Been busy lately, so here's a few entries from around the internet the past
Cute little lego version of Steve Jobs (of Apple fame):
PodBrix Minifig - Keynote [PodBrix via Gizmodo]
The XMLHttpRequest object is a handy dandy JavaScript object that offers a convenient way for webpages to get information from servers without refreshing themselves:
Guide to Using XMLHttpRequest [WebPasties via Gadgetopia]
Interesting article by Spaceship No Future (SNF) on how they replaced the Movable Type login system with their own custom solution:
Integrating custom authentication into Movable Type [Spaceship No Future via Six Apart]
OK, not Flash related, unless you're into RIAs or ever need to use a database, but it would appear that Microsoft has lifted the lid on SQL Server 2005.
This may have already been blogged to death, but I just noticed the info on my Google News homepage. Microsoft is now offering four versions of SQL Server 2005, ranging from a free "Express" version, all the way up to their $13,500 (or $25,000 per processor) "Enterprise" version.
Check out the Microsoft site for all the details. You'll be glad you did. Or maybe you won't, what do I know?
SQL Server Home [Microsoft]
Expanding the SQL Server Product Line [Microsoft]
SQL Server 2005 Features Comparison [Microsoft]
Unfortunately, the story seems a lot more interesting than the actual pictures, but it appears that some enterprising fellow decided to drive from New York to San Francisco, and take photos every mile. Sounds like a great idea, albeit after about 6 days and 3,304 photos, I'm betting it wasn't oodles of fun in the end.
Matt began his roadside tableau in New York City, where he framed the Statue of Liberty and shot his first photo. Then he headed west to San Francisco on as straight a line as possible, a camera at his side clicking away at precise one-mile increments, for 3,304 miles.
And:
When Matt got to San Francisco and shot the Golden Gate Bridge at mile 3,304, he celebrated with a pizza and a beer. It was a Friday, six days after he left New York. He dismounted the camera, drove home, and was back in his office on Monday morning.
Check out his photos (in a not half-bad (or half good, I guess) Flash thing-a-ma-jig. Kodak also has a QuickTime movie of all 3304 stills in what must be the biggest slideshow ever.
Check out the photos and "Meet Matt", over at Kodak's site. The "Meet Matt" bit is actually a lot more interesting than the title suggests. It is more of a "How'd they do that" bit, explaining how he automated his SLR (yeah, it wasn't even a digital camera!) to take shots every mile.
Taken On The Road-American Mile Markers [Kodak via Lifehacker]
Found this link on Gadgetopia today, TinyApps is a nice little site dedicated to small programs that specialize in one single task, and do it well.
The site is also lite on content to quote, so here's a large portion of the front page:
Welcome to TinyApps.Org, a guide to very small software for your PC. Virtually all of the programs listed here are free of charge and for use under Windows (Palm and OS X pages also exist). If this is your first visit, please read the FAQ.
If we do stroll over to the FAQ, we see a bit more info:
To qualify for TinyApps, a program must:
* Not exceed 1.44mb
* Not be adware
* Not require the VB/MFC/.NET runtimes. Also, preference is given to apps which are 100% self-contained, requiring no installation, registry changes, etc.
*Preferably be free, and ideally offer source code. Shareware will only be listed if there is no freeware alternative.
It is a pretty good list of software, I noticed a few apps that I've been using for years (yay LeechFTP -- a great FTP client which is known to sometimes return all your error messages in some foreign language -- possibly German).
TinyApps.org [via Gadgetopia]
Microsoft flexes it's mad documentation skillz, and writes a "good" article designed to help parents understand what their kids say on the 'net.
And I quoteth:
While it's important to respect your children's privacy, understanding what your teenager's online slang means and how to decipher it is important as you help guide their online experience. While it has many nicknames, information-age slang is commonly referred to as leetspeek, or leet for short. Leet (a vernacular form of "elite") is a specific type of computer slang where a user replaces regular letters with other keyboard characters to form words phonetically - creating the digital equivalent of pig Latin with a twist of hieroglyphics.
And yes, it gets funnier...
A parent's primer to computer slang [Microsoft.com via Ars Technica]
Although the article is somewhat old (Feb 2, 2005), the article is actually a pretty decent read. Surprisingly, I've only heard of two of the books, and only have one of them on my bookshelf. All of the books selected are centered around web design, so no Flash books listed.
I've put together a list of the four best Web design books that you might have missed. Some are a few years old, but they’re still worth a look -- especially if you are new to Web design.
The Four Best Web Design Books You May Have Missed [Digital Web Magazine via Nick Bradbury]
Just to ruin the punchline, here's the four books that they selected (with New Riders taking 3 of the 4 results):
Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
ISBN 0789723107
Steve Krug
New Riders Press, 2000, 195pp.
$23.10 USD
Designing with Web Standards
ISBN 0735712018
Jeffrey Zeldman
New Riders Press, 2003, 456pp.
$23.10 USD
Unusually Useful Web Book
ISBN 0735712069
June Cohen
New Riders Press, 2003, 408pp.
$23.10 USD
Web Analytics Demystified
ISBN 0974358428
Eric T. Peterson
Celilo Group Media, 2004, 266pp.
$59.95 USD
Found this while browsing Boing Boing, but RockRage seems to have a pretty good list of fonts used by various bands.
They have a pretty good list ranging from AC/DC all the way to Whitesnake, so if you've been holding off on making that Scorpions fanclub site because you couldn't find the perfect font, today is your lucky day!
Rock and Roll fonts [RockRage via Boing Boing]
According to various news sources around the interweb, Bill Gates announced that Microsoft will be releasing their newest version of Internet Explorer this summer.
CNET News offers the following tasty morsels:
A beta, or test, version of Internet Explorer 7 will debut this summer, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect said in a keynote address at the RSA Conference 2005 here. The company had said that it would not ship a new IE version before the next major update to Windows, code-named Longhorn, arrives next year.
Analysts attributed Microsoft's change of heart to the progress of the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser, which has made incremental but steady market share gains against IE in recent months. In a survey conducted late last year, Firefox nudged IE below the 90 percent mark for the first time since the height of the browser wars in the 1990s.
Reversal: Next IE update divorced from Windows [CNET News]
Microsoft to Release New Internet Browser [Yahoo News]
UPDATE:
A few more interesting sources for the same information:
Internet Explorer 7 beta due out this summer [Ars Technica]
Bill gates announces a security push and a new Internet Explorer [UberGizmo]
And, in other browser related news...
