Separating the Content from its Presentation

Posted on 6/7/2009 at 11:07 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

The main idea behind the concept of separating the content from its presentation is to allow website developers a useful framework to develop their website giving them the ability to change the website’s appearance whenever they like without needing to redo the content structure. This article will explain the rationale behind separating content from presentation.

Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t just one method for implementing this concept. More than that, since the introduction of technologies such as CGI, ASP, and PHP that allow web developers to generate dynamic web pages, a lot of companies have found creative ways to develop their website applications using this concept as their foundation.

Over the past few years, the internet community has been trying to create a set of standards for creating web sites. A new technology called CSS or Cascading Style Sheets has been introduced. There is nothing actually new in the way CSS handles a web page’s presentation. CSS allows the developer to define a style for each html tag element. This is similar to the method developers (programmers) used in the old days when they attached a variable to each html tag defining its style. The major difference is that CSS style definitions can be interpreted by most of the existing browsers available while in the older method the dynamic web page engine performs the interpretation.

The internet standards organization W3C has encouraged the use of CSS by enhancing its ability to control the web page’s look and feel. New style options have been added to the CSS specifications that have not been added to the HTML description language. There’s no doubt that this was a smart move. It’s forced web developers to use CSS to achieve an attractive web page that also supports the principle of content separation. Unfortunately CSS did not find its way into the internet mainstream easily because of compatibility issues with most web browsers. These days CSS is widely supported by most of the major web browsers, while CSS2, an enhanced version of CSS still has serious compatibility issues.

Obviously, the separation of content from its presentation deals not only with the styling aspects, but also with browser compatibility issues. The styling aspects were the first to be handled by web developers and web designers. As the complexity of information technology (IT) systems become increasingly more difficult to maintain, the internet community is looking for a solution that will become a standard so that content can be easily be managed. One goal for this standard is to define a “language” that IT systems can “talk” with each other and exchange information. Large corporations have historically used many different software platforms in their networks to conduct business. Internet based applications can provide a single platform that can act as an intermediary between all of these different systems and allow communication between them.

XML (Extensible Markup Language) has been adopted as a standard to present the content itself. OFX (Open Financial Exchange) is a close relative of XML that has been widely used by financial institutions who have been using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems to transmit orders and invoices over private networks, intranets and the internet for several years.

The need to present the content in a standard way that separates it from any design elements was so urgent that for the first time in software development history all the three major players (SUN, IBM, and Microsoft) actually agreed with each other and XML become a standard almost overnight and was adopted by many content providers and news agencies.

Yet the concept was not fully implemented. CSS handles the styling aspects while XML handles the document content. What about the webpage layout? New websites are been published each day by thousands. Every day millions of new web pages are being added to the internet’s global database. Webmasters have found that changing the page background color or the font color might not be enough to keep their website fresh and polished to compete with other new websites. However, changing the website layout can sometimes involve a lot of effort because it involves modifying the web page source code. XSL was introduced to solve that issue. Consider XSL a set of rules that can describe a web page layout. Combine it with XML (and optionally with CSS) you will get a valid html file.

XSL is very similar in its mechanics as any other dynamic web page generator. Beside the fact that XSL is platform independent, its biggest advantage is that it can be processed on the client side. The web server sends the client the content using XML format and the layout definition using XSL format. By doing that, the load on the web server’s CPU is reduced allowing it to perform other tasks more quickly. However, XSL was not adopted by all the major web browsers. So unlike XML, XSL has not found its way to the market easily.

Before you run back to your desk and start redesigning your website according to these magnificent standards, you should be aware that those technologies are really not needed most of the time. In fact, using them unnecessarily can cause performance problems. CSS usually will not cause your system to slow down. Just try to keep your CSS file as small as possible. Many web developers maintain large CSS files with lots of unused style definitions. Deciding to work with XML is a serious decision. If your website generates dynamic web pages supported by databases like MySQL, adding additional XML functionality will definitely reduce your website performance. Sometimes you won’t have a choice and will need to upgrade your hardware to maintain your website’s performance. There is no rule of thumb for this issue. The decision should be based on each system and its engineering demands. My advice to you is to think two steps ahead. Try to predict what kind of future services your website will be providing. Plan your website properly at stage one and save yourself lots of effort later.

