Ben Reichelt proposes the idea of using Flash as an alternative CAPTCHA solution.  I wonder if NeoSwf would help with this kind of solution?

Ben's post also got me thinking about AJAX (since some people call it the "new Flash" for the Web).  Could AJAX be used to improve CAPTCHA in any way?  I'm not an expert on CAPTCHA -- I'm just throwing out the question for discussion.  Would AJAX make it any harder for comment spammers to circumvent CAPTCHA?  Could AJAX make it easier for legitimate users?

Wow.  Zimbra will be something to watch.  This may be the MS Exchange killer, at least for some organizations.  E-mail, group-scheduling, calendar, contacts, AJAX web client, IMAP/POP, searching, anti-virus and anti-spam support, integration with LDAP and Active Directory, and the list goes on.  All open source.  Check out the screen shots.  Can't wait to check this out.  [via TheOpenForce]

What a shame.  Matt Hawley, now a Microsoft employee, is being barred by the MS legal department from distributing his free library of ASP.NET components.  I've used these components in the past, and have found them to be fantastic tools.  Help support all the work that Matt has put into the ASP.NET community by signing the petition.

UPDATE: It appears that developer community's reaction is making a difference!

I've been working on a sample tonight for one of my hosting customers showing how to create a "Contact Us" page in ASP.NET using System.Web.Mail.  Searching for examples of proper syntax, I came across System.Web.Mail, OH MY!  This is an exhaustive FAQ on using the built-in Mail framework library, including answers to common questions and problems, as well as advanced tips for adding functionality (such as SMTP authentication) that you may have thought not possible.

What I found especially interesting is that the site was created by Dave Wanta of 123Aspx fame, who also happens to sell a *very* good e-mail component for .NET named aspNetEmail.  He does include a shameless plug for his product buried in the FAQ.  After all, System.Web.Mail doesn't do everything.  But, to Dave's credit, he also lists a couple of other third-party tools and the entire site seems to be the best resource on the Web for using System.Web.Mail.  Kudos to Dave!

Since Tim is playing Calvinball and making things up as he goes, I must now submit my *own* web usability idea(s) using AJAX.  Man, don't you know I'm a bear of very little brain (and long words bother me)?  Think... think... think...

Well, if I were developing an e-commerce site -- let's take HandyShop, for example -- I would of course make it much more, you know, dynamic.  Like AJAX.  Yeah, that's the ticket.

The first idea that comes to mind is having a nice little shopping cart in some obvious location letting you know how many items you're currently bagging.  You find something that tickles your fancy, so you click on the "Add to cart/bag/buggy/wheelbarrow/pocket/whatever" and ... whoosh!  Instead of leaving the page, the number of items gets updated and the "Add to..." button changes in some obvious way to let the user know the exchange took place.  Maybe fireworks, a little fanfare, and some gratuitous bragging about how smart the shopper is.

My next grand idea: As you drill-down in the product categories through the menu or breadcrumbs... the user never has to leave the page.  Of course, I'm not sure this is 100% compatible with the browser's Back button.  Most users have grown accustomed to smacking the Back button willy-nilly.  I'm sure Jakob Nielsen has some kind of highly-scientific research to back this up.  But, what does he know?  His site hasn't changed since people were writing HTML with the abacus.  Come on, dude.  I mean, really.  It's a waste of CPU cycles for the Wayback Machine.  But, I digress...

Maybe if you had a very complex product that a customer could customize in some incomprehensible number of ways, AJAX could come to the rescue.  As the customer changed options, an AJAX request could make a trip to the server, build a new preview and present the user with yet more or different options.  Like building your own tricked out Pogo stick or extreme yo-yo.  That would rock.

There you have it.  I've exhausted my creativity.  However, keep your eye on Tim Haines blog, as I'm sure there will be lots of smarter people than me trying to crack this nut.

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is the latest buzzword in the web community these days, although the technology has been around for a while.  I haven't done much with it myself, but I know it can certainly yield some very impressive results.  Josh is currently investigating it at work to create a lookup similar to Google Suggest that matches results as you type.

So, what do you think about AJAX?  Have you come up with some "out of the box" ideas for improving Web usability using AJAX?