Ask Jeeves wants Firefox browser [Ars Technica]
IE Is Costing You Money - An Angry Rant [Gizmodo]
Update redux:
Misinformation about the IE7 announcement [Digital Web Magazine]
Although I'm a diehard fan of FeedDemon ($30 USD), I'm trying to find a solid RSS reader for MS Outlook 2003. In my FeedDemon I have about 120 feeds in about 10 different categories, but there are times when you just want to follow a small handful of your favorite feeds (or even create a feed of recent comments on your own blogs). I've found a few good Outlook plug-ins for reading news feeds, but was wondering if anybody else out there reads news feeds in Outlook or if they use other tools (such as free online readers or other apps).
So far I've tried a few different Outlook plug-ins, from RSS Popper (free) to NewsGator Outlook Edition ($30 US).
Although I found RSS Popper to work in most cases, so far I'm leaning towards NewsGator instead as it seems a bit more stable and polished.
If anybody finds themselves bored this holiday season and wants to relive some marginal gameplay from years past, Rockstar has released Grand Theft Auto 2 for free on their website; http://www.rockstargames.com/classics/.
And because laziness is the word of the day, I'll copy-paste their text and pawn it off as my own:
Respect is everything.In 1999, Rockstar Games and Rockstar North (then known as DMA Design) furthered the groundbreaking gameplay concepts established just two years prior in the original Grand Theft Auto - with the release of GTA2. GTA2 expanded on the top-down, open-ended crime world gameplay formula with a host of new features including the advent of multiple rival gangs – seven, to be exact, including the Yakuza, Scientists, Looneys, Rednecks, Zaibatsu, the Russian Mob and Hare Krishnas. Earn your respect with each gang. Reap the benefits with all manner of shady work-for-hire gigs contracted your way. And climb your way to the top of the criminal pile.
Now, longtime Grand Theft Auto fans can revisit this classic entry in the series - and new jacks who missed out on this early franchise title can further discover Grand Theft Auto’s roots - absolutely free. GTA2 has been completely optimized for play on modern PCs and is available gratis for all registrants to the Rockstar Games mailing list (rest assured your information will not be shared with any third parties, you will only receive information from Rockstar). Simply fill out the form below and check your email for a direct link to the file (353 MB .zip file, includes install .exe, readme .txt file, and a .pdf of the original PC game manual).
While the game definitely looked better than its predecessor (GTA 1, of course) it still was a top-down game, and not the free roaming, whore punching fest that it has matured into today. But you can still run around and shoot people, carjack some people and get yourself into some trouble.
For those of you unfamiliar with GTA 2, I offer this page of screenshots, located over at firingsquad.com.
And while we're on the subject of Grand Theft Auto (or GTA), the latest news is that Rockstar will be releasing their latest GTA incarnation, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, simultaneously on the Xbox and PC in North America on June 7th, 2005 and in Europe on June 10th, 2005. (via TeamXbox.com)
Or, if you want something a bit more recent, I highly encourage you to download the demo for Half-Life 2, which is winning awards left, right and center.
Although I didn't see word of Apple releasing iTunes in Canada today, I did notice that Valve very recently released Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, which is about 20x cooler than iTunes (or Canada).
Originally I was very upset that Valve removed Deathmatch from Half-Life and replaced it with the boringest mod ever (Counter-Strike: Source), but this makes up for it (and then some).
Although servers are currently really scarce and the only available ones are pretty darned laggy at this point, that should all work itself out in a matter of days (or hours) once the keeners out there set up some dedicated servers to alleviate the congestion.
If you have Half-Life 2 and enjoy some good ol' fashioned killing, and can tear yourself away from Halo 2's multiplayer, definitely go check out HL2:DM.
Rock, rock on!
Ah, came across this today on the Gadgetopia blog (link), a fairly comprehensive look at some common spyware removal tools.
"Ars" looks at the following tools specifically:
The article is definitely worth checking out if you find you have spyware/adware problems, want to take preventative measures or think you'll end up going home for Thanksgiving/Christmas and having to look at a family member's computer.
Spyware removal tools [Ars Technica via Gadgetopia]
Last night I updated my Steam client for Half-Life 2 (link) and was asked to participate in a survey. I think I answered a couple generic questions, but then it asked me if I wanted to send a comprehensive list of my system specs. So I thought, "sure, why not", its only my CPU speed and hard-drive sizes.
After you finish with the brief survey you're taken to the results page on steampowered.com where you can see results from the 1,129,787 people who also participated in the survey (as of 11:00am PST (19:00 GMT), November 20 2004).
The survey results show a lot of stuff including the following stats:
Survey Results [steampowered.com]
Update: It seems that the stats are updated every 30 minutes and another 900+ people have participated. Not too bad, approximately 1800 per hour.
OK, although the name may not immediately ring any bells, Avalon is the codename for the brand new graphics sub-system for the next Microsoft OS. Although that in itself doesn't sound interesting, Avalon is going to going to be running the new Sparkle application from Microsoft. Yeah, THAT Sparkle, the one that is apparently the next "Flash Killer".
This begins to get interesting as News.com is reporting that Microsoft is giving developers a very early glimpse at some of Avalon. Although it doesn't sound to thrilling from the News.com article (apparently it wasnt even a beta or test version, just some incomplete code), it will be interesting to see what Microsoft thinks they have which could come close to killing Flash.
News.com says the following:
The Redmond, Wash.-based software powerhouse released what it calls a "community technology preview" of the Avalon presentation engine for Windows. It's not a full beta, or test, version, but rather an incomplete set of code that lets developers test certain features and pass along their thoughts to Microsoft."It's basically a build that has a couple new features that we want to test out with customers," said John Montgomery, a director in Microsoft's developer division. "This is just our way of getting feedback."
Also, because I'm too lazy to actually rehash what the article says, I'll just quote some more:
Avalon was originally envisioned as a core feature of Longhorn, the next version of Windows. It will still be a part of that operating system, but it will also be made available as an add-on for users of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003....
Avalon is a key part of Windows' future, but it is something the average computer user will never touch directly. Instead, it's an improved method of dealing with graphics, designed to let developers write snazzier-looking applications.
...
A beta of Avalon is slated for next summer, along with the first beta of Longhorn. Final versions of Longhorn and Avalon are expected in the second half of 2006.
Or, if you prefer to read what I casually dismissed as "...", feel free to check out the article on News.com (link).
For those of you interested in this supposed "Flash Killer", I also found this page (link) on the Interweb (although it it somewhat old):
Developers can write to Avalon using XAML, the Microsoft-authored eXtensible Application Markup Language. But for now, the only way to write XAML applications is to hand-code them.Sparkle is the tool that will automate XAML application development. Said one source: Sparkle will let you create XAML and .Net applications."
Comparing Sparkle and Flash is "kind of an apples and oranges comparison," says one Windows developer familiar with Sparkle, who requested anonymity. "On the surface, it looks like Flash, but it's really a programmable 'thing' for doing stuff with Avalon. It's really designed more to make your existing applications do really cool stuff.
