I finished post-processing and publishing our January talk with Amy Fowler on Parleys.com.

Here is a direct link: JavaFX Layout Secrets with Amy Fowler

I did my best to clean up the audio at the beginning to remove the static that our streaming listeners had to put up with. After the first 10 minutes we swapped mics, which made a huge difference!

Our plan for next month is to upgrade our streaming/recording setup once again so we can directly capture the presenter’s VGA signal for a dual-cast. This should allow us to capture the demos in full resolution and give a much better streaming experience. If you or your company is interested in helping sponsor some of our hardware needs, we can definitely use the help (contact me).

See you next month for Hinkmond’s JavaFX Mobile talk: Hinkmond’s JavaFX Mobile Dojo

Just a quick note. I have added a new page for the Silicon Valley JavaFX User Group live stream in the toolbar above. It contains an embedded movie player, chat window, and link to Google Moderator. The direct url is: http://steveonjava.com/svjugfx/

I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but the live stream is definitely worth the effort to watch. It is the only place you will get to hear the interesting commentary by JavaFX experts such as Jim Weaver, Dean Iverson, Jonathan Giles, and others.

Please also use this post to respond with comments and suggestions about the stream so we can improve it in future meetings.

We will be broadcasting tonight at 7PM PST, so please join us for a great presentation from Amy Fowler!

To bring in the New Year, I did a complete revamp of my blog.  Wordpress.com served me well initially, but the limitations started to cramp my style.  Now I am off the corporate cloud and running on a 100% Open Source platform.

Here are some of the benefits of the new blogging platform:

• Inline JavaFX and Java applets – No need to click a link or launch a web start application to see my latest creations.
• Embedded videos – I can now embed videos from all 3rd party sites, including developer favorites like Parleys.com.
• Unencumbered styling – No limitations on what I can do with styles and themes for the site (although I promise to keep it tame!)

I also spent some doing a minor site redesign.  Some of the new features include:

• Updated site theme – Uses the latest Freshy 2 release from Jidé (I guess I am partial to French designers)
• DZone and Twitter post links – Feel free to vote up (or down) anything you see or retweet it to your followers
• Contact form – Good way to directly poke me in case I am asleep at the wheel (sometimes I need a reminder)

I will be taking advantage of all these and other features of the new platform throughout the rest of 2010.

And finally, some local fireworks from the celebration over San Francisco to enjoy:

Happy New Year!