3 Creative Suite integrate with each other, we create a video that starts in Fireworks CS3 and winds up in Flash. Check out the Article by CMX Partner Tom Green
Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats! This week's Tip, Trick or Dirty Cheat is courtesy of Tom Green, CMX Author Taming The Time Machine When using OSX Leopard I am inevitably informed by Time Machine, the back up utility for Leopard, that the disk is full. Being the "cheap" sort buying a big honking external HD solely for this purpose doesn't make sense. What I have started doing is deleting backups that are greater than 30 days old. To do this: 1) Open the drive where Time Machine stores your backups. 2) Locate a folder on the drive with the name of Backups.backupdb. Open it and you will see a folder with the name of your computer : Tom Green's Computer 3) Open this folder and you will see a whack of dated folders. These are the backups. 4) If today's date is March 31, 2008. I will drag all folders with names of 2008-01-31 or earlier to the Trash. Problem solved. Just be aware that any important files in those folders will be erased from existence and can't be restored. 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!

Newest JumpStart: Lake District

The Lake District in rural North West England is famous for its gorgeous scenery and, of course, lakes. It is also associated with the poetry of William Wordsworth and the Lake Poets. And so to that region we travel for our latest JumpStart design, CMX JumpStart: The Lake District.

CMX JumpStart: The Lake District features an accessible split level navigation system. The main navigation is a series of tabs that uses the Sliding Door method as described by Douglas Bowman. The sub navigation is an unordered list based system, and has rounded corners, as well as a decorative background image on the bottom that is reminiscent of CMX JumpStart North Pole. Both navigation systems provide clear "you are here" page markers. The design is a two column layout fixed at 750px wide, and utilizes subtle gradients on various page areas.

The color scheme of this layout was selected to make sure that the eye goes to the subject matter rather than the design. Thus, The Lake District is composed of black, gray, and white to help make images pop.

Of course The Lake District meets the W3C standards for CSS and XHTML, as well as the WAI accessibility requirements, too.

The package includes the following:

* Documentation
* An extension to easily install The Lake District files from the New Document dialog box
* Five tutorials
* Three style sheets: one main, one for Internet Explorer, and a Design Time style sheet
* Two Fireworks PNG documents for branding the graphics
* A starter page

The Lake District is available for $29.95 to non-members, but is absolutely free to CMX subscribers. Read more about how to make it yours.

* CMX JumpStart The Lake District article for nonmembers and members who would like to read more about its features and see a modified The Lake District design.
* CMX JumpStart The Lake District article for members and for those who would like to purchase The Lake District now.

No News Is Good News?

Community MX apologizes for not putting out our newsletter for a while. We had a lot of folks email us to say that they enjoy the newsletter and were sorry to see it go. Funny thing is, it didn't really go anywhere. It just got put to the side a bit while we were working on other things. We'll be putting the newsletter out on a consistent basis from now on, but you'll probably see it every other week rather than every week. Hey... better than not at all, right?

And Another New JumpStart: Prague

Sheri German: "Our local classical radio stations have offered summer tours of the Imperial Capitals (Budapest, Vienna, and Prague) for years, and my husband and I dream of going on one someday. I have been to Vienna, and adore it - I wanted to move there the minute I stepped foot into its intensely musical environment. My grandfather was from Budapest, so I definitely must go there someday to track down the relatives who still live there. Finally, there is the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, and it is as a tribute to this great city that we introduce our latest JumpStart design, CMX JumpStart Prague."

CMX JumpStart: Prague is a centered, two-column, 770 pixel fixed-width layout that features rounded corners. Multiple wrappers, used in conjunction with the faux column technique, maintain the integrity of the structure even upon text resize. Additionally, the JumpStart provides an attractive example of overlapping areas within a design.

The JumpStart filters styles for various versions of Internet Explorer, and includes a separate style sheet to address navigation issues found in IE 5.01.

Of course Prague meets the W3C standards for CSS and XHTML, as well as the WAI accessibility requirements, too.

Prague is available for $29.95 to non-members, but is absolutely free to CMX subscribers. Read more about how to make it yours.

* CMX JumpStart Prague article for nonmembers and members who would like to read more about its features and see a modified Prague design.
* CMX JumpStart Prague article for members and for those who would like to purchase Prague now.