The developer continued: "Flash won't die because it's cross-platform and very easy for simple things, especially on the Web. Sparkle will just make it much easier for developers to do cool effects within their applications."
Microsoft gives developers a glimpse of Avalon [via News.com]
Microsoft to Automate 'Avalon' Coding With 'Sparkle' [via Microsoft Watch]
After roughly a year long delay, Konfabulator is now officially "cross-platform". Konfabulator is an excellent utility that allows you to run a series of little "widgets" (for lack of a better term). Presently, the Konfabulator site boasts approximately 385 Windows widgets (817 if you include Macintosh) which range from games, iTunes controllers, clocks, blog readers, traffic reports, weather reports, etc.
Definitely worth checking out if you've never used Konfabulator in the past.
Although technically it was released at midnight today (November 9th), I wandered down to my local Electronics Boutique and picked up a copy of Halo 2 (non-collector's edition).
After a couple hours of gameplay I have to say that I'm pretty impressed. In a lot of aspects it feels a LOT more like Halo 1.5 rather than Halo 2, but there are a lot of minor (and not so minor) improvements throughout the game. The first thing I did after putting the disc in was to start a single-player campaign game. I don't have Xbox Live [yet] as I haven't found many games that I'd care to play online [yet], but this game may be the one.
I'm not too far into the game, but overall I'm really impressed. I have to say that this version seems to have a lot more "cinematic moments" than the first version (not necessarily good or bad, but seems to interrupt the "flow" of the game a lot of the time). Also I have to say that the story, although amusing so far, isn't the best and I'm still a bit confused as to what is going on. The AI (at lease my teammates') seems to be greatly improved over the first Halo, but I have yet to be blown away by the enemy AI. Perhaps you have to really crank up the difficulty level.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the new vehicles in the game. The new warthogs (those that I've seen) can be devastating, and it is thrilling to jump in a Scorpion tank and go against 10 vehicles.
So overall I'd say that Halo 2 easily rates a 9/10 (I'd probably give the original Halo 8/10 -- based on its rediculous level repetition). Is Halo 2 the best looking game on the Xbox? No, not at all. Is Halo 2 the best game on the Xbox, probably not, but if you liked the original you'll love the sequel.
I woke up this morning and saw the following message in my Hotmail inbox:
Dear MSN® Hotmail® Member:Congratulations on your storage upgrade from 2MB to 250MB!
As a valued MSN Hotmail Member, you have been specially selected to receive a special storage upgrade - at no cost to you. We've increased the storage capacity of your Hotmail account from 2MB to 250MB and increased your attachment size from 1MB to 10MB.
I know this was announced a long time ago, but hey, still nice to see them follow through. Although, I wonder how long it will be before Microsoft tries offering 1GB accounts so they can compete with Google's Gmail. Then again, as far as I know Gmail is still in "beta" and a closed program, whereas Hotmail probably has a massively huge installed user base.
Similar to my NewsGator post of last week, Stardock (makers of WindowBlinds) has announced their blog reader, Blog Navigator.
Blog Navigator offers the following features:
And the best part? It's free (although they do also have a Pro version with a few extra features).
Stardock's Blog Navigator launches [via Six Apart]
And the million dollar question, what are the features (shared by both the Free and Pro versions):
Pre-Fetching
Blog Navigator will automatically download all the articles on a particular blog for faster reading.Off-Line Reading
Articles can be set to be pinned for off-line reading.Blogsphere Searching
Users can create automated searches using Feedstar and other search engines and put together the results as if they were a blog themselves.Blog Grouping
Users can organize various blogs together into groups and have the group header be the sum of all the blogs in that group.Tabbed Browsing
Blog Navigator can open up multiple blog windows in its own Internet Explorer compatible browser. Alternatively, different blogs can be displayed as tiled windows.Blog Baskets
Users can drag and drop articles of interest into blog baskets for safe keeping to reference later.Export articles
Users can export articles or entire blogs to disk at web archives (standard .mht files) to read later or send to others.Auto RSS feed detection
Most RSS readers require users to explicitly type in the RSS feed URL. Blog Navigator can detect the RSS feed from the actual blog site that has properly supported the RSS protocol (i.e. http://www.joeuser.com) so that you don't have to hunt around for the RSS feed.Import RSS feeds
Blog Navigator can import OPML files along with most other common (and uncommon) RSS feed formats so that you can migrate to Blog Navigator quickly and easily.
The Pro version ($20) offers the following additional features:
Manage blog accounts
Blog Navigator supports a host of different blog creation protocols ranging from Moveable Type, Blogger, Metaweblog, JoeUser, and more and has the settings already set up for most of the popular blog sites.Write blogs
Writing a blog with Blog Navigator pro is as easy as writing an email. A built in rich text editor with categorization features are included.Edit blogs
Go back to one of your blogs and change it.
Whoa! In what will probably be my only political post, I just saw a most amusing "bit" on the local news channel. As I'm sure most readers are aware, the US Presidential elections are happening this Tuesday. The news channel (the sports reporter of all people) went on to say that the best method of predicting the presidential winner is to follow the outcome of the Washington Redskins football (NFL) game this week. Hhhmmm... It seems that the Redskins winning record has correctly determined the winner of the Presidential election for the past however many years. If the Washington Redskins win the incumbent party will remain in office, conversely, if the Redskins lose than the game then incumbent has lost the White House.
This year the Redskins are playing the Green Bay Packers in Washington at 1:00pm Eastern time, and apparently Green Bay is the favorite.
I also managed to dig up some more information on the Washington Redskins' amazing Presidential feats over on snopes.com, who offers this quote:
The Washington Redskins have proved to be a time-tested election predictor. In the previous 15 elections, if the Washington Redskins have lost their last home game prior to the election, the incumbent party has lost the White House. When they have won, the incumbent has stayed in power.
OK, I didn't see this one coming, but here goes. Apparently action movie director John Woo (Mission Impossible II, FaceOff, Broken Arrow, etc) and Terence Chang's Lion Rock Productions has reached a deal with Wiley that will allow them to create an action commedy entitled "Espionage for Dummies."
Apparently the script was written by the same guy behind the recent Starsky & Hutch movie. The Hollywood Reporter offers the following quote:
...original script about a high school vice principal who is forced to rely on the "Espionage for Dummies" manual when his identity becomes crossed with that of a U.S. superspy. Armed only with the superspy version of the manual, he must try to save the world.
Wiley and Lion Rock Prods. plan on releasing the project in fall 2005.
Woo, Chang spy deal for 'Dummies' [via The Hollywood Reporter.com]
John Woo Studies Espionage for Dummies [via ComingSoon.net]
While the movie seems to be an original script and not based on an actual Wiley book, personally I think it would be a nice target. Why stop there? How about releasing "Flash MX 2004: Training From The Source -- The Musical", or "Flash MX on Ice".
