Web Design

Devemos ou não usar Flash? Sim, mas apenas onde ele é necessário!

In "Web Design":

Web 2.0 sites don't have to be Flash. In fact, some people would argue that Flash isn't Web 2.0 at all. Most people feel now that a site is Web 2.0 if it uses modern technology, like Ajax and SOAP, to create a site that is a "platform" or an application, rather than just an information source or entertainment. For example, Gmail is a Web 2.0 application, while the Lexus site in his question is a Flash entertainment/information site.

Flash is a very powerful tool. It offers a lot of benefits to companies that want to provide video and animation on their sites. But it also offers some extreme drawbacks.

One of the biggest drawbacks is the difficulty in optimizing pages for search. Skyphoxx did not say what search terms he used to find the Lexus site, so it's hard for me to say how that site is optimized. When I look at the code, there is almost nothing on that site that would make it friendly to search engines. If it is ranking well, it's probably for either a very uncommon keyword phrase or simply because it's on the Lexus site, and so gets some priority from that. In my 95 SEO Tips and Tricks article, I recommend avoiding using Flash because search engines don't read them well. The best way to fight this is to create everything that is in Flash in an alternate site - so that search engines and anyone else who doesn't read Flash will still see the content.

Another thing to consider is that Flash isn't well-liked by many segments of the Web community. While animators tend to like Flash, people who visit my site tend to dislike it. If you really must create an all-Flash site (rather than using it for specific elements, like video), you should do a lot of user testing to make sure you aren't losing customers because they don't like Flash.

More Resources

• What is Web 2.0
• What is Ajax
• What is SOAP
• Pros and Cons to Using Flash for Websites
• 95 SEO Tips and Tricks
• Poll: Do you like Flash? on Animation @ About.com
• Poll: Do you like Flash? on Web Design @ About.com

Intel Skulltrail - The Power of 8 Cores

In "Tom's Hardware":

Intel D5400XS With Quad-Channel

The Skulltrail system consists of eight physical processor cores that can be (over)clocked at speeds up to 4 GHz. We're sure marketing -minded people would love to advertise this as a 32-GHz system, but that would obviously be inaccurate. The motherboard sports two socket 771 processor sockets, each equipped with a quad-core CPU. Intel already demonstrated this platform at its last Intel Developer forum in San Francisco, as you can read here.

Upon closer inspection, it turns out that Intel must have been under immense pressure when developing this new platform, though. Apparently Intel feared that AMD's quad-core Phenom CPUs, which had at the time not yet been released, would catch up to or even outpace the Penryn. Of course, ever since the publication of the article "AMD Phenom-The Spider Weaves its Web," the world knows that AMD is still trying to iron out some kinks in its newest CPU.

Ver o artigo completo em: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/06/intel_skulltrail_part_1/

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/07/intel_skulltrail_part_2/

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/08/intel_skulltrail_part_3/

Escolas festejaram Carnaval (Porto Santo)

In "Jornal da Madeira": 02-02-2008 Desfile infantil marcou o início das comemorações Escolas festejaram Carnaval na rua As ruas de Porto Santo foram ontem pela manhã inundadas de muita cor e animação com o desfile do cortejo alegórico das escolas do 1º Ciclo e Ensino Pré-Escolar da ilha. Ao todo, cerca de três centenas de crianças de quatro estabelecimentos de ensino emprestaram outra dinâmica a uma cidade que nesta altura do ano costuma andar muito calma. No cortejo para além de não faltarem os carros alegóricos, assistiu-se ao desfile de duas trupes com um tema definido. A escola da Camacha apresentou o tema da “Branca de Neve e os sete anões”, enquanto que a escola da cidade de Porto Santo trouxe a público a temática Histórias de encantar e suas fantasias. As outras duas escolas participantes, Campo de Baixo e Nossa Senhora da Conceição, optaram por não impor nenhum tema para que as crianças pudessem dar asas à sua imaginação na escolha dos disfarces. No final do cortejo houve lugar para um pequeno convívio na Praça do Barqueiro, onde não faltaram os tradicionais “sonhos”, uma iguaria própria da época, para delícia dos mais pequenos. Por outro lado as comemorações do Carnaval irão continuar durante o fim-de-semana em diversos bares e estabelecimentos de diversão nocturna da ilha, que irão organizar festas temáticas com direito a regalias para quem estiver mascarado. As comemorações do Carnaval 2008 encerram na terça-feira com o tradicional desfile do cortejo trapalhão. Para além das inúmeras sátiras que marcam este cortejo, na edição deste ano irão desfilar três trupes, com a particularidade de todas elas serem de Porto Santo. Assim, o corso carnavalesco terá no desfile e nas coreografias da Associação Cultural e Recreativa do Espírito Santo, do Centro Social e Cultural da Camacha e da Tribo RS/Escola de Dança, o seu ponto alto, que de certo encherão de cor e alegria as ruas da cidade de Porto Santo. A animação musical ficará a cargo de Marco Gil e as Hot Dancers e também do artista local Marcial.