Terry Ryan has posted his 2009 predictions, several of which pertain to ColdFusion. And while I won't confirm or deny any of his comments, it's good to see folks get excited in anticipation of Centaur and Bolt.

Fellow Adobe Platform Evangelist, Lee Brimelow, has launched his new project, Flasher Magazine. Issue 1 is online now.

Developers seem to either love or hate Eclipse, few are neutral on the subject. But, like it or not, Eclipse is an important part of our lives as the platform on which Flex Builder is built, and is about to become an even bigger part of our lives when "Bolt" is released. The most frequent Eclipse gripes are related to performance, and so Marc Esher's post entitled Speeding Up Eclipse caught my attention. Marc offers a few practical suggestions that are worth a quick read. But, equally useful, are the comments on his post.

cf.Objective has rightfully earned a reputation for quality content appealing to the higher end of the ColdFusion developer spectrum. cf.Objective() 2009 has been scheduled for May 14-16, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis, MN. Registration is now open.

The Deccan Herald is the largest English-language daily newspaper in the Indian state of Karnataka (home to Adobe's Bangalore office). The Deccan Herald is running a story entitled Top 10 Web platforms of 2008, and Adobe AIR is #3 on the list. eWeek in the U.S., The Deccan Herald in India, ... where next?

Many of you probably remember Peldi (aka Giacomo Guilizzoni) from his appearances at MAX events. Peldi spent 6 years at Adobe where he worked on Connect and more. I bumped into him at MAX in Milan, and we chatted briefly about his new company and product, and he gave me his card. Over the weekend I had the chance to tinker with his latest creation, Balsamiq Mockups, a utility used to create screen mockups. This is a fun little app. The UI is very slick, the included controls are extensive and highly configurable, and the app is available as a desktop application (courtesy of AIR) and as a plug-in for poplar web apps. He's posted online demos that explain the app better than I could in a few words here, so check it out.

eWeek has published it's list of The Top 10 Products of the Year, and the very first listed is Adobe AIR, concluding:

"The product that comes closest right now to the true vision of this next-generation Web application is Adobe AIR. Descended from Flash, AIR makes it possible to build powerful and interactive applications that have all of the benefits of both Web and desktop apps (such as offline capabilities, in the latter case)."

No, that's no a typo, Adobe Hair it is.

Flex Camps are small highly focused events, usually one or two days in length, concentrating on Flex, AIR, and related technologies. Chicago is hosting Flex Camp Chicago on January 22-23, 2009. This event boasts a pretty compelling speaker lineup, including fellow Adobe evangelists James Ward and Kevin Hoyt, as well as well known names in this space, including Michael Labriola, Jeff Tapper, and Mike Nimer. I plan on attending and presenting an opening session. Registration is required.

The AIR team has announced the immediate availability of AIR 1.5 for Linux.

Intergral has announced the release of FusionReactor 3.0.1. New features include support for 64bit ColdFusion, as well as Flash 10 and AIR 1.5.

Obviously, I think you're better off building Flex clients, but ... if you are tinkering with Silverlight, Andrew Powell explains how to power your apps using ColdFusion and AMF.

Adrian Bridgwater attended MAX Europe in Milan, and comments on our sneaks session.

ColdFusion users have long wanted a way to define settings per application, rather than server-wide, even within a shared instance. ColdFusion 8 introduced the beginnings of per application settings via Application.cfc (which we introduced in CF7).

To set application settings using Application.cfc, variables are set in the THIS scope. THIS.name to set the application name, THIS.sessionManagement to enable session state management, and so on. In CF8, Application.cfc and the THIS scope can be used to define per application settings. For example, THIS.mappings is a structure which can be used to define ColdFusion mappings. To set a mapping you just modify that structure like this:

To set the Custom Tag path you can update THIS.customtagpaths which is a simple ColdFusion list. You can set the path like this:

Or use ListAppend() to add a path, like this:

It's clean, simple, highly intuitive, and in CF8, limited to just those two settings - mappings and customtagpaths.

In CF9 (aka Centaur) we may have the opportunity to enhance this functionality. And actually, we've already started doing so. For example, at MAX in Europe I mentioned that CF9 allows for THIS.datasource to be defined as a default datasource, eliminating the need to specify the datasource for each and every query. And that's just an example.

There are others I'd like to see, starting with THIS.logdirectory to set a log file location per application. But, rather than my list of settings, I am interested in yours.