Although I'm a big FeedDemon fan myself, SixApart (the makers of Movable Type) is reporting that NewsGator is offering a free online version of their product that allows you to read, rank, and manage various XML/RDF feeds.
Want to know more? Check out NewsGator's site at http://www.newsgator.com/ngs/default.aspx.
NewsGator also has some cool looking Premium (paid) services which include the ability to display news feeds on your mobile devices, or even have the news emailed directly to your inbox.
[Source: NewsGator Online via SixApart]
OK, I was scouring through Google's news alerts and came across this, ye ol' Google Deskbar. What does it do? Well, quite simply, the Google Deskbar adds a new toolbar to your Windows bar at the bottom of the screen that allows you to search Google without having to open Internet Explorer or Firefox. Here's the quote:
Google Deskbar enables you to search with Google from any application without lifting your fingers from the keyboard. Installs easily in your Windows taskbar.
The coolest part is that the toolbar even displays the results in a fancy little custom window, so it doesn't even have to launch a browser.
You can check out the Google Deskbar here, or head over to "Google's technology playground" and check out some of their other tools.
Although at least a day old, I just recently had a chance to try out MSN's online web chat client, MSN Web Messenger.
So far I'm really impressed. It looks a lot like their regular chat client and it seems pretty full featured, albeit a little slow. So if you ever happen to find yourself somewhere where you can't install programs but want to quickly send a few MSNs out, it is nice to know that this exists.
Well, not sure exactly when it happened, but I just checked it out and you can grab XP SP2 directly from the Windows Update site rather than download the 266 MB zip file. For some reason the version on Windows Update is telling me that it is only 75 MB, so not sure what all it contains.
But if you're feeling frisky, go head over and give it a whirl. I mean, c'mon, "what's the worst that could happen"™?
Windows Update [Microsoft]
For those of you who are less impulsive, feel free to gander Microsoft's well titled "Application Compatibility Testing and Mitigation Guide for Windows XP Service Pack 2" [Microsoft.com]
Or for all you sassy ones, you can get a free CD of Service Pack 2, yours for the askin (but you also have to wait 4-6 weeks for shipping) [Microsoft.com]
The fine folks at InformationWeek have the following to say:
Microsoft on Wednesday made Windows XP Service Pack 2 available via Windows Update and free CD. It also began distributing the update to its flagship operating system to Windows XP Professional customers via Automatic Updates.
The CD Request Page had been live for several weeks; however, the option to make the request was not turned on until now. The installation, which requires 1.6 Gbytes of available hard disk space, was previously only available in a 75-Mbyte download (for individual PCs; the full "Network Install" version is 266 Mbytes). This could be time-consuming for most XP users--and nearly impossible for those consumers still using dial-up connections to access the Internet.
According to the Washington Post, for the first time high-speed internet usage has surpassed dial-up. Let's hope the trend continues and dial-up usage continues to fall.
For the first time last month, the New York-based market research firm found that more people used high-speed Internet connections from home (mostly cable-modem or digital subscriber lines) than dial-up lines. Some 63 million folks logged on from broadband connections at home in July, representing 51 percent of all U.S. Internet users -- up from the 38 percent share that broadband had one year earlier. Only 61.3 million people were using dial-up lines last month, Nielsen found.
[via Google News]
Although not really Flash related in the least, it is usually pretty significant in the gaming world when a new GTA (Grand Theft Auto) game is released. Rockstar's latest incarnation, GTA: San Andreas, is due to hit the Sony PlayStation 2 in October 2004 [Electronics Boutique lists the game as "Pre-Order: Ships on 10/18/2004"].
Although very little information has been posted so far, you can check out the official game website at rockstargames.com.
For those of you perhaps unfamiliar with the upcoming GTA: San Andreas "plot" (if you can call it that), here's a quote from worthplaying.com:
Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where filmstars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gangbangers. Now, it's the early 90s. Carl's got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster. On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.
I have to admit, I wasn't really blown away by the trailer. The environments look fantastic and the city is supposedly massive compared to previous versions of GTA. But the trailer just seemed to lack any sort of "action". I expected at least one car-jacking or gratuitous beating.
Definitely looking forward to the game's release, although I'll have to wait a bit longer until it is available for the Xbox. So far I haven't been able to find release dates for the PC or other consoles.
In an effort to be more competitive with Google's fantastic Gmail service, Microsoft seems to be upgrading Hotmail in a few interesting ways (including 2GB of storage space)!
Here's the word on a few of their new upcoming upgrades:
Beginning this fall, MSN will increase free Hotmail account inbox storage by 125 times its current capacity to 250MB. Additionally, you will be able to send attachments up to 10MB.
In addition, free Hotmail customers will also receive MSN Calendar free, enabling both individual and shared calendaring with your storage upgrade.
It seems that in order to qualify for the 2GB of storage space you need to subscribe to MSN Hotmail Extra Storage plan (approximately $30 US/year).
You can check out more details here:
How do I get the MSN Hotmail storage upgrade?
MSN Hotmail Plus will launch this summer. However, if you signup for the MSN Hotmail Extra Storage — 10MB today, you will automatically be upgraded for no additional charge once it becomes available. Go to http://join.msn.com to sign-up.What is MSN Hotmail Plus?
MSN Hotmail Plus is an upgrade from MSN Extra Storage that provides:
- 2GB of Storage Space -- Get virtually infinite storage! With Hotmail Plus, you'll get 2 GB of online storage.
- Send/Receive Attachments up to 20MB -- Easily share photo, audio or video files with double the attachment size of free Hotmail.
- No Expiration -- With MSN Hotmail Plus, you will not have to re-register or logon every 30 days to keep the account active. MSN Hotmail Plus accounts don't expire if inactive.*
- No Graphical Advertising -- Enjoy a more streamlined Web e-mail experience with no graphical ads.
The Inquirer reports that the new service pack for Windows XP causes some problems with Firewire speeds. Although that sounds bad, it probably won't affect 90% of the people because it only seems to affect devices that use the new Firewire 800 device. Itr seems that WinXP SP2 causes Firewire 800 devices to run a bit closer to Firewire 100 speeds (roughly 1/4 the speed of regular Firewire).
So if you have shiny new Firewire 800 devices and have been holding off in installing Service Pack 2, you may want to hold off a bit longer. The Inquirer says you can fix the new driver problems introduced in SP2 by installing the old SP1 Firewire drivers over the new service pack 2 ones. You can probably expect Microsoft to release newer drivers eventually that will fix this problem though.
[Via Engadget]
Saw this over on The Tech Report web site this evening.
It would appear that Microsoft has made the Windows XP SP2 network installation available on its web site. You can grab the 266MB download here.
I haven't tried installing it yet, so basically try at your own risk (of course). I suggest not installing it on any mission critical computers as sometimes these things can cause more problems than they're worth. In fact, I didn't even spot this on the Windows Update site yet.