Saving Flash Videos in Linux

Posted on 3/7/2009 at 12:03 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Have you ever watched a video on Youtube or some other site that lets you view flash videos and then wanted to save flv video to your hard drive so that you can watch it later,out but you then cannot because there is no download link?  This can be done very easily because when you watch a video on any of those sites they save a temporary file on your computer of the video.  So from there you will need to just find the file and rename it. 

So the first thing you are going to want to do is go to the site with the video that you want to download. Once you are there you will have to wait for the video to fully load so that you will have all of the video when you make a copy of it later.

You Can Tell When Video Is Fully Downloaded When the Light Red Bar Is At the End of the Box

Now from here you will need to navigate to Filesystem/tmp.  Now you will just need to find a file that has “flash” in the name of it.  In my case it is FlashZv9s8f yours should be something similar.  From here you will just need to copy and paste the file to where ever you want it and then rename it to whatever you want with the file extension .flv so in the end mine was “FlashZv9s8f.flv”.

The Original Version And The Copied Version

To play the flash movies on your computer you can use VLC Player. In most versions of Linux you can find VLC pre-installed or in your package manager.

Flash Video Playing In VLC

Now you are done and you can download all of the flash videos that you want onto your hard drive.

How to Create Hyperlink Button

Posted on 1/7/2009 at 3:19 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

To build a full flash website, you need to know how to create hyper link button in flash. As we all know navigation menu is the most prominent part of a website, especially a full flash website. Here is a step by step tutorial telling you how to achieve it.

Open a new file in the Flash editor. On the main stage, insert a new symbol (choose button type and name it as "btn").

Now, you should be on the "btn" stage, draw / type whatever you like there (you've to design your own button!). Then go back to the main scene; open the Library window and drag a "btn" instance onto the stage.

Now you need to assign actions to the button, so that it will do what you desire when it is being clicked. Make sure the "btn" instance on the main stage is selected, and then open the "action" window. Put the following code into the "action" window:

on(release)
{
getURL("http://www.flash-here.com", "_blank");
}

This will open the URL "http://www.flvsoft.com" in a new browser window when the button is being clicked. Of course, you should replace the URL to what you want. You can also omit the "_blank" parameter if you want to open the url in the same browser window.

That’s all. Test your movie and Enjoy!

It is time of flash video rather than video only!

Posted on 30/6/2009 at 5:01 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Every time you download videos and save it onto your computer, only to find that you cannot watch it just because the format of the downloaded videos is not compatible with your PC. This sounds very frustrated.

As technology advances, net citizens are not satisfied with text and pictures on a website, popularity of YouTube suggests that flash video is going to lead the media market. It can easily be embedded in a webpage and is supported by most operating systems via the Adobe Flash Player and web-browser plug-in. It is the file format of choice for giants such as YouTube, Google Video and MySpace. Video from YouTube or Metacafe use a simplified H.263.

Since the three listed sites contain millions of video clips, FLV files are spreading like wildfire across the web.

With Flash Video files, there is no need to worry about compatibility of video formats; there is no chance of inability to watch the video files. What’s more, FLV files can be uploaded to website with ease.

No fussy converting no complicated encoding and decoding between different video formats. FLV is a proprietary file format that mainly delivers video content over the Internet. Specifically, the video stream included can be a variant of the H.263 standard or the much more advanced On2 VP6 codec.

If you are still worried about how to upload videos of AVI, RMVB you have downloaded, you can turn to FLV for help. No matter what video format you are using, just convert video to Flash video  and embed it into your web pages. So long as you would like to be more patient and spend more time, you can build a video website like YouTube at all.

