SOSensible Blog

DropBox worth checking out

2008-09-12T00:00:00-06:00

This is very nice! You can add it to your system, yes your system of choice and it lets you share files that automatically syncronize with any other location. Check out the demo video... not going to say much more than that because it's something you will love or not care about. I think it is clearly cool.

http://www.getdropbox.com/home

Next Gen Browsers

2008-09-01T00:00:00-06:00

OK... we could talk about individual features but that isn't going to help us understand what the driving features are in the next generation features of browsers. IE and Mozilla tend to be leading the way with IE 8 and the Mozilla Ubiquity project. In a nutshell it's about user controlled collaboration. It is about the user controlling integration and information in his own way.

So, what is the point? Next generation web sites should be thinking the way next generation browsers are headed. Does your site allow users to gather information and use it in a friendly collaborative way? How easy is it for them to pick pieces of information and share in a social network of choice? We have a project on RiaForge called cfOpenSocial. Send me a message if this is something you are interested in helping get to the community as an itnegrated library running in ColdFusion. If not look at what others are doing and make sure your site isn't going to be viewed as 'anti-social'.

Yes, the next features of the browser focus on two major concepts. They focus on being social and collaboration. Of course change helps keep us IT guys working... so in addition to giving more to the users that is good for us!

Buzz from Yahoo

2008-08-27T00:00:00-06:00

This one is a new volley in getting a piece of the news channel space. Of course this will be easier for Yahoo than some others.

So, what is Y!Buzz ?

Discover - Find out what is hot in stories, sites, etc.
Vote - Have your take added to the stats.
Share - Send the Buzz along to others.

Here is a clip from the about page.

The best of the best - chosen by people like you.

* The buzz can be about anything - a great story on a major news site, an extraordinary bit from an obscure site, an intriguing video, or a fantastic blog that shouldn't be missed.

* Instead of editors, people like you determine the top-rated stories.

How it works.

* First, we determine the most popular topics that people are searching for on Yahoo!.

* Then, we showcase the most popular stories within those topics, based on activities like voting and emailing stories to friends.

* Stories with most Buzz may be published on the Yahoo! home page - you can impact what millions will see on Yahoo!.

Check it hout at this link...

Note... feeds are also there if you like to get your Buzz via RSS.

VOIP Caller ID

2008-08-23T00:00:00-06:00

Is it just me or are you tired of not having your caller ID listed? Well, this is my attempt to get listed even though I am using a VOIP solution. I went to List Yourself and listed my phone number and name in the system. There are a number of ways to validate the number. After doing what they said they told me my listing would be showing within 72 hours. This blog post will be delayed more than that and we will see how it goes. If someone else wants to try it just click on the URL in this post and give it a try. (My guess is that I am not the only one out there using VOIP with a meaningless caller ID.)

P.S.
Apparently now I have to wait for the individual carriers to pick up the number. So it's in the system but they may or may not pick it up. (If and when as they say.)

Speed Matters, Join Today

2008-08-15T00:00:00-06:00

OK, have you ever had someone tell you that you need to "get up to speed"?

Let's face it, our internet speed is sad. Let's look at the positive benefits rather than complaining. What ways can we benefit by faster internet? Well we would have better resources for health care, education and training, public safety, government services, economic growth and more.

Yes, now the part many will be waiting for... give me the negative you say! LOL... The country that invented the internet is 15th in average speed of the user of the internet! The way internet is marketed is very poor speed is 'normal' and better than poor speed is considered 'high speed'. It would be like saying a horse and buggy were high speed mode of travel. Yes, it is better than foot traffic but compared to a truck or car it just isn't high speed. There is nothing wrong per se with horse and buggy but that doesn't make it high speed or the right solution on a case by case basis.

So, where can you get more information? I AM GLAD YOU ASKED!

http://www.speedmatters.org/

RIA Flex Soltutions

2008-08-11T00:00:00-06:00

Everyone knows a core part of Microsoft focus is the Office Suite. In particular the key apps are the word processor, spread sheet and presentation tools. Google is kicking out some very nice applications but Adobe is not short in offerings either.

Word Processing:
BuzzWord (Free)
This winner has the courage to do things different. The file list and the interface are different. Yet, unlike Office 2007 there is not the same shock factor as the Ribbon Toolbar concept. The creators of BuzzWord were on target when it came to usability. It should be also noted that BuzzWord is part of an online suite of collaboration tools. Esp. the offering of a screen sharing application. Again... all for free in basic versions.

Spread Sheet:
iDubee (By invite only, price not shared)
There is a screen cast ans this looks like yet another winner.