You can read the 8 page manifesto of changes here: Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
Or, for those of you running Wi-Fi, you probably want to stop by and read these articles: Wireless LAN Enhancements in Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Wireless Resources for Windows XP
Perhaps these:
I think the one I'm personally most concerned about will be the pop-up blocker.
Internet Explorer Pop-up Blocker - Makes browsing the Internet more enjoyable by enabling you to reduce unwanted ads and content.
As for the Flash/Gadget crowd, I guess the following two also rank pretty high as well:
Improved wireless support - Dramatically improves and simplifies the process of discovering and connecting to wireless networks.Bluetooth technologies - Enables you to easily connect to the latest Bluetooth-enabled hardware devices such as keyboards, cell phones, and PDAs.
At only five years old, Google is sent off to the Computer History Museum.
Click on the link to check out the Google blog entry and see not only the very first Google Server Rack (circa '99) but also one of the coolest photos I've seen in a long time, an original Atari Pong game from the arcades. Note the stellar craftsman ship and the handy two stainless steel knobs.
Freakin-a. I would love to own this one. The Canon XL2 is a prosumer 3 CCD digital video camera with awesome picture, performance and more. A friend of mine has the XL1, and it was really quite impressive (another with the GL1 was also a sweet camera) - the standard camera out there when it comes to the prosumer level. Anyway, the XL2 has some notable improvements - check out the page here:
And you can also check out the press release for more information:
If I had 5K to drop for a camera, this would certainly be the choice :)
... forget Monster - if you want to work at Google, you need drive the interstate and then do some fancy math. This math is far beyond me, but I must admire the technique for hiring math gurus.
http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=160966
http://ecommercetrends.com/ecommercetrends-56-20040709MysteriousBillboardRecruitsGeeksForGoogle.html
Read this gem on the Register. Seems that when you run the latest Beastie Boys cd on your computer, it silently runs an executable that prevents you from ripping that CD and possibly other CDs on the computer.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/23/beastie_boy_cd_virus/?index
Winning free things is great! Flash-MX.com (this site, by the way) has a draw for a pair of tickets to Flash in the Can, Canada's best (and only?) Flash festival. Go see a whole bevy of Flash minds talk about the software. Check out flashinthecan.com for all of the details.
But first, visit flash-mx.com/contest.cfm for the details on our very own draw for a pair of free tickets. You don't need to do anything more than email us to enter. No hoops to jump through, can't be easier than that. Just make sure you send it in before the end of the month.
Good luck!!
So there is a new publishing house out there, which isn't necessarily so bad in itself. But it's a good idea to know who you are writing for, just in case you get screwed over. And being screwed over isn't too tough, quite honestly, no matter what industry or publisher you are working for. So let's take a look at Packt Publishing, started earlier this year.
Some of you might remember that we posted a lot of news here when Wrox/Friends of ED and so forth went down. There were many stories about why Peer (who owned it all) went down, but the general gist of the story is hundreds of authors lost millions of dollars (yep) in advances, royalties, and reserves. That's the money that they hold against your royalties in case books get returned. It is SUPPOSED to be held in trust no matter what, but I guess the guys who ran it spent it. Or someone did. I have reserves for several books vanished into someone else's pocket/business, while someone else currently sells those books. No, I'm not bitter.
A good reason why we all got screwed over is becuase the guys who ran Peer messed it up, and while there are many posts/blogs out there about how it happened there's no point in dredging that up here. BUT GUESS WHAT! The Peer guys who put Wrox down in flames are running Packt Publishing! Not two months after we lost all that money, they started yet another publishing house perhaps with all that money they musta had and did not pay us with. OK, maybe not - but they had something and tons of us were left suffering (me, literally).
Yeah, while I was eating good ol pasta and process cheese and got fat because I lost all my money from MONTHS OF WORK slaving away for their company for absolutely next to nothing (note: much less than minimum wage), they went and started up a new one called Packt Publishing. I wish you guys (and any author that dare work for the publishing house) and Packt the best of luck.
News Source:
http://www.brucelawson.co.uk/index.htm#pp
There's this thing that's great for the mac, called Konfabulator. No commercial interest in this thing, just thought it was cool, and thought Mac Flash developers might be interested. You can develop Mac apps that go on the desktop. Games, system utilities, news feed based apps, calendars, all kinds of "widgets". Essentially this thing is a JavaScript runtime engine for Mac OSX. But the cool thing is it has minesweeper, which is pretty cool in itself. Oh, and battleship and a barcode clock. I mean that's just plain cool.
Check out the site, and things here. It isn't free, but it looks like it could be worth the $25.
The sixth issue of ventilate.ca [ ventilate.ca ] has hit the global news stand. Featured in issue six:
Nakd.tv - motion graphics - Nando + Linna Costa
Bsimple - conceptual photography - Misha Gordin
Shilo Design - motion graphics
FWA - the man behind FWA and wellvetted - Rob Ford
Untitled - Toronto Illustrator - Errol Richardson
PRMTHN - Toronto designer - Humza Ijaz
ISO50 - graphic design - Scott Hansen
Hi-Res! - video interview with Florian Schmitt
Geek speek not PC, or so the court finds.
'Master' and 'slave' computer labels unacceptable, officials say.
Yeesh. I think there are a lot more serious problems out there in web-land. I've had my fair share of being treated like a token chick, and looked down upon as such, so focusing on and taking stock simple words and terminology seems silly to me in comparison. Oh well, let them have their "affirmative action," indeed.
Awesome flash site for upcoming game - great look, feel and function. Reminds me of childhood in a sick, twisted way.
A new version of ActionScript Viewer has been released.
From the released info:
"Major changes in this minor update are:
- ASV now supports Flash MX 2004 7.0.1 generated AS2 classes.
- Revised according to the recently released official SWF 7 specs.
- Values of the ScriptLimits tags can be edited in the Special Tags View Tab
and also a ScriptLimits tag can be added to a SWF in the Modify Movie
Dialog.
- Many various minor bugs fixed.
- Now, the font of Info Pane can be changed."
Check out all the information at:
http://www.actionscriptviewer.com.
Scandalous! Macromedia products are ready for Linux. Well, the dudes that enable Windows apps to run on Linux have a new version that allows Flash and DW to run on the OS.
read it here >>
http://rss.com.com/2110-7344_3-5098169.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news.
Are we going to get a PDA version? Palm?! Wackiness.
Just kidding.
That's right, it's true. You can now have iTunes if you run Windows. I love iTunes, and found much better than many mp3 players for windows. In fact, ever since I got the Mac it has been my primary way of playing music. So, I was extremely happy to download iTunes for Windows today. Start itup - the scrollbar is even like the Mac. Pretty damn cool.
