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Date Range: 3/1/2005 - 3/31/2005
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Monday, March 28, 2005

Three Very Heavy Cases

I just about had a heart attack, I was so startled. I'm in my office when I hear someone run up the stairs to my front door, an extremely loud thud, then running down the stairs.

My heart racing, I wonder what it could be. Then again, the same thing; running up the stairs, THUD, running down the stairs.

I'm still startled but realize it could be a delivery. I wonder what it could be since I'm not expecting anything...

As I open the front door, it happens again; running up the stairs, THUD, and the UPS guy runs down again.

I'm still a bit shaken up from the initial (then unidentified) thud, but pleased that three very heavy boxes are stacked by my door, each filled with copies of ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit.

Even as I type this message my heart is not quite back to its normal pace. Whatever happened to the days when the driver would knock or ring the doorbell...?

Posted by ~Angela | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Permalink

 
Friday, March 25, 2005

Gaetano's Food Allergy

To make a really long story short, we have good reason to believe that Gaetano is allergic to artificial colors in food. For the last month or so now, we've done our best to avoid giving him anything artificially colored and let me tell you it hasn't been easy.

Since he's been off the artificial colors, he's no longer congested all the time. His behavior has improved in school, he's learning more, eating better with increased appetite, and he's grown at least an inch. Sure, some of that may be coincidental, but not all of it...

As soon as I find a moment to exhale, I'll schedule him to see an allergist to confirm my suspicions. I'm more confident than ever though that they'll be able to confirm my suspicions. In fact, if it turns out that he doesn't have an allergy to artificial food coloring, I'll be pretty shocked.

Posted by ~Angela | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Permalink

 
Wednesday, March 23, 2005

ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit now available!

I haven't gotten my copy of the new ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit, but Ben has gotten his already and he's written about it on his blog. Ben has also published a description and the table of contents to his site for anyone looking for more info.

Hopefully my copy will be here tomorrow! Thanks to Ben for asking me back again. I am honored to have done my part, and have my name listed on the cover with such phenomenal authors.

Posted by ~Angela | Comments (1) | Add Comment | Permalink

 
Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Due out soon - Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit

Due out soon, is Macromedia ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit by Ben Forta and Ray Camden with Leon Chalnick and Angela C. Buraglia (that's me!). I only wrote chapter 2, which is an overview of Dreamweaver geared towards ColdFusion developers. (The new ColdFusion MX 7 extensions for Dreamweaver are covered in other chapters, not the one I wrote.)

Ben will be posting the table of contents on his site. I do have the back cover copy from the book that I can share:

MacromediaŽ ColdFusionŽ MX 7 Web application construction kit

The ColdFusion MX 7 Web Application Construction Kit is the latest edition of the best-selling ColdFusion book of all time-the one that most ColdFusion developers used to first learn the product.

This reference starts with ColdFusion fundamentals, then progresses to techniques for all the most critical functions, including creating data-driven pages, building complete applications, implementing security mechanisms, integration with email, building reusable functions and components, generating data driven reports and graphs, interacting with Macromedia Flash, and much more. From design and installation, to application deployment and troubleshooting, this book is all you need to succeed with ColdFusion MX 7.

New ColdFusion MX 7 features and options covered in this edition include:

* Using Dreamweaver MX 2004 extensions to simplify application development

* Creating printable documents in PDF and FlashPaper formats

* Leveraging ColdFusion's new reporting tool

* Generating engaging Flash forms

* Harnessing the power of XForms and XSL

* And much, much more


CD-ROM includes:

* Developer edition of ColdFusion MX 7

* Evaluation version of Dreamweaver MX 2004

* Ten bonus chapters on more advanced ColdFusion topics

* All source code and example applications

Posted by ~Angela | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Permalink

 
Friday, March 18, 2005

A must-read blog post by Tom Muck

I just got done reading a post by Tom Muck about rogue extensions for Dreamweaver. Though his post is geared towards Dreamweaver, it is important to note that the same issues exist for other Macromedia programs such as Flash and Fireworks which also rely on the Extension Manager to install/uninstall extensions. Tom's post is a must-read for anyone using any Macromedia product that uses the Extension Manager to install extensions.

A rogue extension can come from any extension developer, including reputable companies. There are no regulations in place to prevent extensions from the problems described in Tom's post.

For the average user it is not easy to determine if the extensions offered by any particular person or business are safe to install without worry that their configuration will be corrupted. At this point, the average user is left to trial and error...

Rest assured that any extension that I've written and will write will never "overwrite" a Macromedia default file. If it means that I can't release the extension without modifying one of Macromedia's files, oh well. I'd rather know that I haven't caused the frustration of even a single extension user than be selfish and write my extensions without regard to repercussions.

I feel it is important to spread the word about the potential for problems. Tom's points are all very valid concerns. At the same time, I hesitate to write on this topic because it could easily be seen as trying to bash a potential competitor or further my own business.

On the other hand, if I say nothing at all, then what? The potential for conflicting extensions becoming a common problem is definitely there in my opinion. I can't just sit back knowing this and say absolutely nothing about it.

This post alone possibly risks causing certain companies/people to become upset with me for speaking out about it. I sure hope it doesn't ruffle any feathers because my intentions are good, but I guess that's a chance I'm taking...

I doubt it is Tom's intention, and it certainly is not my intention to scare people into avoiding extensions. If you run into a problem, removing\renaming your User's Configuration should restore things normal. Worst case scenario, you'll have to reinstall.

Posted by ~Angela | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Permalink

 
Monday, March 14, 2005

I'll be there, will you? - The 2nd Annual March Mingle

It's almost time for the 2nd Annual March Mingle to be held this Wednesday, March 16th at Dave N Busters in San Diego, California. There's no cost to attend, with free pool and finger foods. Just bring a few bucks for drinks.

There will be about 20 user groups represented this year from all over Southern California, who's focus range from web design, to Macromedia products, to operating systems, and programming languages. ColdFusion, .Net, PHP and general geeks alike (that's a compliment) will gather to eat, drink, shoot pool, socialize and network from 6:30pm to 10pm.

Oh, and you don't have to be a user group memeber to attend either. So even if you're not a user group member, you should come and shoot some pool, meet some people, and possibly win some very cool door prizes.

For the Dreamweaver users attending, Site-Drive Inc. (DWfaq.com) is donating a bundle of all DWfaq.com Dreamweaver extensions and Application Dynamics Inc. (Cartweaver.com) is donating a license of Cartweaver as door prizes.

There will even be some not-necessarily-just-for-geeks prizes, a very cool Cuetec Black Graphite Cue and a poker chip set courtesy of FiveStarBilliards.com. There will be more door prizes from Macromedia, The O'Reilly User Group Program, Sterling Ledet and Associates, and That Technical Bookstore too. With as many prizes as there are to be given away, there's a pretty good chance of winning something.

Posted by ~Angela | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Permalink