Now, this should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. When discussing a future product there is no firm commitment being made about any features. Stuff can, and usually does, change. But, having said that ...

What are the settings you'd like to see us support per application in CF9? Feel free to list multiple, but be sure to define them in the order of priority.

(Oh, and before the thread goes off on a tangent, yes, I know we need a way to define on-the-fly datasources as you could in CF5. But no, these are not technically application settings, and are out of scope for this thread).

Three ColdFusion positions this week:

• Southcentral Foundation (Anchorage, AK) is looking for a ColdFusion Application Developer. Requirements include experience with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Experience with SQL, .NET, SQL Server Reporting Services, and/or BIDS are a bonus. Details posted online.
• e9digital (New York, NY) is looking for a ColdFusion developer. Requirements include ColdFusion 8 experience including object oriented or CFC development, as well as experience with SQL, XML, XSLT, CSS, DHTML, and JavaScript. Details posted online.
• UKTV (London, England) is looking for a ColdFusion developer. Requirements include 5+ years of ColdFusion experience, as well as as experience with SQL, XML, and JavaScript. Experience with ActionScript a plus. Details posted online.

We've started posting Adobe TV content as video podcasts on iTunes. To kick things off we've we re-encoded 12 Adobe TV segments, and in the future we plan to deploy content on a regular basis. You can access the videos via the Adobe Developer Connection channel on iTunes.

The LinkedIn Flex Developers Group is now accepting new members. LinkedIn can increase group size on request in 1000 member increments, so we're OK until we hit 4000. All pending requests have been approved.

And in case you want to sign up, here are the links to all three LinkedIn groups:

ColdFusion Developers Group

Flex Developers Group

Adobe AIR Developers

InfoWorld just reviewed AIR 1.5, and was more than impressed, giving it a 9.3 (out of 10) and full marks for ease of development. The review concludes with "For developers who want to bridge the gaps between Windows, Mac, and Linux -- and between the desktop and the Web -- now is the time to be working with AIR".

The LinkedIn Flex Developers Group is full! Apparently, LinkedIn groups can have 3000 members, and that's how many the group now has. I have over 50 requests to join pending approval, and can't approve them. I have pinged LinkedIn Customer Services to ask if there is a way to raise that limit, but for now, I can't approve any more requests, sorry. If the limit gets raised, I'll let you know (and will approve those in the queue).

I'm always looking for my next phone. My BlackJack II has served me well, and continues to do so. The biggest flaws with it are the lack of Wi-Fi, and the GPS being painfully slow to initialize, so slow that it is barely usable. But, those faults aside, I have been pretty happy with the device. But, that is no reason to stop the endless pursuit for the ultimate cell phone. And the latest one I tried is the much anticipated and oft discussed HTC Diamond Pro. I've used several HTC devices before, including the 8125, the Tilt, and the G1 Android, and in general HTC makes solid and very reliable hardware. The Diamond Pro promises a mix of HTC hardware, cutting edge styling, and iPhone like touch screen gestures and interactions, and so I picked up one of the very first available in the U.S. (released as the AT&T FUZE). The HTC Diamond Pro is a Windows Mobile device, and HTC has created a touch screen UI called TouchFLO 3Dthat sits on top of Windows Mobile. I took the device to MAX with me, and used it for close to two weeks before drawing conclusions - yep, I so wanted to love this device. But, well, here's the scoop:

Pros

• The HTC Diamond Pro comes with Windows Mobile 6.1. And yes, I know that some won't see that as a pro, but 6.1 really is superior to v6.
• The HTC Diamond Pro is sleek and is styled really nicely, the thing just looks cool.
• More importantly, the slide out keyboard is one of the best I have used on a device this size, it feels right, the tactile feedback is good, it even features Caps Lock LEDs etc.
• The screen is clear and bright, well lit, and usable even in bright daylight.
• Superb Wi-Fi, and equally good Bluetooth (although I wish Microsoft would finally fix Windows Mobile so that it published cell and battery strength via Bluetooth).
• The stylus is stored really well, with (what I assume is) magnetic pull to easily hold it in place and reducing the chances of losing it.
• Like most HTC devices, connectivity and power are via a mini USB connector. This should be standard for all devices, and vendors like Samsung (who like to change connectors between phone versions) should take note.
• The camera is superb.