Check it out for yourself:
iTunes for Windows:
Part 2 of my three part TUTORIAL on the Macromedia Developer Center has been put up. So what's it about? WebServiceConnector and data bindings, in a nutshell. Part One set up the application on screens and all that stuff (graphics, components and so forth). This part gets into the meat a little more and you make the app start to actually work.
"You will find out how to define web services, add them to your application, and process the results of a web service's methods. You'll also see how to use bindings in a FLA file using some of the new components. Part 2 shows you how to work with the WebServiceConnector component and how to bind data between this Data component to the other UI components that have been added to the Stage."
If you run the finished version of the app... it actually WORKs... just a note if you are sending test notes. If you want to use the service on your own web site, please just send me an quick email letting me know where you are - and all I request is a link back on the app saying that the service was provided by "flash-mx.com". Thanks.
PART TWO:
WORKING APPLICATION:
Tip of the Day. By the way... this thing is WORKING, so you can really send tips using it.
QUESTIONS:
Check out this preview of an FLV browser over at MX traveller.
Owen van Dijk is developing this FlVbrowser using C# and .NET. This tool enables you to preview your FLV files without having to open them using Flash. This solves a LOT of problems for me, so I really can't wait to hear more about the development of this! Go to the link to read more.
Here's the official word:
moock.org is proud to announce the launch of Unity 2, a complete line of
products for multiuser application development and deployment.
With Unity 2, you can put ready-made Flash chat and multiuser games on your
site. Or you can custom-build sophisticated multiuser applications easily
entirely within Macromedia Flash.
For tons of information about Unity 2, visit:
http://moock.org/unity/
(Macromedia Site of the Day for September 18, 2003!)
To try Unity 2, visit:
http://moock.org/unity/trial/
To buy a Unity 2 product or to rent hosting, visit:
http://moock.org/unity/buy/
For a showcase of Unity applications, visit:
http://moock.org/unity/showcase/
The Unity 2 product family includes:
/*
* Unity 2 Multiuser Development Kit
* http://moock.org/unity/u2mdk/
*/
A complete framework for creating and deploying multiuser applications in
Macromedia Flash. Unity 2 MDK includes both Unity 2 Multiuser Server and
UClient for Macromedia Flash. Plenty of documentation is available online at
http://www.moock.org/unity/docs/.
/*
* Unity 2 Multiuser Server
* http://moock.org/unity/u2server/
*/
A second-generation server-side Java application to manage, extend, and
deploy multiuser applications. The server includes built-in MySQL support
for client registration, login, and persistent information storage.
/*
* UClient for Macromedia Flash
* http://moock.org/unity/uclientflash/
*/
A sophisticated generic framework for the development of any kind of
multiuser Flash application--from chat and games to business apps and art.
With UClient for Macromedia Flash, you can create multiuser apps without
writing a single line of server-side Java code.
/*
* Unity 2 App Packs
* http://moock.org/unity/u2packs/
*/
Ready-to-use multiuser Flash applications such as uMiniChat, an
easy-to-customize chat ready to post to any website.
If you have any questions about Unity 2, please email unity@moock.org.
Below is the announcement from www.flashdecompiler.com regarding the release of ASV 4.0.
Go to buraks.com/asv for more information.
==================================
ASV 4.0 which supports Flash MX (professional) 2004 is released today.
There's no demo version available. You can get more info by downloading the HTML help file for ASV 4.0. ( http://www.buraks.com/asv/3.html )
What's new
- ASV now supports Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX professional 2004 generated SWF files: SWF version 7 and optimized SWF version 6. ASV supports both AS1 and AS2. ASV can show both AS2 and AS1 version of a AS2 class script and lets you see how a class compiles to AS1.
- ASV can now export resources and a JSFL command to help rebuilding the FLA file for a SWF. SWF 2to FLA is not here yet, and this feature has lots of limitations but with it you can at least have a head start when reconstructing the FLA for a SWF.
ASV can now export vector symbol outlines as a Flash MX 2004 custom tool JSFL. A very convenient feature.
- Classes can be saved as individual .AS files and in appropriate folder structure.
- Support for linked video symbols, device sounds etc. added.
- The decompiler engine is enhanced and many bugs fixed.
How to Upgrade
If you have purchased ASV 3.x (or purchased upgrade to ASV 3.x but not received as a free upgrade), the upgrade is free. We will be sending notification emails in 24-48 hours and when you reply to the email you'll receive ASV in 24 hours.
If you have purchased ASV 2.x (but not received as a free upgrade), the upgrade costs 14 USD. ASV 1.x customers upgrade to ASV 3.x for 14 USD also and receive ASV 4 free upgrade. Please write to upgrade@buraks.com for more info on upgrading ASV.
All our customers who have purchased ASV 3.x after September 1, 2003, are considered as ASV 4 customers regarding future upgrades.
We will also be releasing a final (Gold) version of ASV 3, with many bug fixes. ASV 3 will not be updated after that.
Notes
We didn't have time to implement some great features we have in mind. We plan to have frequent updates to ASV 4. As always any bug will be fixed in 24 hours for the bug finder and the fix will be included with the next update. Thank you all.
Ambrosia Software, Inc. has just released an update to the screen/video
capture utility for Mac OS X, Snapz Pro X. The new version of Snapz
Pro X can be obtained here:
http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/utilities/snapzprox/ Version 1.0.8 is a free
update for registered users of Snapz Pro X, and boasts a number of new
features:
Version 1.0.8
-- We now use a different method of pausing processes we're taking
screenshots of, which is compatible with iTunes 4.x, newer MacroMedia
products, etc.
-- Added internet version checking. When Snapz Pro X is launched,
if you're connected to the Internet, it'll see if there is a newer
version of Snapz available, and tell you about it
-- Did regression testing of Snapz Pro X with Panther, and fixed a
few minor issues so that it operates properly on Panther
-- Recompiled Snapz Pro X with gcc 3.3, which should result in a
little performance boost
-- Fixed a few other minor issues
A complete list of changes in Snapz Pro X from version 1.0.7->1.0.8 can
be found here:
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum70/HTML/000084.html
Ambrosia is also hard at work on Snapz Pro X 2.0, with the primary
focus being to radically increase the video capture performance, and
we're amazing results so far. For more information on this major
update to Snapz Pro X (due out in Q3 2003), please go here:
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum70/HTML/000003.html
If your computer came bundled with a free copy of Snapz Pro X, the
bundling deal is between Apple and their customers and includes the
version of Snapz Pro X that shipped with their machine.
If you would like to upgrade to a full registered copy of the latest
version of Snapz Pro X at a heavily discounted rate, then go to:
https://secure.AmbrosiaSW.com/snapzprox/bundleup.html
If you need to get back to the registered version that shipped with
your machine, simply re install Snapz Pro X from the Applications CD
that shipped with your machine.
