Thursday, March 01, 2007

Adobe committed to being open, web 2.0 company?

The answer has to be "yes". During the last six months we have seen PDF going to ISO, the code donation to the Tamarin project, the launch of Flex 2.0, the pre-beta Apollo program which allows developers to build really cool applications, Photoshop becoming Software as a Service (PDF has been for years) and more. In the near future Apollo is going to shake up the entire developer world (if you don't believe me, take a look at this application and imagine people can build this as a standalone application complete with live feeds to deliver ads, extra info etc). The Adobe Cycling Tour Tracker is by far the coolest web application I have ever seen in my life. I would rather watch this than TV. The amount of live information coming to the desktop is unparalleled. TV stations - take note. This is what you have to compete with in the future.

When LiveCycle ES launches, developers and architects alike will be able to see how advanced Adobe is as an enterprise software vendor. The LiveCycle ES platform is based on the core tenets of the OASIS Reference Model for SOA.

If you want to find out more, you don't want to miss MAX 2007. This year MAX will be held in three locations. North America (the main MAX) will be September 30-October 3, 2007 in Chicago, IL; MAX Europe: October 2007, Barcelona, Spain and MAX Japan: November 2007, Japan.

Things we can do better? Tell us. We're listening.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Mix2r.com collaborative music portal growing!

In November, a new site was launched that allows musicians and other electronic artists to collaborate to create mixes, music and other audio projects via the internet. Recording an album used to involve recording tracks one at a time in separate rooms and controlling the creation via a central control room. Mix2r.com just overlays that pattern on the net to allow people to contribute to your mixes and music from all around the world.


Mix2r.fm, mix share collaborate, free membership


I have been using it to work on other people's music and have contributed to projects in the UK and USA. People from New Zealand have sent in tracks on my audio projects.

Even if you are not a musician, there are now hundreds of free MP3 works from various genres to legally download and use. There are desktop widgets for Mac users to get the latest audio files and RSS feeds you can use to keep up to date on the goings on. To listen to the latest music from Mix2r.com, go to this link http://mix2r.fm/recent/audio.


To be honest, we're still wondering what this might eventually become or where it will all lead. As a musician, I have been hopeful that a new model for the music industry will evolve. I want to see a really cool project start on the site to make a CD with ten songs on it, with each song having one track from one musician in every country in the world on it. That would be a really cool social project. Please help spread the word and maybe it will happen.

Oh yeah - its completely free and free of spam, spyware etc.