mercoledì, marzo 29, 2006

WPF/E

A very interesting forward from a colleague.

As MS Developer Mike Harsh notes on his blog, Microsoft has announced its proposed release dates for the WPF/E project. WPF/E, which stands for Windows Presentation Foundation "Everywhere", aims to bring the rich application environment available with Microsoft's .NET platform to other, non-Windows platforms and mobile devices.

There's been talk among the hardcore .NET programmers that WPF/E could give Flash a serious run for its money as the dominant cross-platform rich media application technology. Of course, WPF/E is still a very young technology, but the trends are promising.

WPF/E uses the extensible markup language XAML to create and control user interfaces. XAML (pronounced "Zammel") is similar in structure to the other XML-based UI languages currently in use. Mozilla uses XUL and Macromedia apps (Flash, ColdFusion, Flex) use MXML. WPF/E uses _JScript to handle user interactions, much like how Flash uses ActionScript. So, think of what you can do using Flash in the browser and you get a pretty good idea of the potential of a technology like WPF/E.

Now if only we could do something about that clumsy name... The old name for WPF was "Avalon", so how about something like "Avalone"? Rhymes with abalone? Anyone?

Converting MS Word Content to HTML in Dreamweaver 8


I was just converting a Word document to HTML and stumbled upon a really helpful new feature in Dreamweaver 8. The Dreamweaver 8 New Features and Benefits calls it the “paste special” feature:

Paste special
Spend less time wrestling content from e-mail and Microsoft Word into formats. With new pasting options in Dreamweaver, retain all the source formatting created in Microsoft Word, or just take the text and apply the CSS already attached to the page.

What this text doesn’t mention, and I find especially neat, is that they have built in the functionality that the last few releases of Contribute has: you can simply drag a Word document into a Dreamweaver document and be prompted to how to convert the entire file.

Only Cool Computers Get Flash 8

Interesting matrix of computers that support Flash 8. Looks like they're not going to support all of the dinosaurs...

This table is from Macromedia’s Flash Player page (you'll need to scroll to the bottom)


domenica, marzo 26, 2006

okaydave.com

A colleague pointed this amazing and fun portfolio site. Way to go, Dave!

http://okaydave.com/

Flash Player 8.0.24

Time to make sure you've got the latest version?

“Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Flash Player that could allow an attacker who successfully exploits these vulnerabilities to take control of the affected system. A malicious SWF must be loaded in Flash Player by the user for an attacker to exploit these vulnerabilities. Users are recommended to update to the most current version of Flash Player available for their platform.”

Adobe’s Technical Note
Microsoft’s Technical Note

Messenger Fun

A co-worker found this useful reference describing how to create a hyperlink to activate an IM in Messenger.

Example:

<a href="msnim:chat?contact=name@email.com>Chat with MrE</a>

Note: The user needs to have MSN Messenger version 7.5 or newer open and running for this to work.

Microsoft's Recommended Checklist to Prepare For IE7

Here is Microsoft’s recommended checklist for changes that may impact Web sites after the release of IE7.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/devwebchecklist.mspx

There’s an interesting blurb about the upcoming ActiveX Opt-In:

“ActiveX Opt-In automatically disables entire classes of controls — all controls the user has not previously enabled — which greatly reduces the attack surface. This new feature mitigates the potential misuse of preinstalled controls. Users will now be prompted by the Information Bar before a previously installed but as-yet unused ActiveX Control can be accessed.”

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Hmmm...a little further reading makes me think the new “ActiveX Opt-In” might not actually be an issue:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/IETechCol/cols/dnexpie/activex_security.asp

Some ActiveX controls will not be disabled by ActiveX Opt-In.


  1. Controls that are commonly used and that were designed with security scrutiny will not be disabled. These controls will appear on a pre-approved list.
  2. Controls which were used in IE before upgrading to IE7.
  3. Controls which the user downloads through IE7 will be automatically enabled during the download and install process.

giovedì, marzo 16, 2006

Going from Flash to Video Indispensable Tools

Here is a neat checklist of useful tools for converting Flash to video I discovered on 76design.com.

Lightsabers on Senocular.com

Trevor McCauley's Senocular.com has some of the most amazing ActionScript and Flash examples anywhere on the Web. More than that, he makes so much great code available to learn from. For example, LIGHTSABERS!

BrowserHawk

File this under curiosity: have you ever heard of “BrowserHawk”? It’s a browser detection component that uses a combination of server-side and client-side detection methods.

