Posts in the ‘Computers’ Category

The future of Flash

Written by Brian on June 17th, 2010

With the iPhone and the iPad gaining so much popularity, one has to wonder what the future of the Flash platform will be. We are used to seeing Flash animations all over the web and probably don’t even realize how much Flash content we’re actually consuming. Personally, I really like the touch that Flash adds to a website. But on the other end of the spectrum, I cringe when I see a full website done in Flash and I have to wait for a menu item to unfold before my eyes with a huge animitronic sound as it makes it’s presence on the screen. But that’s not Flash’s fault, that’s simply someone taking it too far. Overall I like the idea of Flash and the benefits it brings to us on the web.

Now, with Steve Jobs saying that the iPhone and iPad will not support the Flash player, one has to wonder what impact this has on the future of the product. Me personally, I’ve put future Flash projects on hold as I wait for the dust to settle on this one. I try to accomplish all I can with jQuery for simple animations and leave it at that.

HTML5 is very promising and it could be the white horse that comes in and levels the playing field, but I’m afraid we’re not going to see that anytime soon. IE8 doesn’t support the ever so important Canvas tag of HTML5 so we’ll have to wait at least for IE9, and then we all know how long it is taking for IE6 to go away… ugh…

Let’s hope something changes at Apple and we have our long beloved Flash player for many more years!

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Thoughts on the iPad as a web developer

Written by Brian on June 2nd, 2010

I’m a technophile. I love gadgets. Anything to make my life easier or add a level of coolness to it. The iPad hits me right in that weak spot that makes me want to buy it for it’s coolness factor. The thought of reading any magazine or any internet post, accessing my email from anywhere, having all my music with me, just sounds so ideal.

But after careful thinking, I have to wonder, will this device really flounder as they predict? I haven’t bought one yet and I probably won’t. Why is that? Well, all those things I mentioned above I can do on my iPhone – albeit with a smaller screen – but the capability is there. And it fits in my pocket. PLUS, my iPhone is a phone so it fits naturally next to my head and can use the 3G network when wi-fi isn’t available. Can you picture an iPad up to someone’s ear? Maybe bluetooth headsets will make this more realistic but yet another device to carry around.

The biggest drawback I see is how to use the keyboard on the iPad. I can type away pretty quick with my thumbs, but holding the iPad in one hand and poking with my index finger on the other is less than ideal for me. And if you were to set it on your desk, your neck would constantly be in an awkward position, unlike looking at a vertically upright laptop screen.

So this gadget has a lot of glitz and glamour that still makes me want to run out and buy one. Especially when I see the beautiful screen. But I think for now, my rational mind is going to win and this web developer will be sticking to an iPhone and a laptop or at worst a netbook. Thoughts?

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website programmer’s productivity

Written by Brian on January 28th, 2010

As a website developer it seems I’ve got a lot of applications and windows open at any given time and there are a lot of programs that I need quick frequent access to.  With 99% of my day spent looking at this 23″ real estate in front of my eyes (two 23″ screens actually), I am constantly searching for ways to be more productive and fly through my workspace.   Nothing is more frustrating to me than getting a phone call or getting a new idea and having to hunt for a place to put a note.  Or deciding I need to look up an email address and having to hunt through many open windows just to find outlook’s Contact window.

Sidebar Guy

One of the solutions I found over the years is moving my Taskbar to the left side of the screen.  A feat that caused one of my coworkers to refer to me as “oh you’re one of those sidebar taskbar guys… I can’t talk to you anymore.”  But I figured this out about 5 years ago and just love the results!  It gives me so much more room at the top for all my Quick Launch programs.  These are just programs that I open and close on a frequent basis.  For programs like Outlook which I open once per day and leave open, those stay one more click away in the start menu.

After the Quick Launch icons, all my programs are displayed in a vertical stack.  I can see the title of all the open windows and get to them instantly.  No more squished taskbar buttons with just a hint of an icon displayed.  I can now configure applications like MS Office to keep separate documents as separate taskbar buttons because I have so much room!

Next, there’s no need to hide those pesky tray icons because I have more room still!  This way I can see each one of those little resource hogs and kill the ones I don’t want.  And right under those the FULL date and time is displayed.  By just glancing down to the bottom left I can instantly see the current date (and even be reminded it’s Thursday in case it’s been one of those weeks).

Changes in Paradise

All of these things have made my life working in Windows more enjoyable.  Ha!  More enjoyable?  Yes, I actually like Windows.  I used to be a Mac advocate (really!) but I have been converted to the Windows majority.  I have a Mac at home right now, but I just can’t seem to be as productive on it.  What were they thinking leaving off that right mouse button for crying out loud???  First thing I had to buy was a REAL mouse. :)

But unfortunately Microsoft seems to copy everything good Apple produces and adds their own little flair to it.  Although I believe Microsoft made some good decisions with the taskbar and their windowing ideas (file, edit, view on each window instead of just at top) I’m not so confident in the future.

Windows 7 is now out and in full effect.  It seems the taskbar has been transformed into something that is almost exactly like the OS X dock.  Although people seem to love them (Both Windows 7 and the OS X dock), I’m not so certain of my future happiness.  I’m used to everything I want one click away and now it seems like everything is 2 clicks away or maybe a 2 second mouse-over, move the mouse, then a click.

Ack.  If I’m browsing the internet on my Mac at home, this is great and works just fine.  But when I have 10 things going on and 20 windows open, I just love having my taskbar on the side.

Posted in Computers, Web Design | 1 Comment »