Linux Catches Some AIR

I don’t use Linux, so it’s never occurred to me that there might be a lack of AIR applications built to run on it. But with Adobe Air For Linux, developers can now build applications they can deploy on Linux systems. “Like what?” I hear you ask. Well, http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-useful-adobe-air-applications-that-work-in-linux/ has a list of AIR applications that weren’t necessarily built just to run on Linux, but will run on it. Some great stuff in there to make users happy. LinuxJournal.com has a great article introducing Linux users to AIR.

What In The World Are You Searching For?

Google Insight just hit the public, and on the surface it looks like a very handy tool for finding trends in searches. For instance, in what year was the term “Duck-billed Platypus” searched for the most, and what country or state searched for it the most? This is the kind of information you can cull from Google Insight, but we’re betting that you can think of better things to do with it than search for trends on the term “duck-billed platypus.” After all, don’t you want to know when the term “Bennifer” really got hot?

Satisfied Customers Speak Out!

"Really good article. Cannot wait for Part 2. Keep up the good work."

- Howard A., CMX Subscriber, commenting on Steven Seiller's article, "Processing Submitted HTML Form Data - Part 1".

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:

"The average user doesn't give a damn what happens, as long as (1) it works and (2) it's fast." — Daniel J. Bernstein

Say It Ain’t So! Oh… You ARE Saying It Ain’t So…

What do you do when your system gets sluggish? Blame the registry? Extra files mucking up your system? A slow hard drive? Bad Windows settings? There are tried and true methods to getting your system back up to speed, but there are some methods that although they are widely rumored to help your computer, really do little or nothing at all. Lifehacker debunks some of the more popular myths that have been going around for years. I have to admit I’ve tried a couple of these, and/or tried products that promised to get my system in top shape again, and I've never been impressed. Now I know why...

I’ve Seen The Future, And It Is… Sorry, But I’m Saving It For Mozilla

The Mozilla Foundation is looking for your help in determining how user interfaces and browsers might look and function in the future. Don’t worry about sending them a finished product. They’re mostly looking for sketched-out ideas that could realistically be developed in an open source environment. Adaptive Path, the folks who made over YouTube.com, teamed up with Mozilla to give hopefuls a good idea of the type of thing they’re looking for, with their fictitious browser, “Aurora.”

It Says “Adobe.” They Wouldn’t Lie, Would They?

This article isn’t for you. We know that you know better than to download malicious software disguised as the real thing on social networking sites like Twitter, right? Of course you do. So do we. We’re going to download Flash Player through Adobe’s website, not from some almost official dialog box that pops up at Twitter. But someone’s clicking those links, otherwise we wouldn’t see so many instances of it happening. It’s probably my sister. In any case, I’ll send her this article from PCWorld.com.

SQL Server At Your Service

SQL Server 2008 has just been released. Microsoft has decided that SQL Server will be available in six different editions, including a Web version for Microsoft’s hosting partners. Didn’t they learn their lesson with the umpteen million versions of Vista? Their Compact and Express versions are free and will fill the needs of the basic developer. Whether or not there is really a compelling to upgrade from your current version of SQL Server is up to you. You can read more about this release at WashingtonPost.com and get more straight from the horse’s mouth at Microsoft.com.

CMX Robot File Dreamweaver Extension

The CMX Robots.txt Creator will create a robots.txt file formatted according to the standards set for this type of file and save it to your local site. Quickly create your robots.txt files with this extension and stop worrying about the syntax!

Take a look at this extension by Paul Davis

Fun and Freebies!

Calvin & Jobs

Pretty much what you'd hope it would be. Calvin and Jobs.

If Her Boyfriend Is The Jolly Green Giant, It Should Fit Fine

When Cassie says "Welcome to my blog about my quest- my quest to knit the entire first level map of Super Mario Brothers", it's not a euphemism.

I've Been Looking For That Button

What to do when your robot servant becomes self-aware.

Building Click-and-Rotate Content in Flash - Part 1

In one implementation of the QuickTime VR format, known as QTVR Object Movies, the user can click-and-drag an image to seemingly rotate it, as if spinning the real-life object on a lazy Susan. This simulated 3D interactivity can improve multimedia curb appeal, and makes for a nifty way to showcase merchandise. But it doesn't stop there: the same basic principle can also bring click-and-drag responsiveness to short video sequences and even user input widgets, such as the click-and-scrub input fields of numerous Adobe dialog boxes. Adobe often uses click-and-drag input to update text fields. If you're a Flash developer and interested in click-and-drag functionality, you've come to the right tutorial series! Here in Part 1, we'll start by exploring the Flash version of a QTVR Object Movie that rotates an F-15A aircraft. In future articles, we'll work through a common "gotcha" in regard to direction reversal. We'll also load images from external files and explore alternate uses for the same programmatic concept.