Some of the benefits they claim on their site:

Accurately detects every visitor's browser and system settings
Automatically logs all detected settings to your database
Integrates seamlessly with all ASP, ASP.NET, CFMX, and JSP web sites
Easily ensures your minimum system requirements are met
Self-updating browser definitions
Unique browser stats and analytics
Proven, industry standard solution

I wonder if it’s any good, or provides better coverage than I could already implement myself, using JavaScript or serverside schemes? Macromedia has an older article on it, but I didn’t discover anything recent.

Flash 8 Best Practices

Jen deHaan is a great Flash author, and she has just posted these useful links on her blog:

Flash 8 Best Practices on Developer Center

The
Flash 8 Best Practices document has been posted on the Developer Center. This is an updated version of the Flash MX 2004 Best Practices document that was out there, but doesn't contain the ActionScript stuff (which is here instead:).

Most of this can be found somewhere in the documentation, but it wasn't consolodated into a single place. Hopefully it will be in the future ;) But for now, it's here on the
Developer Center:

domenica, marzo 12, 2006

Google challenges Microsoft by buying the web based word processor Writely

Google has just purchased writely, a neat Web-based word processor. In this article, Pandia theorizes that it's all part of Google's vision to take away some of Microsoft's traditional applications.

sabato, marzo 11, 2006

I Like Your Colors

Hey, have you ever wanted a complete list of colors used on a site? If you're like me the "old-fashioned" way was to take a snapshot, and then use Photoshop to determine the hex values. Well, here's some 2.0 for vous!

I Like Your Colors
Simply provide a URL and this site will attempt to sift through the CSS or relevant styles to provide you with that site’s color palette.
http://www.redalt.com/Tools/ilyc.php

ColorCombos
“ This site was built to help web developers quickly select and test color combinations.”
http://www.colorcombos.com/

The Color Scheme Generator
A nice way to select complimentary colors based on a color wheel. Further, you can adjust your selected color to mono, contrast, triad, tetrad and analogic.
http://www.wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html

CSS PLaY

Sure, it's fun to play in CSS. I like the inventiveness of Stu Nicholls's site.

http://www.cssplay.co.uk/

Web Typography 2.0

Perhaps the Web is ready for typography?

http://webtypography.net/

For too long typographic style and its accompanying attention to detail have been overlooked by website designers, particularly in body copy. In years gone by this could have been put down to the technology, but now the web has caught up. The advent of much improved browsers, text rendering and high resolution screens, combine to negate technology as an excuse.

Origami = New Breed of PC?


As if I need another gizmo to lust after. But it seems cool...if only they added a phone! It's not too late, Bill!

OpenLaszlo!

Have you heard of OpenLaszlo?

“OpenLaszlo is the leading open source platform for the development and delivery of rich Internet applications on the World Wide Web.”

http://www.openlaszlo.org/overview

venerdì, marzo 10, 2006

Flex your power

Yet another beta coolness via inventive developers and Flex:

"From the end-user point of view, all this was done 'in context' without ever leaving the application, and without starting any other application."

http://coenraets.com/index.jsp

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I love the other Sherwin Williams example, too:

http://coenraets.com/viewarticle.jsp?articleId=94

What Does Web 2.0 Look Like?

Here is a link to a flickr compilation that illustrates the colors, logos and type faces that are emerging to be the “look” of Web 2.0 (according to the author, anyway).


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There is no official standard for what makes something “Web 2.0”, but there certainly are a few tell-tale signs. These new sites usually feature modern web technologies like Ajax and often have something to do with building online communities. But even more characteristic among these brands is their appearance. Web 2.0 sites nearly always feel open and friendly and often use small chunks of large type. The colors are bright and cheery — lots of blue, orange, and what we jokingly call the Official Color of Web 2.0: lime green.

Creating "Dynamic Masks" in Flash

I was just researching dynamic masks in Flash. Dynamic masks are basically MovieClips that behave as mask and can be controlled with ActionScript. There are some great examples on Sephiroth.it:

Dynamic mask 1
Dynamic mask 2

Basically, these examples make use of the MovieClip.setMask command (I believe Flash 6 may be required – I was reading an older Macromedia article that explains a few pitfalls that can occur when using movie clips in mask layers in Flash 5 or earlier).

Hmmm…OK, one more link. Kirupa.com has a really nice introductory article on scriptable masks.

mercoledì, marzo 08, 2006

Tutorial: Particle Effects in Flash

I'll have to take a look at this sometime! It seems similar to other examples I've seen that simulate snowfall, but I like the "zig-zaggy" quality. :)

Joshua Davis: the Bad Boy of Web Design

A colleague is always sending along great articles. Today is no exception!

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Joshua Davis: Bad boy of web design creates generative composition ­machines and brings something new to the Net.

