MXDU 2004: Call For Papers
Fresh from the resounding success that was MXDU 2003, we are raring to go for MXDU 2004. If you have something new and revolutionary, some tricks of the trade to share, want to help your fellow developers - be they beginners or old hands, or just pure passion for MX, don't miss your chance to take part in MXDU 2004.

Ars Aura: The Art of Breeze
As a Breeze junky and a consummate blogger, it only seemed natural to start Ars Aura: The Art of Breeze. Ars Aura is a blog dedicated to providing tips & tricks for building presentations and catalogueing interesting Brezo's.

TortoiseCVS 1.4.5 Released
TortoiseCVS has been updated. It doesn't do everything you might need but when they say "Enjoyable version control" they mean it. Not sure that this version offers much more than increased stability, some esoteric bug fixes and help for unusual configuration but what's encouraging is TortoiseCVS is getting some loving once more.

CF & Java developers have no common ground
Joe Cheng pointed out in the comments of "Java jock Jihad", "there is just not a lot of common ground for CF and Java developers to stand on". Aaron Johnson has similar things to say, "Why should they care?". Maybe they're right.

CFMX Java-jock jihad
I'm amazed how often I see a total lack of understanding within Java circles of how CFMX fits. ColdFusion remains the only answer to making Java accessible to a mass of non comp-sci web developers who play a deceptively important role in the evolution of the internet. Not to mention the joy that comes from the productivity CFMX offers.

CFHTTP patched up and good to go
With CFHTTP in such a sorrowful state in early CFMX I thought I'd hunt around for a java based alternative. I stumbled across HTTPClient and used it for a while importing feeds into Fullasagoog. I was stoked to find that Macromedia have used HTTPClient to replace the old shot-in-the-head CFHTTP libraries.

FarCry Goes Platinum! The MP3 Released.
Yep this is an odd story. We've released an MP3 to commemorate the 1,000th download of FarCry CMS since going opensource. No I'm not kidding -- it's a real song, acoustics and all. Written and recorded by our very own Daniel Morphett of El Duende.

Book Review: Essential CVS
Everytime I venture off into town to get my back-cracked I like to tour the bookstores and see if anything interesting has been published. Finally O'Reilly have put out a book on the basics of version control and source code management using CVS.

Oops! Flash Paper & Breeze -- Nasty.
Well I thought It would be a match made in heaven but alas. One of the drawbacks of a Breeze presentation is that you have to provide a separate mechanism for printing slide notes. I thought how super-cool to have the speaker handouts embedded in the final slide as Flash Paper!!

What's with the odd "0x" in front of Flash hex colors?
Saw this great little question on the Macromedia instructor's mailing list, and it had me stumped. What's with the odd "0x" in front of hex colors instead of the standard # sign? For example, 0x000000 vs. #000000. Why is it "0x" rather than something else?

DRK4 Pollster Application
Well I decided to sit down and do something with DRK4. Lot of Macromedians playing with the Pollster App but not so many other folk -- so I wanted to see just how easy it was to get going. Being a sucker for punishment I decided I might as well integrate it into the FarCry CMS as well.