This free article by author David Stiller can be found here.

Weekly Content Listing

CMX JumpStart: Prague

Adrian Senior

The Prague JumpStart looks at how we can lay out over-lapping elements within our designs and investigates the use of multiple wrappers to ensure that our layout maintains its structure on resize.

In previous JumpStarts we have looked at how we can filter our CSS rules to one browser or another; with Prague we will be filtering our CSS in a slightly different way by providing a style sheet to take care of specific navigation problems that can be found in IE 5.01.

Introducing CMX JumpStart Prague [FREE]

Sheri German

It's that time again! CMX is proud to introduce our latest JumpStart design, CMX JumpStart Prague. CMX JumpStart: Prague is a two-column, centered, 770 pixel fixed-width layout that features rounded corners. Multiple wrappers, used in conjunction with faux column technique, maintain the integrity of the structure even upon text resize. Additionally, the JumpStart provides an attractive example of overlapping areas within a design. This JumpStart filters styles for various versions of Internet Explorer, and includes a separate style sheet to address navigation issues found in IE 5.01. Of course Prague meets the W3C standards for CSS and XHTML, as well as the WAI accessibility requirements, too.

Editing Vectors with the Reshape Area and Freeform Tools

Jim Babbage

Vectors are great because you can scale them up or down, and still retain image quality. But what if you aren't much of an artist when it comes to vector shapes? How can you take a simple, blocky drawing and make it look more real, more organic?

Fireworks has a couple tools which can help take a simple flat drawing and give it some life: the Reshape Area and Freeform tools. We'll take a look at these tools and some Live Filters as we transform a drab simple t-shirt into an art statement!

Processing Submitted HTML Form Data - Part 1 [FREE]

Steven Seiller

This tutorial will walk through the essentials of processing submitted HTML form data. Whether you are processing information submitted through a contact form, a blog or a content management system, you must understand the essential components of submitted form data in order to process the submitted information. You might process the submitted data with ASP, ColdFusion, PHP or Perl but regardless of the scripting language you choose, the data submitted through the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) remains the same.

In Part 1 of this tutorial, we will review the CGI process and the two methods of submitting form data via HTML. Additionally, we will look at the range of form controls at your disposal and the nature of the data returned by each control. In Part 2 of this tutorial, I will use PHP to demonstrate the structure and values of typical form data with sample processing routines.

The Processing Submitted HTML Form Data Series:
Processing Submitted HTML Form Data - Part 1
Processing Submitted HTML Form Data - Part 2: PHP Coming Soon

Photoshop Experiments - Part 2: Basic Filter Fun

Scott Valentine

Building your core Photoshop skills doesn't have to mean taking classes, or reading books. But you do need to spend some quality time with the application. This means poking around the tender parts and paying attention to cause and effect.

One great way to do this is to play with filter effects on abstract images. The results are not usually something you would put up in a portfolio, though you both will be happier in the long run.

So, put on your pajamas and get ready for some cuddle time with Photoshop as I kick off this series with a look at building up filter effects.

The Experimenting in Photoshop Series:
Experimenting in Photoshop - Part 1
Experimenting in Photoshop - Part 2: Basic Filter Fun

The jQuery UI Components - Part 2: Draggables

Rob Williams

The jQuery library goes a long way to help make AJAX-oriented applications easier to develop and deploy. One of the things that makes jQuery stand out from the other libraries available though is its expandibility. The jQuery UI plugins, built on top of the original jQuery library, take that original ease of development and expand it to apply to interactive interface components, rather than just the underlying code that drives them.

In this series we're going to look at the various modules and components that make up the jQuery UI system to see how they can help to make building rich interfaces on top of our existing jQuery systems a piece of cake. Today, in the second part of the series we'll begin our explorations of the Core Interaction components by looking at the Draggable extension.

The jQuery UI Components Series:
The jQuery UI Components - Part 1: Introduction
The jQuery UI Components - Part 2: Draggables

Sketch-A-Frame

Knut Kubenz

You've probably tried, or at least read about, the many different ways to create a decorative border or frame around the edge of your images. Some of the methods can be quite complex and then there are other methods which are quite easy and quite predictable. This tutorial will demonstrate more of the latter, although at times not always predictable.

