Today, I was looking at my blog and realized I haven't done an entry in quite a while! In fact, it's been well over a month since I posted anything. I thought it was only fair to offer up a little explanation as to why.

Let me explain why I haven't blogged anything lately.

1) Life in general. Many of you know I have twin boys, both just over a year old. As anyone with kids can imagine, it's a demanding job. Despite having a wonderful wife who is a stay-at-home mom and takes care of the boys most of the time, I still have a responsibility and desire to take care of them when I can. I love my boys more than anything, and they are my top priority.

2) Work. My workplace is great, because it always presents new challenges. There is always something going on and a new deadline to meet. However, as a result, it also demands a lot of my time. Rarely do I ever get to work a 40-hour workweek. I inevitably end up working nights and weekends, whether it be coding or just checking email.

3) School. I am trying to finish up the agonizingly drawn-out process of getting a degree, and the process seems neverending. Just when I think I am almost done, another curveball gets thrown my way. For example, I found out I now have to take another class I didn't even know about--pushing the timeline out once again. You have to love state schools. Nevertheless, the classes require a lot of time outside of work and are writing-intensive. As a result, I spend a lot of my free time not coding, but writing 15-25 page papers on management and leadership. Someday, I really hope this pays off.

I made a personal resolution for 2010 to blog more about ColdFusion and technology in general. So far this year, I have failed miserably to do so. So, I am making a public commitment to everyone out there to try and do better at this (When, however, I cannot promise). I can't say there is a "light at the end of the tunnel" as of yet. Work is only going to get more intense in the coming months, school is what it is, and being a dad is forever. I can only promise that I will try to prioritize as best I can and stick to the commitments I've made. Usually, something ends up suffering, though. If I fall short, I apologize in advance!

BFusion/BFlex is rapidly approaching. Tomorrow afternoon, Aaron and I will leave Dayton for the drive over to Bloomington. We're still furiously working on tightening up our presentations, which are going to be great.

Aaron and I will be doing two sessions, one on error handling, and the other on maintaining server uptime for SLA agreements. Both of these topics are critical for any developer to be aware of (not just us CF guys). Anyone who has ever had to deal with a corporate site, or even a freelance site for a customer, should be aware of these issues and how to deal with them. We're confident these topics will give everyone tangible and valuable knowledge to walk away with and start using right away.

Remember, if you haven't signed up, it's only $10 per day to register. This is a great price for a great conference, and it is well worth it. Do not pass go! Sign up now!

We hope to see everyone in Bloomington!

In just ten short days I will be heading over to Bloomington, Indiana for the BFusion/BFlex conference. This conference is shaping up to be another great one. Bob Flynn and company are working very hard to make sure this year is even better than the last. I encourage anyone who is a developer or interested in development and able to go to attend this conference.

The cost is only $10, so there is no reason for anyone not to go. Registration is now open, so sign up today!

CF 9 is a great upgrade to the ColdFusion product family. It has such features as MS Office interoperability, ORM, SharePoint integration, CF as a service, new Ajax controls, and some incredible new CFScript capabilities.

Needless to say, I am pretty excited about this release, except for the fact that it means having to take another certification test.

So, what are you waiting for? Go and download it now!

I apologize for not updating the blog sooner. Things have been insanely hectic. September was literally a blur that flew past in what seemed like an instant. I seriously cannot believe today is already the 2nd. What's even more terrifying is the fact that I have a huge amount of work to get done before the end of the month (and I mean HUGE).

Now, October is here, and three great conferences are rapidly approaching. Of course, there's MAX, then CF in NC and BFusion/BFlex. I will be at two of these, CFinNC and BFusion. Additionally, I will be doing two presentations at BFusion with Aaron Wolfe. Check out the info here.

I personally am really looking forward to CF in NC, the first-ever of this event. I'm looking forward to the drive from Ohio to North Carolina (and the warmer temps down south) and getting to see my sister-in-law and little niece, Abby. I need to get some of that southern barbecue, too! I think the conference itself is going to rock with Dan Wilson and Jim Priest at the helm. The location looks amazing, and the list of provisional speakers looks great. Aaron and I are also looking forward to the opportunity to present at BFusion/BFlex and redeem ourselves after having to miss CFUnited at the very last minute. Just as it did when we were accepted for CFUnited, it feels mind-blowing to have our names in the company of such names as Simon Free, Dan Wilson, Aaron West, Ben Nadel, etc. We hope everyone will take some time to consider checking out our sessions. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us directly! I hope to see everyone at a conference soon!