“Davis' personal sites, like PrayStation, once upon a forest, and the design community site Dreamless, built his rock star rep… and today …(Davis) has become the badass artiste mainstream America turns to for edgy branding.”

Davis is writing software for BMW that will generate 1,500 prints, each unique, inspired by the Z4's colors and lines. It's a clever twist on an artist's standard process of producing a batch of lithographs of a particular work. In this age of mass customization, Davis is saying, why not make every item an original? And who cares if a machine - not the artist - actually made the changes between prints 213 and 214”

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Read the full Wired article here.

domenica, marzo 05, 2006

Let's Make This Qwika

A new search engine called Qwika provides a nice search of Wikipedia.

venerdì, marzo 03, 2006

JavaScript Jumpin'

This JavaScript author “animates” the jump to an anchor link so the user doesn’t become confused as to how they got there. The free code is available here.

mercoledì, marzo 01, 2006

Simulating the behavior of HTML forms in Flash

I wanted to simulate the following behavior of an HTML form: on initial load, focus on the first field, then allow users to enter text and move between fields using the tab key. Like HTML, I’d like the tab key to jump fields in a particular order. Finally, I wanted the user to be able to press the “enter” key instead of pressing the enter key button with their mouse.

The Adobe Forums were quite helpful once again. Here’s the ActionScript to do it (assuming there are two input text components, named “USERNAME” and “PASSWORD” and one submit button entitled “submit_btn”).

// Set Tab Index
USERNAME.tabIndex = 1;
PASSWORD.tabIndex = 2;
submit_btn.tabIndex = 3;

// Begin SWF with USERNAME focused
USERNAME.focusEnabled = true;
Selection.setFocus(_root.USERNAME);

// Note: on an earlier frame, I also disabled Flash’s “Focus Manager” as previously described).

// If submit_btn has focus AND the user presses enter, submit the form
submit_btn.onSetFocus = function () {
t = new Object();
t.onKeyDown = function() {
if (Key.isDown(Key.ENTER)) {
getURL("http://www.mrentropy.com/bogus_submit.asp?USERNAME="+USERNAME.text+"&PASSWORD="+
PASSWORD.text+"&Submit2=Login", "_parent", "POST");
}
};
Key.addListener(t);
}

// If the submit_btn is clicked

submit_btn.onPress = function() {
getURL("http://www.mrentropy.com/bogus_submit.asp?USERNAME="+USERNAME.text+"&PASSWORD="+
PASSWORD.text+"&Submit2=Login", "_parent", "POST");
};
stop();

Tab Index in Flash

Hey, cool...

USERNAME.tabIndex = 1;
PASSWORD.tabIndex = 2;
submit_btn.tabIndex = 3;

Flash TextInput Component - Focus

Have you ever wanted to open a Web page and have the focus appear on a Flash textinput field?

1. Give the Flash window focus when your HTML loads (otherwise, the focus inside the Flash movie will be irrelevant):
onload=" window.document.[swfid].focus();"

2. Disable Flash’s “Focus Manager” movieclip (see the notes section for more details) by replacing it with an empty MovieClip.

_root.createEmptyMovieClip("noFocus",focusManager.getDepth());

3. Enter the following ActionScript:

USERNAME.focusEnabled = true;
Selection.setFocus(_root.USERNAME);

Notes:

There is a bug in the “Focus Manager” for Flash when using Components.

Whenever there is a component either on the stage (or, I’ve read, in the library) there is a problem with the focus. For example, if a textinput component is on the stage, and you click it, the focus should be set to it. However, this doesn’t occur. I’ve found some great information on this bug in the Adobe’s Forums, and I’ve quoted a few bits below.

To replicate:

“…Make a new movie with a text field. Create an onEnterFrame function to trace Selection.getFocus(). When you click on the text field you'll see that it traces out the instance name of the text field. And when you click outside the text field it traces out "null". Now add a component to the stage and repeat the process. When you click the text field it traces the instance name, but when you click outside the text field it traces "null" for a split-second, then goes back to tracing the instance name.”

To fix this issue (I’m sure Adobe will revisit this in future revisions, but for now this is great):

There is a solution to this problem. Since FocusManager is just a movieclip you can replace it. I use _root.createEmptyMovieClip("noFocus",focusManager.getDepth());

Until they fix FocusManager this is the best solution.

Just Say No to Caching in Flash

I was just reading on another Flash blog about a simple way to avoid caching when loading external files in Flash. A good thing to keep handy some place...like a blog!

myvariable=Math.round(Math.random()*10000);
loadMovie("myexternalfile.swf?var="+myvariable,1);