Presentations:
SlideShare (Free)
This is a wonderful presentation application.
Slide Rocket (Free)
This is another amazing application for doing online presentation. It is also worth mention that this program has an offline view application based on Adobe AIR.

It is clear that both convergence of concepts and sepeation are both being achieved. It is much like the old BBS days when smaller companies worked on many valid alternatives to the top sellers. There are other offerings out there for sure but this post is just a commentary on the progress we are making as people on the internet. Kudos to all the workers achieving!

Gears Rolling Closer

2008-06-13T00:00:00-06:00

If you haven't heard of Google gears yet you should at least become familiar with what they are doing.

http://gears.google.com/

Here are some of the great features in the newest version ( 0.3 ).

Support for Firefox 3!
Ability to create desktop shortcuts
Improved support for customizing the installation flow and permission dialog
Better support for sending complex objects to workers
Detailed progress events for managed resource store updates
And more...

This is not all the features but the latest features to be added onto the framework. Check it out.

Adobe Presenter Lives

2008-05-19T00:00:00-06:00

Yes, more presentation software. Each presentation software has it's own strengths and Adobe has a special winner.

Key capabilities

* Easily create professional Flash presentations and self-paced courses complete with narration and interactivity.
* Import and edit video in any format and export as SWF.
* Record and edit high-quality audio.
* Help ensure consistency with branding and customization.
* Deliver advanced quizzes and surveys with question pooling and randomization.
* Publish content as a PDF file, preserving all of your animations.
* Create AICC- and SCORM-compliant content.
* Integrate with Adobe Acrobat® Connect™ Pro software to deploy, manage, deliver, and track content.

http://www.adobe.com/products/presenter/

Slide Share site

2008-04-30T00:00:00-06:00

Flickr is a great photo sharing site but this is the best Slide Show site I have seen online to date. It lets you create a slide show an mix it with an MP3. Very nice IMO.

http://www.slideshare.net/

Stallion (SOS v5)

2008-02-11T00:00:00-06:00

Well,

Stallion is in pre-beta stage. Anyone interested in gettng in on the project is welcome to enlist!

GOALS and CHANGES for version 5 (and what remains)

Support LightWire
Refactored to external Libraries (and enhanced)
- COOP
  - preDOM object interaction
  - ICE Libraries
  - Works as a app methodology
  - Seperates Processing from Mark-up
  - URL processor
- CFish
  - enhanced content handling
  - Search Engine Optimization Interface
  - Web Site Optimization Features
  - Presentation Handling (beyond CSS)
Installer
Multiple (plug-in) methodologies (one per application bundle)
API
Application Reuse without Rewrite
Shared Authentication

We would enjoy the collaboration and input of others on this update to support the newer web technologies.

CFUnited: Traffic Optimization

2008-01-23T00:00:00-06:00

It helps to have a great SEO, but it is better if you add technology to make things happen after the SEO has done his job. Making web sites successful is more than getting people to come. There is also the matter of getting people to stay. Then there is yet another layer of encouraging them to do what they came for in the first place. (Seems like alot of hand holding doesn't it. Well, if you want to boost your results it takes more than getting someone to visit your site.) Again here is a summary of what will be covered in the session.

When the SEO is done what comes next?
How do we keep my landing pages from being a bounce page?
How do we help our visitors act on the reason they came to our sites?

These are often done by the person in the group who has the most pull. Other companies hire "Consultant, Inc." and pay out the big bucks. Now I am a conslutant so don't thing that is hiring a consultant is a bad idea. This is something that might even help a consultant prove his value to his client. Don't miss this one it may pay for your trip to the conference!

ColdFusion Community Site

2007-11-23T00:00:00-06:00

Well ColdFusion is now "social". If you are part of the community and would like to network this is the place you can go to connect.

ColdFusion Community Site Link

My Profile Link

RIA 2.0 or Web 3.0

2007-11-15T00:00:00-06:00

I couldn't resist the annoying terms. Yes I am tired of the 2.0 chatter also. With that said I am not tired of the wonderful advancements being made. We are adding some new categories on this site that will be covering many of the new products. Some will have to wait so we can get at the public betas. Others are ready to check out today. The following is a list of what you can expect to see on this blog going forward. If you click on the categories and feeds link on the side you can get your hot RSS feed today!

Product Reviews (like BuzzWord, MixBook, Geni.com and more)
Book Reviews
AJAX library reviews and news
And of course news about our projects like
- COOP (Including news on COOP Plug-in Libraries ... CPLs)
- CFish
- CFRouting
- etc....

We look forward to sharing the what's new and interesting.