Aaron West's Technology Blog

Quick Update on BFlex 2010

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:24:00 -0400

A few things have changed with BFlex over the last week that have led me to pick up an Adobe AIR session I wasn't originally slated to teach. Other than the illustrious Simon Free's AIR session on mobile development, my session will be the only one focused on Adobe's Integrated Runtime. The downside (if there is one) to this schedule change is I don't have a specific session prepared yet. If you are going to be at BFlex I would love to hear your ideas for a hands-on session written for intermediate developers. Here are a few ideas from myself and my twitter followers, feel free to provide your thoughts in the comments: --creating an awesome AIR application updater that includes a force update feature
--creating screenshots of specific parts of an app and providing drag-and-drop to desktop functionality
--using the file promises API in AIR 2 to write remote files to disk
--something else AIR 2 related (native processes, etc.) Finally, if you haven't seen the new BFlex/BFusion site (powered by Mura) released today, go check it out.

Push My Tweet Buttons

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:42:00 -0400

I've added Twitter's new tweet button to all posts on this blog. If you are reading a post that you like or that you think others will find useful in some way, I'd very much appreciate it if you'd use the button to tell your Twitter followers. All you have to do is press the tweet button and a pop-up window will display with twitter.com loaded. If you are signed into Twitter's site you'll be able to submit the tweet immediately. If you aren't signed into Twitter, you'll need to enter your username and password first.

BFlex and BFusion Registration Open

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0400

Hey folks, this is just a quick post to let everyone know registration for BFlex and BFusion 2010 is now open. Having spoken at both of these events for the past two years I know what high value these two days of hands on training offer participants. And you will participate as BFlex/BFusion is not you run of the mill event. You experience hands on training from seasoned ColdFusion and Flex developers. I'll be there helping out the crew again this year. If you are anywhere near Bloomington, Indiana I hope to see you there. But don't forget to register here: http://bflex.info.

Video of My Caching Talk at CFUnited 2010

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0400

If you weren't fortunate enough to attend CFUnited this year you've been given a second chance so-to-speak. Tim Cunningham has posted videos of many of the sessions he attended. You can check out all the videos here, or go straight to my caching talk here.

Faster Debugging in Flash Builder with Logitech Mouse

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 09:00:00 -0400

Over the past few months I've found I use the heck out of the debug feature in Flash Builder 4. And when working on really complex Flex applications sometimes the only way to see whether my code is doing what I need is to run the application. Why? Because design view in Flash Builder 4 doesn't know how to work with popular Flex frameworks such as Swiz. At least, I've not been able to get it to work quite right for me. Sometime last week I grew tired of pressing the debug button so I configured my Logitech Anywhere MX mouse so it initiates debugging sessions for me. It's pretty rocking. Click the image after the break to see a short video demonstration of how it works. If you want to learn more about the Anywhere MX mouse, I blogged my experience with it last year. [More]

How To Fix Missing Plug-in Issue in Chrome

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:28:00 -0400

Back in April I blogged about an issue I found with the Chrome browser where the Flash Player debugger wasn't working properly. That post has received a number of views and has helped a few folks get around the issue. I recently ran into a similar issue where viewing PDF files in Chrome caused the following screen to display. NOTE: I believe this issue only pertains to the dev channel version of Chrome. [More]

My CFUnited 2010 Session Content (New Caching Features in ColdFusion 9)

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:58:16 -0400

My CFUnited 2010 presentation materials (slides and code) have been uploaded and are ready for download. If you are interested in learning about new caching features in ColdFusion 9 feel free to hit the download link and view the slides after the break. [More]

ColdFusion Page Added to Ehcache Site

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:01:00 -0400

I just received an e-mail from the founder Ehcache, Greg Luck, letting me know they have added a new page to their Web site that includes information on how ColdFusion uses Ehcache. Included on the page is information about which versions of Ehcache ColdFusion supports, how to enable and use distributed caches, and a short list of community resources on using ColdFusion and Ehcache together. If you want to learn more about Ehcache and ColdFusion I recommend you check out their new page and the ehcache.org site in general.

Interesting Site Statistics

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:05:00 -0400

Yesterday, Dan Wilson blogged about his Web site statistics and how Linux was less than 1% behind Macintosh in his visitor stats. He asked what trends others were seeing so I thought I'd post the same stats he did. After the break you will see a screenshot from Google Analytics of the operating system statistics for aaronwest.net from June 19 - July 19, 2010. [More]

Initial Impressions of the Droid X

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:00:00 -0400

Yesterday I posted some random thoughts on my experience with the Droid X over on the GDGT Droid X page. I'm reposting my thoughts here, after the break. This isn't my full review or take on the Droid X. I will post some more in-depth thoughts later this week. [More]

Golf at CFUnited 2010

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:21:00 -0400

I'm turning what's normally a short two hour flight to D.C. into a two day trek from Nashville to CFUnited by car. I should be arriving at the Lansdowne resort on Monday, July 26 and am interested in playing golf sometime on Tuesday the 27th. I might play an additional round on Saturday too. If you are into golf and you want to play, hit me up by e-mail or post a comment below.

ColdFusion 9.0.1 Released

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:02:00 -0400

As of a few moments ago, Adobe released the first major update to ColdFusion 9.0, which itself was released in early October of 2009. This new release, brings ColdFusion's version number to 9.0.1. So what's in the updater? The short list of my favorite features include: Amazon S3 support, caching enhancements and an upgrade to Ehcache 2.0, and logging enhancements (you can now generate log files for HTTP, FTP and other services). Let me reiterate that's my short list of features to call out. There's many more enhancements and fixes included in the updater that you might find useful. For more information on what's new and to download the updater, please check out the links below. NOTE: There is not a full installer for 9.0.1. You must first download and install 9.0 and then download and install the 9.0.1 updater. ColdFusion 9.0.1 new features list is here.
ColdFusion 9.0.1 release notes are here.
Download ColdFusion 9.0.1 here.
Download Updater SOLR installer and Dreamweaver extensions here.

Must Have Android Apps

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 07:42:00 -0400

In preparation of switching to Android next week I've been compiling a short list of must have applications. Some of these apps were mentioned in a Mashable article while others have been mentioned on Twitter, blogs, or elsewhere. This list is a decent start but I need your help. What are your favorite Android apps? Which do you use every single day that you can't live without? Chime in by posting a comment after the break. [More]

1Password Now on Android

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:04:00 -0400

I was super excited to learn the folks at Agile Web Solutions have released a beta version of 1Password for Android. As a new user to the Android platform and a long-time user of 1Password, I'm glad I won't have to convert my password database to something other than 1Password just for use on Android. For the time being the only information on this beta release is in the Agile Web Solutions forum. There you'll find information on installing 1Password from the Android Marketplace and copying your password data from your computer to your Android device.

Tab Key Trick in OS X and Linux

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 10:56:00 -0400

I recently stumbled upon a little tab key trick in Mac OS X. I already knew you could press the tab key to autocomplete directory names, but I didn't know you could press the tab key additional times to resolve directory name ambiguity. How does it work? When you are typing directory names and paths, which you do with the change directory (cd) command, you can press the tab key to autocomplete the directory names. If two directories have similar names OS X and Linux will complete what you type up to the point one or more additional directory names match. If you continue to press the tab key a list of all possible directory names will display. This lets you determine what you are looking for and continue typing a directory name to resolve the ambiguity. I'm stunned I didn't know about this neat feature of OS X and Linux, the two platforms I tested. Check out the quick video demo below to see exactly what I'm talking about.