AJAX and Flash.

I'm keen on the stable release of IE7 & heard recently it's availabe on bitTorrent. Want to grab a beta release soon.

AJAX and Flash(incl: Flex RIA) ruling the hot debate on blog circuit quite recently. I feel, in the the happening days of web applications still focus is on the conventional tags usage of DHTML and CSS2(P).Quite recently CSS multiple background issue was doing sounds from the Opera browser dungeons. I'm curious to have a better understanding of 'CSS multiple background' theory since it's very interesting to bisect the browser in multiple background mode, which is not possible in the current versions of browsers.

Back to Ajax, I was on a short interactive process with one of the 'thin client network centric' company here in Bangalroe recently. It was a usal
project and consulting focussed process.It was a good time having conversations with guys aboard. For my best surpirse, the guy on the other end had a extensive knowledge about the Ajax and the use of it in current UI applications persepective. He was discussing about the 'Ajax Data grid part' which was made public just a few days back.I am very much amused by the fact that, Dis Ajax already made a foray into conventional applications design methodology?. But the bottomlines is it's nothing new except the old wine in the new bottle. Because it's just the hybrid version of Javascript, aka Dhtml with which we're all aware about. I feel it's not a great deal, since 'light weight UI phenonmenon' is fast paced word in the global design village !

A topic which was floated by:
Jesse James Garrett (Ajax) has made a phenomenal impact in the applications design area. And more over it's a accessibility & CSS2 bug bitten era!. There're abundent number of bloggers who are proactive-ly flashing light on pros & cons of :AJAX and Flash. I feel, it's right time to catch this hot topic here:

Defending Flash
Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications

RIA: whatz it ?

Definition of RIA, the Rich Internet Application:

Rich Internet Application is defined as

* use of a high-performance runtime for code, content and communications
* integration of media types (for instance; video in the same window)
* a common object model for these multimedia services
* ability to use and add components, for development efficiency
* XML data communications with servers
* online/offline transparency
* friendly to various browsers, operating systems, devices.


Learn Macromedia Flash and Flex from Industry Experts at IFBIN.
Founder and CEO, Theodore Patrick.
More about Theodore Patrick:

Free Flex Style Explorer for styling Flex Components via CSS:


[ Outsourced from Brajeshwar ;) ]

Why iRiver ?


[ H10 20GB Lounge Gray. Firmware 2.05E/Asian Version ]

Because, it's cute, hot, dashing, trendy, solid & sometimes buggy !

The player itself is good with latest Firmware 2.05. As of now, this is the gizmo which gives me company wheverever I go. Proprietary software 'iRiver plus' drives me crazy. Instead I rely on:'foobar2000 & EasyH10' for easy synchronization and creation of database inside the player (Ref :misticriver.net for software details).

It is to do with technology. iRiver have seen that the next step in the Mini MP3 race is to add a colour screen capable of showing images stored on the device. Apple Ipod Mini & Creative Zen Micro has to come up with colour screen and other fancies to catch up this stuff. Thouh I am a biggest fan of creative after their audigy and inspire range of speakers, due to their lack of market orientation their excellent gizmos are not available in India as of now. No regrets. Well, atlast creative has to do something to grab their market share in India, before Apple and iRiver share major part of meat !

Currently I've pumped all my music collection into this sweet stuff !

How'zzzat !?

Musharraf calls Bush on 11th sept: Musharraf: Mr President, I would like to express my condolences to you. It is a real tragedy. So many people, such great bldgs... I would like to ensure that we had nothing in connection with that........
Bush: What buildings? What people??
Musharraf: What time is it in America now?
Bush: It's eight in the morning.
Musharraf: Oops...Will call back in an hour !

My New Cam !

Kodak-Z740


Kodak Z740 with Print Dock (series 3).

5.0 megapixels,
10x optical zoom,
2576 by 1932 maximum resolution,
30mm to 380mm focal range (35mm equivalent),
f2.6 to f8.0 maximum aperture range,
shutter speeds from 8 seconds to 1/1000 second,
electronic and LCD viewfinders,
USB connection,
32MB internal memory and SD Card slot ( I took: 1 GB),
rechargeable lithium ion battery,
10.1 ounces with battery,
Kodak EasyShare software.
One-year parts and labor warranty,
11-hour weekday toll-free support.

The Death of 2Advanced

Not so long ago. Flash or any interactive tools were part and parcel of any design PC in the organisation. Initially there were more and more web presence spelled the oath of flash as their ' Brand identity'. Though it's inevitable, ester months ( years !?) have seen these interactive tools constrained either for product demo or corporate presentations.


The situation seems changed quite radically. Though I'm working for Finance to Banking applications, there were only few instances where these interactive tools are bought into action. ( Exception: with regard to Flex, since it's a RIA spearhead.). This interesting scenario was nagging in my mind for quite some time. Is this situation common everywhere ? Or it's prevailing only in the arena where I'm professionally working ?

Nope.Now it's everywhere I believe.

Here's a blogger dares to take a shot on the design phase from Flash to Cascading, keeping a canon on the shoulder of 2Advanced.

Sure you have the sector where a hardcore flash site makes sense as in the movie and game websites, but as for me, as a standard, the flash wave that was seemingly going to be the 'future of the internet' is now taking a shot in the side due to the explosion of CSS, usability, and web standards.

Check this interesting ( somewhere biased, and usability bug bitten ! ;) ) article:

Death-of-2advanced.html

NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX 5700LE AGP

This is my new gizmo powerhouse in my 8 PCI slot : NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX 5700LE AGP. Powered by advanced NVIDIA® technologies including the CineFX™ 2.0 engine, AGP 8X, UltraShadow™ technology, and the ForceWare™ unified software environment.
Though this is a pine made, it's superior in the cadre of any NVIDIA chipset based cards.

I was playing ' Broken arrow ' with sony 16X DVD and creative insipre soon after intalling this AGP. Woow ! thatz the amazing combi I've seen, with a amazing picture clarity and sound performance. That seemed more powerful than Home theatre ( cynic ?! ;).

Reviews boasted that: GeForce FX 5700LE delivers high-performance, cinematic gaming, unmatched features, rock-solid stability, and compatibility with next-generation games, DVD & multimedia display abilities. Ensures that the newest, cutting-edge special effects in applications will run flawlessly. Speeds up content creation so game developers can get their new games out to PC users faster than ever before.

How to use Flex without a server.

RIA is a buzzword. So is flex. The one and only latest flash player compatible RIA spearhead from the arsenals of Macromedia. Lazlo caters till Flash player v.05. Being the part and parcel of it in couple of days, I 've realised ther's lot about Flext, to fall in love with.

Not amazing ! Many of my fellow friends asked me the grip of Flex as a widely used development tool and the opportunities it backed with ( ofcourse ! career one's ;) ). I was skeptical, since I was introduced to this great tool as a over night decision of the people who are vested with organisation baton.

Primary concern, while getting alongwith Flex was its adoptability as a mass-developer tool and its pricing, specifically in server based issues.

Btw, this is one nice article which ponders over, using Ant build as an alternative for automated precompiling of Flex applications.

It is also packed with a great tip from Ted Patrick in comments section (_The WebServices and Remoting can be used without the proxy.)


Link for the article:
http://www.darronschall.com/weblog/archives/000165.cfm



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