MHenry is the Page Editor for Dreamweaver. He also likes good beer.

In the October newsletter I wrote a glowing review of Flash 8. One of my critics pointed out that the article's title indicated the review was of Studio 8, not just Flash. This isn't a complete review either. Try to remember: I don't intend it to be. This one is about Dreamweaver?

Anyway, I mentioned in that review that I hadn't had the time to really get a feel for the other Studio components. Since then, I've had the opportunity to build two sites using Dreamweaver and I gotta tell ya -- it ain't no Flash.

One of the things I liked best about the Flash upgrade was that the improvements were functionalities that were huge time- and production-benefits -- things like Photoshop-style filters, gradients and improved drawing capabilities. In sharp contrast, the Dreamweaver improvements seem to be more about time-saving and convenience, not about adding innovative features.

To be fair, Dreamweaver is a mature program; it has been a rich, full-featured tool for years. In fact, the only thing I wished for in Dreamweaver is better integration with ASP.Net 2.0 -- and that can't be blamed on Dreamweaver, which was released months before M$ had managed to get 2.0 on the street. So maybe comparing this release to Flash 8 is unfair.

So, what is new? Well, expanded CSS support for one thing. In my opinion, the nicest feature added to this release is the CSS layout outlines. It's not critical or even necessary but it sure is a help when you're trying to work with complex floats and such. There is also a much-improved CSS tool panel that allows you to change properties, margins, etc. right in Dreamweaver. This feature is most useful when you are working directly in your CSS code. If you're using a linked stylesheet, opening that stylesheet in Dreamweaver and then using the CSS panel will benefit you more than working in design mode will. For me, most of the CSS improvements are purely convenience. I happen to use Top Style Light and like it just fine, although I will admit I'm working more and more in Dreamweaver. If you are new to CSS and want to get going, the CSS panel will benefit you far more than it will the old-timers.

There are also improved coding features: Code collapse, coding toolbar, code line numbering, etc. Again, nice features for convenience, but this has been around in HomeSite and Firstpage for years. Not exactly blazing new trails here, guys. Sure, it's nice. But if you spend most of your time in code view, why get Dreamweaver? Heck, Firstpage is free!

Then, there's the totally useless features: Grids and guides. What the hell is this about? I dare anyone to find a use for grids and guides with tables. In previous versions, cells and tables snapped into place without the guides. We need guides to show us that they are snapping into place? Macromedia claims it's to help line up layers and CSS boxes and I guess that may be useful to some but I kinda doubt it.

So, bottom line: If you're planning to upgrade to Studio, you won't regret it. Despite the fact that most of the new features are just conveniences, they really are time-savers. If your budget is tight and you have to decide between Flash 8 and Dreamweaver 8, I'd plunk down the cash for Flash. And not just because it rhymes.

We asked the Page Editors if they had anything they wanted to contribute to the Newsletter this issue. We got back a few items of interest.

mplungjan, the Page Editor for javascript, sent us a note that his non-profit site, Talent-Aid, has been launched with the help of many of the Experts in the Web Development topic areas.

Microsoft announced that the second beta version of Internet Explorer 7 is available for download. When EE's Programming Page Editor, jkr, sent us the note, we asked if he had any comment about it; his response was pretty clear: "Yikes, I am not even going to install it... Just thought it would be worth mentioning that it is out." Good thing he didn't; it took people less than a day to find bugs, including at least one security flaw.

A while back, daveslater wrote to Nata asking how he could get some publicity for the AS/400 topic area; she put him in touch with the Admins, who asked him to become the Page Editor, a job he has done ably ever since. He dropped us a note to say that tliotta has become the second Guru in the TA.

Also worth mentioning: Our friend khkremer, who has his Genius certificate in Adobe Acrobat, took enough days off to give Funkmotor a chance to pick up the second certificate awarded in the topic area. The first person to congratulate him: khkremer. Now there's a class act.

