Strict Data Typing feature Macromedia introduced in Macromedia Flash MX 2004. Strict Data Typing allows us to explicitly declare the data type that a certain variable should accept, if the wrong data type is assigned to a variable an error message would pop up when the movie is tested identifying at what line exactly the wrong value was assigned to the variable. Strict Data Typing requires activation for each variable by using the : operator when the variable is declared.

 This is commen in most desktop languages. In flash strict data typing also has other gains. Strict data typing has some perfomance gain on lower spec hardware. Flash constantly checks what variable type a variable is when you change the contents of a variable. Using strict data typing allows flash to skip that operation because the player already knows what data type the variable should be. So use it from now on and enjoy an performace increase in your flash movies.   

Youtube.com is a well know video sharing website, currently ranked 11 according to Alexa. A lot has already been discussed about youtube so I will not be discussing the obvious (copyright problems, myspace/youtube). I have an interest in the future of youtube because I think it will set the standard on the recent dot COM burst. Everyone knows youtube does not have enough revenue to survive month-to-month expenses. They have attracted investment firms like Sequoia Capital.

Looking at Sequoia Capital you will see a very successful paste: ” Since 1972, Sequoia Capital has provided startup venture capital for very smart people who want to turn ideas into companies. As the “Entrepreneurs Behind the Entrepreneurs,” Sequoia Capital’s Partners have worked with innovators such as Sandy Lerner and Len Bozack of Cisco Systems, Jerry Yang and David Filo of Yahoo!, Gaurav Garg of Redback Networks, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Dan Warmenhoven of Network Appliance, T.J. Rodgers of Cypress Semiconductor, Lou Tomasetta of Vitesse Semiconductor, Steve Jobs of Apple Computer and Larry Ellison of Oracle. The companies organized by Sequoia Capital now account for about 10% of the value of NASDAQ. ”

The kind of success this investment firm has had in the paste might make you think youtube is on the right road to success. This is a new time in the Internet and traditional ways do not apply. Youtube is not a special website at all. Youtube was only the first mainstream website to offer easy video sharing. We continue to see other websites pop up by the handfuls each month with far greater features. The point is if you tube can find a way to successfully make a profitable revenue stream then all the other websites out there that are simply operating to get a user base will get the wrong idea. If we continue to allow websites to come up and survive solely on investment dollars then we are in for a repeat of Internet history. Starting a website or a web service has to be well thought out. Proper planning and business models have to be there from the beginning. Most web services have the idea that if they get big enough some major company will come and handle there debt issues and buy them outright. This is the case in select situations but by far un-likely. Youtube has a very short time left in the days of its popularity and the spotlight is on. Will it remain a company or will it continue to struggle.

Well, it has been sometime since I posted and yet I am still getting traffic from strange places. I am starting a major endeavor in my professional life in a few short days. A team and I are going to start the development process of the next major multiplayer computer game. I can not get into details just yet but I defiantly plan to make use of this blog to document major and minor milestones during development. To be vague we are creating a seemless world similar to WoW. The game play will be a hybrid between first person shooter (half-life), third person (grand theft auto), and RPG style game play. The story of this game first of its kind and is most likely going to create a huge fallowing.

On the family front, my daugther has turned one this past week and I could not be more excited about things. I have also made a presense on myspace