Quick dive into Flash Builder 4 (formerly Flex)
It has been a while since I have opened Flash Builder 4 Beta, but having to fill in the survey for testing, I gave it another shot yesterday.
Downloaded the last build "253292" from adobe prerelease repository.
I spend like couple of hours reading the docs and trying this and that, there is a lot of improvements, but what really caught my eyes is the tooltip help when you mouse-over a component, it gives you a more detailed information than before.
And what really was a WOW for me is the changes in the Data menu, now with the simple wizard you can create a connection to web service, PHP, BlazeDs, and others.
I tried the PHP one, and it went very smooth, I could even without writing a single line of PHP, enter the database credentials, and select the table I want to have access to from my flex app, and in few click, flex created the service in PHP and the mirroring AS classes, It even downloaded the Zend Framework AMF component.
It is much different than before, I had to do a lot of hard coding to get to this point, now developers will have more time to concentrate on the application itself, rather than on connecting to database and making it work.
It is worth trying and developers should read the migration docs from previous versions to get ready for it when it released.
Download Flash Builder Beta : http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashbuilder4/
Flash Builder 4 Migration Doc. : http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/gumbo/flex4featuresandmigration.pdf
Manage your notes / Code snippets with Snippely
It has been a challenge for me to keep tracking code snippets I want to remember, I have always used text files, or sending my self email with the snippet that I feel I am gonna need to look at again in the future, same for notes also.
Today I have found this nice Air App called Snippely, it allow you to manage your notes / code snippets, It is enough for me and better than text files and emails, I believe I am gonna stick to it for now.
Only Two options I wish to see in the coming version, to backup / restore the data & to sync the data across many machines, but like I said, I am happy with what I have now.
You can get Snippely from their Google Code page : http://code.google.com/p/snippely/
I hope you will find it as much useful as I did.
Fix for Zend Studio 7 Button Problems in Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala”
After updating to Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala", i had some problems with Zend Studio GUI, some buttons when clicked appear to be pressed, but no action follows.
After searching for a while i found this fix in Zend support pages, and it solved the issue
here is the link for the fix :
http://kb.zend.com/index.php?View=entry&EntryID=435
Web Developer Brain
A Developer Brain is not like an ordinary person brain, he has experienced things ordinary people never had, that led that organ to grow in a complex way, the below diagram i found is the best to describe it.
Web Developer Brain
How to Add & Subtract time code in Python
I have been developing some tools for the media production lately, i found a neat way to add or subtract certain amount of seconds to a given time code.
for example i have a video that starts from 12:45:05 and i want to add 59 seconds to it and use the new time.
from datetime import datetime from datetime import timedelta time = datetime(2009, 1, 1, 12, 45, 05, 0) diff = timedelta(seconds = 59) final_time = time + diff
Fixing MacBookPro Superdrive
I have purchased my MacBookPro in October 2007, after 6 months my optical drive was so picky in reading or writing DVDs and CDs, and after few months, it was able to read originals only.
I tried everything from updating the firmware or flashing it to restore its original firmware, but no luck, until yesterday when i had to format and install the OS from scratch, but to my surprise it wasn't able to read the Original MacOS DVD.
I Googled once again about the cuase of this, and found some results referring to cleaning the lens,
I followed this tutorial to disassmble the laptop :
and this one to disassmble the optical drive and clean the lens with benzene,
In 1 hour i had my superdrive working as brand new one and saved me from buying a new one 
, i know many who face the same problem with the optical drive, this was a nice way to have it back.
Desktop Linux For The Windows Power User
Very nice article about Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty", posted by Adam Overa yesterday on tomshardware.com
Click here to read : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ubuntu-linux-guide,2293.html
Highlights :
- Introduction
- Understanding Partitions
- Partitioning
- Installation
- Booting Ubuntu for the first time
- Ubuntu Desktop
- Updating Ubuntu system & drivers
- How to install software on Ubuntu
- Codecs for multimedia playback on Ubuntu
- Getting help online
Enjoy reading & feel the freedom, Long live Ubuntu
Zend Certified Engineer
Hi mates,
finally i have got certified as Zend Certified Engineer on 10th of this month.
i have been decided to take the exam since a year, but was too busy to hold myself at home and revise the manual and prepare for the exam, but this month i said this is it.
The exam is very tricky with lots of confusing questions, it tests your ability of thinking and your real experience with php, web development, security and many other topics that some people will not expect to exist in PHP exam, it is real benchmarking to your abilities.
I must say that preaparing for the exam has opened various topics for me to dig deep in, and it was a great experience.
And being one of the only 2 certified in Egypt is cool 
PHP is Now
Lots of people asks the question why php, i guess this article titles "PHP is Now" by Cal Evans is the Director of the PHP Center for Expertise at Ibuildings, will help those who asks, to know what is the powers of this great tool.
article URL: http://www.ibuildings.com/blog/archives/1554-PHP-is-NOW.html
Ubuntu / Open Source Presentation in Cairo Univeristy
IEEE has organized an open source week in Cairo University, for Engineering Students, i have been happy to be recommended to present the first day.
http://www.ieee-cusb.org/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:open-source-week
I started with a presentation about Open Source, definitions and different lisences, and what is the whole story about, then a presnentation about Ubuntu and a live Demonstration, then installation session where more than 150 Ubuntu CD was distributed.
The audience was about 200 student, and some graduates also, was a great day, it is such a pleasure to help people kiss the blue screen of death Goodbye 
