After the initial demonstration of the new Flash Player back in October 2004 (courtesy of Colin Moock & Kevin Lynch), it all went a bit quiet from Macromedia about when the player would actually get a launch. There was mention of Summer 2005 but noone holds their breath when it comes to software launches do they?

Anyway, Macromedia have finally launched the Beta version of Flash Player 8 (codenamed “8-Ball”) for us all to download. I’m guessing the initial launch is mainly aimed at developers to make sure their current Flash content still works OK (there have been some pretty big changes by the sound of it). I’ve just installed the player in Firefox & IE and had a look around some of my projects and all seems fine.

You might want to go and check flashcoders “undocumented:flash8″ pages to see some of the new features and filters in action (drop shadows, glows and blurs being some of them that I know will get used to death by designers).

I’ve just found a sweet little alternative to Google called Blingo - a search engine which actually uses Google results but also gives you a chance of winning something at the same time! That’s right - the results that we all prefer with the added benefit of (maybe) winning some sort of prize.

While I can’t find any catches^*, it seems like a nice enough service. The branding is a little funkier than the Google logo we’ve all got used to and the service is completely free. There is no way of knowing whether you will actually win anything with Blingo but where’s the harm in trying when you would be searching via Google normally anyway?

To make you want to use it even more, I’ve just created a Mozilla Search Plugin for Blingo too^†. You can install it by clicking on the link below or simply downloading the ZIP file and unzipping the files into your Mozilla or Firefox searchplugins folder.

• Install automatically (Mozilla-browsers only)
• Download the ZIP file (requires WinZIP to uncompress)

So what you waiting for?? Give it a try! Bling away.

* I’ve just found one major catch - this service is only available to US-residents! If you’re feeling generous and you have some friends or family in the USA, carry on and send them the gifts.

† I’ve also noticed that they already offer several plugins for your browser, including one for Firefox. It’s up to you how you install it.

Well, I lived to tell the tale of Saturday night. The lads delivered the goods (more than expected to be honest) and I’m now back to work still feeling a little delicate.

It all started when Andy picked me up from home. We headed straight off to Birmingham to clock into the hotel with the intention of getting straight down to the pub. We bumped into Al & Gray as they were popping out to make some final arrangements so we got a couple bottles of Becks while we got changed. It didn’t take long before we were in the Sports Bar on Broad Street with a pint and portion of cheesy chips to line the stomach. We weren’t there for long as the clock hit 4pm and we went next door to meet the arriving crowd of lads.

The drink continued flowing while we were in Figure of 8 thanks to everyone arriving asking me “Fancy a pint Si?” (is it worth asking?!) Things got slightly blurry from this point. Lysaght turned up with a blow-up sheep which I nicknamed Beryl (for some strange reason). Once everyone turned up, we went down to the Walkabout bar where Gray & Al had prepared a long table to accomodate everyone. Food came out and the drink kept flowing.

After some nibbles, Gray put a tray of shots in front of me with the intention of getting me wrecked. The deal was I either had to complete a forfeit or down a shot. Some forfeits were fairly simple (wear a wig, put a thong on, kiss one of the women in the nearby Hen party) - each forfeit I completed I could nominate someone to have a shot for me. So that continued…

It was on my last shot I was dragged to the pub stage to pose with some Nuts girls (Emma B & Lauren Pope). The lads took great pleasure in using this as a perfect Kodak moment - mobile phones were whipped out for many photos. I also took great pleasure in using this moment to get spanked by them (the drink had obviously given me some confidence!) Not long after this, the stripper turned up and took all of us downstairs for a little show. I vaguely remember this but not much. I’m having to rely on photos for evidence.

At about half 8, we went off to the Glee Club. I hardly remember any of this. I remember Andy heckling the first comedian (with not much success) and I remember the same comedian sounding just like Tony Blair. Apart from that, it was a blur.

It was then time to move on to the grand finale - Sasha at Gods Kitchen. I’m quite surprised they let me in to Air. Apparently we were on the guest list so that must have been the only explanation. Theres not much to report from Gods - just lots of dancing and chatting to random people.

It all came to an end when I threw in the towel and walked back to the hotel at 8am. All in all a fantastic night that everyone seemed to enjoy.

(As soon as there are some photos available, I’ll upload the censored versions.)

Tomorrow I will be venturing into an unknown world, the official countdown to The Wedding, an adventure with no idea of the outcome - in other words, “my stag do”. I’ve left it with my Best Man to come up with the goods and from what I’ve heard, it should be an awesome event.

There aren’t many things I know about what is happening tomorrow…

1. My mate Andy from Northampton is picking me up about 1pm to take me to one of the IBIS hotels in Birmingham we will be staying in overnight
2. We will offficially be starting the ceremony about 4pm at Lloyds Bar on Broad Street
3. There will be some sort of food about dinner time
4. We are going to The Glee Club for a 9pm showing
5. There might be some final arrangements to be made tonight between Gra, Darren (the Usher) and Alex

Thats everything I’m aware of. I have a good idea of who can make it as I’ve had to help Gra get word around, find out who can make it etc and it looks like it should be a good turn out.

My only concern was last Sunday after the Birmingham Bomb Scare on Saturday night. I wasn’t sure whether we should venture into Birmingham as we could be evacuated at any point, or even worse, be involved in something nasty but noone seemed too worried after a group text message was sent to everyone invited.

I obviously won’t be blogging over the weekend so await next week when there will be a full report as accurate as possible and possibly some (censored) photos.

CHEERS!