Cons

• The device is slow, make that painfully horribly frustratingly annoyingly slow. The touch screen version of Windos Mobile is indeed more resource intensive, and TouchFLO seems to make it even more sluggish. The device needed a much faster CPU, and by not providing one HTC has basically rendered the device too sluggish to use. Yep, first con, and this one just about renders the phone useless. But it gets worse, much worse.
• TouchFLO 3D looks really cool, check out the screens linked to above. But as hard as TouchFLO 3D tries, it can't succeed. Why? Because it is a thin veneer over Windows Mobile which was designed for use with a stylus. The gestures to move through favorite contacts are ok, but when you need to display all contacts you drop to the standard Windows Mobile contact list which was never designed for fingers, it needs a far more precise interaction. Same thing for the calendar, and messaging, and e-mail - when the area to touch or click is a little button or an X at the top of the screen, finger control is useless. You are going to need to try multiple times, or pop up the included stylus, and that gets frustrating very quickly. The problem is that Windows Mobile was never designed for finger gestures the way iPhone was, and TouchFLO 3D does not replace enough of Windows Mobile UI to change that.
• Now combine the previous two points, and the bad news gets much worse. TouchFLO 3D is so slow that it sometimes won't respond to gestures at all, so you end up trying again, and again, and then it catches up with all of them, and thus doing things you never intended - dialing wrong numbers or prompting you to delete contacts or changing settings. Unacceptable.
• The device is rather uncomfortable to hold next to your ear for any extended period.
• The keyboard slides out far too easily. If you hold the phone to your right ear this won't be a problem, as you'd need to push up to open the keyboard. But hold it to your left ear, and your thumb ends up holding the keyboard closed and your four fingers try to push it open, and the four fingers tend to win. So, you're talking, and suddenly you have an open keyboard on the side of your face, which is not comfortable and highly conducive to pressing wrong keys.
• One of the things I like about iPhone is that it seems to intuitively know what you need to do. For example, hold the phone to your ear and the screen blanks, move it away and it comes to life. The Diamond Pro blanks after a few seconds, but never comes back to life until you press a button, which may also pop up a menu or hang up or something else.
• MicroSD slots do not belong under the cover, enough said.
• Phone volume is terrible, highest volume is not high enough.

Bottom line, this phone is an absolute failure. As I said before, I really tried to like the device, but after two weeks just had to return it. Interestingly enough, when I did return it, they asked me my opinion (they know me personally at my local AT&T store, scary, huh?) as I was the very first to buy it at this location. I gave them much of this feedback, and they acknowledged that they've had several returned already, and all with similar complaints.

The HTC Diamond Pro has been pitched as the first real challenge to iPhone. And while I am not an iPhone fanboy, I can still state unequivocally that there is no comparison.

Now, to be very fair, the biggest problem with the device (the sluggish and inadequate UI) are not entirely HTC's fault. Windows Mobile comes in two flavors, a version for touch screens and a version for non touch screens. The latter does less, but is always more responsive, and far better suited for one handed operation. The former does more, but is slower, and is designed for careful and precise stylus use - it was never intended for casual finger gesturing. HTC's biggest failure with this device was trying to make Windows Mobile do things it was never intended to do, and then not backing it up with the horsepower to even attempt doing it.

For now though, there is no way I can recommend the HTC Diamond Pro, and am back to using my Samsung BlackJack II.

There are other Windows Mobile touch screen devices out there now. The new LG Incite looks interesting, but lacks a real keyboard, which is probably a deal breaker for me (that's actually the main reason I gave up on iPhone). The Samung i907 (aka Epix) is based on the BlackJack II, but uses Windows Mobile for touch screen, and introduces a touch pad that moves a mouse cursor, an interesting UI concept that may make Windows Mobile touch screen better suited for one handed use. I need to play with both, although of the two, the latter seems more interesting. If (or when) I get to try these, I'll be sure to post a review.

Government Technology is running a story about how the city of Tigard, OR, recently completed a 24-month enterprise GIS implementation resulting in a centralized corporate geodatabase environment used by the police department, public works, community development, and more. Part of the solution is Crime Spotter, created by GeoNorth, and powered by ESRI GIS software and ColdFusion.

Former ColdFusion team member, Mike Brunt, has written an article for the Adobe Developer Connection entitled Using ColdFusion to enhance scalability and high availability. Mike covers high availability concepts, hardware considerations, clustering, and more. This one is well worth the read.

Monochrome is a UK based RIA development and consultancy firm. And Monochrome's Neil Middleton explains Why Monochrome Uses ColdFusion.