WesLennon, the Director of Community Support, got into the act by sending us notice of a fix for WinAmp that was released last week by Nullsoft. An advisory from security firm Secunia says that malicious code that exploits the flaw is already in circulation.

Last week, one of the local TV stations had three or four items related to MySpace.com, and none of them were particularly good for the image of the teen-related online community. One of the stories said that police in Hartford, Connecticut, are investigating sexual assault cases stemming from profiles posted on the site. Another story is about a teenager who was found dead in a canal; she also had a profile posted. Just down the highway, a former firefighter was convicted of assaulting a boy he had found through the site.

It's a matter of time now; MySpace will find itself the respondent in a major lawsuit on behalf of parents whose children have been the victims of the online creeps we all know are out there. For one thing, MySpace is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which also owns the Fox television network; can anyone say "deep pockets"?

The Internet is, to a certain extent, the last great equalizer. The opinions of someone who blogs from Georgetown, Texas can potentially be seen by as many people as those of someone in the suburb of Washington, DC. It affords us the anonymity we don't have in our neighborhood, so we can say what we think with relatively little fear of reprisal. But it also removes any sense of responsibility we might have; we are removed from those we confront by a wall constructed of LCD screens and wires.

That makes the Internet, and more specifically MySpace.com, as Middleton, CN police sergeant Bill McKenna described it, a "predator's dream come true." If you're going to coach a sixth-grade volleyball team, you're fingerprinted and are the subject of a background check. The school is responsible for what you do, and they know it. But at MySpace, anyone -- literally anyone -- can register and find out pretty much anything about other members.

It's a pretty good bet that eventually, if this does come down to a legal battle, that MySpace will hang its hat on its membership agreement, which includes a warning about posting personal information. Since most of the people who sign up at MySpace.com are minors, it's not a reach to argue that they can't enter into a legally binding contract -- even a membership agreement.

But there's a point at which MySpace.com's responsibility ends, and the responsibility of the parents of minors who use the Internet takes over. See, here's the thing. Kids used to find their way into chat rooms until instant messaging took hold. If someone, somewhere, is successful at shutting down MySpace, it's a pretty good bet that the kids will find someplace else -- and it's an even better bet that someone will build a site for them. There's just too much money involved.

So have that little chat with the young'uns about why they should be a little circumspect in what they post about themselves. And if they don't want to listen, put the computer up for sale on eBay. It beats having your child found in a canal.

Everyone was all geared up for the Nyxem-E/Blackworm/MyWife/Kama Sutra/Grew/CME-24 virus that was supposed to start wiping files off the hard drives of millions of computer users last week, but maybe the message is finally getting through, because computer security firms reported that there was "insignificant" damage caused by it. I did see a story that said that one Italian city shut down all of its computers because they were infected, but otherwise, it turned into a non-event. One thing I'd like to see, though, would be the various companies get together and start using the same name for each of these viruses.

I got a new kind of phishing line last week. This one, purportedly from eBay, says that they're going to send my account to collections over 81 cents they say I owe them. The spam is ream is really quite polite; they say that if I've already paid I can disregard the message. I hope they won't mind if I disregard it anyway. But there's a new Trojan that's going around that seems to come from F-secure, and it's bogus, so be warned.

It seems that here in the western US, the gas stations that usually have the lowest prices are the targets of a world wide ATM scam. I know it's not necessarily computer-related, but I want to pass on because it could happen at any station or ATM cash machine anywhere. Be very careful at those stations where you have to enter your PIN.

In one of the lists of Christmas goodies, the EE newsletter had a picture and description of the new ASIMO robot being built by Honda. Now comes word that Sony is ending production of its robot dog, Aibo. I know it sounds funny, but they sold about 150,000 of them around the world. I guess if you're used to having one around the house, they're not all that different, although I don't think I'd want to replace my dog with one.

Finally, I got an email from a friend that listed 12 Rules Kids Won't Learn In School, supposedly written by Bill Gates. They weren't, but all things considered, I sure wish someone had taught them to some of the kids that work in some of the businesses I go to.