Andrew Welch / el Presidente / Ambrosia Software, Inc.
I like this use of Flash. I think it is funny and well done.
... ...
And funny. And I have a thing for anything involving Poloroid pictures.
Take it and see how good you are!
Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer.
Seabuiscuit site. Just had this URL passed on via a favorite newsgroup. A nice looking site (like the style) made using Flash MX. Has integrated the video nicely as well and interesting transitions in the main area where you enter the site. Some nice brightness/contrast transitions in the photo gallery too. A little unintuitive to navigate, though.
Worth checking out. A lot of good and creative stuff going on in the site.
They relaunched with a brand new look and tons of Flash related prizes to give away. Prizes include Studio MX and all you need to do is link to them for 48 hours. Now there's a small price to pay!
Go ahead, go take a look.
Imagio Technology Limited
Registered Company No.: 04087915
Search Movies In A Flash
Searching for information is the biggest activity on the Internet. An increasing number of web sites use Macromedia Flash movies to deliver animated content. Until now, there has been no way for web site visitors to search for information in a Flash movie.
Imagio Technology has solved this problem with their new search solution called FlashSeek. Visitors can search for words in Flash movies quickly and easily. FlashSeek is easily integrated into existing search facilities. This brings valuable benefits to web sites using Flash by improving the usability of a web site and reducing the frustration people can feel when looking for information.
Based on Microsoft IFilter and Macromedia technology, FlashSeek allows people to find information in Flash movies. FlashSeek is compatible with the Microsoft Index Server product supplied with Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. It searches the contents of Macromedia Flash 3, 4, 5 and 6 files.
FlashSeek creates a search index of all the text in every Flash movie on a web site. Visitors find movies using simple keyword queries such as "Big Apple"; Boolean queries like "York AND NOT New" or other complex pattern matching queries.
Speaking about FlashSeek, Glen Keedy, Imagio"s Development Director said, "Flash has always been a great medium for building visually compelling web content but until now it has been extremely difficult to search for information inside Flash movies. FlashSeek changes all that by allowing users to
search Flash web sites and quickly locate relevant content."
Individual licenses are available via electronic software delivery from the FlashSeek web site for
£149. For more information about FlashSeek including access to a live demonstration, please contact:
Mark Rouse
Imagio Technology Limited
Batley Technology Centre
Grange Road
Batley
WF17 6ER
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)1924 502060
Mobile: +44 (0)7970 023921
Email: flashseek@imagiotech.com
FlashSeek Web Site: http://www.imagiotech.com/flashseek
An Emerging "New Media" Collective Debuts Online
Fresh on the horizons is the Flashtrix.com online community.
Geared to provide publicity, resources, forums and news for New Media
designers and developers, the founders seek to build a non-profit
collective for the advancement and interaction of their members and
sponsors. Gathering from strength in numbers, Flashtrix.com will offer
collective members a place to establish contact, post ideas and congregate
in order to promote exposure. In addition to the news, resources, and
forums selected collective members and key figures will be profiled in
Flashtrix news articles as ground-breaking propellers and rising talents
on the forefront of interactive media.
contact: info@flashtrix.com
or: paris@flashtrix.com
Don't believe it's true? Well, it is with Discreet! Get ready to salivate:
http://www.discreet.com/products/smoke/.
$65K, but you get 1 year of support and a tablet. Oh! Haha, for that price, you could throw in ME full time for a year (note: 2002 earnings *before* taxes for me, what actually paid in the end... $13K. pre-tax.).
I was just alerted to a great deal on what seems to be a great sheet set by Flash guru, Joey Lott.
Joey Lott, author of Complete Flash Remoting (Wiley), sends us the following link:
Check it out! If anyone makes a purchase, do endeavour to post your comments/review in the Comments area!
Thanks!
An official message was sent around that APress has purchased remaining friends of ED, Wrox and glasshaus books. This includes exisiting books and also works in progress.
While it remains to be seen how many of these books (around 400) will be updated or released, it does look like some books will hit the shelves instead of waste away. So, good news indeed and we wish APress the best of luck for the future.
Wiley publishers have purchased the Wrox branding, as well as 34 Wrox books, 1 friends of ED book, and one glasshaus title. Through the grapevine, they are planning on carrying on some of the books and branding into the future.
Nothing official has been announced, but you can see that the current owner of the wrox.com domain is indeed..Wiley.
If you want to help alpha-test the Harmony socket server (the new version of the Unity socket server for Flash), then go to:
http://moock.org/unity/harmony/alpha/.
There, you will find details, and a download. Happy testing!
Simon Robinson has written a brief synopsis of what has happened with the bankrupt Wrox, friends of ED, glasshaus and so on.
Read the news here.
Download the entire ex-Wrox book here for free! Kindly donated by ex-Wrox and author Simon Cozens to http://learn.perl.org for your reading enjoyment.
Press Release
For Immediate Release
"The Fusion Project" - a global collaboration explorative
Toronto, Canada, March 21, 2003 - After three months of production, conception, caffeine and collaboration, the latest project from J Chesebrough of studio:cmd [activemedia] inc. is set for release.
This production fuses the work of multiple artists, designers, illustrators and multimedia composers on a thematic exploration in search of the process transcending the goal.
http://www.thefusionproject.org
About The Fusion Project
The Fusion Project is based on a concept of global participation in something larger than an individual's contribution to design, while maintaining the importance of individuality. Its main goal is the production of work that creates a part of a whole, and in doing so, concentrating on the passage from concept to completion. The end result is an individual work of art, but when combined with other works of art, the end result of the individual is secondary.
Created in conclaves, each exploration will be based around a thematic concept presented to participants at the outset. The concept is clear enough to form an image or notion, but vague enough to be open to interpretation. Interpretation from location, background and an individual experiences are brought to the table, and the eventuality is the creation of an "element" - a piece of work that stands on its own as a fully functional image, activity or application. When this element is placed with other works based upon the same theme - the conclusion is a "habitat" which becomes a collection of individual interpretations, and therefore a work of art in and of itself.
About those involved:
Motion designers, static designers, programmers, traditional artists, illustrators, coders... Anyone is welcome to contribute, regardless of platform, or style.
