ColdFusion developer, and part-time pumpkin carver, Josh Orvis, celebrated Halloween in unique CF style as seen here:

Additional pics here here and here.

Ryan Swanson has created a really nice Flex 3 Regular Expression Explorer, and he explains his creation here.

The official logo for Centaur (aka ColdFusion 9) is ...

The winning logo was designed by Rob Riutort.

[Via Kristen Schofield]

I don't have many of these left, but ... if you are planning on attending MAX U.S. or MAX Europe, have not registered yet, and would like a discount code, e-mail me directly. And do it quickly!

Brian Kotek has written a story for TechRepublic entitled ColdFusion 8: A technical exploration of real-world use which looks at how NaturalInsight uses ColdFusion 8 to solve business problems. He explains the business need, provides some architectural insight, explores what ColdFusion 8 does well, and also notes what they'd like changed and enhanced in the future.

Advanced Web is a new French publication that covers lots of web development products and technologies, including ColdFusion, Flash, Flex, and more. [Via Claude Englebert]

If you want to learn more about what we're doing around mobile technology, here are two MAX U.S. events you may want to attend:

• Mobile Summit on November 16, 2008 at the Marriott from 1pm-6pm. Get a sneak peak at what you will see and hear at MAX before anyone else does! Here from Adobe, Nokia, Qualcomm, Verizon, Sony Ericsson, and more. RSVP required.
• Mobile Fast Pitch Networking Party on November 19, 2008 at the Thirsty Bear from 6:16pm-9:30pm. We're hosting a showcase to allow developers to show off their mobile applications. You can mingle, chat, learn, or present your creations and ideas. RSVP required.

More details posted by Bill Perry on his blog.

Mark Phillips of Vertabase is hosting a MAX U.S. BOF on "CFML Language Development". As per Mark, "The session will cover topics related to the future evolution of the CFML language itself". And he is looking for input and suggestions.

A user e-mailed me with a problem. He is using 64bit ColdFusion and recently tried to apply the 8.0.1 update, but kept receiving errors about missing files (including iawin32.dll). ColdFusion Product Manager, Jason Delmore, figured this one out. If 32bit ColdFusion is installed and then the 64bit updater applied, subsequent updates may not work. The solution is to manually uninstall ColdFusion, and then reinstall the 64bit version. This TechNote explains how to manually uninstall ColdFusion. It was written for ColdFusion 6 and 7, but still applies (with version names changed appropriately).

Just one this week:

• Magnadyne (Los Angeles, CA) is looking for a ColdFusion developer with at least 3 years of experience. Requirements include experience with CFCs, custom tags, and ColdFusion Report Builder, as well as experience with SQL Server and Ajax. Experience with frameworks such as Mach-II, Fusebox, ColdSpring is a big plus, as is experience with Flex and AIR. Details posted online.

As per this TechNote, <CFINPUT validate="integer"> allows the dollar symbol ($) to bypass generated client side validation. I don't know how long this has been the case, but the solution (as noted in the TechNote) is to use a regular expression instead.

This one sent to me by Lehi Sanchez, the perfect goodbye treat for a ColdFusion developer.

CIO Magazine is running a story based on the Evans Data research I mentioned recently. And the story includes the quote:

ColdFusion scored best with developers for its scalability, support and security.

Before I go any further, just a note, don't let the word "Enterprise" scare you. Now, read on ...

We love ColdFusion because it is quick and easy and more productive than any other option out there. But quick and easy and productive can be a bit of a double-edged sword. Don't get me wrong, you can build worldclass powerful scalable highly secure applications in ColdFusion, and many developers do exactly that. But, quick and easy and productive can also encourage grow-as-you-go thinking, and there are tens of thousands of apps that were tossed together as proof-of-concept apps or "let's just get this thing up and we'll revisit it later" apps, and well, they tend to get deployed and take on a life of their own, and they never get revisited until something goes terribly wrong.

The reality is that as ColdFusion apps grow in complexity, so does the need for clean structure and framework best-practices and well thought-out architecture. And as important as is quick and easy and productive, so is ColdFusion's ability to support enterprise class thinking when needed and when appropriate. Best of both worlds, have your cake and eat it too, ... you get the idea.

But where to start? What is Service-Oriented Architecture, and what is its relevance to ColdFusion? Is MVC a help or a hindrance? Where does refactoring come into the equation? Can ColdFusion's Java underpinnings be taken advantage of? What can ORM options like Hibernate and Transfer do to help? So many questions, and so few answers presented clearly and methodically and coherently. Until, now.

Joe Rinehart has been using ColdFusion since 1999, is the brains behind the Model-Glue framework (for both ColdFusion and Flex), and has earned a reputation as a top-notch developer and presenter. And this year he presents a session entitled Developing Enterprise ColdFusion Applications at MAX U.S. in San Francisco. In 60 minutes or so, Joe systematically and methodically walks through the problems, the options, and the solutions, making it all make sense for all.

Joe's session runs just once, on Wednesday, November 19th from 5:00pm until 6:00pm. If you are brand new to ColdFusion, then this is probably not the right session for you, yet. But, having just finished working through Joe's presentation content, I can state quite definitively that for the rest of us, this one is highly recommended.

