With the welcome release of Adobe AIR 2 in beta, revised APIs and additional classes and features provide end users with an enhanced experience, whilst still giving developers a simple but extremely powerful way to develop feature-rich desktop applications.

Once again FO have managed to comfortably pull up a chair and join the ranks of developers and contributors in another of the UK's top Development/Design publications, Web Designer magazine, exploring some of the new features available with the AIR 2 beta through the process of developing a small but powerful desktop app that will provide levels of functionality wrapped inside a useful file explorer application.

The tutorial will guide you through the steps to create a desktop app that interacts with the user's operating system to detect the addition or removal of external storage devices, and provides a clean, friendly method of browsing the local file structure and integrating with native applications.

Issue 166 is out today (January 14th) so make sure you pick up a copy and enjoy everything that AIR 2 has to offer.

You can find the recording of my MAX presentation, Document Driven Applications with ColdFusion and PDF on the Adobe MAX website.

The slide deck and code can be found on Slidesix.com

For those who attended my session at CFUnited, this is an updated version of the demo app, so please grab this copy of the code too.

The annual Adobe MAX conference is due to take place in Los Angeles, October 4-7.

In typical fashion, Fuzzy Orange are sending a small crack team of commandos... well, Kev McCabe and myself, to infiltrate the camp and cause chaos. It's what we do best.

I'll be causing a major distraction on Wednesday 7th October when I give my presentation on Document Driven Applications: ColdFusion and PDF.

Learn painless techniques for incorporating documents into your workflow. In this session, we'll take an in-depth look at all the PDF-based features of ColdFusion Centaur. Find out just how easy it is to collect data from PDF forms, convert other formats to PDF, work with existing PDF documents, and even create PDF packages.

We'll also be carrying out other random acts of senseless ... fun. So keep an eye out for us.

As Adobe's Terry Ryan states in his recent blog post about "Getting Adobe Software For Higher Education", Fuzzy Orange can indeed provide you with the licenses you need.

Fuzzy Orange have been an Adobe Authorised Resller for around a year now, and we're a bit different to most.

• Although we can sell you pretty much anything from the Adobe software catalog, we specialise in reselling ColdFusion. ColdFusion is afterall what we do.
• We don't have an online store for you to buy the software from as quite simply, we can't provide you with the best possible price working that way. Instead we recommend you contact us directly and we'll then work with you to provide you with the best price that meets your requirements.
• We sell Commercial, Education and Government licenses.

So why buy from Fuzzy Orange rather than <insert_other_company_here>? Simple really. We're the experts in the ColdFusion market. We work closely with Adobe, and when you have a problem, unlike other retailers we can actually help you.

We also pass on as much of a saving to you as we can. Like any reseller, we take our cut, but as all of our clients will testify, our pricing is extremely favourable.

Now common sense dictates that the more licenses you buy, the more you can save. Very true. But sometimes it still seems like the final price is a tad expensive for the amount you are buying. In situations like this we'll bring Adobe into the equation and we'll do our best to find a way to reduce the price even more. This is why an online shop is no good... it doesn't allow us to do best by you.

So if you're looking to upgrade or expand your environment and need more licenses, get in touch. We can help.

Fuzzy Orange are running a Scotch on the Road promotion as part of the upcoming ColdFusion Insider Workshops.

If you register for either the London or Edinburgh ColdFusion Insider Workshops, and purchase an upgrade from ColdFusion 6 or 7 to ColdFusion 8 either before the workshop or within 30 days of attending the workshop, receive one free ticket to your local Scotch on the Road event for each license upgraded.

Conditions

1. You must attend the workshop
2. You must purchase your ColdFusion upgrade via Fuzzy Orange
3. Offer only open to UK

We hate country specific competitions and promotions, so for those in mainland Europe, if you can provide the necessary proof of upgrade (from your local Adobe reseller), as well as confirmation of attending your local ColdFusion workshop, then we will honour the promotion when we bring Scotch on the Road to Brussels and Munich.

For the full list of dates for the ColdFusion Insider Workshops, head over to Claude Englebert (of Adobe)'s blog
http://www.englebert.be/blog/index.cfm/2009/1/18/ColdFusion-workshops-tour-2009

To purchase your ColdFusion upgrades, contact Fuzzy Orange using the information provided on our Contact page, or email me directly on andy[.]allan[@]fuzzyorange.co.uk

We've been working with Adobe to bring the ColdFusion Insider Workshop to Scotland, and I'm glad to say that we've managed just that.

On March 16, the workshop will come to Edinburgh, and it will be hosted at Adobe's Edinburgh office.

Head over to http://www.englebert.be/blog/index.cfm/2009/1/18/ColdFusion-workshops-tour-2009 to see the full list, and for details on who to contact for more information.

Fuzzy Orange will obviously be presenting at the Edinburgh workshop (in addition to the previously announced London workshop).

I'll be heading to London at the start of February to present at a half day workshop laid on by Adobe covering ColdFusion.

I'll be presenting on:

• Beyond HTML: Using Ajax, PDF, and More to Create Engaging Applications with ColdFusion 8
• The ColdFusion 8 Server Monitor

These workshops normally have an entry fee, but if you fill in the attached PDF provided by Adobe, you will receive a voucher entitling you to free entry.

I'm heading out to Dublin on Friday for the ScotchOnAir event.

This is a half day event put together by Scotch on the Rocks and MMUG Dublin.

Dublin was originally part of the Adobe onAir tour, but due to "unforeseen circumstances", the Dublin date was cancelled and Scotch's very own Kev McCabe jumped into organise something.

Kev has managed to arrange for Adobe's Ryan Stewart and Ted Patrick to come along and give talks on Air and Flex respectively, whilst Kev will be talking about ColdFusion and Flex.

I'll be doing my damnedest to plug Scotch on the Rocks and in addition to the swag Adobe have given us to raffle off, we will also give away a full 3 day pass to Scotch, There may also be a few other Scotch bits and bobs kicking around, and maybe some Fuzzy Orange swag too.

Now, if I can just survive my flight with Ryanair!!!

The March edition of Web Designer, features the second in a series of ColdFusion tutorials by myself; The Basics of ColdFusion Coding.

Not very interesting for the seasoned ColdFusion developer, but then these tutorials aren't for you (though be sure to pick up the mag anyway, and give it support. If we want ColdFusion to have more exposure in the non-CF press, then we as a community need to increase their sales. No, I wasn't paid to say that heh).

These tutorials will hopefully tap into some of the other development communities, and at the very least, offer some exposure of ColdFusion to them. If a few decide to give ColdFusion a go - not to necessarily dump their existing skills in favour, but more to give them another tool in their belt - then it's a job well done.

My third tutorial, due April, exposes some of the new features of ColdFusion 8 including; PDF Interaction, Image Manupulation and Presentations on Demand.

I'm delighted to announce that Fuzzy Orange are now an official reseller of ColdFusion, in addition to other Adobe products.

This latest move allows Fuzzy Orange to deliver every aspect of application development, providing your solution at every level; the ColdFusion product, Consultancy, Training and Support.

We shall be releasing additional information shortly on this service, in addition to how you can purchase ColdFusion itself.