Mike Chandler

It was bound to happen… I’ve taken on a project that requires me to convert a video upload into web friendly Flash.  I suppose it was inevidable.  Of course, I’m using my native language of ColdFusion to do the project.

I’ve found several command line solutions ranging in price from $600 to $1000, which seems pretty reasonable considering how easy they seem to implement.  Of course, the added cost to the price tag makes the client lean towards finding an open source solution.  Quite frankly, if one exists and is simple to use in a Windows server environment, I’m all for it.

I found FFMPEG and it looks like it can be compiled to run on Windows.  I’ve even found Windows executables.  I was just wondering if anyone knows of any current uses of FFMPEG that exist on the Windows platform that they can point me to so I can test out the performance.  Anyone?  Anyone?

I knew it was possible to read Excel files using ColdFusion because of your ability to extend java libraries and there are documented ways to do this with Java.  What I didn’t know was that a java library already ships with ColdFusion to do this.  And what I REALLY didn’t know is that someone wrote a CFC to easily and quickly do just that.

See it here.

I always hated the whole CSV conversion explanation (convert your Excel to CSV, then upload it so my lame parser can cut through it and choke on null columns and irritate me).  Not only does this let me parse Excel documents, but it’s easier to do this than any lame CSV conversion.  I love it!

I spent $112 on books the other day, each covering a specific topic of interest to me.  I have my new ColdFusion 8 book and I’m definitely disappointed in the new format and price.  My new CSS book is helpful in catching me up on all the new design methods that I simply haven’t kept up with over the past several years.  Lastly, my new jQuery book is an added help over the wealth of knowledge I’ve already found on the topic online.

I’m just shocked that it all cost so much considering how much of this can be found online at no cost!

I’m curious to know what everyone considers to be typical or standard fonts used in Web 2.0 web designs.  Of course, the “Web 2.0″ term didn’t originally apply to design concepts, but seems to have been adopted as such by most of the people whose blogs I read.

At any rate, Verdana and Arial were my plain, boring fonts of choice.  Default fonts in styles in applications like WordPress go beyond that as you can plainly see.  But compatibility is important… the user browsing the site needs to have those fonts installed on their computer to see it the way you intend, so that limits the pool of choices.

If you can point me to some good examples of use of different fonts in Web 2.0 style designs, that would be cool.

So I’ve begun a search for the best, simplest project management software and I’m failing miserably.  I’m worried that my search is what’s actually flawed as opposed to a lack of options.  I’m looking for a web based tool that will allow me to share screenshots of website design milestones with our marketing team.  Basically, when we complete a design or layout of a website page or an application form, I want to be able to post a screenshot on a private extranet and allow the marketing director or his staff to provide comments.

So far, I’ve found a lot of stuff available for project management and tracking milestones and tasks, gantt charts and other things I don’t necessarily care about.  I’m trying to avoid writing something since time constraints are an issue.

My search phrases have been “web based project management”, “creative project management tool”, “web design project management”, “web design collaboration” and so on…  Of course, I’m open to suggestions!