If you have some thoughts on the subject, my friend Tim Haines would love to hear about it.  So much so that he's offering up $150 (US) in the form of an Amazon.com gift certificate to the blog with the most lively discussion on the subject.  Check out his HandyShop demo and then post your suggestions here on how you might improve an e-commerce site using AJAX.

Here's my spin on it: if my blog wins, then I'll donate the $150 to charity, and I'll let my blog readers decide where it should go. 

Help the developer community realize the full potential of AJAX and contribute to a good cause at the same time!

My wife and I have been lamenting the fact of how out-of-shape we've gotten over the last few years.  Last week she joined a local gym with her good friend who I know will really help keep her accountable.  I hate gyms.  So, I've committed to start using the equipment I already have at home, which includes a Bowflex and an elliptical machine.

Tonight was my first workout.  I scrolled through the artists on my MP3 player and decided without much thought to listen to Seventh Day Slumber.  Nearing the end of my workout, the track "Brand New Man" began to play.

"And I’m not looking back
My past is far behind me, yeah
I’m stronger every day
You’ve made me a brand new man

I’m a brand new man. I will never be the same
I’m a brand new man. I will never be the same"

Awesome.

MSDN just published the "Absolute Beginner's Video Series to Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions" with over 10 hours of instruction covering VB and C#.  The videos were created by Bob Tabor of www.LearnVisualStudio.Net fame.  I was one of the first subscribers back in the day, and found his narrated, hands-on lab style to be a great way to learn.

Due to other priorities and apparent curiosity in the viability of open source projects, Eric Wise has made the decision to open source his Easy Assets .NET product.  Easy Assets .NET is a web-based application created to allow organizations to track assets (computers, monitors, printers, projectors, or just about any equipment I suppose) including purchase history, warranties, service agreements, and help-desk issues.  Any organization (business, church or ministry) with more than a few computers could realize some big benefits from asset tracking.

If you find his product beneficial, I hope that you will reward Eric's efforts in the form or donations or contract work.  I look forward to hearing the results of his experiment. 

Downloads are available here.

"The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades." -Timbuk 3

ComponentArt continues to just blow me away.  Last week they announced version 3.0 beta release of their Web.UI suite.  The new components added to the suite include Grid, Calendar and Callback (AJAX - Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) controls.  You can demo the new controls at webui30.componentart.com.  July 20, they announced the beta of their new Charting components for both WinForms (WinChart) and ASP.NET WebForms (WebChart).  I got two words for ya: Amaaaaa-zing.

The new Grid control renders a very rich interface, allowing the end-users to page, sort, group, filter, search, resize columns, and use the keyboard.  The grid can operate in server, client and callback modes.  When using callback mode for a large set of data, your users can retrieve a page of data at a time without the page having to refresh, yet still have complete control over sorting, grouping, filtering, and so on.

Callback for ASP.NET claims to deliver AJAX-style functionality to any server-side control, giving the developer a clean and elegant way of providing user interfaces that can dynamically change without ever refreshing or "posting back" the current page.

The demos for the new Charting components are spectacular.  Also, check out all the features provided.  Although the charting components will be sold separately from the Web.UI suite, there's still good news for Web.UI subscribers.  According to this post in their product forums, a "WebChart Lite" control will eventually be provided to Web.UI subscribers at no additional cost.

As you may have guessed from my previous post, I've been on vacation.  We just got back tonight, and I've been catching up on some blog reading before heading off to bed. (Trips are great, but nothing beats sleeping in your own bed.)  I was pleasantly surprised to find that Paul Wilson has released v4.1.0.0 of his O/R mapper and Paul Welter has released v3.0 of his excellent CodeSmith templates.

I didn't think I was ever going to get it work, but I'm now connected from our cabin on the lake using my Sprint PPC-6601.  On the Pocket PC, you have to launch WModem and turn on the dial-up networking server for bluetooth or USB.  I got the bluetooth working for about 3 minutes, but it wouldn't stay connected.  What seems to work is the modem driver and dialer downloaded from GeekZone.  I also bought a USB sync cable from PocketSolutions (through their eBay store).

According to my dialer, I'm connected at 230.4 Kbps!

W00t!

Be sure to visit all the options under "Configuration" in the Admin Menu Bar above. There are 16 themes to choose from, and you can also create your own.