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	Monday, November 25, 2002

Problem with Matt's Script Archive Formmail - posted by Blu (Thanks Alan. Hope you don't mind me using this) - the formmail version 1.92 is fixed (for now), any older versions should be deleted. i suggest using the NMS versions from the London Perl Mongers, here: http://nms-cgi.sourceforge.net advantage- they are drop in replacements in most cases for the Matt Wright scripts in that they use the same field names for the hidden form fields to control them. They are written by Perl programmers, and have been written and tested with security in mind. the weakness in formmail 1.6 and earlier is about a year or so old, but there's still quite a few installs of it out there. An easy test- first-  put your scripts url into the web browser. You should see a copyright page- if it says formail 1.6 it is the old unsecure version. second- one method to test- on that present page, type this after your script's url: ?recipient=youremail@you.com&;message=blahblahblah put your email address in. If the webpage changes to "thank you for sending...." and you get an email in a couple seconds, then that script install is acting as a free open relay for spammers, who can use little spiders to find it and then little mass mailing programs to send spam thru it on your hosting account. 5:08:04 PM      comment []

Blog changes - I changed the font size here. I think it looks a little too large, but people have complained in the past so I thought I would try this out for a bit. If you have a comment on it, want it changed back or like it as is, let me know. 10:07:11 AM      comment []

Director MX has been announced - I have included the beginning of the press release and a few comments from some of the news sources here. No more marketing for a bit, but thought this was interesting news. 9:59:33 AM      comment []

Macromedia Announces Director MX - from the press release -  Macromedia, Inc. today announced Macromedia Director MX, the most powerful multimedia authoring environment for building high-end, rich, interactive content and applications deployed on CD/DVD-ROM, kiosks, and the web via Macromedia Shockwave Player. Macromedia Director has led the industry for more than 14 years and, with this major new version, Macromedia is delivering an authoring tool that incorporates a range of new capabilities to meet the evolving needs of today’s multimedia developer (see attached quote sheet) while retaining all the power of its core features. "The new version of Macromedia Director makes this powerful application even more important to businesses that need to deliver maximum interactive experiences on fixed-media such as CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, as well as on the Internet," said Norm Meyrowitz, president of products, Macromedia. "Director has been solving real-world business problems for more than a decade, and its flexibility enables it to tackle entirely new solutions to deliver true business results." Macromedia Director MX is expected to ship in December. Its many new features include seamless, comprehensive integration with the Macromedia Flash MX product family, adoption of the streamlined Macromedia MX user interface, Mac OS X support (see separate release), major new workflow efficiencies, and the ability to create accessible content so that rich Director presentations can be enjoyed by people with disabilities (see separate release). For more information, go to www.macromedia.com/go/director/. 9:58:31 AM      comment []

Updated Macromedia tool goes old school - By Dave Becker, CNET - "The new Director also works with non-PC devices, such as retail information and ordering kiosks and multimedia advertising displays. McDonald's recently used Director to create menu displays with automatic timed updates for some of its stores, and several of the giant video displays in New York's Times Square run animations made with Director." "The new Director includes expanded tie-ins to other Macromedia products, including the latest version of Flash, which should allow content creators to reuse much of their Web content for offline presentations. The package also has expanded tools for making content accessible to disabled people, including speech features that can automatically convert text into audio." First Looks:  Macromedia Director MX, The Juggernaut of interactive authoring makes its way to Mac OS X - By Dave Nagel, Creative Mac - This is a 5 page first look review and tutorial; also features many screenshots to illustrate. "Now, as with a lot of mature software out there--Director being 14 years old at this point--this latest full-version release is far more about depth and workflow than breadth and flashiness in new features. And particularly now that Director has made its way into Macromedia's MX fold, you'll see integration and extensibility (through server technologies) dominating the list of new features, as well as its interface and workflow overhaul to bring it in line with the rest of the MX product family." "If you're a Flash developer who wants to add the power of Director to your work, or if you're a Director developer looking to take advantage of the types of graphics possible with Flash MX, this is the release of Director you've been waiting for." MacMerc Scoop:  Director MX - by Jon Gales, MacMerc - "During a conference call with Macromedia, I was able to see the new version in action. The thing that most caught my eye was the ability to use Flash Communication Server to have real time exchages of data over the Internet. If you haven't used FCS before, don't worry, a personal edition is in the Director MX box." Steve Jobs says "Macromedia is doing terrific work for Mac OS X, and this new version of Director MX is a prime example" and I cannot agree more firmly." Macromedia Announces Director MX for Mac OS X - By Brad Smith, MacObserver - "MacObserver spin:  Today's announcement brings the last of Macromedia's major applications to Mac OS X and removes yet another barrier for creative professionals upgrading to X. While the features introduced in the Director MX update are worthwhile, bringing a title like this to Mac OS X is important to Apple, as well. In Apple's quest to migrate all of its customer base, or at least the majority, to Mac OS X, it is major releases like this that help the company do so. This is especially true for seats of established apps like Director. There are many thousands of Director users in the world, and all of them are at least part time users of Mac OS 9, or below. Director MX for Mac OS X gives them that much more reason to migrate." 9:57:53 AM      comment []