Online Video Advertising Builds Momentum

Posted on 26/6/2009 at 10:55 AM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

With ubiquitous broadband access and ad-serving technologies becoming more sophisticated, marketers are increasingly interested in online flash video advertising opportunities. How do top interactive agencies leverage video for their online advertising campaigns? And how do you convert video to flash video for advertising your website.

Panelists on the session entitled "Online Video Advertising" discussed and demonstrated the effectiveness and marketing potential of downloadable video content.

Dorian Sweet, of Tribal DDB focused his discussion on the use multimedia content to engage the audience. To illustrate the topic, Sweet presented the hilarious interactive video used for their Nortel shaver by Philips campaign.

Next, Tom Bedecarre from interactive agency AKQA offered a case-study video collage featuring high profile clients including Nike, Coca Cola, and X-box. The video effectively engaged the audience with bold images, a booming soundtrack and fast-paced video clips. Video snippets used to attract their target market of young adults, such as cartoons and fiery explosions from graphically enhanced video games, were mixed into the visually stunning presentation.

While presenting the MTV Unplugged website, Bedecarre showed a button rollover that pulls up a well-skinned video ad inside the pop-up. He also demonstrated how co-branding is achieved through a Visa video ad which is layered into a static mobile phone graphic. Each of the AKQA examples presented clearly illustrated how marketers are only scratching the surface with the potential variations and hybrid uses of video.

Next up was Maria Mandel from Ogilvy Interactive, who outlined the role interactive agencies are taking with the metaphor of a campfire. "Video is the flame and unifying force bringing the project managers, video broadcast producers and technical teams together. The lines are blurring in how video content is created-there are multiple formats and multiple lengths," she said.

One example included the website created for Renault Automotive. When a mouse rolls over a flash clip of Renault's Clio model, a car salesman retorts "Hey, please don't touch the car". She showed another unique feature-using video to introduce online navigation, provide support, and lead interactive guided tours.

In a pleasant surprise to the audience, Mandel showed an example of using online video to target a market other than teens and young adults. In order to best educate women over 45 years, Ogilvy created an interactive panel of four experts to engage the visitor to inquire more about Wyeth's menopause treatments. Similar to a choose-your-own adventure story, video segments were streamed into the browser depending on which expert was clicked on.

Mandel went on to show how you can use viral video to build buzz for brands and presented a website created for DHL called "Waitin' Woes" that had users interacting with the website on average of 5 minutes at a time.
Mandel ended the session with three notable key points. The first related to using multimedia and video as an effective branding, relationship building and sales tool. "Give people what they want when they want it." The next point was basically to make content contextually and behaviorally relevant. "Entertain visitors. Get them to react." Finally, "Build a community where they can find things and share them."

The Best Ways to Share Videos on the Web

Posted on 24/6/2009 at 4:11 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Whether you are capturing your honeymoon vocation or record your parents 30th anniversary and want to keep these videos for future memory or for online sharing with your family and friends. These tips will help you keep your audience's attention as they view the show on the Web or play it from a DVD.

Film a lot, but edit down: When you are having your adventures, shoot as much video as you can. When you get home, edit it down to the scenes you really want to show people. Your audience won't be interested in your entire 45-minute cruise around San Francisco Bay, but they will want to see a minute or so of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and Sausalito.

Use credits for the details: Instead of sticking the trip itinerary at the start of the video, position it at the end (much the way studios append the credits on movies and TV shows). That way, viewers who aren't interested can skip that info.

Pick the right format: Before you can put your video on the Web, you must do some serious compressing. A good video editing program will let you squish the videos and convert them to the right Web format: Windows Media (.wmv), QuickTime (.mov), or Flash (.swf). Your video editor should offer presets for various connections, too; pick a slow frame rate and/or a small playback window size, unless you're certain that viewers will be using broadband connections. Microsoft's free Windows Movie Maker video editing program for Windows XP will automatically encode the video and upload it to a video-hosting service such as Neptune MediaShare or MyDeo Note that Neptune MediaShare requires using the Internet Explorer browser.

