I'm writing this blog under duress. Laurie Casolino passed the baton to me, so here is my (meager) list of Macromedia schwag:

1. ColdFusion T-shirt
2. Macromedia Central lunchbox
3. Macromedia Central "Flash Unplugged" T-shirt
4. Flash "gotoAndPlay()" T-shirt

What I really want is one of those cool bags Robert Reinhardt had at FlashForward. Actually, what I really want is to be Robert Reinhardt.

Today, Community MX released the CMX Slideshow extension. This component for Flash MX 2004, pro or standard, enables you to load and display external JPEGs and SWFs in a Flash slideshow. You can specify which files to load using an array or an external XML file, and define properties such as pauseInterval and transition using the Property inspector.

Some of the cool features:

• Customizable captions (font, size, color)
• Display images at actual size, scaled to fit, centered, or padded
• Choose from 10 different transitions
• Optional slide hyperlinks
• Select your own background colors for the slideshow and captions
• Display a fallback slide if the selected JPEG or SWF cannot be found

If you like working with ActionScript, the Slideshow API supports the v2 broadcaster/listener event model. In addition, the accompanying article explains how to use the methods, properties, and events of the Slideshow class to create your own controls. The package includes two FLAs, sample media files, a sample XML file, and CMXSlideshow.mxp.

The CMX Slideshow component is completely free to CMX subscribers, so if you've been thinking about joining, this is a good excuse.

If you haven't noticed, Google Desktop quietly came out of beta a couple weeks ago. I didn't install the beta because there was no support for Firefox, but Google Desktop now supports Firefox, Mozilla, and Internet Explorer, as well as Thunderbird, Netscape Mail, and Outlook.

I just installed it last week and it's truly astonishing - not to mention a bit creepy - to find every file, every Word doc, every image, every email, and every newsgroup post that contains the word you're searching. Even conversations you don't remember having! Surprisingly, it doesn't search your Gmail account, but maybe that option will be added to a future version.

Like other Google inventions, Google Desktop changes the way you think of personal computing. For example, you can install Larry's Any Text File Indexer plug-in and use it to search your ActionScript files. You can use the Developer Search API to generate a slideshow or an MP3 playlist from a query. What about using GDS to maintain a personal journal? Just send an email to your Gmail account every day and you'll have a threaded, searchable diary.

If you're thinking of installing Google Desktop, check out these terrific tips. I used this tip to move the index file from my C (6 GB free) to my E drive (80 GB free). Unfortunately, Google Desktop didn't index some folders on my E drive, so I'm going to use this tip to force a re-index.

Here's another tip. If you want to search Google Desktop from Firefox, Mozilla, or Netscape, download our free Community MX Sidebar. This Flash-based extension (requires FP7) adds a tabbed sidebar that displays the latest CMX articles, and enables you to create and save custom searches. Once the extension is installed, here's how you add Google Desktop to your list of search engines:

1. Select the Search tab on the CMX Sidebar.
2. Click the down arrow next to Go to reveal the search editor.
3. Click the Plus (+) button to add a new search.
4. Enter "Google Desktop" in the first text box.
5. Enter your GDS URL in the second text box.
6. Click Test Search.

What is your GDS URL? When you conduct a Google Desktop search, you'll notice it has the following format:

http://localhost:4664/search&s=[Security token]?q=cmx&btnG=Search+Desktop

The easiest way to add this URL to the CMX Sidebar is to search a word with Google Desktop, copy the URL from your browser's address bar, and paste it into the second text box. Remember to replace the search term - cmx in the example above - with %s. The revised URL looks like this:

http://localhost:4664/search&s=[Security token]?q=%s&btnG=Search+Desktop

When you're finished, simply select Google Desktop from the combo box, type your query, and press Enter. The results of your GDS search are displayed in the main browser window. You can also search Google Desktop by creating a bookmark keyword, or by installing this free search plugin for Firefox.

Just read an interesting article on TechWeb about Macromedia's new licensing agreement with Nokia. According to the article, "Nokia would incorporate Flash development tools within the tool sets Nokia provides to the 1.8 million registered developers in its Forum Nokia community, opening up a 'huge' market for Macromedia."

Flash Lite 1.1 is already bundled with Samsung handsets, but this announcement means that Macromedia "now has agreements with two of the top five handset makers."

You can learn more about Flash Lite, and download the Content Development Kit (CDK), in the Mobile and Devices Developer Center. Developers can also purchase Flash Lite Player from Macromedia for US $10. Here is a list of currently supported devices.

I'm looking forward to the day when Flash is installed on digital VCRs such as TiVo. The latest announcement about IPTV, and its interactive features, is an important first step. Let's just hope we don't have to purchase Norton AntiVirus for Microsoft TV...

