Robert Diamond

I took a vacation a few weeks ago, traveling to Los Angeles for a couple of meetings (can never get totally away!) and some fun under the sun. I arrived at the Orange County airport about 20 minutes ahead of schedule and phoned the friend who was going to pick me up. Her husband answered and informed me that she'd forgotten her cell phone so he had no way to contact her, but the plan called for her to run by their house and then to pick me up. To make a long story less long, she then called him from a pay phone to say she was skipping the house and coming straight for me; he called me and promised to pick me up before dark if she didn't show. Sixty minutes later she showed up to get me, so the story had a happy ending (until the later sunburn, of course).

Now, why did I tell you that story? For two reasons, actually: the first, to strongly advocate time management (and picking people up on time!). Task lists and deadlines are a regular part of large-scale development projects. Many of us working on smaller projects don't bother with them, seeing them as a corner to cut. Most people who have been developing for years will tell you that it's definitely worth doing as a "best practice."

There are lots of great CF-based task list project managers out there that are worth using, and they'll definitely make your life easier in the long run. Macromedia's custom tag library is probably the best place to start if you're looking for one. Especially for group development projects - I've always found them to be a big help, and I'm sure you will too.

As for the second reason, during an unplanned hour of free time, I caught up on some reading about Web services. They're certainly the latest "big thing" in the i-technology world - both their introduction and adoption. Many CFers used XML as the "diving board" to jump into these new, uncharted waters. We've been covering XML for a long time now, and, as I'm sure regular readers have noticed, have slowly expanded our Web services coverage in reaction to reader demand. This month, CFDJ is focusing on Web services - attempting to chart those waters for you.

On that note, a slightly shameless plug: for those interested in entering the worlds of Web services or XML full-scale, SYS-CON Media, CFDJ's wonderful parent, publishes great magazines on those too. (Full information at www.sys-con.com.)

We've just begun nominations for the 2002 ColdFusion Developer's Journal Readers' Choice Awards. This year we'll have all of the great categories from last year: Best Book, Best Consulting Service, Best Custom Tag, Best Database Tool, Best Design Service, Best e-Business Software, Best Education and Training, Best Testing Tool, Best Web Development Tool, Best Web Hosting, Best Web Site, Best Web Application, and finally, Most Innovative CF Application.

We've added a few new categories, too - for Web services, Java, and Flash integration products, and services recognizing ColdFusion's continued growth and expansion.

Nominations will be accepted through July 31 (www.sys-con.com/coldfusion). Voting begins on August 1 and will run through September 30. We'll be recognizing and announcing the winners this fall at Macromedia DevCon.