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I would be the first to admit that not a lot of people have heard or know about Silverlight, which is Microsoft’s rich internet plugin, which is an alternative to Adobe’s Flash. It is true that Flash has been around for a long time and that Silverlight will not dislodge Flash’s entrenched following and use. But maybe, just maybe Silverlight was not designed for that purpose and that if people respond to Silverlight in certain ways it means they are taking some notice at least. The response clearly does not take into account the opportunities Silverlight offers a .NET developer. As a .NET developer I can use my C# skills to develop rich internet applications. I do not have to learn Action Script. Those same skills that I use to develop Silverlight applications can be used to develop WPF applications, ASP.NET applications and Windows applications.

Okay, so you have some time to kill or you are really bored, and you have an internet connection. What now? Well you could waste some really productive hours playing a few Flash games, and its interesting to note that not many Silverlight games exist yet, and I doubt they will ever exceed the number of Flash games out there. So here are my list of top ten Flash Games:

1. Stickman Tennis: I’m not quite sure why I like this game so much, but it does feel like the actions and strokes u make are kinda ‘real’. Other than that I just want to beat the living crap out of it.
2. Straw Hat Samurai: It’s a bloody game that lets you chop other samurai’s into pieces. Somehow I really like it.
3. Bowmaster lease don’t ask me how I got addicted to this game, but I just went from one level to the next without realising what I was doing. What a time waster!
4. Warfare 1917: It’s amazing to see the detail that goes into some of these games. It almost feels like its a PC Game. Its a really cool game.
5. Star Rebellion: Reminds me of StarCraft, but somehow I cannot get to any more levels.

As a web developer I have not find a way of tracking my work, and creating invoices or time sheets for that work. Its often a tedious and difficult task, and I do believe if it time management is applied wisely it can greatly improve productivity. In comes Ora Time and Expense, a Flash Application that uses the AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) to run as an application on your desktop. Running this application requires Flash and you have to install the runtime as well. Once the flash player and runtime is installed the application will be downloaded to your PC from where you can install it. Running the application for the first time you are greeted by the screen below:

The first thing you might want to do is configure the application for your specific use. To do that you simply go to the configure section, a button is located top right, which once clicked will bring up a screen similar to this one:

The screen contains all your personal details, and you will note that there are 7 tabs at the bottom:

Each tab needs to be configured individually for your specific needs. Once you have configured them you can start using Ora Time and Expense to track the amount of time you spend on a project. To do this you simply click on the Start Timer button at the top. Before the timer starts another screen will appear asking you to provide task details. Complete it and click start, and you should notice a timer appearing in the top left corner. You can pause, restart and stop this timer for each task. So if you take a break between working on a project you can pause the timer. Once you have completed a task you click stop and it will record the time spent on that task and project. If the task and project is approved you can tick the approved tick box.

The best feature of this application is the reporting it does on your project work. You can export reports in several formats, xls, csv, xml, etc. You can export reports based on your expenses and time. It can also generate invoices. This is proving to be really useful. It is not suitable for a team environment or a multi-user environment, but is ideal for a developer or designer working by them self.

How do you decide when to use a Content Management System (CMS) and when to develop the content yourself? The answer lies in your marketing strategy and specifically your strategy for web-based content. Do you know who the intended target audience for your strategy is?

In some cases it might prove a better bet to develop content from scratch, such as a brochure-ware type of website. Brochure-ware websites generally have a very static nature and are used to market a product or service in a very visual way. Such websites often use technologies such as Adobe Flash to promote that product or service. Adobe Flash can accomplish animations and effects that cannot be replicated with AJAX or any standard web development technologies. Flash has a few limitations as well, but for impact Flash can be used very effectively. Microsoft also recently released their Silverlight technology, but it might take some time for Silverlight to be adopted as widely as Flash. Both technologies, however, incur some cost because their development environments are not free or inexpensive. Adobe Flash requires an Integrated Development Environment as does Silverlight. For Adobe Flash you may require one of the CS3 range of software packages that include Flash and for Silverlight you might want to look at buying Visual Studio 2008. Both products also tend to force you into using other proprietary software as well which also costs money. Developing Silverlight applications require Windows Server software to run those applications, which costs more money as well.