10 positions this week, 8 of them with Planitax in CA:

• Alex Lee, Inc. (Hickory, NC) is looking for a ColdFusion developer. Must have experience with ColdFusion 7 (planning on a move to ColdFusion 8 shortly) and SQL Server. Contact Phillip Senn.
• Planitax, Inc (Emeryville, CA) is looking for 8 (yes, 8) ColdFusion developers - 3 full time Senior ColdFusion developers, and 5 contractors for a 2-3 month engagement. Minimum 3-5 years ColdFusion experience required, along with a solid understanding of OO concepts. Experience with Mach-II is preferred. Send resumes to Human Resources.
• Camping World, Inc. (Bowling Green, KY) is looking for a ColdFusion developer with at least 2 years of experience with ColdFusion MX (6.1 or higher). Other requirements include experience with SQL Server, and strong relational database design skills. Details posted online.

We've just added several ColdFusion sessions to MAX Europe, on top of those that were already planned. Among the new additions are Mark Drew on "Using Eclipse for ColdFusion Development" (the session that Simeon Bateman is presenting in the U.S.), Shlomy Gantz's "Securing ColdFusion" session, and a session on "ColdFusion Server Monitoring and Troubleshooting" presented by a member of the ColdFusion engineering team.

Oh, and if you have not registered yet, use registration code ECM297 to pay 500 Euros (plus applicable taxes) for a full pass (a 300 Euro discount).

In honor of Malaysia's 50th anniversary, Exa Bytes is running a limited time Independence Day Sale offering 50% off hosting packages, including ColdFusion hosting (although it appears to be CFMX7, not CF8).

We've added a MAX 2007 full-day pre-conference session entitled Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR): Building Desktop Applications with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Kevin Hoyt is presenting this new session, and he has posted details (and noted that there is still plenty of room for you to sign up).

Here's a MAX 2007 session that is sure to be as entertaining as it is informative ...

ESRI designs and develops the world's leading geographic information system (GIS) technology, and ESRI products have long integrated (in a variety of ways) with ColdFusion, and more recently Flex (via a collection of MXML components). One really slick example of this integration is ArcWeb Explorer.

Mansour Raad is a Senior Architect at ESRI. He is also a big Flex fan, and one of the most engaging and passionate presenters I have ever met. He loves demonstrating cool GIS apps, and has tremendous fun building apps quickly and painlessly. He's also presenting a session entitled Case Study: ESRI Geospatial Application Using Adobe Flex at MAX. His session runs twice, Monday, October 1, 4:30pm-5:30pm and Tuesday, October 2, 9:15-10:15am. And knowing Mansour, I predict that this will be one of the most enjoyable sessions at MAX.

Emmy Huang has posted thoughts on Flash Player adoption rates, and how to project those rates. And the really cool stat is that over 90% of connected computers have Player 9 installed, which is good news for those of us building and deploying Flex 2 apps.

Lynda.com has released ColdFusion 8 Essential Training featuring Adobe Certified Instructor David Gassner.

Two positions this week:

• Strike Interactive (New York, NY) is looking for a ColdFusion developer with a minimum of 2 to 4 years ColdFusion experience. Other requirements include experience with Microsoft SQL Server, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Additional experience with Java, .NET, PHP, Flex, Ruby, AJAX, PostgresSQL, Oracle, and MySQL would be preferred but is not required. Contact Russ Johnson.
• AlluraDirect.com (Vancouver, BC, Canada) is looking for a senior ColdFusion programmer with 3-5 years ColdFusion experience (including the use of at least one framework). Other requirements include experience with CFCs, SQL Server, and more. Details posted online.

We're hard at work on updating the ColdFusion books for ColdFusion 8. Many of you have been asking for details about the updated books, and so here is the current table of contents for all three (yes, three) volumes.

ColdFusion 8 Web Application Construction Kit Volume 1: Getting Started

• Introduction
• PART I: Getting Started
• 1: Introducing ColdFusion
• 2: Choosing A Development Environment
• 3: Accessing the ColdFusion Administrator
• 4: Previewing ColdFusion
• 5: Building the Databases
• 6: Introducing SQL
• 7: SQL Data Manipulation
• PART II: Using ColdFusion
• 8: The Basics Of CFML
• 9: Programming With CFML
• 10: Creating Data-Driven Pages
• 11: The Basics of Structured Development
• 12: ColdFusion Forms
• 13: Form Data Validation
• 14: Using Forms to Add or Change Data
• 15: Beyond HTML Forms, ColdFusion Powered Ajax
• 16: Graphing, Printing, and Reporting
• 17: Debugging and Troubleshooting
• PART III: Building ColdFusion Applications
• 18: Planning an Application
• 19: Introducing the Web Application Framework
• 20: Working with Sessions
• 21: Interacting with E-Mail
• 22: Online Commerce
• 23: Securing Your Applications
• PART IV: Appendices
• A: Installing ColdFusion & Development Environments
• B: Sample Application Data Files

