martedì, gennaio 31, 2006

Ajax - it's not just a cleanser

What exactly is Ajax?

Ajax isn’t a technology. It’s really several technologies, each flourishing in its own right, coming together in powerful new ways. Ajax incorporates:
http://www.adaptivepath.com/publications/essays/archives/000385.php

Flash: JPEG Quality publish setting does not affect image quality

Have you ever wanted to edit the quality of our graphics inside the Flash file instead of optimizing each graphic prior to importing. Here’s how to do it:

“By default, Flash ignores the JPEG Quality setting and uses either the original image data (in the case of imported JPEGs) or a lossless compression scheme (for other imported bitmap formats) when including bitmaps in an exported SWF. This default behavior can be changed on a per-image basis in the Bitmap Properties dialog box.”

JPEG Quality publish setting does not affect image quality

Also:

Optimizing bitmaps

Impact on Flash After Microsoft Modifies IE Amid Patent Suit

I've been surprised that I haven't seen more discussion on this issue:

"When using an applet, object, or embed tag to insert a plugin into an
HTML document, that plugin will not allow user interaction until the
user clicks on it. Microsoft calls this process "Activating an ActiveX
Control's Interface."

"Microsoft will incorporate the new version of Internet Explorer into
all new copies of Windows and also into the next version of the browser,
IE 7, which will be available for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and as
part of Windows Vista. Existing users may also get the new code as part
of future security updates, Wallent said."

http://www.webstandards.org/buzz/archive/2005_12.html

http://news.com.com/Microsoft+tweaks+browser+to+avoid+liability/2100-1012_3-5980658.html

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1895907,00.asp

http://www.mozilla.org/press/eolas.html

http://blog.deconcept.com/2005/12/15/internet-explorer-eolas-changes-and-the-flash-plugin/

Microsoft does provide a solution to the changes. It definitely seems
like they lean toward working around the issue with JavaScript (or
jscript in their example).

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/?url=/workshop/author/dhtml/overview/activating_activex.asp

Maybe it's time to make the switch to FlashObject?

http://blog.deconcept.com/flashobject/

mercoledì, gennaio 25, 2006

Older Flash Players

Adobe offers older versions of their player specifically for Flash developers who are examining their sites from the perspective of users with older Flash Players.

http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_14266

Also, to use the older player you will need to temporarily uninstall the Flash plug-in:

How to uninstall the Macromedia Flash Player plug-in and ActiveX control
http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_14157

lunedì, gennaio 23, 2006

Flash Player Detection Miscellaneous

Flash Player Detection Miscellaneous
Macromedia has updated their Flash detection script as of August 2005. Check it out:
Flash Player Detection Kit
http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/download/detection_kit/
I’ll include the other artifacts I discovered, too, in case they’re useful:
The Moock FPI
Flash guru Colin Moock has an excellent detection script, but is now recommending the Flash detection script:
“Five years after the launch of the moock fpi detection system, I'm officially halting its development. Macromedia now offers a better flash detection system, called the Flash Player Detection Kit…The Flash Player Detection Kit actually incorporates (with permission) a fair amount of the code from the moock fpi, so it is the natural successor to the moock fpi….”
http://www.moock.org/webdesign/flash/detection/moockfpi/
Future-Proofing Flash Player Detection Scripts
Macromedia is definitely improving it’s detection schemes. In Flash Player 8, any older version of Flash will be updated in the background with almost no user intervention. However, detecting for the existence of the Flash Player will still need to be done.
http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/future_detection.html

FlashObject (Neato!)

“FlashObject is a small Javascript file used for embedding Macromedia Flash content. The script can detect the Flash plugin in all major web browsers (on Mac and PC) and is designed to make embedding Flash movies as easy as possible. It is also very search engine friendly, degrades gracefully, can be used in valid HTML and XHTML 1.0 documents*, and is forward compatible, so it should work for years to come.”
http://blog.deconcept.com/flashobject/

Search Engines & Privacy

Interesting things are afoot in the world of government monitoring in cyberspace. Two articles I thought worth reading (the latter worth considering, perhaps, in light of the former):

Yahoo admits it let White House access its databases
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2002169,00.html

How to Foil Search Engine Snoops
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70051-0.html

domenica, gennaio 22, 2006

Web 3.0 by Jeffrey Zeldman

A funny, insightful read on the state of the Web.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/web3point0