I wasn’t actually shopping for one of these bohemouths, rather I was checking into the ever-growing focus that automakers have on out-doing each other on the Web front. I’ve heard that over 80% of vehicle shoppers do research online before a purchase. I guess that is reason enough for automakers to spend heaps of money and time on making their web experiences as good as possible. Interesting that they all seem to be moving towards Flash… ;- )

Check out my latest favorite car configurator by building your own H2 at www.hummer.com.

I noticed that my favorite news protal, www.rr.com/flash is offering a free sample of content from AOL for Broadband. If you go to the RoadRunner site, click on the “AOL” button at the bottom.

My favorite is the “Sessions@AOL” feature of Hoobastank singing “The Reason” in a recording studio. I like that AOL is focusing on delivering unique broadband content to attract customers. I just may join…

[Update 6/7/04] Sorry – they pulled down the article to make a few tweaks. It should be back up soon. I’ll repost when I’m sure it’s live. I would have updated you sooner, but they forgot to tell some of us that it had been pulled down. ;-)

Kevin Towes, one of the best Flash developers I’ve met, has written a fantastic article for the Developer Center about best practices for encoding Flash video.

http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/mx/flash/articles/flv_encoding.html

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[via Mike Chambers] Flash Player 7 for Linux now available.

Read about it on CNET News.com here.

Press release here.

Get the player here.

Check out this story on Wired.com about a company that is simulating the old Mac SE System 7.0.

Somewhat amusing – but done in German, I believe.

Full Story

Flash developers can have some fun with the built-in Web Services API and Flash Remoting services in Flash MX Professional 2004 by making use of this new service from Paypal.

I’d like to know if any of you have some great, innovative ideas for things that could be done inside of the Flash authoring tool that will make for a better learning/getting started experience for new users. We have our own ideas, but I’d love to hear your feedback.

Take a look at things like the Start Page. Can you imagine a “Super Start Page”? What would it do? Also consider the workspace, UI, etc.

Feel free to post your ideas in the comments or email me directly at mdowney –at– macromedia.com.

No ideas are too crazy, so have fun!

If you’re interested in video production and deploying video in Flash, check out these free seminars and see if they’re in your area.

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/liquidtour2004/LiquidTour2004.asp

Denver, CO – May 13 (today!)
Dallas, TX – May 18
Philadelphia, PA – May 20
Washington, DC – May 25

Register here.

Interesting article on the Motley Fool.

“Since the early days of the Web, developers have strived to infuse more of the attributes of print media and video. Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE) has been the leader in the former, and Macromedia has ruled the latter.”

The article goes on to talk about the impact that Macromedia has made on advertising on the web.