Here's a weird one. I recently completed a Flash application in which two combo boxes and a list share the same data provider. Everything worked fine until I stored the array in a shared object. Then the List component began to display multiple selections, even though the multipleSelection property was set to false.

Several hours later, I looped through the contents of the shared object. Turns out, it was storing the DataProvider.__ID__ property. And what's more it was storing duplicate values. Hence the multiple selections. The workaround was to loop through the shared object and delete every __ID__ property. Of course, this largely defeats the purpose of using the DataProvider API.

var len:Number = myCookie.aEngines.length;

for(var i:Number=0;i<len;i++){
	if(myCookie.aEngines[i].__ID__ != undefined){
		// remove DataProvider.__ID__ property
		delete myCookie.aEngines[i].__ID__;
	}
}

This is one of the things that drives me nuts about the v2 components. One shouldn't have to spend half a day debugging issues like this. If the DataProvider class had been more carefully written, all of this could have been avoided. For example, this is the code that generates the __ID__ property, which is "used in data-aware components to keep lists of what items are selected" (see LiveDocs):

//::: Adds a "lazy" Unique ID facility to all objects.
Object.prototype.LargestID = 0;
Object.prototype.getID = function()
{
	if (this.__ID__==undefined) {
		this.__ID__ = Object.prototype.LargestID++;
		_global.ASSetPropFlags(this, "__ID__",1);
	}
	return this.__ID__;
}
_global.ASSetPropFlags(Object.prototype, "LargestID",1);
_global.ASSetPropFlags(Object.prototype, "getID",1);

Why isn't __ID__ a private property, and why doesn't the DataProvider class generate a truly unique ID?

If Flash is going to be adopted as a reliable platform for deploying Rich Internet Applications, the components have to work all of the time - not just most of the time. That's why there's already great anticipation about Grant Skinner's GLIC components: developers are clamoring for reliable Flash components.

So here's my wish list for the next iteration of the Flash components. They must be:

• Reliable
• Lightweight
• Easily skinned
• Easily styled
• Easily extended
• Less CPU-intensive

While we're at it, creating your own components is not exactly a walk in the park either. Looking forward to 8-Ball... ;-)

PayPal users: watch out for the latest phishing scam. This one is particularly nefarious: it looks like a legitimate PayPal email and links to a fake version of the PayPal web site. The subject line is "PayPal Account Security Measures" and the sender's email address is service@paypal.com. Make sure your anti-virus software is up to date because its payload may also contain a virus or spyware.

As a follow-up to our three-part series, "Creating a Custom Flash Video Player," yesterday Community MX released the CMX Flash Video Player component. This extension for both versions of Flash MX 2004 enables you to easily add progressive Flash video to your Flash applications.

The CMX Flash Video Player features a play/pause button, FLV download progress bar, real-time scrubbing, volume slider, and mute button. And because the extension uses the NetConnection and NetStream classes, the SWF file it generates is only 5 kilobytes in size.

We've had such a good response to this series, we're going to offer a Dreamweaver 2004 version of CMX Flash Video Player in the next couple weeks. The Dreamweaver extension is a Flash Element that inserts the video player into an HTML page. You simply browse to an FLV file in your site and you're good to go.

Both extensions, as well as the entire three-part series, are absolutely free to CMX subscribers. For more information, visit www.communitymx.com/joincmx.cfm.

Recently, I was able to try out the new MovieClipLoader class in a project that is targeted at Flash Player 7. It was a breeze to use and greatly simplified loading a dozen external JPEGs and SWFs into empty movie clips created at run-time. The best part is that you can use a single instance of MovieClipLoader to load as many files as you want. And you can monitor multiple files with the same set of listeners because MovieClipLoader.onLoadInit and MovieClipLoader.onLoadComplete are passed a reference to the target movie clip.

However, I did run into a snag with MovieClipLoader.onLoadError. I was using this listener to load a fallback image if the JPEG or SWF failed to load. Everything worked fine in the test player, but onLoadError wasn't invoked when I ran the movie on ColdFusion 6.1. After banging my head against a wall for several hours, Robert Reinhardt suggested I try another web server. The same SWF file invoked onLoadError on IIS. At this point, I can only assume that MovieClipLoader.onLoadError is triggered by 404 Not Found, and that for some reason, ColdFusion doesn't return this http status code to Flash. I tried tinkering with ColdFusion's settings to no avail. Fortunately, my client is using IIS, but I figured I'd post this in case others encounter the same problem.

It was with great trepidation that I finally installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) on Friday. I know the darn thing's been available since August, but I didn't have time for it until now.

Fortunately, I Googled SP2 for issues before installing it from the CD-ROM I ordered. According to some newsgroup posts, only Norton AntiVirus 2004 and 2005 are compatible with SP2. However, after following the instructions on Neville Hobson's blog, SP2 recognized my copy of NAV 2002. I should add that installing the WMI component via Live Update required two reboots of Windows XP. I updated NAV before installing SP2, but the blog implies NAV can also be updated after SP2 is installed.