Short summary:
The Fusion Project, is an ongoing work of art developed through a multitudinous capacity using a thematic multimedia collaborative explorative, run on a global platform.
http://www.thefusionproject.org
About J Chesebrough
Jason Chesebrough, Creative Director for Nemesis Group Incorporated (www.nemesiscorporation.com), is a Canadian caffeine-fuelled demiurgic design powerhouse. With an artistic background spanning
from gallery artist to commercial muralist, then from the scaffold to the keyboard circa Flash 3, J eats, sleeps and breathes in the toasty-warm world of design. In addition to daily activities with
Nemesis Group, J cultivates creativity at studio:cmd [activemedia] inc. (www.studiocmd.com), an artistic experimentation aperture,collating a copasetic balance of self indulgent design with a small but loyal client base. He is the engineer of The Fusion Project,(www.thefusionproject.org) an ongoing work of art developed through a multitudinous capacity using a thematic multimedia collaborative explorative, run on a global platform. His mind numbing involvement
in both the new media industry and the Flash community is driven by his hell-bent mindset cultivated for immediate global domination
within the confines of design. J is an educator, advocate and a design activist, lending his support to organizations and causes across North America, Europe, Oceania and the Pacific Rim. A loving husband and a proud father, J looks great in bowling shirts, trousers and a cap.
===========
For additional information, please contact:
Jason Chesebrough
The Fusion Project
studio:cmd [activemedia] inc.
1.905.721.1336
jason@thefusionproject.org
You know what? There is a brand new kick ass site up now. The doom and gloom is over. Why you ask?
FLASHCOMPONENT.COM IS UP!
Keran McKenzie may seem like a nice guy, but in reality, he has made a bad-ass (that means good) site to upload and download components from. Together with the remarkable brothers Dura, this new site has to be seen.
So go there now:
And that bad boy is not pluralized.
Dear all,
As a natural consequence to my previous communications, I have received a
large number of queries regarding the rights to published or in-progress
works that are contracted with Peer Information (PI) companies. I would like
to clarify that the insolvency of PI does not mean implicitly or explicitly
that any contract you have with a PI company has been terminated. They are
still valid and legally binding, because PI as a legal entity still exists.
The fate of any contract will become clear in the next 2-3 weeks. These are
assets of the insolvent company which the liquidator is charged with
selling.
As your formal contact regarding the insolvency process, I will keep you
updated on any development. However, as a former Wrox employee, I worked
with a number of you in various capacities over the years. I enjoyed working
with such great authors, reviewers and developers. I would like, therefore,
to give you my personal view on the situation and offer some personal
advice.
The reputation that the PI books and brands have built over the years makes
it interesting to some buyers. I believe it is likely that someone will buy
the publication rights to some or all of the published and future works. The
buyer will then need to reach an agreement with you that works for you in
terms their side of the contractual obligations, that is payment and
publication. Therefore, I would advise you not to do anything that may
compromise your rights and jeopardize the strength of your position in such
negotiations. If after three weeks the company is wound up and your rights
are unsold, I assume they would revert to you. You could then do with them
what you wish. This would mean that your current royalties would be unpaid,
and that the value that attaches to existing PI relationships would be lost.
It is my personal view that the best thing to do at this point is to sit
tight and wait, and see how things develop in the next 2-3 weeks.
Thanks.
Louay
" ... One of the major factors behind the eventual demise (well, according
to what we were told on Friday) was the amount of returned books coming back
from bookstores from books that we'd printed too many of in the days when
the web book market was booming, and it's difficult to see anyone taking on
responsibility for those returns ... "
I just found out that WROX authors have not been notified that the company has gone bankrupt, and are actually finding out via. blogs and the like. That's pretty harsh. Please email me (jen@flash-mx.com), and we'll have you hooked up with the others.
Anyway, if you are WROX person, this is the email that we received:
================================
Dear author,
The Board of Peer Information has passed a resolution to place the company
into liquidation. The company is unable to meet its financial commitments,
and we have been unable to secure additional funding. The Directors are left
with no choice but to place the company into insolvency process.
Please stop work immediately on all contracted work from Peer Information.
Retain safe copies of all your work. The contract that you have with the
company remains valid. There will be a 3-4 week hiatus period until we are
able to discuss the future course of your project.
Louay Fatoohi is your point of contact for enquiries about editorial
contracts.
If you believe you are owed money for either submitted work against a
contract or for accrued royalties on existing titles, then you are a
creditor of the company. As such you will be contacted shortly by the
liquidator with information on pursuing your claims.
Please note that it is in your interest that you do not break the terms of
your contract. You will be worse off if that happens. Please wait until you
are contacted again.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Louay Fatoohi
=======followed up with========
Further to my communication regarding placing Peer Information into
liquidation, I would like to clarify that Peer Information includes the
following legal entities:
- Wrox Press Ltd
- Friends of Ed Ltd
Wrox Press Ltd also trades as: Glasshaus, Curlingstone, Active Path and
Tect.
Thank you.
Louay Fatoohi
And Wrox... and glasshaus. Peer Information group bit the dust today as they declared bankrupcy and sent their staff running for the hills.
And also left a lot of us authors without money. A lot. We had 2 books finished, ready for print, and were waiting for the advances to be put into the bank.
But they won't be. Nor will the books be printed in all likelihood. Nor will we see any royalties on any of the books already out (although, that isn't too much of anything to count on anyway).
Regardless, time to move on. A really really hard and huge blow to us today since we're fairly poor and FOED was a huge part of our income (but authoring for em usually nabbed about $4-$5 per hour). But I'm quittin the whining here, and getting back to work. We hope!!!
Best of luck to those who worked at friends of ED - you guys were so cool, friendly and a lot of fun to work with. Good luck in your future endeavors.
And tire? it's spelled with an "i" you guys!
Some valid points are raised in this blog entry
PNut's thought on new MM site design.
Send your comments to either area in support or rebuttal. Will be good to generate some discussion on good implementation of RIA's.
Check out some of the new features that will happen in the second release of the Unity socket server:
~~~~~~~~~~ there is a nice chat app that was built using Unity 2. Code on the client side. Check it out at www.moock.org.~~~~~~~~~~
Issue 03 has just launched!
Check out the interview with:
The MXDU conference: MX "Down Under" is happening soon. If you are in the Asian Pacific area, this is the conference to be at. It is in Sydney Australia from Feb 19th to 20th - more information at MXDU.com.
More about the conference:
- Keynotes from Mike Chambers, Ben Forta and Sean Corfield!!
- Sean Corfield is talking bout the soon to be released super MX version of MM.com (Dylan65) (more info on MXDU).
- Speakers include Scott Mebberson (SCOTT!), Jesse Warden, Allen Ellison and more!
In what could be considered the worst news in awhile, Apple has released its own browser. This should mean yet MORE FUN for the likes of web developers and designers everywhere. The browser is called Safari, and Steve Jobs claims it runs three times faster than IE for the Mac.
Regardless, the news can be found here.
If anyone is visiting this site yet, I would love to hear your feedback in the Comments area! Thanks =)
Happening in San Francisco, Moscone Centre, January 6th to 10th. Macworld is the biggest, "most comprehensive" Mac event. It includes conferences, exhibitions, and also check out all the new Mac gadgets and products coming out.
Find out more at: Macworld Home.
Exhibitors here: Exhibitor List.
Conference program: here.
Presenters: here.