Is Good Stuff

How do I work in an environment where there’s alot of flash developers each having their own styles and approach in doing flash application? This thought always came accross my mind whenever I started doing any flash projects together with other new/unknown developers.

The answer is simple, we just agree to use a good actionscript framework. Reason being, Flash development is always 50% coming from design aspect and the other 50% comes from the coders aspect – there is really no good methodology or best practice out there that can satisfy two of the world. Recently, I’ve tried to use this open source framework called GAIA FRAMEWORK. Using this framework, the designers and coders are unified at least under one common understanding of how GAIA FRAMEWORK functions.

It comes with a MXP (extension file) which create a special panel for developers and designers to start a project. Once, a project is created with agreed dimensions and flash version, GAIA basically auto creates all the low level stuff needed by flash developers and designers.

They have the scalfolding method which rapidly create a prototype skeleton of the site. Designers can then, take the fla file to start their work and coder can begin to start their with the classes. GAIA even focus on providing all the javascript file such as swfobject and swfaddress to enable SEO flash concept. This allows site owners to keep track of specific pages within the flash using google analytic.

It may be chaotic at first try, but please try it out at least a week or two to familiarize in how GAIA handles the flash development and you will soon find out the benefits of it.

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Having problems with damaged disc or files stored in some old scratched cd, dvd, even blue ray disc? Suxs isn’t. Well don’t just throw the disc away though – because there might be a chance, that you will be able to salvage the files stored in the disc!

Introducing  the free CD Recovery Toolbox software for windows. (works in Windows 98 – latest Windows Vista Sp2).

 

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Of all the potential threats that can cause damage to your computer, perhaps the most serious and widespread threat is from malware or malicious software.

Malware refers to any piece of code that tries to enter your PC without your consent and causes damage to it or steals your personal information.

Malware can be categorized into two main categories:

- Virus: These include all kinds of computer viruses, worms, and Trojans
- Spyware: These include spy software, adware, and criminal ware.

While the former spread fast and are transmitted through one computer to other, the latter are confined usually to the computer in which spyware has entered.

A recent study found that over 86% of computers are inadequately protected from malware threats, while half of users perceived that they were well-protected. This overconfidence stems from ignorance about the threat perception of malware and most users are not aware of the problem until it is too late. Some of the symptoms that may give you a warning signal about the presence of malware is if your computer is slow or if your computer freezes randomly. It is recommended that you follow the tips given below to protect your PC from Malware:

1. Use a reliable anti-virus properly: While most of you probably have anti-virus software installed on your system, you may not be aware of its capabilities. It is critical that you choose your anti-virus very carefully after consulting with experts and reading the reviews. Once you select the anti-virus and install it, you must be sure to:
   • Enable real-time protection to ensure no malware infiltrates your PC.
   • Perform a complete system scan every few days.
   • Always remember to update the virus definitions to ensure total protection from a new virus.
2. Follow Safe Computing: You must take all precautions while using your computer, especially while using the Internet. You must be sceptical of all unknown emails as well as attachments and never open them before scanning. You must also never visit or download software from suspicious websites.
3. Update your Operating System regularly: Microsoft Windows is a robust operating system but it is not perfect. Microsoft releases updates on a regular basis to plug any loopholes in its security that may serve as an entry point for various malware. Ensuring regular system updates also makes the defence of your PC stronger and less prone to malware attacks. You can update your Windows operating system easily by using the Windows Update feature.
4. Use a good anti-spyware: Did you know that almost all PCs that have an internet connection are likely to have spyware on them. These spyware programs, such as Limewire, can  add a lot of entries to your registry and can cause a lot of damage to your system. If you are wondering how to uninstall Limewire, you need to equip your computer with a reliable anti-spyware tool and it will get rid of all kinds of spyware including Limewire. You may also choose to use a good registry tool to clean up any spyware entries added deep within the registry tree.

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Yesterday, I’ve just survived yet another Service Pack for Vista. It seems they improved alot on the Wifi connectivity and the networking stuff.  Below are the list of stuff  they improved…

•  SP2 contains Blue tooth 2.1 feature pack supporting the most recent specification for Blue tooth technology
•  Ability to record data on Blu-Ray media,
•  Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) Wi-Fi Configuration to Windows Vista SP2,
•  exFAT file system now supports UTC timestamps, which enables correct file synchronization across time zones.
•  SP2 provides support for new form factors, such as ICCD/CCID. new form factor support –example USB form factor as opposed to PCMCIA).
•  Support for the new VIA 64-bit CPU Security
•  SP2 includes all previously released security updates, and builds on the proven security benefits of Windows Vista
•  Secure Development Lifecycle process updates, where we identify the root cause of each security bulletin and improve our internal tools to eliminate code patterns that could lead to future vulnerabilities
•  Reliability
•  SP2 addresses previously released reliability updates, as well as addressing crashes, caused by Microsoft code, discovered since the launch of SP1 Performance
•  Resume performance when Wi-Fi connection is no longer available after resume from sleep
•  Inclusion of Windows Search 4 for improved indexing performance, improved relevancy in search, broader indexing scenario inclusion, as well as new Group Policy integration for Windows Search,
•  Improvements to the RSS feeds sidebar gadget to improve update performance and responsiveness
•  Application Compatibility

Weee then again…thank god – Windows 7 is gonna be out soon too. 

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If you are an open source developer at times, you may want a simple tool that can wipe off those .svn folder from the source. I normally do that, if the svn repository is too screwed up and clean up function isn’t all that perfect. I will normally checkout all the source file. Perform a .svn clean up, delete the svn repo folder and start all over (checking in again). However, apparently there’s lack of a tool in windows which is to do this easily other than going through command console thingy. 

Fortunately, I found a good solution for this. A mini tool which sticks to your Windows shell’s context menu. All you need to do is to select your svn source folder and right click. Walla then, just select Remove all .svn

This free mini tool known as SVN Cleaner can be found here. Last but not least, if it get posted here – it simply means IS GOOD STUFF!

 

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