The Lasso Tool in Photoshop has long been used as a selection tool to make irregular selections from your image. Today, however, we're going to use the tool to create a decorative frame which can take on all kinds of shapes based upon how you you sketch the selection. Let's begin.

Ditching the Chipmunks: Choosing the Right Sample Rate for Flash Audio

David Stiller

Flash is a terrific Web audio medium for a number of reasons. Most importantly, Flash Player is one of the most popular browser plug-ins in the world. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and even other operating systems, and it works fairly consistently across the board. In addition to that, Flash is capable of loading audio files dynamically. This makes it a popular choice for podcasters, who like to speak their mind, upload an MP3 file, and go. In fact, there are a number of Flash-based MP3 players specifically made for podcasters, such as the PodPress plugin for WordPress.

But an interesting bug happens for certain listeners, and it isn't always easy to pin down. Some listeners hear — are you ready for this? — chipmunks. Not the chirping of actual animals, but a too-speedy distortion of the actual recording. Think Alvin and the Chipmunks. Thanks to a change in the way Flash Player 9 handles external audio files, this issue doesn't come up as often as it used to on the forums, but if it happens to you ... now you'll know how to fix it.

Flash CS3: A Poor Man's Animation Tool

Tom Green

Did you know that Flash can actually be used as a "poor man's animation tool" ? You didn't? Let's add to your knowledege,then, shall we?

Approximate download size: 32MB

Flash-Flex Integration - Part 8: Creating Custom Flex Components with Flash CS3

Joseph Balderson

Sometimes, when you're coding a Flex application, don't you just wish you could use a Flash animation, right there? And in Flash, don't you sometimes wish you could use that one class in Flex, or that one component, which would make your life so much easier? It is at such times that a developer encounters the limitations of their tools, be it in Flex or in Flash. This series aims to explore the possibilities inherent in an integrated Flash-Flex workflow, bridging the gap between the two technologies, enabling a greater range of development options.

In this tutorial we will examine creating a custom Flex component in Flash CS3 using the Flex Component Kit for Flash CS3. You will learn how to design a Flex button having custom states and timeline animation. A flash-flex component takes advantage of the best of both worlds: Flex state-based events and component-based API, combined with Flash timeline animation.

We will also be taking a look at a few best practices for using both Flash CS3- and Flex-compiled files in the same project workflow. And as a bonus, we'll end up with an advanced look at incorporating Flex states with the StateChangeEvent class and the undocumented MovieClip.addFrameScript method.

Introducing The Flex MonkeyButton

The Flash-Flex Integration Series:
Flash-Flex Integration - Part 1: Workflows
Flash-Flex Integration - Part 2: Flex 2 Component Skinning
Flash-Flex Integration - Part 3: Flex Component Skinning with Scale-9
Flash-Flex Integration - Part 4: Skinning the Scale-9 Flex Component
Flash-Flex Integration - Part 5: Building the DragPanel Component
Flash-Flex Integration - Part 6: Editing Flash Code in Flex Builder
Flash-Flex Integration - Part 7: Coding With Flash Components in Flex Builder
Flash-Flex Integration - Part 8: Creating Custom Flex Components with Flash CS3

Photoshop Goes To The Movies

Who would have ever thought Photoshop CS3 could be a video creation tool? In this article, which kicks off an irregular series designed to show you how the tools in the CS3 Creative Suite integrate with each other, we create a video that starts in Fireworks CS3 and winds up in Flash.

Check out the Article by CMX Partner Tom Green

Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats!

This week's Tip, Trick or Dirty Cheat is courtesy of Tom Green, CMX Author

Taming The Time Machine

When using OSX Leopard I am inevitably informed by Time Machine, the back up utility for Leopard, that the disk is full. Being the "cheap" sort buying a big honking external HD solely for this purpose doesn't make sense.

What I have started doing is deleting backups that are greater than 30 days old. To do this:

1) Open the drive where Time Machine stores your backups.
2) Locate a folder on the drive with the name of Backups.backupdb. Open it and you will see a folder with the name of your computer : Tom Green's Computer
3) Open this folder and you will see a whack of dated folders. These are the backups.
4) If today's date is March 31, 2008. I will drag all folders with names of 2008-01-31 or earlier to the Trash.

Problem solved. Just be aware that any important files in those folders will be erased from existence and can't be restored.

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!