You are invited to Maryland ColdFusion User Group Meeting Tonight!

6:30pm – "AJAX with CF and JAVA" with Daniel Daugherty
8:00pm – "What's New in Accessibility" with Vanessa Howle
(Times are Eastern Standard Time)


Topic: "AJAX with CF and JAVA"

AJAX lets you create interactive website like Google maps. Learn how to integrate AJAX with
ColdFusion and Java.

Bio: Daniel Daugherty is currently the Product Architect for Nucleus Solutions. He has been
developing and designing application for ColdFusion for over 5 years.

Daniel Daugherty can be reached at daniel_cfug (at) danield.us..


Topic: "What's New in Accessibility"

As things have been progressing with the internet and ajax technology, it's not as simple as it was
in the past to implement Section 508 compliancy in products just by using the 16 'rules' of Section
508. Also the Access Board is going through a review and refresh and will be changing the standards
and requirements within this year/18 months for future 508 compliancy.

Just making certain alt tags exist is no longer a baseline for compliancy especially with SCORM and
LMS learning systems that the goverment is turning to more and more. I have been tackling this very
issue at my job and had a fair amount of indivduals who were frustrated by the lack of guidance at
this point for indivduals whose jobs are to enfore and attempt 508. One key is the old 'use the tab
order'. That does not work anymore especially in ajax, weblogic. BEA beahive, etc.

Vanessa Howle can be reached at vhowle (at) juno.com.


Can't make it to the meeting? Remote access via Adobe chats
http://adobechats.adobe.acrobat.com/mdcfug041007/

If you've never used Adobe Connect Enterprise, get a quick overview:
http://www.adobe.com/go/breeze_live_intro_en

This entry was posted on April 10, 2007 at 3:05 PM and has received 2777 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

The Acrobat Connect meeting URL we mailed out this morning is incorrect; we reused the URL from January.

The meeting URL for March is:
http://adobechats.adobe.acrobat.com/mdcfug031307/

Sorry for the mix-up.

This entry was posted on March 13, 2007 at 6:11 PM and has received 2752 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

The February 13th meeting has been postponed for a week due to the weather (ice storm forecast for this evening).

 New date and time will be Tuesday February 20th, same time (6:30-9:00 PM), same place (TeraTech training room) and online.

This entry was posted on February 13, 2007 at 11:38 AM and has received 2098 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

I put in the MDCFUG announcement email that TeraTech provides free podcasts to the CF community but didn't give the URL. Here it is http://www.cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/podcast

These are sessions from CFUNITED-06. Enjoy!

This entry was posted on January 9, 2007 at 12:01 PM and has received 2795 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

The evolution of Premiere

Adobe has done it again! This time, they're taking professional digital video editing to a whole new level. With a bunch of new and improved features Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 is probably one of the best editing tools out there for the professional editor. It includes a whole new look and steps further into usability. Being the designer that I am, the first thing I noticed when I received my Premiere software was the new package and design. The horse, which has been associated with Premiere in the past versions has disappeared and now is replaced with a clean glassy video reel. This new image of premiere fits in with the look and feel of the rest of the Adobe products. The box itself totally gets me thinking that what's displayed outside, will reflect the inside; clean, new, improved, and up to date with what everyone is working with today. And boy was I right.

First impressions

When you first open up Premiere Pro it's easy to see that it is not the ideal application for users who are new to video editing. If you are, it may be a little intimidating. Premiere is geared towards the advanced users, all types of professional editors and filmmakers. At the same time Premiere Pro can be a great application for the user who has had a bit of experience in editing and wants to take their skills further. 2.0 comes with a User Guide, which includes almost anything you probably want to know when starting off.

I have used Premiere in the past so I was happy to see all the new and exciting improvements on 2.0. Here are a few that really stood out for me personally:

· Interface: The interface is much more flexible and organized, and has been designed to be easier on the eyes. · Lots more color correction tools: I'm a big color person, so I really like having a bunch of options on how to play with color.

· HDV functionality: this is a great feature, especially with the new advances in HD media. Users will be able to create superior quality videos and audio.

· Integration: Premiere now is integrated with After Effects and Adobe Bridge ( a new key element of adobe which lets the user better organize their media). It's always great when multiple applications of the same family can work together.

· DVD menus: "Exporting to DVD" feature allows the user to create menus within the DVD.

As much as I loved all the cool new features, there is always room for improvement. Here are a few things I noticed where Premiere 2.0 lacked:

· Importing swf files: I love Flash and as I learned about Premiere's product integration I was disappointed to find that Flash wasn't really included, I cannot import swf files to 2.0.

· Exporting files: It just takes a really long time. Too long in my opinion.

· Previewing: With all the new options and corrections and transitions I wish there were a way to preview something before you actually apply it to your footage. Something similar to what Photoshop has when you are adding a filter. It would just save a bit of time.

· The workspace: I know previously I mentioned that the interface was great, but it still could use some improvements. If the workspace was opened up it might be a little easier to work with. The amount of buttons and options can become hectic.

On that note...

Overall I am very excited about all the improvements that 2.0 has made. Premiere is certainly moving in the right direction. It is the premiere application for any professional editor. I can't wait to see what we have to look forward to with Premiere in the future.

This entry was posted on December 22, 2006 at 3:07 PM and has received 3071 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Many of you may already know that Scorpio is the code name for Adobe's next major release of ColdFusion. If you attended CFUnited 2006 or Adobe Max 2006 you may have seen some of the previews.

Well, Adobe has published their Scorpio page on Adobe Labs. No you can not download it just yet ... BUT you can download a cool desktop wallpaper. It's a red background with a Scorpio and the number eight merged as one. I can't wait until they release the t-shirt - and what about a Scorpio 8 tattoo?

You'll see more and more about this release in the coming months. 2006 is the year of Flex 2. Could 2007 be the year of Scorpio?

This entry was posted on December 20, 2006 at 2:28 PM and has received 2644 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Welcome to the MDCFUG blog. We will be writing about the Maryland ColdFusion User Group, ColdFusion news, Flex, Flash, Fusebox, software reviews and other topics of interest.

This entry was posted on December 20, 2006 at 11:55 AM and has received 2442 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.