ColdFusion 8 Web Application Construction Kit Volume 2: Application Development

• Introduction
• PART V: Creating Functions, Tags, And Components
• 24: Building User-Defined Functions
• 25: Creating Custom Tags
• 26: Building Reusable Components
• 27: Creating Advanced ColdFusion Components
• PART VI: ColdFusion Configuration And Performance
• 28: ColdFusion Server Configuration
• 29: Improving the User Experience
• 30: Managing Threads
• 31: Improving Performance
• PART VII: Integrating With ColdFusion
• 32: Working With PDF Files
• 33: ColdFusion Image Processing
• 34: Advanced ColdFusion Powered Ajax
• 35: Understanding Flex Integration
• 36: Integrating With Flex
• 37: Creating Presentations
• 38: Generating Non-HTML Content
• 39: Full-Text Searching
• 40: Event Scheduling
• PART VIII: Advanced ColdFusion Development
• 41: More On SQL and Queries
• 42: Working with Stored Procedures
• 43: Using Regular Expressions
• 44: ColdFusion Scripting
• 45: Working with XML
• 46: Manipulating XML with XSLT and XPath
• 47: Using WDDX
• 48: Using JavaScript and ColdFusion Together
• 49: Using XForms
• 50: Internationalization and Localization
• 51: Error Handling
• 52: Using The Debugger
• 53: Managing Your Code
• 54: Development Methodologies

ColdFusion 8 Web Application Construction Kit Volume 3: Advanced Application Development

• Introduction
• PART IX: Creating High Availability Applications
• 55: Understanding High Availability
• 56: Monitoring System Performance
• 57: Scaling with ColdFusion
• 58: Scaling with J2EE
• 59: Managing Session State in Clusters
• 60: Deploying Applications
• PART X: Ensuring Security
• 61: Understanding Security
• 62: Securing The ColdFusion Administrator
• 63: ColdFusion Security Options
• 64: Creating Server Sandboxes
• 65: Security in Shared and Hosted Environments
• 66: Using the Administration API
• PART XI: Extending ColdFusion
• 67: Using Server-Side HTTP and FTP
• 68: Creating and Consuming Web Services
• 69: Working With Feeds
• 70: Interacting With the Operating System
• 71: Server Side Printing
• 72: Interacting with Directory Services
• 73: Integrating With Microsoft Exchange
• 74: Integrating with .NET
• 75: Extending ColdFusion with COM
• 76: Integrating with Microsoft Office
• 77: Extending ColdFusion with CORBA
• 78: Extending ColdFusion with Java
• 79: Extending ColdFusion with CFX
• 80: Working with Gateways
• 81: Integrating with SMS and IM
• PART XII: Appendices
• C: ICU4J Supported Locales
• D: Locale Differences Between ColdFusion & ICU4J

Ray Camden returns as lead co-author on these books. And the contributing author team is made up of Charlie Arehart, Jeff Bouley, John C. Bland, Jeff Tapper, Ken Fricklas, Leon Chalnick, Mike Nimer, Matt Tatum, Paul Hastings, Robi Sen, and Sarge Sargent.

The On AIR Bus is in Philadelphia, and we are making our way downtown now. This is my last stop on the On AIR Bus tour, and I hope to see you at the event this evening at The Franklin Institute Science Museum.

Many of you will remember Andrew Shorten from Macromedia days. Late last year he joined Microsoft, but, as he announced today on his new blog, he's back, and will be joining us on the evangelism team. And being UK based, he's just in time too, with the first MAX Europe coming up. Welcome back Andrew!

The ColdFusion extensions released with ColdFusion 8 work on Eclipse 3.1 and Eclipse 3.2, but have known issues on Eclipse 3.3. Dean Harmon has updated the extensions so that they work with Eclipse 3.3. His update will be posted to Adobe.com at some point, but in the interests of getting it to you as quickly as possible, he's posted it on his blog. Nice work Dean, thanks!

Here is another MAX 2007 session that you should pay attention to ...

If you build web apps, any web apps, then you must pay attention to security. But what does that actually mean? What are the risks? What are OS and HTTP vulnerabilities, and how are they taken advantage of? How do SQL injection attacks work, and are you truly protected?

Shlomy Gantz has been teaching web app security (from a ColdFusion perspective) for a long time now, and I sat in on one his sessions a year or so ago. He doesn't just talk about security risks, but actually demonstrates the risks and how they are exploited, and offers practical guidance on how to address the risks.