It was unfortunate. I was supposed to be speaking with Aaron Wolfe at CFUnited this year--one of the first presentations right after the keynote, to be exact. So, let me tell you how incredibly hard it was when Wednesday came and gone and the closest I could get to the conference was my Twitter feed. Of course, everyone has been saying this has been one of the best years so far, and I missed it. What does that mean? No teaching. No learning. No networking. No peer interaction. No socializing. No fun. No free drinks. No stay at a resort. No cool swag. No inspiration!!!

It's been a rough year for conferences for me. First, I missed Spring Break in Athens, OH. Then, it was the Centaur User Group Tour event here in Dayton. Then, CFUnited! Arrgghh!! For someone trying to stay active in the community (and a UG manager), I have failed miserably. Fortunately (or unfortunately), all of these instances have been out of my hands. Luckily, I might still get the chance to get some CF event love in before the end of the year. If any of you are in the same boat, you might get your chance as well.

There are two more events that I know of coming up in the next couple of months. The first is the first-ever FREE "CF in NC" cfinnc.com, a ColdFusion event in Raleigh, North Carolina. The event is being put on by the Triangle CFUG in Raleigh and spearheaded by Dan Wilson of nodans.com fame (and an accomplished developer and speaker). The event is October 17-18th over a weekend and is just getting off the ground. I am going to try to make this event as I have a sister-in-law who lives an hour away from Raleigh. Hopefully the drive won't be too daunting.

Another event closer to me personally is BFusion/BFlex in Bloomington, Indiana the following weekend, October 24-25th. This hybrid CF/Flex event is also over a weekend and has taken place the last few years. I attended last year and it was very well put together. There is a slight fee this year but it is miniscule and definitely shouldn't deter anyone from going. If anyone is within any reachable distance from Bloomington, they should be attending this conference.

While these are much smaller venues and not nearly as high-profile as CFUnited or MAX, they are also more intimate and often times a much better way to get to network and meet other developers. There is usually still some good swag from Adobe/sponsors at events like this, and the community interaction is always great.

If you're in the same position I've been in this year as far as conferences go, try to make one of the aforementioned events, or start your own! Talk to your local user group manager(s) about putting together a local event in your area. If there are other CF events you are aware of that I've not listed here, please leave a comment for all to see.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention one other small conference--MAX. I think I excluded MAX from being a CF conference despite the fact it is put on by Adobe mainly for two reasons: 1) I never get to go to MAX anymore because it is WAY too expensive and my company will never foot the bill 2) MAX is really an "Adobe" conference as opposed to a "ColdFusion" conference. Yes, there are quite a few CF tracks, but not the high concentration of CF-related presentation that comes with a CF only conference such as CFUnited or CfObjective(). There is a lot of concentration on other Adobe products I frankly never, ever use, like InDesign, After Effects, Soundbooth, etc.

MAX is a great conference, if one can afford it. But you know it's expensive when there is a "convince your boss" page on the site! I was lucky enough to get to go in '05 when it was in Anaheim, CA, the year before when it was in New Orleans, and the year before that in Salt Lake but haven't been back since. I don't know if I'd go back anytime soon. I'd rather attend a smaller, more intimate conference that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Yes, I enjoy traveling to locations like California, but it's just not cost-effective and honestly I'd rather go to California to play rather than to work. Just being honest!

MAX takes place October 4th-7th in L.A.

How can I say this without shedding some tears? It turns out Aaron Wolfe and I won't be speaking at CFUnited this year. Let's just say it's due to issues out of our control. We'd like to apologize to everyone who was looking forward to our session on error handling best practices. We know a lot of people were really looking forward to it. It breaks our hearts to not be able to go this year after all the preparation and planning.

This will be the first time in five years I personally won't be attending a major ColdFusion conference, and it's very, very disappointing. Aaron and I have been preparing for this talk for almost a year, and to drop out at practically the last minute, well, sucks.

