Wednesday, April 18th, 2007
CMX Weekly Newsletter
Check the News!
TODCon 2007 Announced
For the few who haven't experienced it yet, TODCon is the most informative yet informal Adobe-related event you're going to find. Whether you're a seasoned veteran of Macromedia products or just starting out, you will have a great time learning a great deal from many knowledgeable speakers about CSS, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, ColdFusion, Flash, Central and even about running your business properly. Those who attend usually end up coming back every year because of the unique and informal atmosphere. You don't want to miss out on this event. This year, TODCon will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada. We predict that this year's turnout will be even bigger than last year's.
You're invited to register for this fantastic, one of a kind event. Hurry, so you can get the early bird registration fee.
New Community MX Author
Please join us in welcoming Bevi Chagnon as our newest author here at Community MX. Bevi has a wealth of experience in many aspects of print and design. She is a designer, trainer and consultant for print and web publishing. Founder of PubCom, a technology consulting firm in Washington, DC. Principal of i-Imagery Design, a print and web design firm for government agencies, non-profits, and businesses. Senior instructor for the US Government Printing Office's Institute for Federal Printing and Electronic Publishing. Former adjunct faculty member at George Washington University and other colleges. Frequent contributor on several digital media forums. Co-chair of the Washington DC Acrobat User Group. Adobe ACE: InDesign. And owner of 2 Shetland sheepdogs, Sasha and Sedona. She has written two articles for CMX so far: Acrobat PDF 102: PDF Ground Rules for Press, Print and Web and Acrobat PDF 102: PDF Ground Rules for Press, Print and Web. We look forward to more great work from Bevi.
Hot Off The Flex Press
Joseph Balderson, one of our CMX authors, is on top of all things Flash, and posted the following:
Flex 2.0.1 patch for Flash CS3 Professional compatibility
And of course there's:
Flex 2.0.1 SDK Hotfix 1
Plus the new Flash Player 9,0,45:
Here's the Debugger version
Player 9,0,45 Release Notes
Reading the fine print in the player release notes...The new AS 3.0 components will only work bug-free in the new Flash Player 9,0,45.
Adobe CS3 Starts Shipping
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Standard and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Standard editions are shipping out, starting today. I looked at my orders today at Adobe's website, but I see my copy of Web Premium hasn't shipped yet, so some of us will just have to wait patiently, while biting our nails and fidgeting... patiently. MacDailyNews.com has the skinny on the other standalone products that have been made immediately available as well.
Some Things All Of Us Need To Know
When you're starting out with web development or graphic design, it can be tough to start gathering enough clients to earn a living. As a result, some folks go against their better judgement and compromise some basic principles simply to get their business started. But there are some things you shouldn't compromise on, and DesignerMind.com has layed a few of them out for you. My personal favorite is number one, where the client says they can't pay you much, but they know that the exposure you get from building their website will be totally worth the money you won't be receiving. That kind of attitude just begs a big old ROFL.
Satisfied Customers Speak Out!
-
"Now I know--very helpful article! I look forward to seeing more"
CMX Subscriber Bob B., commenting on Bevi Chagnon's tutorial "Acrobat PDF 102: PDF Ground Rules for Press, Print and Web"
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:
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." — Albert Einstein
Make Firefox A Lean, Mean Browsing Machine
Zolved.com has a good article on reducing memory usage in Firefox. Their tips include disabling extensions you are not currently using, restarting Firefox occassionally and a few other tips that could speed up Firefox and stop it from affecting your computer's performance. They also mention that you should make sure you're using the most current version of Firefox, as it's a bit easier on your system resources.
Now You'll Be Able To Spot Them A Mile Away
Some people dabble in web or graphic design while others are in it for the long haul, working at it full-time. If you think you might be a web or graphic designer, but you're not sure, there's a simple way to find out. Go to Bittbox.com and check out their article entitled "25 reasons you might be a web or graphic designer." My favorite is "You’ve learned your lesson and stopped using the word “final” in any file name when saving."
Google Taking On Powerpoint? Nooooo.... (wink wink)
According to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Google's newest "Google App" is not being set up as a competitor to Microsoft's Powerpoint software. Google already has web-based applications that mirror much of the functionality of Microsoft's Word and Excel apps, and their new presentation application shares many similarities with Powerpoint. But Schmidt says that no competition exists because "We're not as fully functional as MS Office -- we're more in line with how people use the web than how they use the desktop." This article at InfoWorld.com suggests that Google is being deliberately coy about the threat that their free applications might pose to Microsoft, if only to stay clear of Microsoft's wrath.
