Ben Forta's Blog, page 23

SQL Video Tutorials Released

I recently mentioned that I was working on a SQL tutorial video series based on my best-selling Sams Teach Yourself SQL books (and their spin-offs). Well, the videos are now online, close to 3 hours of yours truly walking you through getting started with SQL. The lessons are based on the flow and format of the SQL books, even using the same examples and sample data, and are designed to be used in conjunction with the books if so desired. The videos are on Safari Books Online and InformIT and other streaming sites.

Just Wrapped Next SQL Book

It's been sixteen years since the publication of my first book on SQL, Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes. That book was met with such positive feedback that it has been updated three times, has spawned several DBMS-specific spin-off titles, has been translated more than a dozen times, and is part of the curriculum in numerous schools and colleges the world over. In all of its various flavors and iterations, this little book has helped hundreds of thousands learn the basics of SQL. And along the way it has become the best-selling SQL book of all time, a fact that is both incredibly humbling and a source of great pride.

I mentioned the DBMS-specific spin-off titles, thus far for Microsoft SQL Server T-SQL, MySQL, and MariaDB. Well, the (much delayed) 4th is on the way. Earlier today I finished reviewing the manuscript for an edition focused on Oracle PL/SQL (covering Oracle 10, 11, 12, and XE). The book page says it's out of print, but that's just because it's not yet shipping. It is available for pre-order, and I'll post a note when I have a final publication date.

Oh and I'm not done yet. I'm also wrapping a SQL video series, and I'll post more on that when I have a link to share.

Blog Going Dark(er) For A Few Weeks

One of Adobe's employee benefits is the sabbatical, four to six (depending on years of employment) paid weeks off every five years to "to relax, recharge and reenergize" (as per the program description). So, if this blog goes dark (or just darker) for the next six weeks, know that I've not abandoned you, I'm just really busy relaxing, recharging, and reenergizing.

Creative Cloud Enterprise Enhancements

Last week's major Creative Cloud update also included important enhancements to Creative Cloud for Enterprise, as explained in this post</>.

25 Students Selected For Adobe Creativity Scholars Program

Today's young creatives have unprecedented influence on the world around them. They are igniting discussions on social and environmental issues with creativity that can transcend global boundaries. Using digital story making, they can translate personal experiences and perspectives into media that has the power to create real change in communities around the world.As part of Adobe's commitment to this next generation of creatives, we have selected 25 students for this year's class of Adobe Creativity Scholars.

Zeke Koch Introduces Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock is the new Creative Cloud integrated image sourcing service with 40 million royalty-free, high-quality photos, illustrations, and graphics. Zeke Koch explains all in this introductory video:

Creative Cloud 2015 Released

We've just released the 2015 version of Creative Cloud - major app updates, the introduction of Adobe Stock, new and updated mobile apps, and more. Scott Morris gives the rundown in this blog post.

Creative Cloud Apps For Android

We said that we were working on Android versions of the Creative Cloud mobile apps, and here are the first batch: Adobe Photoshop Mix, Adobe Color CC, Adobe Brush CC, and Adobe Shape CC. And stay tuned, we're not done yet.

Flash And AIR 18 Released

We're half way through 2015 and since January we've released 7 Flash Player updates, 5 AIR updates, and over 25 public beta updates! The latest is version 18 of the Flash and AIR runtimes which include significant improvements to the installer, video playback, audio support, and more. You'll find a list of the major changes in this blog post, and full details in the release notes.

Responsive Design And Kid Friendly Sites

As per Wikipedia, "Responsive web design (RWD) is an approach to web design aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing and interaction experience - easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling - across a wide range of devices (from desktop computer monitors to mobile phones)."

And over on the Dreamweaver blog, Educator and HTML5 Evangelist Andrew Smyk claims that responsive design is also more kid friendly.