I'm not a big fan of IT analysts, and have noted so previously. I find that far too many of them are all opinion and no experience, tossing supposed expertise around with little to back it up and even less transparency, and in doing so often actually impacting buying and deployment decisions.

Now to be very clear, there are exceptions. Last week in Milan I got to spend some time with RedMonk's James Governor who seems to relish breaking the technical analyst stereotype - he's direct, honest, knowledgeable, and brutally blunt, and he cares less about being popular or quoted and more about finding sanity and clarity amidst cesspools of hype and hyperbole. But, of the analysts I have met (and I have met many over the past two decades), he's the exception, not the rule.

I bring this up because I was recently pulled into a conversation with a U.S. Government agency that has been using ColdFusion successfully for a long time, and has recently started working with Flex as well. Apparently, as is the case in most large organizations, multiple products and technologies are in use, and there was some discussion internally about the platform on which to build a new application. And so, the organization (I promised not to name names) sought outside expert advice by contacting Gartner who then came back with a recommendation.

Before I go any further, there is something I should state quite emphatically, and that is that I fully appreciate that there are lots of options out there, and sometimes ColdFusion may not be the right tool for the job. If careful research is performed, and a decision is made to use PHP or ASP.NET or Java or anything else, well, I can respect that decision (even though I'd try to encourage the use of ColdFusion when and if I think it is the right choice - hey, I am biased, and I freely admit it). Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled programming ...

Gartner came back with a recommendation, a copy of which I have read and reread. And they did not recommend ColdFusion. Nor did they recommend Ruby on Rails or Java or ASP.NET or ... So, what did Gartner recommend for brand new development instead of ColdFusion? I hope you are sitting down ... Gartner recommended the use of Perl. Yep, Perl, the same Perl that was created in the late 80s, the same Perl that has been a staple of IT departments and system admins for decades, the same Perl that primarily relies on CGI for use with web applications, the same Perl of which the current version 5 was released in 1994 (and yes, I know that version 5.10 came out a year ago and v6 is in the works).

And no, I am not badmouthing or belittling Perl - it is indeed proven and battle tested and powers some impressive applications including Bugzilla and Moveable Type and parts of some impressive sites including Amazon.com and IMDb. Still, it's a pretty astounding recommendation, and one that is somewhat harder to fathom than, say, recommending PHP or ASP.NET.

Ok, so why was Perl recommended? The first criticism of ColdFusion is one of leveragability, that logic created in ColdFusion can't be easily shared with other applications. Obviously, considering Web Services interfaces, and gateways to just about anything, this is flat out incorrect. I am not sure what type of integration Gartner is referring to, but I fail to see how logic in Perl is inherently more sharable than logic written in ColdFusion. The next criticism is cost, and Gartner notes that as commercial software, ColdFusion has a higher acquisition cost. Interestingly, Gartner explicitly points out that this is an acquisition cost issue, but then goes on to simply ignore any ongoing cost issues (like training time, development time, etc., even though it previously points out that a benefit of ColdFusion is that it is easy to learn and fast to develop in). In fact, the report goes on to point out that code written in Perl is more complex, and that maintenance by future developers is a potential challenge. There's more, but you get the gist of it.

Gartner concludes by stating that Perl can run on multiple platforms, and then noting that ColdFusion can also run on multiple platforms, but that Perl can also run across multiple solutions. (I have no idea what that even means!). And finally, the report makes the argument that Perl is open source and thus provides a higher level of investment protection than single vendor solutions, apparently unaware that there are in fact other products (including open source offerings) that support CFML (to varying degrees).

The report does not state whether or not the researchers have ever actually used ColdFusion or Perl (or any other player in the space), apparently that is not a prerequisite to actually making recommendations.

I know I am generalizing somewhat, and am sure that there are analyst reports and expert opinions that are balanced and sound and well reasoned. Unfortunately, I don't seem to run into them much, which makes the reliance on supposed experts a very worrying notion.

And that end of the day, analyst opinions are just that, opinions. They are not facts, they are not automatically valid, and they are not even necessarily driven by subject matter expertise. They are just opinions, albeit expensive ones. And as for opinions, well, you've probably heard the expression "Those who can't, teach". The phrase is actually rather absurd, I know many who can and teach (and many who can't and thankfully don't!). So, I propose that we update the phrase to "Those who can't, opine".

I've posted some pics of MAX Europe in Milan, Italy, last week.