Wii Can Make You a Rock Star
The Nintendo Wii has made a huge difference in how people are playing video games. While it's a great gaming experience right out of the box, some folks are finding out how easy it is to customize the Wii to do some other pretty cool, non-game related things. For instance, NintendoWiiFanBoy.com has a video showing the Wii being used to mimic a guitar, including chord variations and strumming.
Win Ben Stein's Conversation Tips
A lot of people know Ben Stein as the host of television's "Win Ben Stein's Money", but he was once Richard Nixon's speech writer. The guy gets around. Stein has written article we found at Yahoo.com that deals with holding your own during a business-related conversation. His number one tip: "Begin by knowing that the people you're talking to mostly want to talk about themselves." Wise advice from a guy who knows. He also re-states the fact that business and politics/religion do not mix in conversation.
CMX User Password Component
- 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 ColdFusion component by CMX Partner Arman Danesh
Fun and Freebies
Quickest Way To Get From New York To France
Google Maps is great for getting directions to anywhere within your city, state or country. But what about getting somewhere overseas? Simple. Check it out, and read the directions very carefully.Read This Whenever You Want A Huge Case Of The Heeby-Jeebies
We've got several Canadians on board here at Community MX. One of them is Tom Green, and he provided this link to an article at TheStar.com which describes a Canadian drink called "the sourtoe." That's all we're gonna say. Thanks a lot, Tom.
So? What Are You Gonna Do About It?
See Kyle. See Kyle's wanna-be Web 2.0 blog. See Kyle describe his love of free speech. Speak, Kyle, Speak. See Kyle talk about how he's thinking about pirating Adobe's Creative Suite 3. See Kyle put his foot in his mouth (see the column on the right). Dumb, Kyle, dumb.
Deconstructing MySpace.com Part 1 - Social Networking Database
- MySpace is the social networking phenomenon that is sweeping the nation. Having recently been sold for US$580 Million, it is plain to see that the format has a value, and indeed, just about everyone I know below the age of 25 has a MySpace account. The reason MySpace works is because it puts the control of the content in the hands of the users, and by catering to the social aspects of the human condition has found itself in an enviable position of mass appeal despite some criticism. The purpose of this, first of many articles is to deconstruct the application -- in this case, MySpace.com -- and show you how to build your own. I believe that the lessons that can be gleaned from learning how a successful site is constructed are plentiful and valuable. Namely, the ability for the users of your site to connect to each other. The first thing we will look at is what database structure would be required to implement the social networking aspect of MySpace.com. The examples will be in the context of SQL Server 2005, but the knowledge should be transferable to other RDBMSs.
This free article by CMX Partner Joel Martinez can be found here.
Weekly Content Listing
Using the Flash CS3 FLVPlayback UI Components
Living in an ActionScript-free zone when it comes to Flash video has arrived.
Approximate download size: 2.7MB
18 FREE Software Tools You Need to Use! [FREE]
Everyone likes FREE. Find some software that is free and actually really good, comparable or better than the commercial applications in the same field.
Getting Productive with Adobe Bridge: Fireworks CS3 Integration
For years, Fireworks users have been clamouring for some method of browsing and previewing files without having to go into Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder. Something seamless, that actually worked with Fireworks. Heck, it got to the point where many of us would have been happy with the equivalent of the Files tab from Dreamweaver. But now, the wait is over.
Now that Fireworks has become part of the Adobe fold, this wish has come true! Adobe Fireworks CS3 is now integrated with Adobe Bridge CS3. I have written several articles on Community MX with respect to Bridge CS2, but at that time, Fireworks and Bridge were not communicating to each other. With the launch of the CS3 Suite, not only is there far more communication between former Macromedia and Adobe apps, Bridge CS3 has gotten a massive cosmetic and functional overhaul. From a visual perspective alone, Bridge CS2 and CS3 look completely different.
InDesign CS3: New and Improved Features for Designers [FREE]
The first version of InDesign was released in 1999. Since then it has made huge strides in the industry and has worked at becoming a standard part of the designer's and publisher's arsenal.
InDesign CS3 continues to improve by adding new tools, improving existing controls and building on its creative features. Additionlly, long document publishers and users needing expert features will be happy to see InDesign CS3's improvements.
In this article we will take a look at some of the new features that will improve productivity and performance for the average design project. The features covered will include:
- Workspace Enhancements
- Custom Workspaces
- Agate Measurement Units
- Enhanced Transparency and Effects
- Enhanced File placement
- Fast Frame Fitting
- Improved Text wraps
- Improved Glyphs panel
- Expanded Quick Apply
The Dreamweaver Web Standards Lesson Plan Series Part Six
In lesson five of the Dreamweaver Web Standards series, you created a comp, or design prototype, of the Shakespeare layout. You then exported five images from the slices you drew in the comp.