I wish I could say the same about Flash MX Professional 2004. The first time I launched it after installing SP2, my CPU spiked to 100% and I had to end the flash.exe process. The second time I launched Flash 2004, I got as far as the Start Page, and then Flash locked up again. Not even the Flash MX 2004 Hotfix made a difference. I was prepared to uninstall/reinstall Flash 2004, or worse, use System Restore to return XP Pro to its pre-SP2 state. In the end, the solution was double-clicking an FLA file in Windows Explorer. Once it opened, I disabled the Start Page in Flash's Preferences. After launching and quitting Flash 2004 a couple times, I was able to enable the Start Page again. I still have no idea what caused this issue, and why this workaround was necessary.

I'm happy to report that Dreamweaver MX 2004 and ColdFusion MX 6.1 appear to be functioning normally. So far, I haven't experienced the overall system slowdown that some SP2 users are reporting, although deleting files in Windows Explorer seems to take forever now.

Macromedia has created an XP Service Pack 2 Support Center to explain issues that arise with Flash Player, Dreamweaver, ColdFusion, and other MM applications. You can also find out more about SP2 on Microsoft's web site.

OK, I'm convinced. After spending the last month on a Flash video project, I'm never using QuickTime, Windows Media Player, or RealPlayer on a web site again. I created a single FLV file using Sorenson Squeeze 4.0, built a custom Flash video player, and the darn thing works on every browser and platform I can get my hands on. So far, I've tested it on IE6, Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, and Opera. On OS X, it works on Firefox, IE, Netscape, and Safari.

Prior to this, I was using a ColdFusion page that sniffs the user's browser and platform and generates the appropriate code to embed QuickTime, Windows Media, or RealPlayer (assuming the user already has one of the plug-ins installed). That's so 20th century!

To spur the revolution, I've begun a three-part series called "Creating a Custom Flash Video (FLV) Player" for Community MX. Part 1, which was released today, is about building a custom Flash video player using the MediaDisplay component. You'll see how easy it is to create a full-featured Flash video player that you can use on your web sites, complete with play/pause, FLV download progress bar, volume slider, and real-time scrubbing. There's even an external XML configuration file.

Part 2, due in a week or so, shows how to create the same player using Flash's built-in NetConnection and NetStream classes. This results in a much smaller SWF file (2K versus 58K).

Part 3 rounds out the series by explaining how to convert the custom Flash video player into a resuable Flash component.

If you've been curious about how to get started with Flash video, this is the series for you. I hope you enjoy it.

Recently, I've noticed that Flash Remoting data is blocked by Mozilla-based browsers if they're connected to the Internet using an HTTP proxy server. My satellite broadband provider uses a proxy server, and so does AOL. I suspect that other major ISPs, like Earthlink and Road Runner, do as well. I Googled the subject but was only able to find one question in the macromedia.flash.flash_remoting newsgroup.

Of course, the workaround is to use Internet Explorer or disable the HTTP proxy in Netscape or Firefox, but that degrades the browser's performance. Currently, Macromedia Flex and Flash Communication Server both offer HTTP tunneling solutions to overcome this (see the following FlashComm article on DevNet).

Has anyone discovered a solution to this for Flash Remoting?

It appears that Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) has finally arrived. Returned to my desk tonight to find Automatic Updates prompting me to download it. The dialog also provides this link for more information about the update:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/

I don't know if this patch is more reliable than SP1, which I ordered on CD-ROM, but I'm not taking any chances. Fortunately, this time Microsoft is offering to ship the CD-ROM to customers free of charge (last time it was $10). You can order the CD here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/

As of today, the CD is only available in English and German. Versions for other languages will be made available in September.

If you're running ColdFusion on XP, you should read this Macromedia TechNote about "Enabling ColdFusion MX and ColdFusion MX 6.1 on Windows XP Service Pack 2 with the Windows Firewall Enabled."

As for me, I'm going to wait the 4-6 weeks for my CD to be delivered. Hopefully, by then, all the SP2 hotfixes will be available. ;-)

The results of our first CMX poll indicate that, for most of you, Dreamweaver is the text editor of choice. (Granted, calling DW a text editor is a bit of an understatement.) What surprises me is the second-highest response: Other. Just out of curiosity, what other text editors are you using? jEdit? HTML-Kit? SciTE|Flash? NoteTab Pro?

As of today, these are the results to the question, What is your favorite text editor?

If you missed the first poll, you can still vote by selecting Text Editor from the combo box on the Archive tab. The new poll asks the question, How important is making your code standards-compliant? By this we mean adhering to web standards set forth by the W3C, the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), and so forth.