Today we launched the new set of Universal Mind websites: www.universalmind.com and blog.universalmind.com   Adam has gone into a great deal about the technical specifics of the new www.universalmind.com, so I will go into the technical specifics of blog.universalmind.com, since I wrote it (skin by Nahuel and Laura). Previously, the UM Blog Aggregator had been an experiment in combining Hibernate and ColdFusion with Mach-II.  This, over time, proved to be a bit unstable, to say the least.

Until recently, I've always used the XML mapping files to define my persistence model with Hibernate. I was not real keen on the idea of using meta to define persistence in the objects themselves via annotations. However, I decided to give it a shot recently. My main argument had always been that by using the XML mapping, my persistent objects are not tied to Hibernate, exclusively.

The other day I heard someone define iTunes as a RIA. I started to correct them because, until then, I had only thought of RIAs as being built with AJAX, Flex, Silverlight, etc; with these new RIA technologies. That comment though, got me to thinking. What does really define a RIA? Is it the technology that is used to build the application or how it leverages the power of the Internet (via SOA, etc.)?

I updated my bookshelf page the other day.  I added 10 more books which, as an RIA developer and consultant, I find very useful.  Click through and take a look, then buy from Amazon, or your favorite book store.

Today, Universal Mind unveils SpatialKey. SpatialKey represents the latest cutting edge Information Visualization, Analysis, and Reporting; all powered by Adobe Flex. The heart of what SpatialKey does is that it enables you to quickly visualize your data over both space and time. Allowing for playback, map comparison, aggregate mapping, and visualization via heat index, SpatialKey lets you see your data as never before.

There are less than 50 360|Flex tickets for the Aug. 17th-20th Conference.  It is, by far, the best value for your money.  Go, register now.  You can come see me and all my UM colleagues, plus the best of the best from the Flex community.  Consider it the Top Gun of Flex.

It looks as if Aptana is getting closer to rolling out Jaxer with the release of their RC "B" version. Many of you may be asking: "What the hell is Jaxer?". Well, Jaxer is billed as an AJAX server. Basically, it is a server platform that gives you the ability to write your server-side code in JavaScript. Is this really what we need, another server? Let's see a show of hands. How many of you out there in the RIA space are only JavaScript coders and know NO server-side language?

My friend, and UM colleague, Doug McCune (along with Deepa Subramaniam) has finally released Flex 3.0 For Dummies.  I know a lot of people have strong opinions for the "Dummies" books, but take this one as a good entry to the series and go buy the damn book.

I've been getting a curious response from some of the people I've told about the latest addition to my skill set.  When I tell them that I've taken the dive into Ruby on Rails (RoR), the first question they've asked is "Why would you want to do that?".  Well the answer is quite simple.  Around the middle of the year each year, I make a concerted effort to learn a technology that I'm not familiar with yet.  Last year I got into Spring/Hibernate, Flex was the year before.

Frameworks. They can be both a blessing and a curse. Recently, I was asked, by an aspiring Flex developer, which framework they should learn. They were looking at Cairngorm (and the UM Extensions) and Mate. Each framework has their high points and their low points. Mate is very slick and simplifies a lot of tasks that Cairngorm can make, well...obtuse. It's just plain facts. Cairngorm however, is the iPod of the Flex framework market.