Host your video on the Web for free or in other words, convert video to flash and upload flash video onto the website: Several Web sites will compress and host your video for free after you register, letting anyone with a Web browser watch it. You Tube, Ourmedia, and Google Video are among such sites.

Applying Flash Video to your Web Site

Posted on 19/6/2009 at 3:40 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Working at home with a video to flash tool to build a flash video website

Posted on 11/6/2009 at 9:02 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Are building website, especially building flash video website with video to flv tool the next big thing? As the U.S. economy continues to free-fall, millions of American are finding themselves without jobs, sufficient retirement or paychecks coming in. In March alone the number of unemployed increased by 694,000 to 13.2 million. Throughout history those on the cutting edge have adapted and prospered by knowing how to adapt to current economic climates, and this trend may once again be taking place on the internet.

With more time on their hands, many California residents (And people around the country and world) are getting creative and turning to the online world for help.

For years we've all heard the stories of people making internet millions and now, it appears you don't have to be a technology guru at all to quickly get started making a decent income online. It's called Google Money Master and it's taking the internet and business communities alike by storm.

While researching the online-job phenomenon for this article I found countless stories of every day people making between $250 - $1000 a day from their homes. They explain that they're posting links on websites using hugely popular text advertising applications like Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN Adcenter.

Now we've all heard of countless 'get rich' schemes and scams and I'm sure that by now most of us have received at least one email promising us multi-million dollar fortunes if we'd only assist some displaced member of the "Nigerian Royal Family." However Google Money Master Google Profits does not appear to get caught up in the 'hype,' instead focusing on a steady stream of results over a period of time driven by individual effort and not the promise of revealing some 'special sauce.'

This new online opportunity doesn't give you an unrealistic 'pitch' at all. In fact this may be the only online opportunity that promises that you won't instantly make millions online, a stark contrast to websites featuring "Get Rich Quick Schemes" and pictures of Yachts and Luxury Homes and Automobiles. Most users share stories of moderate but steady incomes of $50,000 - $90,000 a year. But as with most jobs the more you put in the more you get out.

The idea of working from home sounds good to most of us who have to deal with varying lengths of unpleasant commutes to and from work, and in this digital age the number of people telecommuting continues to rise- saving time and money spent on fuel and allowing more time to be spent with family.

If you're struggling in the current economic debacle and the idea of working from home interests you, Google Money Master may be a viable option for you to try. The website states that there is a trial period available with every enrollment. Users pay only about $2.00 to have the kit shipped and the site states that "Satisfaction is 100% Guaranteed."

Tips to gets Flash video right

Posted on 11/6/2009 at 9:00 PM - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Finally someone has taken our advice and started displaying premium content via Flash video with embedded ads and video to flash tool. As it is known, content providers need only create Flash based video content to distribute their stuff to viewers and then they can grab the largest online viewing audience of any video app. Larger than Windows Media Player, larger than QuickTime, larger than all other video types.

ABC has created and released a new Flash based video player for four of its shows that embeds video with non-skippable ad content from AT&T. Users can choose from four different shows (Desperate Housewives, Lost, Commander and Chief, and Alias) and view content in each with sponsor advertisements within.

In each segment of the show the viewer can skip to any point before the ad. This forces the user to view your sponsor's content. Plus most users don't mind having to deal with a few ads to get better access to better content in more places.

The Player also lets viewer choose between all available shows while viewing the current show. This way you can choose what you want to see without having to leave your current choice. Plus short show descriptions are included so you don't have to leap before you look. Apparently all of the current season of Alias is available for work day viewing.

Shows are in wide screen format and use the high quality view codec from On2. Since shows are broken up into pieces surrounding ads, load times should be minimal.

While watching a show the user can also click on the faded show titles surrounding the video and skip to that show's current video.

Now if the other content providers would wake up and do the same thing life would be easier (I'm yelling at you AP, MTV, Comedy Central, etc).