Roundup of December tweets
Some words (if you can call them words) of wisdom (if you can call them wisdom) I tweeted during December.
1 Dec - My very childish review of our office toilet roll has gone live http://bit.ly/6fBjdG (double entendre? I gave them one, etc)
3 Dec - Still surpised seeing kids smoking outside school gates.
Predictions for 2010
Here's a few ill-informed predictions for the web/tech world in 2010. Well, some of them are not so much predictions, as things I'd like to see happen...
- The rumours already suggest there's going to be a new iPhone, and an Apple Tablet (let's call it the iTablet for now) launched in 2010, the former having a 5MP camera, and the latter running iPhone OS and apps.
How Web 2.0 can fix the music industry (and make Simon Cowell even richer)
In the early 90s, Harry Enfield did a Smashie and Nicey sketch where they were doing the chart rundown of a new "real time" Top 40, where songs moved up and down as more copies of the records were bought (or returned). The charts this week have felt a bit like this, as the media reported daily on who was leading in the "battle" for the Christmas number one - one minute it was Joe McElderry, and the next, Rage Against the Machine in a struggle between Simon Cowell's manufactured, predictable pop vs anti-establishment rock and roll (albeit both signed to the same record label).
Personally I don't blame Simon Cowell for the sorry state of recent Christmas number ones; he's not the one BUYING the records, he just puts it out there. They are bought by people who presumably have free will, and like the music and/or the "artist".
Microblogging November
November found me Twittering about code-hinting, CSS and cartoons (amongst other things)...
(all shortened links have been expaneded)
8 Nov: Nice - JS animation framework in 50 lines of code: http://bit.ly/3Q6MgN
9 Nov: Just discovered that double clicking iPhones button while phone's locked gives quick access to iPod controls #applesecrets #apple #iPod
Tips to make Fireworks CS4 more stable
I'm a big advocate of using Fireworks for web design (so much more than Photoshop!). Unfortunately, the CS4 version has a reuptation for not being the most stable piece of software in the world - often giving slow performance, behaving erratically, and worst of all, crashing.
While there's some things which are bugs you can't do anything about, there are some things that you can do to reduce these inconveniences, and reduce the risk of the "aggghhh" moment of seeing your work disappear before your eyes. Here are some hints I've gathered with the generous help of the Fireworks community and engineering team...
1. Keep patched and up to date
Released in May 2009, the Fireworks 10.0.3 update patch is the number one step you can take to improve your Fireworks experience.