To celebrate its 5000th Facebook Flex fan, Adobe is giving away a free MacBook Air and a copy of Creative Suite 4 Master Collection. For your chance to win, become a fan of the Adobe Flex page, allow access of the contest application, and answer a three-question quiz about Adobe Flex. Answer all the questions correctly and you'll be officially entered for a chance to win one of 4 copies of Flex Builder 3 Professional, as well as the grand prize, a free MacBook Air, and copies of CS4 Master Collection and Flex Builder 3 Professional.

Unfortunately, this contest is only available to participants in North America. It may be opened up to residents of other countries in the future.

NVIDIA Quadro CX is a cutting edge graphics card and accelerator, and has been built specifically for Adobe Creative Suite 4. The specs are pretty impressive, and the darned thing looks so cool, too!

Once again, I am a MAX track manager, which means I help to define and review lots of the MAX content. In fact, this year I am responsible in some way, shape, or form, for about 50% of the sessions presented at MAX. It's an insane amount of work, but it does come with one great perk - I am one of the first to get to see all of the great MAX content. Last year I used this opportunity to highlight a few "must attend" sessions for the ColdFusion community, and am doing the same this year. And the first session I am compelled to recommend is an update of one I recommended last year ...

LiveCycle Data Services (LCDS) integration was first introduced in ColdFusion 7.0.2, allowing ColdFusion developers to incorporate messaging, push, and data synchronization capabilities into their applications. ColdFusion 8 enhanced this integration, and even supports a single integrated high-performance installation of both ColdFusion and LCDS. And the new LCDS 2.6 adds support for AIR and more, while the free open source BlazeDS allows ColdFusion developers to leverage messaging at no cost.

Many of you know Tom Jordahl. He was engineering lead for several versions of ColdFusion (he joined Allaire a bit before I did), worked on the ColdFusion Flex integration as well as the ColdFusion event gateways, and now works on LCDS engineering. He is thus the perfect choice to discuss ColdFusion's integration with LCDS and BlazeDS.

Tom's session last year on this subject was immensely popular and highly rated. And so I asked him to present an updated version of the content at MAX this year. I have just reviewed the final draft of his session BlazeDS and LiveCycle Data Services ES for ColdFusion.

And once again, this is an absolute must-attend session, and I encourage all ColdFusion developers to add this one to their schedules. Tom is the definitive expert on this subject, and there is no better way to learn about ColdFusion and Data Services than by spending an hour with Tom.

Tom Jordahl's session runs just once this year, Tuesday, November 18, from 4:30pm to 5:30pm.

Mark Mandel just announced the official release of Transfer 1.1.

MAX Europe is being hosted in Milan in December, less than 2 months from now. And discounted early-bird pricing closes in just a few days, on Sunday, October 19th. So, if you have not done so, sign up now!

Evans Data research on App Servers is begin reported in a new article posted on Software Development Times On The Web. It includes the following quote:

ColdFusion, in particular, rated highly in scalability, performance and support options. Evans Data attributed this spike in ColdFusion appreciation to last year's release of ColdFusion 8.0.

Bouncin' Burgers is the first restaurant chain staffed entirely by COBOL and FORTRAN programmers. Check it out! ;-)

We've added two more ColdFusion related sessions to the MAX U.S. lineup.

• ColdFusion Product Manager, Jason Delmore, is presenting a session entitled Object-Relational Mapping in ColdFusion 9. This is one of the only CF9 sessions at MAX this year, and Jason plans on explaining how object-relational mapping tools simplify rapid application development by handling the complexities of CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, and Delete.) Learn what object-relational mapping is and how the next version of ColdFusion will simplify your development by taking advantage of this powerful and exciting technology.
• ColdFusion Product Marketing Manager, Kristen Schofield, is presenting a session with the ominous title Be Your Own Ben Forta. Kristen plans to talk about how to promote your organization's adoption of ColdFusion and spend more time on your favorite development platform. Learn how to communicate the value of ColdFusion, its advantages over the competition, its relevancy in application development today and tomorrow, Adobe's commitment to the software, and its integration in the Adobe platform stack.

If you have not yet signed up for MAX, you are running out of time, so register now! And if you are looking for a discount code to lower the cost somewhat, e-mail me directly (and quickly!).

Software Development Times On The Web is running a story entitled Movin' on up on RIA, Flex, AIR, Silverlight, Java FX, and more.

Three ColdFusion positions this week:

• SRA International (Durham, NC) is looking for a ColdFusion developer. Requirements include strong ColdFusion and CFC skills, as well as experience with XHTML, CSS, AJAX, XML and JavaScript. Experience with frameworks such as MachII, Fusebox, ColdSpring a plus. Details posted online (search for requisition number 21107BR).
• Unnamed client (Schenectady, NY) is looking for a ColdFusion developer for a 4-8 month contract, with an option of future full-time employment. Requirements include experience with ColdFusion 7 or 8, advanced HTML, JavaScript, CSS skills, as well as experience with Oracle 8 or higher. Experience with Flash and Photoshop a plus. Contact recruiter Shibu Cherian.
• Unnamed client (Fort Lauderdale, FL) is looking for a ColdFusion developer. Requirements include 3+ years of experience with ColdFusion 7/8 and SQL Server 2005/2008. Other requirements include bachelor's degree in Computer Science and/or related field, and experience with XML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX and HTML/DHTML. Experience with Flex and AIR a plus. Please contact recruiter Amber N. Shinault and refer to job posting 303111-3699-12-229350.

Our partners at Fig Leaf are now offering a 3 day hands-on training course in ColdFusion 8 Administration. Classes are currently scheduled in Chicago and Washington, D.C.