In this part of the series, you'll use those exported images to set backgrounds on various regions of the layout. In the process, you will explore many of the options for setting background images. You will also learn fundamentals of div behavior that affect the display of background colors and images. Finally, you will work through exercises that guide you in modifying "CMX JumpStart Stratford-on-Avon" so that you can use it for your own projects.
Approximate download size: 960k
The Dreamweaver Web Standards Lesson Plan Series:
The Dreamweaver Web Standards Lesson Plan Series - Part 1
The Dreamweaver Web Standards Lesson Plan Series - Part 2
The Dreamweaver Web Standards Lesson Plan Series - Part 3
The Dreamweaver Web Standards Lesson Plan Series - Part 4
The Dreamweaver Web Standards Lesson Plan Series - Part 5
The Dreamweaver Web Standards Lesson Plan Series - Part 6
FusionDebug 2.0 - Variables
This is the final article in our series on FusionDebug 2.0, an interactive ColdFusion debugger. While we have looked at configuration, setting breakpoints within a template and stepping thru a CFC to examine the results of a query within the Variables panel, we have not looked at one of the most important functions of FusionDebug.
Variable Introspection is very powerful in that we don't have to use <cfdump> to see what various scoped variables contain. As well as with FusionDebug 2.0 we can also change the values contained within those variables which makes it a great way to test a ColdFusion application and change values during run-time to see how certain sections of code will work.
In this article we will look at a couple of examples on changing a variables value during run-time.
The FusionDebug Series
FusionDebug 2.0 - Configurations
FusionDebug 2.0 - Setting Breakpoints
FusionDebug 2.0 - Stepping Through a CFC
FusionDebug 2.0 - Variables
Using the Flash CS3 FLVPlayback Component
Adobe may just have pulled off the "seemingly impossible": They made something that was dead simple to use, even easier to use.
Approximate download size: 12MB
Create a Teaser Thumbnail List Using CSS: Part 1 - **Updated** [FREE]
"Teaser thumbnail lists" are those lists of items made up of a title, short description, and thumbnail. They're often used to provide short teasers that link to more information about the products, articles, or sections of the site being listed. This tutorial will go over one way to structure the XHTML and CSS to create such a list that maximizes flexibility for the site owner and accessibility for the end user. The resulting list will feature a fixed-width, grid-like design, with the thumbnails aligned to the left and the title and description for each item sitting to the right. All with only 23 lines of CSS!
This updated version of the original tutorial, published in March 2006, includes slightly modified CSS to allow the list to accept text that is very short or images that are very tall without overlaps occuring. Fortunately, the CSS required for this enhancement is not significantly more than the CSS required for the first version, so even if you don't anticipate having short text or tall images, it's best to use this new version from now on.
Using the CS3 Studio Flash Video Encoder
Sporting a brand new look and a feature that will knock your socks off, the CS3 version of the Flash Video Encoder may just be a the sleeper hit of the Studio.
Approximate download size: 8.4MB
Understanding the New Dreamweaver CS3 CSS Layouts
Today, more designers and developers than ever are adopting web standards to deliver their content. One example is the migration from table-based layouts to cascading style sheets (CSS). And while the benefits of embracing web standards such as CSS include a more flexible and robust cross-browser site design, many people don’t have the time to learn brand new ways to get their work done.
Dreamweaver CS3 helps by offering CSS Layouts that not only get your page up and running quicly, they also help you learn by providing extensive inline comments in the code. Most site designs on the web can be categorized as one-, two-, or three-column layouts, each with a number of additional elements (such as headers, footers, etc.).
Dreamweaver offers a comprehensive list of essential layout designs, which enable you to start using CSS with the click of the mouse.
In this article, we will discuss the CSS Layouts in Dreamweaver CS3, what they are, how to access them, and what to watch for as you utilize them in your projects.
Creating a Simple Blog, Part I
- Many people ask "how can I build my own blog?" This tutorial will show how to create a simple blog using point-and-click features of Dreamweaver. For that reason, this tutorial can be followed for any server model that Dreamweaver supports.
Check out the Article by CMX partner Tom Muck
Tips, Tricks and Dirty Cheats!
This week's Tip, Trick or Dirty Cheat is courtesy of CMX partner Kim Cavanaugh
A Tip for Flash Video
When designing compositions that include a video player in Flash I like to take a screenshot of the player in a browser window. I can then use that bitmap image in a guide layer to help in designing the rest of the interface and for making decisions on skinning the player.
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!