On the bright side, for those of you fortunate enough to be able to attend the conference this year, there are some absolutely fantastic sessions at CFUnited '09. Check them all out here. I highly recommend anything by Ben Nadel--he is a major contributor to the community and one heck of a nice guy, so be sure to introduce yourself to him. I also recommend any sessions by Hal Helms, Ray Camden, Dee Sadler, Adam Lehman, and Elliott Sprehn, to name just a few.

I'm hoping we have another shot at speaking next year--right now we'll just have to wait and see.

The countdown is on! CFUnited is just a mere 49 days away, and the excitement is building. I think everyone has great anticipation for Centaur this year--I know I do! I think the sessions are going to be absolutely great as well. I've never seen a lineup this good.

I'm also looking forward to speaking for the first time at a major ColdFusion conference. It's a little nerve-wracking, but I'm glad to not be alone. Aaron and I make a great team, and our presentation is going to be awesome! If you haven't checked it out, see all about it at CFUnited's site:

http://cfunited.com/2009/topics/237

We're covering error handling with ColdFusion--a very hot topic and a highly popular request by the community. We're looking forward to sharing our experiences and knowledge gained through the years on this important subject. Hope to see you there!

Liz over at Teratech asked us speakers to answer a few questions for our profiles for CFUnited. This has been posted over at the CFUnited blog, but I thought I'd blog them again myself here.

With less than 90 days to go, the countdown is on! Enjoy!

Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past? This is my first time speaking at CFUnited.

What would you tell someone who hasn't been to CFUnited before?
I've attended for the past three years and would tell anyone who is in any way a CF developer to get themselves here! This is by far the best CF conference around.

Why should people attend your session(s)?
Most developers understand the importance of error handling in an application, but many don't utilize it to its full potential. Error management is critical in site development and having the right information at the right time can save you and your customer a lot of headaches.

Do you have any projects in the works that you will be revealing at CFUnited?
Unfortunately, all my projects are top secret. Ok--not really, but still can't show them ;-)

Besides your topic, what other sessions are you looking forward to?
I'd like to see Ben Nadel's presentation and some of the more advanced topics as well as John Paul Ashenfelter's bleeding edge technology presentation.

What are some of the hot topics you'd like to see at RoundTable discussions?
Nerd talk--Star Wars, Transformers, G.I. Joe/80's toys...stuff like that.

Where can people find you at CFUnited? (At the bar, networking, working, in your room, etc.)
I will be everywhere this year except the room! I hope to get some networking in with the greatest minds in the biz! Oh, and I'll be in that Thinkgeek room for sure...

What's the latest news with you? Has anything changed since last CFUnited?
The biggest change since last year is that I'm now the father of twin boys! After Ray Camden, I feel like the busiest man on earth.

What is unique about CFUnited?
I personally enjoy CFUnited more than conferences like MAX because it's a little smaller and more intimate, and you can really get to know some people here. The CF community is full of such great people--it's unlike any other dev community in my opinion.

When you are not working what do you like to do in your free time?
I enjoy spending time with my two boys, digital photography, travel, hiking and camping, general computing, and in my spare time rebuilding my collection of 80's G.I. Joe's.

Aaron and I are presenting at CFUnited this year--"Handling Errors with Error Handling". Check out our short vid!

http://www.youtube.com/v/XvjMPNKLMcg&hl=en&fs=1

If you haven't registered for CFUnited 2009 yet, you'll want to be sure to do so TODAY to take advantage of the early bird pricing option. CFUnited, now in its fifth year, is the #1 ColdFusion developer conference in the world. This year, it will be bigger than ever with more speakers and topics than ever before. If you're a CF developer, do whatever you have to do to get to Washington, DC this August for the CFUnited ColdFusion conference!

Also, don't forget that Aaron Wolfe and yours truly will be presenting the topic "Handling Errors with Error Handling". A funny topic name, perhaps, but definitely one of the most important and informative sessions at the conference this year. We'll be covering the importance of error handling in a site and the potential consequences developers face with little or no error handling in place. It's definitely going to be a worthwhile session.

Managers, if you're still not convinced about sending your team members away for a week, follow this link for an informative manager's guide: http://cfunited.com/images/CFUnited2009_managerguide.pdf.