Shlomy will be presenting his Securing ColdFusion at MAX this year, with content updated for the new ColdFusion 8. His sessions run twice, on Tuesday, October 2, 2:45pm-3:45pm, and Wednesday, October 3, 1:45pm-2:45pm. This one is highly recommended.

I just finished my "ColdFusion Powered AIR" presentation at the State Theater in Falls Church, VA (just outside of D.C.). I'll be on the On AIR Bus for two more stops, Baltimore tomorrow, and Philadelphia on Wednesday. I hope to see you there!

I took my boys to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today, and as previously, we saw it in IMAX. If you have HP fans in your family, and have not seen the movie yet, it is highly recommended. And if you get the chance to see it in IMAX, do so - not only are the visuals and panoramas amazing on the giant screen, but the big battle scene (the last 20 minutes or so) are in 3D, and it's the best example of 3D use I have ever experienced. Fun stuff indeed.

Three positions this week, two of which are in Germany:

• AnimationMentor.com (Berkeley, CA) is looking for a ColdFusion developer with at least 2-3 years of experience. Requirements include experience with SQL Server, XML, and knowledge of Fusebox and CFCs. Flex and ActionScript experience is a plus. Details online (select About Us, We're Hiring, Software Developer: ColdFusion/SQL).
• AKITOGO (Frankfurt, Germany) is looking for a senior ColdFusion developer. Details posted online.
• Web-Shuttle AG (Munich, Germany) is looking for a ColdFusion developer. Must have at least 5 years experience with ColdFusion and/or Java, as well as experience with Fusebox (or another OO style framework), and good written and spoken knowledge of German and English. Send you resume and cover letter (in PDF format) to jobs@web-shuttle.de.

ColdFusion's new <CFPRINT> tag lets you print files from the ColdFusion server. And the new GetPrinterInfo() function reports information about available printers. But how can you get a list of installed printers? There is a list in ColdFusion Administrator, but what if you need this information within your own code? We probably should have added a GetPrinters() function, and maybe we will in the future. But for now, you can use this simple UDF which returns an array of printers recognized by the ColdFusion server:

Total Training offers training on all sorts of products, including lots of Adobe products (Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Flash, Flex, and more). And Total Training is running a buy one get one free special for four more days.

The On AIR Bus arrived in Cincinnati earlier today, and tonight I'll once again present "ColdFusion Powered AIR". This is my last stop this week, and I'll be rejoining the bus and crew on Monday in D.C.

ColdFusion makes processing uploaded files easy, a simple <CFFILE ACTION="upload"> does the trick. However, ColdFusion has not handled large files very well, large as in many hundreds of megabytes, or even gigabytes. Part of the issue was that ColdFusion kept all uploaded content in memory so as to support the GetHTTPRequestData() function.

ColdFusion 8 fixes this problem, and now supports receiving uploaded files of any size. But, if the file is large, the "content" member of the GetHTTPRequestData() structure will be empty. If you do need access to the uploaded data, simply save the file and then read it.

If you need ColdFusion 8 to always populate "content" (compatible with CFMX7 and earlier), set the system property "coldfusion.markResetForMulitPart" to "true".

Hyperic HQ is management software for IT departments and data centers, providing visibility into all sorts of applications and technologies. And Hyperic has announced that the new version 3.1 supports ColdFusion.

The on AIR Bus left Atlanta shortly after midnight, headed for St. Louis. We're on I64 West, about an hour east of St. Louis. The event kicks off this evening at around 5pm. Hope to see you there!

I presented a session entitled "ColdFusion Powered AIR" at the AIR Bus Tour in Atlanta today. The truth is, there is not a whole lot to say - ColdFusion powers HTML/JavaScript apps and Flash/Flex apps, and AIR apps are just that, HTML/JavaScript apps and Flash/Flex apps. It just works. So, what to talk about? I concentrated on the core ColdFusion value proposition - productivity, and showed how the same productivity story that has driven ColdFusion for more than a decade is just as relevant as ever, and highly relevant for AIR development. I demonstrated quickly building data front-ends, and then turning them into ColdFusion Powered AIR applications, with the message that A) if you are a ColdFusion developer, your existing skills will remain vital and useful in AIR development, B) if you are interested in building AIR applications, either HTML or Flash applications, the ColdFusion productivity story demands that you seriously consider ColdFusion as your AIR back-end.

We're at the fabulous Fox Theater in Atlanta, the on AIR Bus Tour venue for today. The music is blaring, XBox's and WII's are powered up, the auditorium is ready ... and the crowd today is expected to be the largest to date.

Feed Squirrel is now running on ColdFusion 8, using <CFTHREAD> and <CFFEED> for aggregation, as well as ColdFusion 8 new UI controls.