See you at CFUnited!

A year ago, if you mentioned "Twitter" to most non-developers, people would look at you like you had lobsters coming out of your ears. Today, it's a mainstream buzzword and used by the likes of CNN and the "TODAY" show. It has become a major tool in the toolbox of social/viral media. Many consider it a waste of time. But, if it's used right, can be a invaluable resource for information and networking. So what is Twitter, really?

Twitter is a method of "micro-blogging" small bits of information. This can be something about yourself, an observation, link, etc. In 140 characters or less, you can share with the world. While you can't say anything lengthy, you can profoundly get your point across if you know the correct syntax.

Twitter spreads news FAST. The other day, there was a large 7.9 earthquake in the pacific. No news outlets were reporting it but Twitter was lit up with tweets. A CNN Breaking News tweet came through to me. News dissemination--as it happened. That is amazing.

Twitter keeps you connected. Keep in constant touch with the people you choose. This is great for finding out information without having to send an email, IM, etc. Some might find this annoying, however, as some people tend to go a little "Twitter crazy" with almost constant tweets. Don't forget you can "leave" a user you're following if they're just giving you too much information and you can't take it anymore.

Here are some tips for better Twittering (which are by no means anything new or that hasn't been blogged about a million times, just my own personal observations for what they're worth):

• Twitter is not a chat client. It wasn't meant for huge banter--it's a method of posting a quick thought, statement, or declaration. For meaningful conversations of more than 140 characters, use a chat client like AIM, iChat, Google Talk, or Adium.
• Get some decent Twitter tools. You won't like using the website forever, and there are a million really great apps out there for mobile and desktops. While I use Twitterberry for my Blackberry Storm, I know there are a lot of iPhone apps out there. My personal favorite for the desktop is Twhirl, an Adobe AIR app which I highly recommend.
• Say something meaningful once in a while. While you don't always have to proclaim your personal cure for cancer, don't just tweet what you ate for breakfast, either. Give your followers something meaningful to chew on. The more interesting the tweet, the more likely it will spur a conversation or retweets.
• ALWAYS review your tweets before hitting send. I made the mistake lately of typing "unfollow user" only to learn that the command is now actually "leave user" (I swear it changed at some point). The whole world quickly found out who I didn't like following and I suddenly felt like a complete idiot.
• Know your slang. If you don't know what people are talking about, Twitter is not going to mean much to you. Know what hashtags are (#hashtag), and understand abbreviations like RT (retweet), OH (overheard), etc. There are several Twitter dictionary sites. twittonary.com is just one.
• NEVER say anything you wouldn't want the entire world to see. Twitter can be dangerous. People are constantly fired from jobs for posting a status specific to their jobs on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Just recently, a Cisco employee was canned for posting a negative comment about his employer. So, be very careful what you say and when you say it. As a general rule, it's best to not mention anything about your job (positive or negative), and be very careful what you say about others as it might just come back to haunt you. Even when you delete something after posting it's possible someone has already seen it and captured it somehow (think screen captures). In the world of the Internet (and especially Twitter), deleted never really means deleted.

Whatever you do, have fun with it. If using Twitter becomes too much of a chore (or an addiction), walk away from it. If it's not something useful/entertaining, you won't find much value in it. But, if you know how to utilize it correctly, it can open up a whole new world. Just be careful as this new world also brings danger--know what you're doing before you jump in.

For many, 2008 was a very bad year--one they'd like to forget. For us, it was the most beautiful year of our lives. This past Monday, December 29th, 2008, our two boys were born at 2:15 and 2:17 a.m. What a blessing! Being preemies, they have had a few issues, but they're doing much better as I write this and hopefully we'll all be home together soon. I can't even express how beautiful the boys are--they are more precious and wonderful than I ever imagined. I am the proudest father in the world. My boys are so sweet and wonderful. I want to be with them every minute.

To top off the year, Aaron and I got accepted to speak at CFUnited in August, and just got ColdFusion 8 certified today! Nothing like waiting until (literally) the last minute! But, better late than never! I am now officially a "ColdFusion Expert". What a great feeling. I highly recommend the CF8 Exam Buster software for studying--it is a Godsend.

I am looking forward to 2009 with great anticipation, hoping things continue on a positive track for our whole family. I'm looking forward to immersing myself in the CF community, and being the best dad I possibly can. And, if anyone knows where I can get my hands on some of those "Future CF Developer" infant Tees from MAX, I'd greatly appreciate it!

The CFUnited speaker voting form is now available online. Go here to vote for me, Aaron, and Mike Harman now!

Every vote counts! This would be our first time speaking at CFUnited and would be a great opportunity for all of us. Please take a few moments to make a difference! Thanks for your support!!!

For 2009, Liz Frederick at CFUnited is doing a call for topics and speakers, and Aaron Wolfe, Mike Harman, and I are going to put in some topics we'd like to present at the conference this year. We will be entering six topics, listed below. You can vote for one or all of the topics you think would be a good presentation.

"Have a Site that Forgets Users More than the Stock Market Changes? - Cookie/Session Problems Solved" – Aaron Wolfe and Lance Smith Is your site getting lots of timeouts or are users complaining they are continuously logging in? Are you ready to learn how sessions, cookies, and different browsers really work in an application? Look no further. In this track, we'll start with the basics of sessions and cookies and go all the way through to more advanced session management techniques. We'll demonstrate how to deal with pesky persistence problems, debug those problems, and ultimately prevent unwanted session timeouts. We'll also show how session management can make or break an application and detail how to prevent major headaches by using server logs and other tools to your advantage.

"Got an SLA problem? ColdFusion Enterprise's Load Balancing has the Solution so You Can Get Some Sleep at Night" – Aaron Wolfe and Lance Smith Tired of emails/phone calls at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning telling you the server is down? Rest easy, ColdFusion Enterprise's load balancing, sticky sessions, and session replication features will come to the rescue. In this session, we'll show you the advantages and pitfalls of using these features without any expensive network hardware. We'll also show you how to properly load balance multiple ColdFusion instances while getting the best performance you possibly can by using web server stress testing tools. If you ever need to admin a ColdFusion server and like your personal life, you won't want to miss this session!

"Inheriting Legacy Applications – Dealing with That Application from 1999" – Aaron Wolfe, Lance Smith, and Mike Harman Just about every developer has had to deal with that "10 year old site" that's been online since the dawn of the Internet (or at least your company's Internet department). We've all been there. Many of us deal with legacy applications in our every day job--full of spaghetti code, no code formatting, no cfc's, bad or no security, or all of the above. In this session you will learn how to stop wrestling with those old sites and get them under control. Not all of us have the budget, time, or luxury of building sites from scratch in a fancy new framework, and we'll provide the knowledge to make old applications better.

"Not Just Another Security Presentation" – Aaron Wolfe, Lance Smith, and Mike Harman A lot of talk has been going around lately about site security, yet many developers don't feel they have the time or ability to add the necessary extra security to their sites. Yet, every day sites fall victim to SQL injection, cross-site scripting and other common and not-so-common hacks and attacks. With each passing day, hackers find new ways to bring even the biggest and best sites to their knees. In this session, we'll cover some simple yet effective methods of using ColdFusion to your advantage to make your site more secure in an increasingly more dangerous Web.

"Handling Errors with Error Handling" – Aaron Wolfe and Lance Smith Most developers know the importance of having error handling on their site. But, many do not know how extensible error handling can be and the control they have over it with the power and ease of ColdFusion. In this presentation, we'll show you how to use Application.cfc and custom error pages to their full potential to handle custom errors, missing pages, and other common site errors without using that cause massive emails in your Inbox.

"CF User Groups – Worth the Investment" – Lance Smith and Aaron Wolfe Have you thought about starting a CF user group in your area, but aren't sure how? The benefits of managing a user group are numerous. User groups receive many opportunities single individuals normally don't, including access to training, materials, software, and reduced conference rates. While it might seem like too much work for some, it is well worth the effort. We'll show you how to go about starting a user group in your area, what is involved once you start a group, and how to attract and keep members. We'll also cover how to avoid common pitfalls that many failed user groups tend to fall into.

We will post a link to where to vote as soon as it's available. Remember, the speaker(s) who get the most votes will win something extra special--possibly another free CFUnited ticket. If you're interested in attending the conference for free this year, be sure and vote for us!